iRacing.com

iRacing.com

Developer(s) iRacing.com Motorsport Simulations
Platform(s) Microsoft Windows
Release date(s) August 26, 2008
Latest release 2.1.1.8 / December 21, 2011; 56 days ago (2011-12-21)
Genre(s) Racing simulation
Media/distribution Internet download
System requirements

iRacing.com is an online, subscription-based racing simulation service for Microsoft Windows created by iRacing.com Motorsport Simulations. In addition to accurately modeled vehicles and tracks, iRacing provides servers on which to race and practice and a sanctioning body to organize and oversee competition within the service.

From the start, iRacing has been marketed as both an entertainment service and a training tool for real life racers.[2] They have established numerous partnerships with real-world racing organizations and series, including NASCAR, GRAND-AM, IndyCar, V8 supercars, the SCCA, the Skip Barber Racing School, the Volkswagen Jetta TDI Cup, the Star Mazda Championship and Williams F1 among others.[3][4]

The service was launched to the public on August 26, 2008. As of December 2010, 40,000 individual member accounts had been created.

Contents

Gameplay

The iRacing company aims to cater both to real-world racers and racing simulation enthusiasts[5] by offering a realistic simulation of motorsport with accurate track, vehicle and physics modeling,[6][7] and with all of the cars and tracks officially licensed.[8]  iRacing can only be driven online on servers run by iRacing.com, and participation requires a subscription to the service. The subscription package includes a basic set of 10 tracks and six cars with which to practice and race.[9] Additional cars and tracks are subject to additional one-time charges.  Vehicles in iRacing are divided into classes[10] which correspond to the identically named driver license classes, except for the two different Rookie car classes which can both be driven with the same Rookie driver license.  iRacing creates each track using proprietary Exactrac laser mapping technology to replicate the tracks with millimeter precision.[6]

The simulator is launched through a member website, and there is no standalone offline client. In addition to choosing the series and session to run, the member site interface can be used to browse series and driver statistics, acquire information about the cars and tracks, launch the online forums and chat, open the replay viewer, customize the virtual vehicles and helmets, purchase new content, and review and update personal account data.

iRacing manages several different official series, but members are also free to organize their own online sessions that are hosted on servers run by iRacing. For the standard official series managed by iRacing, each calendar year is divided into four 12-week seasons, and all driving sessions in a series take place only on one track each week.[11] On a given track, the drivers can participate in practice, qualifying, time trial and race sessions.[12] There are also non-standard series, examples of which are the four-week Rookie series, IndyCar and Grand-Am Premier series, and Pro series.[13] Races that are organized by members do not have to follow any official schedule. The series are divided into two main categories, oval and road, which are further divided into several license levels from Rookie to Pro, and a driver must earn each license to be eligible to participate in official race week sessions on that level.[14] Earning a higher license involves both participation in competitions on a driver's current highest license level and achievement of a minimum safety record. The requirements for advancing and the licenses themselves are category-specific — in other words, a driver has a separate license for road and oval categories.[15] Any member-organized sessions are free from the license level restrictions. In addition to taking part in the different public sessions, a member can use a test mode to drive alone on any track with any car, assuming he has purchased the license to use the content.[16]

At the core of iRacing is the driving simulation. iRacing began with a new, proprietary tire model that was partly based on the company's own research in a tire testing facility. On June 22, 2011 iRacing began a limited release of a new theoretical tire model in development for 3 years. This new model uses the construction and physical properties of the tire to simulate the tire's response, rather than matching to empirical data.[17] iRacing receive full "shop access" to every vehicle modeled in the service to calculate physical and inertia parameters of individual parts. Vehicles are either laser scanned, or design CAD data is used to recreate the visual and physical properties of each car. For aerodynamics data, they have had to rely on data collected from manufacturers and teams,[18] though more recent additions have used computational fluid dynamics to calculate the aerodynamic properties of the cars more accurately. The simulation is criticized for missing some features often found on comparable products. For example, environment conditions such as temperature are static.[19] Racing within the service is managed by a sanctioning body called FIRST. The detailed rules for official competition are published in a document titled the FIRST Sporting Code, which registered members of the service are expected to read.[20]

Championships

Competition is divided into two different categories, oval and road, which are further divided into many different series. All standard series follow a calendar of four 12-week seasons while rookie series have their own 4-week seasons. At the end of each season eligible drivers are promoted (or, in rare cases, demoted) to the next license level. At the end of each standard 12-week season FIRST crowns racing and time trial overall champions and divisional champions.[20] In addition to individual championships FIRST sanctions club championships, which are decided between geographically-based clubs. Starting in 2009, The World Cup of iRacing will be a year-long tournament with (in its first year) 35 clubs divided into 7 regions battling for the club championship.[21] Other series are officially sponsored by the real-world sanctioning body of the race series being simulated, including NASCAR which sanctions the NASCAR iRacing.com Series, GRAND-AM which is backing the GRAND-AM iRacing.com Online Sports Car Series,[22] and IndyCar sponsoring the iRacing.com IZOD IndyCar Premier Series.[23]

On March 3, 2009, iRacing announced its premier series, the iRacing Pro Series and iRacing Drivers World Championships to start in 2009 and 2010, respectively. Both top series have separate contests for oval and road course racing, and the world champion wins prize money of at least $10,000. The two Pro Series are open to the top 61 drivers in the A-level series for each category and serve as feeder series to the Drivers World Championships, which will be limited to the top 50 drivers. Unlike the standard individual championships, which have four 12-week seasons per year, the Pro Series (NASCAR iRacing Pro Series for ovals and iRacing Pro Series - Road for road) and iDWC (NASCAR iRacing.com World Championship Series for ovals and iRacing.com Drivers World Championship Road Racing for road) will follow an 18-race schedule run fortnightly.[24] The inaugural Pro season was an exception with a 25-week schedule where drivers reported fatigue.[25]

Other series include the iRacing World Tour, which consists of a number of special events that mimic real life races like the Daytona 500 or the Indianapolis 500. The virtual counterparts are usually held the day before the actual race. Members can organize their own online sessions that are free from the official series schedules and license level restrictions. These sessions are hosted by iRacing and they are subject to a nominal fee paid only by the member organizing the session. Other unofficial events include the so-called "24 Heures du Fun" races that feature different tracks and vehicles every Saturday 00:00-24:00 UTC as well as week-long unofficial series during the one-week breaks between 12-week standard seasons.

Development

The company behind iRacing.com was established in Bedford, Massachusetts in September 2004 by David Kaemmer and John W. Henry after the demise of Papyrus Design Group, which Kaemmer had also co-founded.[26] The iRacing service has been in development since then, using code from Papyrus' NASCAR Racing 2003 Season as a starting point. According to Kaemmer, iRacing retains the multi-body physics system of NASCAR Racing 2003 Season, as well as some of the track presentation and multi-user packet code, but everything else has been changed, or is completely new like the tire model and graphics engine.[18] The service receives regular updates between 12-week competition seasons.[8]

In May 2009 NASCAR and iRacing.com announced a five-year deal of an online NASCAR-sanctioned racing series. iRacing.com also provides the software used in the NASCAR Hall of Fame simulators.[27]

Content

Every iRacing subscription comes standard with the 600 Racing Legends Ford '34 Coupe, Street Stock, Mazda MX-5, Pontiac Solstice, and Spec Racer Ford. Additional cars which can be purchased for a one-time fee include a Chevrolet Monte Carlo SS Late Model, SK Modified (Modified racing), Tour Modified (Whelen Modified Tour), Chevrolet Silverado (Camping World Truck Series), C&R Racing Silver Crown, USAC Sprint Car, Chevrolet Impala SS (Nationwide Series), Chevrolet Impala SS (Sprint Cup), Ford Mustang FR500S, Skip Barber Formula 2000, Volkswagen Jetta TDI Cup, Ford Falcon FG01 V8 Supercar, Riley Technologies Daytona Prototype, Star Mazda, Radical SR8 V8, Doran Ford GT-R, Chevrolet Corvette C6.R GT1, Acura ARX-01c, Lotus 79, Dallara IndyCar, and the Williams FW31.[28] Announced upcoming vehicles include the McLaren MP4-12C[29] in GT3 race trim, the Dallara chassis raced in the Firestone Indy Lights series,[30] and the Lotus 49 F1 car.[31]

The following track venues are available in the service or have been officially announced as a future venue.[32][33]

Note: A light blue background denotes that a track is included in the basic subscription. A yellow background denotes that a track is not yet available

Track name Nation Location Configuration(s)
Atlanta Motor Speedway &USA Hampton, Georgia Oval, Roval
Auto Club Speedway[34] &USA Fontana, California Oval, Roval
Autódromo José Carlos Pace &Brasil Interlagos, São Paulo, Brazil Road course
Barber Motorsports Park &USA Birmingham, Alabama 3 Road courses
Brands Hatch &United Kingdom West Kingsdown, Kent 2 Road courses
Bristol Motor Speedway &USA Bristol, Tennessee Oval ‡
Centripetal Circuit Fictional Skid pad
Charlotte Motor Speedway &USA Charlotte, North Carolina 2 Ovals, Roval, Infield Road course
Chicagoland Speedway &USA Joliet, Illinois Oval
Concord Motorsport Park &USA Concord, North Carolina Oval
Darlington Raceway &USA Darlington, South Carolina Oval
Daytona International Speedway &USA Daytona Beach, Florida Oval, 2 Roval, Infield Road course
Dover International Speedway &USA Dover, Delaware Oval
Homestead-Miami Speedway &USA Homestead, Florida Oval, 2 Rovals
Indianapolis Motor Speedway &USA Speedway, Indiana Oval, 2 Rovals
Infineon Raceway &USA Sonoma, California 4 Road courses
Iowa Speedway &USA Newton, Iowa 3 Ovals, Roval, Infield Road course
Kansas Speedway[34] &USA Kansas City, Kansas Oval
Kentucky Speedway &USA Sparta, Kentucky Oval
Langley Speedway &USA Hampton, Virginia Oval
Lanier National Speedway &USA Braselton, Georgia Oval
Las Vegas Motor Speedway &USA Las Vegas, Nevada Oval, 2 Infield Road courses
Lime Rock Park &USA Lime Rock, Connecticut Road course
Long Beach[35] &USA Long Beach, California Road course
Lucas Oil Raceway[36] &USA Pike Township, Marion County, Indiana Oval
Martinsville Speedway &USA Martinsville, Virginia Oval
Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca &USA Monterey, California Road course
Michigan International Speedway &USA Brooklyn, Michigan Oval
Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course &USA Troy Township, Ohio 3 Road courses, 2 Ovals
Miller Motorsports Park[37] &USA Tooele, Utah Road course
Milwaukee Mile Speedway &USA West Allis, Wisconsin Oval
Mosport International Raceway &Canada Bowmanville, Ontario, Canada Road course
New Hampshire Motor Speedway &USA Loudon, New Hampshire Oval, 3 Rovals
New Jersey Motorsports Park[32][38] &USA Millville, New Jersey Road course, Oval
New Smyrna Speedway &USA New Smyrna Beach, Florida Oval
Okayama International Circuit[39] &Japan Mimasaka, Okayama, Japan 2 Road courses
Oran Park Raceway[33] &Australia Narellan, New South Wales, Australia Road course
Oulton Park[33] &United Kingdom Little Budworth, Cheshire 8 Road courses
Oxford Plains Speedway &USA Oxford, Maine Oval
Phillip Island Grand Prix Circuit &Australia Phillip Island, Victoria, Australia Road course
Phoenix International Raceway &USA Phoenix, Arizona Oval, Roval
Pocono Raceway &USA Long Pond, Pennsylvania Oval, 4 Rovals
Richmond International Raceway &USA Richmond, Virginia Oval ‡
Road America &USA Elkhart Lake, Wisconsin 2 Road courses
Road Atlanta &USA Braselton, Georgia 3 Road courses
Sebring International Raceway &USA Sebring, Florida 3 Road courses ‡
Silverstone Circuit &United Kingdom Silverstone, Northamptonshire 5 Road courses
South Boston Speedway &USA South Boston, Virginia Oval
Spa-FrancorchampsCircuit de Spa-Francorchamps[40] &Belgium Francorchamps, Liège, Belgium Road course
Stafford Motor Speedway &USA Stafford Springs, Connecticut Oval
Summit Point Motorsports Park &USA Summit Point, West Virginia 3 Road courses
Suzuka Circuit[41] &Japan Suzuka, Mie, Japan 5 Road courses
Texas Motor Speedway &USA Fort Worth, Texas Oval, Infield Road course
Talladega Superspeedway &USA Talladega County, Alabama Oval
Thompson International Speedway &USA Thompson, Connecticut Oval
Toyota Speedway at Irwindale &USA Irwindale, California Oval
Tsukuba Circuit[41] &Japan Shimotsuma, Ibaraki, Japan Road course
Twin Ring Motegi[41] &Japan Motegi, Tochigi, Japan Oval, Road course
USA International Speedway &USA Lakeland, Florida Oval
Virginia International Raceway &USA Alton, Virginia 6 Road courses
Watkins Glen International &USA Watkins Glen, New York 4 Road courses
Willow Springs International Motorsports Park[42] &USA Rosamond, California Road course
ZandvoortCircuit Park Zandvoort &Netherlands Zandvoort, North Holland, Netherlands 4 Road courses
ZolderCircuit Zolder[33] &Belgium Heusden-Zolder, Limburg, Belgium Road course

‡ This track has a night configuration in addition to the default daytime configuration.

Reception

iRacing.com was launched to the public on August 26, 2008.[43] By July 2009 more than 16,000 individuals had subscribed to the service.[44] iRacing.com has received favorable reviews from automobile, racing and gaming magazines as well as websites dedicated to racing simulators.[45][46][47][48] The service has also been criticized for not yet including features often found on other racing simulators, such as dynamic environments and more advanced visual damage modeling.[19] As of April 2010 more than half of the current Indycar series drivers use iRacing for fun and training. Vitor Meira and Will Power have also said they used iRacing in their recovery from broken backs sustained in the 2009 season.

Many real life racers, including Justin Wilson, Alex Gurney, Dale Earnhardt, Jr., Marcos Ambrose, Martin Truex Jr., AJ Allmendinger, Scott Speed, Shane Van Gisbergen, and Jacques Villeneuve have subscribed to the service and given positive comments especially about the accuracy of the track modeling which makes the simulator useful as a tool for learning tracks.[49]

See also

Notes

  1. ^ "System Requirements". iRacing.com. http://www.iracing.com/membership/system-requirements/. Retrieved 2009-10-15. 
  2. ^ "iRacing.com Introduces Next-Generation Training Tool for Racers". truckseries.com. July 25, 2006. http://www.truckseries.com/cgi-script/NCTS_06/articles/000079/007932.htm. Retrieved 2011-05-17. 
  3. ^ "Volkswagen announces partnership with iRacing.com to aid in Jetta TDI Cup driver training and candidate identification". iRacing.com. April 25, 2009. http://www.iracing.com/news/volkswagen-announces-partnership-with-iracing-com-to-aid-in-jetta-tdi-cup-driver-training-and-candidate-identification/. Retrieved 2010-10-14. 
  4. ^ "Partners". iRacing.com. http://www.iracing.com/partners/. Retrieved 2009-10-15. 
  5. ^ "iRacing.com FAQ". iRacing.com. http://www.iracing.com/faqs-v2/. Retrieved 2011-02-17. 
  6. ^ a b "Track Technology". iRacing.com. http://www.iracing.com/cars-and-tracks/track-technology/. Retrieved 2009-10-15. 
  7. ^ "Car Technology". iRacing.com. http://www.iracing.com/cars-and-tracks/car-technology/. Retrieved 2009-10-15. 
  8. ^ a b Denton, Jon (February 15, 2008). "iRacing.com Announce: Revolution" (Flash). AutoSimSport 4 (1): 19–30. http://www.autosimsport.net/index2/index.php/online-article-list/98-ass-mag-v4i1. Retrieved 2009-04-12. 
  9. ^ "Membership". iRacing.com. http://www.iracing.com/membership/. Retrieved 2009-10-15. 
  10. ^ "2.10. Vehicle Classes". FIRST Official Sporting Code. 
  11. ^ /pdfs/FIRST_Sporting_Code_v20090807_01.pdf "4.2. Sanctioning" (PDF). FIRST Official Sporting Code. iRacing.com. August 7, 2009. http://membersmedia.iracing.com /pdfs/FIRST_Sporting_Code_v20090807_01.pdf. Retrieved 2009-08-14. 
  12. ^ "4.5. Sessions". FIRST Official Sporting Code. 
  13. ^ "4.2.5. Rookie Series". FIRST Official Sporting Code. 
  14. ^ "2.9. Series Eligibility". FIRST Official Sporting Code. 
  15. ^ "2.2. Earning a FIRST License". FIRST Official Sporting Code. 
  16. ^ Cole, Shaun (Director) (June 5, 2008) (Flash video). Preview - iRacing. SRT Media Productions. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zbAC-PV3lZI. Retrieved 2009-04-09. 
  17. ^ "The Sticking Points in Modeling Tires". iRacing.com. http://www.iracing.com/the-sticking-points-in-modeling-tires/. Retrieved 2011-04-22. 
  18. ^ a b Denton, Jon (August 2008). "The Masters of Mass." (PDF). AutoSimSport 4 (4): 21–34. http://www.autosimsport.net/index2/index.php/backissues/doc_download/9-autosimsport-magazine-vol-4-iss-4. Retrieved 2009-04-12. 
  19. ^ a b Vasilakos, Aristotelis (June 2008). "iRacing: The Physics" (PDF). AutoSimSport 4 (3): 33–38. http://www.autosimsport.net/index2/index.php/backissues/doc_download/20-autosimsport-magazine-vol-4-iss-3. Retrieved 2009-04-12. 
  20. ^ a b FIRST Official Sporting Code. 
  21. ^ "The World Cup of iRacing 2009 Official Guidelines" (PDF). iRacing.com. 2009-01-19. http://media.iracing.com/_images/newsEvents/The%20World%20Cup%20of%20iRacing_final.pdf. Retrieved 2009-01-25. 
  22. ^ "GRAND-AM to Sanction Multi-Class Online Racing for iRacing.com". grand-am.com. October 25, 2010. http://www.grand-am.com/news/index.cfm?series=r&cid=40249. Retrieved 2010-11-01. 
  23. ^ "iRacing.com introduces Premier Series". indycar.com. January 27, 2011. http://www.indycar.com/news/show/55-izod-indycar-series/41074-iracing-com-introduces-premier-series/. Retrieved 2011-01-27. 
  24. ^ http://members.iracing.com/iforum/thread.jspa?threadID=72297&tstart=0
  25. ^ "The iRacing Pro Series and iRacing Drivers World Championships" (PDF). iRacing.com. 2009-07-29. http://membersmedia.iracing.com/pdfs/The_iRacing_Pro_Series_and_iRacing_Drivers_World_Championships_072909.pdf. Retrieved 2009-08-02. 
  26. ^ "History". iRacing.com. http://www.iracing.com/overview/history/. Retrieved 2009-10-15. 
  27. ^ Bob Pockrass (May 19, 2009). "NASCAR inks deal with iRacing.com to develop online racing series". SceneDaily.com. http://www.scenedaily.com/news/articles/sprintcupseries/NASCAR_inks_deal_with_iRacingcom_to_develop_online_racing_series.html. Retrieved 2010-04-13. 
  28. ^ "Cars". iRacing.com. http://www.iracing.com/cars-and-tracks/cars/. Retrieved 2009-10-15. 
  29. ^ http://www.iracing.com/inracingnews/iracing-news/iracing-com-to-create-virtual-mclaren-mp4-12c-gt3/
  30. ^ http://www.indianapolismotorspeedway.com/indy500/news/show/36751-fans-can-drive-indycar-firestone-indy-lights-at-ims-through-iracing/
  31. ^ http://www.autoweek.com/article/20111109/CARNEWS01/111109831
  32. ^ a b "Tracks". iRacing.com. http://www.iracing.com/cars-and-tracks/tracks/. Retrieved 2009-10-15. 
  33. ^ a b c d "Oran Park Raceway and Circuit Zolder Join iRacing". iRacing.com. http://www.iracing.com/news/oran-park-raceway-and-circuit-zolder-join-iracing/. Retrieved 2009-12-01. 
  34. ^ a b "Dover is Monstrous News for iRacing.com". 8 July 2010. http://www.facebook.com/notes/iracing/dover-is-monstrous-news-for-iracingcom/414184630479. Retrieved 9 September 2010. 
  35. ^ Elfalan, Jonathan (December 2008). "Racing in the Virtual World". Road & Track. http://www.iracing.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/10/2008-Road-Track-iRacing-Feature-12-08-for-hard-copy-printing.pdf. Retrieved 9 September 2010. 
  36. ^ "iRacing.com to sponsor Josh Wise in Indy and Iowa Nationwide Series races". http://www.nnsracing.com/2011/5/3/2152333/iracing-com-to-sponsor-josh-wise-in-indy-and-iowa-nationwide-series. Retrieved 2 June 2011. 
  37. ^ "iRacing.com Announces the Addition of Ford Race Cars to its Virtual Fleet". iRacing.com. http://www.iracing.com/news/iracing-com-announces-the-addition-of-ford-race-cars-to-its-virtual-fleet/. Retrieved 2009-12-17. 
  38. ^ "Online simulations put Ryan Truex, 18, on road to success". 25 May 2010. http://www.pressofatlanticcity.com/sports/article_752c90a1-268c-5fbb-95f4-b30e1ce72608.html. Retrieved 9 September 2010. 
  39. ^ "Premier Online Racing Service iRacing.com Continues Global Expansion with New Pacific Content". 20 May 2010. http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/premier-online-racing-service-iracingcom-continues-global-expansion-with-new-pacific-content-94550409.html. Retrieved 23 May 2010. 
  40. ^ "Spa coming to iRacing". 7 July 2010. http://www.facebook.com/notes/iracing/spa-coming-to-iracing/413807590479. Retrieved 9 September 2010. 
  41. ^ a b c "iRacing Continues Japanese Growth". iRacing.com. 17 September 2010. http://www.iracing.com/news/iracing-continues-japanese-growth/. Retrieved 17 September 2010. 
  42. ^ "iRacing.com Announce: Revolution". http://autosimsport.netfirms.com/articles/iRacing.pdf. Retrieved 9 September 2010. 
  43. ^ "iRacing Launches Advanced Motorsport Simulation and Internet Racing Service: Driver Development Tool Now Available to Auto Racing Community and General Public". iRacing.com. August 26, 2008. http://iracing.com/newsEvents/article.php?id=77. Retrieved 2009-04-09. 
  44. ^ Eric Fisher (July 27, 2009). "Taking aim online". SportsBusiness Journal. http://www.sportsbusinessjournal.com/article/63123. Retrieved 2009-07-28. 
  45. ^ Lerner, Preston (December 23, 2008). "Virtual Car Racing - iRacing". Automobile Magazine. http://www.automobilemag.com/features/racing/0901_virtual_car_racing_iracing/index.html. Retrieved 2009-01-09. 
  46. ^ Lear, Scott R. (November 2008) (Flash video). iRacing Demo. Grassroots Motorsports Magazine. http://grassrootsmotorsports.com/iracing/. Retrieved 2009-01-09. 
  47. ^ Toivonen, Ismo (February 2009). "iRacing.com: Kumartakaa uutta mestaria" (in Finnish). Pelit 2009 (2): 36–39. http://www.pelit.fi/index.php?id=69976. Retrieved 2009-04-13. 
  48. ^ Lindblad, Jens (June 9, 2008). "iRacing". SimHQ.com. http://www.simhq.com/_motorsports4/motorsports_121a.html. Retrieved 2009-01-09. 
  49. ^ Kirby, Gordon (December 22, 2008). "The Way It Is/ Exploring iRacing with Gurney, Wilson and Villeneuve". http://www.gordonkirby.com/categories/columns/theway/2008/the_way_it_is_no165.html. Retrieved 2009-01-09. 

Further reading

External links