Do You Remember... RACE 07

[Paul Jeffrey]

Race 07 had a glorious few years in the sun as one of the best sim racing games on the market, but over a decade later - is it still a good title?

I admit the idea of an officially licenced and realistic racing simulation based on the FIA World Touring Car Championship was the sort of thing that would grab my attention back in 2005/6/7, and certainly Simbin Studios AB very much achieved that sort of reaction, releasing first the 'Race' standalone touring car sim and then later Race 07, Race On and the various DLC packs that would follow.

You have to remember that the years initially covered by Race and Race 07 (2006, 07, 08, 10) where arguably of the time when the World Touring Car Championship was at its very peak - drivers the talent of Yvan Muller, Andy Priaulx, Alex Zanardi, Gabrielle Tarquini, Alain Menu and Nicola Larini gracing some of the finest race tracks of the world for works team from BMW, SEAT, Chevrolet, Volvo, and strong independent outfits running competitive Alfa Romeo's and Honda's all combined to make a simply phenomenal championship, one that is hard to argue against as some of the best racing on offer of that era.

Keen to tap into the growing popularity of the series, along would come SimBin Studios and the 'Race' franchise of games, attempting to recreate the championship in virtual form, and taking sim racing by storm as one of the most popular on and offline racing titles of its time... even running trackside "eSport" series facilitated by your very own RaceDepartment! (remember this was before eSport was even a thing...).

In the first of a series of new videos (video at the top of the article), I thought it might be fun to blow of the dust from my copy of the game (ok that's a lie, I've got it on Steam), and see how it compares now, over a decade after initial release, and also use the opportunity to ramp graphics right the way through the roof and see how it looks in a way my original rig would never have been able to manage back in the day.

Hope you enjoy the video, and keep an eye out on our YouTube page for more from footage of olden but golden racing sims in the coming weeks ahead...

Like what you see here at RaceDepartment? Don't forget to like, subscribe and follow us on social media!

 Have you fond memories of the now classic Race 07 title? Do you still play the game? What are your favourite moments from the sim racing series? Let us know in the comments section below!​

 

[M D Gourley]

The 'Retro Expansion Packs' are fantastic...there's nothing like drivng old school cars with H-Pattern and Clutch....my favorite Packs
Retro 'Max' Expansion pack consisting of 2 Chevrolets -Corvette and 70 Camaro...Opel Commodore...and the BMW CSL
Track is 'Macau Reverse'

Retro 'Cool' Expansion pack consisting of...Volvo 'P1800 and the 'Amazon'...Mini Cooper s and the BMW 2002.

 

[mopro]

My first proper sim that "forced" me to buy a wheel. Followed by rFactor and then GTL, GTR2, and so on,.
Edit: Actually my first was GPL but back then my pc was just too slow to run it smoothly.

 

[Shovas]

Came across this stunning video of a Formula RR going around Hockenheim in the rain. I was very impressed by the graphics, I had to try it out for myself, and it does look that good. I can't believe SimBin has this back-catalog of games with all the features introduced in GTR/GTR2, GTL, Race, etc. If they had just kept building that into a more and more complete game...wow we'd be so much further ahead right now.

 

[Case_]

Funnily enough, I have a sort of "retro" day today. I've already installed the 10th anniversary pack for GTR2 and added plenty of cars and some tracks, and I'm also reinstalling GPL for the first time in years.
Guess I should throw in Race07 as well, after hearing so much about it.

 

[Shovas]

Do it! I'm in the same boat. It's well past when I should have gone to bed and I'm still enjoying getting back into Race 07!

 

[Shovas]

Wow, I just had one of the best AI races I've ever had with the Ferrari 458 Challenge at VLM Sebring. I am really surprised I'm finding Race 07 this good after all these years.

 

[M D Gourley]

A Blast from the past...do not make packs like this anymore...'GT Sports - Grand Touring Sport'...consisting of... Spyker C8, BMW M3 GTR and M3 GT2, Seat Toledo GT, Marco MacroRelly, Mosler MT900R, Sunred SR2 1, Corvette C6 GT2....a great variety of cars.

 

[michelforest]

Still in my Steam library, but not on my HD at the moment, because I'm concentrating on AC and R3E. I have limited time to do some sim racing. However, RACE 07 was my favourite game for a long time and I remember it had some truly great mods. I live in Canada and games like GTR, rFactor and RACE introduced me to all kinds of racing series that are not broadcast in my country, like the WTCC, Formula Nippon (one of my favorite mods for rFactor), V8 Supercars, etc. So gaming really expanded my knowledge of motor racing.

 

[gamer19]

I used to love it.
Now... with all the latest hits like AC, PC2 I have all that R07 has to offer.
I just recently uninstalled it. A little bit earlier than I uninstall GTR 2. And rFactor 2.
Nostalgia aside. Can force myself to play it for the sake of "ahh... good old times!" life is just too short... Sorry (0)07.
It was really great game, spend amazingly amount of time with it, considering that I'm actually open-wheel nut.
Physics was good for it's time cause we didn't knew for better but really... can you compare it with something like Assetto ? Or Wreckfest.

 

[Ricoow]

Boy did I sink some hours in race 07! It's the reason I joined RD, had some great club races even though I was always backmarking (I raced on keyboard) and even did my first League on it with the RDGTC. I wonder how it races now that I have a G27

 

[Kenny Paton]

Never been off my hd and never stopped playing it, with AndreasFSC's Super Touring mod I can enjoy Toca all over again, not forgetting his STCC 2015 mod which is great fun on the Swedish tracks in the game. Add on the actual content plus mod tracks and cars, a really good AI , yes graphically it may not be the latest, but once I'm in the car in a race I really don't notice, bit like its stablemates GTR2 and GT Legends.
Before anyone says it, yes I play RaceRoom, AMS, pCars2 and AC as well, but you know how us oldies get stuck in our ways

 

[MrRacer11]

I love this game. I just wish I could get the complete package i.e Race 07 and GTR Evolution combined into one bundle with all of the available DLC's. Does anyone know where I can purchase the said thing from?

 

[Dom69]

one of my preferred game until today

 

[PicoBp]

I love this game. I just wish I could get the complete package i.e Race 07 and GTR Evolution combined into one bundle with all of the available DLC's. Does anyone know where I can purchase the said thing from?

https://www.humblebundle.com/store/simbin-mega-bundle

Still misses some DLC, like Retro, STCC 2 and GT Power, but you can grab those from Steam for some change.

 

[Kenny Paton]

https://www.humblebundle.com/store/simbin-mega-bundle

That's the same as the actual Steam price, but what a bundle.

 

[gamer19]

one of my preferred game until today

Meaning ?



If there's any, yes.

 

[Sky]

never really drove it that much. it seemed fine when i did but i guess i was still rfactoring at that point.

 

[Steinar Pladsen]

Race07 is the sim i spent most hours in for shure. I had all extension packs, and still have endough using them today is not so fun. But for the time, Race07 was the best and without doubts the best physics. I have been sim-racing since the very first days, from Sinclair Spectrum- to Amiga, and PC until today. Of course GP and Grand Prix Legends were really some eye-openers, but before that i had great times with "Monaco Grand Prix" as i love Formula racing.
- So the day i found "GTR" and Simbin, i have been a "Simbiner". Today, R3E (Raceroom Racing Experience) is still what i always coming back to despite of having most all simulators/racing games installed. I also have been doing Simracing Events for some years, with the "Race Auto" as were the server verson. I newer found "GTR2" som exiting, but i know people still are running it. For me, it would be Race07 if i was about driving the old stuff. Race 07 will probably always bee in my heart.

 

[Jens Christian Jensen]

my first racing game on pc... still got it on my steam acc... just installed it again...

 

[Rory Wetherington]

Blast from the past, still a great sim and one of my personal all time favorites, so much official content, even more with mods. Lucky for us we do have a modern version which is RaceRoom, I know a lot of people complain about the pricing, but I paid way more for all the Race07 content back in the day, than I did for all the RR3 content. Just wish they would add all the past season's and tracks in say a "Race07+ add-on pack" for RaceRoom after all a lot of it is there already, but how much fun would it be to drive Crown Plaza Raceway in VR.

One last note; the Race On expansion was my first ever purchase from Amazon, so I blame SIMBIN for all the money I've spent there over the years