iRacing.com Motorsport Simulations

[Bram Hengeveld]

iRacing.com Motorsport Simulations check it out

 

[Maik Peters]

Maik you should join the I Racing ts channel some time.

Me, Jamie, James and Simon are normally on TS

Oke I will

Maybe tonight!

 

[Simon Trendell]

4 months

 

[Jamie Wilson]

ooooOOOOooooo

 

[Ricky Willox]

Sim racer gets real life seat time

Posted in the announcements part of the iRacing forums

Ace in the Virtual Space Faces First-Ever Green Light at Road America Round of Volkswagen’s Professional Green Racing Series

BEDFORD, MA (August 11, 2009) – Is it possible that just by running enough laps in a racing simulator, a person could develop a sufficient level of skill to hold his own in a field of young professional drivers, all hungry to climb the motorsport career ladder? When the green flag drops for the Volkswagen Jetta TDI Cup this Saturday at the historic Road America race track in Elkhart Lake, Wisconsin, series guest driver John Prather, a top-rated competitor in iRacing.com’s online racing service who less than a month ago took his first laps in a racing car in the physical world, will look to answer exactly that question.

“This is a moment I’ve worked for and dreamed about for the last ten years,” said Steve Myers, iRacing’s executive producer. “I’ve long believed that a motorsport simulation that had cars and tracks that were as accurate as what we’ve developed for the iRacing online service would not only make the driving more fun for all of our members, but it would also enable a person to learn in the virtual world the actual skills necessary to successfully race in the physical world.”

Prather, a 30-year-old IT professional who grew up around motorsport – his father was an amateur sports car racer and his earliest childhood memories are of attending races at Road America – is the ideal candidate to test Myers’ theory. He’s the highest ranked North American road-racer among the more than 16,000 members across the globe who’ve joined iRacing in the 12 months since the service opened to the general public.

One person who believes Prather can succeed is the 2008 Jetta TDI champion, Josh Hurley, also an iRacer, who last year made no secret of the fact that the virtual laps he did in the simulator prior to real-world races gave him an advantage over his competitors.

“I expect that John will turn some heads this weekend,” said Hurley, who leveraged his 2008 championship to a full-time ride in this year’s Grand-Am Koni Challenge, where he’s already won four poles and one race. “A lot of people are starting to understand that high-quality simulation can help an experienced driver make better use of on-track time in the real world and get better results. But I don’t think they grasp how much a person can learn just in the simulator before they ever get into a car. John has done hundreds of races in the iRacing service and run thousands of laps.”

Pressed for a prediction on Prather’s performance at Elkhart Lake, Hurley said “I think John will run quite well, probably mid-pack, which is pretty remarkable given the quality and experience of the drivers he’s going to be competing against. And I think John’s racecraft will be surprisingly good.”

For his part, Prather professes not to be surprised that a driver from the virtual world would get a shot at racing in the physical one, only that he’s the one who’s getting that chance.

“I’ve known for years that this would happen – just not to me,” Prather said following a three-day introduction to racing in the physical world at Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca, courtesy of the Skip Barber Racing School. His instructors marveled at the intimate knowledge of that tricky track’s racing surface he displayed from his first laps in the car. “They said they’d never had a student whose line was so correct. They just couldn’t grasp that I really ‘knew’ the track; not just which way the turns went, but all the nuances that determine how you actually drive it, like small changes in the camber and small bumps in the paving.”

Prather said his first experience driving in the natural world was less different than he’d expected. “Wearing a firesuit and helmet, being strapped into the car, feeling the g-forces – yeah, that was different, but not as much as I thought it would be. In fact, in some ways it’s easier. You can ‘feel’ the car a little better and see the apexes (of the corners) a bit more easily.”

Not that Prather’s three days were totally incident-free. He ran into a gravel trap on what was supposed to be a cool-down lap. “I made about six mistakes in a row,” he said, sheepishly. “I guess we all learn from our mistakes.”

The experiment that sees a virtual racer matching his skills against those of experienced real-world drivers in the world’s most environmentally friendly race series is one result of the partnership between Volkswagen of America, Inc. and iRacing.com Motorsport Simulation, LLC that will see participation in an iRacing-organized online version of the Jetta TDI Cup series as a major portal to participation in the 2010 edition of the real-world Jetta TDI Cup.

“We expect as many as 2,000 people to apply and we only have 50 slots open in the program,” said Clark Campbell, Volkswagen’s U.S. motorsports manager. “Prospective drivers for our 2010 series who join iRacing and excel in the virtual Jetta TDI Cup will be invited to participate in the final round of 200 from which we’ll select the field for next year’s series.”

The Jetta TDI Cup car is powered by a 2.0-liter, 170 hp, four-cylinder TDI clean diesel engine mated to a six-speed, double-clutch, automatic DSG transmission. The car is only slightly modified from stock with Pirelli racing tires, race suspension and brake components, drivers racing safety seat, FIA roll cage and an on-board fire extinguisher system.

The iRacing VW Jetta TDI Cup starts 8:00 p.m. ET Tuesday, August 18, and features an exact digital duplicate of the actual race car – less the safety equipment of course. Reigning series champion Hurley has helped with development of the virtual car, and Prather has been practicing with a pre-release version of the Jetta race car on iRacing’s virtual version of Road America. It’s so accurate that the only thing missing is the smell of Elkhart Lake’s renowned bratwurst sausages.

All I can say is good luck to the man. Just wish I was good enuff.

 

[Simon Trendell]

Indeed, the best part would be if he won

Appears the Jetta is getting released tomorrow afternoon.. which means tomorrow is going to go slowly.

 

[Simon Trendell]

Volkswagen Jetta TDI released

Bah, work!

 

[Trebor901]

ive pre ordered the Jetta, roll on Monday

 

[Sander Hogendoorn]

Not released yet though

ive pre ordered the Jetta, roll on Monday

You mean friday:

"Yes, you will have it for this weekend and the 24 hours of fun will be running this car and at Road America this weekend in honor of Mr Prathers historic weekend.

Steve"

 

[Simon Trendell]

I know what I'll be doing Saturday

 

[Trebor901]

Friday, ok then my mistake thats even better

 

[James Yates]

Shame it isn't out yet, I was looking forward to sending random messages about how good it was to Simon and Jamie just to annoy them.

 

[Roy Stevens]

I thought this was out 17th ??

 

[Sander Hogendoorn]

Yes, it's out

Downloading :becky:

 

[Ramon van Rijn]

Coooooooool. Another car to learn

 

[James Yates]

Just tried it around Silverstone, great fun - bit weird changing up at 4500ish RPM though

Shame some people aren't at home to try it out, eh Jamie?

 

[Sander Hogendoorn]

No sevrers up for the Jetta yet. First impressions: slow on straights (duh) but great fun to drive, close racing guaranteed

 

[Simon Trendell]

Home but can't try it for another hour or so yet

Can get painting though

 

[James Yates]

Home but can't try it for another hour or so yet

Can get painting though

Just don't paint it black/use the Red Bull logo, seems everyone else is

 

[Ben Tusting]

Am downloading the car now

 

[David Barry]

Having lots of fun with the jetta in the laps I've run so far. Only taken it to Road America but it's a blast, as Sander said slow on the straights but awesome through the corners. It bounces around quite a bit over bumpy sections and some curbs, which makes it a lot more fun.

Still only doing 2:40's so far while the fast guys are doing 1:36, so there is a lot of time left to find but I'm having a blast.