Lots of Exciting iRacing Content Confirmed for March Build Release

[Paul Jeffrey]

Lots happening in the world of iRacing of late as the online service confirms plenty of new content.. including a couple of LMP1 legends and the new IndyCar...

Perhaps one of the more exciting confirmations comes news that the 2018 specification Dallara IndyCar will make its iRacing debut this March 6th, coming to a racing simulation for the very first time and as an additional bonus, it will be free for players who already own the previous version!

In other car news, the March build will also include two massive prototype endurance names with the mega Porsche 919 Hybrid and the Audi R18 e-tron Quatrro joining the raft of GTE / GT3 cars already available to purchase.. oh and Le Mans is in the sim too..

To celebrate, check out this nice new trailer for the R18...

Stepping away from cars for a little while, the March build will also include one or two new locations too.. with the Sonoma Raceway GRC circuit joining the off road racing element of the sim in just a few days time...

Anything else? Well maybe the odd surprise or two and a massive change log of improvements to boot.. roll on March 6th!​

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Looking forward to the new build update? Which piece of content interests you the most? Let us know in the comments section below!

 

[Marcos Eberhardt]

2 small corrections, the Audi we are receiving is not an "e-tron Quattro" it is just R18, and the IR-18 will not be free, people that bought the DW-12 recently will receive a refund (that may be used to buy the IR-18)

 

[rudolph523]

2 small corrections, the Audi we are receiving is not an "e-tron Quattro" it is just R18, and the IR-18 will not be free, people that bought the DW-12 recently will receive a refund (that may be used to buy the IR-18)

i find it strange, as the 2016 version that will be in iracing is an hybrid, and they used the e-tron quattro name to say a car was an hybrid. but indeed the car seems to be r18, nothing more.

 

[T04STY]

erm... It's an Indycar, it's kind of open wheel. And it's more open wheel than the previous DW12...

Oh Gawd, I just read the 18 and thought you were talking about the R18 xD
My bad!

 

[samcar304]

Oh Gawd, I just read the 18 and thought you were talking about the R18 xD
My bad!

Haha, No worries xD

 

[Eckhart von Glan]

this is what the changelog says:
Audi R18
• Dallara IR18
• Porsche 919 Hybrid
• The Dirt Track at Charlotte
• Limaland Motorsports Park
• Pocono Raceway track upgrade
• Sonoma Raceway (Rallycross)

 

[Dennis]

Also a big change for team races:

iRating exchanges are now possible in scheduled driver-swap races. The Info tab on the Session screen will indicate whether or not iRating will be impacted by this particular team racing event. iRating exchanges in driver swap races are being enabled as of the deployment of 2018 Season 2 during the 13th week.

And a nice improvement when spectating opponents:

- All opponent-controlled vehicles will now have their actual gear and RPMs displayed in their cockpits.

 

[osyres]

Sorry guys but even the biggest iracing fanboy should be concerned about this Titel. It getting older and older the engine is on his limit its the oldest of all sims its the by far the worst tire model with unrealistic grip levels bewlow 30 c and over 38 c and overheating on drifts ....missing a lot of todays physics features. Now looking at other sims like PC,AC even reiza and rf2 how allready have more features than iracing they start to build on next gen. even Race room looking into u4 engine. but everything i hear from iracing is new content and maybe after 2-4 years of development we see day/night trasmition. Now if u like iracing like it is than u will be fine but for me looking at next gen like ACC and other titels after 2 years iracing im pretty done with it feels just to old.

 

[dud]

Dunno. I don't like excessive rewrites of software. There is so much "old" software that some people are longing for because of what was lost. Also see here: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Second-system_effect

Of course that is no excuse to leave a lousy tire model in place.

Tire models are difficult to get right and you will make it worse for a while when introducing a new model, until you can fine-tune it. But tire models are also very independent of the rest of the 3D engine and the physics engine. So just bite the bullet and start getting feedback from angry beta testers.

 

[snyperal]

I believe new tyre model 7 is coming in the next build.

One of my biggest gripes is that they are always behind. Every time they get on board with a series the cars have stopped running or the cars have moved on. They should address this.

 

[Eckhart von Glan]

well, not always, the dallara is out on iracing and running this season, with the season opening on march 13th, doesn't get closer than that. However, on average you do have a point, e.g. both LMP1s have already been pulled out of competition in RL.

 

[Eckhart von Glan]

just read the full changelog and discovered that I will get a new pocono for free since i own the old version and i will get a new dirt track at sonoma for free. nice. dirt track at charlotte is sold as a standalone track, though.
Also, this here caught my eye, laugh of the day: "Fixed an issue where the level-of-detail distances for some pit crew members was causing them to lose their heads." I know a couple of people where that fix would come in handy ...

 

[dud]

Seriously, what kind of financial and time investment would I be looking at when wanting to do a bit of Indycar racing?

Specifically, I have difficulty interpreting their system of scoring to qualify for higher race classes:

• What kind of classes do I have to go through during my journey before I am allowed to do Indycar?
• Do I have choices on that path? Aka are there similar classes of the same level, so that I can circumvent one lower level class that I don't like at all?
• Can I drive an Indycar on an Indycar course right away for hotlapping? (of course I need to buy car and track first)
• Same question, do I have to go through qualifications in lower classes to race against their AI?

 

[snyperal]

Seriously, what kind of financial and time investment would I be looking at when wanting to do a bit of Indycar racing?

Specifically, I have difficulty interpreting their system of scoring to qualify for higher race classes:

• What kind of classes do I have to go through during my journey before I am allowed to do Indycar?
• Do I have choices on that path? Aka are there similar classes of the same level, so that I can circumvent one lower level class that I don't like at all?
• Can I drive an Indycar on an Indycar course right away for hotlapping? (of course I need to buy car and track first)
• Same question, do I have to go through qualifications in lower classes to race against their AI?

There is a lot here but simply put if you buy the car and track you can practice or race in hosted events on it.

Each driver has a license which is only a record of corners per incidents. You could fast track to whatever license is needed just by driving around at the back.

Each week is a different circuit making up a season of 12 races. I believe you can drop a week or two as it only counts your top event finishes.

There are divisions split by irating but this is largely cosmetic, however the higher divisions hace some very competitive people.

Do a 3 month trial don't buy anything just have a go and everything is explained in the sporting code.

 

[Eckhart von Glan]

starting out in rookie oval you can pick between the street stock or the late model, both are run on tracks which come with your first subscription, e.g. the three month trial mentioned above.
you need to have finished a certain number of races (4 I think) to get out of rookie and into D-class. Only now is your iRating (skill) and Safety Rating (security) shown on results tables. You need another four races in either the two rookie series or the d-class series and a safety rating beyond 3.0 to get out of d-class and into c-class.
indycars are c-class.
you would then have to buy the indy car and probably many of the 12 tracks used in the season. some are picked from the free content but most will have to be bought. since you get a price reduction at either 3 or 6 items bought, it will make sense to buy the car plus five or more tracks. don't buy anything before the season schedule is out!!! (should be any day now.) don't buy anything if you don't fancy the competition / game / service 100%, after the three month trial you will not be able to access your content unless you subscribe!!!
This is the schedule the community voted on and sent in to iRacing. Usually they stick with it, dates will be changed, though:

Indianapolis Motor Speedway
Phoenix International Raceway
Pocono Raceway
Michigan International Speedway
Auto Club Speedway
Texas Motor Speedway
Homestead Miami Speedway
Las Vegas Motor Speedway
Atlanta Motor Speedway
Charlotte Motor Speedway
Chicagoland Speedway
Iowa Speedway

if memory serves me right, only charlotte is a free track, i might be wrong, though.
to complete the season you need to have finished a race (more than 50% of winner's laps) in eight of the twelve weeks. finishing the season will get you 4 dollars credit.
indycar is quite well populated, usually two grids in the evenings european time. the new car will raise interest for the next season, i bet.

 

[Eckhart von Glan]

Seriously, what kind of financial and time investment would I be looking at when wanting to do a bit of Indycar racing?

financial investment: minimum one month trial sub 7.80 dollars
download indycar 11.95 dollars, so overall about 20 dollars
this will let you run it on the tracks that come with the sub (i.e. charlotte) but only in test session or on hosted servers, not in the iRacing system where points for iRating and Safety Rating are awarded.

to really get going you should book the three month sub for 19.80 dollars and buy the car (11.95) and seven tracks (14.95 or 11.95 each) in one go, taking advantage then of the 6 items+ reduction of 15%. rounded numbers from here on: 3x12 dollars + 5x15 dollars equals 36+75 equals 111 dollars. deduce 15% (16 dollars) you come up with about 90 dollars. add the sub and you will have to fork over about 110 dollars.

 

[Eckhart von Glan]

What kind of classes do I have to go through during my journey before I am allowed to do Indycar?
Do I have choices on that path? Aka are there similar classes of the same level, so that I can circumvent one lower level class that I don't like at all?
Same question, do I have to go through qualifications in lower classes to race against their AI?

you can run all your races in rookie class and still advance, rookie only uses content that comes with sub and offers two different cars/series (s. my post above)
AI has not been installed yet and is not on the list of things coming up next week, so for the moment, no chance. As far as I understand, the answer to your question has not been anwered by iRacing yet.

 

[Mike Kadlcak]

Perhaps one of the more exciting confirmations comes news that the 2018 specification Dallara IndyCar will make its iRacing debut this March 6th, coming to a racing simulation for the very first time and as an additional bonus, it will be free for players who already own the previous version!

Correction... the car will only be free for those who bought the old car DW12 within 6 months.

Dallara DW12
- All users who had purchased this vehicle within the past six months will receive $11.95 in iRacing credits. This is to compensate for the release of the Dallara IR18 so soon after their investment. Thank you for your purchase!
- This vehicle has been added to the garage of all users!
- - The Dallara DW12 is now considered part of the iRacing default content.

 

[Eckhart von Glan]

makes sense. also the other, older version becoming free content just like its predecessor. It's the one item i wll buy, haven't done any oval in 2017, feeling the itch again. series will be nicely populated with a new ride on offer.

 

[Mike Kadlcak]

yea I will try to race ovals too till the new Indycar gets tire model v7 for the road races.

@dud you also don't have to race to advance in your Licence to get to D 4.0+ to be able to race indycars on ovals or road. You only have to do 4 races or 4 time trials to advance. So time trials also is an option.