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Hello iRacers,<\/span><\/p>\n As we approach the end of Season 4, 2024, we will soon welcome a new year of competition, experiences, and advancements to the iRacing platform. In last year\u2019s November update, I took an opportunity to reflect on 2023, which had been a landmark year for iRacing on many levels and seemed hard to top. Part of what makes iRacing special is it\u2019s foundationally built for continuous improvement, and thanks to our amazing customers, we are in a position to invest extensively in our product and team. As a result, each of the four seasons of 2024 offered many reasons to celebrate, including the landmark iRacing Weather System, which has set the standard in simulation racing, as well as a host of significant advancements across the sim, UI, and infrastructure: Oval Refresh, the Road License Split, the completion of the Damage System, significant advancements in the tools we use to make cars (I\u2019ll expand on this a bit later in this update), a full in-house CFD analysis program, and much more. We sure gave 2023 a run for its money, and I\u2019d say we topped it, but what makes me the most excited is that the team we\u2019ve been building up the last couple of years is just now hitting its stride, and we enter 2025 ready to set a new standard yet again. We have a lot to look forward to.<\/span><\/p>\n Let\u2019s begin with a preview of the upcoming Season 1, 2025 build, which will be released on Tuesday, December 10th. This is after a once-every-four-years leap season that extends Season 4, 2024, from the usual 12 weeks to 13 weeks. This is to account for schedule drift.<\/span><\/p>\n Season 1, 2025<\/b> is loaded with great new cars and tracks, spanning multiple racing categories.\u00a0 Let\u2019s begin with the five cars that will debut:<\/span><\/p>\n Supercars<\/span><\/span>:<\/span> New Supercars barely missed the last build, and we are happy to report that work is complete \u2013 both <\/span>Supercars Chevrolet Camaro Gen 3<\/b> and <\/span>Supercars Ford Mustang Gen 3<\/b> will be released with Season 1. This is an all-new generation of Supercar, and our team has worked hand-in-hand with the teams at Supercars, Chevrolet, and Ford to build these new cars from the ground up, using our latest and greatest physics modeling, tire modeling, and graphical fidelity.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n To soften the hit for recent purchasers of the current Supercars Ford Mustang GT and Supercars Holden ZB Commodore, we will be issuing credits to all who purchased those cars within the 365 days prior to the release of the new cars on the 10th.\u00a0 The amount of the credits will be determined by the recency of the purchase.\u00a0 That offer ends as of that time.\u00a0 The former cars will then be re-classified as [Legacy] content, and removed from use in racing series.<\/span><\/p>\n BMW M2 CSR<\/span><\/span>:<\/span> In collaboration with BMW Motorsports, we are thrilled to offer the BMW M2 CSR as the latest entry into our racing ladder at the Rookie level.\u00a0 This car will be based around the 365hp Club Sport engine package, and our team feels that it\u2019s one of the best driving cars for racers who are ready for a small step up in the level of challenge vs our traditional Rookie road sports cars. The M2 offers a nice increase in power, and, combined with its short wheelbase (responsive, but also edgy), the M2 is a great and engaging waypoint between true rookie cars and GT4 cars.<\/span><\/p>\n Given its position in the Rookie license class, we have decided to offer the BMW M2 CSR to all iRacers for free as part of our base content. We hope all iRacers will give the car a try, and we\u2019re confident that you\u2019ll be glad you did because it\u2019s a blast.<\/span><\/p>\n In addition to the M2 racecar, we will expand our fleet of iRacing safety cars with the addition of an all-new iRacing\/BMW M2 safety car. This car will be used at times in our series and will be selectable for you all in AI and Hosted iRacing.<\/span><\/p>\n Acura NSX GT3 Evo 22<\/span><\/span>:<\/span> We have been working closely with the great teams at HRC, Gradient Racing, and Racers Edge Motorsports, on the latest entry to our GT3 and Endurance series. The NSX GT3 Evo 22 features a 520 HP 3.5L DOHC twin-turbocharged engine and rounds off our endurance series (sponsored by IMSA) with a 10th GT3.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n Beyond being an amazing car to drive, the graphics and art team did an amazing job on the materials for this car.<\/span><\/p>\n Ferrari 499P<\/span><\/span>:<\/span>\u00a0 Together with Ferrari, we are so excited to bring the beautiful Ferrari 499P to iRacing.\u00a0 Our development collaborations have been extensive, including a visit to Ferrari HQ in Maranello, Italy, and collaboration with the real-world development team and drivers.\u00a0 The end result is fantastic \u2013 the 499P is incredible and thrilling to drive.\u00a0 The 499P will join our now 16-car-deep Endurance Series, as well as the BMW M Hybrid V8, Cadillac V-Series.R GTP, Acura ARX-06 GTP, and Porsche 963 GTP in a reconfigured\/reconstituted Prototype Challenge Series.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n This road-car-heavy build is stacked, and oval racing fans have a lot to look forward to in three short months in the March build (read on for more info).<\/span><\/p>\n Now for tracks.\u00a0 Season 1 offers an assortment of new road and oval tracks, as well as a continuation of our effort to get our older tracks up to current quality standards.<\/span><\/p>\n Thruxton Circuit<\/span><\/span>:<\/span>\u00a0With the release of Thruxton we are expanding our UK offering in back-to-back builds, and have really assembled a great regional collection of road racing circuits.\u00a0 Often referred to as the \u201cFastest Circuit in the UK\u201d, this 3.79 km circuit hosts a wide variety of racing in real life, including BTCC, TCR UK, and recently British F3 and British GT, and has seen cars reach speeds of over 190 mph.\u00a0 Visually, the circuit has some similarities to nearby Silverstone, and both were RAF airfields in the 1940s.<\/span><\/p>\n The iRacing art team has really done a spectacular job with Thruxton, building upon the processes they used at Cadwell that incorporated drone-captured photogrammetry into the in-sim artwork.\u00a0 At Thruxton, you will find incredible detail across the landscape, including a fully drivable infield airstrip (save your explorations for local testing and privately hosted events, please! \ud83d\ude42<\/span><\/p>\n Huset\u2019s Speedway<\/span><\/span>:<\/span>\u00a0 Announced last quarter and now ready for release, Huset\u2019s is a 3\/8-mile dirt oval in Brandon, South Dakota.\u00a0 Huset\u2019s has a long history of racing, going back all the way to 1953, and was renewed in 2020 with new ownership and was featured on the All Star circuit.\u00a0 As well as being featured in the iRacing sim, Huset\u2019s Speedway will eventually be released in <\/span>World of Outlaws: Dirt Racing 24<\/span><\/i> as DLC.<\/span><\/p>\n New Hampshire Motor Speedway<\/span><\/span> (Refresh):<\/span> New Hampshire (NHMS) is one of the closest race tracks to iRacing HQ and is a special location for many iRacing employees who race or who have raced there in the past, both on the oval and road course.\u00a0 NHMS was also one of the first tracks added to iRacing, making its debut in June 2009.\u00a0 A lot has changed between now and then, both in terms of the facility, but also how we make tracks at iRacing and the quality of artwork that we produce today.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n New Hampshire marks the first track in a product-wide initiative to refresh all NASCAR tracks and bring them up to spec.\u00a0 We\u2019re calling this project \u201cNASCAR Refresh\u201d, and are happy to update the tracks for such an important group of iRacers and one of our closest partners.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n NASCAR Refresh updates will be automatic and free for all who already own the tracks.<\/span><\/p>\n Las Vegas Motor Speedway<\/span><\/span> (Refresh):<\/span>\u00a0 Las Vegas (LVMS) is also being updated alongside NHMS.\u00a0 It\u2019s a bit farther behind in terms of progress, and there\u2019s a chance we\u2019ll just miss the Dec deadline, but we\u2019re very close, and the update looks amazing.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n Debris Refresh<\/span><\/span>:<\/span> iRacing has the best dynamic track dynamics (DTD) system in sim racing, supported by multiple devs with experience creating dynamic track systems in three racing sims\/games.\u00a0 This foundational system powers a multitude of elements and factors that dynamically change around our tracks, where weather, track activity, and time can all create change to the surfaces and on-track experience.\u00a0 DTD evolved considerably with the addition of rain but hadn\u2019t seen a core improvement before rain for some time.\u00a0 With the S1 build, DTD will be improved to track and render dynamic gravel and mud.\u00a0 It will also be enhanced so we can \u201cset dress\u201d areas of the track to be debris-strewn, a factor in real life that we don\u2019t currently have.\u00a0 For example, the shoulder of the road along Mulsanne Straight at Le Mans is littered with debris in real life, and racers avoid it.\u00a0 In iRacing, it is pristine and has led to unrealistic lines.\u00a0 Debris Refresh solves this problem.<\/span><\/p>\n Future evolutions of Debris Refresh sets a foundation for additional tire-related features, such as puncture damage.<\/span><\/p>\n AI Behavior Improvements<\/span><\/span>:<\/span> To make our AI racers feel more lifelike, our AI engineers have started the foundational work to give individual AI more lifelike behaviors.\u00a0 To begin, they will flash their headlights at you in a racing-appropriate way, such as in multiclass racing when a prototype approaches a GT car at high speed or is coming up on a lapped car.\u00a0 Later, this system will be expanded to give the AI more distinct behaviors.<\/span><\/p>\n Tire Model enhancements<\/span><\/span>:<\/span> Our latest release-ready tire version will be added across the GTP class and LMP2.\u00a0 Work is also underway to add this tire to NASCAR Cup, and later other Oval cars.\u00a0 The benefits of this significant tire model evolution include\u2026<\/span><\/p>\n Note that this is our newest and most advanced <\/span>release-ready<\/span> tire model, but work never ends at iRacing. Dave Kaemmer, Terence Groening, and the physics team have been hard at work on their next tire version, which we expect will be a revolutionary advancement in iRacing tire modeling. More info is available below in the ongoing\/future development section of this update.<\/span><\/p>\n Series Redesign<\/span><\/span>:<\/span> Our UX team, designers, and web developers have been hard at work redesigning and streamlining some of the most heavily used and important pages on iRacing: the series pages. The modal-based page (the pop-up) is gone, and the replacement is more expandable for future functionality and also permalinkable!\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n Graphics Engine enhancements<\/span><\/span>:<\/span> We recently shared the exciting news that our (stacked!) graphics team has begun the incredibly important and extensive task of building a new graphics engine for the iRacing sim. This engine will transform iRacing graphically and also in terms of performance.\u00a0 However, that will take some time, and it is not our intention to leave iRacers without graphics improvements between now and then.\u00a0 We are super excited that Season 1 will include a significant improvement to our specular lighting model, where we have refined our environment map filtering to more closely align with our PBR lighting model.\u00a0 We\u2019ve also improved math which formerly led to a result that was less realistic than desired.\u00a0 Previously the reflected scene was both too bright and too blurry.\u00a0 Additionally, we are no longer rendering specular into the cubemap.\u00a0 This had led to shaded areas appearing too brightly lit and even shiny.\u00a0 The combination of these changes helps bring new life to iRacing\u2019s models and environments.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n Take a look at the screenshots to see for yourself.\u00a0 Note how the orange color of the IndyCar pops with clarity never before seen on iRacing.\u00a0 Note the cladding near the movie theatre sign, and how it now comes to life and interacts with the sky and light.\u00a0 Note the sky imparts far more impact, both on the world and the car in the brighter Porsche GTP scene than it does in the darker one (which is the old lighting.)\u00a0 Additionally, we had made an effort to correct the overly strong influence of the color yellow on our rendered world.\u00a0 Now, through our more advanced lighting, the remaining inaccurate hue will be addressed \u2013 we\u2019re really excited about that.<\/span><\/p>\n Bump Start<\/span><\/span>:<\/span> We\u2019d hoped to have bump starts when we debuted the GTP race car category last year.\u00a0 However, it\u2019s a small feature in concept, but far more complex when it comes to implementation the iRacing way (a true physical and mechanical simulation of the process, the systems involved, and all the nitty gritty details required to make that happen). With the S1 build, bump starts have been added to our entire GTP fleet, and support will debut in Dec.\u00a0 For now, enjoy the below recording:<\/span><\/p>\n2025 Season 1 Cars<\/h3>\n
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<\/p>\n2025 Season 1 Tracks<\/h3>\n
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<\/p>\n2025 Season 1 New Features<\/b><\/h3>\n
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