“We’re excited to offer the Ruf RT12R to iRacers around the world,” said Steve Myers, Executive Vice President and Producer, iRacing.com Motorsport Simulation, LLC. “We’re proud of the assortment of virtual race cars we have available, but iRacers have made it clear they also want high-performance, exotic automobiles in our service. The Ruf RT12R certainly fits the bill. It’s a superb piece of automotive sculpture, with performance that is nothing short of breathtaking.”

At the heart of the Ruf’s performance is a 3.8 liter, twin-turbo, flat six engine producing 730 horsepower and nearly 700 lb/ft of torque. Coupled with a six speed transmission, the RT12R has a top speed of 230 mph.

“Ruf is pleased to partner with iRacing.com in building a digital version of the RT12R,” said Estonia Ruf, Director of Marketing, Ruf Automobile GmbH. “For more than 70 years Ruf has been recognized for the craftsmanship and cutting-edge engineering that goes into all of our automobiles. Although it is a young company, comparatively speaking, iRacing clearly shares those core values of craftsmanship and engineering excellence.”

iRacing vehicle dynamic engineers will begin the process of creating a digital prototype of the RT12R later this spring. When completed, the prototype will undergo a rigorous testing and development process in order to insure the virtual Ruf drives just like the real one. iRacing expects to make its Ruf RT12R available to iRacing members in the fall of 2012.

“We’re delighted that Donington Park is becoming part of the iRacing service,” says Divina Galica, iRacing’s director of partner relations (and former Donington Park lap record holder).  “It goes without saying that Donington has an amazing history but, perhaps even more importantly for our membership, it ranks among the most scenic and demanding circuits in the world.  I’m sure iRacers from the Americas, Europe, Africa and Asia will be chomping at the bit to come to grips with Redgate, the Craner Curves, McLeans and the many other challenges presented by Donington Park.”

The fourth English facility to become part of the iRacing family of circuits, Donington Park will join Silverstone, Brands Hatch and Oulton Park among the more than fifty tracks available on the online service.   As with all its tracks, the iRacing team will utilize state-of-the-art laser-scanning and photography to insure the millimeter accuracy of its digital versions of Donington’s Grand Prix and National circuits as well as the ancillary buildings and surrounding terrain, including Castle Donington.

“Donington Park is excited to be joining iRacing’s catalogue of the world’s great motorsports facilities,” says Christopher Tate, managing director of Donington Park Racing.  “iRacing deservedly enjoys a reputation for accuracy and authenticity, not just in the recreation of the physical facilities and its race cars, but in the actual racing experience itself.  We’re thrilled that sim racers the world over will soon be facing the demands of Donington Park from the comfort of their homes.”

iRacing plans to release the virtual Donington Park to its members in 2013.

Online Motorsports Simulation Service & Its 30,000 Members To Prepare & Sponsor Action Sports Star in 2012 Season

Bedford, MA (February 24, 2012) –  When 11-time X Games gold medal winner and action sports superstar Travis Pastrana takes on the NASCAR world in 2012 a key weapon in his arsenal will be iRacing.

With its laser-scanned tracks and cars, the online motorsports simulation site will serve as a vital tool in preparing Pastrana for the tracks he’ll race on in the 2012 NASCAR Nationwide and K&N East Series competition.  In addition to practicing on his own, Pastrana will compete with his fellow iRacers in online races using digital versions cars and tracks he’ll be seeing in the two NASCAR series.

iRacing logos will also be on the side of his car as primary sponsor in four East races: Richmond Intl. Raceway on April 26, Langley Speedway on June 23, Iowa Speedway on Aug. 3 and New Hampshire Motor Speedway on Sept. 22.

“iRacing is the best tool I can imagine to get ready for my season,” said Pastrana who’ll race with iRacing’s 30,000 members online several times in 2012 with exact digital versions of the cars and tracks he’ll race.

“iRacing has the cars and tracks I’ll be racing, and I’ll be up against the best sim racers in the world every week getting ready for my races. So even though I haven’t actually been to many of the tracks we’ll be racing on this year, when practice starts I’ll already have some races under my belt against some tough competition.

Pastrana has been successful in every form of motorsports he’s tried – from motocross and supercross to rallying. But he’s well aware of the challenges ahead of him as he transitions to the top ranks of stock car racing. He knows iRacing will prepare him.

“It’s really exciting to think my fellow iRacers will get a chance to be part of my season. The harder they race me, the better . . . and the more fun we’ll all have. I can’t wait to get started.”

Pastrana Nationwide Schedule

Richmond                            April 27

Darlington                            May 11

Charlotte                             May 26

New Hampshire                  July 14

Chicagoland                        July 22

Indianapolis                        July 28

Atlanta                              Sept. 1

Pastrana K&N Schedule

Bristol                         March 17

Greenville Pickens       March 31

Richmond                   April 26

Iowa                          May 19

Bowman Gray            June 2

Langley                      June 23

Iowa                          Aug. 3

Greenville-Pickens      Sept. 3

New Hampshire         Sept. 22

Dover                        Sept. 28

Rockingham               Nov.3

“We’re really excited about the iRacing.com Skip Barber Racing School Premier Series and the associated prize packages,” says Dave Kaemmer, co-founder and chief executive officer of iRacing.com.  “In addition to being a lot of fun, iRacing has proven to be a valuable tool for aspiring and established race drivers alike.   Enabling some of our top performers to experience the Skip Barber Racing School is a natural extension of iRacing’s role as a driver development tool.  As a Skip Barber Racing School alumnus I can attest to the fact that these iRacers will benefit immensely from both the three day and the one day schools.”

The iRacing.com Premier Series will begin on March 7 and feature races on alternating Wednesdays, with two events scheduled each day to enable iRacers from various time zones to participate.  The top three finishers will be determined based on the championship points accumulated by each driver in any 10 of the Series’ 12 races.  The series’ runner-up, third place finisher and a competitor selected at random will be awarded scholarships to the one day Skip Barber Racing School Introduction to Racing School.  The winner of the random draw will be chosen from among those drivers who compete in the entire series, regardless of their finishing position in the championship.

“The iRacing.com Skip Barber Racing School Premier Series is the perfect synergy between two world leaders in race driver education,” says Skip Barber Racing School Director of Sales and Marketing, Erik Pineda.  “Skip Barber Racing School has long recognized the vital role of motorsports simulation in the ongoing development of race drivers’ skill sets.  In fact, we were among the first organizations to partner with iRacing.com, and we encourage our students to utilize its state-of-the-art features to augment their experiences at the School.   We’re looking forward to working with some of iRacing’s top drivers on this next, critical rung of the racing ladder.”

In addition to the Skip Barber Racing School Premier Series, iRacing.com will continue to run its popular regular weekly Skip Barber Racing School Race Series.  As with all regular iRacing series, the Skip Barber Racing School Race Series runs four 12 week seasons during the course of each calendar year with champions crowned in multiple divisions.  Participants will be eligible to win a random drawing for one Skip Barber Racing School Introduction to Racing School, while two competitors who compete in a full season of the iRacing.com Skip Barber Race Series will be chosen at random to win a Skip Barber Racing School 3-Day Racing School.

“This is great news for iRacing and the online racing community,” said Tony Gardner, president of iRacing.com.  “The performance of the real-world Cadillac CTS-V is truly astonishing, and I’m sure the more than 30,000 iRacers around the world will be eager to get their hands on our digital version of this world class car.”

Based on the 556-horsepower CTS-V Coupe, Team Cadillac is preparing CTS-V race edition cars for the 2012 Pirelli World Challenge season.  Led by veteran racers Andy Pilgrim and Johnny O’Connell, who ended the 2011 season in second place in the manufacturer’s chase, Cadillac is looking to further expand its CTS V-Series performance brand experience in 2012.

“We’re excited to join with iRacing in producing the first virtual version of the Cadillac CTS-V race car,” said John Kraemer, Cadillac V-Series and racing marketing manager.  “Our two organizations share a reputation for innovation and engineering excellence, and this partnership will enable people around the world to experience the CTS-V world-class performance on the world’s great race tracks from the comfort of their homes.”

iRacing personnel will travel to the Team Cadillac race shop, Pratt & Miller Engineering, near Detroit in the coming weeks to begin the process of creating a digital version of the CTS-V.  In addition to utilizing CAD files and blueprints, the iRacing vehicle dynamics engineers will take precise measurements of one of the Pirelli World Challenge Cadillacs to insure the authenticity of the car’s appearance and performance.  As is the case with real world auto makers, iRacing will develop a prototype for testing and development in order to insure the virtual Cadillac CTS-V drives just like the real one.  iRacing’s Cadillac CTS-V is expected to be available to iRacing members in the spring of 2012.

In addition to developing the virtual CTS-V, iRacing and Cadillac are planning a dynamic marketing campaign to maximize the benefits of their new partnership.  Details will be announced shortly.

About iRacing.com

iRacing was founded in September, 2004 by Dave Kaemmer and John Henry.  Kaemmer was co-founder of Papyrus Design Group, developers of award-winning racing simulations including NASCAR Racing: 2003 Season and Grand Prix Legends.  Henry is principle owner of the Boston Red Sox and Fenway Sports Group – the co-owner of Roush Fenway Racing – as well as an avid sim racer.  The iRacing.com team combines more than 100 years of real-world racing experience with more than 50 years of successful racing simulation development.

More information on iRacing.com can be found at www.iracing.com.

About Cadillac

Cadillac has been a leading luxury auto brand since 1902. In recent years, Cadillac has engineered a historic renaissance led by artful engineering and advanced technology. More information on Cadillac can be found at media.cadillac.com.

Featuring precise versions of dozens of race cars and laser-scanned replicas of many of the world’s great race circuits, iRacing.com enables its members around the world to race against each other online, in real-time.  iRacing’s membership currently includes more than 30,000 people from some 80 countries, including “real-world” racing professionals Dale Earnhardt, Jr., Justin and Stefan Wilson, Will Power, Simon Pagenaud and Shane van Gisbergen.

After initially focusing on its home market with North American circuits and race cars, iRacing.com has increasingly expanded its international horizons, adding cars such as the Williams-Toyota FW31, Lotus 79, Ford Falcon V8 Supercar and Radical SR8 as well as Brands Hatch, Silverstone, Phillip Island, Spa-Francorchamps, Suzuka and Zandvoort to its catalogue.  The company currently has a number of international circuits under development and is in negotiation to add several new circuits and cars to its inventory.

iRacing.com will have all of its current cars and circuits loaded on two, state-of-the-art VRX simulators at its Autosport International exhibit. Everyone attending the show is cordially invited to visit Booth 7245 and take a few laps!  In addition, the SimCraft APEX3 GT motion simulator will also be running iRacing software at Booth E464 in the Engineering Hall.

The first event will see the Pros racing their digital Chevrolet Silverados for 25 laps under the lights on iRacing’s virtual version of Charlotte Motor Speedway. In the “night cap,” the Pros will tackle Watkins Glen International’s Cup Course for ten laps in their Mazda MX5s.

More than two dozen professional race drivers are expected to compete in Wednesday’s races including NASCAR Sprint Cup champion Bobby Labonte, GRAND-AM Rolex Series champion Alex Gurney, ALMS GT champion Joey Hand, IndyCar drivers Justin Wilson and Sebastian Saavedra, perennial NHRA Funny Car winner Ron Capps, Australian V8 Supercar front runner Shane van Gisbergen and Formula One veterans Stefan Johansson and Scott Speed.

“Everyone at iRacing is tremendously excited by the prospects of this event,” says Tony Gardner, President of iRacing.com. “How cool is it to have big names from most of the top series racing each other . . . from the comfort of their living rooms around the world? It’s a testament to the incredible strides online racing has made in just the past couple of years.  And the best is yet to come.”

“I’m really looking forward to Wednesday,” says Capps. “It’s going to be fun racing against guys from NASCAR, F1, IndyCar, ALMS and GRAND-AM . . . showing everyone I can race for more than a quarter mile, not to mention turn left AND right. And the fact that fans all over the world can watch it live makes it even more special.  I can’t wait.”

Aside from bragging rights, there’s nearly $2,000 at stake, as iRacing will make contributions to the top three finishers’ favorite charities. The overall winner will be determined by the cumulative results from both races, with iRacing donating $1,500 to his favorite charity, $500 to the charity of the runner-up and $250 to the third placed driver’s charity of choice.

A list of expected participants for the iRacing.com Pro Race of Champions is below.

Qualifying for the iPRoC starts at 8 pm eastern time on Wednesday, December 14.  Be sure and catch all the action on www.iracing.com.

Joey Logano – NASCAR

Alex Gurney – GRAND-AM

Bobby Labonte – NASCAR

Ron Capps – NHRA

Justin Wilson – INDYCAR

Shane van Gisbergen – Aussie V8 Supercars

Scott Speed – NASCAR / F1

Stefan Johansson – F1 & CART

Matt Plumb – GRAND-AM

Colin Braun – NASCAR

Joey Hand – ALMS

Timmy Hill – NASCAR

Tommy Kendall – IMSA / TV Broadcaster

Trevor Hopwood – GRAND-AM

Frank Kimmel II – ARCA

Martin Plowman – INDYCAR

Barry Waddell – GRAND-AM

Josh Wise – NASCAR

IZOD IndyCar Series competitors are currently poised to begin testing brand new cars for the 2012 season. It goes without saying it will be a painful process for team owners, who have to purchase new equipment after running essentially the same cars for the best part of a decade. But it will also be painful for drivers, engineers and mechanics, at least in the sense they will be operating outside the comfort zone they developed working with the old Dallara.

It’s a process with which the Formula One teams are quite familiar, not just because they design and develop new cars every season, but they had to adjust to Pirelli tires in 2011 after three seasons with Bridgestone as F1’s sole tire supplier.

Initial reaction to NASCAR's Car of Tomorrow was mixed -- at best.

NASCAR? Just this season the Nationwide Series switched over to its version of the Car of Tomorrow. And speaking of the COT, who can forget the COT’s – at times – rocky introduction in the 2007? Or Kyle Busch’s immortal words after winning the COT’s debut race at Bristol: “I can’t stand to drive them. They suck.”

Others were a lot more measured in their comments.

“The cars still drive the same,” said Tony Stewart at the time. “They’re either tight or they’re loose or you’re working with grip. It’s those three things all the time. It’s just a matter of the crews figuring out what the cars like and what they don’t like. After that, it’s back to those three basics.”

iRacing is currently experiencing its own version of No Pain, No Gain with the release of the New Tire Model to seven additional cars in the Season 4 build. Not surprisingly, more than a few iRacers are focusing on the “pain” element of the equation . . . and are not shy about expressing their opinions in the iRacing forums.

“iRacing should be ashamed about this new tire model adjustment. It is bad. It takes all the fun out of it!!!!!”

“I drove the street stock and the Late Model and also the trucks. They have missed it bad on the LM.”

“The new tire model is consistently inconsistent . . . I can’t get a 10 lap run in without spinning-out no matter what I do to my setup; car is very wishy-washy and not stable. At least before if you were sideways you could recover the car and now if you are sideways it’s around you go!”

Or to be concise:

“Garbage, plain and simple.”

In the interest of equal time (or, if you prefer, fair and balanced news), it should be noted there are plenty of members posting positive comments on the iRacing forums, opining that, after some adjustments in chassis set-ups and driving style, the new virtual new rubber is a step forward.

“It’s just a matter of the crews figuring out what the cars like and what they don’t like.” — Tony Stewart

“I just have a feeling the driving styles haven’t adapted. Good to hear that you have to be on top of the wheel and really drive the car rather than fling it in and mash it out.”

“The real problem is that people don’t realize that they have to completely relearn the car. Everything changes — your steering inputs may need to slow down (or speed up), your braking points will change, you may have to be smoother getting on the gas, etc, etc.

“The people that are having problems are those that haven’t taken time to reset their driving style and learn the car as it is now. And it’s especially hard for the MX5 people since the OTM MX5 would let you get away with murder.”

It’s also worth noting that iRacing has been very “up-front” in conceding the NTM is a work in progress. The build notes for Season 4 specifically note that fact, along with ongoing issues related to lack of lateral stiffness, tire behavior at slow speed and the fact that some car values “may fluctuate in the garage.”

“The Season 4 New Tire Model is an ‘in progress’ update, so there are ‘issues,’” explains iRacing software engineer Grant Reeve. “Some people are fixating on what is not yet working as they expect (tire pressures, camber, etc) or is simply buggy (unpredictable behavior of tires in garage). We shouldn’t – and we don’t — pretend these things don’t exist. But members need to know that if they can look past these work in progress issues they can have a fantastic driving experience, and that is what we’re trying to share with them, and that the other issues will keep getting better as the tire model improves over time.”

“. . . the other issues will keep getting better as the tire model improves over time.” — Grant Reeve

The key phrase there is “as the tire model improves over time.” Just as the IndyCar chassis that Dallara ultimately delivers to its customers in 2012 will differ in a hundred different ways from the original prototype, just as Pirelli’s Formula One R&D program is ongoing and just as today’s Sprint Cup car is very different from the COT of 2007, so the NTM will continue to evolve. It’s not as if iRacing released the Season 4 build and simply cast the NTM and baseline chassis setups in concrete. Working in collaboration with their real world racing counterparts, iRacing engineers are continuing development on the NTM, chassis setups and a host of other issues – including, most assuredly, the superspeedway drafting model. Indeed, updates of the Late Model and the Mazda MX-5 are on the fast-track (most likely they’ll be released within the next couple of weeks), with the speedway drafting model updated well in advance of the 2012 Season 1 build.

On the other hand, just as competitors in IndyCar, F1 and NASCAR Sprint Cup have upped their games to meet the challenges posed by new cars and tires, so iRacers need to adapt to the challenges posed by the NTM . . . challenges that, in the end, are little different from those posed by the old tire model.

So while development continues apace on the NTM at iRacing.com, iRacers would do well to remember that, old school Sprint Cup car or COT, Dallara IR05 or Dallara DW001, Bridgestones or Pirellis, OTM or NTM, it all still comes down to who best figures out “what the cars like and what they don’t like.” After all, it’s an approach that seems to be working well for Tony Stewart these days.

Alfalla got his season off to a flying start with a win in the series opener at Daytona International Speedway, then steered his Chevrolet Impala to victory at Richmond International Raceway and Texas Motor Speedway to put him in position to the win the title.  Despite a disappointing 27^th place finish, he clinched the championship at Phoenix International Raceway with one race remaining in the season.

“I was hoping to be a contender this year, “ says the resident of Cape Coral, FL, “but never thought things would go so smoothly.  From the win at Daytona, the season had amazing flow and I was able to bring home good finishes almost every week.”

Luis, of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, took a little longer to steer his Williams-Toyota FW31 into the winners circle, not scoring his first iRacing.com NVIDIA Grand Prix Series win until mid-season at Sebring International Raceway.  But a four race winning streak at the Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course, Circuit de Spa-Francorchamps, Road America and Okayama International Circuit put him in the drivers seat.  Like Alfalla, he clinched his world championship in the penultimate race of the season, coming home second at Suzuka International Racing Course.

Also like his fellow champion, Luis was slightly (if pleasantly) surprised by his championship run.

“Before the season started I knew it would be really tough and that it would be hard to be in the top five,” he says.  “My expectations were to get at least top-fives and some podium finishes, since we have a really strong grid this season. But I was surprised to be on the podium from Round One.”

Alfalla and Luis have more in common than their new iRacing World Championship titles.  As champions of the NASCAR iRacing.com Series World Championship and the iRacing.com NVIDIA Grand Prix Series, they will each receive a cash prize of $10,500 together with a racing jacket and championship trophy.

“On behalf of the more than 30,000 iRacers worldwide, it’s my pleasure to congratulate Ray and Hugo on their championships,” says Tony Gardner, president of iRacing.  “They are both very deserving champions of intense, season-long competition in which they raced against and beat the world’s best sim racers.  I speak for everyone at iRacing.com when I say we could not be prouder to have Ray Alfalla and Hugo Luis represent iRacing as our oval and road racing world champions.”

Alfalla and Luis will not be alone in celebrating the fruits of the 2011 NASCAR iRacing.com Series World Championship and iRacing.com NVIDIA Grand Prix Series.   John Gorlinsky (Manasquan, NJ) and Greger Huttu (Vaasa, Finland) – last year’s iNGPS champion – each take home $3,500 in cash and prizes as championship runners up, while third place finishers – Thomas Hazard (Rochester, MN) and Klaus Kivekäs (Kirkkonummi, Finland) — will be awarded $1,500 apiece as part of a prize package totaling nearly than $35,000 for the top twelve finishers in the two series.

Looking to join the online racing? iRacing is offering a special subscription package for new members including six cars, eight tracks and rookie licenses in both oval and road racing at more than 60% off the regular cost (http://www.iracing.com/2-free/). And catch iRacing’s latest video (http://www.youtube.com/user/iRacingTV#p/c/55FD8A5F9F5FB3E2/0/s5BZU_XOEmU) to see what all the fun is about.

The McLaren MP4-12C GT3 project is the second development from iRacing.com and the McLaren Group. Earlier this year, iRacing.com incorporated McLaren Electronics’ ATLAS Express data analysis software into the iRacing service, providing the more than 30,000 iRacers access to data acquisition and telemetry software similar to that used on every car competing in the FIA Formula One™ World Championship.

“It’s great to be working with McLaren on another exciting project that utilizes the outstanding technical know-how of our two organizations,” says Tony Gardner, president of iRacing.com. “We’re excited that we’ll be making our version of the McLaren MP4-12C GT3 available to the more than 30,000 iRacers next year.”

A McLaren spokesman said “McLaren Automotive are delighted that iRacing.com has chosen to develop a virtual edition of the MP4-12C GT3. We believe that the innovative features of the MP4-12C alongside our GT3 specification modifications will make an exciting proposition for online simulation racing fans. McLaren made extensive use of simulator technology in the development of the MP4-12C, and we hope this project will allow our fans to get a taste of the GT3 car and inspire the online community to show their support for the McLaren GT teams during the 2012 season.”

The McLaren MP4-12C GT3 utilizes the same carbon MonoCell chassis as the 12C road car, mated with the M838T 3.8 litre V8 twin turbo engine tuned in accordance with FIA regulations. The 12C GT3 features an aero package which was developed in McLaren’s Formula 1™ simulator together with the engine calibration, power steering, spring rates, weight distribution, gear ratios and differential settings.

Designed to be made available to a limited number of customer teams in 2012, McLaren began development of the 12C GT3 in March of this year. Initial tests at the MIRA proving ground and Silverstone were followed by additional testing at Circuito de Navarra in northern Spain and Autodromo Internacional do Algarve in Portugal. The McLaren MP4-12C GT3 made its competition debut in the British GT Championship at Spa-Francorchamps in July and has since raced in the Total 24 hours of Spa and Blancpain Endurance Series race at Magny Cours. In August, McLaren announced that the first 20 MP4-12C GT3 race cars had been sold.

You can see for yourself the performance of McLaren’s MP4-12C GT3 in the following videos:

http://youtu.be/375-d3t0guw?hd=1

http://youtu.be/en0n-XD03TA