2026 INDYCAR Thrustmaster iRacing Pro Series | Race Preview | Race 4 at Mugello Circuit

The fourth round of the INDYCAR Thrustmaster iRacing Pro Series will take the 33 top-ranked virtual IndyCar competitors overseas for the first time in series history, over to Italy to take on the Autodromo Internazionale del Mugello on Thursday night. Returning to the road, Mugello can still add a bit of uncertainty in its fantasy element on this schedule. Still, it will be expected that the heavy hitters from Team Redline, Coanda Esports, Williams F1 Team Gaming, and Drago Racing will be players at the front of the field. That’s not to discount our two most-recent winners—WSR Esports’ Jaden Munoz and Team VRS’s Michele Costantini—as they look to usurp Team Redline’s Luke McKeown from the top of the leaderboard.

Coverage at Mugello Circuit begins at 8:00 p.m. ET, and will be live on IndyCar’s YouTube channel, as well as across all of iRacing’s social media channels.

TRACK FACTS – AUTODROMO INTERNAZIONALE DEL MUGELLO

After half a century’s worth of events on public roads were brought to an abrupt halt in 1970, Autodromo Internazionale del Mugello was constructed in 1973 and opened a year later to bring premier racing events back to the area. It quickly became host to major sports car events, lower-level open-wheel series, and grand prix motorcycle racing, for which it has hosted the Italian motorcycle Grand Prix for the past 30 years. In the COVID-19 impacted 2020 Formula 1 World Driver’s Championship, it hosted the series for the first time with the Tuscan Grand Prix.

Mugello features two layouts: its 3.259-mile, 15-turn Grand Prix layout, and a 1.4-mile Short configuration. Both start with its lengthy front straightaway and go into the 180-degree San Donato right-hander before heading into Luco and Poggio Secco. The track has been owned by Scuderia Ferrari since 1988, which uses it for both testing and the Ferrari Challenge Finali Mondiali; the Tuscan Grand Prix in 2020 marked its 1000th Grand Prix event.

LAST RACE: COSTANTINI WINS IN PHOTO FINISH AT INDIANAPOLIS

Indianapolis Motor Speedway delivered a virtual instant classic last week, specifically in the final six laps of the show between many of the best to ever do it on the famed speedway in Speedway, Indiana. A rookie to the series but a veteran of the combination, Powerslide’s Alexander Russell led the way back to the green. Under a blanket, the top-eight changed positions, with last year’s winner, Team Hype’s Robert Maleczka III taking control at one point. On the final lap, Team VRS driver Michele Costantini lined everything up perfectly, nailing each bit of momentum to the line. Across the yard of bricks, they were three-wide. Russell and Maleczka III were the first two off of Turn 4, but defeating them both was Costantini by a nose.

DRIVERS STANDINGS ENTERING MUGELLO CIRCUIT

1. No. 96 Luke McKeown | Team Redline Honda, 90 points
2. No. 66 Michele Costantini | Team VRS, -10
3. No. 53 Michael Romanidis | Drago Racing Chevy, -14
4. No. 19 Philip Kraus | Team HYPE w/ Powerslide Chevy, -19
   No. 27 Alexander Russell [R] | Powerslide Motorsports Chevy, -19

LAST SEASON

Mugello Circuit is a brand-new addition to the 2026 INDYCAR Thrustmaster iRacing Pro Series schedule. It replaces a pair of road courses from the original schedule, including Barber Motorsports Park, which lost the fan vote to Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course to be the seventh race of this season, as well as the road course on Indianapolis Motor Speedway, which opened the series in 2024. Barber was the fourth race of the 2024 season, and that event was won by the current points leader, Luke McKeown.

NEXT RACE: PHOENIX RISES FOR SECOND HALF OF SEASON DEBUT

Next week, the second half of the 2026 INDYCAR Thrustmaster iRacing Pro Series begins with the second of three oval races on the calendar, this one at Phoenix Raceway on February 5th. Phoenix was a staple on the NTT INDYCAR Series up until 2005, returning for a short stint from 2016 to 2018 before its removal for the last seven seasons. Phoenix will return to the real-world schedule again in 2026, on March 7th, sharing the weekend with the NASCAR contingent, which has used the popular 1-mile venue to host its Championship race for the last few seasons. As always, eyes will be on the Team Hype and Powerslide Motorsports crews, as well as the first oval winner of the season, Team VRS’s Michele Costantini.

All of the action starts at 8:00 p.m. ET, and will be live on INDYCAR’s YouTube channel, as well as across all of iRacing’s social media channels.

For more information on the INDYCAR Thrustmaster iRacing Pro Series, visit www.iracing.com/indycar-esports/.
For more information on iRacing and for special offers, visit www.iracing.com.

You may also like...

Recommended

iRacing Weekly Tune-in | eSports & Community Events | January 29th to February 4th, 2026

Recommended

Hunter Rich becomes ninth different 2025-26 World of Outlaws iRacing Pro Series winner in nine races after Fairbury victory

Recommended

2025-26 eNASCAR College iRacing Series | Michigan Time Attack Open Now

Recommended

This Week in iRacing | January 27th to February 2nd, 2026