Rain is imminent! Plus, there’s new cars and tracks, an improved protest system, AND updates on Career Mode, the UI, and the graphics engine!

WATCH: HUGE CHANGES On The Way! | iRacing Development Update

Could rain in iRacing finally be upon us?

iRacing’s Executive Producer Greg Hill hit the forums once again this week for their November Development Update – and on top of an update on the long-awaited wet weather experience, there’s new cars, tracks, protest updates and much more on the way.

With Season 1 just around the corner, these next few weeks could see the release of the biggest updates iRacing has seen for a very long time. Here’s our rundown on everything you need to know – plus my thoughts and theories on what might be coming next.

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Weather/Rain

Kicking-off with the big one, Greg didn’t outright confirm the introduction of rain ahead of Season 1, but he did note that its release is imminent.

Rain is just one part of iRacing’s complex new weather systems, which use real-world data directly from each circuit, in combination with physics-driven weather patterns and dynamic track development, to deliver what Greg claims is an experience that is “unparalleled in simulation/gaming.”

When it rains, puddles will form in life-like ways, again driven by their physics engine, and you’ll feel tugs of resistance as you push through them. In full-wet conditions, cars will aquaplane and you’ll have to use all of your ability to stay on track. Aero-heavy racecars will “vacuum” up surface water and spray it into the air, rapidly creating a drier racing line – the iRacing team have gone all-out in trying to replicate the real-world wet-weather driving experience as best they can.

Greg did highlight that rather than just adding a generic rain tire to each car, every single one of iRacing’s 100+ cars is going through its own wet weather R&D process to ensure the driving experience is as realistic as possible. Because of this, rain support will be added to iRacing in batches, with Greg noting that the initial release is likely to include the Formula 1600, the Toyota GR86 and the Ferrari 296 GT3. Ferrari Challenge wet races? Sign me up!

The iRacing team started working on these new weather systems all the way back in January 2020. From a small crew of R&D staff to dozens of engineers, artists, designers and testers, almost 4 years of hard work is only months – or perhaps only even weeks – away from going live.

My theory? Major updates always come to iRacing in quarterly cycles, so if we don’t see rain ahead of Season 1 in December, we won’t see it until February next year at the earliest. Personally, I don’t believe Greg would have mentioned which cars are likely to be included in the initial release unless they’re really pushing to go live with them ahead of Season 1, so bar the discovery of any major bugs or exploits in the final stages of testing, I think we’ll be seeing these new weather systems and rain in the coming weeks. Fingers-crossed for your first wet weather race start!

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Improved Protest System

A number of iRacing content creators, myself included, have made videos in the past few months criticising the decline in driving standards on iRacing – and it looks like they’ve listened.

iRacing employs a vast team to handle race protests, analysing incidents, applying penalties and keeping the service a safe haven for good, clean racing – and ahead of Season 1, this team is getting a bunch of new tools to ensure that on-track incidents have more suitable punishments, and to help promote healthy racecraft across the playerbase.

A full list of these new tools is yet to be made available, but it will include sanctions such as post-race disqualifications, restrictions to certain parts of the iRacing service, the ability to participate in official sessions, driver coaching, access to voice & text chat and much more.

This should mean that rather than outright bans, players will see more appropriate sanctions for particular infringements. If a particular driver is causing an issue in a particular series for example, they could have their access restricted to that single series, rather than to iRacing as a whole, for example – or given coaching to improve their racecraft.

Whilst these sanctions will always be a last resort, Greg notes that they’re committed to maintaining an environment that’s focused on the spirit of fair play and respect, and we hope these new tools – and many more like them – will help improve and uphold the driving standards across iRacing, not just now, but in future too.

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New Cars

New Seasons always mean new cars – and although we won’t see the sheer number of new machines we saw at the start of Season 4, there are some quality additions on the way.

On the GT3 front, the Audi R8 LMS Evo II GT3 will make its debut ahead of Season 1, adding to the already stacked modern GT3 field. Beyond that, iRacing are also working on the pavement and dirt SRX cars, plus a variety of new Street Stock car bodies, and the addition of a Micro Sprint car – a new entry-level machine for dirt oval racing.

No other specific cars have been mentioned, but Greg did add that multiple additions and replacements for the GT3 field will be made in 2024 to keep the fleet up-to-date.

My theory? Ahead of the debut of the LMGT3 class for the 2024 World Endurance Championship, we could be seeing the introduction of cars that will be taking part, such as the Corvette Z06 GT3.R, Lexus RC F GT3, Aston Martin Vantage GT3 and Ford Mustang GT3, and replacements for existing GT3 cars on iRacing, such as the McLaren 720S GT3 EVO in place of the MP4-12C GT3, and the Lamborghini Huracan GT3 EVO 2 in place of the original Huracan GT3 EVO.

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New Tracks

iRacing has been on a real track-kick over the past year – with 6 high-fidelity circuits added so far in 2023 – and that looks set to continue as we enter 2024.

Slinger Speedway and Mugello will make their debuts ahead of Season 1 – both of which are very popular in the short-oval and circuit racing scenes respectively. Okayama will also see a free re-release with fresh artwork for Season 1, bringing the outdated graphics of the prestigious Japanese circuit bang up-to-date.

On the road racing side, both Portimao and Navarra have recently been scanned, and on the dirt side, Millbridge Speedway and a whole host of other short track circuits have had the same treatment, so we’ll likely be seeing the debut of many of them as we progress through 2024.

Season 1 will also see the first part of iRacing’s Oval Refresh go live, with brand-new dynamic track surfaces coming to asphalt ovals. Grip levels will change rapidly as track temperatures rise and fall depending on the weather, time of day, tyre friction, surface rubber and a host of other factors, and so with the NASCAR licence fully under iRacing’s remit once again, and the debut of SRX machinery coming in 2024, these changes might just be the catalyst for a new golden era of oval racing on the iRacing service.

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Graphics, Career & UI

One of iRacing’s major focus points over the past year has been the expansion of their team. Back in July, they announced an array of key engineering and development hires, and now in November, it’s the graphics team that’s getting a boost.

The comparatively outdated graphics have been a regular source of criticism for iRacing’s detractors. With these new hires, Greg is confident we’ll see short-term results by extracting the most out of iRacing’s current rendering technology, but long-term, it appears that – alongside the core game engine updates announced in July – the aim is to upgrade the core graphics engine too. At last!

When Greg announced an upcoming Career Mode for iRacing back in July, it’s safe to say many of us were a bit surprised. What will it look like? Will it be any good? How will it fit into the wider iRacing experience?

Four months on, and the team are reportedly making “significant headways”, with an array of designers, developers and engineers working on bringing the Career mode to fruition. No dates or further details just yet, but it’s great to hear that the project is moving along at a strong pace.

A new UI framework was also announced back in July, and this month, we’ve got a few more details. The in-game UI will move to an entirely new structure, moving away from the current modal-based experience to “a more approachable and accessible design for the future”. This could mean any number of things, but part of me is concerned it could lead to less end-user customisation. Given their track record however, I’m sure the iRacing team will opt for user feedback at the earliest opportunity, so whatever changes are made, I’m confident they’ll be for the best long-term.

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Final Thoughts

Over the past year, iRacing has put a lot of effort into addressing the most common concerns from the players – and it looks like that’s set to continue. Grass? Fixed. IMSA machines? Up-to-date, or in the process of being updated. Rain? On the way. Appropriate sanctions for protests? Addressed. New graphics? On the way too.

With the team continuing to increase in size, iRacing is carrying a lot of momentum as we enter 2024 – and with the re-acquisition of the NASCAR licence, the opportunity to re-acquire the Indycar licence, the imminent release of rain and much more, everything is lining up nicely for 2024 to be iRacing’s biggest year so far.

What do you think? Will rain arrive in time for Season 1? What are your thoughts on the new protest sanctions, or the potential upgrade to a new graphics engine? What else would you like to see added or changed in iRacing? Let us know in the comments below.

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