iRacing has announced a new partnership with the SRO Motorsports Group, organizers of the Blancpain Sprint and Endurance Series, to bring the series to the online racing service. Just like the real-life Blancpain series, the iRacing series will feature a full-field of GT3 cars in thirty minute (Sprint) and three hour (Endurance) races. The series will feature the BMW Z4, Ford GT, McLaren MP4-12C, RUF RT 12R, the forthcoming Aston Martin V12 GT3 and another manufacturer to be named in the future (only one? I want the Audi R8, Bentley Continental, Lamborghini Huracan, Mercedes SLS AMG and Nissan GT-R!).
The Blancpain series joins NASCAR, Indycar and the V8 Supercars as official partners as iRacing continues driving towards re-creating nearly every major series out there.
The announcement isn’t a complete surprise considering how iRacing sponsored the 2014 Blancpain race at Nurburgring (and announced its signing to the sim) and the enthusiasm iRacing has shown for its GT3 Challenge Series, probably the most popular series on the service.
It is always cool to see sims partnering up with real-world series. I’m sure the Sprint Series will just become more popular, especially when the new cars arrive. The Endurance Series will be interesting to watch. Official driver swap series in iRacing have not been popular at all. Considering the amount of effort that is necessary for a driver-swap race, this isn’t surprising. On the other hand, the ‘event’ driver swap races, like the 24 Hours of Daytona, and league endurance races have been very popular. If iRacing can schedule the Endurance Series only a handful of times a week (like the full-season NASCAR Sprint Cup Class A Series) then I think the series could be a success.
Now if iRacing would only allow those giant car counts…safety rating be damned!
Sounds excellent. I’d be interested in the sprint races for sure. My vote for next car, after the AM, would be the Mercedes SLS AMG but I could live with the Audi, Nissan or Bentley (not a fan of the Lamborghini).
Sorry Leeman, but I do want the Lamborghini and the Bentley. The Mercedes, Audi, and Nissan could be later. One thing I do not get is why the Ford GT GT3 is not with the BMW Z4 and the McLaren? I love the old Ford GT, but it could be grouped with the Ruf in a separate class. Just trying to get the class more evenly matched. Which brings me back to the HPD, it really needs to be moved into a class with the old Dallara or maybe the old C5R, that car has the top speed to keep up with the HPD. Anyways, I love the idea of the Blancpain series in iRacing. Love to do some “hooning” around in those cars. By myself of course.
I could live with the Bentley. Cool looking car. But I think the Lamborghini is ugly as hell. Just don’t like the hard lines/edges on that car. We’ll have to agree to disagree on this one.
It seems the info about the Ruf not being in the series is not acurate. The new series are up and you can drive the Ruf alright, both in the Sprint and the Endurance!
Yea, that’s interesting. The press release left the Ruf out but it is there.
Yep Sergio is right, the Ruf is there.
Nice to see my car ahead in that pic 😀
Is it just me or did they rewrite this article? I could’ve sworn they said the Ruf wouldn’t be included but now it is.
Yes, I updated the post. See my response to Sergio below.
Ahhh, ok. Sorry. Didn’t see your reply to Sergio. Thanks.