Sim Racing — news

iRacing has announced a comprehensive visual and environmental update to Summit Point Raceway ahead of the 2026 Season 4 launch. The refresh includes renewed track surfaces, updated scenery, enhanced foliage detail, and improved lighting systems across the venue. The update also introduces the Jefferson Circuit configuration to the track's available layouts within the simulation.

iRacing has announced a comprehensive refresh of the Mazda MX-5 ahead of the 2026 Season 4 launch. The update will include significant revisions to the car's physics model, tyre behaviour, suspension tuning, aerodynamics and visual appearance. The Mazda MX-5 will remain part of iRacing's free base content offering, ensuring continued accessibility for all members.

iRacing has unveiled a fresh lineup of unofficial series for Week 13, combining revivals of community favourites with newly designed events aimed at delivering varied racing experiences. The platform responded to user requests by curating a diverse slate of competitions across multiple vehicle classes and track types. Two returning series headline the update. Battle of the Little Wings brings together lower-formula machinery—FIA F4, Super Formula Lights, and Skip Barber Formula 2000—on shorter circuits, with drivers competing both within and across class categories. Ridiculousness returns with IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship prototypes and GT3s tackling tight oval layouts at Bristol, Dover, and Milwaukee. Six new series expand the Week 13 offering. The Doctor's Office pairs the Dallara P217, Ligier JS P320, and Ferrari 296 Challenge on iconic road courses. To The Streets focuses on precision driving with the Dallara IL-15 on street circuits, with plans to rotate vehicle types in future seasons. Manufacturer Madness groups multiple Ford models—stock cars, GT cars, and sports cars—on American road and street layouts, with different manufacturers featured in subsequent seasons. Incident Limit Challenge penalises every contact and corner-cut with drive-through penalties, using the Toyota GR86 at Lime Rock Park's Chicanes layout. Storm Chasers emphasises wet-weather performance, featuring the BMW M2 Racing (G87) on Oulton Park's International layout in 15-minute sprints. Free for All rotates between licence types using included content; the current season features the FIA Cross Car, Pro 2 Lite, and Volkswagen Beetle Lite on dirt road courses. The full Week 13 schedule is available on the iRacing website.

NVIDIA's DLSS 5 technology is beginning to reach the sim racing community through community-developed mods and third-party tools, offering potential performance gains for popular racing simulators. The technology, which uses neural rendering to upscale lower-resolution images while maintaining visual quality, is being implemented experimentally across multiple titles. Community developers are working to integrate DLSS 5 support where official implementations may not yet exist, expanding access beyond games with native vendor support. Sim racers interested in the technology can explore available implementations and supported titles through community resources documenting current DLSS 5 adoption in the racing sim ecosystem.

iRacing's Week 13 event for the 2026 Season 3 will serve as a testing ground for new features and race formats ahead of the season proper. The week combines community-focused racing with experimental mechanics designed to refresh the competitive experience across multiple series. Weather conditions will play a more dynamic role this week. A new Weather Reroll system will introduce variable atmospheric conditions throughout the week. The 13th Week Ferrari 296 Challenge and GT3 Challenge will see weather changes once daily at 00:00 GMT, while the 13th Week Porsche Cup Series will feature weather rerolls before every race. The iTested Series expands its car roster to 17 vehicles with the addition of the Aston Martin Valkyrie AMR-LMH, joining the existing GTP, LMP2, and GT3 categories. The series will also introduce multiple pace car testing configurations across Fuji Speedway, Michelin Raceway Road Atlanta, and the Indianapolis Motor Speedway road course. Notably, participation will affect Safety Rating only, leaving iRating unaffected for drivers pursuing the iTested award. Two high-profile series receive format overhauls. The 13th Week Porsche Cup Series adopts a structure inspired by the Porsche Esports Supercup, featuring one qualifying lap, an inversion of the top eight qualifiers before a seven-lap sprint, and a 14-lap feature race without inversion. The 13th Week NASCAR iRacing Truck Series will run at full race distance—175 laps at New Hampshire Motor Speedway—matching real-world event length. Several other Week 13 series will remain at a single track throughout the week, mirroring the format of standard 12-week seasons.

MOZA has listed the R16 Ultra racing wheel in Europe at €549, with shipments expected to begin in mid-September 2026. The device is already in stock in the United States, where orders ship within three business days. The R16 Ultra is positioned as a direct-drive wheel offering for sim racing enthusiasts building or upgrading their cockpit setups.

Kunos Simulazioni has teased three additional vehicles set to arrive in the next Early Access update for Assetto Corsa Rally. A short video published by the official Assetto Corsa account on September 4 previewed the new machines through engine audio and visual clips. The incoming additions are a Peugeot 206 WRC, a Volkswagen Polo GTI R5, and an early-generation Audi Quattro rally variant. The teaser combined distinctive engine sounds from each vehicle to build anticipation ahead of version 0.6's release.

The Porsche Esports Supercup 2026 will commence on iRacing on September 19, featuring a 32-driver grid competing for a $30,000 prize pool. The championship serves as a pathway for sim racers toward real-world Porsche racing opportunities.

iRacing has released the full schedule for Season 3 Week 13 in 2026, featuring a mix of ranked championships, unranked series, and special events across oval, road, dirt oval, and dirt road disciplines. Week 13 serves as iRacing's inter-seasonal break between the four quarterly championships, traditionally used to introduce new cars and tracks while offering drivers a lighter racing week. The schedule includes debut events for newly added content, with the iTested series showcasing GTP prototypes (including the Valkyrie), LMP2, and GT3 machinery across 17 car types on track. Ranked series span multiple categories: oval racing includes the NASCAR iRacing Series and various truck and stock car challenges; sports car offerings feature the Mazda MX-5 Cup, BMW M2 Cup, Ferrari 296 Challenge, Porsche Cup Series, and GT3 Challenge; formula car racing covers FF1600, Formula Vee, and FIA F4; and dirt oval competitors can enter Dirt Street Stock and Dirt Mini Stock challenges alongside a Sprint Car series. Unranked events provide casual racing without affecting iRating or Safety Rating, including pickup oval series, road-based track days with multiple car types, and themed challenges such as Manufacturer Madness (seven Ford Mustang variants) and Storm Chasers (BMW M2 at Oulton Park with rain probability). Time attack and hill climb events round out the week, with the Porsche Experience Center series featuring the 992.2 Porsche 911 Cup.

Supernova Games Studios has revealed three new rally cars coming to Assetto Corsa Rally in the upcoming V0.6 build: the Audi Quattro, Peugeot 206 WRC, and VW Polo GTI R5. The vehicles were showcased in a recent trailer for the early-access rally simulator, which continues to expand its roster of classic and modern competition machinery.

Fanatec has confirmed a manufacturing defect affecting some units of its Podium Pedals Formula and has announced a support programme to address the issue. The problem involves stripped screws on affected pedal sets, which can compromise assembly and durability. Customers experiencing the fault are eligible for one of three remedies: a full refund, a replacement pair of Podium Pedals Sport, or a replacement set of revised Podium Pedals Formula units. The company has not specified a deadline for claims or the scope of affected serial numbers, though owners reporting the issue are advised to contact Fanatec support directly with proof of purchase and photographic evidence of the defect.

The 2026 Porsche Esports Supercup World Championship Series kicks off on September 19th on iRacing, bringing together 32 drivers who qualified through regional competitions across four zones: Americas, Asia-Pacific, Europe, and Middle East & Africa. The five-race global championship will determine the world champion, who will receive $10,000 and an opportunity to compete in a real-world Porsche Shootout. Regional champions Xander Reed (Americas), Patrick Kessel (MEA), Charlie Collins (Europe), and Dayne Warren (APAC) have secured their places in the World Championship. Warren impressed with a perfect score across the Asia-Pacific region, claiming five poles and five wins. The field also includes returning competitors such as Luke McKeown and Gustavo Ariel, alongside former champions Diogo Pinto (2022 World Champion) and Cooper Webster (2025 World Champion), both seeking their second title. Sebastian Job will compete for his third championship. The championship visits five iconic circuits: Spa-Francorchamps (September 19), Silverstone (September 26), Suzuka (October 3), Interlagos (October 10), and Monza (October 24). Each race day features three segments—qualifying, a 15-minute sprint race, and a 30-minute main race—with a maximum of 85 points available per round. A top-eight invert between sprint and main races adds strategic depth to the competition. Races will be broadcast at 3:00 p.m. ET / 19:00 GMT / 21:00 CEST on the Porsche Twitch channel, iRacing's Twitch, YouTube, and Facebook channels.