iRacing Announces BMW M Motorsport to Become the Simulator’s “Official Safety Car Partner”

Today the developers of the racing simulation and esport platform iRacing announced that BMW M Motorsport will become its official Safety Car partner.

This means that the BMW M2 CS Racing will act as the safety car in many of iRacing’s special events during the 2025 racing season.

The car is the same that has been provided to all iRacing users at no additional cost as an entry-level option with the latest major update, albeit, of course, it’ll have a Safety Car livery and lights.

Among the events that will see the new safety car lead the field, there will be classic ones like the 24 Hours of Daytona, the 24-hour race at the Nürburgring, or the “Petit Le Mans” at Road Atlanta.

Project Lead BMW M Automotive Gaming Timo Brückner accompanied the announcement with a statement:

“This Safety Car partnership represents a new chapter in the success story shared by BMW M Motorsport and iRacing. Each season, the Special Events attract record levels of participants and have become real community favourites.

For example, nearly 20,000 drivers competed in the 24 Hours of Daytona last year. I am delighted that we will enjoy a prominent position next season at the head of the field, with the BMW M2 CS Racing at these highlight events. Just as in real life, this race car is also the perfect entry-level model on iRacing, allowing drivers to later gain experience with the BMW M4 GT4, the BMW M4 GT3, and even in the BMW M Hybrid V8.”

We also hear from iRacing President Tony Gardner.

“We have a strong partnership with BMW M Motorsport dating back more than a decade, having brought seven BMW race cars to iRacing. The M2 CS is the latest BMW to join iRacing and has already proven to be incredibly popular with our nearly 300,000 members.

BMW M Motorsport becoming the official safety car partner of iRacing special events further solidifies the partnership and enhances the racing experience for our members. It’s exciting to see how important sim racing is to BMW and its brand – we are looking forward to the iRacing Daytona 24 powered by VCO on 18th January.”

Incidentally, the Special Event calendar is as follows.

• 18th January 2025 – 24 Hours of Daytona (USA)
• 12th February 2025 – 12 Hours of Bathurst (AUS)
• 22nd March 2025 – 12 Hours of Sebring (USA)
• 7th June 2025 – Nürburgring 24 Hours (GER)
• 28th June 2025– Six Hours of Watkins Glen (USA)
• 12th July 2025 – 24 Hours of Spa-Francorchamps (BEL)
• 6th September 2025 – 6 Hours of Indianapolis (USA)
• 4th October 2025 – Petit Le Mans at Road Atlanta (USA)
• 15th November 2025 – Suzuka 1000 km (JPN)

Speaking of schedule, just yesterday we got the calendar of the  2025 eNASCAR Coca-Cola iRacing Series.

If the name iRacing doesn’t ring a bell, it’s a subscription-based, esports-focused racing simulation platform on PC considered by many one of the most realistic in the industry. Due to these perks, many professional racing drivers train on its LIDAR-scanned tracks that precisely reproduce their real counterparts.

Another element that makes it attractive as an esports platform is the implementation of racing regulations closely related to real motorsports to create an online esports environment that feels as professional as possible, encouraging clean racing and fair play over winning.

iRacing partners with several real-world racing series and organizations including NASCAR, IMSA, the FIA, and many more, and it’s also one of the most respected and prestigious esports environments for racing simulation enthusiasts

Recently, the developers of iRacing also launched a partnership with Microsoft Research to implement Large Action Models AI in the game.