Today, iRacing provided an interesting video showcasing the content and innovations coming with 2026’s Season 1 update.
The new content includes Adelaide Street Circuit, Miami International Autodrome, and the off-road track Lucas Oil Speedway.
On top of that, Rockingham Speedway has been rescanned and rebuilt from the ground up. The previous version of the track will be preserved and offered within the same package.
Bathurst is also getting an art refresh to bring it up to par with recent releases, although this does not involve a rescan.
New cars include the Porsche 911 Cup (992.2), and the FIA Cross Car. The latter is an entry-level off-road car that will be provided for free to every member.
Several vehicles have also been updated for the new season, while the effects of rubber on oval circuits have been improved for better realism.
A new Sim UI with dynamic search for options has been implemented, on top of the Widget Editor, as the first iteration of a new UI customization initiative.
A “significant effort” has also been made to fix netcode issues, with more to come in further updates.
New languages have been added, including French, Italian, German, and European and Brazilian Portuguese. More are coming in subsequent seasons.
There’s more, and you can check it out in the video below.
The video also includes great news for those who care about the developers who make the racing games we love.
iRacing has expanded its team with “several talented veteran racing game developers following unfortunate changes in priority at a prominent West Coast racing game studio.”
These developers work on AI, Physics, Multiplayer, Engineering, UI Engineering, and UI Design.
While the studio has not been named, it’s very possible that it’s Microsoft’s Turn 10 Studios, which suffered a large personnel cut a few months ago and is located in Seattle.
If you’re unfamiliar with iRacing, it’s a subscription-based, esports-focused racing simulation platform on PC considered by many to be one of the most realistic in the industry. It features precisely simulated cars and LIDAR-scanned tracks that reproduce their real counterparts, making it popular among many real racing drivers who use it for training.
It’s also an attractive esports platform as it features racing regulations closely related to the ones used in real motorsports to create an online esports environment that feels as professional as possible, encouraging clean racing, racecraft, and fair play over winning or placing high in the rankings (albeit the events described in this article cast some shadow on these ideals).
iRacing partners with several real-world racing series and organizations, including Nascar, IMSA, the FIA, and many more.
Lately, the company launched iRacing Studios, extending its reach to console gaming and simulation with the iRacing Arcade, Nascar 25, and an IndyCar sim coming in 2026.
