On le savait depuis quelque temps, mais voilà qu’une vidéo vient enfin nous montrer à quoi on peut s’attendre dans cette nouvelle catégorie bien spécifique !
Le championnat se nommera « Redbull Global Rallycross » et vient bien entendu d’une étroite collaboration entre iRacing et la maque autrichienne qui donne des ailes.
La vidéo nous montre en action la Ford Fiesta RS WRC ainsi que la Beetle GRC.
À ce stade on n’en sait pas énormément plus sur la manière dont va se dérouler le championnat si ce n’est qu’il y aura un système de manches qualificatives/éliminatoires. (Pour ceux qui ont envie d’en savoir tout de même un peu plus, voici un post dans la langue de Shakespeare sur le forum officiel)
Par contre ils ne sont pas trop bavards quant à la date de sortie…comme toujours « Coming soon »! On attend donc « prochainement » le cycle jour/nuit, « prochainement » les pits animés, « prochainement » deux nouvelles LMP1 et « prochainement » le dirt… On vous fera donc « prochainement » une news pour vous dire quand tout cela sera en ligne 🙂
Communiqué de presse officiel :
Bedford, MA (October 16) – iRacing and Red Bull Global Rallycross today announced a partnership that will bring official Red Bull GRC racing to the premier online eSport racing game. Rallycross’s unique style of combined dirt and asphalt racing and tight, fender-to-fender racing will complement iRacing’s vast offering of motorsport formats including NASCAR, IndyCar, sportscars, dirt oval and more.
Expected to be available later this year, iRacing’s Red Bull GRC will debut with multiple cars and tracks as well as an exciting new race format – heat racing. Just as in the real world series, the heat format combines multiple short races where competitors battle to qualify for the final.
iRacing previously announced that the Volkswagen Beetle GRC car will be available in iRacing – free to all members. In addition to the VW, iRacing has also licensed and built the Ford Fiesta RS WRC racecar which will be available for purchase when Rallycross becomes available in the online racing service.
Initially there will be four GRC tracks with five separate configurations available to iRacing members – Daytona International Raceway (x2), Iowa Speedway, Gateway Motorsports Park and Lucas Oil Raceway. These purpose built tracks replicate the challenges Red Bull Rallycross drivers face – multiple track surfaces, jumps, hairpin turns and more. iRacing’s dynamic tracks surfaces change lap after lap, just like in the real world and the dirt surface model replicates the ever changing conditions of a rallycross track.
“This is a really exciting announcement for iRacing fans all around the world,” said Steve Myers, executive vice president and executive producer. “Being able to combine dirt and asphalt racing, plus the changing tracks conditions is something we have been working on for quite a while now and to see it come alive with Red Bull Global Rallycross is amazing.”
“We have been working with iRacing for some time now, collaborating to develop the tracks and working with drivers to ensure the cars perform just as they do in the real world,” said Chip Pankow, founder and COO, Red Bull Global Rallycross. “iRacing will be a great way for our fans to experience Red Bull Global Rallycross in way they have never before – getting on track and racing. I know our fans will love it!”
A number of top Red Bull Global Rallycross drivers are already iRacing members and have collaborated to help develop the project. Multi-time Supercar champion Scott Speed was an integral part of the development process, offering feedback to developers to help refine the simulation. Red Bull GRC drivers have competed in numerous top-tier iRacing events, including the iRacing.com World Championship Grand Prix Series and the iRacing Pro Race of Champions.
iRacing and Red Bull Global Rallycross also plan to make full use of the partnership and development tools iRacing has available. Designing, setting up and testing course configurations in iRacing will be a useful tool that will save both time and money for the series in the coming years.
iRacing plans to release Red Bull Global Rallycross later this year.
