It’s already that time. The Season 2 update for iRacing in 2023 is here bringing cars, features and a new track. Here’s everything in the latest update.
Image Credit: iRacing.com
The iRacing development team has released its latest major update. Unlike most quarterly updates, Season 2 brings little in the name of content, preferring to focus on several new features.
Season 2 seems somewhat on the light side with just one new circuit, a free car and two paid-for vehicles. The simracing community is anxiously looking forward to rumours of new content and features coming soo. Perhaps this smaller drop is a sign of this to come this summer.
New Cars joining iRacing in Season 2
Three cars join the iRacing service in Season 2, one of which comes free of charge. The Ray FF 1600, is a small, wingless single seater powered by a small four-pot engine. Essentially a Formula Ford car, this little racer lacks aero and features an old-school manual gearbox.
Just like the Formula Vee and Skip Barber, this car is low on power, so momentum and slipstreaming will be the name of the game.
One sure-to-be popular addition is the Renault Clio Cup. This entry level front-wheel drive car should make for an excellent step for TCR fans looking to climb the iRacing ladder. With 180hp going to the front wheels and a stiff chassis prone to tripoding, expect this to be more of a challenge than you think.
Finally, the Late Model Stock Car gets an update this season. Despite having 400hp, this oval racer fits the bill of the grassroots racing scene joining the sim this season. This model will predominantly race on short ovals as fans get to grips with the art of left-turn racing.
Sole New Track
Circuito de Jerez is a Spanish circuit best known for hosting Formula 1 Grand Prix in the 1990s. It has since seen many different motorbike championships compete on its intricate and technical layout.
A lesser-known venue to more recent motorsport fans, Jerez has a brilliant mix of high-speed curves, long straights and slower corners. This great variety of sections makes for a great test for both man and machine all while providing good passing opportunities. It should fit well with most cars on iRacing.
Numerous Features
Season 2 of 2023 makes up for its lack of content with several quality of life improvements. The most noticeable to users of the new launcher will be a refreshed look. Softer colours and a more stylised font go a small way to making the game nicer to use.
A new feature that may prove controversial is the Auto Fueling system. In the past, longer races required drivers to manually calculate the fuel needed to get to the end. However, this new feature will automatically calculate how much fuel is required at a pitstop taking away the engineering aspect of longer races.
Select the margin of error you’re comfortable with and the app does the rest. Those that got satisfaction from maximising every last drop may resent this new feature.
Each of the new cars added in the update can now be driven by the AI, as can the Mercedes W13 F1 car. Several new track layouts have also been added to the options. The iRacing AI, which some consider the best in the business, has an ever-growing list of car-track combinations. This can only be a good thing for fans of offline racing.
Finally, oval racers will celebrate changes jump start procedures in restart zones. This should make penalty decisions clearer, and road racers jealous that they don’t have a more detailed start zone.
The full changelog for the iRacing Season 2 update is available on the game’s website.
What is your favourite part of the Season 2 update for iRacing? Tell us on Twitter at @OverTake_gg or in the comments down below!
