iRacing Development Update: May 2026

[Skid_Marc_]

iRacing has put out their Dev Blog for 2026 Season 3!

iRacing Development Update: May 2026

New content includes:

New Cars:

• [Free] BMW M2 Racing - This version, the G87, will replace the previous version, the F87, that was only released a couple years ago.
• Euro NASCAR RC01 - *Probable, pending further art-work* A NASCAR-style Late Model V8 "car purpose-built for road racing".
• New Formula Vees - Two new Formula Vee cars that will be added to the Formula Vee series. One purchase for both the new cars, if you want to visiually differentiate yourself from the already-free Formula Vee option (same thing that they did when they introduced the Casino/Eagle Street Stocks a few years ago.)
• BMW M Hybrid V8 Evo GTP - Visual update to the BMW M Hybrid V8 to the 2026 version. Free upgrade to anyone who already owns the original BMW M Hybrid.

Updated Cars:

• Dallara IR18 - Updated visual changes to the rear body and wing
• Porsche 992.2 - *Optional* updated visual changes to headlights
• SK/Tour Modifieds - Ground-up physics refresh

New Tracks:

• WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca - Complete re-scan of the first track iRacing ever scanned, and probably the first track most of us ever raced in the sim.
• Qualcomm Circuit (Naval Base Coronado) - Street Circuit set to debut June 19-21, featuring all of NASCAR's top-3 divisions. Built on, and around, the airport runways at "Naval Base Coronado" in San Diego, California.

Track updates:

• Motorsport Arena Oschersleben - Addition of 3D Curbs and upgraded trees
• Circuit de Nevers Magny-Cours - Addition of 3D Curbs
• Oran Park Raceway - Graphically updated to preserve it's final form, before it was destroyed at the end of the 2010 season.
• Chicagoland Speedway - Graphics refresh anticipating it's 2026 return to the NASCAR calendar after last holding a race in 2019.

Simulation Systems, and Physics Updates

• Dirt AI & AI Heat Racing
• Balance of Performance (BoP) & Aerodynamics
• Sim UI
  • Live Dynamic Track Map
  • Fuel Calculator
  • Control Profiles
  • Wet/Dry Tire Indication
  • Drag to resize
  • Incident tracker
  • Simplified Chinese support
    • This is not actually announced here, but buried in the "Misc" section, further below, with all the future updates, despite it rolling out in this build.
  • Resizeable Virtual Mirror
    • This is not actually announced here, but buried in the "Misc" section, further below, with all the future updates, despite it rolling out in this build.

Race Control & Pit Road Changes

• Pit Speed Enforcement
• Multi-Class Starts & Per-Class Pace Cars - **MAYBE**
  • They're hoping it will be ready for community testing by week 13, and then determine if it is ready to debut for the full Season 3, or if it needs more development, based on the week 13 results.
• We are rolling out the use of Anycast

Updates on Future Updates

• Career Mode
• New Graphics Engine - Spark
• Physics Projects & Multi-Threading Roadmap
• Oval Refresh - Continued
• Series-specific Sporting Regulations
• Audio Evolution
• Misc Updates
  • Further oval-focused car update project in the works
  • "...long-overdue upgrade to the driver's gear." Coming next season
  • Circuit de la Sarthe - Circuit Bugatti - in pre-production phase
  • Full rescans of Mid-Ohio, Road America, and Milwaukee - in production
  • Circuit Paul Ricard - Scheduled for scanning next month, and "...our texture artists already have 20,000 gallons of high-friction digital paint on order and ready to go."
  • Winchester Speedway - In development, expected release late 2026
  • Simplified Chinese support will be added in the S3 build
  • New Dirt Road configuration at Charlotte w/o joker.
  • Virtual Mirror is now freely resizable by dragging the corner. (Not sure why this is here and not up with the UI changes?)

Patch will go live during Week 13, the week of June 9th.
2026 Season 3 will begin June 16!

 

[Skid_Marc_]

My initial thoughts:

• Nobody gives a shit about the BMW M2 Racing. It was shit the first time, it will probably be shit the second time.
• Super excited about the Euro NASCAR RC01. I've posted about the series in Discord, recently. Totally missed the memo from a year ago that they were coming to iRacing. I hope they're fun to rip around their home circuits; Brands Hatch, Zolder, and Oschersleben. I am, however, dubious to how successful they will be as an iRacing series, based on the performance of other localized series like Supercars and Stock Car Brasil Series. If it doesn't have TC/ABS, iRacers are generally too lazy, and inept, to give it the time of day. But 800 fucking morons will drive GT3 cars at the Nürburgring...
• Formula Vees are notorious for their wide range of unique takes over the last 50 years, so it's cool to see some diversity in that series. 0/1000 chance I buy them, though, and 1/1,000,000 chance I ever race that series, ever, ever.
• BMW M Hybrid V8 Evo... *sigh, face-palm*... oh... fuck me.... *heavy sigh, rubbing forehead*... so ... *trying to squeeze the pain out of my head through the bridge of my nose*.. okay... @Kenadian , hear me out... is it possible that you can take a look at the template, after it's released, and compare it to the current BMW M Hybrid V8 (which it's fully replacing) and see if it's close enough to the existing template for it to be altered in the two-week window between patch and 6 Hours of the Glen? I think most of the changes are around shrinking the holes in the front bumper, vertically. I'm not sure what other changes may have been made... Of course iRacing had to fucking drop this 2 weeks before an endurance event... of course... sons of-.....
• Dallara IR-18? Don't care. Couldn't tell you the change. Porsche 992.2 headlight update? It's optional, painters can choose if they want it, or not, so that's cool. SK/Tour mods; best short-oval content in the sim, don't have anyone to race it with, though, so... whatever. Happy for them.
• Weather Tech Raceway Laguna Seca - Hey! Round of applause! Welcome to the 2000's! Now, go fuck off for another 25 years.
• Naval Base Coronado - Hope it's a fun street circuit, don't feel any way about it, currently. Will have to wait and see if it's something I'll pick up, if I have to, or something that will just become a drop-week. Hope the IRL race moves the needle in the California market, for NASCAR, though. Shit looks bleak after the destruction of California Superspeedway.
• UI changes, mostly, look good.
  • It may finally be enough that I can stop running Kapps as an overlay, which would help my PC a lot in performance. I'm concerned the track map may be distracting while driving, though, so I'll have to see. Also, there is still no replacement for showing the running order on stream, which I think is the most important thing for a viewer, for context.
  • Wet/Dry tyre indicator; was literally asking for this WHEN the update was released, so big plus for me. Also like the fuel calculator.
• Multiclass Starts + Per-Class Pace Car
  • HUGE "W" for the sim. A week ago I didn't even know if it was possible, but it looks like they've pulled it off. Important note; in the picture provided, it looks like they have an odd number of cars in each class, but it still keeps the pole-sitter on the proper side (the extra car is always on driver's-right, which is correct for Watkins Glen), which is good. I hope it makes it this season, as long as it's not a risk to cause some massive, unexpected, shit-show at Watkins Glen Week 1.
• Circuit Bugatti WIP - Thank goodness! Although a decade too late, for me. There are so many other tracks, released in the last decade, that will overshadow this moto track, but I don't want to see Skip Barber, or Porsche Cup, or whatever other slow-ass non-sense @ Circuit de la Sarthe ever again.

 

[Noodleguitar]

• Multiclass Starts + Per-Class Pace Car
  • HUGE "W" for the sim. A week ago I didn't even know if it was possible, but it looks like they've pulled it

Neither did I. And it probably wasn't possible until management decided they couldn't let LMU have it for another year while almost every single iRacing race start remains a clusterfuck.

 

[Kenadian]

Actually, unsure of what the changes are as the paint looks just fine.

Having said that, if I need to change things like Driver names and other small adjustments, it will be simpler and far quicker as I have all the layered source files for this car.

 

[Skid_Marc_]

Neither did I. And it probably wasn't possible until management decided they couldn't let LMU have it for another year while almost every single iRacing race start remains a clusterfuck.

LMU doesn't have multiple pace cars, but they do have more structured starts using the Virtual Safety Car/Code60 style start. It does create a small gap between classes, but not to the level of the split starts of IMSA (15+ seconds), or Nurburgring (2-3 minutes). It will be interesting to see how much iRacing opens it up. A large amount of people seem to think it's going to be nose-to-tale, like the picture they shared, but I'm pretty sure they just took a picture of the stationary grid. I hope I'm not wrong!

I wouldn't mind if iRacing would go back to full pace laps, though. I rather like the habit people have formed of getting single-file, scrubbing their tyres, and then doubling up towards the end of the lap. It feels more authentic to real life.