FUSION Racing

Welcome back to This Week in iRacing, our weekly post that details all you need to know about what is going on in the world of iRacing!

As always, This Week includes topics ranging from official eSports to some of the top community-driven events, and everything in between.

Here’s what to expect from 2024 Season 3, Week 5, from July 9th to July 15th, 2024.

For the Members: iRacing Official Series Highlights

Every week, iRacing offers daily, even hourly racing that members can get into, based on where their license level is at. There are also some special series that run at specific times that anyone can jump into, with the right credentials, that offer a more meaningful sim racing experience. 

Here are a few of the highlighted series taking place this week.

NASCAR iRACING SERIES

Back in 2024, the NASCAR iRacing Series (Open Setup and Fixed Setup) follows the NASCAR Cup Series schedule for a 36-week racing season. Week 21 is set to take place at Pocono Raceway, an 80-lap event which utilizes the NASCAR Next Gen Stock Cars from Chevrolet, Ford and Toyota.

The races this week are scheduled for:

Fixed Schedule: Wednesday, 21:00 GMT; Friday, 01:00 GMT; Saturday, 10:00 and 16:00 GMT; Monday, 01:00 GMT
Open Schedule: Thursday, 01:00 and 19:00 GMT; Saturday, 01:00 GMT; Sunday, 14:00 GMT

For more information on the NASCAR iRacing Series -> CLICK HERE

INDYCAR iRACING SERIES

With the return of INDYCAR, the INDYCAR iRacing Series (Open Setup) predominantly follows the real world INDYCAR schedule. It will have full length races on road courses while utilizing amended race distances for the ovals during the 16-week racing season.

The series returns for it’s 11th week of competition, this week back on the oval at Iowa Speedway, utilizing the Dallara IR-18 for 250 laps of racing.

Week 11 Schedule: Thursday, 01:00 GMT; Friday, 20:00 GMT, Saturday, 18:00 GMT; Sunday, 02:00 GMT

For more information on the INDYCAR iRacing Series -> CLICK HERE

FIA F4 ESPORTS REGIONAL TOUR

The FIA F4 Esports Regional Tour takes on another big change for 2024 Season 3—Fixed Setups! This time around, drivers will be able to qualify for the FIA F4 eSports Global Championship series, due in September, by running competitively in this series. At the end of the season, the top 10 eligible drivers in championship standings across each of the Regional Tour series will be invited to compete in the Global Championship. In order to be eligible for an invitation to the Global Championship, drivers must reside within the respective region for which they qualify, ensuring a truly global championship field.

Week 5 Schedule: 

• Americas (Every ODD hour, :15 after): Long Beach Street Circuit
• Asia-Pacific (Every EVEN hour, :45 after): Tsukuba Circuit – 2000 Full
• Europe (Every EVEN hour, :15 after): Autodromo Internazionale del Mugello – Grand Prix

For more information on the FIA F4 eSports Global Championship -> CLICK HERE

iRACING NURBURGRING ENDURANCE CHAMPIONSHIP

The iRacing Nurburgring Endurance Championship returns for the fourth time in 2024, a nine-race season spanning through the end of October. There will be four timeslots to compete in—Saturday, July 13th at 7:00 GMT or 17:30 GMT, and Sunday, July 14th at 1:00 GMT or 13:00 GMT. Drivers will race on the Combined Gesamtstrecke VLN course.

Participants can choose between five different classes. GT3 includes the Audi R8 LMS EVO II, BMW M4, Ferrari 296, Mercedes-AMG, or Porsche 911 GT3 R (992). GT4includes the Aston Martin Vantage, BMW M4, and Porsche 718 Cayman. TCR includes the Honda Civic Type R TCR or Hyundai Elantra TCR. The Porsche 911 GT3 Cup (992) and Toyota GR86 will run as their own single car classes.

For more information on the iRacing Nurburgring Endurance Championship -> CLICK HERE

RING MEISTER / DRAFT MASTER COMBINATIONS

Two of the more unique daily racing series added in recent seasons are the Ring Meister Ricmotech Series and the Draft Master SIMAGIC Series, where the cars change every week as opposed to the tracks. This season, the setups are fixed in both series, which means it’s all about jumping in and racing the combination at hand.

The Ring Meister Ricmotech Series (Races on every odd 2 hours | Qualifying every even 2 hours at :30) takes place at the Nürburgring Nordschleife – Industriefahrten and cycles through mostly road-type racing vehicles every week.

As for Draft Master (every hour), there are three tracks—Current Daytona International Speedway, Talladega Superspeedway, and 2008 Daytona, replacing iRacing Superspeedway as of 2024 Season 3—and four NASCAR vehicles—the 2009 Impala COT, Craftsman Trucks, 1987 Cup cars and the current-day Next Gen—that each track will cycle through. This series heads to Talladega for the middle four weeks of 2024 Season 3.

Week 5 Schedule:

• Ring Meister: Ford Fiesta RS WRC, Subaru WRX STI, and VW Beetle at Nürburgring Nordschleife – Industriefahrten
• Draft Master: [Legacy] NASCAR Cup Chevrolet Impala COT – 2009 at Talladega Superspeedway

RAIN MASTER

Announced in Week 5 of 2024 Season 2, Rain Master is the latest Special Series on iRacing. Those looking for some fixed setup wet weather racing can jump into the Ferrari 296 GT3 at 12 different road courses around the world. The forecasts will include light rain throughout.

Week 5 Schedule:

• Ferrari 296 GT3 at Algarve International Circuit – Grand Prix

OFF THIS WEEK

• Global Endurance Conspit Tour
  • Next Race -> July 20th-21st at Autódromo José Carlos Pace – Grand Prix (2024 Season 3, Week 6)

For more information on the iRacing CREVENTIC Endurance Series -> CLICK HERE

Official iRacing eSports

Last week, it was announced that the Porsche TAG Heuer Esports Supercup would return for its seventh season in 2025. With that, the qualifying process for next season begins on July 13 with the return of the Porsche TAG Heuer Esports Supercup Qualifying Series, the first of two series featuring the Porsche 911 GT3 Cup (992) that will advance drivers towards next year’s championship. Races will be on Saturday at 18:45 GMT, and the opening race is at the Hockenheimring utilizing the National A layout.

This week also features the start of the INDYCAR ButtKicker iRacing Qualifying Series, which starts its seven-week series at Long Beach, as well as the second race of the second round of the eNASCAR Qualifying iRacing Series, this week at Pocono. Both of those series will go off at the same time, on Thursday night, at 00:00 GMT.

For more information on the Porsche TAG Heuer Esports Supercup Qualifying Series -> CLICK HERE
For more information on the INDYCAR ButtKicker iRacing Qualifying Series -> CLICK HERE
For more information on the eNASCAR Road to Pro Ladder -> CLICK HERE

For more information on the eNASCAR Coca-Cola iRacing Series -> CLICK HERE
For more information on the Skip Barber Formula iRacing Series -> CLICK HERE

For more information on iRacing and for special offers, visit www.iracing.com.