DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. – Capitalizing on the success of the virtual racing series featuring IMSA drivers over the past two years, IMSA and iRacing have announced an extended partnership through 2023.
In addition to the continuation of the popular IMSA iRacing Pro Series, the agreement calls for expansion of virtual racing series open to all iRacing members showcasing a variety of IMSA elements and venues.
The IMSA iRacing Pro Series, featuring IMSA drivers and the occasional wild-card pros from other series, will return in 2022 on dates and tracks to be determined. The competition and following for this series since it debuted in 2020 has been remarkable. But while the iRacing Pro Series is reserved for those who make a living at racing, there will be three series for 2022 appealing to all iRacing IMSA enthusiasts no matter their skill level. They are:
– The IMSA Hagerty iRacing Series, which mirrors the real-life IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship with similar classes but shorter races.
– The iRacing IMSA Michelin Pilot Challenge, which like its real namesake, mirrors the competition with Grand Sport (GS) and Touring Car (TCR) classes.
– The iRacing IMSA Endurance Series, featuring multiple drivers in each entry for the two-hour, 40-minute races.
“Our partnership with IMSA has been one of our longest-standing and most popular partnerships,” said Tony Gardner, President, iRacing.com Motorsport Simulations. “We’re excited to announce a renewal that brings back not only all of our most popular series for the hundreds of thousands of active iRacing members, but also the IMSA iRacing Pro Series for the sport’s biggest names. Beyond this, we’re also looking forward to plenty of other exciting developments on the horizon in the coming years!”
Other perks of the partnership mean that all 12 WeatherTech Championship tracks are available on the iRacing platform, multiple IMSA cars in multiple classes are available for iRacing members to race, and that IMSA and iRacing are working to develop new and exciting events in 2022 exclusively for iRacing members.
“IMSA has enjoyed this partnership with iRacing and we’re pleased to announce its extension,” IMSA President John Doonan said. “We know that iRacing members are some of the most passionate followers of our sport, and we want to continue building that relationship and rewarding their devotion to IMSA. Giving them more hands-on IMSA action to whet their appetites is a win-win situation for us all.”