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 you should know for 2024 Season 2 Week 5, from April 9th to April 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.
ROAD AMERICA 500 – iRACING SPECIAL EVENT!
The next special event for the 2024 calendar is the Road America 500 Powered by Simucube. This iRacing special event is a throwback-style event, which pays homage to the analog days of racing. It features 500 miles (124 laps) at Road America and will feature both the Nissan GTP ZXT and Audi 90 GTO.
This weekend, from April 12th to the 14th, there will be five chances to participate in the throwback road racing event. Team racing is enabled, but members can run the event solo if they choose.
ROAD AMERICA 500 Schedule: Friday, 22:00 GMT; Saturday, 07:00 GMT, 12:00 GMT, and 16:00 GMT; Sunday, 00:00 GMT
For more information on the Road America 500 -> CLICK HERE
For more information on the 2024 iRacing Special Events calendar -> CLICK HERE
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 9 is set to take place at Texas Motor Speedway, a 134-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
FIA F4 ESPORTS REGIONAL TOURS
FIA F4 Esports Regional Tour races are a little different this season and moving forward. These series move to an every two-hour format. While all iRacers are eligible to run in any region’s event, the servers will always be set to the most appropriate iRacing server for each region. Europe North and Europe South have combined into one singular Europe region in 2024 Season 2.
Week 5 Schedule:
Americas (Every ODD hour, :15 after): WeatherTech Raceway at Laguna Seca – Full Course
Asia-Pacific (Every EVEN hour, :45 after): Mobility Resort Motegi – Grand Prix
Europe (Every EVEN hour, :15 after): Motorsport Arena Oschersleben – Grand Prix
For more information on the FIA F4 Esports Regional Tours -> CLICK HERE
BMW M POWER TOUR – FIXED SERIES
The BMW M Power Tour returns in 2024 in part thanks to a collaboration between BMW and iRacing. The fixed setup series features a varied selection of BMW M Motorsport cars competing across the world’s top tracks on Tuesdays, Wednesdays, and Thursdays, every even two hours, with prizes on the line for the top three drivers in the overall standings at season’s end.
Week 5 Schedule:
BMW M Hybrid V8 at Suzuka International Racing Course – Grand Prix
For more information on the BMW M Power Tour for Week 5 -> CLICK HERE
RAIN MASTER
Announced in Week 5 of 2024 Season 2, Rain Master is the latest Special Series on iRacing. For the remaining eight weeks in 2024 Season 2, those looking for some wet weather racing can jump into the Ferrari 296 GT3 at eight different road courses around the world. The forecasts will include light rain throughout.
Week 1 Schedule:
Ferrari 296 GT3 at Autodromo Internazionale del Mugello – Grand Prix
iRACING WEEKLY CHALLENGE
One of iRacing’s latest new series concepts returns for 2024 Season 2—the iRacing Weekly Challenge. If you’re into all forms of road racing, this is the series for you—it’s 12 weeks of different car and track combinations, with no repeats on either, for a season-long championship. Prove you’re the best at everything from sports cars to open-wheel racers on a global tour of some of iRacing’s most popular circuits.
Each week will feature points races every hour, leading up to a main event on Sunday at 20:15 GMT that features splits by weekly points. Races will be 20 minutes long and are open to iRacers with Class D licenses and higher. A separate set of points will also be tracked for the top splits of the Sunday main events on their own landing page. In addition, $5 in iRacing credits will be awarded each week to a random driver who makes the top split of the Sunday main event.
Week 5 Schedule:
Formula Vees at Mount Panorama Circuit
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 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 now three tracks—Daytona International Speedway, Talladega Superspeedway, and now iRacing Superspeedway as of 2024 Season 2—and now 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 now heads to Talladega for the middle four weeks of 2024 Season 2.
Week 5 Schedule:
Ring Meister: Honda Civic Type R TCR at Nürburgring Nordschleife – Industriefahrten
Draft Master: [Legacy] NASCAR Chevrolet Impala 2009 COT at Talladega Superspeedway
OFF THIS WEEK
INDYCAR iRacing Series
Next Race -> April 16 at Long Beach Street Circuit (2024 Season 2, Week 5)
iRacing Nurburgring Endurance Championship
Next Race -> April 20 and April 21 (2024 Season 2, Week 6)
For more information on the INDYCAR iRacing Series -> CLICK HERE
For more information on the iRacing Nurburgring Endurance Championship -> CLICK HERE
Official iRacing eSports
With the Porsche TAG Heuer Esports Supercup wrapping things up this past weekend, it’s all about eNASCAR for the foreseeable future. We’re still one more week away from the College Series returning, but this week, fans can get a double dose of eNASCAR action with the Coca-Cola Series and the Qualifying Series during the mid-week.
eNASCAR COCA-COLA iRACING SERIES
The fifth race of the 2024 eNASCAR Coca-Cola iRacing Series season takes the 40 top eNASCAR drivers across the pond to take on Brands Hatch for the first time in series history on Tuesday night. The event will feature a Sprint and Feature race format similar to the Porsche TAG Heuer Esports Supercup, with up to eight additional qualifying points up for grabs. Last season, Bobby Zalenski was victorious when the series visited Monza. Brands Hatch also kicks off Segment #2.
BRANDS HATCH RACE #5 – BROADCAST STARTS WITH COUNTDOWN TO GREEN AT 7:30 PM ET (1:30 GMT)
For more details on the eNASCAR Coca-Cola iRacing Series -> CLICK HERE
eNASCAR QUALIFYING iRACING SERIES
For the first time in the 2024 eNASCAR Qualifying iRacing Series season, it won’t be a mirror-image of the Coke Series race two days prior. The Trucks won’t take on Brands Hatch, but instead will face the 1.5-mile oval known as Texas Motor Speedway for the fifth race of the year. Nearly 600 drivers participated in the last race. Jake Matheson won the last Top Split outing two weeks ago at Richmond, while it’s Max R Brady leading the way in the overall standings, not yet factoring in the drop.
TEXAS RACE #5 – TOP SPLIT BROADCAST STARTS AT 8:00 PM ET (2:00 GMT)
For more details on the eNASCAR Road to Pro Ladder -> CLICK HERE
OFF THIS WEEK
eNASCAR College iRacing Series
Next Race -> Tuesday, April 16: Race #8 at Nashville Superspeedway
For more details on the eNASCAR College iRacing Series -> CLICK HERE
For more information on iRacing and for special offers, visit www.iracing.com.