The team behind the highly popular RSRBR 2009 project for Richard Burns Rally has released another update, introducing two brand new cars to the mod.

RSRBR 2009 includes new cars, textures, physics, a new night mode and much more, giving Richard Burns Rally a complete overhaul. Released in 2004, RBR is still the best and most recent rally simulation around.

New in this update:

- Seat Ibiza KitCar Evo 1 by Kazhol
- Subaru Impreza WRC 2008 (S14) by Garyson

Important: This is just an update, make sure to have the initial version & all earlier updates installed before using it.

 

Download RSRBR 2009 Update 11 Here

Team Redline’s Dom Duhan had the one chance any sim racer dreams of – Proving himself in a professional Formula One Team simulator while being watched by professionals and journalists.

Thanks to TopGear Magazine, Dom got to try out the full motion simulator of an undisclosed Formula One team, trying to match the laptimes of racing driver Darren Turner.

His performance managed to impress as Dom was able to post competitive times quickly despite fighting motion sickness on the professional-grade simulator. In the end, Dom was a mere second slower than the Formula One drivers and Darren Turner, proving the driving talent of avid sim racers.

“It was a fantastic experience and great to meet up with a driver of Darren’s calibre, big thanks to the F1 team and Top Gear,” Dom commented. “I hope this paves the way for Sim Racing teams to become a part of F1 testing, providing thousands of hours of lap data for a fraction of the cost of running on a track.”

Dom will be sharing his experience with the VirtualR readers in an upcoming story, in the meantime you can check out Team Redline’s website where the TopGear Magazine article can be found.

Last saturday, the Beglian Zolder track was the site of the annual Zolder 10 hour race and thousands of sim racers participated, being part of iOpener’s Real-Time Racing beta test programme.

While the real drivers were racing on track, sim racers got to drive virtual versions of the Mini Cooper S and the BMW Z4M, joining the live event right from their home. While most beta testers were racing lots of miles away, a local team of RTR beta testers also competed in the event, clinching a very impressive result.

The five-person team swapped drivers every hour, clocking in a very impressive total of 311 laps in ten hours. Based on the times of the real competitors, the virtual team would have finished fifth overall, clinching a dominant class win. The team didn’t just prove that the sim racing community offers some real driving talent, they also enjoyed themselves as team captain Jochen Lennaerts explains:

“It was really thrilling to be on the real track fighting with the real drivers. It was hard, it was long, but it was great fun. We are looking forward to the next event”

To take part in RTR’s next beta test event, make sure to pre-register for a key here. If you have already registered a while ago and haven’t received your key yet, make sure to check the spambox of your mail account as you might already be the owner of a key without knowing it.

12 hours from know, Real-Time Racing beta testers will get to compete in their first ever real 10 hour race at Zolder when sim racers virtually join the field of real cars.

iOpener has now released screenshots of the two cars the virtual competitors will drive, the Mini Cooper S and the BMW Z4M Coupe. The race will start on 10:40 GMT on Saturday, finishing ten hours later. While the real race drivers face the difficult challenge of completing a ten-hour endurance race, the RTR beta testers will be joining from their home thanks to the iOpener Enabled technology that blurs the line between real and virtual competition.

If you´re interested in joining future beta test events, make sure to pre-register for a Real-Time Racing beta key here.

 

From Gustavo Dreyer & Rodrigo Moré comes a very interesting piece of software for Live for Speed users: Seven LFS Telemetry.

The tool is designed to display various data on a second screen, including timing information, gaps and real-time fuel consumption info. Seven LFS Telemetry can be used either by connecting a second screen, the data can also be streamed via LAN.

More info and the download can be found by visiting the link below.

 

Download Seven LSF Telemetry 1.0 Here

The beta phase of iOpener’s Real-Time Racing game continues to rapidly pick up pace as RTR beta testers will be treated to the first ever iOpener Enabled endurance race next weekend – The 10 hours of Zolder.

While the real drivers will be competing on track, sim racers will be joining in using iOpener Enabled technology that transfers the real racing action right into the simulation. Testers will be driving two brand new cars, the Mini Cooper S and the BMW Z4M Coupe. The race will start on 10:40 GMT on Saturday, finishing ten hours later. Furthermore, first previews of another new car have been released as we get to check out the Corvette C6.R in Real-Time Racing below.

If you´re not part of the RTR beta test squad yet, visit their website to pre-register for a beta key.

 

Almost 1500 readers entered the VirtualR Real-Time Racing contest, hoping to win one of the beta keys for iOpener’s exciting new system.

It almost seems like the question I picked was too easy (or VirtualR readers are too well informed when it comes to sim racing) as only six submitted answers were wrong.

Of course, the Belgian Circuit Zolder is the first ever official iOpener Enabled test track. A random draw has selected the following ten entrants that will receive a RTR beta key. One of the lucky few has also been drawn to receive the strictly limited iOpener Enabled T-Shirt on top.

• Grégory Bruart
• Petr Simon
• Kris Hudson
• Patrick Ziller
• Ross Siggers (Key + iOpener T-Shirt)
• Jukka Kirveskari
• Krispijn te Riet
• Olivier Théatre
• François Quil
• Shaun Field

Congratulations to all winners and thanks to everybody who entered. The winners will be receiving their key from iOpener soon, happy racing against the pros!

Some rather worrying news for the sim racing modding scene come from the BATracer browser game which has been forced to go offline by Ferrari S.p.A earlier today.

Ferrari demands the deletion of all user-created Ferrari-related content such as carsets and logos due to the fact that these weren’t officially authorised . BATracer is a motorsports browser game, the material in question are nothing more than a few photos, logos and trademarked names. As a result, the BATracer website is now offline and users won’t be able to upload new content until further notice.

This may become a potential problem for the sim racing modding scene as BATracer is a free game, still Ferrari felt the need to unleash their lawyers on them. A few days ago, several VirtualR readers were discussing whether or not user-created content for racing simulations qualifies as artwork and as such, does not breach copyright. I guess we now have an answer what the license holders think about this issue….

First off to prevent confusion, the following has nothing to do with iOpener’s Real-Time Racing project, the names are just very much similar.

British-based company Real Time Race is looking to revolutionize the racing game genre by replacing standard graphics with footage from video and laser scanning.

Their concept has been in the works for four years now, producing some very interesting results already. Using 360-degree cameras, GPS and laser-scanner, they acquire data from tracks and cars that is later stitched together so it can be used in racing games. Sounds a little confusing? Make sure to watch the video below as it’s perfectly explained there, including an early look on how the finished product could look.

For further info on their technology, make sure to also pay the Real Time Race website a visit.

Last weekend, the Real-Time Racing beta test kicked into higher gear as 5000 beta testers virtually joined FIA GT driver Bas Leinders on track at Zolder, competing in an official FIA GT practice session.

Leinders’ Ford GT was equipped with iOpener Enabled GPS technology, allowing sim racers to race the Belgian driver right from their home. Now, Leinders has spoken to the RTR staff about his experience, you can check out the interview below (you might have to click “Read More”).

If you´re interested to join the Real-Time Racing beta program, make sure to visit their website and pre-register for a beta key. Furthermore, you can win one of ten beta keys by entering the VirtualR competition here.

Read More

Tim Hogendoorn has put together a stunning promo video of ARCA Sim Racing, showing off the title’s stock car racing action in an exciting fashion.

Made by The Sim Factory and based on Image Space Incorporated’s gMotor2 engine, ARCA Sim Racing brings the ARCA Re/Max stock car series to the PC. The ARCA Sim Racing client can be downloaded here.

The Live for Speed Team has released a new version of their racing simulation, introducing the changes listed below.

The patch does not include the much anticipated VW Scirocco or the laser-scanned Rockingham track, the team wanted to share the improvements that have been made in the meantime to shorten the waiting times a little.

If you´re an existing LfS user, you can either obtain the patch by using the auto-update feature or download it below. A full version download is also available.

Changelog:

- Improved car shadows
- New wheel drawing system
- Improved road car dashboards
- ABS brakes on some road cars
- Improved and much faster List of Hosts
- Powerful and flexible multiple screen support

Download Live for Speed Version Z25 Patch Here

Download Live for Speed Version Z25 Full Version Here

Image Space Incorporated and the Superleague Formula Series have released the Superleague Formula Game, bringing the 2009 SLF season to the PC.

Based on ISI’s popular gMotor 2 simulation engine, the game includes all cars, drivers, rules and tracks of the 2009 SLF season, the second in series history. The virtual SLF cars have been created by none other than CTDP, rFactor’s most popular open-wheel modding team.

The game includes six popular European road courses as Magny Cours, Zolder, Estoril, Monza, Jarama & Donington are included. Furthermore, the game includes all of the series rules including the two-race format used on race weekends. Due to changes, the title is now officially based on rFactor version 1.330.

The series uses a Elan-designed open wheel race car that is powered by a 750hp V12 engine. All teams in Superleague Formula represent a football club, notable clubs in the series roster include AC Milan, FC Porto, Liverpool FC and Glasgow Rangers. Even though the field consists mainly of less-known open wheel talents, some known drivers competing in SF include Tristan Gommendy, Davide Rigon, Antonio Pizzonia & Sebastien Bourdais.

The game can be downloaded below, every user can try the product for 60 minutes before deciding whether to buy it or not. Just as rFactor, the game is purchased via a licensing system, it sells for $40/34,99€.

 

Download Superleague Formula Game Mirror 1 Here

Download Superleague Formula Game Mirror 2 Here

Download Superleague Formula Game Mirror 3 Here

The recent beta tests of the iOpener Enabled Real-Time Racing game have created quite a stir in the community, even though many sim racers failed to get an invite to join the beta experience due to the huge demand.

This changes now as VirtualR is able to give away ten Real-Time Racing beta keys as well as one strictly-limited iOpener Enabled T-Shirt. If you want to drive against real race drivers right from your home, simply answer the question below:

Which racing venue is the first ever official iOpener Enabled test track?

You know the answer? Great, then make sure to send it to contest@virtualr.net (please include your full name and a working email-address!) until Sunday November 1st 23:59 CET.

And if you have absolutely no idea, checking out the Real-Time Racing website might be a good idea!

The lucky beta key winners and the shirt winner will be announced on Monday, good luck to all participants!