Strava has released his Formula Vee mod for rFactor, bringing three different Formula Vee cars from the 60s to the simulation.

The Formula Vee started competition in 1965, meant to provide motorsport beginners with a cheap base to start from. Engine, transmission and other parts have been taken from the 1963 VW Beetle, despite the simple formula, the cars were able to reach speeds up to 200kph. Notable drivers started their career in Formula Vee, including Nikki Lauda, Emerson Fittipaldi, Keke Rosbger and Nelson Piquet.

 

Download Vintage Formula Vee 1.0 Here

After several impressive preview shots, Com8 has now released a first preview video of his Mainz-Finthen track for rFactor.

The video shows an on-board lap around the airfield circuit, narrated by former DTM driver Manuel Reuter.

Located near the German city of Mainz, the former US Army Airfield was used as a DTM venue from 1984 until 1990. Com8’s version will be modelled after the 1989 version of the DTM event, once completed the track will also make its way to GTR2 and GTR Evolution.

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!

Team LMT has released their first ever public mod for rFactor, bringing Ferrari’s F60 Formula One car and the 2009 version of the Singapore Grand Prix to the simulation.

Driven by Felipe Massa and Kimi Raikkonen, the F60 was Ferrari’s take on the new rules introduced prior to the 2009 Formula One season. Despite being equipped with the promising KERS system, the car failed to make an impact on the world championship. Along with the car comes the 2009 version of Singapore, Formula One’s first ever night Grand Prix.

The team’s first public mod for rFactor was helped by many modders who pitched in their material, click here to visit the full credits. The mod can be downloaded below, both as all-in-one package and as single download for those who only want to download the new track.

Download Ferrari F60 & Singapore 2009 Mirror 1 Here

Download Ferrari F60 & Singapore 2009 Mirror 2 Here

Download Singapore 2009 Here

 

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….

Following the release of the car painting templates two months ago, Enduracers have now released a set of extra templates for their Endurance Series Mod for rFactor.

The new templates allow the painting of rims, driver suits & helmets as well as pit crew suits. In detail, the pack includes:

- Rims OZ Aston Template.
- Rims BBS Template.
- Rims OZ Template.
- Driver Helmet Template by Wardog.
- Driver Suit Template by Wardog.
- Pit crew Template.

Download Endurance Series 1.0 Extra Templates Mirror 1 Here

Download Endurance Series 1.0 Extra Templates Mirror 2 Here

CTDP has released a new preview of their Formula One 1994 mod for rFactor, showing us the Sauber C13 model.

Driven by Heinz-Harald Frentzen and Karl Wendlinger, the Mercedes-powered is probably best remembered for Wendlinger’s horrific crash at Monte-Carlo, leaving the Austrian driver in a coma for three weeks. Wendlinger was replaced by JJ Letho and Andrea de Cesaris for the rest of the season, helping the team to score 12 championship points.

F1 1994 for rFactor will let you relive one of the most remarkable seasons in Formula One history, a year that provided both thrilling racing and heartbreaking drama – From Interlagos all the way to Adelaide.

 

Via CTDP Devblog

Team Players, known for their F1 1955 and Grand Am mods for rFactor, have announced a new track project as the team is working to bring the world’s first ever purpose-built motorports venue to rFactor.

Located in Surrey, England, Brooklands opened in 1907, providing the first permanent setting for motorsports competition. The 4.43 kilometer track was closed in 1939, below are first previews of the rFactor version.

 

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.

Team LMT will be releasing their scratch-made Ferrari F60 Formula One car and the 2009 version of the Singapore Grand Prix for rFactor later today.

Below is a final preview video, made to get you revved up for the following release. After earning a reputation for high quality Formula One league mods, the F60 and Singapore are the team’s first ever public mod projects.

Com8 has made great progress with the rFactor version of the Mainz-Finthen airfield. His newest batch of previews show lots of newly-added details such as grandstands, marshals and other racing-specific additions to the military airfield.

Located near the German city of Mainz, the former US Army Airfield was used as a DTM venue from 1984 until 1990. Com8’s version will be modelled after the 1989 version of the DTM event, once completed the track will also make its way to GTR2 and GTR Evolution.

 

rFactor video maker stabiz has made a first preview video of Team HistorX’s Historic GT & Touring Car mod project for rFactor, showing two brand new cars in action.

The video shows the Porsche 904 and the Ferrari 250 GTO, two cars that will be included in the completely scratch-made 2.0 version of the mod.

Using GT Legends as a base, the Historic GT & Touring Car mod for rFactor proved to be one of the most popular releases for the simulation. The second version of the mod will be made up completely of scratch-made material, bringing several famous historic racing cars to rFactor.

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

This is not exactly sim-related news but very worth mentioning as the future of one of the world’s finest race tracks is in jeopardy.

Local residents are threatening the existence of Spa-Francorchamps, Belgium’s Grand Prix venue, with their noise complaints. Even though Spa has hosted racing since 1921, noise seems to be an issue all of a sudden as the residents have managed to get a court decision in their favor.

It’s time for the motorsport community to speak up and voice support for this great track. Featuring the legendary Eau Rouge corner, Spa is one of the very few race tracks have managed to save their historical flair despite modern developments. Over 21.000 people have already joined the petition and you can too – It’s free and easy.

Sign the Spa-Francorchamps Petition Here