iRacing and Dallara Team Up to Build Dallara iR-01
December 4th, 2020 by Chris Leone
Premier spec open-wheel car to debut in December build, feature in 2021 World Championship
December 4, 2020 – iRacing.com Motorsport Simulations and Dallara Automobili have partnered to introduce the Dallara iR-01, a world-class open-wheel racecar, to iRacing in time for the 2021 Season 1 build this December. The new vehicle, which blends modern technology with a classic grand prix heritage, will eventually culminate in the introduction of its own World Championship series later in 2021.
“Our partnership with Dallara to bring the Dallara iR-01 to iRacing has been unlike any other project we’ve ever undertaken,” said iRacing executive producer Steve Myers. “With a clean sheet in front of us, we challenged ourselves to build the ultimate open-wheel racecar to bring to our users. The result is an exciting blend of the past, present, and future of grand prix racing that is thrilling to drive and produces incredible on-track battles.”
“The collaboration with iRacing is long-standing, we got to know iRacing people more than 10 years ago when we were conceiving our driving simulator and looking for nice graphics while iRacing was looking for experts in the real life of motorsport,” said Andrea Pontremoli, Dallara Group CEO & General Manager. “That’s why we have enthusiastically welcomed the possibility of collaborating with them on this new project. Motorsport has been in Dallara’s DNA since its inception, along with the continuous search for new challenges. It is a way for Dallara to bring our knowledge and skills to the world of professional video games, with particular attention focused on the new generation of gamers and their interests. We gladly ventured into the design of a totally new and innovative car dedicated exclusively to the world of sim racers.”
iRacing and Dallara began work on the Dallara iR-01 in May 2020, engineering a car that is ready to race in the real world but will make its debut in the virtual one. Featuring a lightweight chassis of only 600 kg, its naturally aspirated 3.0-liter V10 engine can produce more than 900 horsepower. With limited electronics on board and a fully decoupled suspension, the new car will prove easy for new drivers to pick up and fun to race, but difficult to master.
The new vehicle represents the continuation of a longstanding relationship between iRacing and Dallara, ranging from open-wheel racing to sports cars and dating back to some of the earliest cars released on the iRacing service. Most recently, the Dallara P217 LMP2, a staple of endurance racing around the world, made its iRacing debut in September.
The Dallara iR-01 will immediately slot into iRacing’s Dallara Formula iR Series as its premier open-wheel car. Further announcements on World Championship events featuring the Dallara iR-01 will be made in due course.
For more information on iRacing and for special offers, visit www.iracing.com. For more information on Dallara, visit www.dallara.it.