Skip Barber Formula iRacing Series Race Preview: VIR
March 26th, 2022 by Chris Leone
The Skip Barber Formula iRacing Series continues its chase towards a prize pool valued at more than $500,000 with a visit to VIRginia International Raceway on Sunday at 3PM ET. As always, the action can be seen live on www.iracing.com/live and across iRacing and Skip Barber Racing School channels.
About The Series: The Skip Barber Formula iRacing Series is designed to give sim racers an opportunity to earn their way into a fully funded real-world Skip Barber Formula Race Series seat. This six-round sim racing championship features the iRacing Formula iR-04 that most closely resembles the car used in the real-world series. Each week, a new set of 20 drivers qualifies into the series through a three-day Time Attack session, before receiving coaching from Skip Barber Racing School instructors throughout the week. The top three points finishers across the season receive race seats, with the champion running a full season, second place running half the season, and third place running a single event. The combined value of all prizes, including SBRS credits to all qualifying drivers and other randomly awarded scholarships, exceeds $500,000.
Last Race: Mikkel Gade’s excellent 2022 sim racing season continued last week at Lime Rock Park with a clean sweep of both feature races in the Skip Barber Formula iRacing Series opener. Gade, a top split winner in the 2022 iRacing Daytona 24, led all 17 laps in each race. He boasts a 10-point advantage coming into VIR over three separate drivers, as Elvis Rankin and Harley Haughton swapped their second and fourth place finishes in the two features and Nicolas Mateo scored a pair of thirds to each come out of the day with 60 points.
Track Facts: First opened in 1957, VIRginia International Raceway is one of the United States’ most versatile road courses. From its 3.27-mile full course layout to the 1.1-mile Patriot course located within its infield, VIR boasts a track layout for just about any vehicle or driver preference. The track was revived in 2000 after more than a quarter century of dormancy and has since been utilized heavily by top US-based road racing series and organizations like the Skip Barber Racing School.
Next Race: Following VIR, the Skip Barber Formula iRacing Series will head to Watkins Glen International on Sunday, April 3 at 3PM ET. The longtime host of the United States Grand Prix, the iconic New York-based facility has also hosted nearly every major racing series based in the United States since its opening in 1956. Prior to that, a series of road races had been hosted on public streets in the area for nearly a decade.
Drivers looking to qualify for subsequent rounds of the Skip Barber Formula iRacing Series can visit skipbarber.com/iracing-series/ to register before turning their hot laps in iRacing’s Time Attack system on Monday through Wednesday. Registration is $20 per event. For more information on iRacing and for special offers, visit www.iracing.com.