Aussie V8's coming to iRacing!!

[Stack]

iRacing.com will be going Down Under in style next year thanks to new agreements that will bring the 2009 Ford Falcon “FG01” V8 Supercar and the historic Phillip Island Grand Prix Circuit to the service. The agreements were announced in conjunction with this week’s L & H 500 at Phillip Island, the ninth round of Australia’s 2009 V8 Supercar Championship Series.

The announcement comes in the wake of iRacing’s new partnerships with England’s Brands Hatch and Oulton Park and the Netherlands’ Circuit Club Zandvoort.

“One of our initiatives this year has been to expand our list of tracks and cars to reflect the international nature of our membership,” said Steve Myers, iRacing’s executive producer. “Approximately 40% of our membership lives outside North America, and a significant portion of those members are in Australia and New Zealand. We’re pleased to be adding Phillip Island Grand Prix Circuit and the Ford V8 Supercar to our growing list of international tracks and cars.”

Based on the Falcon XR8 road car, the FG01 is Ford’s standard-bearer in its annual battles with Holden (General Motors’ Australian arm) in a V8 Supercar Championship known the world over for its close and intense racing on the finest tracks in Australia and New Zealand, together with forays to Bahrain and (in 2010) Abu Dhabi. The 2009 FGO1 features a 5 liter, pushrod V8 engine producing in excess of 600 horsepower that has propelled veteran Jamie Whincup into the 2009 series lead.

Phillip Island Grand Prix Circuit is a 12 turn, 2.8 mile roller-coaster of a road course, located on an island of the same name just off the coast of Victoria, Australia. In addition to this weekend’s V8 Supercar event, Philip Island annually plays host to the Australia Motorcycle Grand Prix, the Phillip Island Round of the Superbike World Championship and numerous motorcycle and auto club events.

[Hanewf_83]

OK, that's somewhat tempting me... Bring in the Holden, and maybe some other tracks (Bathurst for sure) and I'd definitely be on board. I love those cars.

[Stack]

Originally Posted by Hanewf_83

OK, that's somewhat tempting me... Bring in the Holden, and maybe some other tracks (Bathurst for sure) and I'd definitely be on board. I love those cars.

Agreed... although I think it will be a LONG time before we see multiple "makes" as far as the cars go in iRacing (I think eventually we'll see it, just not for some time.) And creating Bathurst for iRacing might be next to impossible due to the time commitment needed to scan it seeing as how it is a public road during all but race weekends.

Fun thing is... once the V8 is released, well start seeing some REAL head-to-head comparisons between them and the COT from NASCAR. Fun stuff!!

[Hanewf_83]

Originally Posted by Stack

Agreed... although I think it will be a LONG time before we see multiple "makes" as far as the cars go in iRacing (I think eventually we'll see it, just not for some time.) And creating Bathurst for iRacing might be next to impossible due to the time commitment needed to scan it seeing as how it is a public road during all but race weekends.

I kinda knew/was expecting this was the case, I can't really see the issue since there's not much between them performance wise (as for the COT, they're all the same damn car with different decals, so why not let people pick and drive their marque of choice)
And Bathurst, yeah, I know, but it's worth hoping for (they got Long Beach [didn't they?], so it is possible).

Originally Posted by Stack

Fun thing is... once the V8 is released, well start seeing some REAL head-to-head comparisons between them and the COT from NASCAR. Fun stuff!!

Why compare, the COT will win hands down on an oval, the Aussie V8 is a superior car on road courses, even with the lack of grunt under the hood.

[Stack]

Now that you mention it, I do remember seeing a scan of the water fountain at Long Beach... and of course there has always been/always will be demand for it.

Does anyone know how long Bathurst is "closed" during the Aussie V8 races there? Long beach I think is closed for the better part of a week or more, so maybe there's more time to scan it in sections... :dunno:

Hopefully we'll be proved wrong.

[HawkBat]

I am not sure how long Bathurst is closed, but we can find out since the Bathurst is less then a month away!

[Stack]

Originally Posted by HawkBat

I am not sure how long Bathurst is closed, but we can find out since the Bathurst is less then a month away!

And really... just the fact that Ford is on board, and Marcus Ambrose is on board in a BIG way, bodes well for that dream coming true (getting The Mountain on iRacing.)

[Mike_B]

Originally Posted by Hanewf_83

OK, that's somewhat tempting me... Bring in the Holden, and maybe some other tracks (Bathurst for sure) and I'd definitely be on board. I love those cars.

Agreed! Bathurst and the Holden will have me chomping at the bit to get back to iRacing!