The sports car racing discipline contains some of the most popular championships in iRacing and boasts a huge variety of cars and series formats. The sports car career progression tree follows a structured path, starting from entry-level Mazda MX-5 competition and advancing through junior championships before reaching the IMSA iRacing Series.
Sports car drivers can race in many top-flight special endurance events throughout the year, such as the Daytona 24H, Bathurst 12H, Sebring 12H, Nürburgring 24H and many others, adding another advantage to the license category.
Career progression in iRacing
Rookie series
There is little to choose from in the sports car Rookie series category: the Mazda MX-5 Cup car is a staple of the iRacing simulator and you should try it first at the beginning of your sports car racing career. Typically 3-5 races are required to get the safety rating required for the D licence if you drive patiently and avoid collisions, spins and off-tracks.
The MX-5 is light and fun to drive, and it is important to attack apexes and control weight changes in order to be fast. If you want to return to racing in the MX-5 later in your sports car career, the Advanced Mazda MX-5 Cup series is open for C licence drivers.
D licence
The D licence unlocks a dozen sports car championships, from touring cars to the Porsche Mission R series. Our recommendation is the GT4 Falken Tyre Challenge, a popular GT4-only championship with a fixed setup.
GT4 class competition in iRacing has been on the rise in recent years. The Aston Martin V8 Vantage and Mercedes-AMG GT4 were released in 2022, helping build up a dynamic five-car strong roster, whilst all GT4 cars received the updated tyre model for wet weather racing in the 2024 Season 3 update.
C licence
Championships at the C licence level require specialisation by car (LMP3, MX-5, Porsche Cup, etc.) or by circuit (Ring Meister Series). Many of them have an open setup, which gives an advantage to drivers who understand a specific car well or have an iRacing setup subscription under their belt such as ours here at Coach Dave Academy.
The natural progression on the career ladder at C License is the Falken Tyre Sports Car Challenge and the IMSA Michelin Pilot Challenge. These two championships give an easy introduction to multiclass racing. The GT4 is the slower class in the Falken Tyre Challenge and the faster class in the IMSA Challenge.
Besides, check out the GT Endurance Series, a popular GT3-only championship with 3-hour races on Saturdays and Sundays that are open to C License drivers. The GT3 cars are extensively used in the B and A licence races so this offers good preparation in a longer format.
B licence
The popular B licence championships are all about GT3 cars. The GT3 Sprint Series has 40-minute races with an open setup and the GT3 Fanatec Challenge uses a fixed setup with shorter 20-minute races.
The selection of cars is the same in both championships. You can choose from the modern Porsche 911 GT3 R (992), released in summer 2023, to the vintage McLaren MP4-12C GT3 that has been a part of iRacing for over ten years and everything in between. The exact list of available cars varies between seasons, but iRacing tends to promote cars released recently.
- If you need help getting to grips with any GT3 cars, make sure to check out some of Coach Dave Academy’s lap guides now.
A licence
At the top of the iRacing championship ladder is the IMSA iRacing Series, a multiclass championship with GTP (hypercars), LMP2 and GTD (GT3) classes. You can participate in the open or fixed setup championship; apart from the setup restrictions, they are almost the same.
This series is a multiclass individual championship with 45-minute races (35 minutes for the fixed setup series) and up to 50 drivers on the grid.
Tips to improve as a driver
Driving style
With so many different sports cars available in iRacing, the first tip is to specialise and focus on one class. For example, the driving style in fast prototypes is similar to open-wheel cars because these cars rely more on aero than mechanical grip, while GTs are more about maximising mechanical grip and rotation.
iRacing offers good progression for these paths within the sports car career ladder, such as MX-5 to GT4 to GT3 for GTs and LMP3 to LMP2 to GTP for prototypes.
Secondly, driving sports cars demands attention to managing weight and power through smooth and controlled inputs. iRacing GT3 cars require especially smooth inputs because lock-ups or wheel spins overheat tyres and reduce grip quickly. Progressive throttle application is vital to avoid upsetting the balance, especially when exiting corners, and trail braking helps to balance cars during corner entry and exit.
Setup and race strategy
The keys to fast setup in a sports car are usually in chassis and electronics settings, while aero and dampers are used to fine-tune the balance. In particular, test different values for the main springs, anti-roll bars and toe to mitigate the issues with understeer or oversteer.
Modern sports cars include electronic assistants, traction control (TC) and anti-lock braking system (ABS). The lowest number means the minimal intervention, the highest number means the highest intervention, and you can turn them off completely. Running lower traction control will provide a competitive advantage if you can manage the torque without the wheel spin.
Race strategy in sports car racing is quite straightforward and becomes important only in endurance racing. There are three main factors to consider:
- Traffic management in multiclass racing. Sometimes avoiding traffic with a mandatory pit stop benefits the overall pace.
- Fuel saving in endurance racing to squeeze one extra lap for every stint and avoid making one additional stop at the end of a race. Fuel saving in sprint races may gain you a position in the pits due to slightly shorter refuelling.
- Double-stinting tyres (i.e. taking only fuel during pitstop) to trade off the slower pace for quicker pit stops. This decision depends on tyre wear and pit stop regulation in a specific series.
Final thoughts
Mastering sports car racing in iRacing offers a rewarding and multifaceted experience, with a structured career progression that begins with the accessible Mazda MX-5 Cup and advances to the IMSA iRacing Series. Special endurance events like the Daytona 24H and Nürburgring 24H add to the excitement and complexity, requiring a strategic approach to these races.
