To Accurately Model Race Cars, iRacing Relies On Real-World Experience

For a racing simulator to be as immersive as possible, cars must not only look real, but also behave similarly to their real-world counterparts. And iRacing, one of the top online sim racing platforms, does as good a job of this as anyone else in the business.

Much like how actual racers are built, the people at iRacing develop digital models piece by piece, making sure each detail gets the attention it deserves. Of course, this isn’t something that your average racing fan is capable of doing.

Chris Lerch, a vehicle dynamicist for iRacing, says he relies on 20-plus years of motorsport experience as well as the collaboration of teams and manufacturers. Lerch recently sat down with NESN Fuel’s Rachel Holt to talk about the various challenges he faces throughout the design process.

Although Lerch is responsible for many aspects of the vehicle modeling, as he touched upon briefly, fine-tuning iRacing’s platform truly requires a multi-faceted approach.