It was announced late on Wednesday night, or early Thursday morning, depending on where you live, that Next Level Racing and iRacing will be teaming up for some upcoming iRacing edition cockpits with iRacing membership codes included.
The first one on the way, based on the existing F-GT Lite sim cockpit currently in the fold at Next Level Racing, the Next Level Racing F-GT Lite iRacing edition is the first collaboration piece between the two companies. The rig will have the iRacing logo embroidered on the seat and buyers will receive a 12-month subscription to iRacing (valued at $110, but included for free with purchase) for new iRacing accounts.
The F-GT Lite rig is revolutionary in the sense that it can adjust to either formula-style or GT-style racing positions, plus the whole thing can fold up when not in use. Not only that, but it is quite affordable in comparison to many others on the market and is a perfect companion for sim racers with space limitations or those that travel often.
“This partnership with iRacing fully encompasses our values of building the sim racing community, increasing accessibility for more aspiring racers and promoting competition through esports.” said Hess Ghah, CEO of Next Level Racing. Indeed, for those looking to get into iRacing for the first time, this may be a much easier way to do so.
The F-GT Lite iRacing edition will retail for £299 GBP, $349 USD, €349 EURO or $549 AUD, depending on where you live. It’s expected to launch by the end of this month or sometime in September. It’s got the frame, the seat fabric and a gear shifter or handbrake arm included in the box. The pre-drilled holes will work with Logitech, Fanatec or Thrustmaster peripherals.
I’m excited about it, personally. As someone who can travel quite a bit, this would ease my worries about possibly damaging a hotel room desk by clamping my Logitech G29 to it. The rig, folded up, could also easily fit in the trunk of my tiny car, so I’ll definitely be looking into this at launch.
BUT WAIT, THERE’S MORE!
There’s also another co-branded sim cockpit in the works, part of the upcoming F-GT Elite line that we covered here on Traxion back in May. The F-GT Elite cockpit was expected in June, but due to the global pandemic, was pushed back, originally to August, but now will launch in September. The iRacing edition will launch when the regular ones of those launch as well.
“As well as working with iRacing with the goal of bringing the best high-end racing simulators such as the upcoming F-GT Elite iRacing Edition for competitive sim racers, both companies also have a clear goal to make sim racing more accessible globally,” said Ghah.
This Elite rig is meant to be a more permanent fixture, but features a lot of the same adjustability and features seen in the lesser F-GT Lite. The frame is aluminum-based, but we don’t quite know what the price will be for the standard or iRacing editions just yet. When we learn more about this one, we’ll let you know.
