Caterham 420R, Caterham Academy and Aston Martin Valkyrie AMR-LMH Hypercar coming to iRacing’s Season 4 2026 build
Single-player career mode nearing completion
New laser-scanned versions of Road America, Mid-Ohio and Milwaukee Mile
iRacing’s Senior Vice President and Executive Producer, Greg Hill, delivered another dev blog of War and Peace proportions today, setting out what drivers can expect to see in the sim’s upcoming Season 4 2026 build.
Unlike in Tolstoy’s epic, however, ‘peace’ will be replaced by the sound of ‘war’ in iRacing soon, in the form of the Aston Martin Valkyrie AMR-LMH Hypercar’s piercing V12 exhaust note (and you’ll do well to find a more contrived metaphor than that, dear reader).
Aston Martin Valkyrie AMR-LMH Hypercar
Yes, the Aston has been in development for more than a year, according to Hill, and it’s been recreated using real telemetry and engineering data.
Once deployed in September, it will join the sim’s five-strong GTP class alongside the Ferrari 499P, Acura ARX-06 LMDH, BMW M-Hybrid V8, Cadillac V-Series.R and Porsche 963 LMDH.
Joining the Aston are two Caterhams: the 420R and Academy. Caterhams’ presence in iRacing was thought to be a formality once the small British brand appeared in sister title iRacing Arcade, and the Lotus 7-inspired sports cars will likely be a hit with subscribers.
Both cars will be packaged together as a single purchase, with the Academy designed as an entry-level race car with 130 bhp. Meanwhile, the 420R produces more than 200 bhp, propelling its 635 kg chassis to ludicrous cornering forces and making it a racier proposition.
Both cars feature on a bumper Caterham motorsport package in the UK, with separate series for Academy, Roadsport, 270R, 310R and the top-level 420R cars.
Car updates
The Mazda MX-5 and asphalt Sprint Car will receive huge, ground-up updates for Season 4, while the Gen 4 Grand National stock car will be added to the ‘[Legacy] ARCA Menards Chevrolet and Gen 4 Cup’ package, with existing owners receiving the upgrade for free.
Track updates
Road America, Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course, and the Milwaukee Mile have all received fresh laser scans and will be updated for Season 4. Road America will also get two extra East and West layouts, which will naturally be free for current track owners.
Summit Point Raceway (including the Jefferson Circuit) and Road Atlanta have been given comprehensive track art upgrades, too.
Other features
iRacing will receive physics updates in September, while multi-class safety cars will get a soft launch, but only on certain yet-to-be-announced tracks.
The nascent Sim UI mechanic will also be refreshed with a clearer ‘pit summary’ window and will include a damage widget that shows exactly where your car is hurting in a BeamNG.drive-style fashion.
New smoke VFX should also make burnouts more voluminous. Nice.
Career and graphics
iRacing fans may not be surprised to hear that the sim’s career mode and new graphics engine are still in development, but the former is at least starting to take shape.
Track reverb is close to release but will likely not make Season 4’s release, but Hill did confirm that Le Mans’ Circuit Bugatti has now been successfully laser-scanned, with the art team set to move on to Circuit Paul Armagnac (Nogaro) and Circuit Ricardo Tormo (Valencia).
Much closer to release are Circuit Paul Ricard and Winchester Speedway, however, which could break cover in Season 1 2027 alongside new helmets.
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