|
LONG BEACH, CA (13 April 2007) iRacing.com Motorsport Simulations today announced a partnership with the Grand Prix Association of Long Beach that may just change street-circuit racing forever. The 1.968-mile course created from public streets closed to traffic for three days each year will be incorporated into iRacing.com's highly sophisticated racing simulation, effectively making permanent what once was temporary. The result: unprecedented, year-round access for teams to prepare for the world-famous Toyota Grand Prix of Long Beach.
"This course only exists in its entirety for three days a year, so race teams previously had no opportunity to test and tune in preparation for the race, and amateur racers were resigned to the fact that they'd never have a chance to experience one of the most celebrated circuits in our sport. All of that's going to change now," said Scott McKee, vice president of marketing for iRacing.com. "The effort involved in accurately replicating a downtown street circuit is enormous, but so are the implications of our partnership with a unique and legendary track like Long Beach."
The partnership marks the first street circuit to be included in iRacing.com's motorsport simulation, a software package designed as a training tool for real-world racers. The simulation combines a proprietary track-building process with accurate and authentic driving dynamics to make seat-time in the simulation as valid and valuable as time spent on-track.
"For more than 30 years, some of the biggest names in motorsport have been drawn to Long Beach because of the unique challenge of the track and the opportunity to compete with the best in the business," said Jim Michaelian, president and chief executive officer of the Grand Prix Association of Long Beach. "By scanning this track and making it available to racers as a training tool, iRacing.com immortalizes what it means to be a part of this event and allows competitors of all levels to experience the excitement and challenge of the Toyota Grand Prix of Long Beach year-round."
The iRacing.com production team began the data gathering process on April 4, with one crew laser scanning every inch of the racing surface and adjacent barriers from 2 a.m. to 6 a.m. each night to capture the every crack, curb and camber change of the seaside street course. A second crew worked in the daylight hours to take thousands of photographs that will help artists replicate every detail of the track and its surroundings.
"Thanks to the help of Dwight Tanaka, director of operations for the Grand Prix, and his team and the cooperation of the Long Beach Police Department, we were able to integrate our scanning activities into their already complex pre-event build schedule," said Greg Hill, vice president of art and production at iRacing.com. "We still have a long way to go before the virtual version of Long Beach will be ready, but we're off to a really great start."
Data gathering, which will conclude at the end of race-week, is just the first of many tasks in the painstaking, months-long production process. Next steps include extraction of the data from scanning, laying out the spline of the racetrack, modeling trackside objects and creating textures for all of the myriad surfaces in view from every vantage point around the circuit.
|
