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BEDFORD, MA (28 November 2006) iRacing.com Motorsport Simulations president and CEO Dave Kaemmer returned to racing after a two-year hiatus, participating in a Skip Barber Race Series event at Road Atlanta Nov. 1719. Kaemmer's appearance coincided with the announcement of a strategic alliance between iRacing.com and Skip Barber and offered the iRacing.com development team a valuable opportunity to refine its work-in-progress simulation, which is expected to be available to the public in 2007.
"Nobody ever has had to ask me twice about getting in a racecar," said Kaemmer, who, with 18 wins and 90 race starts with Skip Barber, has taken the last two years off to dedicate himself to creating the world's most sophisticated racing simulation. "But as much as I jumped at the chance to drive again, this was about more than just having fun and celebrating our partnership with Skip Barber. Authenticity and realism are everything to us, and there's no substitute for a back-to-back comparison."
Kaemmer's drive was part of a larger test of the iRacing.com simulation. Several members of the company were on hand in Atlanta to oversee test drives of the simulated version of the Skip Barber R/T 2000. More than 80 drivers, instructors and staff were invited to participate in the comparison and offer their feedback.
"I've had a lot of seat-time in the R/T 2000," said Kaemmer. "But as we get closer and closer to finishing that car in the sim, the adjustments we're making to the physics are pretty subtle. The only way to get it absolutely right is to gather data from the people who know, drivers who have lots of current experience in these types of cars and who can detect the smallest differences in handling characteristics and performance."
In addition to presiding over this carefully selected "focus group," Kaemmer also spent the weekend getting back up to speed in the real-world R/T 2000. Although his on-track results were somewhat less than he had hoped for, highlights included a five-lap charge from the back of the grid up to third place in Sunday's race. Unfortunately, a broken half-shaft on lap six ended the run.
"It was great to be back in a car," said Kaemmer. "Even though my results were pretty mediocre, I had fantastic battles in both of the races. The half-shaft failure on the second day was pretty frustrating, but I guess that just means I have to come back and try again!"
As part of its uncompromising pursuit of realism and authenticity, iRacing.com plans call for Kaemmer to personally drive every car to be incorporated into the simulation, which, in addition to an online version of the famous Skip Barber Three-day Racing School and race series, will include a wide variety of oval and road racing machinery.
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