iRacing Real Vs. Virtual

The iRacing ‘Real Vs. Virtual’ series is a collection of comparison images where real world photography is recreated using the iRacing tracks, attempting to mimic the source photography as closely as possible.

Every track in iRacing is produced by laser scanning. This means not only is the general shape (track width/length, turn radius etc) captured but also the precise nature of the track surface itself (bumps, dips, cracks, etc). Very accurate recreations of real world circuits are possible, and the immersion of driving the iRacing tracks is unparalleled.

Taking real world photos as a base my ‘Real Vs. Virtual’ series recreates real world photography using the iRacing.com software to showcase the extreme level of accuracy of the tracks.

Click a link from the list below to see a sample of these comparisons.

Round #1 – Indianapolis Motor Speedway

Round #2 – Mosport

Round #3 – Infineon

Round #4 – Barber

Round #5 – Road Atlanta

Round #6 – Brands Hatch

Round #7 – Zandvoort

Round #8 – Phillip Island

Round #9 – Texas Motor Speedway

Round #10 – Mid-Ohio

Round #11 – Road America

Round #12 – Spa-Francorchamps

I’ve also created a series of comparison videos that can be seen by clicking here.

Further information about iRacing tracks

One of (in fact, THE) best features of iRacing is the quality of the tracks. Track representation in older racing simulations used to be very crude but took a significant leap forward in quality when GPS technology started to be employed. Initially only accurate to +/- 10m, this was still a giant leap in quality and greatly contributed in making tracks more accurate.

As GPS technology became more accurate the created tracks also benefitted from increased accuracy, but the next big leap in quality arrived with the process of laser scanning the tracks. iRacing has committed to provide laser scanned tracks for every circuit offered in their software.

Here is an interesting video that explains the process for how an iRacing scan is performed, and the creation of a track.

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