The online racing simulator

Posted by Joe_Keaveney

2009 iTCC Touring Car Championship begins this weekend!

The 2009 iTCC Touring Car Championship begins at Westhill International circuit this weekend, on Sunday 11th January 2009. The meeting is scheduled for 3 x 25 minute races with a reversed grid for the third race which should ensure an exciting finale to the day's racing!

The event will be covered in the iTCC broadcast starting from 1800 GMT (UTC), with the commentating team led by Jonathan Palmer from the New Dimension Racing team. You can catch the broadcast at http://www.iconracing.co.uk/itcctv.htm or at http://www.mogulus.com/itcc from 1800 GMT (UTC).

After a successful Pre-Season 'Warm-up' meeting at the Aston Circuit, the iTCC drivers and their teams move on to the Westhill International circuit, this time being run in it's reverse configuration. Practice has been increasing in intensity throughout the week leading up to Sunday's programme as drivers struggle to find the right compromise between speed and handling.

Talk in the pits is of how to approach Turn 1, a double-apex right-hander at the end of the start/finish straight that tightens dramatically into the second apex. Many drivers are finding it difficult to avoid locking brakes at this point in the circuit - so much so that some drivers expect tyre wear to be a real issue at this season-opener.

Only the top 15 point-scoring drivers in the championship will be ‘locked-in’ for Round 2 of the iTCC so the pressure is on the drivers to score points and make sure of their place at Round 2. Any driver outside of the top 15 in the Driver’s Championship after Round 1 will have to qualify through the Round 2 Reserve Shootout to secure their place in Round 2 of the iTCC.

The championship is a 'Touring-Car' race series using only the FXR, which is restricted at the air-intake by 32% to give around 320 BHP.

The intention of this series is to give the racer an enjoyable and competitive race series that is run to similar rules as the BTCC and WTCC touring-car championships - and to give the viewer an unmissable spectacle to watch live on their PCs.

Features of the iTCC championship familiar to fans will include reversed grids and 'success' ballast. These measures are intended to 'level' the field to maintain a healthy competition throughout the season.

The series will run for 6 'triple-header' rounds. That is to say, there is 3 points-scoring races at each round - all of equal length; about 25 minutes each.

The races themselves are available to watch via LFS Remote and ICON TV, which broadcasts commentated live in-game coverage. Additionally there are replay files made available soon after the race, as well as whole race coverage video, and detailed race statistics also made available.

iTCC – 2009 Touring Car Championship Round 1

11th January 2009 – 18:00 UTC(GMT)

at Westhill International (Reversed)


Looking forward to seeing you on the track! And if you're not racing then please feel free to watch the ICON TV broadcasts.

Thanks,

Joe Keaveney - iTCC Admin
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