The official simulation championship of the Porsche Club Great Britain heads into it’s fourth season next week and welcomes the arrival of the new 510 hp ‘Type 992’ 911 GT3 Cup on the iRacing platform. There will also be a new format and structure for the season ahead as the championship will feature a ‘heat’ format for the duration of the 8 official rounds.

“I’m really excited for the new season and the competition ahead. I think the new format is very interesting and certainly should improve the show compared to last season. My aim is to retain the championship, but also have a lot of fun and find ways to improve over the season. I’m sure it won’t be an easy task, the championship continues to grow and the skill level is higher than ever, with over 50 drivers competing this season. “ - Jacob Tofts, Season Three Pro Champion

On the heels of the release of the Porsche 911 GT3 R in June, iRacing and Porsche revealed that the Porsche 911 GT3 Cup (992) would has also joined the service in time for the fourth season of the PCGB Sim Racing Championship.

“iRacing is proud to welcome the new Porsche 911 GT3 Cup to the sim for September,” said iRacing executive vice president Steve Myers. “Our lineup of Porsche vehicles have always proven quite popular across special events, public series, and hosted races, and we expect the updated 911 GT3 Cup car to be similarly well-received among iRacers around the world.”

The Porsche 911 GT3 Cup (992) packs a 510-horsepower punch and introduces a fresh slate of upgrades from its predecessor. Besides an increase in power in its 4.0-liter flat-six powerplant, included in the evolution from the 991.2 generation model are a new chassis design with increased aluminum usage, double wishbone front suspension, a new electronic shift system, safety features, and more.

The PCGB Sim Racing Championship boasts it’s biggest grid to date, with over 55 club members set to participate throughout the season. Given the ever growing grid, there will be a further opportunity to progress into the Feature Race during each round. A consolation heat will take place for those who didn’t qualify during the first two heat rounds. A combined 35 drivers will participate in the final feature race, the top 10 taken from the two heat races and 15 drivers from the consolation race.

Introduced during the third season, the Pro and AM categories will remain for the fourth season but will all compete on circuit during the heat format and also in a closed qualifying session which will determine their position for the heat races. The 20 minute heat racing will surely provide action and drama as only the top ten of the two races and top 15 from the 10 minute consolation will move forward to the 25 minute feature race. Whilst the the Pro and Am categories will have separate championship standings, an overall points structure will oversee the whole field this year. There will be points on offer in all four races, with the larger points available in the Feature Race.

“We are incredibly excited to get season 4 underway, we have a new car, new race format, and a good influx of new drivers, and some very challenging tracks, so this season has the potential to provide some great racing. With the introduction of the 992 there is a lot of movement between drivers in terms of pace, some haven't quite got to grips with it yet, whilst others who maybe struggled with the previous 991 seem to have gelled and pushed themselves up the grid, we will certainly be seeing some new faces at the front fighting for wins in the Pro class, also the competition in the Am class is looking incredibly tight, I think it will be impossible to predict who will be the contenders until we get a few rounds in to the series.“ - Gavin Halls, Series Organiser.

Both championships will offer a prize pot of 2 x Etickets to a round of the Club Championship in 2022 with PCGB hospitality and also an invite to a track day where the sim drivers will have the opportunity to test in the PCGB Cayman, either as a passenger or driver with a instructor. There will be additional prizes for the safest Pro and AM Driver of the season, each receiving £200 towards an order from Mydas Simulation, courtesy of Crockery Direct.

The championship gets under way at Hokenheimring this Wednesday and concludes at Monza in January 2022, with a full season of racing taking place across 7 rounds of heat racing – plus an all new 120 minute endurance special on December 22nd 2021, featuring two drivers teams, each team selected from the highest and lowest scoring drivers on the championship standings after round 5.

13th October - Hokenheimring

27th October - Redbull Ring

10th November - Donington Park (International)

24th November - Imola

8th December - Watkins Glen

22nd December - Sebring 120minute Endurance race

5th January Road - Atlanta

19th - January Monza

You can watch all the action live on SimRacersWorld TV

Imagery courtesy of Gilles Gardner