It’s open to iRacers at all levels, and the races will feature two fields composed of Pro-C and D-Rookie license holders. Practice for the races began at 00:00 GMT on Tuesday May 21, and following tradition, it’s based on four laps with qualifying based on the average speed.

But if you’re not ready to compete, you can still enjoy the action with the top split of the Pro-C race being broadcast live at iracing.com/live on Saturday at 6pm GMT, 2pm EDT.

• Forza Motorsport 5 will be available as a launch title. No date has been revealed. Or prices of either the console of the game.
• The trailer featured a street racing circuit. It didn’t look like Rally di Positano from Forza Motorsport 4, but did feature the same cobbled street surface.
• Two supercars were featured.
• Some race commentary was featured in the trailer, which may just be to add excitement to the video. Hopefully it’s not recorded in-game commentary. If there is a commentary feature, we can only hope it’s part of an ability to commentate on live streamed racing.

Other non-racing news included the fact that Xbox 360 currently runs on around 15,000 servers, but the Xbox One platform is scheduled to have 300,000 servers available – there’s no indication of how many of these will be dedicated to gaming rather than the endless parade of TV and sports tie-ins which were being publicised.

Obviously there’s likely to be much more news on the actual games over the coming weeks, particularly during and after the E3 event, so we’ll keep you posted.

Fórmula Truck is actually the officially licensed game of the Brazilian racing series that’s barely known outside the South American continent and goes by the same name.

According to Reiza’s blurb, this new sim was developed with the co-operation of teams and drivers from the series in their effort to transfer the flavour of those mighty cabs to our screens.

Speaking of the trucks, they’re BIG… and powerful!

Like the equivalent British Truck Racing Association and FIA European Truck Racing championships highlighted with the participation and success in the 80s and 90s of former championship-winning motorbike racer and current BBC MotoGP presenter-commentator, Steve ‘Stavros’ Parrish (https://twitter.com/Stavros6), these vast machines are more than you might expect if you find that ‘racing’ means cars.  Akin to car-based championships around the World like the British BTCC, America’s NASCAR, Germany’s DTM series or the V8 Supercars of Australia, the trucks go far beyond the basic bodywork template that we see at first glance.  Their connection to the beasts of burden hauling trailers everywhere we look basically ends there.  After the wheels, cab and presence of a driver, these are serious bits of kit – immense vehicles of at least 5-tonnes with 1200 horses under the hood that rapidly accelerate and are restricted to a top speed of 100MPH (160km/h).  Let’s say that again.  Twelve-HUNDRED horsepower!  Mix that acceleration, speed, sticky and screeching tyres, close racing, bumping, bashing and clouds of steam from the water-cooled brakes and you have one spectacular event!

For a sign of the pedigree of both Reiza Studios and its old and newer creations, everything so far has used rFactor as its framework.  Beginning with 2010′s respected Fórmula Armaroli add-on, Reiza moved to creating standalone software that continued to use ISI’s renowned base.  To anyone that’s been around the modding scene over the years, Reiza’s international development team is something of a who’s who – a set of highly-experienced individuals with talent at every turn.  This is a serious group that gets the most out of everything they use.  “Incredible!” comes to mind every time that I look at Fórmula Trucks again and remember what it is built upon too.  For all of the flexibility in ISI’s software (lawnmower racing, anyone?!), this form of racing still comes as nothing less than a surprise.  That it can look, feel and sound so good despite not having the advantages of a newer code base is a stunning achievement and we at ORD can only recommend that whether you’re a racer or merely want to sample something different, you give Fórmula Trucks a run – and have a look at Reiza’s other projects too.

With meagre hardware requirements, the low cost of entry and many tracks that the majority of gamers won’t be familiar with away from those used for Formula One and the World Touring Cars championships, Reiza Studios’ entire set of simulators should be on the ‘To Do’ lists of one and all.  There’s more to come too as we eagerly await what has so far been known only as The Ayrton Senna Game, a project that will extend to including world-wide tracks and as part of its partnership with the Ayrton Senna Institute that was founded in 1994, will contribute part of its income to the Brazilian educational programs supported by the Senna organisation.

Reiza offer a trial version for download that will run for sixty minutes.  It’s unfortunate that it’s so tightly time-restricted but should it convince you, Truck rolls in at a reasonable $24.90 USD – approximately £21 GBP and €25 Euros at the time of writing.

If you’ve been wanting more since Euro Truck Simulator 2 and would like to pick up the pace, GO RACING!

Erick Nagy’s video from behind his racing seat, looking at the projected game with an inset from Fórmula Truck’s TV camera.  This is undoubtedly the best footage out there…

Each car now has a set number of challenges associated with it – so far it appears to be five for each vehicle. They include speed challenges, achieving certain positions in specific races, or performing skills such as J-turns, 180 turns, or knocking down a set number of objects.

Included in the expansion are 250 Achievement Points linked directly to the new challenges. The Achievements are:

• My First Challenge: You earned your first Medal: 10 Points
• Ferrari Fan: Earn a Medal in 14 different Ferraris: 20 Points
• It’s Just Money: Earn a Medal in 14 different cars worth at least 1 million Cr. 20 Points
• Snake Chamer: Earn a Medal in 3 different Shelbys. 20 Points
• Lamborghini Lover: Earn a Medal in 8 different Lamborghinis. 20 Points
• Nissan Ninja: Earn a Medal in 7 different Nissans: 20 Points
• Well Engineered: Earn a Medal in 10 different BMWs. 20 Points
• Sir Challenge-a-Lot: Earn a Medal in 20 different British Cars. 20 Points
• Ford Champion: Earn a Medal in 13 different Fords: 20 Points.
• Forza Legend: Earn a Medal in 146 different cars! 80 Points

In addition, there are specific Leaderboards for the 1000 Clubs challenge, including friend’s totals to encourage competition between everyone.

The astute amongst you may have noticed that in order to complete all the achievements, you’ll need to invest in at least some of the Forza Horizon Car Packs. You can see our complete list of cars in Forza Horizon to try and figure it out, but with free downloads available with each car pack, and the fact the challenge content is free, it’s not too painful to have to buy a couple of car packs to finish it all.

We’re just updating the full car list to figure out if you can save money with just a couple of packs.

The base game includes:

• 8 BMWs (10 needed)
• 14 Ferraris (14 needed)
• 1 Shelby (3 needed)
• 5 Nissans (7 needed)
• 9 Fords (13 needed)

Free downloads so far include the Nissan R390, and now two more cars with the 1000 Clubs expansion.

The new cars are the 1995 RUF CTR2, which features a 215mph+ speed thanks to a 520hp 3.6 litre twin turbo flat six. Fun, but not helpful, whereas the more modest 1956 Ford F100 pick-up truck helps towards the Ford achievement with a 167hp V8 built for heavy loads.

As a free download, the 1000 Clubs expansion is definitely worth downloading. It’s given us an excuse to fire the game back up and spend some time exploring various cars which we hadn’t found a reason to drive yet. The challenges aren’t necessarily difficult, but there’s an element of the Pokemon collecting bug to try and get them all, along with the new achievements.

Just watch out for the F100 tipping over on tight corners….

What I’d missed during my initial perusing was a single image of SRH’s new ‘Dashboard System’ that will be made to fit Fanatec’s ClubSport Wheel (or CSW).

With the clean look of carbon-fibre that’s en vogue at this time, the CSW Dashboard as it’s also being called, is a sturdy-looking piece of kit that retro-fits to the ClubSport body as a long bracket that with the wheel temporarily removed, will attach to the body fascia via four included stainless steel bolts. Attach a USB cable, slap a wheel back on and you’re all set!

A first good impression that’s a particularly welcome reaction after a comment I made on the Derek Speare Designs ClubSport Panel is that the left and right button areas are angled towards the driver. A small point of note would be that like the DSD panel, Sim Racing Hardware’s dash has the USB socket mounted at the left-hand side of the hardware rather than at the rear where it would help with cable routing and look tidier as well as reduce the risk of catching it on entering or leaving the cockpit area. Right-angled A-B USB cables and extensions do exist to somewhat improve this mainly cosmetic situation and a socket leaving the rear of the dashboard would probably have slightly complicated its internal design, but it would nonetheless have been nice to see the cleaner aesthetic. It is a really minor point though!

Getting to the all-important specifications, SRH state that the switch box top-panel sections are of a laser-cut 10mm acrylic construction. These sections are fully-boxed and self-contained panels, so there’s no loose wires, parts to find or sections to mount to. This is a genuine ‘mount, plug and play’ option for anyone after that next step in control methods beyond their wheel’s buttons and a cumbersome keyboard.

With a small question mark over the number of flip covers included, here’s the current configuration for the CSW Dashboard:

• Seven toggle switches (three on the left section, the remaining four on the right)
• Eight momentary buttons
• One starter button
• Three rotary encoders

A very nice detail with the encoders is that roundels are fitted. Besides adding a professional and ‘real car’ look, they are engraved – with LASERs again! – to give an indication of how the encoders are being used. That gives a quick reference point for brake bias (yellow, marked ‘BRAKE BIAS’ with F and R directions), a + or – dial (blue, marked as ‘BOOST’) and a range of 1-16 on the red encoder.

Like the four mounting bolts mentioned earlier, the dashboard uses stainless steel fixings everywhere.

It will be fully assembled, with only the mounting to be done. As we described earlier, remove the wheel and four bolts, add the dashboard, screw in the new bolts, plug in a USB cable and GO, GO, GO!

So how much does it cost and when can you get one?!

Though not yet in permanent stock due to high demand, the good news is that the CSW Dash is already being made and the pre-release ordering price is still available. Until SRH can balance production with demand and build stock levels, that means a continuing early offer price of £235 GBP plus shipping – or approximately €275 (Euros) and $360 (USD) plus delivery as this goes to press. After final release, the price will be £250 GBP plus shipping (€293 and $383 plus freight costs, respectively). Order arrangements can be made by contacting SRH via e-mail from the Web page given below. For the CSW Dashboard, a £30 deposit is required and is to be paid via PayPal.

Due to the demand that we’ve referred to, there’s currently a delay of a few weeks between order and dispatch of the dash – but we reckon that discount offsets the wait nicely. Call it more time to build your anticipation! With earlier orders still being cleared, Brian at SRH has told us that three to four weeks between the order being placed and sent would be about right for the CSW Dash at the moment. When looking at the custom, hand-built nature of equipment like that of Sim Racing Hardware and other small producers, that looks fair to us even were it a typical wait (which Brian has said can often be as little as a couple of days for standard catalogue items). We all know of the long delays experienced elsewhere recently and over the years, and even the huge mass-market companies (who make nothing like this, incidentally) can have long delays in production and shipping.

Even with their present wide-spanning range, there is more to come from Sim Racing Hardware and sim racers with a Thrustmaster T500 or Fanatec CSR Elite just might want to keep their eyes peeled…

On a final note away from the CSW Dashboard that we’re covering here, we’d like to add that SRH also sell parts for anyone that wants to take the fully custom approach with their cockpit and controllers. There are USB controllers, hand-made steering wheels, LCD and LED displays and even wheel and pedal modifications that include adaptors for Logitech and Fanatec hardware. Certain items can be purchased in kit form at a considerable discount and if your requirements aren’t listed, bespoke parts can be made to order either as a one-off instance or for a small production run.

Shelf stock of the dash will be built in time, so why not go ahead and order with the discount now? Have a see what else tempts you and do give our OnlineRaceDriver team a mention too!

For further enquiries or to arrange an order, you can contact Sim Racing Hardware here.

Despite its age and lack of visual gloss compared to software of the current hardware generation, we at ORD are firmly in the camp of saying that netKar PRO continues to hold its own in 2013 and with that, especially merits the attention of anyone for whom simulators hold the most appeal. That’s particularly true where such appeal leans toward titles that demand a lot of the driver. To make newcomers aware of netKar’s design, this isn’t a sim replete with pages of driving assistance options. If it doesn’t feature on the real car, it won’t be here either! To balance that potentially scary thought, Kunos Simulazioni’s physics have such a natural feel that the bewilderment of other sims and racing games simply isn’t there. Unless you’re a ‘FULL POWERRRRR!’ lead-foot with no patience, you’ll quickly discover that there’s nothing to get in the way of your requests to the car and tyres. As someone for whom ‘assistance’ has merely been a frustrating brick wall for the last few years, netKar proved to be a welcome refreshment after a long run of successful, good but somehow lacking offerings across the consoles and the PC.

Still not sure?!

Try it, then! The netKar PRO installation runs as a limited demo that lets the player try a single car, one circuit and the on-line mode. After purchase of the license, the fully enabled and otherwise stock netKar PRO installation gives nine cars that are a mix of single-seaters, modern and ‘vintage’ road-based sports cars and the specialist Italian Osella PA-21S – one choice that holds quite the challenge in its 2-litre, 247 brake-horsepower, rear-wheel drive and 605-kilogramme form over the course of a 17-kilometre run of Trento-Bondone! Try doing that in the rain!

Need more? Is even a modest €6.99 price not enough? How about the fact that netKar PRO is open to editing – that you can add or build your own car decals and extend the number of tracks?

Then there’s Kunos’ first taster for the upcoming, can’t-come-soon-enough Assetto Corsa. Even from this Technical Preview featuring a Lotus Elise SC, we can see that AC is building on the best of netKar whilst adding accessibility into the package. As ORD has covered before, Assetto Corsa will have the same open nature as netKar when it comes to cars and tracks. Teams of talented people are already working on that side of things and it’s open systems like this that have given good lifespans and added an enormous fun factor to earlier sims.

For more information, take a little trip to Kunos’ sites for netKar PRO and Assetto Corsa.

Meanwhile British fans have plenty to cheer with Cal Crutchlow putting his Tech 3 Yamaha up with the best in the world, and a solid start for team-mate Bradley Smith. Meanwhile Michael Laverty is riding the Paul Bird Motorsport CRT team following a noteworthy career in domestic and American superbike championships. Then in Moto2 we have Scott Redding starting the season with a podium, and the promise of former 125 GP front runner Danny Kent getting used to the class.

Wherever you look, it’s shaping up to be an awesome season. But are the first signs of MotoGP 13 suggesting the game will live up to reality?

Milestone S.r.l previously produced two MotoGP games for Capcom, before UK studio Monumental stepped in for MotoGP 09/10 and MotoGP 10/11. The return of Milestone to the series was announced in January with a surprising lack of fanfare.

The first video released was a simple announcement with a collection of logos bookending the ‘Cup of Champions’ intro known to TV viewers, with one section engraved with ‘2013 YOU’LL BE THE NEXT ONE’. The only inference to be made was the second set of logos (Xbox 360, PlayStation 3 and Vita, PC).

Fortunately a more substantial footage appeared in March, starting to build up to a June 2013 release. This two-minute taster includes a race for the premier MotoGP machines at the Gran Premio d’Italia TIM on the Mugello Circuit.

And now the Gran Premio bwin de España on the Jerez circuit in Spain has arrived in April.

Ahead of the video, Milestone also released a group of images, including some from the Silverstone for the first time. With shots of varied weather conditions included, it’s clear to see that the company is maintaining the visual improvements made during development in the last year or two with its SBK World Superbike and WRC 3 FIA World Championship games. Time will tell if the pretty face comes with a good voice and the fine control, AI and on-line competition that matters so much in creating the traditionally elusive good bike game that we all want.

In case there’s any confusion over the apparent vintage of the pictures, even the most recently released images continue to show riders and bikes with old leather designs and liveries. As the captions say, it’s all work-in-progress and it’s reasonable to suppose that the decals could shortly change as the real-world 2013 season has now begun and the riders and sponsors are likely to be settled. You’ll know when we do!

World Racing Series Beta 3

In the same fashion as its two-wheeled sibling, World Racing Series exists in a restricted demo form that will unlock to its full-featured state once the sim is licensed. With payment accepted via PayPal, the World Racing Series and GP Bikes two-license cost is €20 (20 Euros). The software key will be sent to the address registered to the PayPal account and should take no more than a few minutes to arrive.

A scenic World Racing Series shot

As with the other sims in PiBoSo’s portfolio, World Racing Series features an open system that allows the separately downloaded painting and track utilities to be used in creating more content. Driver and car templates are also available on the WRS Downloads page.

World Racing Series Beta 3 comes as an unusually compact 231MB file and once again has a list of modest hardware demands. PiBoSo lists the minimum specifications requirements as follows:

• Any version of Windows – 32 or 64-bit – from Windows 98 through to Windows 8!
• 2.0 GHz processor
• 1 GB RAM
• 256 MB OpenGL 1.2.1-compliant graphics card
• DirectX 8.1 or newer libraries

The usual recommendation is made that users ensure their system’s graphics card drivers are updated to the latest official version.

Most control types are supported

Most control types should be supported and though a feedback wheel would be the ideal first choice wherever possible, WRS has been made with keyboard, joystick and even pads also in mind. Indeed, as an alternative to a later trial run with a wheel, we found that the Xbox 360 controller worked well (albeit still in need of further attention to get the vibration feedback to work).

World Racing Series apparently offers an ‘automotive industry-standard tyre model’

To first correct misconceptions ORD has noted in comments left elsewhere, like GP Bikes, World Racing series isn’t based on other software. It is independently created from scratch, rather than being a modification of another body of work.

PiBoSo describes World Racing Series as having an “automotive industry-standard tyre model”. The features list includes a description of a dynamic track surface that includes a developing ‘groove’, wet and drying track simulation and the generation of marbles over the surface. Looking at the tyres again, the model includes the grip-affecting adhesion to the tyres of marbles, grass and dirt (which looks good too, incidentally).

User-selectable gestures may add on-track communication

User-selectable driver gestures is an interesting and novel option! Can we foresee shades of one David Coulthard versus Michael Schumacher tête-à-tête at Magny Cours in 2000, perhaps…?!