iRacing.com To Create Virtual Version of 1967 Lotus 49

 iRacing.com and Classic Team Lotus announced plans today to create an exacting virtual version of the renowned 1967 Lotus 49 for the world’s foremost online racing service. The Lotus 49 will be the second of the marque’s iconic Formula One cars to be made available to iRacing’s more than 30,000 members, joining the 1978 World Championship-winning Lotus 79 which has been raced by thousands of iRacers since its introduction in 2009.

Today’s announcement solidifies the relationship between iRacing.com and Classic Team Lotus. Prior to developing the virtual Lotus 79, iRacing co-founder Dave Kaemmer and his team created an early digital version of the Lotus 49 for the popular video game Grand Prix Legends in 1998.

Among the first Formula One cars to employ its engine as a fully stressed chassis member, the Lotus 49 was also the first to utilize the legendary Ford-Cosworth DFV engine. On its debut in the 1967 Grand Prix of Holland, the Lotus 49 scored a famous “double” as Graham Hill captured the pole position before Jim Clark won the race itself. The design went on to 11 more Formula One wins and took Hill to the 1968 World Championship of Drivers.

iRacing is fortunate to have access to the very Lotus 49 Clark drove to that historic victory in 1967. The car is currently owned by vintage racer Chris MacAllister of Indianapolis, who has generously offered iRacing complete access to Clark’s car during the precision modeling process.  iRacing’s engineers will shortly begin measuring the Lotus 49, with a targeted release for the latter part of 2012 . . . when iRacers the world over will be able to drive a digital version of the car in which Clark scored one of his most celebrated victories on iRacing’s millimeter accurate rendition of the modernized Circuit Park Zandvoort.