You may remember our announcement in November that Simraceway would be the first videogame in history to include every one of McLaren’s extensive and prestigious range of road and race cars. You may even have sampled the first product of our historic union with the legendary British marque: the iconic M6GT.

Well we’re proud to announce that our latest release from McLaren’s illustrious back-catalogue is another icon, albeit from a very different era.

The McLaren MP4-12C GT3 was developed in parallel with its road-going sibling to take its place as the first McLaren since the Le Mans-winning F1 GTR to compete in FIA GT racing.

However even before it makes its eagerly-anticipated European Championship debut in the Spring, we’re giving you the opportunity to race it on the Simraceway tracks.

Tested for authenticity by our team of world-class professional drivers, you can be sure you’ll feel every one of the 493 bhp produced by a car Jenson Button once famously preferred to the Bugatti Veyron.

Our issues have been resolved and the UK servers are being brought back online. This was an unscheduled outage and we apologize for any inconvenience that this may have caused. The problem has been identified and we are taking steps to prevent this from happening in the future.

Release Build: SimracewayGame_57.exe

Release Date: 02/14/12

Fixed Issues

• Non-blocking busy screen
• Add dialog to Log out duplicate sessions
• In-Game: Video Settings: Vertical FOV setting is no longer adjustable when loaded into a session online/offline
• HUD: Pit Experience: functions correctly if requested straight as a user joins a track & attempts to use it from the starting pit area
• SRWUpdate.exe file running as a Service from Windows start-up
• patch updater download no longer repeated each time game launched
• Ghost car is still racing while user is waiting in the Race Monitor
• Leaderboard: Ghost split time is now correctly displayed
• Options: ESC key in dialog window un-map action
• Prompt for system does not meet the minimum requirements
• D-PAD navigation: D-PAD navigation is now working on exit confirmation pop-ups
• Ghost car and time is now in Post-Race screen after a race is completed
• Fixed Application crash in GDynamicVertexStreamD3D9::DrawTriangles
• Added column header  for server countdown
• Garage: Manufacturer list persists when my Cars is selected
• Chat: upon login, users are correctly populated
• Improved stability of the game client when invalid replays are found in Ghost Racing/Chaser mode
• Track validation for replays and ghost racing
• Loading bar color change
• Logging invalid replays and invalid waypoints from tracks in CrashLog.txt file
• Navigation improvements made throughout the menus, working on focus indicator behavior

Known issues

• Upon entering an event, a server list appears briefly with false data.

Following the successful launches of our game public beta and groundbreaking SRW-S1 Steering Wheel, Simraceway’s creators, Ignite Game Technologies, were last week provided with an extra $5 million of funding, taking the total raised to date to $17.5 million.

This is great news for everyone associated with the project and we’re very grateful to our investors, both old and new, whose foresight and support have been instrumental in helping us bring our vision of reinventing the racing game to life.

However, we’d also like to thank you, our users, as without you Simraceway would just be a bunch of 000’s and 111’s sitting in a server somewhere. You bring Simraceway to life. Your racing, your support and, critically, your fervent feedback are making it one of the most welcoming and lively places to race online.

For those of us working on Simraceway such news, particularly in this tough economic climate, is a great vote of confidence in the direction we’re heading.

But what does it mean for you?

Well, it means we can continue to push forward with the plan I outlined in November to make the game even more authentic and even more competitive. That means:

• Introducing full-size recreations of real-world racing series to provide even more challenges.
• Continuing to update every aspect of the game to keep pace with the fast-moving racing scene.
• Laser-scanning licensed tracks to make them millimeter-perfect.
• Rolling out our game-changing skill quantification and matching service to guarantee door handle-to-door handle action.

We’re all excited to be given this extra help in fully-realizing our vision for Simraceway. But we’re especially excited that our investors and, most of all, our players share our passion for producing a brand new online racing experience. We look forward to delivering a game fully deserving of everyone’s faith.

Click here to view the press release.

We are currently experiencing connectivity issues on our UK servers. To prevent any data loss, we have taken down the servers temporarily and are presently working hard to fix the problem. We will make an announcement as soon as we have the servers back up and running.

“I have the all-time track record at Mid-Ohio—I think it was a 1:03:7.” It was at this point of my conversation with IndyCar, sportscar, Aussie V8 and rally driver extraordinaire, Simon Pagenaud, that I fell off my chair.

The 27-year-old Indianapolis-based Frenchman loves to go fast and in the last 12 months he has taken every available opportunity to prove it. Pagenaud has driven for the factory Peugeot squad in the Intercontinental Le Mans Cup, he’s been ‘super sub’ in the IndyCar Series, he’s been a factory Honda driver in the Continental Tire Series for touring cars and he’s even found time to rally a Citroen C2!

That blistering lap time at the Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course was set in a 2007 Champ Car (above) described simply by Pagenaud as “fantastic” with a “combination of power and grip that made that track layout really fun.”

One would think that the techniques required to steer 800 bhp of open-wheel fury like the Panoz DP-01 simply would have no correlation with a rear-wheel or all-wheel-drive production car. Simon begs to differ. “It is important to have a car that is the same on entry, mid-corner, and exit.” He went on to explain that the car “needs to be predictable from entry to exit. I want the car to drive into the corner by itself, I never want to force it with the steering. I want to transfer enough weight to the front of the car with my braking or by lifting but I don’t want to have to turn the wheel too much.  My belief is there is no ‘driving style’, you need to be able to adapt at every corner.”

The Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course is a perfect example of a track that demands adaptability. It’s a track where, according to Pagenaud, “you have to know how to drive in different ways to go fast.” And with that, we were off into Turn 1 (below). It was 2007 all over again and I was now a more-than-willing passenger on that epic lap.

“You don’t brake, you just slightly lift and then get back on the power and there’s a very slight slide on the exit.” Simon was quick to explain that the margin for error here is tiny: “too hard you spin, not hard enough, you’ll understeer off!”

“The biggest issue with Turn 2 (below) is the level of understeer. You enter the turn at the top of the hill and you have to brake as you turn. The car gets light and you have to contain the rear as much as you can. The more you can turn the car in on entry, the less the front of the car will wash out in the middle of the corner.”

Early in the lap the driver is faced with the first challenge of their adaptability. “There are a lot of different lines: you can turn in early and ‘diamond’ the corner (in fast, out fast, slow middle) or go for an early entry and a long duration when you try and stay on the kerb all the way.” This technique helps the car rotate and it will help optimize your position on exit which, in turn, will mean you can get back on the throttle sooner (below, Pagenaud uses the technique in the Highcroft Acura LMP1 prototype).

Turn 3 is a flat-out kink that is almost an afterthought on a quick lap. Pagenaud described his mindset that day, how he was “thinking about Turn 4 from the moment [he] exited 2 and all the way down through Turn 3.” With speeds approaching 180 mph on a hot lap, the Turn 4/5 complex offers a thorough examination of the driver’s commitment. “You need to brake as late as you can, throw the car into the turn and try and carry as much speed as you can. You don’t want to think about going back on the power, there is no need.”

The winner of the 2011 Silverstone Six hours described Turn 5 as being “very tricky,” requiring the driver to stay on the inside as much as possible and then getting back on the power as early as possible in order to shoot into Turn 6.

Entering Turn 6, the driver has the option of going in deep and braking or lifting early and carrying the speed in. Pagenaud believes that the most effective set-up here is to have a car that oversteers and to avoid using the brakes. “You need to hook that kerb on the inside to keep you close to the right side so that you can go through the next section, Turn 7,  flat out.”

Pagenaud recalls how important the T4 to T7 complex (above) was during that record-breaking lap. “I was able to lift late enough to hook the kerb and from that moment I knew I was in the perfect place, not too wide and just at the right speed to go flat all the way to Turn 9. I knew it was going to be a good lap as it was tidy and I was patient.”

Turn 9 (below) is “the toughest corner on the track,” he continued, “you are committing to Turn 9 in Turn 8 (left) and you have to brake between one and the other. Braking has to be light here as you will have to turn as you brake and hook the kerb again on the inside and, if you can turn late enough with enough steering, the car will rotate by itself and shoot you to the exit. It’s very stressful as you have to be very precise. It’s fast and there is no margin for error! If you are 12 inches off the apex there, you can’t put the power down and 12 inches at these speeds is difficult to achieve. It’s not easy to do every lap.”

As we progressed, Pagenaud was clearly warming to the task of recreating that epic lap, as if he was, once again, in the cockpit of that beautiful Panoz DP 01.

“Turn 10 (right) is all about commitment and making sure you keep a stable car on entry and going in as fast as you possibly can,” the Frenchman explained. He went on to stress how important it is to turn in very early and aim for the dirt before the kerb. The quickest way through, Pagenaud believes, is to “slide all four wheels all the way.”

The key to Turn 11 (above) is “braking as late as possible while keeping the front of the car on the white inside line for as long as you can.” The aim is to carry as much speed as you can into the corner, then coast through the middle section. Simon described how the car tells you if you have got this corner right. “You know you are going well when you fight oversteer from entry to the middle of the turn—if you understeer there, it’s mostly because you didn’t commit enough on entry, so keep trying. On exit stay on that curb and be patient to put the power down straight and flat as early as possible looking ahead of Turn 12 (below).”

“When the lap is finished, look at your dash. Was that a good lap? If it wasn’t good enough, try again and get your entry right before you try and fix anything else. Good luck and most importantly, have FUN!”

You heard the man! We all need to do what Simon says!

One of the many beauties of Simraceway is the ability to drive cars that you may only ever get to sample in reality through one of those supercar driving experiences. But then there are some cars that are so rare–so elusive–that even dreaming about them would be a waste of time and energy.

Take the Mclaren M6GT for example. This car is so rare that experts cannot even say for certain how many genuine examples exist. There are three, or possibly four, original M6GT chassis left, depending on whom you ask.

Having demolished the competition in the North American Can-Am Series and Group 7 racing in Europe with the Mclaren M6 open-top prototype, Bruce Mclaren decided that there were more worlds to conquer. He set his sights on the highly-competitive Group 4 series. A championship full of iconic racing marques such as Lola, Porsche, Ferrari, and Alfa Romeo.

Sadly, a rule change meant that 50 cars would have to be produced in order for the M6GT to be homologated. This was simply impossible in the time frame required and the racing project was shelved. The Mclaren factory only ever produced one 5.7-liter M6GT. Two more were built by Trojan Cars, which had the contract to produce all of Mclaren’s customer chassis. The first chassis became Bruce Mclaren’s personal test bed. His dream was to develop the car into a road-going supercar much like the current MP4 12C, which will also be available to download in Simraceway.

So what is the car like to drive? We recently caught up with former Autosport National Driver of the Year and multiple British hillclimb champion, Martin Bolsover, to get a racer’s perspective.

Martin was extremely quick to point out that his car is not original. It had been raced very successfully in historic events around Europe as an M6 Can-Am car. “When I was finished racing it as a Can-Am car I wanted to keep it, so I converted it into an M6GT,” he explained. “I got a lot of help from Peter Agg, who was the chap in charge of Trojan at the time they were building the customer cars [for Mclaren].”

Agg’s experience was invaluable and has resulted in a car that is, according to Bolsover, “smack on, so much so that you would not be able to tell the difference.” The 6.4-liter small block Chevy power plant was replaced with a 5.9-liter version but this didn’t alter the fact that, in Bolsover’s own words, the M6GT is a ‘hairy monster with 650 bhp, no electronics and heavy handling.”

The brutal nature of the car, and its lack of technology, mean that getting the best out of it is very straightforward. “You have to steer it on the throttle. There is a photo of me coming out of Club [Corner] at Silverstone and it just laid black rubber for about 100 yards!  Turn in, floor it and balance it on the throttle as you come out of the corner. It’s just an old way of driving cars. There’s nothing clever to it.”

The former European Supersport Champion also believes the set up is crucial. “You need to set the car up with understeer [push/tight] because you have as much oversteer [loose] as you like with your right foot. The natural balance of the car should be tight so the front washes out and you can control that with your back wheels…theoretically!”

Something worth noting is that, compared to the other cars currently available, the Mclaren is very short on brakes. “In a modern car you drive up to the 50-yard marker and hit the brakes. In the M6GT you would be hitting the brakes at 300 yards, again because we are dealing with sixties technology.”

So there you have it, everything you will need to get to the top of the leaderboards on Simraceway‘s circuits. Brake early, get back on the throttle early, make sure it’s set up to understeer and, oh yes, just one more thing Martin Bolsover wants you to remember: “If you are driving it hard, the back tyres will go off. And, of course, your brakes will fade.”

With that, we wish you the best of luck in taming the “hairy beast” that is the Mclaren M6GT!

Thank you to www.brayspeed.co.uk for the video footage and to www.simonwrightphotos.com for the fantastic shot of the M6GT in full flight. Simon Wright is the editor of www.classicandcompetitioncar.com.

We’re thrilled to announce that today sees the launch of the Simraceway public beta. As with any beta, it’s important to emphasize that we’re not rolling out a shiny, finished game at this point. Instead, we’re asking for your help as we chart a new and exciting course for the racing game genre.

We’ve set a high bar for ourselves and we know it won’t be easy. If it was, someone else would have done it by now! However in the four years we’ve spent considering what it will take to shake up the racing game, uniting the entire racing audience—from players of titles like Forza and Gran Turismo to hard-core sim racers to real-world professional drivers—with a single title, we have reached one simple conclusion: software is only part of the equation. An holistic approach, which looks at every aspect of the experience, is required.

Here’s a brief summary of the traditional racing game issues and the ways in which we are intending to tackle them. For more detail, click the link below.

The Problems

You see, while the core gameplay is obviously a vital element of any game, we believe developers have for too long failed to address other important issues that can make or break the entire experience. In some cases, they’ve been hamstrung by circumstances beyond their control such as platform limitations (graphics, disc space) and finite production cycles that prevent them from being able to constantly update their content and features to keep up with the real world. However it’s also fair to say that many other problems have simply been overlooked and ignored.

There’s the provision of an affordable and easy-to-use racing-specific controller, for a start. One that solves the “interface problem” that has plagued the genre since its inception. As things stand, players are basically faced with two choices: to either pay out $300+ for a decent wheel-and-pedal set which is difficult to set up, store and transport, or make do with using a joypad that is patently not fit for purpose when playing a driving game.

The net result is that the vast majority of players end up maneuvering highly-complex pieces of virtual machinery around the track using binary controls. This is obviously a less-than-ideal situation which, we believe, not only robs millions of drivers of one of the core experiences of the genre, but also makes realistic driving impossible. After all, how many of us would feel confident driving a real car with “all-or-nothing” controls for braking and acceleration?

Then there’s the question of creating a skill matching system that actually does what its name suggests: accurately matches player skills. Since the dawn of multiplayer racing, players have been forced to endure the demoralizing and all-too-frequent mismatches brought about by poor-quality matchmaking software that dumps drivers of widely varying abilities onto the same starting grid.

It goes without saying that nobody enjoys being humiliated on the track, and if we’re honest, we’d all have to admit that winning isn’t much more fun when rivals are mere dots in a rearview mirror. It’s so obvious that real-world racing is at its most exciting when cars are vying for position and we realized quickly that if we wanted to keep players of all abilities coming back to our tracks time and again, we’d need to recreate this excitement online with every competitor constantly battling for every inch of track. Some games try to solve this using AI competitors but we just don’t think that brings the same feeling of exhilaration and fulfillment, so solving this issue was another of our priorities.

The Solutions

That brings me on to the elements of Simraceway that we have already announced. For those of you who haven’t been following our progress, allow me to quickly describe each one of these features and provide an idea of how they fit together to solve the problems I’ve mentioned above.

Being an online PC title, Simraceway is not only able to sidestep the platform- and production cycle-related restrictions I mentioned above, it can also utilize this flexibility to deploy new features and content in real-time, allowing it to become the living, breathing, virtual reflection of the real world of motor racing that we believe is currently missing from the genre.

To ensure the game is always well positioned to make the most of this agility, we’ve hired a team of professional drivers to work on our driving physics and invested in our very own permanent real-world racing facility, the Simraceway Performance Driving Center.

This powerful combination of world-class racing experience—which includes five IndyCar Series titles, four Indianapolis 500 victories, and two Le Mans wins—and a ready-made test environment (if there’s another racing game whose physics staff are on the track over 180 days a year with access to more than 70 vehicles ranging from Audi R8s and Mitsubishi Lancer Evo Xs to Formula 3 cars, I don’t know of it!) provides us with a continuous R&D feedback loop which we can use to constantly improve the physics models of each of our cars and ensure that Simraceway is able to stay in tune with the real world of motor racing and auto culture.

Further exploiting its position as a constantly-evolving racing platform, Simraceway will also be able to offer an ever-expanding range of licensed content, including laser-scanned tracks and virtual recreations of the latest big-brand road and race cars. What’s more, each car will be available for players to purchase and download using a transparent pricing mechanism that reflects its real-world value (essentially, its USD market price divided by 100,000).

After the game’s launch, our virtual production lines will produce a steady stream of fresh content for our players to download from a collection that currently includes over 60 real-world tracks and more than 600 current and historic cars. As we agree even more licenses and build up an unparalleled simulation library of motorsport history, our aim is for Simraceway to evolve into the ultimate “iTunes for racing”, offering every model of car that has ever graced a real-world track.

In order to solve the “interface problem” I mentioned above, we’ve also co-developed our own high-performance, low-cost racing controller with the help of respected peripherals maker SteelSeries. We believe it will finally bring total control within reach of all players and open up a whole new driving world to those who have become resigned to the limitations of joy pads. We’re really excited about what we’ve produced and we think you’re going to like it too when it launches shortly!

We’ve also taken it upon ourselves to solve the final problem I mentioned above, producing a revolutionary skill-matching system that fully understands driving skill. Capable of measuring it at the highest possible fidelity (the per-frame level), it can also accurately match each player to ensure competitive driving for every driver every time they hit the starting grid. We truly believe that our creation will transform online racing and, as a result, we should be seeing a lot more racing and a lot less chasing on Simraceway tracks!

The Future

Having covered each of the ways in which we are addressing the traditional racing game’s major flaws, it’s important to reiterate that not all the benefits of our innovative solutions will be felt immediately. However with a little more time—and with your help—we hope this beta launch will signal an important second leg of Simraceway’s journey.

Before I move on to what is and isn’t included in today’s build, I would first like to thank all the people who have helped us get the game to where it is today.

To our drivers, Dario Franchitti, the late, great, and much-missed Dan Wheldon and our other, as yet unannounced, pro racer: we thank you for sharing your unbelievable expertise, giving freely of your time and, above all, we thank you for believing in our project—we hope that we have repaid your generosity, at least in part, by adequately reflecting your immense knowledge and talents in our game.

To the manufacturers who have entrusted their automotive heritage to us: we trust that our recreations of your awesome creations will do them full justice. And to everyone else whose hard work has helped us close in on producing a racing game to be truly proud of, we thank you for your endeavor and patience.

So let’s get onto what you can expect from today’s Simraceway beta…

• A free-to-download, free-to-play game client and access to the Simraceway website.
• Hassle-free addition and removal of individual cars without the need for DLCs.
• The ability to purchase cars and join races from within the game client or from the web
• Ultra-intuitive live multiplayer race joining.
• Exciting, prize-based racing.
• Live customer service to keep you on the track.
• New events and content added on a weekly basis.
• Plug-and-play control with no complex set ups.

As time goes by, we will also be adding laser-scanned real-world tracks, full-size recreations of real-world racing series, the opportunity to purchase Simraceway’s new-and-exclusive racing controller, the chance to race for a range of exciting virtual and real-world prizes including track days at the Simraceway Performance Driving Center at Infineon Raceway and, of course, the world debut of our revolutionary skill quantification and matching service.

In the meantime, we hope you enjoy playing Simraceway as much as we are enjoying developing it and we thank you in advance for helping us out in these early stages.

In August I talked about our excitement at partnering with gaming peripheral maker SteelSeries to produce a whole new kind of racing game controller. Today that controller has become a reality!

I said we were looking to produce something with the performance of a high-end wheel but with a price tag nearer to that of a joypad—something affordable enough to solve the ‘controller conundrum’ (the ‘choice’ between expensive, bulky wheel-and-pedal sets and limiting digital joypads) and open up a whole new racing experience to many of our players.

Well we’ve done it.

The SRW-S1 Steering Wheel is a unique, open-wheel-style racing controller, created, tested, and approved by a team of professional real-world and sim racing drivers including Dario Franchitti, the late Dan Wheldon, David Greco, and Bruno Marques. Its hybrid design combines the features and functions of a high-end wheel with the portability of a joypad, utilizing a motion-sensor for steering and a patent-pending paddle system instead of floor pedals. To view more details on our new baby, read the press release or check out its features below:

• A patent-pending, hand-controlled paddle system on the rear of the wheel produces full-range acceleration and braking.
• Over 20 on-wheel buttons and dials, each one optimized for easy access, and two ergonomically-designed rubberized grips ensure drivers stay in complete control.
• No complicated configuration required when used with Simraceway. No device drivers to load, no bamboozling set-up process to follow—simply plug-and-race.
• The SRW-S1 Steering Wheel can be used with most PC racing games while its controls can be customized to suit individual driving and gaming preferences.

To buy the SRW-S1 Steering Wheel for the amazing price of only $119.99, head to SteelSeries now or click here to learn more about it. We hope you enjoy using it as much as we enjoyed creating it!

Click here to view the press release.

Simraceway and SteelSeries are proud to introduce the SRW-S1 Steering Wheel—an affordable, high-performance PC controller that opens up a whole new racing world to players frustrated by the limitations of joypads.

STEELSERIES AND IGNITE GAME TECHNOLOGIES INTRODUCE THE SIMRACEWAY® SRW-SI STEERING WHEEL

High-Performance, Low-Cost Motion-Sensor Wheel to Bring Authentic Racing Experience Within Reach of a Whole New Audience

CHICAGO and SAN FRANCISCO – Nov. 17, 2011 – SteelSeries, the leading manufacturer of premium-quality, competitive gaming peripherals and Ignite Game Technologies, creators of groundbreaking auto racing platform Simraceway®, today introduced the Simraceway® SRW-S1 Steering Wheel, an affordable, high-performance PC controller that aims to open up a whole new racing world to players frustrated by the limitations of joypads.

A handheld hybrid racing controller that combines the features and functions of a high-end wheel with the portability and convenience of a joypad, the SRW-S1 includes a motion-sensor for steering and a patent-pending throttle and brake paddle system for a fully simulated driving experience without the need for floor pedals.

Designed, tested and approved by a team of champion drivers, including four-time IndyCar Series winner Dario Franchitti, double Indy 500 Champion, the late, great and much missed, Dan Wheldon, and SimRacing stars David Greco and Bruno Marques, the new wheel brings racing game players complete customizability and original features that will enhance their PC racing experience.

“When we set out in 2008 to create a new kind of racing game, one of the first issues we had to confront was the age-old ‘interface problem’,” said Ignite CEO Jonathan Haswell. “For decades now, racing game players have been faced with the unenviable choice of spending a huge amount of money on a wheel-and-pedal set that is tricky to set up, store and transport or settling for a binary joypad that simply isn’t fit-for-purpose.

“It soon became clear that the only solution was to produce something completely new and unique. A controller that would be affordable enough for those who can’t justify spending fortunes on top-end racing wheels but authentic enough to convey the full exhilaration of the virtual racing experience. We were honored that a company with the reputation of SteelSeries understood the direction we wanted to head in and we’re overjoyed with what they’ve managed to produce for us.”

“We’ve been working with the Ignite team and their professional drivers for the past year to really perfect the wheel’s design and functionality,” added SteelSeries CEO, Bruce Hawver. “We’re confident in the success of this peripheral; we’ve combined feedback about its design from its rubberized grips to shift lighting along with the features that are found in true racing wheels, that Indy 500, F1 and simulated racing drivers need and use. The wheel’s original functionalities, price and its compatibility with virtually every PC racing game on the market, makes it a truly unparalleled product.”

The SRW-S1 Steering Wheel features include:

Portability and Authenticity
Unique hybrid design brings a true-to-life racing experience to your laptop or desktop computer without the set-up, storage or transportation hassles of a wheel-and-pedal set.

Full Range Acceleration and Braking
A patent-pending, hand-controlled paddle system on the rear of the wheel produces full-range acceleration and braking, providing drivers with the same subtlety of control as high-end wheel sets and real-world cars.

Optimized Design
Over 20 on-wheel buttons and dials, each one optimized for easy access, and two ergonomically-designed rubberized grips ensure drivers stay in complete control.

Plug-and-Play with Simraceway
No complicated configuration required when used with Simraceway. No device drivers to load, no bamboozling set-up process to follow—simply plug-and-race.

Compatible with PC Racing Games
Can be used with most PC racing games although some features, including the Assists dials and the shift indicator LEDs, may not be compatible with certain titles.

Complete Customizability
Many of the SRW-S1 Steering Wheel’s controls can be customized to suit the driving and gaming preferences of individual players.

Find out more about the simulated racing experience at http://simraceway.com

The Simraceway SRW-S1 Steering Wheel is available now online in the SteelSeries Web Shop for $119.99 / €119.99 MSRP. For more information about the Simraceway® SRW-S1 Steering Wheel please visit http://steelseries.com/srws1. Be sure to follow SteelSeries and Simraceway on Facebook at http://facebook.com/steelseries and http://facebook.com/simraceway.

About Ignite Technologies Ignite Game Technologies is a Silicon Valley-based online gaming company founded in 2008 by skill-quantification experts Jonathan Haswell and James Synge to produce a new kind of racing game. The title, called Simraceway, launched in the fall of 2011. The company counts four-time IndyCar Series winner Dario Franchitti among its physics development team and benefited greatly from the expertise of double Indy 500 winner, the late, great and much missed Dan Wheldon. It also has the distinction of being able to leverage a permanent real-world racing facility—the Simraceway Performance Driving Center, based at Infineon Raceway—for R&D. To date Ignite has raised $12.2 million.

About Simraceway
Simraceway is an online racing world that offers live, person-to-person racing, utilizing highly-accurate, simulation-grade driving physics and proprietary middleware for player skill quantification in order to match racers by skill level. It leverages a client-server model similar to those on popular online games such as World of Warcraft™ and features current and historic licensed content from a variety of auto and racing brands including Bentley™, Bugatti™, Mitsubishi™ and Saleen™. Its continually-evolving racing environment will be constantly supplemented with new features and content to fully reflect the fast-moving, real-world motor racing scene.

About SteelSeries
SteelSeries is a leading manufacturer of gaming peripherals, including headsets, keyboards, mice, software and gaming surfaces. For the past decade, SteelSeries has been on the forefront of competitive gaming gear thanks to continued innovation and product development in cooperation with leading professional gaming teams. SteelSeries also helps to support the growth of competitive gaming tournaments and electronic sports leagues through professional team sponsorships, partnerships, and community support all over the world. For more information, please visit http://steelseries.com.

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For SteelSeries media inquiries:
Tori Pugliese
PR for SteelSeries
203-605-4028
tori@steelseries.com

For Ignite media inquiries:
Sean Stevens
Atomic PR
415-593-1400
Sean@atomicpr.com