iRacing Season 4 Patch 1 sharpens the race-day details

Clearer instructions at the start

Race Control receives several specific adjustments. New UI prompts and spotter messages tell drivers to “Form up!” and “Maintain speed!” When the Maintain Speed dialog is active, competitors must still control their pace strictly; the release notes say that excessive speed will be shown in red with a “SLOW DOWN” message.

One change addresses a class-start scenario: if a class leader jumps the start, other competitors in that class will be allowed to follow without also receiving a penalty. The notes nevertheless urge the leader to follow the pacing rules. A separate fix prevents cars in later classes from receiving the “About to go Green, stay focused” message as soon as the top class goes green.

For drivers and race organizers, these changes matter because they focus on communicating what to do during a tightly managed start. They do not mean the disabled start features are back: iRacing says updates have been completed and internally tested, and that work towards re-enabling them is progressing.

More information across the cockpit

The Car Damage Widget is now usable for all cars in the service, with wireframe models and damage information available across the lineup. The Pit Summary widget also gains a practical timing detail: when optional repairs are only partly complete, their remaining time is shown when leaving pit lane. A separate fix addresses additional service penalties that could persist.

Other interface work targets specific setups and situations. iRacing fixed rendering problems with its Reference Car Input UI for VR users using foveated quad-views and for triple-screen setups, and improved mouse usability on the Track Map Widget. The Track Rules tab now includes more information about Start Zones and, when Road Course Start Zones are active, opens automatically with an indicator and a link to a help dialog.

Visual tuning and an app deadline

Graphics changes reduce the overall opacity of dust, dirt, gravel and smoke. The release notes also describe more substantial tuning of dirt-racing particle effects, including their spawning rates, opacity, intensity and size, with appearance adjusted according to track-surface wetness. These are presentation changes that may make surface conditions and race effects easier to read, though the supplied notes do not quantify their performance impact.

Outside the simulator, iRacing says the old Companion App will stop working after October 5, 2026, as the infrastructure supporting it is retired. Players who have not updated are asked to move to the newer app, released in mid-August. The company’s Steam announcement also notes improved AI racing skills with the Caterham Academy and fixes to spotter playback and setup exporting.