The season opening race was set to be at Spa, with a mixed field of LMPs, Ford GTs and Corvettes, for what would be a 2 hours enduro. Not minding what others appeared to be doing setup wise, David Sirois went a different way, which he felt was best. With limited practice time, he aimed for a stable setup and felt everything was looking good!

"I don't remember the last time I drove a car that is so 'alive'. I love it!"

Qualifications went very good, as David recalls: "I could push the car hard and do about whatever I wanted it to do." He went on to secure pole position.

The race however was another story, as not only race pace but also pit strategies came into play. Hard to tell who was going to be ahead at the end! With 15 minutes to go, and after his 3rd pit-stop, David saw himself 10 seconds behind Marc Payne who went with a 2 stops pit strategy. Or so it looked like! "I closed the gap down to 3s with 5 minutes to go but he finally had to pit a 3rd time. So I cruised to the win for the last 2 laps."

Phew! Needless to say, we're all very glad to see David put his Orion SimSport / Cube Control car at the front! And so the 2012 ISRA GTC season 6 begins... Congratulations David!

David Sirois was back to his winning ways on Monday in the ISRA when the GTC visited Laguna Seca. David started from pole and led 31 of the 40 laps to take his first victory of Season 4. Sir David looks to again defend his crown as the series heads to Mid-Ohio next Monday night!

David Sirois has done it, AGAIN! 3 seasons in the ISRA, and 3 Championships! This season using iRacing's Late Model on road courses, King Sir-wah' actually got off to a bit of a slow start. But after figuring out how to use the transmission properly (not shift too high in the revs) David went on to yet another Championship! In 9 starts he had 6 wins, and 4 poles on his way to 39 pt victory over 2nd place Eric Palacio, and 3rd place Colin MacLean.

You can check out the standings or more about ISRA by clicking here. Here is some of what David had to say after another great season:
 

This has been a great season but it was not easy. Eric and Colin kept the pressure on all season long. Also, I had some problems getting up to speed in the first few races. I finally realised - at SPA, the 4th race of the season - that it was loosing time shifting at 7500 rpm! Since then, I shift at 7000 rpm and no longer feel that everyone else has more power
than me.

For many serious sim-racers, this guy needs little to no introduction. He has accomplished what every single sim-racer alive, at some point, has dreamed about. Using his sim-racing talents as a platform to get a ride in a real race car! And now, he is joining one of the most well known sim-racing teams around today and The Orion Race Team could not be more proud!

Please help us in welcoming sim-racing legend Norbi Kiss! Norbi is making the transition from LFS to iRacing and he has wasted no time at all in making his presence felt! After joining iRacing in January, Norbi already has one Championship to his credit taking Season 1B of NVIDEA's Championship in the Spec Piñata's (Spec Miata). Kiss will take home a brand spanking new monitor and a pair of NVIDEA's 3D glasses for the Championship!

For more of this story, please check out the write up on InRacingNews's website. Also check out more of Norbi's incredible story of going from sim-racer, to real life badass on his very own site, NorbiKiss.com! Everyone on The Orion Race Team could not be more excited about Norbi being here, and absolutely know he has a bright future both in sim-racing, as well as real world racing. Check back soon for more info on Kiss, both sim and real life, soon!

The Orion Race Team's own Roland Ehnström has partnered with one of the best pedal upgrade companies in sim-racing today, The Perfect Pedal! With a real racing background, including helping to sponsor the APR Audi S4, driven by Josh Hurley and Gary Gibson, in Grand-Am's Continental Tire Challenge Series, you can bet that this upgrade for your G25/27 pedals will be as close as you will ever get to a real-life braking experience!

The current Class-A Championship points leader is looking forward to showing off his results with the pedal upgrade, especially since Roland has real life racing experience. Taken right from The Perfect Pedal's website, here is a little bit more information on the upgrade:

"When you push on the Perfect Pedal, it compresses a hydraulic cylinder that is attached to a pressure sensor. This sensor's electronic output goes into our proprietary circuit board, which translates the signal into a form that is compatible with your computer hardware. You have complete adjustment of the total force needed to stop and also how much the pedal travels. This is all done without changing the pedal pressure/braking force relationship. We believe the result is the most realistic simulator brake pedal at any price. You will, too!"

Perfect Pedals are in stock and ship same-day worldwide! Order yours today and give yourself a real brake! perfectpedal.com

Half way through S1 in 2011 and Roland Ehnström leads the way in the Championship! With 5 wins already this season he is way ahead of his actual goal of qualifying for the 2011 Pro Series. To do that, he would only need to finish in the top 12 of any of 3 seasons. Right now that is obviously not looking like a problem for the Swede! At the close of week 6 Ehnström has a 42pt lead to his next competitor in 2nd for the overall Championship. Check back for more updates soon on Roland's progress!

Last night was the season opener for the 2011 ISRA GTC Series and David Sirois picked up where he left off as defending Champion! Sirois took the pole in the series new late model car by .2 over fellow competitor Eric Palacio. David went on to run a clean strong race as we have all come to expect from the Champ on his way to a cushy 25 second victory! You can get more information on the race or series by going to their home page.

SimSport
Orion partners once again with with the industry leader in providing performance, realistic pedals and complete turn-key racing rigs! SimSport goes that extra mile by getting to know the driver and what cars they drive in real life. With a real racing background, and ties to the SpeedSource Grand-Am team, SimSport will adjust and setup your custom pedals and/or sim rig to feel just like your real life race car! The Orion Race Team will carry SimSport's colors throughout the 2011 Season, including iRacing's DWC. Watch this February as Team SimSport/Orion drivers Ilkka Haapala and Dion Vergers take to the track to once again battle the best sim racers on the planet! Check out their full line of products here!

SimBoot
SimBoot and Orion have teamed up to bring you something special in 2011. SimBoot will be supporting Shawn Purdy and João Vaz on their quest to become World Champions in 2011. And what a better way to do it than in custom made SimBoots to give you comfort, and confidence at the wheel of a simulated race car! Make sure you check out their site today and stay tuned for more special announcements by SimBoot!

Cube Controls
The Orion Race Team is proud to welcome its newest sponsor, Cube Controls! If you ever wanted to have a wheel that looks like it came straight out of a real race car, Cube is the place to get it! If you ever wished your wheel had more buttons, Cube is the only place you will ever need visit. With the cleanest and most effective aftermarket wheel replacements on the market, Cube Controls will make sure you never miss another apex. Be sure to stop by here to check out some of these awesome wheels!

Sir Sirois does it again! David Sirois becomes ISRA's Season 2 Champion by winning 6 out of the series 9 events. Here is what some of what David had to say about another championship season;

'Before the begining of the season, I didnt know what to expect and I hated (and still hate) the V8. I knew that consistency was the key and I decided to be very cautious in traffic. After the first race and having tire wear issues, I completely changed my racing approach. I focused on tire wear management in the early stages of the race, especially under braking. Thank you everyone on the team for the advice you gave me at the begining of the season, helping me to understand this car'!

You can check out more results and find out more about this league by clicking here! And check back soon for some of David's championship winning setups!

David Sirois and Brian McDaniel each take another win this week in their respected leagues. David took another win in ISRA GTC Division. The win extends Sirois' Championship lead and gives him his 4th win in just 6 races. David is starting to feel a little more confident as the season progresses: 'Things are looking good for the championship. But it is not over yet...' - David Sirois

Brian McDaniel had company for his effort last night in MX-5 Super Series. Not just on the track, but Brian had a friend in from out of town for the holidays that didn't allow McDaniel to practice until shortly before the actual race. But in the end it didn't matter as he went on to win in front of his fans for his 3rd win in 3 races that he has attended this season. Chris Sommerfeld came up with another strong showing in his still relatively new iRacing career with a P2 starting position, and a podium finish after some early trouble dropped him way down in the field. Chris came up just short of another 2nd after his charge back up through the pack. Mike Taylor again had some rough getting punted on the start and never could recover.

The Orion Race Team continues to load up before 2011 with it's latest addition of heavy hitters, João Vaz! João is extremely well known for his pace, dating back to leagues such as VRW and Sim-Challenge where he both raced and teamed with now current teammates, Max Dell'Orco and Roland Ehnström.

Most recently Vaz won the iRacing 2010 Season 1 IndyCar Series Championship with the Dallara Indy Car. Racing on his own and winning a Championship of that magnitude speaks volumes about both João's talent, and setup abilities. He will undoubtedly prove to be invaluable in the upcoming 2011 iDWC in both results, and input into the team. Vaz has the pace and abilities to challenge for wins and podiums in any league he races in, so look for big results from this man in 2011!

David Sirois may be retired from the DWC despite finishing in the top 10 of the 2010 season. But he is far from retired from Sim Racing and impressive league racing. After winning the 2nd and 3rd races in ISRA he now holds the overall lead in the Championship as well.

Here is some of what David had to say about his latest race;

"Road Atlanta was tough because of traffic. I decided to go easy on tires, but maybe I was too easy. Kevin (Savoie) stayed behind me all race long though I was not pushing to create a gap. But here is what happened in the final 2 laps" - David Sirois

Last two lap battle

It doesn't get much better than this! Bruno Marques has been a legend in Sim Racing and especially rFactor for many years now. When the 3-time FSR World Champion had decided to leave FSR and go iRacing, it didn't take long for The Orion Race Team to pick him up. The rFactor speed demon has decided to focus mainly on iRacing now, and look to make the Pro Series in 2011, and then the DWC in 2012. Bruno also looks to help himself and other Orion teammates to challenge for the DWC title, and he has the speed to do it.

Marques has already been cranking out laps in iRacing with the newly released Williams F1 and turning very impressive lap times. Among the fastest in the sim in fact, and he is just getting started. Bruno's work ethic and willingness to learn are second to none and will prove invaluable to Orion. Together Orion and Marques look to bring many more championship wins, as well as helping to pass on the knowledge to others with setups and replays so stay tuned! Paired with teammates Dell'Orco, McDaniel, Ehnström, and others, Orion will have quite possibly the strongest team in the 2011 iRacing Pro Series!

It's not easy to win a championship. It's even harder if you are a 'rookie'. Roland Ehnström may be a rookie to iRacing, but he proved he has more than enough experience and skill to win championships. That's right, we said championships, as in more than one.

Roland won two of them in his first seasons at iRacing, on his way to prep for the 2011 iRacing Pro Series. He took the V8 Supercar Series winning an amazing 14 races out of 14 starts and 13 poles. But he didn't stop there and also won the Skip Barber Series over iRacing veteran Frank Hermann. Here is some of what Roland had to say about his latest accomplishments;

On the V8 Supercar Series
"To race the V8 Supercar in my rookie season was an easy choice, given that it's pretty close to the GT cars I have raced over the past five years. I joined the series in week 2, and got up to speed immediately, winning in my first start. I went on to stay unbeaten throughout the season, but that's not saying it was easy. I had several close races with drivers like Vail Riches, Mitchell McLeod, Elias Varis and others, but always managed to stay in front to the end. I'm very proud of my season, which was far closer to perfection than I could ever dream of the first time I tested this beast of a car!"

On the Skip Barber Series
"Needless to say I am absolutely thrilled, this was absolutely not a championship I expected to win when I joined iRacing in week 13 last season (end of July). This has been immense amounts of fun and a fantastic experience."

iRacing hosted it's DWC Season Finale last Saturday at Mid-Ohio. Coming off a win at Phillip Island, Ilkka Haapala was looking for a boring, clean race to secure 3rd overall in the Championship. He got part of his wish, as he qualified 2nd and went on to pass Richard Towler on pit stops to hold him off for back to back wins to end the season! With the win TheFlyingFinn did secure the 3rd overall position in the championship and $1,000.00 USD for his efforts.

"Big congrats to Greger for dominating the whole season. Congrats to Richard for 2nd, amazing run throughout the year. We had some awesome races this season and hopefully that will continue next year.
Congrats to Shawn for 4th, Dion for 6th and David for 10th as well. Great run by Orion". - Ilkka Haapala

Another Orion Race Team driver, Shawn Purdy, finished on the podium yet again Saturday and finished an impressive 4th overall in the inaugural season for the DWC. Shawn had a strong season, missing 1 race due to connection troubles. Shawn may have had a shot at teammate Haapala if Ilkka had any troubles in the final few races. Shawn did all he could with a 2nd and 3rd to finish the season strong for Orion!

"Really 3rd was the best I could do anyway even under normal situation so the strategy of trying a 1 stop was worth at least an attempt, as I really had nothing to lose in this race. I had 4th in the championship wrapped up. Was only a matter of Ilkka finishing the race or not for a shot at 3rd. I had a lot of fun this season though. Grats to Finn on a killer win over Richard, and Dion for his 1 stop and 4th place"! - Shawn Purdy

Dion Vergers also put in an impressive season finishing 6th overall! Dion was the model of consistency all season with countless top 10 finishes. His impressive race craft using a 1 stop strategy on Saturday gave him a 4th overall finish at Mid-Ohio. Vergers did a great job of holding off other drivers late in the race for his finish.

"I have to say I didn't expect getting the Orion SimSport Dallara home in 4th here today. And looking back at Q with the small differences and later Daniel and Ian exiting the pits just behind me, I have to say I got pretty lucky. I'll take lucky though". - Dion Vergers

And last but certainly not least, David Sirois. With 3 kids at home now and working a full time job, as well as trying to start his own company, David has little time to race these days. For most drivers competing in the DWC would be hard enough even doing it as a full time job. But David somehow managed to not only compete with all his real world distractions, but finish in the top 10! David is going to retire from the DWC after this season, and the team will dearly miss him. But he will still be competing at iRacing in other leagues. David's top 10 put 4 Orion race Team drivers in the top 10 at the end of the season. More than double what any other team accomplished. Great job David, you will be missed in the 2011 DWC!

"It was a great season for me but wasn't easy. I had some up's and down's. Lack of practice time made my pace wasn't always optimal. Thanks to Orion Race Team, Sim-Sport, Sim-Gear, SimBoot, and Buttkicker. Thanks also to my teammates Shawn, Ilkka and Dion who helped me with setups and advices all season long. Thanks to my wife Julie and my three young kids Donavan, Thierry and Esteban who did everything they could to allow me to join every races (I missed only one). I don't plan to race again with you next year. I think Im getting too old for (very) high level racing. I plan to race in some more relax and less competitive series so I can race more, practice less and still have a chance of a podium finish..." - David Sirois

The Orion Race Team proudly welcomes Italian sensation Matthias Egger to the team! Matthias' speed is well known throughout sim racing, including some of the more prestigious Italian racing leagues. Now in iRacing, Matthias has his sights set on the 2011 Driver's World Championship. He will be racing along side fellow Orion members Ilkka Haapala, Shawn Purdy, Dion Vergers, and David Sirois to give Orion a serious 5 man team in 2011!

Matthias also enjoys making videos so look for some cool productions from him, as well as setup's and replays very soon!

The Orion Race Team took it's first win in iRacing's DWC This past Saturday with Ilkka Haapala leading the way over 2nd place teammate Shawn Purdy. Ilkka grabbed the pole with Purdy 2nd, and after a tight start they slowly drove away from the field to take 1st and 2nd at Phillip Island! Teammate Dion Vergers suffered some trouble late in the race when it was looking like he could potentially had a shot to make it an Orion 1-2-3. David Sirois did a good job to overcome a bad qualifying position to finish 12th, and continues his charge up the overall standings now in 9th place overall.

The Flying Finn had this to say after the race; "After second pitstops Shawn went off in T2 and that allowed me to just take it easy from there on and bring the car home. Was a very close race and it's very easy to make small mistakes that end up costing a lot of time on this track. Luckily I was able to run a pretty clean race with no mistakes".

With one race left, Haapala looks good to hang on to 3rd overall in the championship. If Towler misses the race (which has been rumored he may) The Finn has a good shot at 2nd overall, if he has a clean race. If Haapala has trouble, teammate Shawn Purdy could capitalize and move up to 3rd. Dion Vergers slipped a bit in the standings to 7th overall, while Sirois moved up to 9th, giving The Orion Race Team 4 drivers in the top 10! Tune in two weeks from now to psrtv.com to watch the final race!

The Orion Race Team is very proud to announce it's latest addition to the team, Roland Ehnström! Roland has been well known as one of the world's best sim racers all the way back to the early 90's. Roland has competed at the top level in sims such as Grand Prix Legends, NASCAR 4, 2002 & 2003, F1 2002, GTR, GT Legends, rFactor, GTR2, Race 07, GTR Evolution and now iRacing starting in July of 2010.

Next year Roland's focus will be on iRacing's Pro Series, and using that to transfer into the 2012 DWC. Ehnström is a force to be reckoned with and will surely battle for the overall Championship in iRacing's Pro Series for Orion along his road to the DWC in 2012. Roland will continue to collaborate with DMSv in smaller series to help his fellow companions, but will be racing for Orion in iRacing's Pro Series, DWC, and special events.

'It isn't everyday we add someone with the talent Roland has. Anyone who has won 10,000 Euros and a Chevrolet HHR in real life, obviously has some serious skills. We look forward to working with Roland to make not only the team better, but to help Roland win many more races, and battle for the Championships in both the Pro Series and DWC'. - said team manager Frosty St.Clair

Ilkka Haapala, Shawn Purdy, Dion Vegers, and David Sirois continue to make their presence known in iRacing's Driver's World Championship Series! Coming down to the wire with only 3 races left, Haapala and Purdy were sitting 3rd and 4th respectively going into Watkins Glen on Saturday. With Richard Towler's 2 race suspension, Ilkka has an outside shot of grabbing 2nd overall in the championship. Purdy had a very outside shot at 2nd as well, but a good chance at 3rd overall, if teammate Haapala has any issues.

Purdy showed he was not going to go quietly and put in a very solid qualifying effort only missing Huttu's pole lap by 0.014. He went on to grab 2nd in the race, keeping solid pressure on Huttu the entire race. It was a strong performance for Shawn who showed he is far from giving up.

"Not an overly exciting race for me as I didn't really do much except run alone on the track, but very happy with my pace here. And a great Result for Orion with 3 cars in the top 5". - Purdy

Haapala did what he had to do after losing a spot on the start, and the draft of Huttu and Purdy, he got back up to 3rd and hung on until the end of the race. The Flying Finn needs solid finishes from here on out to nail down 3rd, or a possible 2nd.

"A quiet race was just what the doctor ordered so I'm happy with 3rd place". - Haapala

Dion Vergers also continued his amazing pace as of late charging to a solid 4th place finish giving Orion a 2-3-4 finish! Dion is now currently sitting 7th overall. And speaking of top 10's, David Sirois continues his consistency in the DWC and has now climbed all the way up to 9th overall! Both drivers are looking to try and improve those positions before seasons end. And lastly Watkins saw the return of Peter Read, as he ran his first DWC race of the season. Peter's pace was as expected, impressive. It looked like he was on his way to a potential top 5 before some grass reached out and bit his car, sending it spinning off the track into the barrier.
 

Ilkka Haapala put in a strong run Saturday finishing 2nd to try and crawl his way into the 3rd overall spot in iRacing's Driver's World Championship. The final podium spot will pay out $3,000.00 in cash, so the battle won't be an easy one. Especially since Haapala does not have any more races he can drop for the remainder of the season. Ilkka is battling it out with Ben Cornett from Team Redline, and after Ilkka's performance on Saturday, the two are now level in the championship. It should be an exciting rest of the season between Haapala and Cornet for that final podium spot.

Here is some  of what Ilkka had to say after his performance on Saturday:

"Ben leapfrogged us both in the pits, but couple of later he lost his momentum approaching a lapped car and I was able to sneak by. We had an awesome battle from there on, most fun I've had all season. All three of us did a good job holding our lines and was thinking to myself during the race that this must look nice in the broadcast. Those two and three wide moments are what road racing is all about, great stuff. After second pitstops it was just Richard and myself as Ben had a slower stop. Was happy I managed to hold on to second position and first podium of the season feels nice".

For the second season in a row, Chris Sommerfeld has claimed all three championships in the MNRL's MIRL Cart Factor series. Chris was able to control the race at the famed Suzuka circuit, taking a 45 second victory to clinch the Road Course championship, as well as the Overall championship. Sommerfeld then went on to claim the Oval Championship the next week at California with a 3rd place finish (0.120 sec behind).

What a weekend for racing! Not only in real life with the 24 hours du Le mans, but also in the sim world as well. We start off with Chris Sommerfeld's charge for another MNRL Championship as he dominated the race at Montreal last week. Chris took the pole, the fastest lap, and the win for a clean sweep! The win extends his overall points lead in the series to 83pts over 2nd place as that series reaches the half way point.

The MIRL wasn't the only series to reach the half way point of the season, as iRacing's WDC was at the famed Laguna Seca Raceway on Saturday. All 4 Orion driver's had solid runs led by Shawn Purdy and a podium finish in 3rd! Ilkka Haapala finished in 4th, with Dion Vergers in 7th, and David Sirois charged up 7 spots to finish 18th after a rough qualifier.

Right before the WDC, was iRacing's first ever Grand Prix Masters event. As we reported earlier, Max Dell'Orco had led the pre-qual events coming into the race but broke his hand the week of the race. While it slowed Max down it didn't stop him from competing and despite having to use his left hand for both up, and downshifts, Max managed an impressive 4th place finish. Just as impressive young phenom Jeffrey Rietveld charged from 9th on the grid to finish up just ahead of Dell'Orco in the 3rd spot for a podium finish! The 3rd place finish awarded Jeffrey $100.00 in iRacing credits, which should keep him in either current tracks and cars for quite some time, or he could possibly trade them for a new pair of wooden driving shoes.

All around a solid week for the team!

Team Orion's Max Dell'Orco has branched out to try his hand at nKPro. Max is competing in MTV's Abarth Challenge in which the top four drivers get a chance to go to race at Imola, to battle each other in a LAN event. Over 1,000 people registered and put in pre-qualifying times, with 52 drivers going through to the races. The races are broken up into 4 groups, with 4 tracks, and 2 races at each one.

Max just competed in his first 2 races and so far things are looking good for his chance to attend Imola. Max won both races in his group last weekend, and is feeling good about his chances to advance. You can check out a race re-cap video from one of the heat races Max won by clicking here. We will keep everyone updated on Max's progress for the next 3 events!

After winning last seasons MIRL Championship, Chris Sommerfeld is once again looking like he could very well be a repeat champion. After 5 races (almost to the half-way point of the season) Chris has taken 3 wins and 2 poles. Coming off a oval race at Indy last week, which admittedly is not where he excels, Chris had a good start but a rough end. Here is some of what Chris had to say about the start of the race:

"Indy never goes well for me. Satisfied with 3rd on the grid and was able to lead Norm on the start and we put 2 seconds on the field right off the bat. Tucked up behind him and really just cruised and we pulled away till the first stop. Had a good stop but nearly didn't take advantage of it by bogging my exit from the pitstall, but got the lead."

Later, Chris sustained damage after brushing the wall due to slight contact with a fellow racer. Chris was able to nurse the car home in 6th, and was able to hang on to a 58pt advantage for the overall championship over Norm Graf who currently sits 2nd.

First, there are the Daytona events: The iRacing event, where we qualified really well and had decent results with a 5th place from Peter Read in the top race, as well as a 2nd place finish from Chris Gennarelli in his split. This wasn't exactly what we were hoping for, though, especially after Shawn Purdy's incident, which effectively ruined his and the team's chances for a win.
Possibly the brightest spot of the event was that Orion Race Team prospect Jeffrey Rietveld finished an amazing 2nd place in the days top split. Jeffrey had a small amount of damage but still managed to bring home 2nd place, less that 20 seconds behind the overall winner.You will hear more about Jeffrey very soon...

But the story doesn't stop here. That weekend saw our partners over at Speed Source get the win in the actual 24H of Daytona in the GT class! We can't express how proud we are to be partnering with such an amazing team: congratulations guys! What an achievement. 

And the fact that these people do care for simracing as a training tool, and do care to create a range of sophisticated simracing products with Sim-Sport, such as the Speedsource Pedals, is just amazing. We are proud to be part of this, and to be contributing to the development of these products (as explained by frosty in his pedal review).

And then, in exactly one week, will begin the first ever iRacing Drivers World Championship, starting with the Oval series. The team's focus is all on Dion Vergers, who will be carrying our colors for this promising series, which will be broadcast as well.

10 days later, on the 20th of this month, we will see the first race of the road DWC, featuring Barber Motorsports, which is a tricky track. With all the names involved, it already looks like this is going to be the most disputed race in simracing history. We will be there on the grid, and as always, we hope to have your support!

Stay tuned! - More news and updates on Twitter as usual.
 

After being given last place points at the first race of the season (the league was full!), Orion Race Team's Ray Pulido stormed his way into the MNRL GTP SP championship in the best possible way. On his first race, although he got taken out at the start, he managed a strong run, getting a podium finish.  

  At Sandown, the latest race, Ray started from pole, and never looked back, to score his first victory this season. We're very happy to witness this strong season start obviously! Stay tuned, we'll keep you updated with news and more as the season unfolds, from twitter!

Check out an extended review from the Speedsource pedals from Sim-Sport, by Frosty StClair:

Here we are, only four weeks before the start of first ever iRacing World Drivers Championship (idwc).

The never ending Pro series (25 weeks straight) has taken its toll on most of the competing drivers. Motivation has dramatically fallen down as the season unfolded, due mainly to the very, very heavy schedule.

But now the Orion crew is starting to gear up for what is probably going to be the most important championship this year, and will undoubtedly be a stepping stone in the history of sim-racing. While the last weeks of the Pro series are still going to be decisive, it is now time to gather strength and prepare for another long, long series. The top 50 drivers from the Pro series will be racing each other in 18 races, which will be spread over 39 weeks, with only 2 drop weeks.  

But few questions remain: iRacing still didn't confirm which car the road racers will be competing with, nor did release any tracks schedule. Will the points system remain as it is? We hope to see this answered shortly.

We always strive for the best, do our best, and hope for the best. And sometimes, you get the best, too. And once again, Orion had its best year to date. 

 Judge for yourself: Win at major events such as the 24h du Mans AND the Simdy 500, fantastic iRacing seasons, several championships wins, new partnerships with awesome companies (SimBoot, Sim-Sport and Buttkicker, along with our long time friends Sim-Gear), new fantastic drivers, the creation of the Orion Racing School...and it's all been really fun! Hard work for sure, but what a pleasure.

We'd like to thank everyone involved for all of this: our racing drivers, our sponsors, and the fantastic community talents we've been interacting with, both on and off the track.

 To make a long story short, here is the Orion Race Team 2009 story as well as our objectives for '10.

A lot has happened since our last website update, including some major wins by Team Orion drivers. Max Dell'Orco took the 120 Minutes of Sebring by storm by winning the race over fellow countryman Dario Frattini. With an impressive win by close to a minute, Max had the following to say about his race;

"My Team Radio unfortunally didn’t assist me much on my second pit stop. In fact I finished the race with almost 30 liters of fuel too much, but my gap was good enough to luckily not worry about it. Happy also for Dario Frattini that did a good race finishing 2nd. The race, the car, and the track was really awesome. I really enjoyed racing for 2 hours there and I'm glad to race for this Team"!

Chris Sommerfeld has also been hard at work with rFactor and the MIRL Championship and despite a difficult start to the first half of the MIRL's season 12. An early last place finish, and a DNS put him down in the standings. In the second half of the season, Sommerfeld was able to claw his way back with 3 consecutive podiums, and later put a string of 3 straight wins to cap the season off. In the closing Road Course round at Long Beach, Sommerfeld was able to hold onto the lead after damaging his suspension and clinched both the Road Course and Overall championships. Sommerfeld went on to claim the Oval Championship in the final race at Indy.

Ilkka Haapala dominated most of the races he contended. In 9 race starts, he took a season high 6 poles and 5 victories. Despite missing the majority of the season, he still finished 9th overall, and 5th in the Road Course standings. With just 24 combined starts, the Orion Race Team was able to finish 3rd in the Team Championship, winning 9 of the 15 races they contended.

Team Orion drivers have also been posting some impressive results in iRacing's first ever iDWC. Shawn Purdy is right now leading the way for the Orion's with 2 top 5 (one 2nd place finish) finishes in 3 races. Shawn had some bad luck in one of the races that would put him higher in the standings than where he currently sits (5th overall) but it is still a very long season! Ilkka Haapala has also been putting in some impressive showings but missed the first race of the season, and got taken out in T1 of the third race. Still, Ilkka has managed one top 5 and two top 10's, and sits 13th overall with only two races. Other drivers David Sirois and Dion Vergers have also posted impressive top 10 finishes this season as all 4 active Orion drivers sit inside the top 15.

And last but certainly not least, Orion gets stronger, faster, and younger with the addition of Jeffrey Rietveld. Awesome Jeff has only been racing for about 3 years, and is already one of the fastest drivers in the iRacing sim currently. Jeff posted an impressive 2nd overall at iRacing's first ever 2.4hrs of Daytona. Most impressive, is that Jeff is only 14 yrs old. Look for Jeff's setups and replays, and watch for more results from Jeff when the Pro Series starts, as he is aiming to do well in iRacing's second Pro Series Season.