BMW and iRacing’s Esports partnership goes back many, many years at this point. We should know, as we’ve been their main broadcaster from the BMW 120 series onwards, including BMW SIM LIVE!
BMW have always wanted to engage with as much of the iRacing user base as possible, and the BMW M Power Tour 2024 does exactly that. 10 weeks worth of racing action across multiple tracks, with a different virtual representation of a BMW racing machine taking the spotlight each week. Races take place every 2 hours on Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Thursdays, giving iRacers plenty of time to get involved in the action.
Of course there’s likely to be a SOF race that takes place on one of these evenings (European time). For the uninitiated, a SOF race is where you get more racers with high iRatings race than normal alongside a larger number of racers participating overall for a specific timeslot, which means that the average iRating for a race is higher. Because of iRacing’s dynamic points system, this will mean that the winner of these races (and in reality the Top 4) will normally score more points than winning a random race in another timeslot. Why? More high iRated drivers implies the race will be more competitive, and therefore worthy of more points.
The schedule looks as follows.
| Dates | Car | Track |
|---|---|---|
| 12 – 14th March | BMW M Hybrid V8 | Sebring International Raceway |
| 19th – 21st March | BMW M4 GT4 | Nürburgring Grand Prix |
| 26th – 28th March | BMW Z4 GT3 | Okayama International Circuit |
| 2nd – 4th April | BMW M8 GTE | Red Bull Ring |
| 9th – 11th April | BMW M Hybrid V8 | Suzuka Circuit |
| 16th – 18th April | BMW M4 GT3 | Autódromo Internacional do Algarve |
| 23rd – 25th April | BMW Z4 GT3 | Motorsport Arena Oschersleben |
| 30th April – 2nd May | BMW M8 GTE | Brands Hatch (GP Layout) |
| 7th May – 9th May | BMW M Hybrid V8 | Laguna Seca Raceway |
| 14th – 16th May | BMW M4 GT3 | Misano World Circuit |
| 21st – 23rd May | BMW M4 GT4 | Nürburgring Nordschleife |
| 28th – 30th May | BMW M Hybrid V8 | Circuit des 24 Heures |
In the official iRacing press release, iRacing President Tony Gardner had the following quote to hype the series.
“We are thrilled to team up with BMW M Motorsport again for the BMW M Power Tour in 2024. As part of its commitment to virtual racing and Esports as a whole, BMW M Motorsport has long been one of the partners who have supported us most committedly. We are excited to see how the sim racers will embrace the new approach of the BMW M Power Tour, where a different BMW M Motorsport model is in the spotlight each week.”
TONY GARDNER: IRACING PRESIDENT
Never to be outdone in terms of hype, BMW have released a hype video for the series, which you can see below.
For more information, be sure to check out the iRacing press release and iRacing forums, as well as BMW M Motorsport on Twitter.