The Pontiac Solstice Is Being Retired From iRacing Series

It’s been around a long time on the sim racing service, and now the Pontiac Solstice is being retired from iRacing Series. The original Rookie car will now be replaced in the Sim Lab Production Car Challenge by the new free Toyota GR86.

The change was announced right at the end of 2022 Season 4, and comes into effect for 2023 Season 1, which starts next week. So there was no chance for a final send off as the Solstice leaves the last official iRacing series in which it was eligible to race. There’s no confirmation yet whether it will move to Legacy content, and still be available for private leagues to run.

I’ve written before about how much I enjoy the Sim Lab PCC series. It’s a home for those looking to move into multi-class racing for the first time with mostly free cars and tracks. But it’s also great if you enjoy competing against different types of cars, and the challenges it brings, without jumping into TCRs, GT4s and GT3s. The slower speeds and easier handling of production cars means you can focus more on racing than trying not to launch yourself into the scenery, and you can race side-by-side with a lower chance of incidents.

Adding the Toyota GR86 to the Sim Lab PCC makes sense, in that it’s a racer that’s closely based on the production model. And it should add some variety, particular in lower splits which were often completely filled with Mazda MX-5s.

Removing the Solstice is more questionable, however. It’s used by a relatively small number of drivers, meaning you generally only see the Pontiacs in the top split. But along with memories of it serving as the main Rookie car, it’s also one of the few to still use a H-pattern gearbox, and has a small but keen community of drivers.

It’s also likely to mean the new series, with the Jetta, Mazda MX-5, Toyota GR86 and Mustang FR500 is likely to see even more crossover between classes. The Solstice was the only car which had a complete separation in speed and laptimes, with the fast Jettas often meeting a large number of MX-5 drivers and slower Mustangs encountering both classes. And on some circuits, it’s the only other class you would encounter to lap.

Until we see what times are available in the new Toyota, it’ll be hard to make any judgments, but in the demo video using Lime Rock Park, it looks like there will certainly be a crossover with the MX-5 (fastest lap on Garage61 at 59.441), and the Jetta (1.01.117). Although with changes apparently coming to the Mazda in this update as well, perhaps it’ll end up being the slowest of the four classes.

And from a business perspective, it makes sense to potentially sunset cars with lower participation levels if you’re looking at user numbers. But on the flipside, those racing more niche cars tend to be the most committed. So you get a larger number of people dipping in for one or two races, but less running multiple times for a whole season.

So iRacing 2023 Season 1 will be interesting for the Sim Lab PCC. Will it be more fun for multiclass to involve three classes overlapping fairly closely, or will it create carnage and remove the enjoyment of having cars distinctly separated by performance and lap times?

Personally, I’d have added the GR86, but kept the Solstice for at least the initial season to see what pans out, especially with changes to the MX-5.

But we’ll all find out when the new season starts in seven days time…

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