Kunos Simulazioni has, over the weekend, revealed the worst-kept secret in racing games: the full 24hr Nurburgring track is coming to Assetto Corsa Competizione.
The Nordschleife section of the track has to be one of the most-requested additions to ACC in the history of the game, but it’s never been under consideration for one pretty simple reason. ACC is the official game of the GT World Challenge, and as no GTWC series races there it precluded the possibility entirely.
This is precisely what Kunos co-founder Marco Massarutto reiterated to us when we interviewed him back in early 2022. GT3 cars of course race around the circuit, notably in the ADAC’s N24 event, but that’s not part of the SRO’s GT World Challenge. Or at least it wasn’t…
As announced earlier in the year, the N24 itself will be joining the Intercontinental GT Challenge calendar for 2024, with the SRO and ADAC jointly organizing the race. That will see the top, SP9 class cars competing for IGTC points and, more importantly for gamers, bring it under ACC’s purview.
We surmised when the Stephane Ratel Organization (SRO) and Allgemeiner Deutscher Automobil-Club (ADAC) jointly made the announcement back in July that this could mean the addition of the full N24 course to ACC, and the weekend’s teaser has confirmed that to be the case.
Kunos, of course, already has a high-quality scan of the circuit which is used in its original Assetto Corsa sim, and that should make for a relatively painless and swift addition. Indeed the teaser states that the course will be part of the “Season 2024” update, although no date for that has been announced yet.
There is a curious conflict of terminology however, as the various announcements from ACC socials, 505Games, and the Nurburgring itself can’t seem to agree on which course (or courses) will be added.
The N24 of course races on the full 15.7-mile Nordschleife/GP loop, and as the game replicates the real-world series we’d expect this to be the only variant added. However the announcements also interchangeably refer to the 12.9-mile Nordschleife itself, which we’re not expecting to be available as a standalone course — although we’d be more than happy if it were the case!
It’s not clear what, if anything, else will be available in the “Season 2024” update, although we’ll likely see a vehicle roster refresh with new liveries and drivers. There is still the possibility of GT2 cars appearing, either as part of the update or in a standalone DLC pack, with it being a little over 18 months since they were accidentally announced.
With Assetto Corsa 2 also on the schedule, 2024 is certainly set to be a busy year for Kunos Simulazioni…
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