The most recent teasers heavily hinted at it, but now Straight4 Studios made it official: Project Motor Racing is going to feature the 2004 and 2005 seasons of the FIA GT Championship.
When Project Motor Racing started out, the working title of the sim was GTRevival - an intentional nod to the roots of most on the developer team at Straight4 Studios. The old gang of the GTR and GTR2 days is back together, so to speak.
Lately, the most recent car teasers and confirmations also would have worked well with the name had it not been changed in the meantime. The Lister Storm was in the spotlight first in September 2023, and after the V12-powered wedge, the Saleen S7R, Gillet Vertigo Streiff and Mosler MT900 R followed - all of them are available in GTR2, an all-time great sim racing title.
Fans of GT racing around the turn of the millennium will be pleased to find out that Straight4 Studios will indeed include the 2004 and 2005 seasons of the FIA GT Championship in Project Motor Racing. While GTR2 also featured two seasons, it focused on 2003 and 2004 instead - but the switch to drop 2003 and include 2005 is not necessarily a bad one.
For the most part, the 2003 and 2004 grids were the same, but 2004 saw the debut of the spectacular Maserati MC12. Another V12 powerhouse would join a year later, when the Aston Martin DBR9 premiered at Silverstone in 2005.
Maserati MC12 as run by JMB Racing in 2005 at the 2024 Estoril Classics. Image: Yannik Haustein
And this is why Straight4 Studios chose to revive this era in Project Motor Racing, as it "stands out as the sunset of an era that epitomized the raw thrill and camaraderie of GT racing. This was GT racing stripped bare - no turbos, no hybrid systems, no traction control. Just raw, unfiltered horsepower spinning tyres in fourth gear, and drivers wrestling the most beautiful machines in the world", as the studio puts it in the official announcement.
A Saleen S7R at Mosport. Image: Straight4 Studios
For now, this seems to hint at only the cars to be featured in Project Motor Racing, as no tracks that the FIA GT Championship have raced at have been shown or hinted at. This could still change, of course, and we'd be all over faithful recreations of the tracks that were on the calendar as they were in 2004 and 2005.
What are your thoughts on the latest news on Project Motor Racing? Are you looking forward to throwing around the GT1 cars of the early 2000s again? Let us know in the comments below and join the discussion in our PMR forum!
When Project Motor Racing started out, the working title of the sim was GTRevival - an intentional nod to the roots of most on the developer team at Straight4 Studios. The old gang of the GTR and GTR2 days is back together, so to speak.
Lately, the most recent car teasers and confirmations also would have worked well with the name had it not been changed in the meantime. The Lister Storm was in the spotlight first in September 2023, and after the V12-powered wedge, the Saleen S7R, Gillet Vertigo Streiff and Mosler MT900 R followed - all of them are available in GTR2, an all-time great sim racing title.
Fans of GT racing around the turn of the millennium will be pleased to find out that Straight4 Studios will indeed include the 2004 and 2005 seasons of the FIA GT Championship in Project Motor Racing. While GTR2 also featured two seasons, it focused on 2003 and 2004 instead - but the switch to drop 2003 and include 2005 is not necessarily a bad one.
For the most part, the 2003 and 2004 grids were the same, but 2004 saw the debut of the spectacular Maserati MC12. Another V12 powerhouse would join a year later, when the Aston Martin DBR9 premiered at Silverstone in 2005.
Maserati MC12 as run by JMB Racing in 2005 at the 2024 Estoril Classics. Image: Yannik Haustein
Big Engines, Iconic Cars
As a result, the grids of that era were rather epic. V12 monsters like the Maserati, Aston Martin or Ferrari 550 or 575 were joined by icons like the Chrysler (or Dodge) Viper GTS-R, Saleen or the Lister Storm. With big, powerful engines and aggressive looks, there really was not a single GT1 car that was not downright spectacular.And this is why Straight4 Studios chose to revive this era in Project Motor Racing, as it "stands out as the sunset of an era that epitomized the raw thrill and camaraderie of GT racing. This was GT racing stripped bare - no turbos, no hybrid systems, no traction control. Just raw, unfiltered horsepower spinning tyres in fourth gear, and drivers wrestling the most beautiful machines in the world", as the studio puts it in the official announcement.
A Saleen S7R at Mosport. Image: Straight4 Studios
2004 FIA GT Grid
GT
- Chrysler Viper GTS-R
- Ferrari 550 GTS Maranello
- Ferrari 575 GTC
- Lamborghini Murciélago R-GT
- Lister Storm GTM
- Maserati MC12 GT1
- Saleen S7 R
N-GT
- Porsche 911 GT3 R
- Porsche 911 GT3 RS
- Porsche 911 GT3 RSR
- Ferrari 360 Modena GTC
- Ferrari 360 Modena N-GT
- Nissan 350Z
24 Hours of Spa only
- BMW M3 GTR
- Chevrolet Corvette C5-R
- Dodge Viper Competition Coupe
- Gillet Vertigo Streiff
- Lotus Elise
- Porsche 911 Bi-Turbo
- Porsche 911 GT3 Cup
2005 FIA GT Grid
GT1
- Aston Martin DBR9
- Chevrolet Corvette C5-R
- Ferrari 550 GTS Maranello
- Ferrari 575 GTC Evo 2005
- Lamborghini Murciélago R-GT
- Lister Storm GTM
- Maserati MC12 GT1
- Saleen S7R
GT2
- Porsche 911 GT3 R
- Porsche 911 GT3 RS
- Porsche 911 GT3 RSR
- Ferrari 360 Modena GTC
- Ferrari 360 Modena N-GT
- Spyker C8 Spyder GT2R
- TVR Tuscan T440R
24 Hours of Spa only
- Dodge Viper GTS-R
- Gillet Vertigo Streiff
- Maserati Gran Sport Light
For now, this seems to hint at only the cars to be featured in Project Motor Racing, as no tracks that the FIA GT Championship have raced at have been shown or hinted at. This could still change, of course, and we'd be all over faithful recreations of the tracks that were on the calendar as they were in 2004 and 2005.
What are your thoughts on the latest news on Project Motor Racing? Are you looking forward to throwing around the GT1 cars of the early 2000s again? Let us know in the comments below and join the discussion in our PMR forum!
