iRacing Licenses Explained: Rookie to A, Safety Rating and iRating

iRacing has no ranks like Gold or Diamond. Instead you race with a license: from Rookie through D, C, B to A, with the Pro license above that for the best drivers in the world. What moves you up is not your pace but how clean you drive (Safety Rating) and whether you have raced enough (MPR). Your pace is measured by a second number: iRating.

Below you will find every license class, the exact promotion and demotion rules, how incident points work and what iRating does. Current as of 11 November 2026, based on the official iRacing Sporting Code (version dated 9 September 2026), in force since the start of 2026 Season 4.

All license classes in order

1. 06 Pro & World Championship Series License black stripe
2. 05 Class A License blue stripe
3. 04 Class B License green stripe
4. 03 Class C License yellow stripe
5. 02 Class D License orange stripe
6. 01 Rookie License red stripe

According to the Sporting Code, the colour shows as a stripe on your car, your helmet and your license image. The Rookie class includes both Rookie and Advanced Rookie. iRacing limits the Pro license to the top-rated drivers in the world.

Important: you hold a separate license for each racing category. The categories are Oval, Sports Car, Formula Car, Dirt Oval and Dirt Road. An A license on ovals says nothing about your Formula Car license. Every series requires a minimum license in its category. With a higher license you can usually also enter series meant for lower classes ("racing down").

Safety Rating: the number behind your license

Safety Rating (SR) measures how safely you drive. iRacing weighs the number of corners you complete against the number and severity of your incidents. The value runs from 0.00 to 4.99 and always applies to one combination of license class and category. According to the Sporting Code, new drivers start as Rookie with 2.50 SR in every category.

Your SR only changes in ranked sessions: races, qualifying, warm-up, heats, time trials and practice inside a ranked event. Open practice, unranked events, AI races, Time Attack and member-hosted sessions do not count.

Why your SR jumps after a promotion

The SR ranges of the license classes overlap. When you move up from D to C, for example, your underlying safety measure is mapped into the matching range of the new class. The visible number can change a lot even though, according to iRacing, your actual safety measure stays the same. The same happens when you cross a whole number (say from 2.99 to 3.00). This keeps the display from bouncing back and forth.

Incident points: what costs you SR

The software assigns points automatically for every incident, on a no-fault basis. Everyone involved gets the points, no matter who caused it.

If several incidents happen at once, only the most serious one counts. Many official series also have an incident limit: reach it and you are removed from the race. The Sporting Code uses a limit of 17 as an example. Endurance events often use a drive-through penalty each time the threshold is reached instead.

How much a session affects your SR depends on the session type. Races and heats count in full (weight 1.00), practice with other drivers, open qualifying and warm-up at 0.50, time trials and lone qualifying at 0.35.

MPR: the minimum participation requirement

Without enough races there is no promotion, however high your SR is. The Minimum Participation Requirement (MPR) applies per category:

• Rookie: 4 ranked time trials or 2 ranked official races
• D to A: 4 ranked time trials or 4 ranked official races

A race only counts if you earn championship points and complete at least half the laps of the winner in your car class (rounded down). If the winner completes 25 laps, you need 12 laps and must not be disqualified. From the D license on, only series whose minimum license is not below your current class count. Racing a Rookie series with a D license earns no MPR. Series that span several seasons do not count either.

Promotion: end of season or fast track

There are two ways up:

As a Rookie, 3.00 is enough to move straight to Class D. From D upwards you need 4.00 for an immediate promotion. Every promotion resets your MPR to zero and maps your SR into the range of the new class. Licenses always go up in order; you cannot skip a class.

An iRacing season normally runs for 12 weeks. In Week 13 most official series end, unranked fun events fill the calendar, and the big quarterly update usually arrives.

Demotion: when you lose a license

• At the end of the season: an SR between 2.00 and 2.99 keeps you in your class. Below 2.00 you drop one class.
• Immediately: if your SR falls below 1.00 mid-season, you are demoted at once (Reckless Driver Demotion). This applies to Pro drivers too.
• Rookie and D licenses cannot be demoted. Once you have a D license, you keep it.

A demotion leaves your MPR untouched. Former Pro license holders get their Pro license back automatically once they reach 4.00 SR in Class A again.

iRating: the number for your pace

iRating (iR) measures your racing skill. It has no effect on your license, and the other way round. Where it matters is matchmaking:

• iRacing places drivers into race splits mainly by iRating.
• Within a series, drivers form ten divisions based on iRating; Rookies form an eleventh.
• The iRatings of a field add up to the Strength of Field (SOF). The higher the SOF, the more championship points are on offer.

Your iR only changes in official ranked races. If too few drivers show up, the race is "unofficial": your SR still changes, your iRating does not. As a Rookie you cannot see your iRating yet. You have a separate iRating for each category. According to iRacing, a driver whose iR is far above the rest of the split finds it harder to gain more, because they push the SOF up themselves.

Time trials have their own number, the ttRating. It compares your best times with the best-ever times on the same track in the same car class.

Tips for faster promotions

• Clean first, fast second. Only SR counts for your license. A quiet race in 12th beats a spin while attacking for 3rd.
• Take lap one easy. Heavy contact costs 4x on pavement, no matter whose fault it was.
• Respect track limits. Every time your wheels leave the racing surface it is 1x.
• Use time trials. They count towards MPR and affect SR with a lower weight.
• Do not farm lower series. From Class D, racing down does not count towards MPR.

Matching hardware

According to its system requirements, iRacing runs on Windows 11 (64-bit). A gamepad works, but iRacing recommends a steering wheel and pedals with force feedback. More options in the racing wheel buying guide and the sim racing pedals buying guide. Three starter sets for PC (specs from the manufacturer or the Amazon product page, no hands-on testing):

Example model

Budget entry: Thrustmaster T128

Platform

PS5, PS4, PC (Windows 10/11)

Drive

Hybrid Drive (belt + gears)

Rotation

270–900 degrees

Pedals

T2PM, 2 pedals, magnetic

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Example model

Three pedals with a clutch: Logitech G920 Driving Force

Platform

PC (Windows 10/11), Xbox Series X/S, Xbox One

Force feedback

dual motors, helical gearing

Rotation

up to 900 degrees

Pedals

3 (throttle, brake, clutch)

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Example model

More torque and a display: Thrustmaster T248R

Platform

PS5, PS4, PC

Torque

3.1 Nm (48 W continuous power)

Rotation

180, 360, 540, 900 degrees or AUTO

Pedals

T3PM, 3 pedals, Hall effect sensors

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More racing game ranks: Gran Turismo 7 Driver Rating.

FAQ

What licenses are there in iRacing?

Rookie, D, C, B and A, plus the Pro/World Championship license above them. Each category (Oval, Sports Car, Formula Car, Dirt Oval, Dirt Road) has its own license.

How do I get out of Rookie?

Meet MPR (2 official races or 4 time trials) and reach a Safety Rating of at least 3.00. You are then promoted to Class D immediately.

What is a good Safety Rating?

From 3.00 you move up at the end of the season, from 4.00 immediately. Below 2.00 at the end of the season you lose a class (from Class C up).

Does iRating affect my license?

No. Your license depends only on Safety Rating and MPR. iRating decides who you race against.

Can I lose a Rookie or Class D license?

No. According to the Sporting Code, Rookie and Class D licenses cannot be demoted.

Do races with friends count for SR and iRating?

No. Member-hosted sessions are unofficial and change neither Safety Rating nor iRating.

Sources

• iRacing Official Sporting Code, V.2026.09.09 (PDF) – sections 3 (License Class), 4 (Driver Skill Ratings), 5.4 (Divisions), 11 (Hosted Sessions), glossary
• iRacing: Official Sporting Code (overview page, last updated 9 September 2026)
• iRacing: License Progression & Scoring Systems
• iRacing Support: Graduating from Rookie Class
• iRacing Support: 2026 Season 4 Initial Release Notes
• iRacing: System Requirements
• Thrustmaster: T128 (manufacturer specs)
• Logitech Support: G920 Driving Force technical specifications
• Thrustmaster: T248R (manufacturer specs)