Assetto Corsa Rally Sparks Resurgence of Richard Burns Rally?

Assetto Corsa Rally Sparks Resurgence of Richard Burns Rally?

It would be impossible to spend any amount of time with me and not know that I am a sim racing nut. I’m actually a real car and racing nut too, but over the last five or so years, I’ve focused that passion mostly in the virtual, driving all sorts of sims, different cars, and on tracks and surfaces all over the virtual globe. So, of course, I had ventured into rally, in the form of Dirt 2.0, but I found it to be “meh”. When the official WRC game came out, I watched some streams, but a sense of passion didn’t ignite, partially, I suspect, because no one playing it was particularly thrilled by the experience; there was no inspiration to give rally another go.​

Then along came Assetto Corsa Rally (ACR), a real surprise to the entire sim community. No one saw it coming, as Kunos had kept it properly under wraps to unveil at SimRacing Expo 2025 in Germany, just ahead of its November Early Access release. People who tried it at the show and subsequently in the Early Access launch were blown away, and immediately began to compare it to what was often referred to as the “GOAT”, or “Greatest Of All Time”: Richard Burns Rally (RBR). Given time to mature, for the content catalog to grow, and for proper feedback on its Early Access physics, ACR may, someday, take that crown from RBR… at least that’s what the experts said.​

I gave ACR a go. I was impressed. It looked very real, felt decently realistic to drive, and was fun, real fun, the type of fun that keeps you coming back to try to improve your times on a run you just know you can squeeze more out of. It felt like a proper title to inspire, and even help you develop as a driver. Which raised the question: if ACR didn’t quite yet measure up against RBR, a title originally launched in 2004 and tirelessly improved and maintained by volunteers over the intervening decades, what had I been missing in not having driven it? Without ACR, I probably still would have written RBR off as “too old” to bother with; instead, I aimed to find out, and I’m glad I did.​

RBR is now faithfully maintained by a group out of Hungary, Rally Sim Fans (RSF). They have carefully packaged all the fixes and popular (read: vetted) mods for RBR into a well‑orchestrated, though not quite simple, installation process almost anyone can follow to get up and running. As of this writing, my install includes over 100 cars and more than 350 unique stages as part of the build, to say nothing of UI improvements and conveniences, physics improvements, and numerous other patches from over the years, all managed by a convenient launcher and marshaled by a well‑designed installer (once you download all the content via a torrent client). The whole installation, from download to first start, takes about an hour or so with a decent network connection, not quite as easy as installing a title through Steam, but nowhere near as difficult as it used to be to install DOS games back in the day.​

RSF has become a central hub for the community, providing an online platform for organizing, scoring, and managing rally events, from the simple one‑stage sprint to complex, multi‑leg, multi‑stage events, and everything in between. All of this integrates seamlessly into the RBR software itself, making it easy for aspiring rallyists to join, track, and participate in events sponsored by groups around the world. There are daily stages, one‑off rallies, and even complete championships available, each open for an organizer‑specified amount of time, providing an evergreen set of year‑round opportunities to jump in with both feet and compete against other rally enthusiasts.​​

So, what’s the secret sauce of Richard Burns Rally and its status as the GOAT? As you might expect, ask a simple question, get a million different, very passionate answers. In listening to its minority of detractors, it is clear that the real measure of RBR’s worthiness as the GOAT lies fundamentally in what the would‑be driver values in a sim. If you are compelled only by realistic graphics and sounds, a title from 2004 likely won’t ring your bell. However, if you are a stickler for excellent physics around car handling dynamics, enjoy the flexibility to prepare, edit, and manage your own pacenotes (a critical component of real‑life rallying that has been neglected by most sim rally titles over the years), enjoy having access to a high volume of well‑curated cars and rally stages, both historic and completely novel, or value an easy‑to‑use management system for organizing and competing in online rally competition, you may very well find something of serious value in RSF and, by extension, RBR.​​

It’s difficult for me to put my finger on it precisely, but something in “discovering” this, by any reasonable estimation, ancient gaming title has sparked inspiration and enjoyment that I haven’t encountered in sim racing in quite a while. I’m having more fun than I can remember having in years, and like any good obsession, it is occupying much of my mind space even when I’m not in the sim driving it. So far, I’ve participated in two online rallies (one I failed to complete, the other I completed and finished in the top half of competitors), and found a renewed sense of passion in my driving everywhere, not just in rally. Is it for everyone? Probably not, but rally teaches car control, so good rally titles can improve you as a driver overall, regardless of your primary discipline.​

I have noticed in many of the online forums and Discord channels that I am not alone in joining RBR anew after ACR’s launch, thus the title of this piece. Whether or not ACR fully ignites, realizing its destiny as the heir‑apparent to the rally GOAT, something magical has happened to draw more attention to rally, and by extension, to the incumbent GOAT, Richard Burns Rally. Give it a go; you might like it. Regardless, happy racing, no matter where you find that joy!

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