netKar Pro debuted at a motorsport fair held in Lanciano, Italy, from 24 to 26 February 2006, with version 1.0 released for download on 10 April 2006. Kunos Simulazioni built the simulator in close collaboration with companies active in real-world motorsport: Sparco contributed to the design of helmets, driving suits, and steering wheels; AIM Sportline provided fully functional data acquisition system reproductions; Cooper/AVON tires and Brembo braking systems were modelled in detail; Beta Tools also participated. The development team worked directly with the Formula Three squad Target Racing, race engineer Andrea Quintarelli, and driver Riccardo Azzoli, who had competed in Formula Gloria, Formula Renault, and Formula Three.
In the summer of 2006, Kunos announced a partnership with BallRacing Developments Ltd, a British company producing hardware and software for professional racing drivers and the sim-racing community, with the aim of co-developing the next generation of motorsport simulation.
netKar Pro was distinguished by a tire model of unusual depth for its era, simulating visible dirt accumulation, progressive tire wear, and flat spots — all of which had tangible effects on car handling. The cockpit was designed to be fully interactive, comparable in concept to the instrument panels found in flight simulators. Players could adjust aerodynamics, brakes, chassis settings, transmission ratios, steering wheel angles, and individual tire pressures for each corner. Telemetry data could be recorded and analysed at any time during a session.
The base installation included five tracks, with a further 21 available as downloads, a mix of real circuits and fictional venues. Controller support extended to Xbox 360 controllers, joysticks, and keyboards, though the original release was aimed primarily at sim racers using USB steering wheel peripherals.
During the summer of 2009, Kunos announced netKar Pro 1.1, developed through a three-stage public beta to gather community feedback ahead of a final release.
Beta 1/3, released in August 2009, introduced a redesigned user interface built outside standard Windows UI conventions, a streamlined controller setup wizard, broadened controller support beyond USB steering wheels, and reworked force feedback. Several hardcore simulation details that had proved off-putting to newcomers were softened.
Beta 2/3 followed in early September 2009, adding a new car — the Abarth 500 Assetto Corsa — and a new fictional circuit named Aosta, alongside handling and UI bug fixes.
Beta 3/3 was released on 16 January 2010, bringing audio level controls, enhanced in-game chat, tweaked differential and coast torque behaviour, and further usability refinements.
Separately, a stripped-down version of the simulator containing only the Abarth 500 Assetto Corsa was prepared by Kunos for an online competition sponsored by MTV Italia. Product Manager Marco Massarutto confirmed this was a deliberately simplified build intended solely for the promotional event. The full netKar Pro 1.1 Final was released on 6 April 2010.
Released on 12 November 2010, version 1.2 was an incremental update followed by patches 1.2B and 1.2C. These introduced the Formula KS2 (based on the real-life GP2 car), a revised tire model, revised differential modelling, improved collision handling, and various bug fixes and optimisations.
On 10 December 2010, Kunos announced version 1.3 for a planned Christmas 2010 release. The update was to include a hill-climb track at Trento-Bondone alongside the Osella PA-21 hillclimb car — content that had been anticipated since 2007 — and a new Shelby Daytona. Rain simulation with puddle formation on the road surface was also planned. The update was delayed; a Beta 1.3 build appeared on 12 February 2011, but a final 1.3 release had not materialised as of early 2011.
netKar Pro earned a reputation among serious sim racers for its uncompromising approach to physics fidelity at a time when most commercial racing games prioritised accessibility. The same core team at Kunos Simulazioni went on to develop Assetto Corsa, which was released in 2014 and became one of the most widely used platforms in the sim-racing community — carrying forward much of the philosophy established in netKar Pro, including the close relationships with real-world tyre and brake suppliers and the emphasis on detailed, adjustable vehicle dynamics.
The Abarth 500 Assetto Corsa included in the 1.1 beta was notably the first use of the "Assetto Corsa" branding, which later became the studio's flagship product.