William Ian Bell, former CEO of Slightly Mad Studios, announced in 2022 that he was working on a new racing title, initially under the name GTR Revival — a reference to the GTR and GTR 2 games from his time at SimBin. The project was later renamed GT Revival, and then again as Project Motor Racing in 2024. Bell stated that the team included former staff from SimBin and Slightly Mad Studios who had worked on both the GTR and Project CARS series, and that the game would be developed with "zero publisher input."
The game uses Straight4 Studios' proprietary Hadron physics engine, running alongside GIANTS Engine 10, the same engine used in the Farming Simulator series. An earlier test build had used Unreal Engine 5. During development, Straight4 introduced an invite-only beta programme called the Factory Driver Program, restricted to experienced sim racers and professional drivers. The team also engaged professional racing driver and former The Stig on Top Gear, Ben Collins, as a technical consultant, and Stephen Baysted as composer — both having previously contributed to the Project CARS series.
Some vehicles previewed during development, including a selection of Ferrari race cars, did not appear in the final release without any public explanation from the studio.
Project Motor Racing features a detailed single-player driver career mode with selectable starting budgets, ranging from an amateur entry point with low-cost race cars to a professional tier with immediate access to high-end machinery, plus a historic motorsport option. A sponsorship model is integrated into the career, with performance on track influencing financial rewards. Race payouts vary by region and car class within the in-game championship structure.
Both single-player and multiplayer modes support up to 31 AI opponents, though console versions are limited to 15 AI opponents in single-player, with Straight4 citing stable performance at 1440p and 60 frames per second as the reason.
A number of vehicle classes and circuits in the game are represented without official licenses, directly resembling real-world counterparts. These include circuits presented under fictional names — Brianza (Monza), Lexington (Mid-Ohio), Northampton (Silverstone), San Marino (Imola), Takimiya (Okayama) — and the JP1/JP2 class, which mirrors the Super GT GT500 category.
Project Motor Racing received mixed or negative reviews upon release. The review aggregator Metacritic classified its critical reception as "mixed or average," while OpenCritic reported that only 16% of critics recommended the game.
IGN's Luke Reilly described it as "an early access game that hasn't actually been identified as such," citing unfinished AI behaviour, an incomplete penalty system, an underdeveloped career mode, and inconsistent vehicle physics ranging from "compliant" to "undriveable." Community reaction on Steam was "very negative," with criticism concentrated on handling, force feedback, AI, and performance optimisation.
Straight4 Studios released a statement acknowledging the problems and committing to a post-launch roadmap. Less than two weeks after release, on 8 December 2025, the studio announced staff reductions, citing the need to adjust team size after "exploring every possible alternative," while reaffirming commitment to delivering all Year 1 season pass DLC.
On 25 March 2026, Straight4 Studios released version 2.0 of the game, framing it as a soft relaunch. The update included an overhauled user interface, tire model updates, graphical improvements, and bug fixes. It also previewed new DLC featuring JGTC and Super GT race cars. That DLC content was temporarily delisted after the studio lost the rights to the "GT500" name before being re-released.
On 18 May 2026, Straight4 Studios announced that Aristotelis Vasilakos had joined as Chief Creative Officer. Vasilakos had previously served as a physics developer at Kunos Simulazioni, the studio behind Assetto Corsa and Assetto Corsa Competizione.
Project Motor Racing arrived as a high-profile attempt to revive the legacy of the Project CARS and GTR series, but its troubled launch placed it among a series of sim racing titles in the 2020s that shipped in unfinished states. The involvement of Bell, Collins, Baysted, and eventually Vasilakos gave the project significant pedigree, though its initial reception demonstrated the difficulty of meeting the expectations of a technically demanding sim racing audience.