This past week, they went into feature-lockdown mode, which means they should be in the beta stage, so look for a designation change in their updater.
Ian also agreed with someone who suggested that they will do a full release a few months before the end of this year, so it sounds as if Christmas will come early.
They expect a two-year lifespan for updates and DLC before they get more heavy into version 2.
pRally will happen after that, if they feel it is appropriate. There will be no snow in the first version of pCARS. There may even be other road / track new titles, in the meantime. Apparently, they have lots of ideas and plans.
They are planning on concurrent release dates for console / PC versions (efficiency and costs).
No point-to-point courses in the first release.