Le Mans Virtual Series announced - Includes second edition of Virtual 24H
Officially sanctioned by the ACO, this could be the biggest motorsport eSports series out there...
The 24h Le Mans organising body, the ACO, and Motorsport Games have announced the Le Mans Virtual Series, a five-race endurance racing eSports series that includes the second edition of the 24h Le Mans Virtual.
Following the success of the standalone 2020 event, which took place on the original 24h Le Mans weekend after the real-world race was postponed due to COVID-19, the series will bring together professional racing drivers with the finest talent from the sim-racing world.
So much more is up for grabs than just virtual bragging rights, a prize pool of $250,000 is on offer for those who beat the best in the first officially backed Le Mans eSports championship, with 50% of that available to those who triumph in the 24h race.
A combined total of 38 entries will compete across the LMP and GTE classes, with a detailed entry list to be revealed on 7 September.
Starting in September, the series will host four endurance races entirely online, before the grand finale 24h Le Mans Virtual will be hosted live at the Autosport International show in Birmingham, UK from 15-16 January 2022.
Motorsport Games and the ACO intend to make the virtual series "as prestigious and recognisable as the real-world FIA World Endurance Championship," according to the announcement today.
rFactor 2 has also been confirmed as the chosen platform to host the events after being utilised to much success during last year's 24h Le Mans Virtual.
The five race calendar features circuits that have all appeared on the WEC calendar in the real world, including Monza which hosted its first 6h event in July this year. Here are the dates for your calendars:
4 Hours of Monza, Italy - 25 September, 2021
6 Hours of Spa, Belgium - 16 October, 2021
8 Hours of Nürburgring, Germany - 13 November, 2021
6 Hours of Sebring, USA - 18 December, 2021
24 Hours of Le Mans Virtual - 15/16 January, 2022
The 2020 event saw a multitude of talent across the motorsport world take part, including eventual 2020 WEC LMP1 Champions Mike Conway, Kamui Kobayashi, and Jose Maria Lopez, and F1 stars like 2009 champion Jenson Button, Red Bull Racing's Max Verstappen, Ferrari ace Charles Leclerc, and 2020 Italian Grand Prix winner Pierre Gasly.
A sizeable overlap with the end of the F1 season may influence the likelihood of the big names returning, but it is expected factory drivers from across the WEC, European Le Mans Series, and Asian Le Mans series will compete.
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Comments (6)
Weird. Far as I know, rF2 hasn't got recent LMP1 cars, and some in the simracing community reckon iRacing to be a much better fit anyway. But if this means new content for rF2, why not? Besides, I actually love this initiative, as it's just fun to see both real drivers and gamers play under one server. Here's hoping they invite Jimmy Broadbent (who has won iRacing's Le Mans 24 event) again for this one, along with other YouTubers like Jaroslav Honzik (Jardier) and Steve Alvarez Brown (F4H_SuperGT)
So when they did it last year, and it’s the same format for this year, there’s only two classes. LMP is effectively spec as it uses the Oreca 07 LMP2 only. GTE uses recent GTE machinery, Aston Martin Vantage AMR, Porsche 911 RSR, Ferrari 488,...
Read moreI've read about it, too. iRacing is looking to put in rain after the current season ends so it'll be huge for them, but it seems like rF2 has a leg up in some ways still (besides the licensing). Given how simultaneously smooth and deeply flawed...
Read moreImagine the same guys win anyway because they just use the same simulators and make it about as accessible as actual F1
It’s actually super close as the sim-pros are tasked with getting the real-world pros up to speed. And so you get this strange dynamic where you have no idea who is the quickest driver out there 😅