A combination of professional drivers and Esports racers are taking to the track for the 24 Hours of Le Mans Virtual, a joint enterprise between the FIA World Endurance Championship, Automobile Club de l'Ouest, and Motorsport Games featuring a 50-car grid.

What is it?

With the traditional Le Mans weekend left empty of motorsport due to COVID-19, the 24 Hours of Le Mans Virtual is an online, 24-hour race that will bring together names from across real and virtual racing to compete in one of motorsport's most famous events.

Drivers in the 24 Hours of Le Mans Virtual

Charles Leclerc - Formula 1
Fernando Alonso - Formula 1/WEC
Max Verstappen - Formula 1
Lando Norris - Formula 1
Jenson Button - Formula 1
Simon Pagenaud - IndyCar
Juan Pablo Montoya - Formula 1/IndyCar
Jean-Eric Vergne - Formula E
Rubens Barrichello - Formula 1
Felipe Massa - Formula 1/Formula E

The event has attracted 50 entries with each team comprising four drivers.

The impressive entry list contains competitors from all across motorsport, with each entry fielding a minimum of two professional drivers with an FIA international license and a maximum of two sim racers.

Several WEC teams will participate, including Toyota Gazoo Racing, Rebellion Racing, Aston Martin, Ferrari, and Porsche, as well as IMSA competitors Penske and Corvette.

Five current F1 drivers will star on the grid, alongside two world champions as well as competitors from Formula 2, WEC, IndyCar, Formula E, the Esports world and more.

Fernando Alonso will pair up with Rubens Barrichello, and other formidable team-mates include Max Verstappen and Lando Norris at Team Redline; Jean-Eric Vergne and AlphaTauri F1 driver Pierre Gasly for Veloce Esports; Charles Leclerc and Alfa Romeo F1 driver Antonio Giovinazzi for Ferrari in the GT class; Porsche Formula E drivers Neel Jani and Andre Lotterer heading up the marque's four entries.

Simon Pagenaud and Juan Pablo Montoya will come together for Team Penske and WEC and Formula E racers Sebastien Buemi and Brendon Hartley will feature together for Toyota.

Richard Mille Racing will field an all-female entry made up of Katherine Legge, Tatiana Calderon, Sophia Floersch, and sim racer Emily Jones.

Each driver must complete a minimum of four hours of the event, but no more than seven hours can be raced by a single driver over the 24-hour period.

24 Hours of Le Mans Virtual Date

Date: 13-14 June 2020
Time: 9 AM EDT / 1 PM GMT

Following a pre-show (livestream above) starting at 8 AM EDT / 12 PM GMT, the 24 Hours of Le Mans Virtual will commence at 9 AM EDT / 1 PM GMT on Saturday 13 June 2020, with the chequered flag falling 24 hours later at 9 AM EDT / 1 PM GMT on Sunday 14 June.

In the four days leading up to the event, there will be opportunities for the competitors to participate in free practice and on the evening of 12 June, the GTE and LMP teams will each take part in a 20-minute long qualifying session to set the grid for the next day's race.

Car List

GTE:

Aston Martin Vantage GTE
Porsche 911 RSR GTE
Corvette C7.R GTE
Ferrari 488 GTE

LMP:

ORECA LMP2

The LMP class, with 30 entrants, will all use the ORECA LMP2 chassis.

However, the 20-car-strong GTE class will be using a mix of Aston Martin, Porsche, Corvette, and Ferrari machinery in its battle for supremacy, all of which are also fielding a factory team.

Each team will be allowed to use its own livery, with the designs to be revealed in the coming days.

What sim will the 24 Hours of Le Mans Virtual use?

The 24 Hours of Le Mans Virtual will be taking place on rFactor 2, supplied and supported by Studio 397, which is also used for the Formula E Race at Home Challenge.

The Circuit de la Sarthe, where the 24 Hours of Le Mans takes place each year, is available on rFactor 2 for a fee.

How can I watch and stream it?

Motorsport.tv and Motorsport.com will stream the entire event as well as providing full coverage of all the action and updates across the Motorsport Network's websites and social media accounts.

Commentators will guide viewers through the event from a studio in Paris, with a multitude of guest experts contributing their knowledge and opinions throughout.

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24 Hours of Le Mans Virtual

Ferrari fans shared experience

On June 13 &14 one of the most remarkable motorsport events in living memory will take place. In the slot which should have been occupied by the 24 Hours of Le Mans before the pandemic struck, the organiser ACO in partnership with the World Endurance Championship and Motorsport Games is staging the 24 Hours of Le Mans Virtual presented by SAFEIS, featuring 50 cars and some of the world’s top drivers and sim racers.

 

Ferrari has entered three works virtual cars that will be operated from sim rigs situated in the Ferrari Museum in Maranello. The team is overseen by Ferrari’s competition department under Antonello Coletta and each car will be crewed by four drivers, including GT drivers, sim drivers and F1 stars Charles Leclerc and Antonio Giovanazzi.

 

Motorsport Network has a strong community of Ferrari customers and fans through properties like Ferrari Chat, Amalgam models, the driving experiences business Canossa and from the official Ferrari channel on Motorsport TV.

 

Using our digital and social media tools we plan to create a “shared experience” for our Ferrari community around the Le Mans 24 and we encourage the community to join in the fun

· 1400hrs Saturday 13th June (CET) One hour before the race start we will present a 30 minute live webcast hosted by Motorsport Network talent featuring James Allen, Jessica McFadyen, Jon Noble and Charles Bradley with live guest interviews from the Ferrari team in Maranello; Coletta and a driver from each of the three cars. This will be hosted on the Ferrari Channel on Motorsport.tv.

· Watch the race live on Motorsport.tv and follow the stories on Motorsport.com and check out Hourly updates from our team in Maranello, led by Mario Congiu – video edits from Maranello will also be sent to the Ferrari channel on MotorsportTV.

· Join the conversation with other Ferrari fans at https://www.ferrarichat.com/forum/threads/motorsport-and-esports-stars-ready-to-take-on-le-man-24-virtual.622983/.

How to watch

This is the URL for the pre-race show starting at 1400 Europe (1300 UK – 0800 ET) https://motorsport.tv/ferrari/video/24-of-hours-of-le-mans-virtual-ferrari-prerace-show/38954

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