This weekend’s inaugural running of the 24 Hours of Le Mans in the digital sphere saw Rebellion Williams racing take overall honours in what was an action-packed daylong race, featuring top names from the world of WEC, F1 and Esports, and more. The number one Rebellion, driven by factory Mercedes GT racer Raffaele Marciello, Haas F1 reserve Louis Deletraz and sim pros Nikodem Wisniewski and Kuba Brzezinski, dominated the second half of the event after inheriting the lead from a broken-down Team Redline’s car, which included F1’s Max Verstappen and Lando Norris in its line-up.
Fernando Alonso suffered a dismal race after a stop-go penalty for a collision with a GTE effectively brought an end to his challenge thanks to a (simulated) lack of fuel; there just wasn’t enough petrol in his Oreca’s virtual tank to see him around another lap after serving his time in the pit lane. The car was allowed to return to the race after the next red flag period, meaning his and Rubens Barrichello’s team FA/RB Allinsports, ended up finishing in 17th place overall.
In the GTE class, which featured the Aston Martin Vantage, Porsche 911 RSR and Ferrari 488, as well as Corvette’s last-gen C7.R, it was the 93 Porsche that won. The winning car featured former LMP1 Le Mans winner Nick Tandy, Porsche Supercup championship contender Ayhancan Guven and Esports pros Joshua Rogers – who won Porsche’s virtual championship – and Tommy Ostgaard.
Porsche was actually set to lock out the virtual GTE podium with its entries, but cars 91 and 92 both suffered sim problems when making swaps. It allowed the 95 Aston Martin Racing to inherit second, while the leading Corvette nabbed third, despite its own, slightly chaotic race with multiple collisions. Ferrari F1’s Charles Leclerc’s race was even tougher, as his 488 suffered game technical issues – which bizarrely saw his racer upside down in the pits (classic). His team came in at 18th in the GTE class.
Not quite a like-for-like event compared to the real world, but an exciting race in its stead nevertheless. And a decent amuse-bouche for the real thing, which is now penciled in for September 19th and 20th. Before then, we’ve got the Formula 1 season to look forward to, with action kicking off on the 3rd July in Austria.
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