We talked to Porsche Motorsport work driver about the 24 Hours of Le Mans Virtual and racing against a stacked lineup of real world and sim racing professionals.
Photo credit: Total911 Porsche Magazine
Unlike the Finnish driver Greger Huttu, the British racer Nick Tandy is not purely known for his sim racing skills, but also for his excellent abilities on real-world tracks. This weekend, the 35-year-old will compete in the 24 Hours of Le Mans Virtual for Porsche alongside the reigning TAG Heuer Porsche Virtual Supercup champion Josh Rogers, the Norwegian Tommy Ostgaard and Porsche Junior Ayhancan Güven.
“Le Mans is a legendary race”
The 24 Hours of Le Mans Virtual will be Nick Tandy’s first virtual 24-hour race and his first time sharing a car with teammates. Nevertheless, he is still excited to compete since “Le Mans is a legendary race, quite simply one of the greatest sporting events in the world. Any time you get to compete in these types of races is very special.”
#LeMans24Virtual – We are ready to race. Join the #PorscheEsportsTeam and the four #Porsche #911RSR @fiawec virtual @24hoursoflemans on 13 June in our live stream at https://t.co/siZd0gvDFK or on the Porsche YouTube and Twitch channels #nevernotracing pic.twitter.com/TXYrkOxUp2
— Porsche Motorsport (@PorscheRaces) June 10, 2020
One of the key components of success is obviously preparation: “We have 16 drivers between the four Porsche Motorsports cars, plus a full support team so we have been spending a lot of time together virtually to make sure we are all prepared.”
Nick Tandy’s thoughts on his teammates and other competitors
Nick and his teammate Ayhancan Güven already drove together in the IMSA iRacing Pro Series and Nick is generally happy with his colleagues. “Ayhancan is a very accomplished sim racer as well as being a Porsche Junior driver. Josh and Tommy have both proved in the past years that they are both at the highest level of their sport. I’m very lucky to have such a strong team.”
How does the @24hoursoflemans virtual work ?
— 24 Hours of Le Mans (@24hoursoflemans) June 8, 2020
Be ready for the next weekend !
Full entry list 👉https://t.co/Sd14Lvv3KP#Esports #LeMans24Virtual pic.twitter.com/HubQGCGRBZ
While Nick is excited about his teammates, he also acknowledges the high level of competition: “It is amazing how many top drivers have entered the race, from both sides of the sport, real world and virtual. I would say it is the strongest “mixed” line up that has ever competed in any sim race.” Meanwhile he is not too sure about who will be the strongest contender and hopes that their toughest opposition will come from their teammates in the other three Porsche Motorsports cars.
You can read more about the 24 Hours of Le Mans and its participants in these news:
24H LE MANS GOES VIRTUAL THIS WEEKEND
LE MANS VIRTUAL: READY FOR 24 LEGENDARY HOURS?
You can follow the 24 Hours of Le Mans Virtual live on stream starting on Saturday, June 13 at 3.00 PM CEST via Motorsport.tv.
