This weekend, OverTake are sponsoring an event recreating the Targa Florio on rFactor 2. The drivers will tackle the full ten laps of the Sicilian public roads as if it was 1967 all over again!
The Targa Florio was a blue ribbon event in the world of sportscar endurance racing, running from 1906 to 1977. This made it the oldest race of its kind, preceding even the 24 hours of Le Mans which began 16 years later.
Held on the public roads of Sicily, it initially toured the entire island before being shortened to the microscopic 40+ mile layout. It was part of the World Sportscar Championship schedule between 1955 and 1973, before being discontinued for safety reasons.
The public road race phenomenon may have had to die but the passion for events like the Targa Florio, Mille Miglia and Carrera Panamericana lived on. They could never be revived in the real world, but what about in sim racing? The possibilities are truly endless.
Who is Racing?
13 May will see a full scale recreation of the event on the 40+ mile layout, with OverTake fielding an entry alongside some major names in the world of competitive rFactor 2. Organised by SRO Esports competitor Nicolas Hillebrand, it features 17 entries with nine of them making up the top 5.0L+ class.
Four entries are in the 2.0L class (one of them being the OverTake entry), and two each in the 1.6L and 1.3L classes. The majority of the teams are racing with two drivers, with three brave souls going through the entire event solo whilst two teams have three drivers.
In the OverTake team, René Buttler will be taking the start and he will be sharing it with video editor Darius Möller and website writer Luca Munro. The cars are all fictional but based on cars from the 1967 World Sportscar season, the OverTake entry will be – for all intents and purposes – a Porsche 907.
The livery was made by the immensely talented Juan Diego Sánchez of iLiveries, who was our December Hero of the Month. The organisers insisted every entry try to capture the late 60s racing aesthetic, and Juandi most certainly achieved that!
But it’s safe to say we probably won’t be winning the event, as the 5.0L+ class is stacked with talent. Hillebrand will be sharing an entry with RaceClutch driver Rory MacDuff. But, perhaps the most prominent entry in the field is that of Team NextView Burst.
Jernej Simončič and Dawid Mroczek will be sharing driving duties, the pair having raced in the likes of Formula Pro, Le Mans Virtual and many other high level events on rFactor 2. Even with the Formula SimRacing season opener the following day, it’s perhaps not too farfetched to claim they may be the favourites to win the event overall.
How To Follow
The race itself begins at 4:20pm CEST, and it will be a staggered start. The entries in the smaller displacement categories will have priority. It will be a case of who completes their ten laps in the quickest time.
There will be a broadcast on the Simsport Solutions YouTube channel with commentary. But there will also be individual streams from the competitors, including yours truly. Tune in to the OverTake channel to follow our three drivers.
Will you be following the OverTake Targa Sicilia Rinascita? Tell us on Twitter at @OverTake_gg or in the comments down below!
