Le Mans Virtual Series

After the success of the Le Mans 24 Virtual in June 2020, the Le Mans Virtual Series held its first season from September 2021 and it culminated in the second edition of the Le Mans 24 Virtual in January 2022. It’s now back for a second season and once again is on rFactor 2. 

Format 

Races consist of two classes, LMP and GTE. Teams in the LMP class all compete in the Oreca 07, with teams in the GTE class using any car out of the Porsche 911 RSR GTE, the BMW M8 GTE, the Ferrari 488 GTE Evo and the Aston Martin Vantage GTE. 

Races vary in length, with the first four being 4, 6 or 8 hours long with of course the final race being 24 hours. Teams are required to nominate three drivers in the first four events with the points scored counting towards the entry rather than to the individual drivers. 

In at least one of the first four rounds a team must nominate a driver that competes in real world racing. For the 24 hour finale, teams are required to nominate four drivers with two being of a real world racing background. 

The cash prize pool stands at $250,000 with half distributed based on the final standings and the other half distributed according to the finishing order of the 24 hours finale. 

How to follow

All rounds will be broadcast on the YouTube channels of 24 Heures du Mans and World Endurance Championship, as well as Traxion.gg’s Twitch and YouTube channels. Qualifying is broadcast on the Friday around 8pm European time with the race running from Saturday afternoon around 2pm European time. 

The schedule is as follows: 

Rd 1: 8 hours of Bahrain – 17 September
Rd 2: 4 hours of Monza – 8 October
Rd 3: 6 hours of Spa-Francorchamps – 5 November
Rd 4: 500 miles of Sebring – 3 December
Rd 5: 24 hours of Le Mans Virtual – 14-15 January 

How to get involved

Unless signed to a team that has been granted an entrance, any driver hoping to get involved in the series may be able to qualify for a seat in the LMVS Guest Car entry. This is achieved through the Le Mans Virtual Cup, with any driver being able to enter through rFactor 2‘s competition system. 

The series is four rounds, held on the days before the LMVS race, all taking place on the same tracks except with Bahrain and Sebring swapped around in relation to the LMVS schedule. The first three rounds act as qualifiers but the top two in the final round are the ones who compete in the LMVS Guest Car entry in the 24 hours of Le Mans Virtual.