After a very successful first full season, the official ACO-sanctioned rFactor 2 esports series will start up again in September. The Le Mans Virtual Series is back.
Image credit: Le Mans Virtual
Back in June 2020, the inaugural 24 hours of Le Mans Virtual was held on rFactor 2 with 200 of the best drivers across the real and virtual worlds of motorsport. Fast forward to September 2021, and that evolved into the Le Mans Virtual Series. This was a five-round series that then culminated in the second running of the 24 hours of Le Mans Virtual.
Sim racing powerhouse Team Redline came away with the majority of the $250,000 prize pot after winning both the Le Mans finale and the championships in both LMP and GTE categories. A second season was always going to happen, and now we have official confirmation.
What’s New in the Le Mans Virtual Series?
From the schedule, all the races are the same length and mostly are the same circuits as before. There is still a 4 hours long race at Monza, along with the 6 hours of Spa, the Sebring 500 miles and the 24 hours of Le Mans finale. However the main difference from last season comes in the form of the 8 hour race.
Last season, the organisers made the bold choice of running the LMP and GTE cars on the Nordschleife. Unfortunately though, the race was cut short due to technical issues and will subsequently be replaced with a race on the Bahrain Grand Prix circuit. That will be the new season opener in September.
The series will continue to mandate a track racing professional in every entry, however unlike last season, it won’t be for the whole championship. Instead, each entry will be asked to run at least one real world driver in only one of the first four rounds along with the 24 hour finale.
Teams will once again be competing for their share of a $250,000 prize pool. Half of which is given out based on the final championship results, the other half based on the result of the final round.
The entry list is being revealed in September just before the first round. The schedule is as follows:
Round 1: 8 hours of Bahrain – 17 September 2022
Round 2: 4 hours of Monza – 8 October 2022
Round 3: 6 hours of Spa-Francorchamps – 5 November 2022
Round 4: 500 miles of Sebring – 3 December 2022
Round 5: 24 hours of Le Mans Virtual – 13-14 January 2023
Will you be following the Le Mans Virtual Series? Tell us on Twitter at @OverTake_gg or in the comments down below!
