2020 Virtual 24 Hours of Le Mans (Live Stream)

[Paul Jeffrey]

Welcome to the central discussion thread for the first ever official 24 Hours of Le Mans - virtual edition.

This weekend marks an historic moment for the genre of sim racing, as the WEC, Automobile Club de l'Ouest and Motorsport Games are set to host what could well turn out to be the largest organised virtual race in history - the Le Mans 24 Hours Virtual.

Held as an officially sanctioned event in place of what would have been the real Le Mans 24 Hours this weekend, the race features an incredible selection of official teams, manufacturers and drivers. Two Formula 1 World Champions, three Indy 500 victors and seven outright Le Mans 24 Hour winners join together with some of the finest rFactor 2 sim racers racing side by side with their real world contemporaries .

Held at the beautiful Le Mans circuit in rFactor 2, and making use of the LMP2 and GTE content within the simulation, the race is set to become a high watermark for the increasingly popular esport movement we are experiencing at present.

You can catch all the action live here:

 

[avenger82]

Despite his petulant behaviour on his stream during the 24 hour race, what Lando states in the clip is what every other professional driver has stated when comparing rF2 to iR.

rF2 - Physics and driving enjoyment

Did they say something specific about rF2 vs iRacing’s physics? I only know Nicki Thiim is vocal critic of tires in iRacing and liked that in rF2 you can slide a bit without instant spin off like in iRacing.

Edit: I’ve read somewhere some pro drivers supposedly said GTE cars in rF2 are more difficult to race than in real life.

 

[chipwich]

Loved the quality of the broadcast, how well the sim ran considering the amount of drivers, and quality of the racing. My wife finally gave up when I put it up on the big screen and curled up on the sofa when I was supposed to be knocking out her honey-do list. I tried to behave, but then I'd look up and see something like a Corvette and a Ferrari were having one of many epic battles.

And when McNish came on board - well, he could make a hamster race entertaining. Too many greats to mention, but the interviews were fantastic. Penske wasting no time trying to recruit McNish out of retirement was awesome, as was the Audi team reunion. Well done WEC, rFactor2, and teams.

 

[Terry Rock]

Lando Norris verdict rfactor2 vs Iraging.

landonorris - Lando Verdict : Rfactor 2 Vs iRacing - Twitch

Watch landonorris's clip titled "Lando Verdict : Rfactor 2 Vs iRacing"

m.twitch.tv

If the two sims can be mentioned in the same breath, it becomes extremely difficult to justify the massive additional cost.
I've never personally tried the other sim but I'd have a hard time, given that statement.

 

[Taris]

Is it possible to see the whole race now? I missed the last 8 hours

Full 24h LeMans Virtual Replay

24 Hours of Le Mans Virtual - Twitch

m.twitch.tv

 

[CrimsonEminence]

Edit: I’ve read somewhere some pro drivers supposedly said GTE cars in rF2 are more difficult to race than in real life.

Of course they very likely are, because unlike rF2, a real modern endurance race car will not have the behaviour of the need to kill you with every entrance to the Porsche Curves, because the rear is lose af, despite having a huge diffuser, rake set correctly, suspension from heaven and thicc tyres to counteract stability issues. The GTE in rF2 are (now) totally weird, they were way better to drive before an update, that broke them.

 

[ianthem]

That is the issue iRacing has. Its still too much like Nascar Racing 2003 season because the team behind it is what used to be Papyrus. The similarities are still there after all the years its been around aswell as the flaws that NR2003 had.

I read that apparently there are still hard limits to the amount of different car models that can be loaded into a single race. They've definitely got a ton of legacy cruft in iRacing that they struggle with. For the amount they charge you'd think they could port the physics to a brand new visual engine, as a longer term project.

 

[Davy Jones]

Loved the quality of the broadcast, how well the sim ran considering the amount of drivers, and quality of the racing. My wife finally gave up when I put it up on the big screen and curled up on the sofa when I was supposed to be knocking out her honey-do list. I tried to behave, but then I'd look up and see something like a Corvette and a Ferrari were having one of many epic battles.

And when McNish came on board - well, he could make a hamster race entertaining. Too many greats to mention, but the interviews were fantastic. Penske wasting no time trying to recruit McNish out of retirement was awesome, as was the Audi team reunion. Well done WEC, rFactor2, and teams.

Oh the "honey-do" list I'm unfortunately all too familiar with as well and yes I noted Penske trying to get McNish onboard as a consultant, legend!!

I was remembering the first time rF2 tried to run their own 24 hour event where Rudy Van Buren driving the M8 had to quit because driver swaps bugged out and after 10 hours they had to shut the whole session down. It was rather embarrassing and it was a sign of pending doom for the title overall but then yesterday, what a turn around and I'm so happy for them!

I would be interested to hear the story behind the setup of the thing as Motorsport Games were handling it for the ACO and the TV graphics were the new official WEC designs. How involved was Studio 397, no doubt they were in the background some where. Part of me expected to see Rene Buttler commentating or something and then I saw the shots of the studio in Paris etc and thought oh my they've dialled it up to 11

 

[fireballr18]

Outstanding event. For me it was like watching the real race. My finger's have been crossed and I really celebrated overtakings. Such an emotional historical stuff.

 

[The Walker]

For me it has been a great event and a great result for rFactor 2, not without problems of course.
Two red flags, someone will say two too many, I say "only" two. No red flags would have been better, but just remember the first rF24, they had to stop the race which didn't continue. Embarrassing. And look at this race, they handled the problems and finished the race. A few months ago this result would have been impossible to achieve. rFactor 2 is quite young when it comes to host this kind of big endurance events, not to mention that this is the biggest event simracing has ever seen, and compared to the first event this has been a huge success. Still some problems that must be solved, but as said this sim is young when it comes to host these events. Comparing it to iRacing is a bit unfair because iRacing had been doing this for more than 10 years, it's the leader when it comes to the smoothness online, nothing is as smooth as iRacing online. But hopefully rF2 will host again a similar event in 2021 without problems. It seems there's more to come from Motorsport Games and rFactor 2, and my mind goes to the Le Mans Series, one can dream...

I enjoyed every single bit of the event, never watched so much of an endurance race, I loved the top notch broadcasting, it really felt like the real one. And to be honest the red flags added a bit of drama to the race.
Driver of the day Simon Pagenaud that changed his entire rig after having problems with the wheel

 

[Ghoults]

Overall I liked the event. Rf2 looked great and at no point did it feel like I was watching rf2 glitching out with some weirdness. The cars looked great, the track was also fine but not as good as the cars looked. Only issue with cars was the rather low refresh rate for the environmental reflections. But that was only an issue in onboard shots. Only real weakness I saw was the rather poor tv camera sounds for the car. Sounds more like bees than race cars. The camera shake when cars go by trackside cameras is a bit 2003 I think tho... But all in all very impressive for rf2. Very good. Imho there was not even a one second during the whole event where I felt rf2 was not up to par with the status and magnitude of the event. Good job. Apart from the car sounds the only other thing I did kind of miss was the lmp1 class of cars.

I did not mind the red flags. As far as I can care those race stoppages are part of lemans. It doesn't really make much difference whether the race is stopped to fix a barrier or because the server crashed. The stoppages being random in nature is also a plus. Would have hated to see a "competition caution at lap x or at x hour" thrown in just to prevent those server issues. Stuff happens, it would be nice if it didn't but I felt the way the server issue was handled was perfect. The stoppages did not even last too long.

I really liked seeing the drivers really push the cars and getting little bit sideways, exiting corners in slides. Occasionally even going over the limit. Not the typical rail driving you see in iracing with its under-the-limit-or-spin physics engine. The cars did look very loose through the last chicanes of the track but I think that specific case was just netcode.

The stream could have used and presented the information better I think. While commentators did excellent job I would have preferred to see driver names in the race results list on the stream. It was somewhat difficult to figure out who were leading and what the gaps were and with driver names mostly being hidden away it lacked a lot of connection so I never really care who was leading. I think it was really good watch overall. Rf2 did great, the racing was nice (only watched may 3 hours of all of it) and it all felt big in the way virtual lemans 24 hours should.

 

[Peter Stokman]

Lando Norris verdict rfactor2 vs Iraging.

landonorris - Lando Verdict : Rfactor 2 Vs iRacing - Twitch

Watch landonorris's clip titled "Lando Verdict : Rfactor 2 Vs iRacing"

m.twitch.tv

Telling this already some years and i get trolled , now Lando N. say so finally a smart guy agrees
He was right about the ease of setting up a car in iceracing that isthe best , chainging 1thing automaticly adjusts another think like in real. When S397 can that to RF2 they wil be WC .

 

[Oldzeb]

Of course they very likely are, because unlike rF2, a real modern endurance race car will not have the behaviour of the need to kill you with every entrance to the Porsche Curves, because the rear is lose af, despite having a huge diffuser, rake set correctly, suspension from heaven and thicc tyres to counteract stability issues. The GTE in rF2 are (now) totally weird, they were way better to drive before an update, that broke them.

Apparently it wasn't very difficult for the drivers of this weekend during 24 hours because of their driving and the lap times they did, you surely have a problem with your driving or your setup!

 

[Peter Stokman]

Loved the quality of the broadcast, how well the sim ran considering the amount of drivers, and quality of the racing. My wife finally gave up when I put it up on the big screen and curled up on the sofa when I was supposed to be knocking out her honey-do list. I tried to behave, but then I'd look up and see something like a Corvette and a Ferrari were having one of many epic battles.

And when McNish came on board - well, he could make a hamster race entertaining. Too many greats to mention, but the interviews were fantastic. Penske wasting no time trying to recruit McNish out of retirement was awesome, as was the Audi team reunion. Well done WEC, rFactor2, and teams.

Yes Mc Nish great guy love that Scottish accent .
Only ons person i missed in broadcast and do deed het no one from S397 was there, or was it and i just got to the small room

 

[CrimsonEminence]

Apparently it wasn't very difficult for the drivers of this weekend during 24 hours because of their driving and the lap times they did, you surely have a problem with your driving or your setup!

Apparently...or something else.^^ Show me a 3:47 in the RSR on Le Mans...whait, show me a 3:50 already on non-saturated real road preset. Have fun in the Porsche turns. I'm looking forward, learning from you. If you can reach sub 3:52 times in the RSR in rF2 own Le Mans Config, i believe you, that it's my fault.^^ (Even sub 3:54 in single player is already great, i still struggle to reach times like this offline on race pace with the RSR.)

Also, why has this car engine intertia like a motocycle? Apparently it's my driving and setup. Seems i have to attach a heavier flywheel in the setup menu...oh whait...^^

(Btw. ACO and VEC are using their own BoP even if minor adjustments to none for the RSR and they're driving on servers, you've ever noticed bringing down your laptimes online by several seconds? It's typical for rFactor2 )

 

[Smiggir]

If the two sims can be mentioned in the same breath, it becomes extremely difficult to justify the massive additional cost.
I've never personally tried the other sim but I'd have a hard time, given that statement.

You're missing everything Lando says except the physics of both sims.

rF2 is no way near to how iR is setup, easier on the interface, smoother ecc ecc.

Yeah rF2 as Lando says, it's more enjoyable physics side, but many of you are celebrating that this 24hour ended, and with just 2 red flags, despite 200 people connected from all the world (lol), but you are missing that we are in 2020, and on iRacing we are running 24h special events with thousands of people from all the world without any "red flag" (lol), and without any sort of bugs like rF2.
It does amaze me how rF2 is still in this sort of "beta stage" since it was released.

iR costs more because, you know, it's just better without any doubt.

 

[CrimsonEminence]

with just 2 red flags, despite 200 people connected from all the world (lol)

Connection of specators outside of driver changes was forbidden. So it's not near 200 connected drivers, the most time. The first red flag started after a ....driver change phase. Quelle surprise.

but you are missing that we are in 2020, and on iRacing we are running 24h special events with thousands of people from all the world without any "red flag" (lol), and without any sort of bugs like rF2.

To be fair, iRenting has other issues in exchange, especially seen on Daytona with server issues 2 years in a row, if not more (just think of the jumpy blinky cars), still wonky collision detection/ping correction, damage sometimes not seen by others, but the driver and other issues. It's in a better state than rF2, but there is still no sim out there, that totally nails the online experience. (Why i find online sim racing extremely unimmersive, personally).

It does amaze me how rF2 is still in this sort of "beta stage" since it was released.

Sim racing is in a beta stage itself, to be honest. It's just not a very wealthy market. Sim devs do this for passion, aquiring ressources is very hard...

 

[Kenny Paton]

iRacing vs Rfactor2, does it really matter in the context of this event. So some real life drivers prefer one to the other just as sim racers have their own preferences. I think the whole virtual Le Mans event is a celebration of just how far the genre has advanced and should be treated as such, rather than turning it into a squabble over which sim is better, like beauty it's in the eye of the beholder.

 

[The Walker]

You're missing everything Lando says except the physics of both sims.

rF2 is no way near to how iR is setup, easier on the interface, smoother ecc ecc.

Yeah rF2 as Lando says, it's more enjoyable physics side, but many of you are celebrating that this 24hour ended, and with just 2 red flags, despite 200 people connected from all the world (lol), but you are missing that we are in 2020, and on iRacing we are running 24h special events with thousands of people from all the world without any "red flag" (lol), and without any sort of bugs like rF2.
It does amaze me how rF2 is still in this sort of "beta stage" since it was released.

iR costs more because, you know, it's just better without any doubt.

iRacing is smoother and easier on the interface. But it stops there.
Tbh this event wouldn't have been the same on iRacing. Probably we would have watched a race with no flags. But also with half of the field no longer at Le Mans, Aston Martin and Corvette missing, with lack of some sim aspects like flatspots, tyre compounds (which adds something to the strategy), changing weather. Is there brake wear in iRacing?

So good luck enjoying a 2014 Le Mans 24h with 2008 physics. The only sim thing I'd borrow from iRacing are dynamic temps of ambient and tracks, which is one of the biggest lacks in rF2 and we've been asking for years.

 

[Smiggir]

iRacing is smoother and easier on the interface. But it stops there.
Tbh this event wouldn't have been the same on iRacing. Probably we would have watched a race with no flags. But also with half of the field no longer at Le Mans, Aston Martin and Corvette missing, with lack of some sim aspects like flatspots, tyre compounds (which adds something to the strategy), changing weather. Is there brake wear in iRacing?

So good luck enjoying a 2014 Le Mans 24h with 2008 physics. The only sim thing I'd borrow from iRacing are dynamic temps of ambient and tracks, which is one of the biggest lacks in rF2 and we've been asking for years.

Changing weather? Sorry wasn't the rain deactivated because... you know could cause random crashes of the sim during the 24h?

Yeah, it's a 2014 Le mans with 2008 physics (updated every 3 months since the first release), but at least it works pretty well, and the online it's the best around here.

You can be blind and be satisfied because Lando enjoy the phisics better on rF2, but a sim need a lot more, and has to works fine, and for rF2 this is not the case.

Enjoy

 

[The Walker]

Changing weather? Sorry wasn't the rain deactivated because... you know could cause random crashes of the sim during the 24h?

Yeah, it's a 2014 Le mans with 2008 physics (updated every 3 months since the first release), but at least it works pretty well, and the online it's the best around here.

You can be blind and be satisfied because Lando enjoy the phisics better on rF2, but a sim need a lot more, and has to works fine, and for rF2 this is not the case.

Enjoy

Updated every 3 months and somehow still missing the basics like brake wear, flatspots, tyre compounds and rain. How many years it took to get a basic day night cycle? Something even the first rF1 had. But I guess these things are not so important. You show VER, I can show you how many real drivers **** on iRacing, if that's your point. Oh wait, I'm sure those don't count, because they're obviously joking...

So again, enjoy a 2014 Le Mans 24h with the most realistic physics in the world

Online is the only thing iRacing can brag about, because in the rest is like miles away from ACC and rF2, enjoy if you like it