Paul Jeffrey
Premium
The big one is done, congratulations to the FEEDER Ragnar Simulator and 11000 Bit Racing squads who overcame all obstacles thrown in their path to secure victory at the Thrustmaster 24 Hours of Le Mans.
At the conclusion of 24 hours of action packed running during the third round of the RDLMS by Vesaro rFactor 2 league, it would once again be FEEDER Ragnar Simulator and 11000 Bit Racing who would take victory honours in a repeat of the opening round result, with both squads producing an incredible performance against a mighty field of drivers in the biggest endurance sim race of the 2017 RDLMS by Vesaro series.
At the conclusion of the Thrustmaster 24 Hours of Le Mans, FEEDER would once again pass the chequered flag in first position in the Prototype class, maintaining a perfect victory record this season and tightening yet further their early stranglehold on the championship standings.
With a 24 hour race ahead of the 40 cars and 180 + drivers, the field remained hopeful of overcoming the #25 Gibson 015S for the first time and making inroads into a championship lead still within reach thanks to the tight points schedule employed within the RDLMS by Vesaro championship. However those hopes were soon to be dashed as once again the team barely put a foot wrong throughout the event in what was ultimately an incredibly impressive and professional performance from this talented sim racing team.
SimTech Motorsport would eventually finish the race in second position within the Prototype class for their second consecutive runners up finish of the season, maintaining an impressive start to the year and keeping alive their outside chance of championship honours at the end of the year.
The podium in Prototype would be completed at Le Mans by the #3 SimTech International team who would pick up their best result of the season, working hard for the podium place and making up for their early DNF at Silverstone with Sherwin vd Sloot behind the wheel.
Despite a herculean effort from the whole RDLMS team to get 40 cars on track over a full 24 hours, the race wasn't without technical issues, with a small delay affecting the proceedings and meaning the scheduled race start had to be delayed until 13:20 GMT. Despite the early hiccup Race Control recovered admirably and the race begun under dry, overcast conditions at the Circuit de la Sarthe.
In true 24 hour endurance style, the on track action started respectfully as a circumspect field of drivers probed their way around the circuit during the early stages of the race, feeling their way into the event carefully as strategies began to unfold and teams looked to get an early measure of their immediate rivals out on the difficult circuit.
With temperatures remaining at a steady 25°C during the day and the early threat of rain now firmly forgotten, it was not until the eighth lap of the race when the #21 KAMF Racing team retired from the event. The reason for retirement remains unknown by Race Control and will be investigated over the coming days.
Sadly technical issues would once again strike the event after just two and a half hours of racing action, forcing a red flag procedure as Race Control configured the standings and lap charts prior to restarting the event. Due to the time required to investigate the cause of the stoppage and reconfigure the race order, a decision was taken to deduct one hour from the overall race length and keep the event timings as close as possible to the original schedule. Fortunately after the rather stop start beginning to the race the early technical issues would be resolved, and the remaining race time would continue without further stoppages or incidents from the server side of the event organisation.
Technical issues would however strike the unfortunate Apex Eclipse team, forcing their car into an early retirement before the six hour mark, hitting the team hard in the title standings despite a very strong second place finish last time out at the Six Hours of Silverstone. Apex Eclipse wouldn't be the only team in difficulty so early in the race, with the #16 Team Comet car suffering a terminal fire on the seven hour mark in what was a return of a similar problem that struck the team last time out, albeit this time forcing the car into retirement and out of the race.
As darkness descended on the French circuit and temperatures fell to a still respectable 17°C, we began to see an increase in the number of unforced errors and spins from many in the field. Notable causalities included the GT pole sitting #103 TXL Racing team who found themselves out of the action following a game related technical issue during a driver swap in the 11th hour, joining the #122 of Gentlemen Racers Spirit who also left the event early following a mechanical issue with the Aston Martin.
Several cars would be under the hammer throughout the evening as "happy hour" descended on the track, spelling disaster for a number of competitors as fatigue played its part in driver performances. One of the notable "happy hour" casualties was the #117 Martini Racing Team car which had a head-on collision with the barrier at 1er Ralentisseur (the first chicane of the Mulsanne Straight), suffering heavy damage and ending the day for the plucky team.
As the race entered the final hours the action continued to heat up out on track, especially in a GT category where a fantastic fight between #120 11000 Bit Racing, #102 TeamRGPL, #121 RC MotorSport Team and #119 HM Engineering teams raged at the front of the field, all remaining on the same lap despite having undergone almost a full day of racing action on one of the most difficult circuits we visit this season.
Sadly the heat became a little too much for some with a big accident involving the #26 Frenchie Fox Racing car at the Dunlop chicane in the 22nd hour, catching the #119 HM Engineering car up in the accident as it battled for the lead of the race. Unfortunately as a result of the incident the #119 HM Engineering car was to lose a full lap to the three cars ahead of it, eventually finishing in fourth position and losing the chance to fight for one of the biggest victories in sim racing.
Sadly the #26 Frenchie Fox Racing car had an even worse time of it, retiring from the race as a result of the contact. By virtue of having completed 75% of the race distance compared to the class leader, Frenchie Fox would still be classified and score valuable championship points.
All in all the 2017 RDLMS by Vesaro Thrustmaster 24 Hours of Le Mans was an incredible racing experience, for both fans and drivers alike. Some brilliant performances from many of the entrants and an incredible number of viewers watching our exclusive live stream of the event, we really couldn't be happier with how the current season is progressing, and hope you are all enjoying the ride as much as we are enjoying running the series for you.
Prototype Class winners the #25 FEEDER Ragnar Simulator team of Nikodem Wisniewski, Kuba Brzezinski and Maciej Mlynek
GT class winners the #120 11000 Bit Racing team as driven by Peter Munkholm, Kasper Stoltze and Lasse Ougaard
Thrustmaster 24 Hours of Le Mans Results:
- LMP #25 FEEDER Ragnar Simulator - Kuba Brzezinski, Nikodem Wisniewski, Maciej Mlynek
- LMP #2 SimTech Motorsport - Luke Walsh, Kevin Ryan, Shane Burke
- LMP #3 SimTech International - Mateusz Bogusz, Tjeerd Feddema, Standa Sehnal, Sherwin vd Sloot
- LMP #5 World of SimRacing Team - Borja Millan, Jose Berenguer, Marco Antonio Rodriguez, Eduardo del Rincon
- LMP #17 Drillers Motorsport - Robin Bondon, Eneric Andre, Yohann Harth, Alexis Paradot
- LMP #22 JIM Racing Team - Fernando Cerrato, Fermin Primitivo, David Serra, Antonio J. Vicens
- LMP #8 Talking Door Racing - Erhan Jajovski, Evan Spall, Charles Baccio, David Armstrong
- LMP #27 Deltec Racing Team - Cameron Sansano, Jarrod Vanderweide, Rob Timpen, Alexander Jones, Christo Nieuwoudt
- LMP #23 Wild Weasel - Alistair Long,Cameron Rodger, Nate Idiens, Dylan Scrivens
- LMP #15 Atlantic Motorsport - Allie Ferrie, Ze Jesus, Martin Vindis, Diego Carranza, Roy de Muinck
- LMP #18 KRT Racing - Kreshnik Halili, Tom Lombaerts, Peter Stokman, Richard Reckmann
- LMP #14 Sikania Endurance Motorsport - Franco Scalet, Roberto De Filippis, Franco Becagli
- LMP #11 MK Simsport - Matt Beavis, Christopher Beavis, Tom Watts, Dan Long
- GT #120 11000 Bit Racing - Lasse Ougaard, Peter Munkholm, Chris Johansen, Kasper Stoltze
- GT #102 TeamRGPL - Michal Sedlacek, Jakub Rojek, Karel Petrovsky, Petr Varmuzka
- GT #121 RC MotorSport Team - Amancio Paquez, Javier Polanco, Ian Navarro, Alvaro Baker
- GT #119 HM Engineering - Arwin Taruna, Alexis Clapano, Maks Bunevich, Luis Moreno
- GT #116 FFT Corse - Amedeo Fiorella, Osasuyi Emumwen, Alen Terzic, David Jundt
- LMP #12 Roaring Pipes Maniacs - Chris Stacey, Christopher Aponte, Ingemar Petersson, John Souter
- GT #106 Talking Door Racing - Matheus Machado, Lorenzo Bonder, Enzo Fazzi
- GT #124 Panda Racing - Luca Babetto, Dan Challinor, Denis Marquardt, Sam Jordan, Sam Williams, Brandon Dollar
- GT #105 Racers In Pyjamas - Mike Davies, Jonas Hillert, Ismail Yakubu, Daniel Trapp, Christian Moreau
- GT #118 RMI Motorsport - Ole Marius Myrvold, Roy Magnes, Jonatan Acerclinth, Ryan Walker, Michael Nelson
- GT #114 RedShift Racing - Robin Pansar, Brian van Beusekom, Matt Horst, Ricardo Edelmann
- GT #107 MK Simsport - Alex Archela, Edson Archela
- GT #104 Racing Club Endurance Team - Eduardo Garcia, Ivan Avinoa, Alejandro Bautista, Sergio Mengual, Jesus Sanchez
- GT #112 Team-GTRM - Attila Miklos, Peter Hummel, Akos Varga
- LMP #24 TeamRGPL - Vojta Polesny, Zdenek Smarda, David Beranek
- GT #109 World of SimRacing Team - Javier Casares, Miguel Angel Piqueras, David Hoyo, Andros Alvarez, Alex Campos
DNF - Accident - LMP #26 Frenchie Fox Racing - Theo Badry, Emmanuel Taphinaud, Laurent Gueneau
DNF - DNF - GT #115 AllStar-Racing Team - Stefan Kanitz, Michael Reiter, Jaroslaw Grzywacz, Oliver Schlabs
DNF - Suspension - GT #117 Martini Racing Team - Claudio Barrera, Victor Iruela Garrido, Juan Roguez, Luis Segura, Borja Garcia
DNF - Accident - GT #123 DR Motorsport - John Nelson, Daryl Russell, Jayme Brooks, Max Barkley
DNF - Engine - GT #122 Gentlemen Racers Spirit - Patrice Sayettat, Vincent Dimaio, Stephane Perrin, Sam Suffi
DNF - DNF - GT #103 TXL Racing - Joakim Stensnaes, Andrew Ford, Matt Le Gallez
DNF - Engine - LMP #16 Team Comet - Pablo Flores, Daniel Gomez, Damian Baldi
DNF - DNF - GT #6 RedShift Racing - David OReilly, Frank van Oeveren, Ricardo
DNF - DNF - GT #108 Apex Eclipse - Joonas Raivio, David Williams, Yuri Kasdorp, Tapio Rinneaho
DNF - DNF - LMP #4 SpeedyMite Racing - Thomas Hinss
DNF - DNF - LMP #21 KAMF Racing - Douglas Simoneli
Provisional Drivers Championship Standings after Round 3 can be viewed on THIS LINK.
As part of the outstanding package of sponsorship we have available to give away all season in the RDLMS by Vesaro, we are delighted to confirm that it is not only the lucky drivers out on track who get to be winners this year. With the generosity of our race partners Thrustmaster, we are delighted to confirm that Andrew Fourthdimension is the proud recipient of a Thrustmaster T3PA Pro pedal set, as prize for our 'follow us on YouTube' campaign. Of the eligible entries, Andrew Fourthdimension was selected via a draw with random numbers from the website random.org. Well done on winning this fantastic prize!
Understandably this is an exceptional reward from Thrustmaster, and with a 4,500 Euro Vesaro racing rig still to give away, what better reason do you need to keep tuning in to our broadcasts and subscribing to our channel on race day? Remember to subscribe and watch via our YouTube channel to be in with a chance to win some of these amazing prizes from Vesaro and Thrustmaster. Oh and the racing looks great on the stream too!
As always we would like to thank all the superb people involved in making this great race (and series) happen here at Le Mans, and thank you also to all our teams and drivers, plus the 65,000 + views during our live stream of the event. SIXTY FIVE THOUSAND people, 242503 minutes or 168 days and 9 hours watch time! Wow, epic guys... epic. Now let's better it next time out please, we want 100,000!
Sadly due to an issue with YouTube, our race coverage will not be available to watch again as it failed on the uploading process. This is regretful but unavoidable, and will hopefully be resolved for future broadcasts.
Talking of the next one, our next scheduled event of the seventh running of the RDLMS by Vesaro we will head over the pond to the United States of America. From the long straights and mixed day and night conditions of our Le Mans 24 Hour race we switch gears once again, taking to the home of American motorsports at Road America. Named after the country in which it is based, the track is a firm drivers favourite and never fails to produce incredibly tight and often treacherous racing.
Join us once again to catch all the coverage live and uninterrupted on our YouTube channel. America usually do it bigger and bolder than anywhere else and we expect this race to be no different!
See you all on the 26th August!
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