Team Redline claims the crown at the star-studded Le Mans Virtual Series finale

The final round of the Le Mans Virtual Series, the 24 Hours of Le Mans Virtual, came to an electrifying end as #2 Team Redline and Felipe Drugovich, Felix Rosenqvist, Luke Bennett, and Chris Lulham triumphed at the world’s biggest and most prestigious endurance esports race after 24 hours of hard virtual racing at the legendary 13.6km / 8.5 mile Circuit de la Sarthe track. It was Drugovich’s second consecutive win at the virtual 24-hour event.

The GTE category was won by the #888 Ferrari 488 GTE of Romain Grosjean’s R8G Esports (Alexander Smolyar, Scott Andrews, Timotej Andonovski and Erhan Jajovski), while BMW Team Redline’s #71 of Rudy van Buren, Lorenzo Colombo, Kevin Siggy and Enzo Bonito took GTE championship honours. 

180 racing and sim racing stars from across the globe tested their endurance in the 45-car field on 164 different simulators across the world. Two-time F1 World Champion Max Verstappen, former F1 and current IndyCar star Romain Grosjean, FIA F2 Champion Felipe Drugovich and FIA F3 Champion Victor Martins were among those who pitted their individual sim racing talent and team’s strategy against the famed 24-hour endurance race on a challenging and intense track. In second and third places were #20 Porsche Coanda – the position enough to ensure they claimed the championship title – and #53 AMG Team Williams Esports. 

The twice-round-the-clock endurance race saw plenty of action including:

• A strong performance from #2 Team Redline which saw them crowned as winners of the final race of the Le Mans Virtual 2022-23 season

• Mika Hakimi in the #22 Rocket Simsport entry secured the fastest lap at 3:22.324 in the LMP category

• Charlie Collins in the #77 Proton Coanda Esports entry secured the fastest lap at 3:47.632 in the GTE category

We’re sharing the highlights of the race for news interest–you can see the full post-race report below. A full 52-minute highlights TV show will be available on TV and OTT channels in the days following the event. 

24 Hours of Le Mans Virtual – Post Race Report

• The 24 Hours of Le Mans Virtual, the fifth and final round of the Le Mans Virtual Series, kicked off Saturday 14th January with 180 drivers in 45 cars across the LMP2 and GTE classes taking to the start line. The drivers used 164 different simulators located in 38 different countries across the globe. 

• Two-time F1 World Champion Max Verstappen led a star-studded driver line-up that featured names from across motorsport, including F1 and current Indycar star Romain Grosjean, FIA F2 Champion Felipe Drugovich, FIA F3 champion Victor Martins. Global motor manufacturers such as BMW, Ferrari and Porsche joined Alpine and Mercedes-AMG to enter esports teams.

• The challenging circuit also saw sim racing stars including Autosport Award recipient for Esports Driver of the Year James Baldwin, and former 24 Hours of Le Mans Virtual winners such as Jeffrey Rietveld, Joshua Rogers, and Nikodem Wisniewski.

• The race started dry and saw spots of rain throughout the race, but the majority of the race laps were completely dry.

• The LMP classification saw a fierce battle between #2 Team Redline and #20 Porsche Coanda for first place throughout the race, with Team Redline ultimately taking first place with a lead time of 21.109 seconds ahead of Porsche Coanda. 

• #53 AMG Williams and #36 Alpine Esports saw an intense, down-to-the-wire battle for 3rd place, with Nikoden Wisniewski from AMG Williams ultimately claiming the podium position.

• Joshua Rogers from Porsche Coanda spoke after the race about the team overcoming the challenges of the race to claim their place on the podium “It was obviously a fantastic prep, effort, and event for us. Unfortunately, things didn’t quite go our way on the whole but I’m proud of us as a group and how we came together in these difficult times to regroup, refocus to deal with what we had and try to make the most of the race from there. Congratulations to Team Redline on the win, they did drive a fantastic race.”

• The GTE classification saw the #888 R8G Esports take the chequered flag first with the #71 BMW Team Redline and the #89 BMW Team BS COMPETITION coming in second and third respectively. 

• Charlie Collins from #77 Proton Coanda Esports secured the fastest lap at 3:47.632 in the GTE category.

• Erhan Jajovski from R8G Esports spoke after the race about his team’s victory “I don’t know what to say, I’m lost for words to be honest. In this race, there were a lot of ups and downs but in the end, we never gave up, we gave everything in our power. I’m so glad for myself and everyone in the team.”

• LMP Teams Championship top three after the race: #20 Porsche Coanda – 94 points, #1 Team Redline – 78 Points & #2 Team Redline – 73 points 

• GTE Teams Championship top three after the race: #71 BMW Team Redline – 119 points, #888 R8G Esports – 81 points & #26 Sim Maranello – 61.5 points