24 Hours of Le Mans Virtual: Rebellion – Williams Wins!

Which is better, virtual or real? Both, my captain. The Rebellion-Williams e-sport team placed two cars on the podium in the first edition of the virtual 24 Hours of Le Mans. It consists of the Rebellion team competing in the WEC and the Williams e-sport team, one of the references in Simracing. The partnership worked wonderfully.

It is car #1 driven by Louis Deletraz, Rafaele Marciello, Nikodem Wisniewski, and Brzezinski that clinched the victory. The win was secured after an intense battle in the final hours with the sister car and the Bykolles. The three cars finished within less than thirty seconds. Notably, there was a spectacular exchange of positions in the last quarter-hour for second place, with an overtaking maneuver on the outside of the Porsche curves. The culmination of a very eventful race.

Alonso broke down quickly

In pole position, Tom Dillmann at the wheel of the Bykolles – Burst dominated the opening minutes… A bit too much. He had actually jumped the start. First setback for the Austrian team. But the first major incident involved Fernando Alonso. The two-time Formula 1 world champion broke down after just an hour and a half of racing due to a mishandling of a penalty. It was a withdrawal until the reintroduction into the race at the last position during the red flag period.

Two red flags

The biggest fear of the organizers indeed happened twice. After 4 hours and 15 minutes of racing, the 24 Hours of Le Mans Virtual had to be stopped due to a server problem; Red flag. All the cars had to line up in order on the finish line for twenty minutes, the time needed to resolve the issue.

The episode symbolized the main difference between virtual and real 24-hour races. The former depend on computing. Several drivers experienced various issues. Aurélien Panis, son of Olivier, for example, had to complete more than six stints in a row (4 hours), because the game refused the driver change. At Alpine, the team’s sim racer experienced connection problems, forcing him to return to the pits after two laps. He then moved his simulator to his grandmother’s house to get back behind the wheel. Finally, Simon Pagenaud (Team Penske) made a quick simulator switch due to a breakdown.

But the most important victim was undoubtedly Max Verstappen. His team, Team Redline, had to retire (before rejoining in the last position) due to a computer failure. In full swing.

Around 11 p.m., after eight hours of racing, an intense battle was taking place between Redline, 2 Seas Motorsport, and Veloce E-sport. Amid the concert by The Avener, Max Verstappen, driving the Redline, took the lead.

But by early morning, everything had changed. No more Team Redline or Veloce E-sport in the leading positions. Verstappen’s team experienced major connection issues, and the white Veloce E-sport car encountered accidents.

The big winners? Rebellion-Williams E-sports. The Swiss team found itself clearly in the lead. Until then, it had been racing at the front but never taking the lead. On the third step of the podium was Bykolles. The Austrian team, however, experienced steering problems on the simulator, to the point of stopping on the track.

Despite a second red flag and a tight battle, the last quarter of the race experienced fewer upheavals.

Rebellion will therefore have at least won a major event, albeit virtual, before withdrawing from circuit motor racing at the end of the year.

Happy Birthday Porsche

And in the end, it’s Porsche that wins. A saying that everyone has been repeating at Le Mans for 50 years. Indeed, it’s been five decades since the German brand won its first 24 Hours of Le Mans, with a Porsche 917 driven by Hans Hermann and Richard Atwood. Porsche celebrated this anniversary with flair by winning the GT category of the virtual 24 Hours of Le Mans. The #93 of Tandy/Guven/Rogers/Ostgaard dominated almost from start to finish, only briefly led at the beginning of the race by the Dempsey Proton #88.

On the contrary to the actual race, the category was generally uneventful. The second car finished almost a lap behind. The main attraction was Charles Leclerc’s maneuvers at the wheel of his Ferrari, which visited the gravel traps several times.

If we take a general assessment, the race was a great success. Only two major IT issues occurred. The event was smooth and had a spirit very close to real-life behavior on the track, as opposed to Formula 1 or Formula E simracing championships. The event was widely followed, as the dedicated hashtag was trending at the top of its category on Twitter for a large part of the race. Ready for a second edition? Stay tuned. See you in September for the real 24 Hours of Le Mans.