Porsche dominates GTE category at the 24 Hours of Le Mans Virtual
The No. 93 Porsche 911 RSR of the Porsche Esports Team (Nick Tandy, Ayhancan Guven, Joshua Rogers and Tommy Ostgaard) took a well-deserved victory over the 20-strong field competing in the GTE category at the 24 Hours of Le Mans Virtual.
The 24 Hours of Le Mans Virtual, a unique virtual endurance event organised by the FIA WEC, the ACO and Motorsport Games, brought together the elite of motorsport and sim racing. With a live 24-hour stream and a host of leading broadcasters across 57 countries televising the race worldwide, millions of people tuned in to watch 200 drivers and 50 teams from 37 different countries battle it out on a virtual Circuit de la Sarthe. An incredible 13 million connections were made to the Alkamel official timing system to follow the race.
The win for Porsche is made even more special as 2020 marks the 50th anniversary of Porsche claiming its first overall victory at 24 Hours of Le Mans with Richard Attwood and Hans Hermann at the wheel back in 1970.
Aston Martin Racing took the runners-up spot after a polished performance from the No. 95 car which was driven by Nicki Thiim, Richard Westbrook, Lasse Sorensen and sim racer Manuel Biancolilla. The foursome was able to take advantage of second place when the two cars in front (the No. 80 R8G Esports Team entry and No. 92 Porsche Esports entry hit trouble in the race’s closing hour).
.png)
Romain Grosjean’s R8G Esports Team eventually finished third after a brilliant performance from Daniel Juncadella, Mathias Beche, Erhan Javovski and Risto Kappet at the virtual wheel of the Corvette C7.R. R8G’s third place also meant that three different manufacturers – Porsche, Aston Martin and Corvette – were on the GTE podium.
.@PorscheRaces Esports Team #93 has taken the flag in the GTE category.
— WEC (@FIAWEC) June 14, 2020
They won the first virtual Le Mans 50 years after their maiden victory in La Sarthe!
@NickTandyR, @AyhancanGuven, https://t.co/hxN76ySWYg & @TommyOstgaard #WEC #LeMans24Virtual pic.twitter.com/fgfyvbNmqa
Strong performances from both the No. 64 Corvette Racing entry and No. 88 Dempsey Proton Racing entries saw the teams finish fourth and fifth respectively.
Elsewhere, the No. 52 AF Corse Ferrari entry with Charles Leclerc and Antonio Giovinazzi in the team suffered a serious setback just after the race’s quarter-way mark with a lengthy stint in the pits followed by some server issues. Following the second red flag, the team were able to restart and eventually finished the race 18th out of the GTE entries.
The Ferrari 488 GTE No. 54 Strong Together entry - the official car of the Princess Charlene of Monaco Foundation - placed 8th in its class. This car was driven by the two former Formula 1 drivers Giancarlo Fisichella and Felipe Massa, Francesco Castellacci and sim racer Tony Mella.
Thank you to all #LeMans24Virtual partners and everyone involved in making this dream project come to life. See you in September for the real @24hoursoflemans.#WEC @GerardNeveuWEC pic.twitter.com/QbGHdEVyEy
— WEC (@FIAWEC) June 14, 2020
