What the #LeMans24Virtual winning drivers said post race

LMP winner – Raffaele Marciello 
No. 1 Rebellion Williams Esport ORECA LMP2 

Was the amount of preparation key to you winning the race, do you think?

“Yeah, well I always try to do everything well. I had three really quick team-mates so we’ve been training a lot over the past few weeks. We had quite a good pace compared to the other “real” drivers. We have to thank Martin - one guy who was behind the scenes who was doing strategy and helping with timing. I really wanted to do well and to win it. I’m really proud of Nico and Kuba – they are two amazing sim racers.”

Clearly, it takes a lot out of you mentally – is that the case?

“You have less feedback from outside, such as the g-force but you have to use your eyes a lot for braking points. You don’t have all the body feeling so it’s all mental.  I’m quite used to it because I was using a Ferrari simulator a lot from 2010 to 2015. But it’s not easy as you always need to be super focused and it’s easy to be distracted from the outside world. For sure, it’s difficult.”

LMP winner – Niko Wisniewski 
No. 1 Rebellion Williams Esport ORECA LMP2 

Your strategy at the end of the race… just tell us a bit about it?

“It was really stressful! We needed to save the fuel.  During the last two stints, our first strategy was that I would push the car to the limit and bring the car safe to the finish line but then we had to change the strategy because of the red flag and needed to save fuel. I’m really happy with the work we’ve done - it’s been an amazing experience. I’m really proud of the guys and to have had such good team-mates. All the team worked really hard so thanks very much to everyone involved.”

Did the server red flags affect you in any way?

“I think the key to success is to have really decent pace and to stay out of trouble. That was the main goal for this race so we tried not to be distracted by many things. Also, it can be easy to get distracted like something outside of the computer like my girlfriend coming into the room, for example!”

If you look at the entry list with the number of star names, just sum up the emotion you feel from winning an event like this?

“I’m impressed! You know, it’s such a big event in terms of people watching and all the hard work that was involved. I’m really happy to achieve this result and I hope we can repeat it again next year!” 

GTE winner – Nick Tandy
No. 93 Porsche Esports Team - Porsche 911 RSR

You’ve won the real Le Mans and now you’ve won the virtual Le Mans – describe the emotion?

“You know, the emotion is the same as with any other race. The build up, anticipation, the amount of work that goes into it… it builds the tension and excitement. When it means so much to not just you but a lot of other people and a manufacturer like Porsche, the emotion it’s indescribable.  I was lucky enough not to have to finish the race. I finished my last double stint in the morning and I let the sim pros get the job done. The tension trying to watch and hope that nothing happens, it’s just great! Congratulations and well done to everyone involved. All my team-mates drove faultlessly, never dropping below third. It was truly an epic way to go 24 hour racing!”

How do you see the esports world evolving in the future?

“I can only see it getting bigger as a sport. Any sport is competition between individuals and obviously in sim racing you’re controlling every aspect of what is going on, there is this human aspect.  It’s obviously really nice to drive a car really fast round a track but the main motivation and pleasure for me is the competition aspect and trying to beat other people. Of course, you still get this in esports. Like Josh said, everyone can get involved and the fact you can do it with groups of people you can also build friendships and there are community groups. I can see the whole esports thing growing alongside real world motorsport. They are different sports in many ways. I can see it being huge in the future and it will be really interesting to see someone like Josh driving a car… I think it’s a win win situation for both sports.”

GTE winner – Joshua Rogers
No. 93 Porsche Esports Team - Porsche 911 RSR

Looking at the field and the quality of drivers you have beaten, can you sum up how you are feeling?

“Honestly, I don’t really know. Like Nick, I’m kind of speechless. I’m sure it will sink in a few hours’ time. Like he said, the anticipation, the amount of work that has gone into this – all the other three cars too, the results have definitely shown how hard we’ve worked. The competition was insanely strong and without a doubt, the strongest  grids in a sim race ever. To be able to pull off something like this  after 24 hours  - without a scratch on the car, no major mistakes, no penalties – I think that’s ultimately an endurance race is won.  Going out in the first stint and trying to be as fast as you can isn’t necessarily going to get you anywhere. All the hard work has been worth it for sure!”

With all these people tuning in around the world, what do you think it says about the level that esports has now reached?

“I think it’s obvious in that sim racers are talented.  We understand the concepts of racing. For me coming from a racing background, I can understand how things correlate and come together. Obviously if you chuck is into a car we’re not going to be as fast as the likes of [Max] Verstappen or Nick alongside me here but I think it’s opened a lot of people’s eyes and how seriously we take this. It’s not just sitting on a coach with a controller – it’s serious business. It’s fantastic to be able to showcase what we do on such a massive stage. Hopefully it’s only going to bring positive things for the future.”