Formula 2 driver Drugovich, in # 70 of the Realteam Hydrogen Redline, led the group of 50 cars and 200 drivers at 2:00 pm on Saturday 15 January 2022.
During the qualifying session the day before, his teammate Rietveld snatched pole position, only beating the # 123 Team Redline car driven by Max Verstappen by just two thousandths.
In GTE, it was the Red Bull Racing Esports Corvette that took pole position after a sparkling lap by Sebastian Job, an AlphaTauri driver in esports.
Prior to the start of the race, there was a six-minute penalty in the pitlane for the # 111 in pole position in GTE, the # 56 Team Project 1 x BPM Porsche and the # 5 Williams Esports LMP for failing to field the required number of drivers. classified “pro”.
Unfortunately for the # 31 W Series BMW GTE, she suffered from a hardware problem during the formation lap led by the hydrogen-electric LMPH2G and retired before the start.
What a battle between the prototypes
Drugovich completed the first two corners of the race in the lead, but his leadership was short lived as Verstappen passed him to Tertre Rouge on the opening lap.
From there he tried to build a gap, but from fourth on the grid, the # 28 Veloce Esports driven by British GT driver James Baldwin climbed to second place in the early stages, and then started chasing the world champion. of Formula 1.
This was the focus for the first six hours: Verstappen vs Baldwin, Redline vs Veloce.
Further back in the pack, a major crash threatened to prematurely finish the race of # 4 Floyd ByKolles-Burst, championship leader, when Franco Colapinto of # 31 Team WRT SIMTAG Esports crossed the grass and hit the car driven by Tom Dillmann. Fortunately, however, they were both able to continue.
Mercedes-AMG Petronas was hoping for a successful comeback at the Circuit de la Sarthe, but unfortunately for them Dani Juncadella missed the timing of a climb, he cranked the engine and the team was out at the stroke of three hours.
Despair also hit Erhan Jajovski and the # 8 R8G Esports Oreca. After a collision with Marcell Csincsik and the # 22 Williams Esports car on the Mulsanne straight, Jajovksi went into the wall, losing his rear wing and receiving a drive through penalty.
When the race entered the night phase, the # 123 Redline car was comfortably in the lead, after an amazing stint by VCO ProSIM SERIES champion Maximilian Benecke.
With over seven hours completed and Verstappen back at the wheel, the Dutchman aggressively attacked the curbs of the Ford chicane.
The result was a spin and heavy contact with the barriers, which ripped two wheels from the car. The withdrawal was therefore inevitable.
This gave # 70 an edge it never gave up. Through the darkness, Formula E driver Rowland took over from Rietveld, with Smidl then controlling the race at dawn.
There were times when Veloce Esports came close, especially when former BTCC driver Mike Epps was behind the wheel towards the middle of the race distance, but eventually the # 28 car gradually slipped back, giving way to second. to the reigning champions – the # 1 Rebellion GPX Esports car.
A drive through for contact with another car in the pitlane on Sunday morning further pinched the hopes of the Veloce, before she ran out of fuel with just under three hours on the clock, ending her race prematurely.
The LMP class was full of accidents. Notably Juan Pablo Montoya broke his rear wing into a wall, before his son Sebastian had some tense affairs with the # 77 Porsche GTE overnight, ending up in the tire barrier and retiring.
The # 444 Alpha Ind ByKoller-Burst also retired overnight and crashed heavily into the karting area. Meanwhile, the # 44 ARC Bratislava and the # 39 GRAFF by ProSimu stood still due to mechanical problems.
The retirement of WTCR driver Attila Tassi and the # 5 Williams Esports LMP took place at the Porsche corners in the evening, after a spin in the gravel and a collision with the # 61 SEM9.Axle Porsche GTE of Alister Yoong, which was already off the track for another incident that occurred shortly before.
A game of chess in GTE
The GTE category was no less intense. In the opening round, 2021 British GT champion Dennis Lind in the # 111 Corvette, who was on pole, gradually slipped back into the leading group.
The Porsche Esports Team took advantage of this in the opening hour, with the # 91 preceding its sister car # 92. The # 71 BMW Team Redline M8 was in third position, ahead of the 488 of the Ferrari Driver Academy.
These are the first four crews who would eventually play cat and mouse strategically for 24 hours.
BMW # 71 has apparently been able to extend its first one-lap stints on the Porsches, something it has tried to do in every race in the series so far. It took up to a full seven hours for the relentless BMW, then in Siggy’s hands, to take over from IndyCar and NASCAR Xfinity driver Sage Karam.
The Porsches remained close, however, and seemed to have a faster pace, if not ideal strategy. Ferrari was also not out of the competition, and over night swapped the podium with the two Porsches depending on the length of the stint.
All four were very close, but BMW Team Redline managed, albeit slowly, to stretch.
Then disaster struck the # 92 Porsche in the middle of the night, just over 14 hours to go. With Tommy Østgaard at the wheel, Nico Varrone of # 65 made a mistake in the Karting area and sent the GTE to the wall with his LMP. So there is only one factory Porsche left in the race.
They weren’t the only competitors in this class to encounter a few hitches, although it must be said that the GTE class showed superlative driving standards overall.
At first, the Porsche # 56 driven by Jimmy Broadbent was tightened by WEC driver Ben Barker in the 911 GR Wolves Racing # 86 at the entrance to the second chicane in Mulsanne.
The two cars then collided again twice off the track. Barker received a drivet hrough for contact at the corner entry, while Broadbent received one for contact off the track.
The # 86 retired with an engine failure four hours later as the GR Wolves team ran live from the football team’s Molineux Stadium.
Unfortunately for the R8G Esports, her LMP # 15 and GT3 # 888 collided at the Virage Porsche, with the latter crashing violently into the barriers, but fortunately managed to continue the race with the driver. F4 Elliott Vayron.
As the race drew to a close, with just over 2 hours to go, the # 77 Porsche of the Proton Competition team began swapping positions with Ferrari, a good fight for third place.
Having pushed throughout the race, Kevin van Dooren collided on the track with Niklas Nielsen, a Ferrari Competizioni GT driver. The two arrived side by side into Mulsanne’s second chicane, then through Indianapolis and back to Arnage.
The next lap, while they were next to each other, I arrived paired at Indianapolis. Nielsen touched the barrier and was forced to pit to repair the damage. At that point the Proton team was certain they had secured third place.
A showcase for motorsport
In the end it was the Realteam Hydrogen Redline with Drugovich, Rowland, Rietveld and Smidl who crossed the finish line first after a grueling 24 hours, obtaining the second victory of the series and the laurel of the general classification in the championship.
# 1 finished second, a minute and a half from the second win, while # 4 finished third in one lap, narrowly missing LMVS glory.
“This is a redemption for what happened last year, an incredible performance by the team in an incredible event,” said Atze Kerkhof, boss of the Redline team.
“Now 2022 has started really well. We made a great strategy, the engineers at work and the team were perfect. Today maybe we weren’t the strongest car in GTE, but we made it.”
In GTE the BMW Redline team made everything look very easy from the middle of the race onwards, with Siggy, van Buren, Colombo and Bonito sharing the spoils. Indeed, the team recovered from a mid-race scare when van Buren’s simulation equipment failed, resulting in a three-hour real-world trip to Siggy’s station to jump onto his simulation rig. and complete the required race mileage.
In addition to the final round of the Le Mans Virtual Series, with a prize pool of $ 250,000 up for grabs, the class winners also clinched the championship win.
“We are very satisfied with the event. When you put 116 simulators, representing 50 cars, shipped to 28 countries for 24 hours and connected to the same server without any technical failure throughout the race, it is very satisfying, said Gérard Neveu, manufacturer. executive of the virtual 24 Hours of Le Mans.
“We can make an appointment for next year for the third edition of the Virtual Le Mans 24 Hours”.
The results of the Virtual 24 Hours of Le Mans
- # 70 Realteam Hydrogen Redline | Felipe Drugovich, Oliver Rowland, Jeffrey Rietveld, Michal Smidl – 407 laps
- # 1 Rebellion GPX Esports | Louis Delétraz, Agustin Canapino, Kuba Brzezinski, Nikodem Wisniewski
- # 4 Floyd ByKolles-Burst | Tom Dillmann, Bent Viscaal, Jesper Pedersen, Jernej Simončič
- # 21 GRAFF by ProSimu | Arno Santamato, Jan Marschalkowski, Maxime Brient, Yohann Harth
- # 49 YAS HEAT | Will Tregurtha, Sandy Mitchell, Marko Pejic, Balázs Remenyik
24 Hours of Le Mans Virtual: the results of the GTE class
- # 71 BMW Team Redline | Rudy van Buren, Lorenzo Colombo, Enzo Bonito, Kevin Siggy – 367 laps
- # 91 Porsche Esports Team | Mitchell deJong, Laurin Heinrich, Mack Bakkum, Martin Krönke
- # 77 Proton Competition | Loek Hartog, Matt Campbell, Kevin van Dooren, Jeremy Bouteloup
- # 51 FDA Esports Team | Nicklas Nielsen, David Perel, Jordy Zwiers, Kasper Stoltze
- # 89 BMW Team BS + COMPETITION | Bruno Spengler, Robby Foley, Alen Terzic, Joonas Raivio
Le Mans Virtual Series, LMP championship standings
- # 70 Realteam Hydrogen Redline – 91 points
- # 1 Rebellion GPX Esports – 90.5 points
- # 4 Floyd ByKolles-Burst – 88.5 points
- # 123 Team Redline – 58 points
- # 8 R8G ESPORTS – 54 points
Le Mans Virtual Series, GTE championship standings
- # 71 BMW Team Redline – 127 points
- # 91 Porsche Esports Team – 101.5 points
- # 88 Proton Competition – 55.5 points
- # 77 Proton Competition – 53 points
- # 55 BMW Team GB – 49 points
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