MIAMI, FL – June 10, 2022 - Le Mans Virtual Series, a joint venture between Motorsport Games Inc. (NASDAQ: MSGM) and the Automobile Club de l’Ouest (ACO), returns this September with more of the elite, endurance esports competition, which has attracted world motor racing champions, captured global attention and received plaudits from teams, drivers and fans alike. The announcement was made today at the official ACO annual press conference ahead of the 90th running of the 24 Hours of Le Mans.
Last year’s successful Le Mans Virtual Series culminated in a thrilling 24 Hours of Le Mans Virtual in January 2022. Multiple major motorsport manufacturers and their drivers entered teams, including Formula 1 World Champion Max Verstappen and INDYCAR Champion Alex Palou among the 200-strong driver line up. An impressive, cumulated TV and digital audience figure of more than 81 million (Source: YouGov Sport) was registered throughout its five-month season.
Similar to the 2021/22 series, all five rounds of the coming series will be held online on the rFactor2 platform, including the 24 Hours of Le Mans Virtual, the climax of the premier endurance esports championship. This format allows teams to compete virtually on simulators located all around the world for a total prize fund of US $250,000. For an exciting preview, click HERE to view a trailer for Le Mans Virtual Series 2022.
To allow more flexibility within professional drivers’ schedules – now fully restored after the disruption of the global COVID-19 pandemic – a change has been made to the driver requirements. Teams must enter one professional driver in at least one regular round of the series (i.e., Rounds 1-4), instead of being required to drive for the full season.
The 2022/23 calendar features some of the world’s most famous and recognizable racetracks across three continents, which will challenge drivers from the real and sim worlds and thrill the millions of esports enthusiasts around the globe. New for 2022 is the season-opening 8 Hours of Bahrain, a more modern classic which fits in comfortably with the historic and legendary status of Monza, Spa, Sebring and of course, the most iconic venue of them all, Le Mans.
The rounds will be as follows:
Round 1 8 Hours of Bahrain, Bahrain September 17, 2022
Round 2 4 Hours of Monza, Italy October 8, 2022
Round 3 6 Hours of Spa, Belgium November 5, 2022
Round 4 500 Miles of Sebring, USA December 3, 2022
Round 5 24 Hours of Le Mans Virtual January 14/15, 2023
Giving their full and continued support to the Le Mans Virtual Series will be some of the world’s best-known and most prestigious brands: Thrustmaster as Official Hardware Partner, Rolex as Official Timepiece Partner, Total Energies as Official Energy Partner, Goodyear as Official Tire Partner, Algorand as Official Blockchain Partner and LEGO® Technic as Official Engineering Partner.
Pierre Fillon, President of the ACO, commented: “We are very pleased to have supported and followed the success of the Le Mans Virtual Series to date with, as its highlight, the 24 Hours of Le Mans Virtual. The link between real-life motorsport and esports is an essential element for our manufacturers and teams, and we believe it has an important role to play in attracting a new, younger audience both on and off track. We all look forward to another excellent season of esports competition.”
CEO of Le Mans Virtual Series, Gérard Neveu, said: “Last year’s Le Mans Virtual Series was extremely successful and we strive to improve each year. The audience figures and returns we saw in 2021-22 go a long way towards recognizing the support of our impressive portfolio of partners, the collaboration of elite manufacturers and the commitment of the best sim racing teams, including our current champions, Team Redline. We are confident that we will continue to attract champions from all different categories of motorsport and sim racing and that we can produce another exciting and professional esports series for the massive worldwide gaming and spectator audiences to enjoy.”
The vision for the virtual series remains to be as prestigious and recognizable as the real-world FIA World Endurance Championship, which includes the 24 Hours of Le Mans as its cornerstone event. The esports series will continue to use rFactor 2 as its platform, which is focused on the sim racing audience and provides a more authentic racing experience. Le Mans Virtual Series’ focus on increased race and strategy analysis and professional broadcasts of the races is expected to further boost fan interest and engagement. As in previous years, FIA-licensed drivers and sim racing experts compete together in the Le Mans Virtual Series in either LMP or GTE models. More details on the entry list for the Le Mans Virtual Series races, as well as when and where to watch the races, will be revealed at the beginning of September 2022.
