Everything you need to know about the 2022-23 Le Mans Virtual Series

The Le Mans Virtual Series season returns for a second season for 2022-23 and once again will feature some of the biggest names in racing, both real-world and virtual, from drivers, teams, venues, sponsors, and promotors.

A five-race season concludes with a full 24 Hours of Le Mans Virtual race at the famed Circuit de la Sarthe in January of 2023. Before that, there are four events at tracks including Bahrain, Monza, Spa and Sebring to help set the stage for the big Le Mans finale.

What is the Le Mans Virtual Series? 

The Le Mans Virtual Series is a sim racing esports racing competition that is competed virtually. A large number of teams and a larger number of talented drivers will compete in multi-class endurance racing across a multitude of virtual tracks.

What prize is up for grabs in the Le Mans Virtual Series? 

There is a total prize fund of US $250,000 that will be split up throughout the season.

Which cars compete in the Le Mans Virtual Series? 

There are two classifications of cars, the LMP2 and GTE, that will compete in the Le Mans Virtual Series again in the 2022-23 season.

LMP – Oreca 07 LMP2 – the Prototype field of 24 teams, the faster of the two classes.

GTE – Manufacturer-based tin-top racecars which include:

• Aston Martin Vantage GTE
• BMW M8 GTE
• Ferrari 488 GTE
• Porsche 911 RSR GTE

What platform does the Le Mans Virtual Series use? 

The Le Mans Virtual Series uses the rFactor 2 simulation platform by Studio 397 and Motorsport Games.

How do teams enter the Le Mans Virtual Series? 

They are selected via an entry process and approved by the Automobile Club de l’Ouest and Motorsport Games sanctioning bodies. For each subsequent year, the priority is existing teams, while new teams can apply if any gaps appear.

How are drivers selected for the Le Mans Virtual Series? 

Drivers are decided by each respective team, where they are responsible to invite and organise before confirming with the Automobile Club de l’Ouest and Motorsport Games sanctioning bodies for the Le Mans Virtual Series.

One ‘Pro’ driver must race in the 24 Hours of Le Mans Virtual and at least one Le Mans Virtual Series race preceding the 24 Hours of Le Mans Virtual, this is required for each entered car. 

A ‘Pro’ driver must be FIA Graded, but there are two small exceptions. One such is an FIA Super Licence holder, such as the 2021 Formula 1 World Champion Max Verstappen. The other exception is a real-world driver of exceptional or notable talent as decided upon by the ACO and Motorsport Games sanctioning bodies for the Le Mans Virtual Series.

If the ‘Pro’ driver is at a Bronze level grading, a Silver ‘Pro’ driver must join them for the 24 Hours of Le Mans Virtual.

What is the first Le Mans Virtual Series race? 

The first race of the 2022-23 Le Mans Virtual Series is the 8 Hours of Bahrain.

When is the Le Mans Virtual Series’ 8 Hours of Bahrain? 

The 8 Hours of Bahrain will take place on Saturday 17th September 2022, with qualifications starting the prior day, 16th September 2022.

How can I watch the Le Mans Virtual Series 8 Hours of Bahrain? 

There will be multiple ways to watch, but we hope you watch it with us here on the Traxion.GG YouTube, Facebook and Twitch channels.

The 24 Heuers du Mans, FIA WEC and European Le Mans Series YouTube channels, plus the Facebook pages for the FIA WEC and the titular Le Mans Virtual will also carry the event live.

What time is the Le Mans Virtual Series 8 Hours of Bahrain qualifying? 

The Le Mans Virtual Series qualifying for the 8 Hours of Bahrain will commence directly after the Le Mans Virtual Cup race on the same day and broadcast. Each of the two classifications will get their own 20-minute session.

• Le Mans Virtual Series GTE qualifying – Friday 16th September at 19:10 BST / 20:10 CEST / 11:10 PT / 14:10 ET
• Le Mans Virtual Series LMP qualifying – Friday 16th September at 19:40 BST / 20.40 CEST / 11:40 PT / 14:40 ET

What time is the Le Mans Virtual Series 8 Hours of Bahrain race? 

The Le Mans Virtual Series 8 Hours of Bahrain will start on Saturday 17th September at 13:00 BST / 14:00 CEST / 05:00 PT / 08:00 ET.

Who are the stand-out drivers in the Le Mans Virtual Series 8 Hours of Bahrain? 

Some of the top level talent that we will see in the opening round of the 2022-23 Le Mans Virtual Series include well-known real-world talent such as Alon Day, James Baldwin, Sérgio Sette Câmara and Dylan Pereira.

We’ll also see the likes of some of the best esports drivers around a multitude of different simulations, those drivers including Mitchell deJong, Diogo Pinto, Joshua Rogers and of course, Jeffrey Rietveld.

What is the Le Mans Virtual Series Cup? 

The Le Mans Virtual Series Cup is a complimentary series to the Le Mans Virtual Series that is open to the rFactor 2 community. A four-race series that races adjacent to the main series with the chance of qualifying for a drive in the 2023 24 Hours of Le Mans Virtual being the prize on the line.

You can watch the first race at Sebring before the qualifying sessions for the Le Mans Virtual Series 8 Hours of Bahrain on Friday, 16th September at 18:10 BST / 19:10 CEST / 10:10 PT / 13:10 ET.

When is the 24 Hours of Le Mans Virtual 2023? 

The 2023 edition of the 24 Hours of Le Mans Virtual will happen on the 14th and 15th in January of 2023.

Le Mans Virtual Series 2022-23 Calendar 

• Round 1 – 8 Hours of Bahrain, Bahrain – 17th September 2022
• Round 2 – 4 Hours of Monza, Italy – 8th October 2022
• Round 3 – 6 Hours of Spa, Belgium – 5th November 5 2022
• Round 4 – 500 Miles of Sebring, USA – 3rd December 2022
• Round 5 – 24 Hours of Le Mans Virtual – 14th-15th January 2023

Le Mans Virtual Series 8 Hours of Bahrain entry list 

40 teams with three drivers each will take part in the opening round of the series.

LMP ENTRY LIST

N°	LMP	CAR	No	DRIVER 1	DRIVER 2	DRIVER 3
1	Team Redline	Oreca 07 LMP2	1	Luke Bennett	Jeffrey Rietveld	Maximilian Benecke
2	Team Redline	Oreca 07 LMP2	2	Josh Thompson	Michal Smidl	Diogo Pinto
3	Floyd Vanwall-Burst	Oreca 07 LMP2	4	Jesper Pedersen	Jernej Simončič	Damian Skowron*
4	Williams Esports	Oreca 07 LMP2	5	Sami-Matti Trogen (PRO)	Jack Keithley	Petar Brljak
5	R8G ESPORTS	Oreca 07 LMP2	8	Jiri Toman	Erhan Jajovski	Marcell Csincsik
6	Pescarolo Esport Monaco	Oreca 07 LMP2	16	Alon Day (PRO)	Thomas Imbourg	Csaba Kiss
7	R8G ESPORTS	Oreca 07 LMP2	18	Martin Hemmingsen	Christopher Högfeldt	Ulas Ozyldirim
8	Porsche Coanda	Oreca 07 LMP2	20	Mitchell deJong	Tommy Østgaard	Zac Campbell
9	SEM9 Axle Sports	Oreca 07 LMP2	21	Naquib Azlan	Josh Purwien	Inigo Anton
10	Rocket Simsport	Oreca 07 LMP2	22	Jordan Albert*	Sean Campbell	Ferris Stanley
11	Porsche Coanda	Oreca 07 LMP2	23	Joshua Rogers	Mack Bakkum	Martin Krönke
12	YAS HEAT VELOCE	Oreca 07 LMP2	28	Isaac Gillissen	Eamonn Murphy	Marko Pejic
13	Mexico Racing Team	Oreca 07 LMP2	29	Alejandro Vargas	Alberto Gironella	Manuel De Samaniego
14	Alpine Esports	Oreca 07 LMP2	36	Collin Spork	Rory MacDuff	Tom Lartilleux
15	ARC Bratislava	Oreca 07 LMP2	44	Andrej Marecak*	Jakub Stofko	Erik Vizi
16	AMG Team Williams Esports	Oreca 07 LMP2	53	Michael Romanidis	Nikodem Wisniewski	Jakub Brzezinski
17	Brabham Esports	Oreca 07 LMP2	62	Devin Braune	Mika Hakimi	Borja Millan
18	AMG Team Petronas Esports	Oreca 07 LMP2	63	James Baldwin (PRO)	Bono Huis	Graham Carroll
19	Panis Racing Team	Oreca 07 LMP2	65	Florian Lebigre	Thibault Cazaubon	Yannick Lapchin
20	GR Vector eSport	Oreca 07 LMP2	86	Jan Granqvist	Daniel Brewer	Tom Stevens
21	Arnage Competition	Oreca 07 LMP2	100	Jimmy Antunes	Adam Pinczes	Janos Bracsok
22	GR Vector eSport	Oreca 07 LMP2	101	Liam de Waal	Mattia Cruppi	Phillip Drayss*
23	Nextview Vanwall-Burst	Oreca 07 LMP2	444	Sergio Sette Camara (PRO)	Michi Hoyer	Dawid Mroczek
24	Team Fordzilla	Oreca 07 LMP2	966	Luke Browning (PRO)	Gianmarco Fiduci	Alessandro Ottaviani

GTE ENTRY LIST

N°	GTE	CAR	No.	DRIVER 1	DRIVER 2	DRIVER 3
25	MAHLE Racing Team	BMW M8 GTE	10	Michele D’Alessandro	Muhammed Patel	Eros Masciulli
26	Project 1 by Dörr Esports	Porsche 911 RSR GTE	11	Marc Gassner (PRO)	Moritz Löhner	Leonard Krippner
27	Inspeed Racing	Porsche 911 RSR GTE	25	Xiayufei Li	Yanzhe Li	Yaocheng Quan
28	SIM Maranello	Ferrari 488 GTE	26	Christian Malghera	Andrea Terzi	Gianluca Scalvini*
29	SF Velas Esports Team	Ferrari 488 GTE	51	Kasper Stoltze	Jordy Zwiers	Christian Michel
30	Satellite Racing	Aston Martin Vantage GTE	64	David Pittard (PRO)	Henri Sinik	Jimi Nisula
31	SIMMSA Esports	Ferrari 488 GTE	66	Ramez Azzam (PRO)	Sebastian Wunsch	Patrick Schindler
32	BMW Team Redline	BMW M8 GTE	71	Chris Lulham	Kevin Siggy	Enzo Bonito
33	Proton Coanda Esports	Porsche 911 RSR GTE	77	Dayne Warren	Charlie Collins	Paschalis Gkergkis
34	Proton Coanda Esports	Porsche 911 RSR GTE	88	Dylan Pereira (PRO)	Kevin van Dooren	Joni Takanen
35	BMW Team BS+COMPETITION	BMW M8 GTE	89	Bruno Spengler (PRO)	Ibraheem Khan	Joonas Raivio
36	Prodrive FYRA Esport	Aston Martin Vantage GTE	95	Lasse Sørensen (PRO)	Mikkel Gade	Lasse Bak
37	Oracle Red Bull Racing	Porsche 911 RSR GTE	99	Cooper Webster*	Yuri Kasdorp	Dennis Jordan
38	P1 Esport	Porsche 911 RSR GTE	111	Marcus Jensen	Turkka Häkkinen	Rasmus Busk
39	D’station Racing	Aston Martin Vantage GTE	777	Remi Delorme	Marc Veit	Toshiya Nojima
40	R8G ESPORTS	Ferrari 488 GTE	888	Alexander Smolyar (PRO)	Timotej Andonovski	Risto Kappet

Full disclosure – Traxion.GG is part of Motorsport Games and the Motorsport Games family of brands. All Traxion.GG content is editorially removed from Motorsport Games video game development and created by a dedicated team. Traxion.GG is one of the official media partners of the Le Mans Virtual Series.