Here’s how you could win your place on the 24 Hours of Le Mans Virtual grid

Following the announcement of the upcoming Le Mans Virtual Series leading up to the 24 Hours of Le Mans Virtual in January 2022 comes the Le Mans Virtual Cup – an esports series where anyone with rFactor 2 can compete.

The community-driven esports competition has been created in partnership with the Automobile Club de l’Ouest, the organising entity behind the 24 Hours of Le Mans, and will utilise the in-game competition system.

There will be four rounds in total, and to enter, you must set competitive lap times within rFactor 2 on the run-up to each race. The full schedule is below, but qualifying for the first round – a four-hour race at Monza – is now live.

You can watch the live race for the top split qualifiers live on the Traxion.GG YouTube, Facebook and Twitch channels one day before the main Le Mans Virtual Series, and the broadcast will also include live qualifying for the next day’s race.

Points are accumulated after each Le Mans Virtual Cup race during the first three rounds. This decides the grid for the top split of the grand final held in December around the Circuit de la Sarthe, with the top 30 progressing.

The top two in the championship will make it onto the full-fat 24 Hours of Le Mans Virtual grid, alongside esports professionals and stars from real-world motorsport, held live and in-person at the 2022 Autosport International show in Birmingham, U.K.

This is your chance to take part in top-level esports, recognised by the ACO and broadcast to a live online audience. Be sure to start qualifying now, or for those who just like to watch, we’ll see you for the first live broadcast on 24th September at 6 pm BST / 7 pm CEST.

2021 Le Mans Virtual Cup schedule

All Le Mans Virtual Cup races last for 45 minutes.

• Round 1 – Monza, Italy – 24th September 2021 (qualifying open 3rd-12th September)
• Round 2 – Spa, Belgium – 15th October 2021 (qualifying open 26th September-5th October)
• Round 3 – Nürburgring Nordschleife, Germany – 12th November 2021 (qualifying open 17th-26th October)
• Round 4 – Le Mans Finale 17th December 2021 (the top 30 from the Le Mans Virtual Cup championship advances to Split 1)
• 24 Hours of Le Mans Virtual – 15th/16th January 2022 (top two in the Le Mans Virtual Cup will be entered)