As the leaves begin to fall, we wave goodbye to the summer heat wave that had most of us chattering about. Sometimes, it takes a few sleepless nights without air conditioning to bring together a community of people online who are just trying to cool off from the hot, hot sun.
Embracing the Autumn weather is much easier when looking forward to a highly anticipated sporting event, especially when said event happens to be the biggest sim racing competition in the world.
The 24 Hours of Le Mans Virtual.
“We already started to work on this edition,” said Gérard Neveu, the CEO of the Le Mans Virtual Series to Traxion.GG.
“And to be honest with you, we are looking seriously to do some surprises for next year. That’s the advantage of the virtual. We can be creative, innovating.”
Of course, mum’s the word on what exactly those revelations entail. Neveu highlighted that the hope is to take fans “closer to the action,” almost through the lens of the teams competing in the series.
“We are working on it. We try to provide very exciting entertainment for the big one in January. That’s the plan.”
Each race is a stepping-stone towards the main event, with 4 Hours of Monza next in line on 8th October 2022. As we embrace the series with open arms and peep out on the horizon to the 24 Hours of Le Mans Virtual, the buzz within the team has grown from tiny whispers to full-on hype.
There’s plenty of planning that goes into such a huge production. So, it’s not surprising that the team behind the LMVS beams with pride when asked about this season in the latest Traxion.GG Podcast episode.
In fact, the insight is quite powerful when admiring how far esports as a whole has come in the past few years.
“I think that the virtual has to be inspired by the original one, which is really important. We have the chance to mix racers and gamers together,” explained Neveu
He says that even when marvelling at the team behind the LMVS, many of the individuals come from such unique backgrounds. Whether they have experience in sim racing or the real world, the roster is a perfect blend of the two.
“I think that when we can have these two families, we’re stronger than if you stay alone in your own activities. And it brings something very interesting. The virtual will always continue to grow, but it will always be inspired by the original one.”
Professionalism is the key, too. At first glance, the Le Mans Virtual Series is the real deal. Aside from the risk of crashing your car, everything that goes into every race—from the broadcast to team prep to the interviews before, during and after each stint—is nearly a carbon copy of reality.
Art truly imitates life.
“From our side, for the regular season, we have almost between 30 and 40 people involved in production. Between the talent, the broadcast, the media team, the social media team, the sporting teams… considering the format of the race,” reflected Neveu.
He says the team size nearly doubles for the 24 Hours of Le Mans Virtual. And like any sport, the goal for the group—however big or small—is to be victorious in each event; to put on a show for the audience that will leave a lasting impression yet intrigue them for what’s around the next chicane.
“We’ll reset the machine and repeat for the next one, because we’re just at the beginning of the season.”
Be sure to tune into Round 2 of the Le Mans Virtual Series: 4 Hours of Monza, kicking off on 8th October, 2022 via Traxion.GG’s YouTube Channel.
