With yesterday’s formalisation of the 2023 24 Hours of Le Mans Virtual entry list, Peugeot Sport also confirmed its four drivers for the endurance race.
Competing in the current FIA World Endurance Championship, and for the first time in 12 years in 2023 at the 24 Hours of Le Mans, with the revolutionary 9X8 Hypercar, the French performance brand is also dipping its toes into sim racing.
The squad will be assisted by established digital racing outfit, Romain Grosjean’s eponymous R8G Esports.
Established sim racers Valentin Mandernach and Maxime Brient will take to the wheel of the re-branded LMP, using the same livery as the real-world WEC-competing machine.
They will be joined on the grid by PRO teenage driver Malthe Jakobsen, who is the reigning European Le Mans LMP3 champion.
“I am ready to give my best and avoid accidents or mistakes,” said Jakobsen, who is the real-world Team Peugeot TotalEnergies Rookie Test driver.
“Pro driver and sim racer, it’s a concept I like.”
American Gustavo Menezes races for Team Peugeot TotalEnergies in the WEC and will complete the line-up.
“The rise of sim racing over the past couple of years and the quality of the simulations gives everyone the opportunity to race on the world’s most famous circuits and feel the adrenaline of competition,” said Menezes.
“I have to learn from my sim racing teammates how to be as fast as possible, the limits can be different. What I do know, there is no room for error or crashing in the virtual world either.”
The #93 Peugeot Esports car will take to the grid at 2 pm CET on Saturday 14th January against 44 other cars. You can watch the race live on the Traxion.GG YouTube channel and also via several over-the-top broadcast services and TV channels, to be confirmed soon.
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Source: Peugeot Sport
Image: Motorsport Images
