Peugeot’s Menezes on 24 Hours of Le Mans Virtual: There is no room for error

Thomas Harrison-Lord
Real-world Team Peugeot TotalEnergies 9X8 driver Gustavo Menezes has explained the pressures that come with his and Peugeot’s first ever 24 Hours of Le Mans Virtual entry.
Peugeot's Menezes on 24 Hours of Le Mans Virtual - There is no room for error

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.

Peugeot 24 Hours of Le Mans Virtual

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.”

#94 Peugeot TotalEnergies Peugeot 9X8 - Hybrid Hypercar of Gustavo Menezes - Motorsport Images
#94 Peugeot TotalEnergies Peugeot 9X8 – Hybrid Hypercar of Gustavo Menezes – Motorsport Images

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.”

Peugeot 9X8 built to Le Mans Hypercar to be driven in 24 Hours of Le Mans Virtual this January

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.

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.

Source: Peugeot Sport

Image: Motorsport Images

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