Rietveld bests Verstappen by 0.002 seconds for Le Mans Virtual pole

The lineup is set for this year’s 24 Hours of Le Mans Virtual event. Right after the No. 111 of Red Bull Racing Esports took the pole position in the GTE class with Sebastian Job behind the wheel, the No. 70 Realteam Hydrogen Redline entry driven by Jeffrey Rietveld bested the 2021 Formula 1 World Champion Max Verstappen, driving the No. 123 Team Redline entry, by only 0.002 seconds in the LMP class during qualifying on Friday.

The session began with the GTE Class of drivers, with each category recieving 20 minutes around the famed Circuit de la Sarthe in France. The LMP class went out second, but will have the top spots on the grid when things kick off on Saturday.

The first one to set a competitive flying lap was the Team Redline No. 123 driven by Verstappen, but the No. 70 Realteam Hydrogen Redline machine with Rietveld behind the wheel took over the top of the pylon just moments later. With seconds to go in the session, the No. 70 increased their time even further.

The new Mercedes-AMG Petronas Esports team for this event, the No. 67 LMP which was qualified with Bono Huis behind the wheel, got close to the top time. Verstappen made one last-ditch effort to take the top spot but came 0.002 seconds short of it.

24 HOURS OF LE MANS VIRTUAL, LMP CLASS – TOP 5 QUALIFIERS

1. 70 | Realteam Hydrogen Redline | 3:21.219
2. 123 | Team Redline | +0.002 sec
3. 67 | Mercedes-AMG Petronas Esports | +0.039 sec
4. 28 | Veloce Esports | +0.225 sec
5. 14 | Race Clutch Alpine | +0.278 sec

In the GTE session, the No. 91 Porsche Esports Team entry, qualified by Mitchell deJong, held the top spot for the majority of the session. With only a few minutes left to spare, the No. 111 Red Bull Racing Esports Corvette, driven by Job, took a commanding lead with a lap time of 3:46.438 seconds.

Both the 91 and No. 71 BMW Team Redline group, driven by Kevin Siggy, were able to put down faster lap times, but Job’s lap would not be beaten. Unfortunately, despite having the early advantage, due to not having two classified Pro drivers, the No. 111 will face a penalty at the start of Saturday’s endurance.

24 HOURS OF LE MANS VIRTUAL, GTE CLASS – TOP 5 QUALIFIERS

1. 111 | Red Bull Racing Esports | Corvette C8.R | 3:46.438
2. 91 | Porsche Esports Team | Porsche 911 RSR | +0.090 sec
3. 71 | BMW Team Redline | BMW M8 | +0.163 sec
4. 88 | Proton Competition | Porsche 911 RSR | +0.434 sec
5. 92 | Porsche Esports Team | Porsche 911 RSR | +0.695 sec

Tune in to watch the main event live on Traxion.GG’s YouTube and Twitch channels from 5 am PT / 8 am ET / 1 pm GMT / 2 pm CET on Saturday, 15th January 2022. Check out the multiple ways to watch the event and the absolutely insane list of drivers competing as well. Stay tuned here at Traxion.GG as we provide race updates throughout the entire event.