WATCH: 24 Hours of Le Mans Virtual Qualifying 2023

On Friday, 13th January 2023 at 6 pm GMT / 7 pm CET / 10 am PT / 1 pm ET, the 45 teams entered into the 24 Hours of Le Mans Virtual for 2023 will take to the Circuit de la Sarthe to set the lineup for the huge esports event.

The results of both the initial joint qualifying session, with all 45 teams on track split amongst two classes, and the Hyperpole qualifying session, with the Top 6 fastest teams for each class from the first session, will set the grid for this third annual event.

WHAT IS THE QUALIFYING FORMAT?

This will be the first time that the Le Mans Virtual Series introduces both joint qualifying and Hyperpole rules into the mix. Both the LMP class (with 28 teams) and the GTE class (with 17 teams) will be on track at the same time, both classes gunning for fast times in their own right.

Once the first session ends, the Top 6 teams from each class will advance to the Hyperpole session later in the evening. While the rest of the positions will be set in the first round, the Hyperpole session sets the Top 6 starting positions for both LMP and GTE fields.

WHO IS PARTICIPATING?

While we don’t know exactly who will be under centre for the qualifying sessions themselves, many of the teams are filled with some heavy hitters across the motorsport world.

It was a treat to watch Formula 1 World Champion Max Verstappen take on the gauntlet of qualifying in last year’s session, barely missing out on the pole to his Team Redline teammate Jeffrey Rietveld by 0.002 seconds.

Verstappen has entered into the race again this year, along with other big names like Romain Grosjean, Jimmy Broadbent and so many more across the 45 teams of four drivers apiece. More than likely, the qualifying will come down to the esports professionals entered like Rietveld… but you never know.

2023 24 HOURS OF LE MANS VIRTUAL ENTRY LIST LMP

2023 24 HOURS OF LE MANS VIRTUAL ENTRY LIST GTE

WHAT DO THE STANDINGS LOOK LIKE?

It’s not just a one day and night show at Le Mans. The series has been running since the summertime of 2022 with four previous races at Bahrain, Monza, Spa and Sebring. 40 of the 45 teams have competed in every event aiming to score as many points as they could entering the main race this weekend.

After four previous events, similar to last season, Team Redline is on top of the pile in both classes. The #1 LMP owns the faster class by 18 points over their next closest competitor, the #4 Floyd Vanwall-Burst LMP entry.

Over in the GTE, the #71 BMW Team Redline entry has an even bigger lead, 24.5 points over the #99 Oracle Red Bull Racing Porsche team. Nobody has anything locked, however, as the 24 Hour winners will score 50 points in each class. That ultimately keeps the top half dozen in each class still in it to win it.

LE MANS VIRTUAL SERIES 2022-23 STANDINGS AHEAD OF THE 24 HOURS OF LE MANS VIRTUAL – LMP

1. #1 Team Redline – 78 points
2. #4 Floyd Vanwall-Burst – 60 points
3. #20 Porsche Coanda – 58 points
4. #23 Porsche Coanda – 46 points
5. #63 AMG Team Petronas Esports – 44 points

LE MANS VIRTUAL SERIES 2022-23 STANDINGS AHEAD OF THE 24 HOURS OF LE MANS VIRTUAL – GTE

1. #71 BMW Team Redline – 83 points
2. #99 Oracle Red Bull Racing – 58.5 points
3. #51 SF Velas Esports Team – 51 points
4. #26 SIM Maranello – 45.5 points
5. #95 Prodrive FYRA Esports – 42.5 points

WHEN TO WATCH

Qualifying is on Friday 13th January at 6 pm GMT / 7 pm CET / 10 am PT / 1 pm ET.

The Race starts on Saturday 14th January at 1 pm GMT / 2 pm CET / 5 am PT / 8 am ET and will end 24 hours later on Sunday 15th January.

Things will kick off on Friday at 6:00 pm GMT, which over here in the Eastern Time zone is 1:00 pm ET. Things should last about two hours in all, plus there will be an All-Star event to watch in between the two qualifying sessions.

24 HOURS OF LE MANS VIRTUAL PROVISIONAL QUALIFYING SCHEDULE

• 18:00 pm GMT / 7:00 pm CET / 10:00 am PT / 1:00 pm ET – Broadcast starts
• 18:10 pm GMT – Joint Qualifying session begins
• 18:40 pm GMT – Joint Qualifying session ends
• 18:50 pm GMT – All Stars Exhibition Race
• 19:30 pm GMT – Hyperpole Qualifying session begins
• 19:45 pm GMT – Hyperpole Qualifying session ends

All Stars exhibition race

In between the two parts of Le Mans Virtual qualifying will be a five-lap race in identical Porsche 911 (992) GT3 Cup cars around Circuit de la Sarthe.

A selection of sim racing personalities will be taking part, including Jardier, Gamermuscle, LoveFortySix, THOMB, Studio 397’s Paul Jeffrey and Traxion.GG’s very own Ross McGregor.

WHERE TO WATCH

The action for the 24 Hours of Le Mans Qualifying will take place live and exclusively on the Traxion.GG YouTube channel, as we are one of the official media partners of the series.

LE MANS VIRTUAL SERIES 2022-23 CALENDAR 

• Round 1 – 8 Hours of Bahrain, Bahrain – 17th September 2022
• Round 2 – 4 Hours of Monza, Italy – 8th October 2022
• Round 3 – 6 Hours of Spa, Belgium – 5th November 5 2022
• Round 4 – 500 Miles of Sebring, USA – 3rd December 2022
• Round 5 – 24 Hours of Le Mans Virtual – 14th-15th January 2023

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.