The most prestigious endurance race in all of motorsports was originally scheduled to be held this weekend at the Circuit de la Sarthe in Le Mans, France, but the coronavirus pandemic forced the race to be postponed to September. With little real-world racing going on, pro drivers have flocked to racing simulators in recent months, and on Saturday, dozens of current and former Formula 1 drivers, along with former Le Mans winners, will compete in the Le Mans 24h Virtual.
The race, which will be run using the game rFactor 2, will feature teams of four drivers each splitting driving duties over the 24 hours. There will be two car classes – LMP and GTE – and most teams have an even split of professional drivers and sim racing pros, which should keep things competitive.
The race will begin at 9:00 a.m. ET on Saturday, and will be broadcast on ESPN 2. You can also watch the race online via ESPN 3 or the ESPN app, and also on YouTube.
Here are just a few of the notable drivers in the field. You can see the full driver lineup here:
LMP class:
Max Verstappen
Lando Norris
Fernando Alonso
Rubens Barrichello
Jenson Button
Juan Pablo Montoya
Simon Pagenaud
Sebastian Buemi
Brendon Hartley
Stoffel Vandoorne
Pierre Gasly
Jean-Eric Vergne
Mike Conway
Kamui Kobayashi
Jose Maria Lopez
GTE class:
Charles Leclerc
Antonio Giovinazzi
Giancarlo Fisichella
Nicki Thiim
Nick Tandy
Andre Lotterer
Neel Jani
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