Le Mans 24 Hours: How to stream Virtual event online and on TV, start time and full driver entry list

The 2020 Le Mans 24 Hours may have been postponed until September, but that will not stop the world best descending on the Circuit de la Sarthe from their own living rooms as they take part in the virtual version this weekend.

On what was supposed to be one of the highlights on the motorsport calendar, 50 teams of four drivers will compete through the night in the 24 Hours of Le Mans Virtual, with a star-studded line-up set to compete.

Leading manufacturers Toyota, Ferrari, Aston Martin, Porsche and Corvette have all deployed multiple teams to challenge for victory, which will be split across two of the four normal categories in LMP2 and GTE.

Filling the majority of those seats will be two professional drivers and two sim racers - beyond a few exceptions - with names attracted from all of the leading categories across the motorsports world.

With F1, WEC, Formula E and IndyCar among those championships represented and coverage set to be widely broadcast around the world, the event stands to be the biggest eSports motoring event ever witnessed, and will look to capitalise on the significant increase in popularity that virtual racing has experienced during the coronavirus pandemic.

Here’s everything you need to know.

When is it?

The 24 Hours of Le Mans takes place on 13/14 June.

What time does it start and finish?

The race will get underway at the same time as the real event was due to begin, meaning a 2pm BST start time (3pm CET) on Saturday afternoon. The chequered flag will drop following the end of the first lap after 2pm BST (3pm CET) on Sunday.

How can I watch it?

In the UK, 10 hours of the race will be broadcast on Eurosport across the weekend, with the entire event available to stream live on Eurosport Player. The first two and a half hours will be shown from 1:30pm, with another two and a half hours on from 6pm until 9:30pm. Coverage will resume at 11:30am on Sunday and continue through to the end of the race.

The race will also be broadcast entirely on Motorsport.TV.

How will driver changes work?

With driver changes compulsory just like the real thing, each racer will have to hit a minimum driving time of four hours, with a maximum limit of seven hours for each driver.

How realistic will the race be?

The 24 Hours of Le Mans Virtual stands to be the most comprehensive eSports motoring event in history. Refuelling and tyre changes will be a necessity to make the 24 hours, while damage will be enough to allow cars to recover back to the bits for repairs. A race director will ensure drivers stick to the rules and regulations, while there will also be full commentary and studio analysis from experts in Paris, who will welcome special guests throughout the broadcast via video chat.

The event will take place on racing simulator rFactor 2, with a maximum grid of 50 teams and a list of 10 reserves should any be forced to withdraw.

Driver entry list

LMP2

1. REBELLION WILLIAMS ESPORT (Oreca 07 LMP): Louis Deletraz, Raffaele Marciello, Nikodem Wisniewski, Kuba Brzezinski

2. REBELLION WILLIAMS ESPORT (Oreca 07 LMP2): Gustavo Menezes, Bruno Senna, Petar Brljak, Dawid Mroczek

3. REBELLION WILLIAMS ESPORT (Oreca 07 LMP2): Yifei Ye, Arthur Rougier, Isaac Price, Jack Keithley

4. BYKOLLES - BURST ESPORT (Oreca 07 LMP2): Tom Dillmann, Esteban Guerrieri, Jernej Simončič, Jesper Pedersen

6. TEAM PENSKE USA (Oreca 07 LMP2): Juan Pablo Montoya, Simon Pagenaud, Dane Cameron, Ricky Taylor

7. TOYOTA GAZOO RACING (Oreca 07 LMP2): Mike Conway, Kamui Kobayashi, Jose Maria Lopez, Maxime Brient

8. TOYOTA GAZOO RACING (Oreca 07 LMP2): Sébastien Buemi, Brendon Hartley, Kenta Yamashita, Yuri Kasdorp

9. PANIS RACING TRIPLE A (Oreca 07 LMP2): Olivier Panis, Aurélien Panis, Adam Pinczes, Nuno Pinto

10. TOYOTA GAZOO RACING ARG (Oreca 07 LMP2): Nelson Piquet Jr, Julian Santero, Fabrizio Gobbi, Moreno Sirica

12. MPI-ZANSHO USA (Oreca 07 LMP2): Max Papis, Pietro Fittipaldi, Tony Kanaan, Sido Weijer

13. REBELLION WILLIAMS ESPORT (Oreca 07 LMP2): Agustin Canapino, Jack Aitken, Alex Arana, Michael Romanidis

14. FA/RB ALLINSPORTS ESP (Oreca 07 LMP2): Fernando Alonso, Rubens Barrichello, Olli Pahkala, Jarl Teien

15. MULTIMATIC ZANSHO CAN (Oreca 07 LMP2): Andy Priaulx, Sebastian Priaulx, Mike Epps, Olivier Fortin

16. VELOCE ESPORTS 2 (Oreca 07 LMP2): Norman Nato, Stoffel Vandoorne, Eamonn Murphy, Tomek Poradzisz

17. IDEC SPORT RACING (Oreca 07 LMP2): Paul-Loup Chatin, Richard Bradley, Franco Colapinto, Michi Hoyer

18 VELOCE ESPORTS 3 (Oreca 07 LMP2): Sacha Fenestraz, Ryan Tveter, James Baldwin, Tom Lartilleux

20. TEAM REDLINE GBR (Oreca 07 LMP2): Max Verstappen, Lando Norris, Atze Kerkhof, Greger Huttu

21. AXLE MOTORSPORT (Oreca 07 LMP2): Alex Yoong, Alister Yoong, Muhammad Naquib, Mika Hakimi

22. UNITED AUTOSPORTS (Oreca 07 LMP2): Filipe Albuquerque, Alex Brundle, Job van Uitert, Tom Gamble

23. TEAM ROCKET ZANSHO (Oreca 07 LMP2): Jenson Button, Alex Buncombe, Jan von der Heyde, Matt Richards

24. VELOCE ESPORTS 1 (Oreca 07 LMP2): Jean-Eric Vergne, Pierre Gasly, Jarno Opmeer, Isaac Gillissen

30. E-TEAM WRT (Oreca 07 LMP2): Dries Vanthoor, Kelvin van der Linde, Fabrice Cornelis, Arne Schoonvliet

31. PANIS RACING TRIPLE A (Oreca 07 LMP2): Tristan Vautier, Nicolas Jamin, Hany Alsabti, Thibault Cazaubon

33. 2 SEAS MOTORSPORT (Oreca 07 LMP2): Isa Bin Abdulla Al-Khalifa, Oliver Rowland, Rory MacDuff, Devin Braune

36. SIGNATECH ALPINE ELF (Oreca 07 LMP2): Thomas Laurent, André Negrão, Pierre Ragues, Nicolas Longuet

37. JOTA TEAM REDLINE (Oreca 07 LMP2): Will Stevens, Gabriel Aubry, Aleksi Uusi-jaakkola, Dominik Farber

38. JOTA TEAM REDLINE (Oreca 07 LMP2): Antonio Felix da Costa, Felix Rosenqvist, Rudy van Buren, Kevin Siggy

42. COOL RACING (Oreca 07 LMP2): Nicolas Lapierre, Antonin Borga, Erwan Barbier, Maxime Scalabrini

46. TDS E RACING MOTUL (Oreca 07 LMP2): Larry ten Voorde, Giedo van der Garde, Alex Siebel, Dennis Jordan

50. RICHARD MILLE RACING TEAM (Oreca 07 LMP2): Katherine Legge, Tatiana Calderon, Sophia Floersch, Emily Jones

GTE

51. FERRARI - AF CORSE (Ferrari 488 GTE): Nicklas Nielsen, David Perel, Kasper Stoltze, Matteo Caruso

52. FERRARI - AF CORSE (Ferrari 488 GTE): Charles Leclerc, Antonio Giovinazzi, Enzo Bonito, David Tonizza

54. STRONG TOGETHER (Ferrari 488 GTE): Francesco Castellacci, Giancarlo Fisichella, Felipe Massa, Tony Mella

56. TEAM PROJECT 1 (Porsche 911 RSR): Laurents Hörr, David Kolkmann, Dany Giusa, Lukas Müller

57. TEAM PROJECT 1 (Porsche 911 RSR): Dylan Pereira, Dennis Olsen, Tim Neuendorf, Zbigniew Siara

63. CORVETTE RACING (Corvette C7.R): Jordan Taylor, Nicky Catsburg, Alex Voss, Laurin Heinrich

64. CORVETTE RACING (Corvette C7.R): Tommy Milner, Jan Magnussen, Dennis Lind, Alen Terzic

67. MAHLE RACING TEAM (Aston Martin Vantage GTE): Ferdinand Habsburg, Robert Wickens, Jimmy Broadbent, Kevin Rotting

71. FERRARI - AF CORSE (Ferrari 488 GTE): Miguel Molina, Federico Leo, Amos Laurito, Jordy Zwiers

80. R8G ESPORTS TEAM (Corvette C7.R): Daniel Juncadella, Mathias Beche, Erhan Jajovski, Risto Kappet

86. GULF RACING (Porsche 911 RSR): Benjamin Barker, Andrew Watson, Adam Maguire, Eros Masciulli

88. DEMPSEY-PROTON RACING (Porsche 911 RSR): Riccardo Pera, Loek Hartog, Michael Francesconi, Kevin van Dooren

91. PORSCHE ESPORTS TEAM (Porsche 911 RSR): André Lotterer, Neel Jani, Mitchell DeJong, Martti Pietilä

92. PORSCHE ESPORTS TEAM (Porsche 911 RSR): Jaxon Evans, Matt Campbell, Mack Bakkum, Jeremy Bouteloup

93 PORSCHE ESPORTS TEAM (Porsche 911 RSR): Nick Tandy, Ayhancan Güven, Joshua Rogers, Tommy Østgaard

94. PORSCHE ESPORTS TEAM (Porsche 911 RSR): Patrick Pilet, Simona de Silvestro, Martin Krönke, David Williams

95. ASTON MARTIN RACING (Aston Martin Vantage GTE): Nicki Thiim, Richard Westbrook, Lasse Sorensen, Manuel Biancolilla

97. ASTON MARTIN RACING (Aston Martin Vantage GTE): Alexander Lynn, Charles Eastwood, Harry Tincknell, Tiziano Brioni

98. ASTON MARTIN RACING (Aston Martin Vantage GTE): Darren Turner, Ross Gunn, Jonathan Adam, Giuseppe de Fuoco

99. FEED RACING (Corvette C7.R): Simon Pilate, Theo Pourchaire, Axel Petit, Alexandre Vromant