The last wildcard entry (after Veloce Esports) for the Le Mans Esports Series final has been announced: Russian esport team SMP Racing is to make its début at Le Mans!

BMW M Motorsport invited Valentino Rossi to test-drive the BMW M Hybrid V8 at the FIA WEC World Endurance Championship Rookie Test. The former MotoGP champion appeared at ease and demonstrated real speed at the wheel of the German hypercar.

The day after the Bapco Energies 8 Hours of Bahrain, the finale of the 2024 FIA WEC season, Valentino Rossi took his place in the cockpit of the BMW M Team WRT #20 BMW M Hybrid V8. The nine-time motorcycle Grand Prix world champion is now pursuing a career in endurance in the LMGT3 class, and readied himself for the Rookie Test using&nbsp;the BMW simulator in Munich. Rossi was able to get to grips with the German hypercar over the course of two sessions, totalling five hours of track time. He also benefited from advice from Ren&eacute; Rast.

Rossi recorded the&nbsp;second-fastest time among the rookie drivers, just a tenth of a second behind Arthur Leclerc.

Valentino Rossi:&nbsp;&ldquo;Today was a fantastic day. I had the chance to drive the BMW M Hybrid V8 for the entire day, with the whole crew and Ren&eacute; Rast who gave me advice. I enjoyed it a lot, the car is fantastic, very fast and very strong.&nbsp;&nbsp;It has a lot of power. The lap times were 15 seconds faster than in GT3. The tyres have great grip.&nbsp;&nbsp;It is a real race car. I was quite worried because I had never driven the Hypercar before, but I felt good from the first lap because the car is stable and gives good feedback.&nbsp;&nbsp;To go fast is very difficult, but it&rsquo;s a lot of fun. I have to say thank you for the great experience and I hope that I have another chance to try the car.&rdquo;&nbsp;&nbsp;

<h2>Arthur Leclerc excels</h2>

Ferrari development driver Arthur Leclerc certainly made his mark at the Rookie Test. He took the wheel of the #50 Ferrari&nbsp;499P of Ferrari AF Corse, winner of the last 24 Hours of Le Mans, and proved to be the fastest among the rookie drivers, finishing just&nbsp;eight hundredths behind Nicklas Nielsen. Victor Martins, who competes in the FIA Formula&nbsp;2 world championship, drove the Alpine&nbsp;A424 and came third. Phil Hanson made his debut at the wheel of the AF Corse #83 Ferrari&nbsp;499P&nbsp;which <a href="https://www.24h-lemans.com/en/news/fia-wec-af-corse-signs-up-phil-hanson-for-the-ferrari-499p-59095" target="_blank">he&rsquo;ll be driving next season</a>. He achieved the sixth-fastest time.

In the LMGT3 class, Ben Barnicoat put in a remarkable performance, outclassing the field in the Akkodis ASP Lexus RC F&nbsp;LMGT3 and setting a time almost seven-tenths of a second quicker than his rivals. Meanwhile, Mahaveer Raghunathan drove the Vista AF Corse Ferrari&nbsp;296 LMGT3, Saturday&rsquo;s race winner, and secured second place among the rookies, just ahead of Aur&eacute;lien Panis, son of former Monaco Grand Prix winner Olivier Panis, who shared the car with Barnicoat.

.

<h4>Hypercar top&nbsp;6:</h4>

1. Arthur Leclerc&thinsp;&ndash;&thinsp;Ferrari&nbsp;499P 1:50.460 
2. Valentino Rossi - BMW M Hybrid V8 +0.117s 
3. Victor Martins - Alpine A424 +0.257s 
4. Max Hesse - BMW M Hybrid V8 +0.359s 
5. Thomas Neubauer - Ferrari 499P +0.570s 
6. Philip Hanson&thinsp;&ndash; Ferrari 499P +0.964s

<h4>LMGT3 top&nbsp;6:</h4>

1. Ben Barnicoat - Lexus RC F LMGT3 2:01.772 
2. Mahaveer Raghunathan - Ferrari 296 LMGT3 +0.851s 
3. Aur&eacute;lien Panis - Lexus RC F LMGT3 +0.870s 
4. Matteo De Palo - Ferrari 296 LMGT3 +1.194s 
5. Tom Gamble&thinsp;&ndash;&thinsp;McLaren&nbsp;720S LMGT3 Evo +1.399s 
6. Mattia Drudi&thinsp;&ndash;&thinsp;Aston Martin Vantage AMR&nbsp;LMGT3 Evo +1.400s

The 2024 FIA WEC season concluded with victories for Toyota Gazoo Racing and the #6 Porsche&nbsp;963 drivers Laurens Vanthoor, Andr&eacute; Lotterer and Kevin Estre. In 2025, the FIA WEC will count eight rounds, with the 93rd 24 Hours of Le Mans (11-15 June 2025) as the highlight. The season will kick off with the Prologue (21-22 February 2025) and the Qatar&nbsp;1812&nbsp;km (28 February 2025).

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FIA WEC: Valentino Rossi impresses at the Rookie Test in the BMW M Hybrid V8

Porsche and Toyota both had reason to celebrate in the FIA World Endurance Championship in Bahrain today (2 November), as Kévin Estre, André Lotterer and Laurens Vanthoor clinched the FIA Hypercar World Endurance Drivers’ Championship while Sébastien Buemi, Brendon Hartley and Ryō Hirakawa secured FIA Hypercar World Endurance Manufacturers’ Championship glory for Toyota.

The Bapco Energies 8 Hours of Bahrain was exciting and unpredictable from the outset, with the first major drama coming as early as lap ten when Buemi found himself punted out of the lead while lapping the #82 TF Sport Corvette. That dropped the Swiss star to seventh, and it was not until the closing stages that the pole-sitting #8 TOYOTA GAZOO Racing GR010 clawed its way properly back into contention.

After leapfrogging Antonio Giovinazzi in the long-time race-leading #51 Ferrari AF Corse 499P and Vanthoor in the champion-elect #6 Porsche Penske Motorsport 963, Buemi embarked upon his final stint in second place, behind only Matt Campbell in the #5 Porsche Penske Hypercar. Exploiting his fresher tyres, the four-time world champion went on a charge, setting a scintillating new fastest lap as he mercilessly hunted his prey. The decisive move came with 40 minutes remaining &ndash; after which, the result never looked in doubt.&nbsp;

The #8 crew&rsquo;s success not only represented the first victory from pole position in WEC&rsquo;s headlining category this season, it also made it seven different winners from eight races and &ndash; far more significantly &ndash; secured Toyota its fourth consecutive Hypercar Manufacturers&rsquo; trophy.

Drivers&rsquo; honours, however, went the way of Porsche, with Estre, Lotterer and Vanthoor fulfilling their pre-event favourite tag by holding off their Ferrari and Toyota rivals to seal the deal. Astonishingly, none of the three championship contenders finished inside the points in Bahrain &ndash; for the first time in 2024 &ndash; but the #6 Porsche Penske Motorsport trio&rsquo;s results earlier on in the campaign proved more than sufficient to get the job done.

&nbsp;

<h2>Ferrari rolls the dice for LMGT3 glory</h2>

Vista AF Corse made it back-to-back successes in the LMGT3 class, in a race that could have gone a number of different ways &ndash; with multiple lead changes and an epic scrap for supremacy.

The key to the #55 Ferrari 296 LMGT3 crew&rsquo;s victory was a bold late call on strategy, making one less pit-stop than most of their competitors. Courtesy of a masterclass in tyre management, Alessio Rovera fended off a dual TF Sport Corvette threat in the final hour to cement the Italian outfit&rsquo;s second consecutive triumph in the car he shares with Fran&ccedil;ois Heriau and Simon Mann.

Corvette crews completed the podium-finishers, with the #81 piloted by Charlie Eastwood, Rui Andrade and Tom van Rompuy pipping the sister #82 entry &ndash; which had to battle back from an early penalty for the contact with Buemi &ndash; to the runner-up spoils.&nbsp;

Full results can be found <a href="https://www.fiawec.com/en/race/result/4869" target="_blank">HERE</a>.

FIA WEC : Toyota and Porsche share title success in spectacular season finale

Toyota has thrown down the gauntlet to its rivals for the 2024 FIA World Endurance Championship Manufacturers’ crown in Bahrain today (1 November), with a commanding performance in qualifying to lock out the front row of the grid for Saturday’s title-deciding finale.

Toyota has thrown down the gauntlet to its rivals for the 2024 FIA World Endurance Championship Manufacturers&rsquo; crown in Bahrain today (1 November), with a commanding performance in qualifying to lock out the front row of the grid for Saturday&rsquo;s title-deciding finale.

For the third year in a row, Brendon Hartley put the #8 TOYOTA GAZOO Racing GR010 Hybrid on pole position around Bahrain International Circuit, where the Japanese outfit boasts an enviable record, having won 75 per cent of the WEC races held there to-date. Tomorrow, the New Zealander together with team-mates S&eacute;bastien Buemi and Ryō Hirakawa will aim to become the first Hypercar crew to successfully convert pole into victory this year.

Hartley wound up just under a third-of-a-second quicker than team-mate Nyck de Vries in the #7 Toyota, with Antonio Giovinazzi missing out on a spot on the front row by barely four hundredths in the best of the Ferrari 499Ps.

Neel Jani was the highest-placed Porsche driver in fourth in the independent Proton Competition entry &ndash; the Swiss star setting the pace in the final sector of the lap &ndash; with the two principal protagonists for the Drivers&rsquo; title set to line up alongside one another on row three. Behind the wheel of the #50 Ferrari, Antonio Fuoco edged out K&eacute;vin Estre in the championship-leading #6 Porsche by a mere 0.015s.

<h2>McLaren mastery in LMGT3</h2>

United Autosports hit their adversaries with the old one-two in the LMGT3 category, with Joshua Caygill and James Cottingham&rsquo;s McLarens separated by a scant two thousandths-of-a-second at the top of the timing screens as the former secured the British outfit&rsquo;s first pole position of the campaign.

Fuji pole-sitter Fran&ccedil;ois Heriau pushed the pair hardest in third to maintain Vista AF Corse&rsquo;s strong finish to the season with the Ferrari 296 GT3, as Sarah Bovy slotted the Iron Dames&rsquo; Lamborghini Hurac&aacute;n into fourth, ahead of Aliaksandr Malykhin in the recently-crowned #92 Manthey Purerxcing Porsche. Barely a second blanketed the entire LMGT3 top ten, setting the scene for a spectacularly close scrap on race day.

The Bapco Energies 8 Hours of Bahrain is scheduled to get underway at 14:00 local time (12:00 CET) on Saturday (2 November).

Watch all the action LIVE via the official <a href="https://discover.fiawec.tv/" target="_blank">FIA WEC app</a>.

For a full breakdown of the broadcast coverage for the 6 Hours of Bahrain, click <a href="https://www.fiawec.com/en/news/how-to-watch-the-fia-wec-action-from-bahrain/8124" target="_blank">HERE</a>.

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FIA WEC : Toyota turns up the tempo in title battle with Bahrain front row lockout

Le Mans, Ignite your Senses | The 24 Hours of the Le Mans is eye-candy for spectators. The world’s greatest endurance race is a unique experience, where the backdrop changes hour by hour. Fine-tuned racing cars take turns to outshine each other as their drivers’ eyes adjust to the visibility levels.

<h2>Dazzling design</h2>

Cars competing in the Hypercar class (the top tier at the 24 Hours of Le Mans) are designed for looks as well as as performance. With millions of eyes agog, Alpine, BMW, Cadillac, Lamborghini, Peugeot, Porsche and Toyota harness their designers&rsquo; ingenuity as they seek to make their mark on the race and the automotive world in general. In 2025, <a href="https://www.24h-lemans.com/en/news/aston-martin-to-race-two-valkyrie-hypercars-at-the-2025-24-hours-of-le-mans-58803" target="_blank">Aston Martin willl be joining the field with the Valkyrie AMR-LMH</a>, bringing British elegance to the already spectacular scene. The line-up for the 93rd running of the 24 Hours of Le Mans (11-15 June 2025) could be part of the catwalk season! Forget Milan, the real prima donnas are at Le Mans!

As winner of the last two races, the <a href="https://www.24h-lemans.com/en/news/ferrari-499p-hypercar-design-specifics-58000" target="_blank">Ferrari 499P</a> is a star of the show. The car perfectly combines the ferocity and refinement of Ferrari. Its fiery red livery and distinctive headlamps play on the heartstrings of the brand&rsquo;s tifosi and other longstanding admirers of the prancing horse. 
Meanwhile, the Cadillac V-Series.R represents the essence of American grit. Its imposing stature and unique visual signature are matched by its hallmark growl. More about that later in the series. 
Then there&rsquo;s the Peugeot 9X8, with its clever claw-shaped headlights a nod to its famous Lion logo. Its eye-catching elegance is a credit to French style.

However, the Hypercars don&rsquo;t get all the fans&rsquo; attention.&nbsp; The GT contingent is just as fascinating to behold. Luxurious yet feisty, the Aston Martin Vantage AMR LMGT3 sports spectacular aerodynamics. True to its Muscle Car moniker, the Ford Mustang LMGT3 exudes power. Drawing on its American heritage, its aggressive headlamps and angular shape spell brute force. The distinctive shape of the Porsche 911 GT3 R LMGT3 is equally in keeping with brand legacy. Rounded headlamps and smooth aerodynamics are tell-tale signs. Resonant of the roadbound 911, this model is built to race.

<h2>Sun down, lights up</h2>

But it isn&rsquo;t all about the cars. At nightfall, the circuit becomes a light show. Glares, flashes and gleams dance before many an eye in a kaleidoscope of colour. The circuit takes on a luminescent glow, the streaks of headlamps like waving wands working the magic of Le Mans. The mesmerising dance draws crowds to the circuit year after year.

They come in thousands to take their fill of the feast for the eyes where each car is a masterpiece in motion.

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<h2>Light to dark: challenging driving conditions</h2>

For drivers of course, the switch from day to night (and back) isn&rsquo;t just a change of scenery. It can be a huge challenge. Varying degrees of brightness affect visibility: a key element of anticipation when travelling at speed.

To Norman Nato, driver of the #12 Hertz Team JOTA Porsche 963, instinct comes into play: &ldquo;It&rsquo;s best to be at the wheel as the light changes. That way your eyes adjust gradually.&rdquo; At night, speed is perceived differently: &ldquo;You have the impression you&rsquo;re driving faster than you really are, especially during the first night practice. Braking distances are harder to assess.&rdquo;

Stoffel Vandoorne of Team Peugeot TotalEnergies describes accelerating with the #94 Peugeot 9X8: &ldquo;After dark, it&rsquo;s trickier. Everything seems faster and you have less visibility on corners.&rdquo; It&rsquo;s harder to gauge distance in the rear-view mirror too: &ldquo;All you can really see behind you are headlights. It can be unsettling, especially when there&rsquo;s lots of overtaking going on.&rdquo;

The two drivers employ different tactics when it comes to driving gear. Norman Nato doesn&rsquo;t use a tinted visor or special glasses. Stoffel Vandoorne keeps his helmet visor up at night. &ldquo;During the day, I lower it if it&rsquo;s sunny, but at night I prefer to keep it open.&rdquo;

Vision fatigue isn&rsquo;t a key issue for either driver. As Norman Nato stresses: &ldquo;Our tiredness isn&rsquo;t visual, it&rsquo;s more physical and mental because of stress and lack of sleep.&rdquo; Vandoorne agrees. &ldquo;The human body adjusts to light, which can make night driving difficult.&rdquo; To counter that problem, drivers undergo physical and mental training and perform stimulating wake-up routines before returning to the wheel after a rest.

Adjusting to light and dark is crucial to performance and the day-night element of the 24 hours of Le Mans makes the race as dazzling as it is demanding.

All in all, whether you come for the machinery, the beauty or both, the 24 Hours of Le Mans is a unique visual experience. Changing backdrops, slick moves, sleek lines, streams of light: this is more than a motor race, it&rsquo;s a festival! It&rsquo;s a live performance, a work of art, a show like no other.

<a href="https://www.24h-lemans.com/fr/actualites/24-heures-du-mans-la-billetterie-ouvrira-le-mercredi-13-novembre-2024-59026" target="_blank">General sale tickets for the 93rd 24 Hours of Le Mans can be purchased from Wednesday 13 November</a>. ACO Members have an earlier presale period from Wednesday 6 November.

The 24 Hours of Le Mans: a feast for the eyes

With just one week to go before the grand finale of the Le Mans Esports Series, we now know the name of the second and final wildcard entry in what promises to be an amazing event!&nbsp;Russian outfit SMP Racing has been invited to field a three-driver team in the event by the organisers.

After ten months of competition involving more than 20,000 gamers across Europe, Asia and America,&nbsp;the Le Mans Esports Serie Super Final is only days away now! The world&rsquo;s best gamers will compete in a series of nine races on the Forza Motorsport platform over a 24-hour period.

SMP Racing will be present as one of the finalists.&nbsp;The Russian team is also competing in the real-life 24 Hours of Le Mans out on track with two LMP1 prototypes (the #11 and #17 BR Engineering BR1s). Esport is a new venture for SMP Racing, which is also present in the WEC, the Blancpain GT Series and the European Le Mans Series and with this esport team, the outfit is reasserting its commitment to the discipline. For them, the LMES Super Final is a great opportunity to promote the Russian esports community on a global scale.

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PHOTO:&nbsp;LE MANS (SARTHE, FRANCE), CIRCUIT DES 24 HEURES DU MANS, 2019 LE MANS ESPORTS SERIES: SMP Racing will be contesting the Le Mans Esports Series final. Can they make history with a debut win?&nbsp;

24H LE MANS

SMP Racing to compete in the Le Mans Esports Series Super Final!

Related News

FIA WEC: Valentino Rossi impresses at the Rookie Test in the BMW M Hybrid V8

FIA WEC : Toyota and Porsche share title success in spectacular season finale

FIA WEC : Toyota turns up the tempo in title battle with Bahrain front row lockout

The 24 Hours of Le Mans: a feast for the eyes

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