Le Mans Virtual Series set to return later this year

Popular sim racing event Le Mans Virtual Series is set to return following a two-year absence, with qualifiers scheduled to take place in the fourth quarter of 2025.

The sim racing event will utilise the Le Mans Ultimate title. Motorsport Games, the developer and publisher of Le Mans Ultimate, revealed its plans to focus on esports once again after the title exited early access in July. As a result, the title will replace rFactor 2 as the platform used to host races as part of the series.

In August, Motorsport Games implemented driver swaps with the 6 Hours of Qatar test event. Over 6,000 sim racers and 1,700 teams took part in the event to determine if multi-driver team events could take place.

“Now that team events have been incorporated into the product experience, we can accelerate our plan to bring the world’s biggest racing esports event back into focus,” said Stephen Hood, CEO of Motorsport Games, during the company’s Q2 2025 earnings presentation.

“Le Mans Virtual will be returning, with the final expected to be held next year and early qualifying rounds appearing in Q4 of this year.”

Founded in 2020 as an alternative to real-world motorsport during the COVID-19 pandemic, the Le Mans Virtual Series attracted a mixture of sim racing and real-world drivers to compete across a multi-round championship.

The event ceased following the 2023/24 edition of the 24 Hours of Le Mans Virtual, after several technical issues resulted in four-time Formula One (F1) world champion Max Verstappen expressing his frustrations while competing.

Motorsport Games has yet to reveal how the qualifiers for the next edition of the Le Mans Virtual Series will operate.

Previous races have enabled aspiring sim racers to qualify for the main series through the Le Mans Virtual Cup. The top two drivers in the championship earned a place on the grid for the 24 Hours of Le Mans Virtual alongside established names from sim racing and real-world motorsport.