Virtual Le Mans - 13/14 June

[lofty]

I was thinking which virtual non celeb would be waving the virtual tricolore to start the race.mr blobby perhaps.

[Lorry]

Perfect choice.  Mr Blobby made several big impacts in 1997, and probably needs the money

[Lazy B'stard]

I was thinking which virtual non celeb would be waving the virtual tricolore to start the race.mr blobby perhaps.

Probably that Chris Martin and his f**king guitar. He usually turns up everywhere else. He must be bored shitless at the moment.

[lofty]

sh*t virtual band,crap celeb flag person,l hope it farkin rains all weekend and the virtual beer is sh*t aswell.        And make it allnice for September.please.

[Lazy B'stard]

sh*t virtual band,crap celeb flag person,l hope it farkin rains all weekend and the virtual beer is sh*t aswell.        And make it allnice for September.please.

I've a funny feeling its going to run behind closed doors in September 

[lofty]

50,000-100,000 perhaps.

[lofty]

Tony Parker a basketball megastar started the race.never heard of him.

[ewan]

well, I didn't have the social engagement that I started this thread thinking about.. but the virtual 24H race was very enjoyable - not as good as the real thing, but I thought it was highly impressive. The coverage was great, the racing was really good too.

I could imagine this kind of thing could carry on - imagine if you had a physical Le Mans in June and a virtual Le Mans in February or something - could be a good way of sharpening up some of the teams and drivers.

The virtual experience would be better if there was some kind of actual pitstop (rather than cars just sitting still for some period of time), and if the damage done by crashing was visible - so if you pile into a tyre wall, you'd expect bodywork to be flailing about as you limp back to the pits...

Now the Virtual 24h has been done, I fully expect the ACO to announce that the real one will have no spectators... if it happens at all...

[smokie]

I watched some of it and was quite impressed. The graphics and car movement are really quite lifelike.

[Canada Phil]

well, I didn't have the social engagement that I started this thread thinking about.. but the virtual 24H race was very enjoyable - not as good as the real thing, but I thought it was highly impressive. The coverage was great, the racing was really good too.

I could imagine this kind of thing could carry on - imagine if you had a physical Le Mans in June and a virtual Le Mans in February or something - could be a good way of sharpening up some of the teams and drivers.

The virtual experience would be better if there was some kind of actual pitstop (rather than cars just sitting still for some period of time), and if the damage done by crashing was visible - so if you pile into a tyre wall, you'd expect bodywork to be flailing about as you limp back to the pits...

Now the Virtual 24h has been done, I fully expect the ACO to announce that the real one will have no spectators... if it happens at all...

ewan,
         the computer boffins say what you are asking for , while possible, would take massive amounts of computing power. Only 50 cars for the same reason. Although we did not "see" damage the drivers apparently felt it.  The cars did at least go up on the jacks in pit lane.  IMSA has done some too but limited to fewer cars and only about an hour with  no pit stops or damage. I wonder if this was the longest duration simulation ever?
Phil                                                                           

[jimclark]

It was announced as so, but I wonder if some "kids" (young or old) hadn't already....  I know I would have as a youngster had we had computers back in the 'x0s (). I don't think they would have been able to handle 50 entries though.
 
As it was, one year, a few friends (5; 2 three driver teams. Kevin, Charlie and I; Ricky, Bill, and Joe) and I ran 12 and 24 hour races with our Aurora H.O. cars, mimicking Sebring and Le Mans as part of one of our "seasons".

Yes, 2 cots in our basement where the track was...2 could rest (not much sleepin' went on tho') while 2 drove and 2 marshalled; loo and meal breaks were our "yellows" and "reds"...). We had a ball..... (our family's weren't too happy but they saw their kids keeping out of trouble with a good hobby....). My mom was a great "caterer"...

It was a decent circuit also. Not 3 1/2 minute laps, more like 20 seconds, but a good variety of curves, straights, and, unlike S or LM, a couple of elevation changes..... The worse part was the lap counter only registered up to 99 laps so we had to remember to keep track and mark off each hundred as, of course, it would reset to zero.
Le Mans winners  turned 3900+ laps and Sebring 2200+ (no yellows or reds during Sebring, just snacks; and, go pee on your own time... )

'Glad we didn't do the "24 of Daytona" as we undoubtedly would not have done the other two. "Sebring" wasn't too bad, but after "le Mans", we swore we'd never do it again....(thus no Watkins Glen 6 Hour)..... 'Just too much. It did give us something to look forward too with anticipation at the end of that school year as we couldn't pull it off during a normal school time weekend.

My team won both. 'Literally "home" track advantage? 'Prolly so.......

[Kev_mk3]

I enjoyed it, I have been watching alot of esports since it arrived at Le Mans a few years back and taking part in some. Its not easy at all. Really is good to see it develop and a lot of big stars getting involved.

[ewan]

well, I didn't have the social engagement that I started this thread thinking about.. but the virtual 24H race was very enjoyable - not as good as the real thing, but I thought it was highly impressive. The coverage was great, the racing was really good too.

I could imagine this kind of thing could carry on - imagine if you had a physical Le Mans in June and a virtual Le Mans in February or something - could be a good way of sharpening up some of the teams and drivers.

The virtual experience would be better if there was some kind of actual pitstop (rather than cars just sitting still for some period of time), and if the damage done by crashing was visible - so if you pile into a tyre wall, you'd expect bodywork to be flailing about as you limp back to the pits...

Now the Virtual 24h has been done, I fully expect the ACO to announce that the real one will have no spectators... if it happens at all...

ewan,
         the computer boffins say what you are asking for , while possible, would take massive amounts of computing power. Only 50 cars for the same reason. Although we did not "see" damage the drivers apparently felt it.  The cars did at least go up on the jacks in pit lane.  IMSA has done some too but limited to fewer cars and only about an hour with  no pit stops or damage. I wonder if this was the longest duration simulation ever?
Phil                                                                           

Well, compute power is plentiful in some parts of the world... if the money is there...

If you're interested in the scale of these things, take a look at https://youtu.be/X-0V6bYfTpA?t=427
I've been in DB3, DB4 and DB5 - each of them is a step forward from the last, and they look like the closing scene in Raiders of the Lost Ark... just vast inside. Be in no doubt, if the demand was there and the funding could pay for it, we could have sim racing with more cars, photorealistic impact yadda yadda yadda.

The cool thing about this virtual 24h race was to show that there's more interest in this kind of racing - and that might mean more serious players with more $$ will get involved.

Who knows, in 30 years time when everything is electric, you might even find the only way to take part in noisy motorsport is to do it in simulators...

[jimclark]

Who knows, in 30 years time when everything is electric, you might even find the only way to take part in noisy motorsport is to do it in simulators...

Sorrowfully, I believe there's a far greater probabilty than "might" in hearing no more than a high pitched "whirrrrr" in real auto racing's near future...............(and,  at the tree huggers that will cause the ICE powerplant's demise in racing; the sport being an infinitesimal contributor of pollution.)

[Rhino]

Being more of the engineer side I didn't like it. I watched a couple of laps and when the cars came into the empty pits and looked as though they were going up on jacks I turned off and watched Truth in 24hrs 1 and 2 on Youtube. I liked the in car but it did nothing for me. The pit stops and how the teams react is everthing at Le Mans to me