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A number of video games have been made of Le Mans 24 Hours. The race, the Circuit de la Sarthe, and competing cars have been featured in racing games such as the Gran Turismo series.
The first Le Mans video game was in 1976 by Atari, an upright standing arcade game with a steering wheel and white raster graphics on a black background. [1]
In 1982, Commodore released a Le Mans game for the Commodore 64, which was actually a clone of a 1979 Sega game, Monaco GP. [2]
Next came the arcade game WEC Le Mans , developed by Konami and released in 1986. For the following year, this arcade game was subsequently ported to the Amstrad CPC, Commodore 64, MSX, and ZX Spectrum by Ocean Software. The game broke down the race in four laps (two on daytime and two after sunset), divided as well into three checkpoints. Due to the limitations of the hardware, all cars have the same design and do not correspond to actual models. The advertising in both sides of the road is also limited to the name of the game and its creators.
Over ten years later, in 1997, Sega released the arcade exclusive Le Mans 24. As a Japanese publisher, the game marked a debut for the 1991 winner, the Mazda 787B, before appearing in subsequent driving games including the later Gran Turismo series, the 1971 JWA Gulf Porsche 917K appears as a bonus car.
Two years later, the French video game publisher Infogrames, who incidentally absorbed Ocean, released Le Mans 24 Hours for PlayStation and PC. The game was developed by UK company Eutechnyx. In the US the game was released under the name Test Drive: Le Mans.
In the following year the same software house released Le Mans 24 Hours on the Dreamcast. This version of the game was originally planned to be a port from the PlayStation, but was eventually developed from scratch by Australian company Melbourne House which had recently been purchased by Infogrames. As with the previous PlayStation version, the Dreamcast game was released in the US under their Test Drive brand as Test Drive: Le Mans. This was one of the most critically acclaimed racing games on the Dreamcast, [3] often hailed as the single best driving game available for the Dreamcast system. Following the release of the Dreamcast version of Le Mans 24 Hours, Infogrames and Melbourne House developed and released a port of the Dreamcast game on the PlayStation 2 in 2001.
In 2002, a PC port of the Le Mans 24 Hours game was created by another Australian video game developer, Torus.
The circuit appears in Gran Turismo 4 , released in 2004. The game uses the then-current layout and can be run with or without the two chicanes. The player can race against 5 other AI cars in a full-24 Hour long race on both the Circuit de la Sarthe with the chicanes on the Mulsanne Straight or without them. The opponent vehicles range from Le Mans Prototype cars, such as the BMW V12 LMR and the Audi R8, to Group C-spec sports prototypes, such as the Sauber C9 and the Mazda 787B.
Several versions of the Circuit in its past and present layouts have been made by the user community for the 2005 rFactor and 2006 GTR 2 driving simulation and the rFactor WEC mod version of Le Mans Racing Legends.
In Race Driver Grid , released in 2008, the player is able to race at Le Mans, in a condensed 12-minute race, 24-minute race, one hour race, and so forth to full 24-hours race. According to the time scale chosen, day and night occur at different times. Cars & drivers from the 2006 Race are featured. The Circuit de la Sarthe depicted in the game is much wider, with corners such as Dunlop and Arnage having a much shorter run in, and with significant elevation changes on the track (such as the Hunaudières curve) almost imperceptible.
The entire circuit is available for racing in Forza Motorsport 3 and again in 2011 in Forza Motorsport 4 , in 2013 in Forza Motorsport 5 , in 2015 in Forza Motorsport 6 , in 2017 in Forza Motorsport 7 , and in 2023 in Forza Motorsport.
Gran Turismo 5 , released in November 2010, also includes the Le Mans circuit, along with two 24 hour races. Variations include the 2005 version and 2009 version, which has the redeveloped area around the Dunlop Curve with more run-off area, and the extended pit lane exit. There is also the option of changeable time of day, and variable weather. The successor of GT5, Gran Turismo 6 , released in December 2013, includes not only the 2005 and 2009 version, but also the 2013 version. Both Gran Turismo Sport and Gran Turismo 7 also feature the track.
iRacing , released in 2008, has the addition of the Le Mans circuit in 2016, featuring the track as it was configured for the 2015 event. It is also possible to use the 2015 layout with the Mulsanne chicanes removed.
Project CARS and Project CARS 2 of Slightly Mad Studios included Circuit de la Sarthe under the project name Loire.
rFactor 2 is currently used to host the 24 Hours of Le Mans Virtual esports event, which saw big names such as three-time Formula One World Champion Max Verstappen and former NASCAR driver Juan Pablo Montoya participate. Hosted by Motorsport Games, [4] the 2020 installment saw two red flags, [5] [6] with the 2023 edition of the race seeing the servers suffering a security breach and rFactor 2's stability being called into question. [7] [8]
Fuji Speedway is a motorsport race track standing in the foothills of Mount Fuji, in Oyama, Suntō District, Shizuoka Prefecture, Japan. It was built in the early 1960s. In the 1980s, Fuji Speedway was used for the FIA World Sportscar Championship and national racing. Originally managed by Mitsubishi Estate Co., Fuji Speedway was acquired by Toyota Motor Corporation in 2000. The circuit hosted the Formula One Japanese Grand Prix in 2007 after an absence of nearly 30 years, replacing the Suzuka Circuit owned by Honda. After Fuji Speedway hosted the 2008 race, the Japanese Grand Prix returned to Suzuka for races from 2009 onward. The Super GT Fuji 500 km race is held at the racetrack on Golden Week.
Gran Turismo (GT) is a series of racing simulation video games developed by Polyphony Digital. Released on PlayStation systems, Gran Turismo games are intended to emulate the appearance and performance of a large selection of vehicles, most of which are licensed reproductions of real-world automobiles. Since the franchise's debut in 1997, over 90 million units have been sold worldwide, making it the best selling video game franchise under the PlayStation brand. An adapted film based on the series and Jann Mardenborough's career was released in August 2023 and directed by Neill Blomkamp.
Endurance racing is a form of motorsport racing which is meant to test the durability of equipment and endurance of participants. Teams of multiple drivers attempt to cover a large distance in a single event, with participants given a break with the ability to change during the race. Endurance races can be run either to cover a set distance in laps as quickly as possible, or to cover as much distance as possible over a preset amount of time.
Simulated racing or racing simulation, commonly known as simply sim racing, are the collective terms for racing game software that attempts to accurately simulate auto racing, complete with real-world variables such as fuel usage, damage, tire wear and grip, and suspension settings. To be competitive in sim racing, a driver must understand all aspects of car handling that make real-world racing so difficult, such as threshold braking, how to maintain control of a car as the tires lose traction, and how properly to enter and exit a turn without sacrificing speed. It is this level of difficulty that distinguishes sim racing from arcade racing-style driving games where real-world variables are taken out of the equation and the principal objective is to create a sense of speed as opposed to a sense of realism.
Sebring International Raceway is a road course auto racing facility in the southeastern United States, located near Sebring, Florida.
Gran Turismo 4 is a 2004 racing simulation game developed by Polyphony Digital and published by Sony Computer Entertainment for the PlayStation 2. It is the fourth main installment and the sixth overall in the Gran Turismo series. It was released on December 28, 2004, in Japan and Hong Kong, February 22, 2005, in North America, and March 9, 2005, in Europe, and has since been re-issued under Sony's Greatest Hits brand.
Forza Motorsport is a 2005 simulation racing video game developed by Turn 10 Studios and published by Microsoft Game Studios for the Xbox gaming system. The word Forza is Italian for strength. The game is the first installment in the Forza series, a series that has continued on Microsoft's subsequent consoles, the Xbox 360, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X/S. It features over 200 cars and multiple real world and fictional race courses. It also featured online multiplayer via Xbox Live. It is compatible on the Xbox 360 via backwards compatibility. Forza Motorsport received universal acclaim according to the review aggregation website Metacritic, and received a Gold sales award from the Entertainment and Leisure Software Publishers Association (ELSPA), indicating sales of at least 200,000 copies in the United Kingdom. The NPD Group reported that in its release month the game sold over 100,000 copies in North America.
The Circuit des 24 Heures du Mans, also known as Circuit de la Sarthe located in Le Mans, Sarthe, France, is a semi-permanent motorsport race course, chiefly known as the venue for the 24 Hours of Le Mans auto race. Comprising private, race-specific sections of track in addition to public roads which remain accessible most of the year, its present configuration is 13.626 km (8.467 mi) long, making it one of the longest circuits in the world. The capacity of the race stadium, where the short Bugatti Circuit is situated, is 100,000. The Musée des 24 Heures du Mans is a motorsport museum located at the main entrance of the venue.
Gran Turismo 5 is a 2010 racing simulation game developed by Polyphony Digital and published by Sony Computer Entertainment for the PlayStation 3. It is the fifth main installment and the tenth overall in the Gran Turismo series. It was released on November 24, 2010, in Europe and North America, and November 25, 2010, in Japan and Australasia. It was preceded by the Prologue version and is the first main entry of the series to be released for the PlayStation 3.
Le Mans is a city in France.
Forza Motorsport 3 is a 2009 racing video game developed for Xbox 360 by Turn 10 Studios. It is the sequel to Forza Motorsport 2 and the third installment in the Forza series. The game includes more than 400 customizable cars from 50 manufacturers and more than 100 race track variations with the ability to race up to eight cars on track at a time. These cars vary from production cars to race cars such as those from the American Le Mans Series.
WEC Le Mans, known as WEC Le Mans 24 in Japan, is a racing simulation video game released in arcades by Konami in 1986. It was the first racing video game to depict the 24 Hours of Le Mans World Endurance Championship (WEC). The Lap of Le Mans is split up into three sections, during which the time of day changes from day to dusk, dusk to night, and night to dawn.
The Dunlop Bridge is a landmark advertising footbridge sponsored by Dunlop Tyres, located at several racing circuits around the world. The oldest surviving example of this bridge is at the Circuit de la Sarthe, the home of the 24 Hours of Le Mans.
Jann Mardenborough is a British professional racing driver. In 2011 he became the third and youngest winner of the GT Academy competition, beating 90,000 entrants to earn a professional racing contract with Nissan. He had no previous motorsport experience, having played sim racing video games instead. During his career, he has finished on the podium in his class at the 24 Hours of Le Mans, won races and contended for titles in GT3 and junior formula cars, and competed at the highest level in Super GT, Super Formula and the FIA World Endurance Championship.
Le Mans 24 Hours is a video game released for the PlayStation, Game Boy Color, Dreamcast, PlayStation 2, and Microsoft Windows. The Dreamcast version was ported and published by Sega in Japan on 15 March 2001, while the PlayStation 2 version was ported and published by the same company on 13 June. Based on the famous 24 hours of Le Mans race in France, the player is invited to race the entire 24-hour endurance course or take part in a simpler arcade mode. The game also featured tracks such as Bugatti Circuit, Brno Circuit, Road Atlanta, Suzuka Circuit, Donington Park and Circuit de Catalunya, as well as a weather and night system.
GT Academy was a television programme produced by Grand Central Entertainment and funded by Nissan and Sony Interactive Entertainment from 2008 to 2016. GT Academy provided skilled Gran Turismo players an opportunity to earn a real-life professional racing career with Nissan.
There have been numerous video games which have included the drivers, teams, cars and circuits from the Supercars Championship, the leading touring car category in Australia. Several of these games were officially licensed by Supercars. From 2011 to 2014, an online championship sanctioned by Supercars was contested on iRacing. In 2017, Supercars launched an esports competition, now known as the Supercars Eseries, using Forza Motorsport 6 and Forza Motorsport 7 until 2018 and iRacing from 2019.
The 2020 24 Hours of Le Mans Virtual was an esports 24-hour automobile endurance race for Le Mans Prototype (LMP) and Le Mans Grand Touring Endurance (LMGTE) vehicles held on a simulated version of the Circuit de la Sarthe from 13 to 14 June 2020. The Automobile Club de l'Ouest, the FIA World Endurance Championship and Motorsport Games organised the race as a placeholder for the 2020 24 Hours of Le Mans that was postponed from June to September as a result of the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic in France. It was hosted on the rFactor 2 gaming platform and operated from Paris' Studio Gabriel. The race featured 50 teams of four drivers each sharing one car. The entry list was divided into two categories of vehicles: LMP and GTE. There were 30 teams in the LMP class and 20 in the GTE category.
The 2022 24 Hours of Le Mans Virtual was an esports 24-hour automobile endurance race for Le Mans Prototype (LMP) and Le Mans Grand Touring Endurance (LMGTE) vehicles held on a simulated version of the Circuit de la Sarthe from 15 to 16 January 2022. It was hosted on the rFactor 2 gaming platform as the fifth and final round of the 2021–22 Le Mans Virtual Series. The race featured 50 teams of four drivers each sharing one car, divided into two categories of vehicles: LMP and GTE. There were 29 teams in the LMP class and 21 in the GTE category. High-profile drivers like two-time Formula One world champion Max Verstappen and IndyCar driver Juan Pablo Montoya competed in the race.
Darren Cox is a British businessman and automotive and motorsport executive who is known as the creator and director of GT Academy. A character based on Cox is portrayed by Orlando Bloom in the film Gran Turismo.