Max battling for lead heading into the night at Le Mans Virtual

Published on 13 June 2020 by Stefan Meens

After the first third of the 24 Hours of Le Mans Virtual, Max Verstappen, in second, is closing in on the overall lead in his Team Redline Oreca 07 LMP2 race car.

Max starts the race for Team Redline from fifth on the grid. After a good start, the Dutchman moves up into third, chasing leaders Tom Dillman and Kelvin van der Linde. Max is enjoying himself in the opening stints of the race as he sets the fastest lap of the race.

Max stays in the car for two stints, before handing over driving duties to pro sim racer Atze Kerkhof, an hour into the race.

Kerkhof enters the race in second position and settles in for four stints, during which he takes the late from Tomek Poradzisz. Team Redline is able to build up a lead before Kerkhoff hands over to Lando Norris at the start of the fourth hour. Like his Formula 1 colleague Max, Norris drives two stints before passing the car to another sim racing ace, Greger Huttu.

Just as the Finn heads out on track, the session is red flagged due to a server crash. The race is resumed at 19.17 with all cars fully fuelled and fitted with fresh tyres. The grid order at the restart is determined by the standings after 78 laps, meaning Team Redline loses the lead because they pitted just before the red flag. It means that Team 2 seas Motorsport, who did not pit, inherits the lead

Between the restart and the first hundred laps, a close fight for the lead establishes itself between Jesper Pedersen, Greger Huttu amd Stoffel Vandoorne. After technical issues, Pederson drops down the order just after 9pm, leaving Team Redline and Team Veloce Esports 2 fighting for the top stop.

At 21.21, Max is back in action for his third stint. He resumes the race in second, ten seconds behind leader Eamonn Murphy, driving for Team Veloce Esports 2. Max manages the cut the lead in half within the space of three laps, before it stabilises until the next round of pit stops. Just after 10pm, as the race enters the night, Team Veloce Esports 2 is still leading with Max trailing a couple of seconds.

24 Hours of Le Mans Virtual - Standing at 22.00 (GMT):