Second place at the virtual 24 Hours of Le Mans has handed the Porsche Coanda Esports works team the title in the virtual Le Mans series. Despite several setbacks, Joshua Rogers, Mitchell deJong, Ayhancan Güven and Laurin Heinrich were just 21 seconds off the winner. Their team colleagues in the No. 23 LMP racing car came sixth.
The Porsche Coanda Esports Racing Team has won the 2022/2023 virtual Le Mans Series. Works drivers Joshua Rogers (Australia) and Mitchell deJong (USA) secured second place with the former Porsche Juniors Ayhancan Güven (Turkey) and Laurin Heinrich (Germany) at the virtual 24 Hours of Le Mans. Despite two drive-through penalties and time losses due to server connection problems, the quartet crossed the finish line on the digital Circuit des 24 Heures a mere 21.1 seconds behind the victorious LMP2 vehicle fielded by Team Redline. This result was enough for the No. 20 car of the Porsche Coanda factory squad to move to the top of the leaderboard at the fifth and final round on the rFactor 2 simulation platform. Driving the sister car, Mack Bakkum (Netherlands), Dayne Warren (Australia), Morris Schuring (Netherlands) and the new Porsche Junior Bastian Buus (Denmark) were also hampered by unfortunate setbacks during the race. They ultimately crossed the finish line in sixth place.
“The virtual Le Mans Series is one of the most prestigious championships in sim racing – so with this in mind, winning the title is incredible. It shows how hard we’ve worked throughout a season that had a rocky start for us,” states Philip Stamm, team principal at Porsche Coanda Esports Racing. “It’s a shame, of course, to finish a 24-hour race in second with a gap of just 21 seconds behind the winner. Still, we’re at the start of a new year and we hope that there’ll be many more great successes to come.”
The virtual 24 Hours of Le Mans represents the highlight and the finale of the virtual Le Mans Series. A special feature of this championship: seasoned professionals from real-life motorsport share driving duties in the digital racing cars with sim racing experts.
Mitchell deJong (Porsche Coanda Esports Racing Team #20): “We’re wrapping up the season as the champions but obviously we also wanted to win Le Mans. Still, we had a great race. It went back and forth, I’m thinking mainly of the penalties that were imposed on us but we kept fighting as a team. Ultimately, we managed to slash the gap to 21 seconds – so it was very close. At the end of the day, it was only enough for second place.”
Laurin Heinrich (Porsche Coanda Esports Racing Team #20):“It was a very, very long and mentally demanding race – not least because of the red flag interruptions. A very interesting dynamic unfolded from this, from which some benefited more than others. Such things are sometimes out of your hands. Still, I’m satisfied with this result. We came second and also won the championship. That’s worth a lot. We were actually the fastest car on the track today but to win a 24-hour race, you also need luck on your side.”
Mack Bakkum (Porsche Coanda Esports Racing Team #23):“Obviously we’re disappointed with how things turned out in the end. We lost a lot of time without being able to do anything about it. That’s always annoying. Everyone encountered problems, some were affected more than others. I’m really very proud of the team and how we worked together. That’s the most important thing at the end of the day. Hopefully, we can do better in the race next year.”
Bastian Buus (Porsche Coanda Esports Racing Team #23): “Porsche Coanda Esports put a huge amount of work into this project – more than I actually expected. It was fantastic to be part of this and to get the chance to learn. Looking ahead, I’m certain that I can take what I’ve learned from this endurance experience into the real world. The result was a bit unfortunate. A couple of situations that were out of our hands stopped us from achieving a better result. All four of us did a great job as drivers. All in all, I think things could have gone better, but they could also have been much worse.”
