RD Le Mans Series | Hall of Fame

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Yoeri Gijsen

Premium
RDLMS Season 1 (2009/2010)

The inaugural season of the RaceDepartment Le Mans Series was a by all mean a pilot season. It came off with a rocky start and the organising staff would face plenty of issues during the season. For that reason, amongst others, no championship standings were kept.

The first race got cancelled due to severe server lag and could not be rescheduled in RaceDepartment's busy league calendar. That meant the first actual race of RDLMS would be held in Italy on Old Ring Park. Like many races that season, it would be a race of attrition that ended up with an unlikely winner. For the first and last time during RDLMS' history the race would be won by a non-P1 car. SBI would be the only P2 overall winner ever. It's however not like that didn't come close to repetition: AGP Consortium dragged their car to the finish at Le Mans, having had a tough race and being the only surviving P1 competitor.

Another first and last was achieved by Tristan Bayless who would win the 6 Hours of Rattlesnake Point for DHR SimCraft without swapping drivers.

The most dominant team in the series would be the GT2 entry of Simracing For Holland who won four out of five races. A sign for future seasons...

Calendar
Round 1 | 6 Hours of Road America | October 17, 2009 (Cancelled)
Round 2 | 8 Hours of Old Ring Park | December 19, 2009
Round 3 | 6 Hours of Rattlesnake Point | February 13, 2010
Round 4 | 8 Hours of Fuji | April 10, 2012
Round 5 | 12 Hours of Le Mans | June 5, 2010
Round 6 | 6 Hours of Sebring | August 21, 2010

P1 (Prototypes)
Round 2 | Rare Endurance Team 1 | Creation CA06
Round 3 | DHR SimCraft 1 | Creation CA06 | Overall winner
Round 4 | Roaring Pipes Maniacs 1 | Creation CA06 | Overall winner
Round 5 | Rare Endurance Team 1 | Creation CA06 | Overall winner
Round 6 | SimRacing For Holland P1 | Creation CA06 | Overall winner

P2 (Prototypes)
Round 2 | SBI Racing | Courage C65 Ford | Overall winner
Round 3 | Black Visor Motorsport 1 | Porsche RS Spyder
Round 4 | Three Sixty Racing | Porsche RS Spyder
Round 5 | Three Sixty Racing | Porsche RS Spyder
Round 6 | Three Sixty Racing | Porsche RS Spyder

GT1 (Grand Touring)
Round 2 | Simracing For Holland GT1 | Corvette C6.R
Round 3 | Precision Motorsports | Aston Martin DBR9
Round 4 | DHR SimCraft 2 | Aston Martin DBR9
Round 5 | SimRacing Zone France | Aston Martin DBR9
Round 6 | DHR SimCraft 2 | Aston Martin DBR9

GT2 (Grand Touring)
Round 2 | Simracing For Holland GT2 | Porsche 997 RSR
Round 3 | Simracing For Holland GT2 | Porsche 997 RSR
Round 4 | DHR SimCraft 3 | Porsche 997 RSR
Round 5 | Simracing For Holland GT2 | Porsche 997 RSR
Round 6 | Simracing For Holland GT2 | Porsche 997 RSR
 

Yoeri Gijsen

Premium
RDLMS Season 2 (2010/2011)

Season 2 of the RaceDepartment Le Mans Series already looked a lot more solid than its previous season. More rules we established, which for example dealt with driver swap procedures. It did not prevent the organisers from showing mercy to Satellite Racing's Mike Smulcheski who drove his Audi over the finish more dead than alive after having raced it for eight straight hours. His team mate had trouble connecting. The competition would still be troubled by attrition from rFactor's instability, but precautions were taken to reduce connection casualties. It showed in the very first race of the season - the 6 Hours of Monza - where 27 teams would make it to the finish line. A record not broken until the start of the fourth season.

Halfway through the season a new set of cars became available, which allowed teams to choose from a faster set of prototypes. All but one prototype team immediately swapped cars for the 6 Hours of Sebring. Only RARE Endurance - two time class winners in season one - wouldn't part from their Creation. They came back from that decision after being obliterated in practise. It would be the last time a petrol-engined P1 car would enter a session in RDLMS. In the GT class the Saleen was the only newcomer, but it won only one race and only by outlasting every other GT1 car during the 8 Hours of Fuji. The 21st Century Faux car didn't make it to the finish line, but covered the most distance in class anyway and grabbed the spoils of victory.

Again the most dominant entry was the GT2 entry by Simracing For Holland, now named Simracing.NL under a different team owner, because Simacing For Holland had already entered the maximum of two cars. One of them won the GT1 championship with two wins. Simracing.NL took four out of five in the GT2 class. The fifth was taken by AGP Consortium in the fashion of their Le Mans win the previous season - by simply outlasting the rest.

Calendar
Round 1 | 6 Hours of Monza | November 13, 2010
Round 2 | 8 Hours of Daytona | December 18, 2010
Round 3 | 6 Hours of Sebring | February 12, 2011
Round 4 | 8 Hours of Fuji | April 9, 2011
Round 5 | 12 Hours of Le Mans | June 4, 2011

P1 (Prototypes)
Championship | Three Sixty Racing | Zytek 06S & Peugeot 908 HDI
Round 1 | White Racing | Creation CA06 | Overall Winner
Round 2 | Three Sixty Racing | Zytek 06S | Overall Winner
Round 3 | White Racing | Audi R10 TDI | Overall Winner
Round 4 | Simracing For Holland | Audi R10 TDI | Overall Winner
Round 5 | AGP Consortium | Peugeot 908 HDI | Overall Winner

P2 (Prototypes)
Championship | Tam's International | Porsche RS Spyder & Acura ARX-01B
Round 1 | SimRacing Spain | Porsche RD Spyder
Round 2 | R4R Motorsports | Courage C65 Mazda
Round 3 | Tam's International | Acura ARX-01
Round 4 | SimRacing Spain | Porsche RD Spyder Evo
Round 5 | ME Racing | Acura ARX-01

GT1 (Grand Touring)
Championship | Simracing For Holland | Corvette C6.R
Round 1 | 05 Motorsport | Corvette C6.R
Round 2 | DHR Simcraft | Aston Martin DBR9
Round 3 | Simracing For Holland | Corvette C6.R
Round 4 | 21st Century Faux | Saleen S7R
Round 5 | Simracing For Holland | Corvette C6.R

GT2 (Grand Touring)
Championship | Simracing.NL | Porsche 997 RSR
Round 1 | Simracing.NL | Porsche 997 RSR
Round 2 | AGP Consortium | Porsche 997 RSR
Round 3 | Simracing.NL | Porsche 997 RSR
Round 4 | Simracing.NL | Porsche 997 RSR
Round 5 | Simracing.NL | Porsche 997 RSR
 

Yoeri Gijsen

Premium
RDLMS Season 3 (2011/2012)

The third season of the RaceDepartment Le Mans Series saw a new organiser taking over. Yoeri Gijsen stepped aside for George Talbot who took the series to yet a higher level. This season was to be held in the fashion of the American Le Mans Series. Four American venues were put on the calendar, but the season finale would be held at Le Mans, just like the previous season.

The most significant change with previous season was the increase in server stability, which allowed for a larger field. The GT1 class got removed, which in turn allowed for bigger field in the other classes. Event though the Season 2 Monza record was broken, a higher average number or survivors crossed the finish line.

The championship excitement was mostly restricted to the prototypes. In both these classes the championship was decided at Le Mans and two new champion teams were added to the RDLMS Hall of Fame. Not so much in the GT class. 05 Motorsports ran away with everything, only really being in trouble in the early stages of the Sebring race when their Porsche got caught in a crash between the two leading P1 cars. Sebring's already horrible final turn was an even bigger mess for a few moments. It didn't matter in the end. 05 Motorsports managed to get back in the lead. Their impressive lineup included Simracing For Holland's eight-time winner Wilfred van den Brink who defended the honors in absence of his team. He would add five more victories this season, becoming the most successful driver in RDLMS. That record would be extended into Season 4.

Whereas the previous seasons had quickly succeeded each other, a fourth season would not go live for about a year, after which RDLMS returned with a new edge.

Calendar
Round 1 | 10 Hours of Sebring | October 15, 2011
Round 2 | 6 Hours of Road America | November 19, 2011
Round 3 | 8 Hours of Daytona | December 17, 2011
Round 4 | 8 Hours of Road Atlanta | January 14, 2012
Round 5 | 12 Hours of Le Mans | February 11, 2012

P1 (Prototypes)
Championship | Atlantic Racing Team 1 | Audi R10 TDI
Round 1 | Atlantic Racing Team 1 | Audi R10 TDI | Overall Winner
Round 2 | Team rSeat.fr | Peugeot 908 HDI | Overall Winner
Round 3 | Atlantic Racing Team 1 | Audi R10 TDI | Overall Winner
Round 4 | GT Omega Racing P1 | Audi R10 TDI | Overall Winner
Round 5 | Torrent Motorsports | Audi R10 TDI | Overall Winner

P2 (Prototypes)
Championship | R4R Motosports | Acura ARX-01B
Round 1 | R4R Motosports | Acura ARX-01B
Round 2 | GT Omega Racing P2 | Acura ARX-01B
Round 3 | GT Omega Racing P2 | Acura ARX-01B
Round 4 | SIMCO Hungarian Team | Acura ARX-01B
Round 5 | R4R Motosports | Acura ARX-01B

GT (Grand Touring)
Championship | 05 Motorsport | Porsche 997 RSR
Round 1 | 05 Motorsport | Porsche 997 RSR
Round 2 | 05 Motorsport | Porsche 997 RSR
Round 3 | 05 Motorsport | Porsche 997 RSR
Round 4 | 05 Motorsport | Porsche 997 RSR
Round 5 | 05 Motorsport | Porsche 997 RSR
 

Yoeri Gijsen

Premium
RDLMS Season 4 (2013)

The fourth season of the RaceDepartment Le Mans Series would be the shortest season yet, though that did not right to the average race length that exceeded all of the previous season. It saw the Sebring and Le Mans events grow to lengths of their life counterparts - 12 and 24 hours respectively. The most significant change this season was the introduction of a rejoin system that allowed for individual teams to re-enter the race after disconnecting and for the organisation to perform a restart after server crashes. The effect of these changes was that the finish rate of the field increased drastically, keeping the races lively for their entire duration.

The events were coloured by the most competitive Prototype 1 field to date, with a handful of teams seriously contending for the victories throughout the season, rather than the two or three that would claim all spoils in previous seasons. It showed from the fact that the four races yielded four different winners, with a couple of more teams barely biting the dust. Le Mans would be the decider as the top four sat within 6 points of each other. The French team rSeat.fr took it on home ground and claimed the title. Their GT1 counterparts fought a season-long battle with NoLimit Motorsport and succeeded in the style of their P1 entry, leaving the Germans to settle for second after having lead a large portion of the 24 hours.

The Prototype 2 grew out to be a prey for Hell Racing Team Hungary, who finished the season strong with a win in Road America and a podium at Le Mans after having already scored 3rd in Silverstone. They left their closest rivals - SIMCO Hungarian Team - to look a quite a gap in the end.

The return of Simracing For Holland to RDLMS spelled doom to the chances of their rival teams. The competition was nonetheless quite strong in the top end of the GT2 field, with Brigata Orse, eRacing Propulsion and Core Motorsports providing strong resistance throughout the season's events. They fell short in the end, though, and often fell back to leave to spoils to other teams. Simracing For Holland took three of the four victories, confidently beating Brigata Orso and Simrace Vereniging Nederland in the standings, as well as extending Wilfred van den Brink's record amount of class victories. He won in sixteen of the nineteen events of RDLMS.

Season 4 would be the last season in rFactor. It would also be the last season of the series under this name. With the move to rFactor 2 a new label was put on the series to suit a new era of endurance racing at RaceDepartment.

Calendar
Round 1 | 8 Hours of Silverstone | April 6, 2013
Round 2 | 12 hours of Sebring | April 27, 2013
Round 3 | 10 Hours of Road America | June 15, 2013
Round 4 | 24 Hours of Le Mans | July 13, 2013

P1 (Prototypes)
Championship | rSeat.fr Racing Team | Peugeot 908 HDI
Round 1 | Twister Racing | Audi R10 TDI | Overall Winner
Round 2 | Fenix Motorsport P1 | Peugeot 908 HDI | Overall Winner
Round 3 | SimRace Vereniging Nederland P1 | Peugeot 908 HDI | Overall Winner
Round 4 | rSeat.fr Racing Team | Peugeot 908 HDI | Overall Winner

P2 (Prototypes)
Championship | Hell Racing Team Hungary | Acura ARX-01B
Round 1 | Fenix Motorsport P2 | Acura ARX-01B
Round 2 | Portugal Racing Team | Acura ARX-01B
Round 3 | Hell Racing Team Hungary | Acura ARX-01B
Round 4 | THR | Acura ARX-01B

GT1 (Grand Touring)
Championship | rSeat.co.uk Racing Team | Corvette C6.R
Round 1 | rSeat.co.uk Racing Team | Corvette C6.R
Round 2 | NoLimit Motorsport GT1 | Corvette C6.R
Round 3 | NoLimit Motorsport GT1 | Corvette C6.R
Round 4 | rSeat.co.uk Racing Team | Corvette C6.R

GT2 (Grand Touring)
Championship | Simracing For Holland GT2 | Porsche 997 RSR
Round 1 | Simracing For Holland GT2 | Porsche 997 RSR
Round 2 | eRacing Propulsion GT2 | Porsche 997 RSR
Round 3 | Simracing For Holland GT2 | Porsche 997 RSR
Round 4 | Simracing For Holland GT2 | Porsche 997 RSR

 
Last edited:

Yoeri Gijsen

Premium
RDLMS Season 5 (2013)
The change of software from rFactor to rFactor 2 meant a lot of changes to the championship. Therefore the organisers decided to create a new brand for the series altogether: Virtual World Endurance Championship. The state of rFactor 2 required for quite some extensive tests and exploration of game's mechanics and stability. The 2013 then was to be a pilot season, which showed painfully from the fact that the 6 Hours of Sepang became un official race after issues with the software and the server made if impossible to produce reliable results for the race.

The issues were resolved for the remaining two races which were also held in Asia. The 8 Hours of Bahrain fell prey to the Project Resistance entries who sweeped the place in all three classes. Their main teams won both the GT1 and GT2 classes and their sister team, PRTeam.es, conquered a GT4 victory.

In Losail though only the GT2 team could live up to the reputation they had built in Bahrain. The PR Corvette won again, but the other team had no such successes. The GT1 was withdrawn shortly before the race and the GT4 team saw their championship snatched away, even though they came in third. It was SimRace Vereniging Nederland that claimed the title with two second-place finishes. The Losail event was however a Speden Spelit show. The entire field went at least one lap down to their relentless pace and consistency. Without Project Resistance to challenge them they grabbed the championship clean and easy.

Calendar
Round 1 | 6 Hours of Sepang | 12 October 2013 (unofficial race)
Round 2 | 8 Hours of Bahrain | 16 November 2013
Round 3 | 12 Hours of Losail | 14 December 2013

GT1 (Grand Touring)
Championship | Speden Spelit | Nissan GT-R |
Round 2 | Project Resistance Racing | Nissan GT-R | Overall Winner
Round 3 | Speden Spelit | Nissan GT-R | Overall Winner

GT2 (Grand Touring)
Championship | Project Resistance Racing | Chevrolet Corvette C6.R
Round 2 | Project Resistance Racing | Chevrolet Corvette C6.R
Round 3 | Project Resistance Racing | Chevrolet Corvette C6.R

GT4 (Grand Touring)
Championship | SimRace Vereniging Nederland | Nissan 370z
Round 2 | PRTeam.es | Nissan 370z
Round 3 | Roaring Pipes Maniacs | Nissan 370z

 
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