In what is set to be the most entered iRacing Special Event of the season, the 24 Hours of Daytona powered by VCO top split was won overall by Williams Esports.
Images: VCO
Ahead of the real-world Rolex 24, iRacing held its own 24 Hours of Daytona Special Event, with three classes of car across 50 entries in the top split.
The #5 Willimas Esports Acura secured pole position for the day-long race, just 0.036s ahead of its #6 team colleague.
In LMP2, it was the #23 WSR Esports entry 0.047s ahead of Simufy Esports, while the GTD field was headed by Williams once again – the #3 Ferrari leading its team-mate #1. Only the 296 GT3 and AMG GT3 were represented in this category, despite four other cars available.
As the pace car entered pitroad to start the race, drama unfurled for Luca Alpert in the #9 Scherer Esport Blue Porsche GTP, spearing across the field and collecting the Mahle BMW of Niklas Beu. The #21 Team Redline car, meanwhile, spun at the Horseshoe as the pack contracted.
However, upfront, it was Josh Lad leading Atte Kauppinen for a Williams one-two in the early stages.
iRacing Daytona 24 2024 dramatic race start. Image: VCO
As the race progressed, however, drama befell the leading #5 GTP, when Lehouck Arthur disconnected while leading. Coanda Esports’ #81 lost two laps during repairs after slamming into the wall following contact with the #17 JM Esports LMP2. That same #17 would also collide with the aforementioned Mahle BMW GTP, ending its race.
By the halfway stage, the #6 WIlliams led overall, and despite a late push by Dominik Hofmann of Drago Racing, it crossed the line to win the top split – Kauppinen joined by Moreno Sirica, Carl Jansson and real-world IndyCar driver Agustín Canapino.
In LMP2, WSR Esports won with consummate ease thanks to Lukas Prada, Lukas Lindqvist, Robin Glerum and Alexander Davidson.
Max Verstappen wins GTD with Team Redline, iRacing Daytona 24 2024. Image: VCO
GTD was hotly contested throughout, with the lead swapping several times. The Apex Racing #199 AMG led after three hours, jumping the Williams Ferraris.
But by the end, it was the #4 Team Redline entry that won, with the team making use of canny slipstream and bump draft techniques. Max Verstappen, Ole Steinbraten and Gianni Vecchio took the chequered flag first.
Luca Munro, United Sim Team, iRacing Daytona 24 2024
Angus Martin, also in a Caddy, finished 16th in his split for 93″ Motorsport. Finally, René Buttler and Michel Wolk teamed up with Luca Gramke and two OverTake Discord members – Stefan Schlacher and (engineer) Ashley Johnson. Streamed on Twitch, as you can see by the image below, their efforts came to an unfortunate and premature end…
René Buttler Motorsport, iRacing Daytona 24 2024
In 2023, Myers claimed 16,651 drivers, so a year-on-year dip by a scant four per cent. Regardless, a mightily impressive turnout across the available time slots and undoubtedly why it is touted as one of the largest sim racing events.
For those who race on different platforms, there are two RaceDepartment Racing Club events later this week also at Daytona. One using LMDh and GT3 cars within Automobilista 2 on Thursday 25th January and a second on rFactor 2 a day later.
Update: Following Myers’ posts and the publication of this article, iRacing is now quoting 18,575 total drivers in 2024 (as opposed to unique drivers) up from 16,651 'declared drivers' in 2023 – an 11.5 per cent increase in entrants if you classify 'declared' as unique, or as originally stated here, a dip if you call 'declared' as the total.
Did you take part in the iRacing event? If so, let us know how you got on in the comments below.
Images: VCO
Ahead of the real-world Rolex 24, iRacing held its own 24 Hours of Daytona Special Event, with three classes of car across 50 entries in the top split.
The #5 Willimas Esports Acura secured pole position for the day-long race, just 0.036s ahead of its #6 team colleague.
In LMP2, it was the #23 WSR Esports entry 0.047s ahead of Simufy Esports, while the GTD field was headed by Williams once again – the #3 Ferrari leading its team-mate #1. Only the 296 GT3 and AMG GT3 were represented in this category, despite four other cars available.
As the pace car entered pitroad to start the race, drama unfurled for Luca Alpert in the #9 Scherer Esport Blue Porsche GTP, spearing across the field and collecting the Mahle BMW of Niklas Beu. The #21 Team Redline car, meanwhile, spun at the Horseshoe as the pack contracted.
However, upfront, it was Josh Lad leading Atte Kauppinen for a Williams one-two in the early stages.
As the race progressed, however, drama befell the leading #5 GTP, when Lehouck Arthur disconnected while leading. Coanda Esports’ #81 lost two laps during repairs after slamming into the wall following contact with the #17 JM Esports LMP2. That same #17 would also collide with the aforementioned Mahle BMW GTP, ending its race.
By the halfway stage, the #6 WIlliams led overall, and despite a late push by Dominik Hofmann of Drago Racing, it crossed the line to win the top split – Kauppinen joined by Moreno Sirica, Carl Jansson and real-world IndyCar driver Agustín Canapino.
In LMP2, WSR Esports won with consummate ease thanks to Lukas Prada, Lukas Lindqvist, Robin Glerum and Alexander Davidson.
GTD was hotly contested throughout, with the lead swapping several times. The Apex Racing #199 AMG led after three hours, jumping the Williams Ferraris.
But by the end, it was the #4 Team Redline entry that won, with the team making use of canny slipstream and bump draft techniques. Max Verstappen, Ole Steinbraten and Gianni Vecchio took the chequered flag first.
iRacing 24 Hours of Daytona Top Split 2024 results
GTP
- Atte Kauppinen, Moreno Sirica, Agustín Canapino, Carl E Jansson - #6 Williams Esports Playseat – 920 laps
- Dominik Hofmann, Przemyslaw Marek Lemanek, Timo Roorda - #69 Drago Racing GTP +6.375
- Joshua K Rogers, Zac Campbell, Elvis Rankin - #8 VRS Coanda +33.481
- Diogo C. Pinto, Chris Lulham, Sebastian Job - #20 BMW M Team Redline +1:00.434
- Yohann Harth, Peter Berryman, Kevin Ellis Jr - #98 Apex Racing Team +1 lap
LMP2
- Alexander Davidson, Lukas Prada, Robin Glerum, Lukas Lindqvist - #23 WSR Esports ButtKicker
- Gabriele Mini, Andrea Bristot, Alessandro Marras - #120 MAG Performance LMP +1 lap
- Jürgen Frank, Antti Ahola, Corentin Guinez, Marvin Strehl - #76 SIMRC +1 lap
- Mack Bakkum, Bobby Zalenski, Xander Reed, Tommy Østgaard - #12 VRS Coanda +1 lap
- Samuel L Ward, Anjan Amuthan, Lewis Woods, Kash Dabasia - #114 Team PGZ +3 laps
GTD
- Max Verstappen, Gianni Vecchio, Ole Steinbraten - #4 Team Redline
- Jimmy Antunes, Luke McKeown, Alex Dunne, Maxence Godiinho - #199 Stormforce ART +1 lap
- Gustavo Ariel, Josh Thompson, Florian A Lebigre, Alexey Nesov - #2 Team Redline +1 lap
- Alessandro Bico, Sota Muto, Parker White - #1 Williams Esports BenQ +3 laps
- Tristan Iglesias, David Bozga, Gabi Montoro - #14 Simufy Esports GTS +3 laps
RaceDepartment Team Efforts
While the OverTake and RaceDepartment editors didn’t touch the top split, several entered. Yannik Haustein finished 14th driving the GTP Cadillac for the SimRacing Buddies podcast entry in his split, while Luca Munro using the same vehicle for United Sim Team also made the finish in 11th.
Angus Martin, also in a Caddy, finished 16th in his split for 93″ Motorsport. Finally, René Buttler and Michel Wolk teamed up with Luca Gramke and two OverTake Discord members – Stefan Schlacher and (engineer) Ashley Johnson. Streamed on Twitch, as you can see by the image below, their efforts came to an unfortunate and premature end…
Nearly 16,000 Entrants
According to iRacing’s Executive Vice President Steve Myers, 15,983 unique drivers participated in the 2024 running of its virtual 24 Hours of Daytona.In 2023, Myers claimed 16,651 drivers, so a year-on-year dip by a scant four per cent. Regardless, a mightily impressive turnout across the available time slots and undoubtedly why it is touted as one of the largest sim racing events.
For those who race on different platforms, there are two RaceDepartment Racing Club events later this week also at Daytona. One using LMDh and GT3 cars within Automobilista 2 on Thursday 25th January and a second on rFactor 2 a day later.
Update: Following Myers’ posts and the publication of this article, iRacing is now quoting 18,575 total drivers in 2024 (as opposed to unique drivers) up from 16,651 'declared drivers' in 2023 – an 11.5 per cent increase in entrants if you classify 'declared' as unique, or as originally stated here, a dip if you call 'declared' as the total.
Did you take part in the iRacing event? If so, let us know how you got on in the comments below.
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