until Abu Dhabi Autonomous Racing League
ByKolles took pole position for the 2020 virtual Le Mans 24 Hours on rFactor 2, as Jernej Simoncic topped LMP qualifying.
Regular The Race All-Star Series frontrunner Simoncic will share the ByKolles #4 car, run in partnership with the Burst Esport operation, with fellow simracer Jesper Pedersen, as well as Tom Dillmann – who drove for the team in the past two real Le Mans events – and WTCR star Esteban Guerrieri.
The whole flagship LMP class is equipped with Oreca LMP2 machinery, whereas in real-life Le Mans ByKolles enters the ENSO CLM P1/01 (pictured above).
Simoncic took the initial lead with a 3m23.683s around the midway point of the 20-minute LMP qualifying session, before shaving off four tenths with his final attempt in the dying seconds.
Simoncic’s final 2m23.380s lap left him with an advantage of just over two tenths over his nearest rival, Arne Schoonvliet of the WRT Team.
The 2 Seas Motorsport entry piloted by Devin Braune rounded out the top three.
Rebellion Williams Esport driver Jack Keithley was Simoncic’s closest rival midway through the session, and was marginally up on the pole lap after two sectors with his own last-gap effort – only to surrender time in the final sector and settle for fourth.
The Team Redline car that will have among its drivers current F1 racers Max Verstappen and Lando Norris will line up fifth thanks to Atze Kerkhof’s lap.
Though most teams elected to run their designated simracers in qualifying, Stoffel Vandoorne represented his Veloce crew according to the timing, and qualified a standout sixth, six tenths off pole.
The Fernando Alonso/Rubens Barrichello entry is due to line up 13th, thanks to the efforts of Jarl Teien.
Reigning real-life Le Mans champion Toyota had its three entries in 17th, 18th and 22nd.
#LeMans24Virtual – Pole position for #PorscheEsportsTeam #Porsche #911RSR No. 93. @JKRogers_92 set fastest lap during qualifying. No. 91 will start from P2 into @fiawec virtual @24hoursoflemans. P3 for @ProtonRacing #Porsche #911RSR No. 88 ahead of No. 92. P6 for No. 94 pic.twitter.com/Ki0lRlyQ9C
— Porsche Motorsport (@PorscheRaces) June 12, 2020
Porsche locked out the top three in the 20-minute GTE qualifying that had taken place prior.
Its pole-sitting car, the #93 911 RSR, was piloted by Porsche Esports Supercup champion Joshua Rogers.
