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Fernando Alonso and Rubens Barrichello will team up to compete in next month’s Le Mans 24 Hours virtual race, in a partnership with simulator company Allinsports.
The virtual event is taking place on the weekend that the real-life race had been originally scheduled for before being postponed to September by the coronavirus pandemic.
The grid for the virtual race has already attracted a star line-up – including current F1 drivers Max Verstappen, Lando Norris and Pierre Gasly.
Two-time F1 champion Alonso – who won the Le Mans 24 Hours with Toyota in 2018 and 2019 – and Barrichello are also teaming up with simracing stars Olli Pahkala and Jarl Teien.
“I’ve been very fortunate to have two victories at the 24 Hours of Le Mans in the past two years, but the level of competition for the virtual race could be even tougher,” said Alonso.“I’m thrilled to team up with Rubens and delighted to add Olli and Jarl to our team.
“Allinsports played a big role in getting both Rubens and I involved in sim racing, and we’re very excited to be working together with Anton [Stipinovich, Allinsports boss] and his team as well as the guys from Torque Esports who are putting this together.”
Both Alonso and Barrichello have had success in simracing during the current coronavirus disruption to real-life motorsport, as both count themselves among the race winners in the Legends Trophy contest as part of The Race All-Star Series powered by ROKiT Phones.
Barrichello won the Legends Trophy’s first reverse-grid race at NOLA back in April, while Alonso completed a spectacular double victory at the Indianapolis oval this past weekend.
Alonso’s former McLaren team-mate Jenson Button will also be on the grid with his partner team Rocket Motorsport, which has linked up with simracing outfit Zansho Simsport for its Le Mans entry.
The 2009 F1 champion will be partnered by Bentley works driver Alex Buncombe and simracers Jon von der Heyde and Matt Richards.
