On Friday, ahead of this weekend’s iconic 24 Hours of Le Mans race around the Circuit de la Sarthe in France, the event’s organizer, the Automobile Club de l’Ouest, and the Motorsport Network announced the launch of a new esports racing series.
“We know from the worldwide fan survey we carried out last year that we have a growing number of younger fans following us on social media. This series allows us to create and grow an esports community of gamers specific to endurance racing,” said Gérard Neveu, CEO of the FIA’s World Endurance Championship, in a statement.
“These young fans already know the stars of our paddock, the cars they drive and the circuits we visit and this allows us to speak to them directly via a medium they love—and one they are very good at.
The Le Mans esports series will run on the Forza Motorsport platform created by Microsoft Studios. Forza games are available on Xbox and Windows. The events will be managed by esports company Glory4Gamers.
The series will be made available online at the FIA WEC round in Silverstone on Aug. 18, and that will be followed by offline qualifying events at further WEC rounds over the next year. The Asia qualifier will be at Fuji, Japan, in October, the Europe and Middle East qualifier at the Autosport International Show in Birmingham, U.K., in January, and the U.S. and Latin America qualifier at Sebring, Fla., in March.
“Why not imagine in the future these gaming masters meeting up with some of our on-track masters—maybe even at the Grand Final of the esports series which will coincide with the final round of our WEC Super Season, the 24 Hours of Le Mans next June,” Neveu said.