Fifty-three-year-old Olivier Panis, veteran of 158 Formula One Grands Prix including a win at Monaco in 1996, and of four appearances in the Le Mans 24 Hours, is up for the challenge. He will be joining forces with his 25-year-old son Aurélien, an experienced single-seater and endurance racer in his own right. Panis Jr is signed up from July as a Lexus works driver in GT3 with Tech1 Racing. However, as he freely admits, he has yet to experience Le Mans. Panis and son have teamed up with two sim racers from Triple A e-Sports, an outfit specialising in an activity in which Olivier invested a few months ago, before lockdown and the ensuing boom in the discipline.

As soon as the idea of the Virtual 24 Hours of Le Mans was mooted, Panis knew that the event was almost tailor-made for them. “As soon as I heard about this project, I said ‘Yes’ straight away. It’s a great idea and I wanted in! I’ve even entered two cars as I thought it’d be fun to partner Aurélien in an LMP2,” says Panis, who heads Panis Racing with Sarah and Simon Abadie of Tech1 Racing.

Two Panis Racing Triple A e-Sports LMP2s will therefore line up on the Virtual 24 Hours of Le Mans grid with 48 other entries at 15:00 on 13 June.  Olivier and Aurélien will take control of the #9 Oreca 07 along with sim racers Nuno Pinto and Adam Pinczes. The #31 Oreca 07 will be in the hands of Tristan Vautier and Nicolas Jamin and two esports specialists, Hany Alsabti and Thibault Cazaubon.

PULLING NO PUNCHES

Since the selection committee comprising motorsport and esport experts announced the 50-strong entry list from the 85 applications received, the Panis family have been training hard in their own homes, on their own simulator. “Every night we spend time driving together,” says Dad. “We have set up the program on our server and can therefore assess each other’s performance as we drive by talking over the radio. We pull no punches!” Panis jokes, excited and ultra-motivated by the prospect of tackling this new adventure with his offspring. “I haven’t raced at Le Mans since 2011 and here I am, back for a sim race! It’s a whole new world though, and very different to our environment. The pro sim racers are experts, with their own language. They don’t talk about completing so many kilometres in testing, but that they’ve done 600,000 hours on a simulator! I’m sure that motorsport and esport have things to learn from each other. In my view, this concept of mixing the two worlds in the same crews is marvellous. The event set up by the ACO, the FIA WEC and Motorsport Games is a great initiative that I think will be a benchmark for the future.” Apart from an appearance in the Race Legends Trophy at Circuit Zandvoort, Panis is a novice in the discipline. He is a willing learner. “Of course, they give me a hiding but I want to progress,” he says. “I don’t want to be the one who holds up the team.”

Esport holds fewer secrets for his son. Aurélien often prepares his track races on a simulator and has already taken part in sim racing events with friends. He is more comfortable in the esport environment and familiar with its codes and language. He is counting on tips from Pinto and Pinczes to produce fast times on a circuit he has never negotiated ‘for real’. “We talk a lot about the data, our lap figures and about software programs. In a way, it’s quite a similar way of working to what we’re used to in motor racing. The big difference is the feeling you don’t get in a simulator. You don’t get a feel for the car, the speed and how it is behaving. It can be bewildering when you start. The sim racers give us tips to go faster. We can’t yet talk about our lap times,” he laughs, “but we’re doing our utmost to get close to theirs. The interesting thing about the mix of pro drivers and sim racing experts in the line-ups is that strategy will come into it. When should we put the sim racers in against pro drivers in the rival teams? How do we make up time? It promises to be a tightly fought race. And when you see the names coming on to the grid...”

The Panis clan know that every minute of practice they can get on their own simulators will be beneficial as they prepare for the Virtual 24 Hours. “We are ramping up the number of practice sessions. I’ve already driven at night but alone, so it’s a bit boring, but it will be fun when the full grid is there,” Olivier says. “During the 24 Hours, as my simulator is in my bedroom, I’ll soon be able to get some sleep when I’m not driving! We have taken the regulations on board and checked the driver changeover procedures so we can plan everything for the race. We shall even have the Panis Racing strategist and a specialist esport guy with us for the race. We want to do well. It’s a race, not a game!”

The first official practice sessions will be held tomorrow (Friday 29 May) with a three-hour test race.