MAX Verstappen has hit back at the organisers of the Le Mans Virtual tournament, calling the event a “disaster”.
The reigning F1 World Champion made his comments after numerous disconnects caused him to fall out of contention for the race.
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The Virtual event allows drivers from all over the world to compete in a virtual version of the gruelling Le Mans 24-hour race.
This year’s event suffered numerous technical difficulties, including stuttering, interruptions, and disconnections.
Racers also complained of a confusing ruleset, and two several-hour-long interruptions caused by attacks on the servers.
Despite being a virtual event, it’s extremely popular with a number of F1 racers and brands.
However, Verstappen claims he will not participate in the event again after he took to Discord to call it a “disgrace for the sim racing community and all big brands and drivers involved.”
He continued: “This is not the first time we do this. I’ve literally been disconnected [from] three out of four events.
“You might think after the first or second time you learn. But this is just a disaster”.
The race is hosted on the rFactor 2 platform, which is what Verstappen blames for the numerous technical issues.
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Verstappen said: “The Le Mans organisation should really look at what they want moving forward.
“Because doing it on this platform is a clown show. I’m never competing again, and that’s all down to your incompetence.
“I hope many people will follow my lead, and we can build something nice somewhere else. Because all of us teams, brands and drivers deserve it.”
Many members of the community echoed Verstappen’s concerns, and hope that the event would move to a more stable competing platform such as iRacing.
However, Motorsport Games owns both the studio that developed rFactor 2, and the licences for NASCAR, Indycar and the Le Mans virtual event.
As such, it is unlikely to switch to another platform, despite rFactor 2’s history with poor quality multiplayer events.
Former F1 driver Romain Grosjean is a technical advisor for Motorsport Games.
He defended the event likening disconnects to engine failure.
Written by Georgina Young on behalf of GLHF.
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