Since February the BMW M8 GTE has been available on iRacing to the more than 85,000 members of the realistic simulation racing platform – and has been a firm favourite of the community ever since. The enthusiastic sim racers who regularly take to the track in the cockpit of BMW Motorsport’s GT flagship car include BMW works drivers Philipp Eng and Nick Catsburg, both of them also being in the driver line-up for the 24 Hours of Le Mans. Eng said: “I love simulation racing and spend all my free time doing it. I have the utmost respect for sim racers. You experience so many different situations in the races that you can definitely learn a lot as a real racing driver. It will be the perfect warm-up for Le Mans.”

The winners of the ‘Top Split’ – the top racing category on iRacing – will win a special prize: two BMW M Motorsport VIP tickets for the 24-hour race at Le Mans, including access to the hospitality zone, a ‘Welcome Package’ and a tour of the garage. The winners of a ‘Random Split’ selected at random will win one of two ClubSport BMW GT2 steering wheels made by Fanatec. The company focuses on the sim racing market and offers a wide range of steering wheels, high-quality pedals, transmissions, cockpits and much more. In the BMW M Motorsport VIP hospitality zone at the 24 Hours of Le Mans, two Fanatec simulators will be on hand to give guests at the track the opportunity to clock up race kilometres at the “Circuit de la Sarthe”. iRacing is one of the most authentic racing simulations in the world. The company was founded by Dave Kaemmer and John Henry in 2004.