The Bucket List Episode 5: Le Mans

I may be interested in racing simulators (so much so that I started a blog to talk about them), but I am also interested in racing games on the less realistic side of things. One of the best I've played is the original Race Driver Grid. One of the highlights of the career mode in that game was that you could be invited to enter the 24 Hours of Le Mans (for a twelve minute race, but still...), and that is something I wanted to replicate for the Bucket List.

For my first attempt at Le Mans, I would be entering into the GT Am class, driving a Ferrari 488 GTE, for a thirteen-lap race (about an hour of real time). My opponents would also be in the GTE class, although there would also be LMP2 prototypes running their own race. True enough, I would get lapped by most of the P2 cars during the race. It's definitely an interesting experience; running a race through the night, focusing on the road ahead while also glancing at the mirror to try and see a faster car approaching. I did lock the brakes up a couple of times (GTE cars get traction control but not ABS) and went off-track, but ended up finishing second in-class. Not bad. Not bad at all.

I used the Rollovers Endurance Pack for this event, which can be sourced from here. This includes the Toyota TS050 Hybrid from LMP1, the Oreca, Dallara and Ligier P2 prototypes, and the GTE class Aston Martin Vantage (both 2017 and 2018 specs), BMW M8, Ferrari 488 and Ford GT.

The Rollovers cars are decent, but I have since switched to the United Racing Design EGT cars, which I believe are vastly superior to the Rollovers GTE cars. If you are willing to pay for mods, I'd highly recommend picking up their AMR (Aston Martin Vantage), Bayro (BMW M8) and Detroit (Ford GT). There is also a freely-available 2018-spec Porsche 911 RSR.

Someone on RaceDepartment has created an "upgrade kit" to create a 488 GTE from the Kunos 488 GT3. As usual, you will need an RD account to download, and you will also need the 488 GT3 from the Red Pack DLC.

As for the Circuit de la Sarthe, I use this one from RaceDepartment. You could also use this Forza Motorsport 7 conversion, which has more detail but is also more framerate-intensive.