2021 Virtual 24 Hours
2021 Virtual 24 Hours | |
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Previous: 2020 | Next: 2022 |
The 2021 Rolex Virtual 24 Hours of Daytona will be the 2nd Annual Virtual 24 Hour Race, taking place on 11-12 December 2020. The event will be the second running of the event created by the Automobile Club Virtuel to act as a final event of virtual motorsport's calendar year, and to celebrate the past season.
The race will feature bespoke Prototype cars in the headline category, alongside two classes dedicated to production-based GT cars - GT Le Mans for all-professional driver lineups, and GT Daytona, with amateur drivers. For the first time, an amateur subcategory will be added to the Prototype ranks. Additionally, an Innovative category will be included for the first time, with an entry from Quantum Industries Motorsport showcasing driverless car technology.
Concept
The race was devised as an event to conclude the calendar year, coinciding with the European off-season, to celebrate the year in virtual motorsport, and as a unique challenge within virtual motorsport.
Following the inaugural Virtual 24 Hour at the Nurburgring Nordschleife, the continental rotation of the event sees the first race to be held in North America, at the Daytona International Speedway Road Course in Daytona Beach, Florida - the first time an FVA-affiliated race will take place at the venue. The class winners will each be awarded with commemorative Rolex Virtual watches for victory in the event.
Entries
Entry process
Entry invites for the 2021 Virtual 24 Hour were extended to all teams currently competing in a virtual motorsport series, as well as all other interested parties, with the entry period beginning on Saturday 21st August, and closing on Sunday 12th September. Due to the capacity limits of the venue, the race grid will be capped to 43 entries, and a surge in the event's popularity resulted in an XX car entry, and increase of YY over last year's 32 car grid, with XY Prototypes (XZ in P-PRO and XA in P-AM), XB GT Le Mans and XC GT Daytona cars.
Entry List
Testing and Pre-qualifying
The test week will incorporate four days of running, a one day increase on the 2020 running of the race. This is due to the oversubscribed grid, with testing now incorporating the pre-qualifying session for the Virtual 24 Hour Race.
Pre-qualifying format
Each class was guaranteed a minimum of seven entries on the grid, with classes above that threshold being subject to pre-qualifying. The top three teams from each class in the 2020 running of the event automatically qualified to the 2021 race. Each driver in every team must drive in one of the opening three days, with the aggregate time of the three drivers used to rank each entry. Depending on the entry within the class, the top ranked cars will then automatically qualify according to the entry in the class, while the lowest cars will compete to qualify for the Virtual 24 Hour race on day four of testing, with each team nominating a driver to compete.
Class | Entries | In Race | At Risk on Day 4 |
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P-PRO | 21 | 18 | 10 |
P-AM | 5 | 5 | 0 |
GT LM | 14 | 12 | 7 |
GT D | 7 | 7 | 0 |
INNO | 1 | 1 | 0 |
Total | 48 | 43 | 14 |
Any non-qualifying entries will be placed on the reserve list in case of any withdrawals from the cars who have qualified. Should an entry fail to qualify, a maximum of one driver from that car may be placed in another car being run by the same team in another professional category.
Automatic Entries
The overall and class winners are offered a guaranteed spot at the 2021 Virtual 24 Hour Race, avoiding the need for pre-qualifying during test week. This will be allocated to a car prior to the start of test week, granting that car a "Protected Entry". Should the car not be in a qualifying position after the three days of testing, they will be added to the list of qualifiers, and will not be replaced in the pre-qualifying session.
Category | No. | 2020 Winner | Protected 2021 Entry |
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Prototype Pro | 9 | ![]() |
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GT Le Mans | 91 | ![]() |
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GT Daytona | 18 | ![]() |
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Results
Note:
Bold: Automatic Qualifier to the 2021 Virtual 24 Hour Race
Italics: Did not qualify for the 2021 Virtual 24 Hour Race
Post-testing balance of performance changes
Following testing, the ACV reserves the right to alter the Balance of Performance in both the Prototype and GT classes to ensure parity between competitors heading into the week of the race.