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6th Endurance Race by THR

12 Heures du Mans 2026 - WSC Legends 60s

Dear Vintage Endurance Simracing Enthusiasts,

THRacing welcomes you to the 2026 edition of our 12 Heures du Mans. Using Assetto Corsa, we will descend upon the cathedral of endurance racing: the world famous Circuit de la Sarthe in Le Mans!

We have invited 14 fellow simracing communities to join us in this race:

  • ACF - Assetto Corsa Friends
  • ASRL - Americas Sim Racing League
  • CRS - Cockpit Racing Simulation
  • CVR - Classic Vintage Racers
  • RAC - Retro Auto Club
  • RC SIMRACING CLASSIX
  • RRL - Revival Racing League
  • RS - Revival Series
  • S2R - Sim2Real
  • SM - Syndicate Motorsports
  • SROL - SimRaceOnline
  • SRU - Simracing United
  • vA - virtueller Asphalt
  • VR - VirtualRacing.org

We'll have a full starting grid with great drivers and a superb race.
And we are looking forward to it!

Table of Contents

Updates

  • 2026_01_12: watch this space

How to Participate

Downloads

Mandatory Downloads

Apps

  • Custom Shaders Patch version 0.1.78 or newer
    (avoid CSP 0.2.5 Public because of a Lighting FX defect that breaks the CSP lighting on cars!)
  • SOL (free) or its premium successor Pure to facilitate the day/night transition
    (be sure to check version compatibility between your CSP and SOL/Pure versions)
  • Real Penalty (manual installation required: necessary for Driver Swap & Penalty handling)

Cars

Carefully read the installation instructions of each car pack on the linked page.

Installation advice:

  • Back up the custom skins that you want to keep
  • Unpack the RAR files on your PC manually
  • Make a clean installation of the cars: either manually into content\cars, or in small batches via CM.
  • Download & install the 4 official skinpacks that belong to the carpacks with the same procedure.
  • Restart your Content Manager afterwards, to ensure all new content is loaded.

Track

  • Preliminary Track for Prequalifying:
    based on racinjoe013's Le Mans 1967 v1.0.5, THR custom layout with working sand piles
  • IMPORTANT: we will upgrade to a further-improved track layout before the event qualifying begins. We will notify you in the Endurance Announcements channel in our Discord.

Optional Recommended Downloads

Apps

  • Unbound (from the in-game CSP App Shelf):
    • in the event of a pedal defect, this lets you turn on the hazard lights and it can give throttle/brake inputs via mouse to limp the car to the pits (drag & right-click to lock an input level)
  • Substanding Extended
  • Blinker Sound App (to hear your blinker)
  • Dashboard Indicators (in case your car does not have a dash light for the blinker)

Car Skinpacks

Configuration Requirements

  • Confirm that your CSP & Sol/Pure installations, including controller script selection in Weather FX, are compatible with each other. You can verify that through the readme of your Sol / Pure versions before you install and activate them. If you combine incompatible versions, you will encounter severe glitches regarding brightness levels during day/night transitions and at night
  • PPFilter & sun ray settings that allow for sufficient vision by day, night and sunrise/sunset on a single setting

CSP Car Instruments Settings

  • Set "Headlights will break in crashes" to OFF: failing to obey this ruined the race of 4 teams in 2022.
  • Set "Use high beams mode by default" to ON

CSP Lighting FX Settings

You must enable Lighting FX because all cars rely on it for CSP-based lighting features.

Controls Patch Settings

You are expected to configure the following yellow-highlighted inputs in SETTINGS -> CONTROLS -> PATCH to an input that you can use while driving.

Mandatory:

  • Hazard lights: all cars are equipped with hazard lights. If you crashed and bent your suspension in a way that enables you to limp back to the pits safely as long as you reduce your speed, you need to turn on the hazard lights to warn the drivers behind you that you are in trouble!
  • High/low beam toggle: please enable yourself to toggle between high & low beam headlights because this has a significant impact on how far ahead you can see while driving at night. In practice, CSP should already have set the checkbox under "Settings / CSP / Car Instruments: Input Options: Use high beams mode by default" to YES by default. It's enough to have this somewhere on your keyboard because you won't toggle this more than once, and ideally never.

Strongly wished, but we recognize that not everyone has enough buttons or keys in reach:

  • Turn Signals left & right: all cars are equipped with turn signals that work on all cars until at least their first Level-of-Detail-simplified models that AC loads to improve performance when different cars are further away from you. Please enable yourself to use these turn signals to signal on which side of the road you continue while you are getting lapped by someone else.
    Hint 1: the Blinker Sound App, already linked above, lets you hear if your blinker is on.
    Hint 2: the Dashboard Indicators App, also linked above, lets you see on which side you are blinking if you drive a car that doesn't already have dashboard bulbs for this job

Real Penalty Setup

  • Real Penalty is linked in the mandatory downloads at the top and necessary for you to install and activate, because it handles the Driver Swaps and checks if it is installed on your client: if you don't have it (as well as CSP v0.1.78 or newer), you will get kicked by the server.
  • To install Real Penalty successfully, you must install it manually (NOT via Content Manager!)
  • After installing and activating Real Penalty in Content Manager (Settings / Assetto Corsa / Python Apps -> hit the checkmark on Real Penalty), you can launch an Assetto Corsa session and open the In Game App "Real Penalty Settings" to order the elements on your GUI.

Relative Positions Display Apps

Although the Driver Swap works in AC, almost all of the in-game timing apps get confused by the driver swap. By yourself as a driver, you can only find out your overall position only using the Kunos default "F9" leaderboard pictured below, which you activate by cycling through the F9 button in an AC session.

This app only updates data once a lap when you cross the start/finish line. It is also quite hard to keep track of while driving, so be sure to have a co-driver available to monitor the Live Timing and keep you posted on who of the drivers around you is actually fighting for position with you and who is just lapping traffic.

However, realtime-style apps are still a valuable asset that you should use here, but you need to know what they can and can't do in this endurance setting! We recommend to use "Substanding Extended", which you find linked in the the Downloads near the top of this website.

This will work: identification who are the cars around you during the lap

This won't work: after your first driver swap until the end of the race, the displayed positions will be wrong!

There are several further examples of suitable similar apps, such as the following two and more:

  • Realtime (default Kunos app that tells you the delta to cars ahead & behind in seconds, but not the make and class; position display gets wrong as soon as you perform a driver swap)
  • Vr AO Standing (a standings app that was tailored to VirtualRacing.org's customized Assetto Corsa endurance server environment and therefore only delivers all features if you are connected to that: be aware that when you use it on a THR server, the position display gets wrong as soon as you perform a driver swap but it can still be used to see the physical distances to nearby cars in seconds and meters correctly)

Performance Optimization

With more than 50 cars connected to the server, you have to brace for an unusually high performance requirement for your hardware, and particularly the CPU. The number of cars that we will have on the grid considerably exceed the number of cars that we typically see in THR events. Unless you have a top-of-the-line CPU in your PC, you should be prepared to dial back some of your Video Settings and CSP configurations to achieve a better performance.

As a hint, a few effective parameters for settings in Content Manager that help to reduce the load on your Processor (even though they are video settings, they affect your CPU indirectly as well) are listed below:

  • CSP Settings: Extra FX -> off
    (Extra FX is a secondary rendering pass to add more visual effects: performance-heavy!)
  • CSP Settings: Graphic Adjustments: enabling AMD FidelityFX Super Resolution (with a slightly reduced quality setting, such as 77%) can considerably improve your framerate, even if you have an NVIDIA graphics card
  • CSP Settings: there are various other modules that are not directly necessary, which you could consider to disable as well to yield better performance - but always keep on Weather FX, Car Instruments, Graphic Adjustments, and Lighting FX
  • Assetto Corsa Settings: Video: in a performance-boosted Video Settings preset, you could, for example, reduce the resolutions of shadows, reflections and mirrors, and set the World Details to a lower level

To validate your settings, please test them offline as follows:
If your configuration can handle a full AI grid (you + 53 AI cars from the WSC60 set) at Le Mans 1967 without frequent "CPU occupancy >99%" warnings (excluding when major AI pileups occur) and while you yield a good framerate (and no slow-motion!), you will have enough headroom for peace of mind that your system can handle everything that this race can throw at it!

If you get a slow-motion experience and these "CPU occupancy >99%" warnings in this test scenario, you need to optimize your settings further. If you cannot resolve these issues by yourself, please request help in the #technical-stuff channel on the THR discord.

In case your PC proves to be too weak to handle this load reliably despite all optimization efforts, you should reconsider participating, because this scenario is guaranteed to make your car teleport all over the track due to delayed physics calculations and delayed location update feedback from your PC to the server!

Track Rendering Troubleshooting

As a safety precaution, we carried over this section from the 2024 edition of the race that was driven with an older baseline version of the track. We hope that these issues are rectified by that, but we kept this section in the event website for easy reference if you encounter any issues. You can skip this section if the track gets rendered correctly throughout the entire lap on your PC, and without any crashes.

If Assetto Corsa crashes when you exit Tertre Rouge and Content Manager gives you the notification screen "Game crashed. GPU failed; might be overclocked too much, or overheated", you need to go to your CSP / General Patch Settings and disable the option marked pink in the screenshot below:

Next troubleshooting topic:
Some combinations of settings in the Extra FX module of Custom Shaders Patch can cause momentary rendering failures of the track on your screen at two spots that would look like this on your screen:

  1. in the approach to Indianapolis
  2. after Tertre Rouge at the start of Ligne Droite des Hunaudières

Here are two ways to solve that:

Registration

We want to give you time to study the classes, test the cars, decide and form your teams.
Therefore the Registration will open on 2026-01-18 at 18 CET and it closes on 2026-01-25.
[available Slots = 50]

Instructions for Registration:

  • Only a single registration for each car (with up to 3 drivers) is required. You will need to have the following information available when you fill in the form. ( * means for all drivers of your team)
    • Team Leader E-Mail (mandatory field, necessary for receiving the Edit Link)
    • Driver GUIDs *
    • Driver Name * (make sure it's aligned with CM settings before going on the Prequalifying Server in the car you registered with!)
    • Driver Discord Name *
    • Driver Nationality *
    • Driver Description * (voluntary, for infoboard)
    • Team Name (define a team name that sounds realistic for the 1960s period)
    • Car Number (1-99 available > first come first serve)
    • Skin Folder Name > (default skin foldername, or carnumber_thrlm26_teamname)
      • Custom Skins: carnumber_thrlm26_teamname
        lower case only, team name can be abbreviated - please avoid exceeding 30 characters
        Example: 4_thrlm26_tarnhornmotorsport
        Please Note: Custom Skins will be held to a defined set of minimum standards that will be outlined in a Custom Livery Design Manual to ensure a period-correct appearance that protects the historic immersion in this event
      • Exception: you can book one of the default skins that already came with the carpacks if the number on the livery matches your assigned number. Navigate to your desired skin in the content\car\...\skins folder and copy its exact folder name into this field. Don't modify or reupload any of the default skins please.
  • Registrations with multiple drivers will be prioritized over single driver entries: your chance to make it into the entry list is significantly higher if you share your car with at least 1 co-driver.
  • It is recommended that you have 3 drivers in your team to cover the 12 hours. If you want to maximize the 1960s immersion, form a team of 2 drivers.
  • The "Driver Description" in the registration form is a voluntary offer and lets you provide information about yourself, your co-drivers, and your team for broadcasting purposes. These info texts will be published in the Broadcast Info Board as a resource for the broadcasters who commentate the stream, and for the participants to get to know each other better.
  • How to update your signup information after you have already submitted your registration: please use the EDIT LINK that was sent to the E-Mail address that you entered into the form when you submitted your registration.
  • After the end of the registration deadline and the approval of your skin (if it's a custom skin), the organizers will transfer the bookings to Server THR|5| and open the qualifying sessions with booked slots. They will communicate this in Discord as soon as the Qualifying Server is open by tagging the #Drivers role.

Car Descriptions

We are using a selection of cars from the WSC Legends 1960s and the AC Legends GTC 60s Mod. That selected range of cars is assigned to two classes for this event. We tailored the class assignment list to Le Mans as a compromise between the greatest possible variety of cars and the chance to experience exciting battles in all three classes.

Prototype 7.0 Class

The top class of cars we offer to choose in this event is called the Prototype 7.0 class (P7.0). It covers Prototype race cars with an engine displacement of up to 7000 cc and top speeds of up to 325 km/h.

Ford GT40 Mk II

After two years of steady progress despite some setbacks, Ford and Shelby American continued their GT40 endurance racing campaign, introducing a revised Mk II for the 1966 season after the first version of it had proven to be the primary opposition to the Ferrari 330P2. The 1966 iteration was designed to challenge Ferrari’s radical 330P3 with significant upgrades, particularly around its aerodynamics, engine, and reliability.

At the 1965 Le Mans, Ford had debuted the GT40 Mk II fitted with a massive 427 CID (7.0 Liter) engine from its Galaxie NASCAR program and an extended nose. While these cars showcased impressive top speeds, hitting 210 mph on the Mulsanne Straight and out-qualifying Ferrari by nearly ten seconds, they suffered from reliability issues, with both retiring due to transmission failures on their Kar Kraft KKL-108 gearboxes: hasty preparation had led to one gearbox being equipped with a gear that was intended for scrap, and the other one had ended up with a dirty bearing surface. Despite these setbacks, the 427 GT40 demonstrated its potential, prompting Ford to refine the design for the following season.

The Mk II featured key improvements. Shelby American worked with Ford’s Engine and Foundry Division to reduce the engine’s weight, shedding 50 lbs with aluminum heads and other refinements. Although the power output dropped to 485 bhp, the engine was now paired with a dry-sump lubrication system and a robust transmission to handle its torque better, addressing the reliability issues from 1965. Shelby also revised suspension points and reinforced the chassis selectively to balance strength and weight. Brake performance was a critical focus: the discs were already the largest possible size for the GT40's wheels and already at the limit in the lighter and slower GT40 Mk I, and the brake ducts already cooled them too strongly. Phil Remington, Shelby’s chief engineer, developed a quick-change disc brake system to address the wear issues caused by the car's increased speed and weight. This innovation allowed teams to replace worn discs efficiently during long races.

The Mk II’s upgrades paid off spectacularly at the 1966 24 Hours of Le Mans. With Henry Ford II in attendance, the GT40 Mk II dominated the event and secured a historic 1-2-3 finish that marked the first overall Le Mans victory for an American manufacturer.

Surviving 12 hours in this car with lapped traffic is a major challenge, because you have the longest braking distances of the entire field and the shortest window of opportunity to react to situations that unfold differently than how you predicted them. Expect very intense scrutiny during prequalifying if you register one of these. Set your braking point at 400-420 meters if you want to make it through Virage de Mulsanne instead of taking the escape road or burying the car in the sand. The enormous 159 Liter fuel tank enables the GT40 Mk. II to cover up to 335 km on one tank at Le Mans, but your fuel stops are correspondingly long.

Ferrari 330 P3 Berlinetta

For the 1966 season, the FIA dropped the minimum windshield width regulations. The narrower windshields helped improve the top speed of the cars by around 15 km/h. Alarmed by Ford's 1965 pace, Ferrari set out to revise the P2 to suit the new regulations and bring it up to GT40 speed. In Ferrari tradition, modifications were made to the already reliable chassis. Sleeker than ever, the P3 featured fiberglass doors. It was the first time the Maranello based team favoured the lightweight material over the aluminum used on the previous prototypes. The clutch was relocated from right behind the gearbox to between the gearbox and engine. The gearbox was a new ZF five speed unit. Lovely looking, but now getting outdated, the six Weber Carburetors found on the 330 P2 were replaced by a Lucas Fuel Injection system on the P3's engine. The engine provided slightly more power, but the wider track added some weight, giving the P3 a similar power to weight ratio as the P2. Three P3s were constructed. In direct competition with the 330 was the Ford GT40. The Ford steamroller had placed large pressure on Ferrari the year before, and for 1966, Ford beat Ferrari at their favorite game. Ford's triumphant 1-2-3 finish at the 1966 Le Mans 24 Heures saw while every single 330 P3 retire after less than two thirds of the race distance.

Newly introduced to the WSC Legends 1960s set in v1.3 with a scratchmade model by NPanic and authentic liveries by Pasta, the Ferrari 330 P3 Berlinetta arrives on the grid of the 2026 THR 12 Heures du Mans to set the record straight again.

With a fuel tank of only 114 liters, the range is limited to about 268 km between pit stops, but these are performed far more quickly than on the thirsty V8 and V12 opposition. But with sharp handling and a top speed of 315 km/h, the 330 P3 Berlinetta is a force to be reckoned with. Unlike the dangerously ponderous Ford, it is an excellent tool to carve through lapped traffic - a key asset in giving yourself more chances to respond to unforeseen situations in traffic.

Ferrari 330 P3 Spyder

Alongside the two Berlinettas, Ferrari entered one 330 P3 Spyder in the 1966 Le Mans 24 Hours. If you want to see the starry night when you briefly glance upwards in VR while blasting down the Ligne droite des Hunaudières at 307 km/h, you should look no further, because while the open-topped version comes with extra drag, it gives you unparalleled views. With a fuel tank of 114 liters, you can either try to save fuel to match the Berlinetta's range of about 268 km, or pit a lap earlier.

Chaparral 2D 327ci

The Chaparral 2 was designed as a follow-up to the Chaparral 1, but the two cars shared little other than a name. While the Chaparral 1 was the work of a company named Troutman & Barnes, the Chaparral 2 was largely designed and built by a team led by race car driver and engineer Jim Hall and his business partner James “Hap” Sharp. Hall and Sharp started by purchasing the Chaparral name from Troutman & Barnes. Starting with a clean sheet of paper, the newly-formed company set out to build a world-class racer capable of taking on the most advanced cars hailing from Europe and the United States. The Chaparral 1 had a front-mounted engine that spun the rear wheels, a setup that was quickly becoming obsolete in the early 1960s. Hall wanted to install the engine over the drive wheels without resorting to front-wheel drive, so he decided early on to shoehorn the mill behind the passenger compartment.

Chaparral teamed up with a boat builder based in Fort Worth, Texas, named Andy Green to design a multiple-box chassis crafted out of steel-reinforced fiberglass. Hall and Sharp believed fiberglass was better than aluminum because it broke locally, meaning it could be easily and quickly repaired in the pits in the event of an accident. Chaparral’s workshop was located a stone’s throw from the two-mile-long Rattlesnake Raceway on the outskirts of Midland, Texas, which helped engineers fine-tune the 2 without having to go through the time-consuming process of reserving a spot at a public track. The Chaparral team made constant improvements to the 2. As it got faster and faster, its body was modified with more advanced aerodynamic add-ons designed by Hall using knowledge gleaned from the world of airplanes.

The original 2A chassis was fitted with a roof and transformed into the 2D in time for the 1966 season of the World Sportscar Championship. The car was unexpectedly plagued with mechanical problems but drivers Phil Hill and Joakim Bonnier managed to drive it to victory in the ADAC 1,000-kilometer race that took place on Germany’s grueling Nürburgring track, beating big names like Porsche and Ferrari en route to marking Chaparral’s first win on the Old Continent. The 2D participated in other events, including the 24 Hours of Le Mans where a mechanical failure ended its race after 111 laps.

In the virtual representation of this car, modeled from scratch by Nugget & NPanic, you can select the corresponding aero upgrades in your setup screen. You can even choose whether or not to drive with covered headlights. At Le Mans, you will be expected to authentically uncover not only the headlights, but also the chin-mounted and angled cornering lights that give you a wider headlight cone - very useful at night!

Watch out: this car has an automatic 2-speed torque converter transmission with a manual H-Pattern gear selection. You can't use a manual clutch, and you should absolutely avoid engaging a gear on the grid until the lights go green. While braking for curves and downshifting, don't forget to blip the throttle for rev-matching because the car won't do it for you.

Thanks to its displacement of more than 5000cc, this car was allowed to use a 160 liter fuel tank. If you employ a little bit of fuel saving, you can cover up to 375 km between pit stops, but your acceleration will end at 302 km/h.

Ford GT X1 Roadster

In late 1965, two experimental, all-alumimum GT40 chassis were manufactured by Abbey Panels in England. One of the tubs was shipped back to Ford’s Kar Kraft’s Dearborn for testing, never to be seen again. The remaining aluminum chassis, GT110, was shipped to McLaren to become a lightweight open spyder in the style of the 427 GT40 which raced at the 1965 Le Mans 24 hours. Under contract, McLaren assembled, prepared and race the aluminum car dubbed the GT X1 Roadster - in the North American Pro Series in 1965, but did not yield any victories. Ford then handed it over to Shelby, who studied and tested the roadster before it was sent to Kar Kraft to be extensively modified as a test car. Heavier headers and a heavier T44 manual transmission were installed and tested alongside a 2-speed automatic transmission and different aero configurations, before the lightweight open-top chassis was upgraded to 1966 GT40 Mk. II specifications.

The time to shine for chassis GT110 came at the 1966 Sebring 12 hours, which became its final race. Driven by Ken Miles and Lloyd Ruby, the red painted roadster took the overall victory despite competition from Ferrari’s 330 P3, Chaparrals, Porsches, and most importantly the GT40 Mk. II of the unfortunate Dan Gurney, whose engine expired in the lead on the final lap. Although Gurney pushed it across the finish line, he was disqualified because doing so was against the rules, and that handed the victory to the GT X1 Roadster. After this triumph, provisions were made for Holman & Moody to rebuild X1, but sadly the plan was never acted upon. Instead, the GT X1 one-off chassis, having been built in the United Kingdom and being liable for United States tariffs, met its unceremonious end when United States customs officials ordered it to be destroyed.

With a 159 liter tank to take full advantage of the FIA's ruleset to achieve a stint range of roughly 320 km, the GT X1's mighty 7 liter V8 ensures rapid acceleration. However, the open roof with a steep windscreen and an extended rear spoiler adds significant air resistance that ends your progress at 301 km/h, giving you plenty of time to take in the views as you fly down the Ligne droite des Hunaudières.

Jaguar XJ13

Jaguar was the most successful manufacturer at Le Mans in the 1950s, winning 5 times between 1951 and 1957 before scaling back their efforts. Following Jaguar's exit from sportscar racing, Ferrari had dominated the scene but a new challenger showed up at the Le Mans test in 1964: the Ford GT40. This did not go unnoticed in Coventry, where plans for a dual overhead camshaft V12 already existed, and work got underway in the hopes of having an edge over the competition. Put together from a pair of two XK inline-six engines on a common crankshaft, the initial power output of the 5.0 liter V12 was 445 bhp at 7000 rpm before Jaguar added a mechanical fuel-injection system by Lucas, bumping the output to 503 bhp. A lack of funding meant that although the prototype had been up and running by March 1966, it didn't only miss that season - serious testing of the 1040 kg heavyweight didn't even begin until a year later.

Sadly, the entire project was rendered obsolete overnight by an FIA decision the day after the 24 hours of Le Mans of 1967: without any prior manufacturer consultation, the FIA announced that an engine displacement limit of just 3.0 liters on Group 6 Prototype racing cars would be introduced for the 1968 season.

The XJ-13 comes with a fuel capacity of 140 liters as per 1966 FIA regulations for prototypes with an engine displacement of up to 5 liters. Letting the mighty V12 symphony loose while it propels this stunning roadster to 315 km/h despite the open roof allows for a range of roughly 310 kilometers in 80 minutes at Le Mans.

Maserati Tipo 151/3

Technically obsolete and actually retired by 1966, but who are we to tell you what to drive? The Maserati Tipo 151 was one of those cars which never quite came good in period, despite demonstrating devastating pace. At Le Mans, the car had no trouble getting into the lead of the race, and it is believed to be the first car ever to crack the 300 km/h barrier along the Ligne Droite des Hunaudières at Le Mans. However, a lack of investment as well as a shortcomings in the luck department meant that its great speed was never converted into winners laurels. The Tipo 151 marked a return to more traditional concepts of car design and used a frame comprising a trellis of both round and oval large tubes, an independent front suspension and a De Dion axle which was modified to act like a swing-arm axle. The V8 engine was derived from the 450S, with changes including four gear-driven camshafts, a dry sump lubrication system and four Weber 45 IDMs carburetors.

The aluminium body was designed by Giulio Alfieri and refined using a wind tunnel at Milan University. It was reminiscent of the Frank Costin designed Zagato bodied 450S, but with an accentuated Kamm Tail, jokingly called the 'racing van' for its unique new body design. The mandatory doors opened halfway up the side due to the longitudinal tubes of the frame and the lateral fuel tanks. The chassis was designed by Giorgio Molinari while the suspension was designed by Gianpaolo Dallara who had recently joined Maserati.

Early testing revealed handling problems which were solved by adding a homokinetic joint to the suspension system suggested by Bruce McLaren, one of the drivers of the Cunningham team. There were also ventilation problems and excessive rear tyre wear which were never resolved because of lack of proper testing due to the cars being completed shortly before the Le Mans race. The Maserati France car was sent to the factory for revision prior to the 1963 Le Mans event. Improvements included a 4,941 cc engine derived from the 5000 GT but with single ignition and Lucas indirect injection to yield 430 hp (321 kW). The car was renumbered as 151 003. The car was campaigned in the 1963 season but retired after a transmission failure. For 1964, the changes included a new 37 inch tall body designed by Piero Drogo (built by Allegretti), a lengthened chassis, a wider track and a switch to dry sump lubrication for the engine, reducing the power output to 410 hp (306 kW). It performed well during the race, recording a top speed of 310.0 km/h (192.6 mph) on the Ligne Droite des Hunaudières, but retired yet again after 99 laps due to electrical and braking issues.

Now that it matches its real-life top speed and weight (derived from ACO Scrutineering Weights tables of the 1960s), the Maserati is still a very competitive car for a 1964/65 grid - but we're in 1966 now. Your point of view is that of a privateer enthusiast who bought an aging works prototype, and you can cover approximately 310 km between fuel stops.

Ford GT40 Mk I

The GT40 project began in the early 1960s when Ford Advanced Vehicles began to build the GT40 Mk I car, based upon the Lola Mk6, at their base in Slough, UK. After disappointing race results, the engineering team was moved to Dearborn, Michigan, USA in 1964 to design and build cars by Kar Kraft. All chassis versions were powered by a series of American-built Ford V8 engines modified for racing. New rules taking effect for the 1966 season dictated that at least 50 examples had to be made to run under the Group 4 Sportscar competition ruleset. While the GT40 Mk I participated in the 1965 edition of the 24 hours of Le Mans as a Prototype, the planned production volume was soon achieved and allowed its homologation for the 5 liter Group 4 Sportscar class for 1966, which it would have dominated at Le Mans virtually uncontested if it hadn't been plagued year over year by the same design flaws on the 4.7 liter V8 engine that powered it.

Alongside a number on-track mishaps and other technical defects in the drivetrain, perhaps the greatest achilles heel of the GT40 Mk I was the failure-prone cylinder head gasket. Not a single Ford GT40 Mk I that was entered in the 24 hours of Le Mans from 1965 through 1967 saw the checkered flag - and about half of these succumbed to a head gasket defect. That design flaw was resolved at the start of the 1968 season, when John Wyer's team revised the engine by boring out the displacement to 4.9 liters but more crucially installed O-Rings between the deck and the head, finally giving the Mk I the reliability it needed to become a two-time Le Mans winner in the sunset of its career.

While the early GT40 Mk I won't match the 1966 works prototypes on raw pace, it's a compelling option with good manners for privateers who aim to leverage their consistency and steadily climb up their ranks through clean 335 km stints while hot-headed drivers will throw their machines off the road in the heat of the moment. While it's not the most agile car, its top speed of 311 km/h is a valuable asset in fighting back against more powerful competitors with poorer aerodynamics while flying down the Ligne Droite des Hunaudières.

Ferrari 365 P2 Drogo Spyder

Ferrari scored the first outright victories for a mid-engined car at Le Mans in 1963 and 1964 with the predecessors of this car: the 250 P and 275 P, which went on to spawn the 250 LM. As a response to Ford's new GT40 program, a more substantial evolution was developed for the 1965 season: the 275/330 P2. In many ways, the P2 was the refinement of the sports prototype it replaced. Carried over was the tried and trusted steel tubular spaceframe chassis with double-wishbone suspension on all four corners. The all-aluminium bodywork was recognisably different. In an attempt to increase the aerodynamic efficiency of the design, the panels were wrapped more tightly around the mechanicals, while a narrower windshield was fitted. The roll-over hoop behind the driver doubled as a primitive aerofoil.

What Ferrari feared most about Ford's GT40 was the grunt of its considerably larger small block and later even big block V8s. Instead of simply increasing the displacement of the choice of V12s available, Ferrari decided to develop a new twin-cam head for the works cars. Available in 3.3- and 4-litre versions, the new four-cam V12s produced between 350 and 400 bhp. Not quite ready to sell the sophisticated new engine to customers, Ferrari also made the P2 available with a 4.4-litre single-cam V12; the 365 P2.

The first P2 debuted at the 1965 Daytona 2000 km, where it was fastest in qualifying but uncharacteristically was forced to retire with a rear axle failure, handing victory to one of the GT40s. Back in Europe, the P2s showed better form by setting the fastest time in the Le Mans test and then winning the Targa Florio, Nürburgring 1000 km, Monza 1000 km and Reims 1000 km. The race at Le Mans, however, was not as successful: every single P2 retired from the race, but Ferrari's honour was defended by a privately entered 250 LM which scored the marque's final Le Mans win until 2023.

While the Ferrari works team moved on to the 330 P3 in 1966, the privateers had to make the most of their aging 365 P2s. The new regulations for 1966 allowed for a smaller windshield area, and as a result, three of the four P2s on the grid of the 1966 Le Mans 24 Hours wore the upgraded Spyder bodywork by Piero Drogo: a smaller and smoother greenhouse reduced aerodynamic drag, while a raised tail provided better high speed stability.

If you want to relive the Ferrari privateer experience at Le Mans 1966 to battle against the GT40 Mk I privateers, this is the car for you. The 365 P2 Drogo Spyder comes with excellent manners that make it a fantastic companion for a consistent climb up the ranks while overambitious drivers wreck their top cars out of contention. With a top speed of 299 km/h and a large 140 Liter fuel tank, you can plan for stints that last up to 310 km.

Prototype 2.0 Class

The second class of cars that you can choose for this event consists of Prototypes with an engine displacement of up to 2000 cc. With a power output of 220 to 255 hp, the P2.0 cars are expected to deliver intense battles at speeds that comfortably exceed 270 km/h in many cases.

Alfa Romeo 33 Periscopica

Having been established in 1961, Carlo Chiti's Autodelta became Alfa Romeo's official competition department in 1963. With the TZ model, built in 100 units, they had delivered a successful 1.6 Liter GT race car. Parallel to deriving the sleeker TZ2 version from that, by late 1964, they had also begun developing the Tipo 33 to replace the TZ racers in factory-backed races altogether. Unlike its GT predecessors, the Tipo 33 was designed for the 2.0 Liter prototype class to challenge Porsche's ongoing dominance. With minimal carryover from previous models, the project required over two years of development before its racing debut.

The Tipo 33 featured Alfa Romeo's second-ever mid-engine chassis, built around an innovative H-shaped design using three large-diameter riveted aluminum tubes. This lightweight yet rigid structure housed rubber fuel tanks within the side members and was reinforced with magnesium cross-members. The suspension used a conventional setup with double wishbones at the front, while the rear comprised of lower wishbones, top links and twin trailing-arms. Ventilated disc brakes were fitted all around, with the rear brakes mounted inboard to reduce unsprung weight.

The heart of the Tipo 33 was a 2.0-liter V8 engine developed by Chiti, drawing on his experience with the ATS V8. Made from lightweight alloys, the engine featured twin-cam heads, dual spark plugs per cylinder, and an advanced fuel injection system. Despite its compact size, the high-revving V8 produced an impressive 254 hp at 10000 rpm, rivaling Porsche’s flat-8 engines. Unlike the subsequent Tipo 33 Stradale and Tipo 33/2 that were fitted with flat-plane crankshafts, the engine in the Periscopica featured a crossplane crankshaft. This engine was complimented by a custom six-speed gearbox, an almost unheard-of feature in race cars at a time when even most Formula 1 cars only had five gears.

The Tipo 33 debuted in 1967 with a Spider body and a distinctive periscopic engine intake, earning the nickname "Periscopica." It won its first outing at the Fléron hill climb in Belgium but struggled with reliability in international events, possibly compounded by the vibrations resulting from running a cross-plane crankshaft at 10,000 rpm. Additional wins only came in hill climbs and smaller races, such as Vallelunga, but the car's fragility limited its broader success. The best result in the 1967 World Sportscar Championship was a 5th place in the Nürburgring 1000 km, a lap behind the winning trio of Porsche 910/6 that ran in the same class as the Alfa Romeo. Autodelta continued refining the Tipo 33, focusing on reliability and aerodynamics. A one-off Spider with a revised design was tested at Mugello, signaling ongoing efforts to enhance the car’s performance. Despite suffering from these issues, the Tipo 33 Periscopica laid the groundwork for Alfa Romeo's subsequent successes in prototype racing, starting with the 33/2 Coupe the next year at Daytona.

In the 2026 THR 12 Heures du Mans, the Alfa Romeo 33 Periscopica prematurely arrives on the racetracks a year early compared to real life. Although its acceleration is best-in-class fantastic thanks to a powerful injected V8 engine with a very high redline and the 6-speed gearbox, the open roof reduces its top speed to 268 km/h and the projected fuel range is only roughly 295 km.

Alfa Romeo 33 Stradale Corsa

The 33 Stradale, first built in 1967, was based on the previously-described Autodelta Alfa Romeo Tipo 33 racing car. The car, designed by Franco Scaglione, and built by Carrozzeria Marazzi, made its debut at the 1967 Turin Motorshow. Just 18 examples were ever built. The 33 Stradale is the first production vehicle to feature dihedral doors, also known as butterfly doors. The 33 Stradale also features windows which seamlessly curve upward into the 'roof' of the vehicle. The car has aluminium body on aluminium tubular chassis. As a result of being built by hand, each model differs from the others for some details.

The car has 13-inch Campagnolo magnesium wheels, the fronts eight and the rears nine inches wide; there are Girling disc brakes on all four corners, the rear ones are inboard. Suspension is like in mid-1960s race car with upper and lower control arms in front and double trailing arms in the rear, along with substantial antiroll bars. The race-bred engine bore no relation to the mass-produced units in Alfa's more mainstream vehicles. The engine is closely related to the V8 of the Alfa Montreal, albeit with smaller capacity and in a much higher state of tune. The car takes 5.5 seconds to reach 60 mph (96.6 km/h) from a standing start and has a top speed of 260 km/h (160 mph). In 1968 it was the fastest commercially available car in the standing kilometre with the time of 24.0 seconds measured by German Auto, Motor und Sport magazine.

Unlike the Periscopica that was fitted with a cross-plane crankshaft, the engine in the Stradale has a flat-plane crankshaft, as did all future evolutions of the Tipo 33. The comfortable road-going bodywork adds plenty of weight over the Periscopica but doesn't return any gains in top speed, where the interior's comfort is counteracted by its aerodynamic instability. Pick this car from the point of view of an affluent privateer who purchased one of the most expensive cars in the world to go racing for fun.

Dino 206S Berlinetta

The Dino 206 S is a sports prototype produced by Ferrari in 1966–1967 under the Dino marque. Ferrari intended to produce at least fifty examples for homologation by the CSI in the Sport 2.0 L Group 4 category. As only 18 were made, the car had to compete in the Prototype 2.0-litre class instead. In spite of this handicap, the Dino 206 S took many class wins. The 206 S was the last of the Dino sports racing cars and simultaneously the most produced.

The first racing result was a fifth place in the 1966 12 Hours of Sebring, driven by Lorenzo Bandini and Ludovico Scarfiotti. Three cars entered the 1966 Targa Florio the same year under Ferrari SEFAC team. Jean Guichet and Giancarlo Baghetti finished the race in second place also with a class win for Prototypes up to 2.0 Liters of displacement, because the overall winning Porsche 906 was in the carbureted Group 4 specification in the class for Sportscars with up to 2.0 Liters of Displacement. Other cars finished fourteenth and not at all. The 1000 km Spa-Francorchamps netted sixth overall and first in the 2.0 Liter Prototype class for Richard Attwood and Jean Guichet. At the 1000 km Nürburgring, Scarfiotti and Bandini took 2nd overall, trailing the winning 5.4-litre Chaparral 2D by only 90 seconds, and thereby won the Prototype 2.0 class. By doing so, Ferrari returned the favors from Monza and the Targa Florio back to Porsche by delivering a crushing defeat for them in their home event, where the best 906 E finished a lap behind while the new 906/8 was forced to retire from 3rd place after 36 laps when the gearbox failed. Ferrari even scored a 1-2 in class here, as the sister car of Pedro Rodríguez and Richie Ginther's car followed in 3rd place overall. The third Dino 206S, entered by Maranello Concessionaires, had retired after 27 laps. Rodriguez scored a class win at the Nassau Trophy. At the Brands Hatch GP circuit, Mike Parkes scored sixth overall and first in class. The Dino 206S won VI Coppa Citta di Enna. Also in 1966, the Swiss Mountain Grand Prix was won by Ludovico Scarfiotti. One important race of the 1966 season was not mentioned here: the 24 Hours of Le Mans, where everything went wrong. Three Ferrari 206S were entered by NART, Maranello Concessionaires, and Scuderia San Marco, and all of them retired within 14 laps.

In 1967, the Dino 206S did not show up at Le Mans anymore. However, Swedish driver Gustaf Dieden finished Swedish National Falkenberg and GP Swerige in fifth and ninth respectively. The Dino 206S Spyder returned to the Nürburgring 1000 km in 1967 with Scuderia Filipinetti, while Ferrari SEFAC was completely absent to focus on preparing for the 24 Hours of Le Mans that took place just two weeks later. Scuderia Filipinetti was out of luck, though: the 206S of Herbert Müller and Jean Guichet burned down during practice due to a carburetor fire. Ferdinando "Codones" Latteri and Pietro Lo Piccolo scored many overall and class wins in hillclimbs and regional championship events in Italy between 1967 and 1969.

Beautifully modeled into Assetto Corsa from scratch by DobriD, the Dino 206S is ready to take on the challenge of making it further than 14 laps this time. With a top speed of 276 km/h and 100 liters of fuel, the high-revving Dino V6 will enable this 663 kg pocket Ferrari with razor-sharp handling to cover up to 335 km between fuel stops.

Dino 206S Spyder

If you don't want to tilt your head to fit into the cramped Berlinetta, the Spyder weighs a few kilograms less and might just be the right car for you. The added drag of the open bodywork reduces your top speed, but on the bright side, you briefly get to glance at the stars on the Ligne droite des Hunaudières at 265 km/h.

Nissan R380A-II

The R380 was a prototype racing car originally conceived in 1965 by the Prince Motor Company which, after the merger with Nissan, was developed into the Nissan R380-II for 1967. That year, Nissan unsuccessfully attempted to repeat its previous year's victory in the Japanese Grand Prix, where Nissan had to settle for 2nd, 3rd, 4th and 6th behind a Porsche 906. Technically a year behind the international competition, as showcased by the use of 15" wheels as opposed to the Dino's 13" that quickly became the norm in this class within a year, Nissan only competed domestically with the R380A-II in 1967.

That gives us a great excuse to offer it for the P 2.0 class in the 2026 THR 12 Heures du Mans, though! The cutting-edge GR-8 twin-cam straight six engine with triple Weber carburetors made 220 horsepower, propelling the Japanese flounder to 272 km/h. As the only car with a carburetor in its class this year, it is one of the thirstier options, and this agile 615 kg featherweight with a 90 Liter tank offers a range of up to 310 Kilometers of hard racing at Le Mans.

Porsche 906 E

Alongside the introduction of the 906 Carrera 6 for the new GTS (Group 4) regulations in the Sportscar 2.0 Liter class, Porsche also competed in the Prototype 2.0 Liter category of the 1966 World Sportscar Championship. The factory prototypes in the 1966 WSC season came with a few differences. Firstly, the type suffix "E" behind the model number stands for Einspritzung (German for fuel injection), and the Type 901/21 engine with Bosch fuel injection made 220 hp at 8100 rpm. Secondly, it was fitted with a custom headlight assembly with two round headlights that were not homologated, adding further fuel to the feud between Ferdinand Piëch and Fritz Huschke von Hanstein. The latter had been in favor of homologating and producing the box-framed 904/6 but lost that power struggle against Piëch and his push for a new tube framed chassis design. Draped in the regular short-nose bodywork, the 906 E factory cars for the 1966 WSC was always fitted with front winglets.

At Daytona, Porsche had only brought one pre-production 906 alongside two of the old 904s and bagged 6th overall. The first of the proper 1966 factory prototypes arrived at the Sebring 12 Hours and retired on lap 7 with an overrevved engine. Luckily, team mates Herrmann/Buzzetta/Mitter in a carbureted car were there to save the day with 4th overall and a 3 lap margin over the Dino 206 P. Also, a privateer 904/4 GTS (reassigned to the S 2.0 class for 1966) took 7th overall and won its class. At the Monza 1000 km, Ferrari's Dinos were faster but the Porsches outlasted them: 4th place overall and the P 2.0 class win for Mitter and Herrmann, who spearheaded a clean sweep of the class podium for Porsche.

Porsche's season highlight was the overall victory at the 1966 Targa Florio. After Porsche had lost both of the 906 E entries to accidents and the leading 906/8 2.2 to a late suspension failure, Herbert Müller and Willy Mairesse took picked up the pieces and took overall honours with Chassis 906 128. This factory chassis had been fitted with the regular carbureted engine to enter the race in the S 2.0 class, just like the works chassis 906 141 that finished 3rd overall (and had been meant to become the second 906/8 Coupe). While the victorious car was formally entered by Scuderia Filipinetti, it was just a disguised factory entry for Porsche. And that's what it took for Porsche to beat the best Dino of Guichet and Baghetti (2nd) on home ground.

The Spa-Francorchamps 1000 km were a race to forget for Porsche. Gerhard Mitter broke his foot when he crashed 906 112 exiting Stavelot during practice, following a suspected failure of the engine cover locks. Hermann and Glemser qualified 906 137 at the top of the P 2.0 field, but crashed out of the race after 51 of 71 laps. Three of the four privateer 906s retired as well, and only David and Gijs van Lennep salvaged the S 2.0 class win - running dead last overall, even behind the much slower Austin Healey Sprite and MG B.

The Nürburgring 1000 km went a little better, but only for the Sportscar entries. While the best of the three 906 E prototypes outqualified the best S 2.0 entry by nearly 17 seconds, Porsche's prototype was still 6 seconds slower than the Dino of Scarfiotti and Bandini. In the race, Schütz/Klass (906 141) retired with a broken drive shaft, while Herrmann/Glemser (906 154) crashed out of the race, leaving only Bondurant/Hawkins (906 128). In the chassis that had won the Targa Florio and also completed the Monza 1000 km, they took 4th overall behind the victorious Chaparral 2D, and 3rd in the P 2.0 class behind the two Dinos that had completed the overall podium. And that's where the brief time in the spotlight for this particular variant of the 906 ended. Porsche's factory team moved to the LH for Le Mans 24h & Hockenheimring Grand Prix, and skipped Mugello and the Coppa Citta di Enna. The new 910/6 arrived on the scene in time for the hill climb events of summer 1966, and was Porsche's car of choice for the WSC round at the Sierre-Montana hillclimb in Switzerland. In December 1966 and January 1967, Porsche constructed four more 906 E chassis to shadow the unproven 910 in Daytona and Sebring. These four 1967-spec cars combined the short tail with the elongated nose of the LH (but without nose flaps) and went into the hands of North American privateers after only one car saw the checkered flag in either of these two events.

The fantastic fuel efficiency of the type 901/21 engine, which revs significantly lower than the competition, provides a range of nearly 375 km with 100 liters of fuel, and you reach a top speed of 273 km/h.

Porsche 906 LH

The story of the 906 LH began with prototype chassis 906-016, which was completed on 28th November 1965. It differed from the production 906s with a different engine mounting position that caused it to overheat - as discovered during restoration in the mid-2000s - and lower front and rear fenders with smaller and rounded-off cut-outs that reduced its frontal area from 1.325 m2 to 1.318 m2. In February 1966, Porsche decided to use this chassis for tests in the TH Stuttgart wind tunnel. One of the main goals of these experiments was to evaluate various different front and rear spoilers and their impact on aerodynamic lift and drag. Among these was a long tail designed by Eugen Kolb, and that was on this car when it was revealed to the public at the Le Mans test day in April 1966, where it was accompanied by two short tails (one of which had an injected engine). Porsche only used this chassis for testing, reverted it to a short tail again, and sold it in 1967 to Wolfgang Bock (who then loaned it to Luigi Taramazzo for racing).

For the 24 Hours of Le Mans, three new cars were purpose-built as a 906 LH from the ground up: 906-151, 906-152, and 906-153. After substracting the customary full load of fuel from the 1966 Le Mans scrutineering weight, a normal 906 K with reinforced full shafts stood at 613 kg, while the 906 LH with its longer nose and very long tail weighed 637 kg. The longtail models were labeled 906 LH (Langheck, long tail in German), or sometimes referred to as 906 LM as they were made for Le Mans.

While the best static wind tunnel configuration had netted a drag coefficient of 0.306, that value rose to 0.326 in reality, because the underbody cover was removed in the interest of better transmission cooling. The initial body configuration from the Le Mans Test without spoilers had displayed a very dangerous rear end instability due to excessive lift, but sticking on the spoiler of the short-tailed model was too much as it reversed the issue into making the car too light on the nose. A satisfactory behaviour was finally achieved by combining small front spoilers (canards) with two small rear spoilers. At Le Mans, this configuration was 15 to 20 km/h faster than a regular carbureted 906 Carrera 6, but this car was a one trick pony. Its heavier and larger bodywork made it far more cumbersome to navigate corners with, and this was agrravated by the significantly narrower wheels that had to be fitted to the 906 LH because the usual 906 K racing tyres did not fit under the downsized wheelarches of the LH.

With these limitations in mind, the factory only used the car for two WSC events in which it performed superbly.
- 1966 Le Mans 24 Hours: 4th, 5th and 6th overall behind the surviving GT40s, while locking out the podium of the P 2.0 class
- 1966 GP of Hockenheim: overall podium lockout (1st, 2nd and 3rd) with experimental beryllium brake discs
The Longtail finished the job that had been started by the 906 E, and the manufacturers championship for the P 2.0 class in the 1966 WSC went to Stuttgart-Zuffenhausen.

With a little over 5000 km on the clock, all three cars were handed over to the Sales department on 1st September 1966. They soon found new owners, but that's where the similarities in their careers ended.
906-151 was sold to Charles Vögele and wrecked on debut in the 1967 Daytona 24 Hours, sent back to the factory for inspection, and scrapped.
906-152 was sold to King Hussein of Jordan who already owned 904/8 Chassis 904-008 and later returned both to the Porsche works museum in exchange for a new 930.
906-153 was sold to Squadra Tartaruga and raced extensively in 1967. Then it was sold to French hillclimber Jean Clément who put a short tail on it and crashed it hard on 20th October 1968. It changed hands several times in France and was modified extensively until it was sold to a collector in the USA, who had it restored to its Long Tail shape again by 1990.

The narrower tyres give the long tailed 906 significantly less grip than its short-tailed brothers, but it was built for one purpose and delivers a class-leading top speed of 285 km/h. Do you have what it takes to repeat what was Ferrari's second defeat of the day at Le Mans in 1966, where all three of their Dinos were out of the race within just 14 laps?

GT-P class

The third class of cars is a colourful mix of Grand Tourers (GT) and prototype oddballs that promise to deliver an exciting battle for the win in this third group across the distance of the race, with faster cars dragged back down by their thirst. Following the FIA's regulation change of January 1966 that raised the minimum production requirement for GT homologated cars from 100 to 500 units, the majority of existing Group 3 GT race cars became obsolete overnight. Without sufficient production numbers, they would have had to compete in the Sportscar classes against the likes of the Porsche 906 Carrera 6 or the Ford GT40 Mk I.

With a huge spread in power output from 156 to 360 hp and top speeds that range from 256 to 276 km/h, this class promises lots of passing and strategic action between fast but thirsty cars on the one hand, and slightly slower but far more fuel efficient ones on the other.

Alpine A210 1500

The Alpine A210 was a sports car prototype that competed in sports car racing from 1966 to 1969. The car is derived from the M series prototypes (M63, M64, and M65) introduced by the company in the early 1960s and powered by Gordini-tuned Renault engines with small displacements.

In 1962, the founder and chief of the Société des Automobiles Alpine, Jean Rédélé, with the support of Shell, requested to Renault Gordini-tuned engines for a sports car programme centred on the 24 Hours of Le Mans, similar to the ones used by BP-sponsored rival Bonnet. Rédélé got a 1-litre inline-four engine and his objective was to build a prototype capable of winning the index of performance award. He contacted Colin Chapman for the design, with the idea of mounting the engine on a Lotus 23-based car, but the latter refused and the basic design development was left in charge of British engineer Len Terry, who created a concept similar to the Lotus.

The final chassis design was made by heavy vehicle engineer Richard Bouleau and the external design by Bernard Boyer. The new car was named M63, and, although having some structural problems, it won a class victory in its competition debut at the 1963 edition of the Nürburgring 1000 km. At the 1963 24 Hours of Le Mans, however, none of the three M63s entered finished the race.

After the problems encountered, Alpine built three units of a revised model based on the M63, named as M64. The new cars were entered alongside some of their predecessors into the 1964 24 Hours of Le Mans where an M64 powered by a 1.1-litre engine won its class and the index of performance. An M64 also won its class at the 12 Hours of Reims of that year. In 1965, Alpine introduced yet another revised version of its prototypes, named as M65. At the 1965 24 Hours of Le Mans, none of the Alpine prototypes entered finished the race, although M65s won their class at the 12 Hours of Reims and the Nürburgring 1000 km.

Following the Le Mans results, Alpine decided to overhaul completely its prototype design and introduced the Alpine A210 (although some lightly modified M65s also participated in some races badged as A210). In the 1966 24 Hours of Le Mans, Alpine made a 1-2-3 in the energy efficiency index, with speeds of up to 270 km/h using a 1.3-litre engine. An A210 driven by Mauro Bianchi won the overall classification of the 1966 Macau Grand Prix for touring cars.

Rédéle used the results to convince Renault of giving him support for the construction of a car aimed at the overall victory in Le Mans. Gordini was commissioned to build a new 3-litre V8 to be fitted on the A210 chassis, although it would not be ready for the 1967 edition. Before the race, the A210 was used for the early test of the first radial treadless tire for racing (the Michelin A1). At the 1967 24 Hours of Le Mans, the official Alpine team and the satellite Écurie Savin-Calberson entered with seven A210 (five with the 1.3-litre inline-four engine, one with a 1.5-litre engine and one with a 1-litre engine) and a M64 (with a 1-litre engine). A 1.3-litre and the 1.5-litre A210s won their class, although none get an index win.

Beautifully modeled into Assetto Corsa from scratch by NPanic, the A210 features a fully functional instrument cluster and has the ability to collect visible battle scars throughout the race. The engine variant available on the grid this time only debuted the following year (1967) in real life, though: the 1470cc Gordini Type 58C Hemi engine with 156 hp propels this highly slippery machine to 276 km/h. Alpine's domination of the Index of Thermal Efficiency pays off in game as well, and the little 79 liter tank ahead of the engine is all it takes to cover 440 km between its short fuel stops, where plenty of valuable time is regained over thirstier cars with faster laptimes.

Aston Martin DB4 GT Zagato

A few months before winning Le Mans, Aston Martin had introduced the all new DB4, which came equipped with a racing car derived engine and Carozzeria Touring's very light 'Superleggera' body. The company figured it would for the perfect basis for the new customer racing car. Most of the mechanicals were retained, although beefed up in areas to survive the stresses of racing. The 3.6 litre engine was given a power treatment and output for the racing car rose from 240 bhp to a claimed 302 bhp. Bolted to a new close ratio 4-speed gearbox, the potent engine was installed in a shortened DB4 chassis and the DB4 GT was born. Although not homologated yet, the DB4 GT debuted in May of 1959 and Stirling Moss drove it to its maiden win. It must be said though: against modest competition.

Production of the DB4 GT started late in 1959 with many of the customers taking delivery at the start of the 1960 racing season. They faced the might of Ferrari, who had just upped the ante considerably by replacing the aging long wheelbase 250 GT with a brand new short wheelbase version. Despite its smaller engine, the light and nimble Ferrari frequently outdid the Aston Martins. Through the backdoor Aston Martin did offer some support to selected privateers and in particular to John Ogier's 'Essex Racing Stable'. In 1960 he received a special version of the DB4 GT, that was lighter still than the regular cars. Moss and Jack Sears both scored wins in these, but usually in the British 'Saloon Car' races where they faced large Jaguars. The Ferraris did come to Britain for the Tourist Trophy at Goodwood and in a Ferrari this time, Moss took a win ahead of Roy Salvadori and Innes Ireland in two Astons.

Aston Martin did not give up just yet and commissioned Zagato in Italy to put the British racing cars on a serious diet. This was very much the coachbuilder's speciality as they had proven time after time with their distinctly bodied Alfa Romeo and Lancia racing cars. The Milan based company had just hired a very young designer called Ercole Spada, who had been given the difficult task to replace Elio Zagato, who had been injured in an accident. He did remarkably well as the new shape he penned for the DB4 GT has gone into history as one of the all time greats. Sadly, the Zagato engineers struggled to shed sufficient weight off the Aston. The engine was modified and the output was rather optimistically raised to 314 bhp. Late in 1961, the first DB4 GT Zagato was introduced in London, bearing the very high chassis number 200. Aston Martin probably figured that this would help homologating the car; the subsequent DB4 GT Zagatos produced sported lower identification numbers.

Needless to say, Ferrari had not been sitting on their hands in the meantime. Their latest racers produced a staggering 285 bhp and, more importantly, were significantly lighter than the new DB4 GT Zagato. Things got even worse for Aston, when the first of the lightweight Jaguar E-Types was driven to a debut win. Nevertheless, the privateers perservered and in 1961 the odd win and many podium finishes were scored. Aston Martin continued to develop the car's mechanicals and they experimented with magnesium gearbox cases on two of the Essex Racing cars for the 1961 Le Mans 24 Hours, which bore the famous license plates '1 VEV' and '2 VEV' and expired after just 22 and 25 laps respectively with overheated engines. French privateer Jean Kerguen and Jacques Dewes soldiered on in 9th overall and third in class until an hour from the end of the race, when a mechanic forgot a torque wrench in the engine bay following a routine pit stop, and it short-circuited the battery: game over. Although the teams struggled on in 1962, the DB4 GT Zagato was never a success on the track. From 1962 onwards, the World Championship was run for GT cars and this sparked Aston Martin to take up racing again. They produced the so called 'Project Cars', but they again struggled, now against the even more potent Ferrari 250 GTO.

With a range of up to 415 km on 140L of fuel between pit stops, the DB4 GT Zagato really embraces the task of a Grand Voyage and reaches up to 267 km/h. This car is able to collect battle scars and dirt, so do your best to keep it clean!

Chevrolet Corvette 1963 SCCA

After a number difficult years, the Chevrolet Corvette slowly but steadily grew in popularity throughout the 1950s. In 1960 the production reached the planned 10,000 units for the first time. Ten years after the first Corvette was released, a completely new Corvette replaced it. Although the overall design of the C2 was completely new, the rear end design introduced on the C1 in 1961 was carried over. One of the most striking novelties on the new Corvette were the reverse rotational flip up headlights, which would remain a Corvette feature until the C6 was introduced in 2004. Another important change was the introduction of the Coupe bodystyle, which for 1963 only featured a unique split rear window.

Technically, the C2 followed the same principles as the C1 with a steel ladder chassis and a fiberglass body, but both were completely redesigned. Handling was much improved by replacing the live rear axle with a double wishbone and transverse leaf spring setup. The engines were carried over from 1962 and all displaced 327ci and produced 250 to 360 bhp. At the 1962 Riverside Grand Prix, two new production cars faced each other for the first time. These were the Corvette Stingray and Shelby Cobra. Both had to impress Chevrolet and Ford respectively, but since the Cobra was 50% lighter it naturally ran away from all the Corvettes. This was an embarrassing result for Chevrolet and all aces for Ford.

In 1963, the ‘big three’ were restricted from racing due to a ban on official race programs by the American Manufacturer’s Association (AMA). To stay ahead of the gentlemen racers in Shelby Cobras, Zora convinced Bunkie Knudsen to build 100 lightweight Corvettes, enough to satisfy the FIA’s homologation requirements. The idea was to sell these cars to privateers and not directly participate in racing.

This 375 hp V8 propels this 1225 kg heavyweight through the wind and up to a top speed of 267 km/h. Fitted with a 138 Liter fuel tank, this rapid warship has to return to port every 270 km for refueling.

Ferrari 250 GT SWB

The Ferrari 250 GT Short Wheelbase (SWB) introduced at the 1959 Paris Salon can be considered the very last Ferrari suitable for road and track. From that day onwards Ferraris would be purpose-built: the ensuing racing 250 GTO and 250 LM, and the 250 GT Lusso road car. The first batch of SWBs were pure, alloy-bodied Competiziones. They were rushed into service early in 1960, finishing fourth, sixth and seventh overall at Sebring, showcasing the prowess of the 250 GT SWB. Before the 250 GTO arrived, the Competizione SWB was the must-have car in GT racing due to its many wins. Even in 1962, with GTOs dominating, an SWB won the Tour de France Auto.

The 250 GT SWB Lusso was a fast berlinetta, but the race-prepared Competizione was entirely different. Tuned engines with lightweight pistons, larger valves, special cranks, and big Weber carburettors produced up to 300bhp. Consequently, such engineering marvels solidified the 250 GT SWB’s status. Ferrari was determined to win the 1961 International GT Championship for Constructors and produced a handful of very special cars to achieve it.

Often referred to as SEFAC Hot Rods or Comp 61s, these cars were lighter and more powerful thanks to the use of several enhancements. These included a special frame using smaller diameter tubing with supplementary bracing to increase rigidity, lightweight body, aluminum bumpers, Plexiglas side windows, raked windscreen, 168B/61 engine fitted with 250 TR cylinder heads using revised cam timing, larger intake ports, six Weber 46 DCF/3 carburetors, and competition exhaust. These cars produced between 285-295 horsepower at 7000 rpm and depending on gear and axle ratios could achieve 160 mph at Le Mans. There are generally considered to have been 20 or 21 SEFAC Hot Rods built. At the 1960 Le Mans 24 Hours, the 250 GT SWB locked out the GT-3000 class's top 4 positions, and 4th through 7th overall. The following year, Jean Guichet and Pierre Noblet even put the very car pictured above on overall podium at Le Mans, when they achieved 3rd place.

The "SEFAC Hotrod" reaches a top speed of 264 km/h and covers up to 360 km with its 130 Liter tank. Others may be faster here, but only few come with the legacy of success that the 250 GT SWB brings to this edition of THRacing's endurance classic. And even fewer come with this car's newly-gained ability to accumulate visible battle scars.

Healey 3000 Lightweight

Donald Healey was addicted to speed and often tested his own creations on public roads. It was in one of his earlier cars – the Elliott – that he drove past a police officer in Oxford, who gave chase. The constable couldn’t even stay with him, let alone catch up. Later, Healey wrote a letter to the chief constable, apologising for his misdemeanour and suggesting that, perhaps, the force might buy some of his cars to make pursuing criminals easier. The chief constable declined the offer, but was impressed and bought one.

Of all the British sports cars ever made the Austin-Healey 3000 series are amongst the most iconic and most desirable, despite the fact that they were by no means the most expensive nor even the most sophisticated. Unveiled in March 1961, the MkII version with restyled grille and hood intake was the last 3000 available as a two-seater, the 2+2 version having been for years the more popular. Adapted to all manner of motorsport, the 3000 found itself a strong contender in rally, endurance and road racing - proving itself to be a formidable contender in every type of racing it entered. The Austin-Healey 3000 was one of the most popular British roadsters of its age, it was raced with considerable success in European rallies and in tarmac racing everywhere from Sebring to the 24 Hours of Le Mans, to Mount Panorama in Bathurst, Australia.

The light and quick homologation hard-top Healey bore similarity to a standard BJ7 only in that it carried the same basic profile. Aluminum body panels, a very hotly tuned triple Weber carburetion setup, hotter cams in 6-port aluminum heads, ZF limited-slip differential, and a special racing gearbox made this Big Six a rocket ship. The body is made entirely of lightweight aluminum, all the unnecessary chrome trim removed, resulting in a vehicle dry weight of only 850 kgs. Powered by a highly tuned 6 cylinder 3.0 engine, delivering a breathtaking power output of 280 hp!

Thanks to the Overdrive that is simulated as a 5th gear in the game, the Healey is capable of up to 266 km/h and gets up to 360 km out of its 113.6 liter tank, but that is far from a relaxed affair as the rear end starts to fishtail due to aerodynamic lift at high speeds. If you can master that, however, you have a very capable car in your hands!

Jaguar E-Type Le Mans

An E-Type prototype had been raced at Le Mans in 1960, long prior to its introduction. When the production version arrived on the scene, the new E-Type did win its first time out at the Oulton Park GT Trophy Race, with Graham Hill behind the wheel. But the decade’s most luscious GT tourer was no racer.

At Le Mans in 1962, the Cunningham team entered a factory-prepared car. Briggs Cunningham and Roy Salvadori averaged 108.87 mph for 24 hours. That speed was just 5 mph slower than the D-Type’s best average ever, and was good enough for fourth place, behind three Ferraris. In major races Jaguar’s venerable long-stroke twin-cam six just couldn’t produce the horses to counter the new three-liter cars from Maranello. For its stalwart followers, the company did subsequently build a dozen aluminum-bodied lightweight E-Types, which performed admirably in club events throughout the world. Despite such efforts, a major racing offensive was not in Jaguar’s plans.

Fitted with a 140 Liter fuel tank and a 4-speed transmission, the E-Type will comfortably cruise down the Hunaudières at 273 km/h. Together with decent fuel efficiency, that allows for a range of up to 430 km between fuel stops.

Lotus 47 GT

Introduced late in 1966, the Lotus Europa was one of the first mid-engined production road cars. Although officially intended for use on the street, the Europa's competition roots were hard to miss. Accordingly, it was hardly surprising that a competition car quickly followed. Built for the production-based Group 4 class, it was dubbed the 47 GT (the Europa's internal name was the Type 46).

As on the Europa and also the Elan for that matter, the 47 GT featured a sheet-steel central backbone chassis. Suspension was by double wishbones at the front, while the rear featured a multi-link setup consisting of reversed lower wishbones, top links and twin trailing arms. Disc brakes on all four corners provided the stopping power. The lightweight fibreglass was also directly derived from the Europa but obviously lacked unnecessary trim like bumpers.

What really set the 47 GT apart from the Type 46 Europa was the drivetrain. Although both mounted amidships, the Europa featured a relatively docile Renault engine and gearbox, whereas the competition car boasted the latest version of the Ford Cosworth based twin-cam engine, mated to a Hewland FT 200 gearbox. Initially equipped with Weber carburettors but later also sporting a fuel injection system, the 1.6 litre 'four' was good for around 165 bhp.

Entered by the works Lotus Components team, the Lotus 47 GT debuted on Boxing day 1966 at Brands Hatch, where John Miles drove it to outright victory. It was the start of a remarkably successful career for the diminutive Lotus, particularly on the British isles. In addition to many national events, Miles together with Jackie Oliver also won their class at the Brands Hatch 500 World Championship round ahead of a fleet of Porsches in 1967 and 1968.

Deliveries of the customer cars started early in 1967 and these cars were also raced with great success on all corners of the world. To keep the 47 GT competitive, development work also continued, resulting in the 47A GT announced in 1968. Sharing some components with the Series 2 Europa, like the detachable body, it also featured a stronger chassis. The most extreme evolution was the unique 47D built for GKN and powered by an Oldsmobile V8.

Production of the 47 GT lasted until the end of 1968, even though the Europa would continue to be offered well into the 1970s. Although exact figures are not known, it is believed that around 55 examples were built, including a handful of the 47A evolution. The featherweight Type 47 remains as the last truly successful Lotus sports car.

With a top speed of 262 km, you can get up to 335 km out of the 91 Liter tank, which keeps your fuel stops nice and short to bring you back into contention against several cars that post faster laptimes.

Porsche 904/6

When Porsche introduced the box-framed 904 GTS that had a strong grip on the GT 2.0 class throughout 1964 and 1965 amidst fierce battles against the Abarth Simca 2000, the Type 587/3 flat-four engine in it had been an undesirable fallback solution. The 904 had been designed from the start to house a new racing engine derived from the Type 901 flat-six engine, but the lightweight racing version of that was not ready in time for the 1964 season. Thus, the homologated production run of over 100 units was made with the final iteration of the old flat-four engine.

While Porsche had fitted the F1-derived Type 771 flat-8 engine for their works effort in the Prototype 2.0 Liter class of the 1964 World Sportscar Championship, they had also been working on getting the new flat-six racing engine ready. By the end of 1964, the magnesium alloy Type 901/20 powerplant with 210 hp was in the first 904/6 prototype, and debuted at the Paris 1000 km where it retired with a cracked transmission mount. Porsche was already stocking up for a second production run with the new engine and announced the new "Carrera GTS 6" to customers, when the CSI (nowadays FIA) broke the news turned the world upside down for the 904/6. The GT category's minimum production requirement for homologation was going to be increased from 100 to 500 units at the start of 1966, rendering most of the existing GTs obsolete, and coincided with the introduction of a new category called Grand Tourisme Sport (GTS - better known as Group 4 Sportscars). This spawned a power struggle between Porsche's head of public affairs and racing Fritz Huschke von Hanstein, who wanted to carry on with the 904/6, and recent ETHZ mechanical engineering graduate Ferdinand Piëch, a grandson of Ferdinand Porsche and already the head of testing. Piëch got his way, and although all six of the 904/6 Coupés ever built by the factory had chassis numbers that began with 906, the car that became known as the 906 was an all-new tube frame design that debuted in 1966.

Throughout 1965, however, the Porsche works team got plenty of use out of the 904/6 and used it to iron out any remaining issues with the new powerplant, campaigning the old box-framed car with decent success in the P 2.0 class of the World Sportscar Championship alongside the much faster but far less durable 904/8 Coupé and its bouncy Spyder versions.

906-001: 3rd at Targa Florio; 5th at Nürburgring 1000 km; 4th Overall & P 2.0 Class Win at the 1965 Le Mans 24h - preserved
906-002: only used by the testing department, sold to Michel Weber who hillclimbed it successfully in 1966 - preserved
906-005: 2nd it the 1965 Mont Ventoux hillclimb with Gerhard Mitter, then thrown off of a crane for Porsche's first crash test
906-006: sold new to Vasek Polak in the United States and raced there - still preserved to this day
906-011: covered 8700 km in testing, then overhauled and sold to the United States - still preserved to this day
906-012: covered 12000 km in factory hands, including the Nürburgring 1000 km 1965 (6th), Le Mans (DNF engine) & Rallye Coupe des Alpes (DNF accident), sold to George Drolsom and raced in the United States throughout 1966 - still preserved to this day

With a top speed of 269 km/h and a large 110 Liter fuel tank as per the old 1965 regulations for engines with a displacement of up to 2.0 Liters, the 904/6 can cover up to 390 km between fuel stops despite using a less efficient carburetor instead of the injection system that Porsche's 1966 factory Prototypes received. Will this be enough to make it to the top in our GT-P Class this year?

Shelby Mustang GT350R

The 1965-67 Shelby GT350 was not built for comfort or ease of driving. There were 34 "GT350R" built in series as a turn-key race car, specifically for competition use under SCCA rules, and the model was the B-Production champion for three straight years. Many changes were done to the body, including the fittament of a distinctive front apron in fiberglass. Flares were added to the fenders to accommodate 15×7 inch wheels. Furthermore the side and rear windows were were replaced by Plexiglas with aluminum frames. Underneath, Shelby changed the pickup points on the suspension, added traction bars for the rear suspension and installed a new differential. Inside, a new instrument cluster was added with a tachometer and oil pressure gauge. A large 4-point roll cage was installed to provide a little bit of passive safety for the driver.

With more power than the engine versions commonly fitted to the Cobra and TVR, the big Mustang reaches 268 km/h but that comes at a price because it burns through 140 liters within just 280 km. While the rear brakes are prone to fading because they simulate that the GT350's rear axle only had upgraded drum brakes taken from the Fairlane Station Wagon, the car has decent front disc brakes to keep your total stopping distances reasonable.

Sunbeam Tiger 289

The Sunbeam Tiger owes its existence to the foresight of two men, Ian Garrad and Carroll Shelby. Ian Garrad (the son of the then Rootes Competitions Manager) had long felt that there was an excellent market for a high performance Sunbeam sports car to supplement the capable Alpine.

Sir Jack Brabham was in on the ‘ground floor’ of the Alpine to Tiger concept. While that genesis remains wreathed in myths, according to Ian Garrad ….” Jack Brabham, Bruce McLaren, Ken Miles and others had just driven Alpines in the Endurance 3 Hours invitation race at the ‘Times Grand Prix’ Riverside meeting of October 1962, which also saw the debut of the 260 Cobra. Later that day Jack and I were ‘bench-racing’ when the possibility of stuffing a V8 into an Alpine was broached by Brabham”. Whatever the absolute truth is Sir Jack Brabham’s views moved forward the eventual development of the Sunbeam Tiger.
Although the Rootes Group Sunbeam Tiger is of course a British classic car, the idea of the Tiger was formed in the USA by Rootes American Motors Ltd who asked the now legendary Carroll Shelby of AC Cobra fame to build a prototype V8 sports car based on the Sunbeam Alpine. Shelby obliged by shoehorning a Ford 4261 cc V8 into the engine bay. It was no coincidence that it was the same V8 that was used in the Cobra, albeit in a milder state of tune. The result, which emerged in May 1963, was a fully engineered package. Much of Shelby's experience gained from the Cobra was applied to this project. The Alpine's firewall was modified, and the 260-cid Ford was mounted far rearward of where the old four cylinder lump sat to achieve near 50/50 weight distribution. The recirculating-ball steering was replaced with a rack-and-pinion unit. A Borg-Warner T-10 four speed was used, just like the Cobra, and funneled power to a modified Dana 44 rear axle.

The leaders of the Rootes Group had also hired Ken Miles to build a prototype V8 Alpine, just to be on the safe side. Miles, even though he was a recent Shelby American hire, was a talented fabricator and builder of many 'specials' such as his 'Flying Shingle' MG TC, and was still building cars at his own shop. Miles' solution to the V8 installation was far simpeler: he fitted the 260-cid Ford V8, backed by an automatic transmission in the Sunbeam with limited alterations. It is reported that this took him less than a week, and Rootes was billed under $800,- for his efforts.

Both prototypes were tested and evaluated in California, and the Shelby modified was shipped home to England for further testing. Shelby hoped to be offered the contract to produce the Tiger at his facility in America. However Rootes decided instead to contract the assembly work to Jensen at West Bromwich in England, and pay Shelby a royalty on every car produced.
Rather unfortunately, the Tiger was dubbed as the poor man’s Cobra by the less impressed motoring buffs of the time. Initially the Tiger was only available in the USA and Britain had to wait until the summer of 1965 before anyone could actually take delivery of one. Minor changes followed later in 1965 which included improved hood storage and featured the body styling of the series V Alpine. Sunbeam aficionado‘s refer to models after these changes as the MK IA.

The Mk II version was introduced in December 1966. This car had a larger 4737cc V8 engine producing 200bhp. This new version was also fitted with an oil cooler and wider ratio gearbox and benefitted from improvements to the suspension. Externally a new “egg box” style front grille was the most notable change. Shelby had further involvement by developing a factory catalog of high-performance parts, available through Sunbeam dealers and even Shelby. These were called LAT options, for “Los Angeles Tiger." Everything from traction bars to optional Cobra kits were available. With the right combination of LAT options the Tiger could indeed be made into an impressive performance car, and many owners did just that. Sadly though, the life of the MK II was to be very short. Chrysler who had already invested in the Rootes Group took over the company in 1967 and production ended after only 536 MK II cars had been produced, of which only a few were for the British market.

With a Cobra's powerplant and a much lighter weight than the Mustang, acceleration is phenomenal, but the open-topped car without a windscreen has a very poor drag coefficient and reaches just 256 km/h. On the bright side, the tank holds 140 Liters, so you can get up to 310 km out of it with a little bit of lifting and coasting.

Toyota 2000 GT 311S

Toyota’s pre-production 2000 GTs were assembled in two groups: the 280 A / I and 280 A / II, some of which came with aluminium bodies and others with steel. The most significant difference between the 280 A / I and 280 A / II was the latter’s repositioned A-pillars which had been moved 40mm further forward to free up additional cockpit space.
For their 1966 racing programme, Toyota plucked two of the aluminium-bodied 280 A / Is and set about enhancing them for competition use. Thereafter known as 311 S, these cars were stripped down and painstakingly rebuilt from the ground up with a host of high performance upgrades. Assembly and preparation was handled by Toyota’s in-house competition department, TOSCO (TOyota Sports COrner).

The original Lotus-style backbone chassis was reinforced and drilled for lightness. Fully-independent double wishbone suspension was uprated with firmer springs and dampers plus thicker anti-roll bars at either end. The four-wheel disc brakes were also beefed up. New 15-inch magnesium wheels came with Goodyear Racing tyres. A bigger quick-fill fuel tank was installed.

Considerable attention was also paid to the engine and Toyota produced easily their most powerful motor yet. In standard trim, the 2000 GT’s type 3M engine featured a cast-iron block and Yamaha-designed aluminium DOHC head. Peak output was 150bhp at 6600rpm and it displaced 1988cc thanks to a 75mm bore and stroke. Few technical details for the 311 S variant were ever published, however, the original Mikuni-Solex 40 PHH carburettors were replaced with Weber 45 DCOE items and a free-flow exhaust system was installed. As output jumped to 217bhp at 7200rpm, it seems likely the conservative 8.4:1 compression ratio of the original car was increased. A five-speed gearbox and limited-slip differential was imported from the soon-to-be production model.

Although the Group 6 Prototype regulations offered relatively little restriction in terms of bodywork, Toyota wanted to capitalise on any motor sport success achieved with the 311 S and therefore deviated little from the original 2000 GT design.
Particular attention was paid to cooling and airflow. The nose was given a reshaped primary intake, a large scoop above the left-hand headlight and a wide extractor vent on the bonnet. Additional vents were added down each sail panel and behind the rear wheels.

As both retractable headlight pods were deleted, the driver relied solely on the distinctive inboard lights mounted behind Plexiglas covers. The rest of the lighting was also simplified with single circular lenses at the back and the elaborate sidelights junked. Gone too were the bumpers and even the door handles. All four fenders were cut away to accommodate wider wheels and tyres. The engine service hatches were discarded. The external filler cap was mounted on the right-hand rear fender. A pantograph windscreen wiper was trialled, but was soon abandoned in favour of a single arm arrangement.

All told, the two 311 S constructed weighed 836kg and 840kg. This was over 200kg lighter than the 280 A / I and ensured the new competition variant had a power-to-weight ratio approaching 260bhp per ton. Toyota quoted a top speed of 172mph. 0-62mph most likely took around five seconds.

Toyota entered the 2000GT in competition at home, coming third in the 1966 Japanese Grand Prix at Fuji. The 2000GT took its first win in the inaugural Suzuka 1000 Kilometres in 1966, and went on to win the 24 Hours of Fuji and the Fuji 1000 Kilometres in 1967. In addition, the car set thirteen FIA world records for speed and endurance in a 72-hour test at the Yatabe High Speed Test Track in 1966. Unfortunately, the record car was destroyed in a pace car accident and eventually scrapped. These records shortly prompted Porsche to prepare a 911R especially to beat this record.

Carroll Shelby also entered a pair of 2000GTs to compete in the 1968 SCCA production car races in the CP category. Initially Shelby built three cars, including one spare. Although it performed well, it was the only season the car competed in the US. Toyota took back one of the cars and rebuilt it into a replica of their record car, which still resides in Japan. The two remaining Shelby cars remain in the United States.

The sleek bodywork allows the 311 S to reach up to 273 km/h on the Ligne droite des Hunaudières, and its 100 Liter tank gives it a range of 360 km. Its excellent manners make the 311 S a very good companion when you want to outlast faster competitors who crash out, and few others come with the ability to accumulate visible battle scars on the track.

The live broadcast clients will use an invisible TV car.

Track Description

The 1967 Circuit de la Sarthe in Le Mans hardly needs an introduction to endurance racing enthusiasts all over the world. As the world center of endurance racing, it has hosted countless triumphs and tragedies throughout the past 100 years. True to the era from which this event's car roster comes from, this is still the highest-speed variant of the track, without the Ford Chicanes, and without the Porsche Curves that were built in the 1970s to bypass the treacherously fast and blind Maison Blanche chicane.

Based on the stunning Le Grand Circuit by woochoo & Virtua_LM that was initially ported to Assetto Corsa by Terra21, racinjoe013 improved it further by providing a more accurate look and feel of the environment. For the 2025 edition, we have updated to racinjoe013's most recent baseline version 1.0.5 and added a renewed and deliberately renamed version of last year's THR custom layout with 54 diagonal starting grid spots directly on the pit wall and 54 straightly-alined pitboxes.

Yes, you heard that right, it's a Le Mans start again: everyone gets lined up diagonally along the Pit Lane's wall for a standing start. If you want, you can run across your room when the lights go green before jumping into your simulator to get going, but adding that level of immersion for yourself might cost you a couple of dozen positions. It could, however, save you from catching a pit speeding penalty from crashing into the pit lane from a start collision - and yes, that really happened in 2022.

In addition to updating to racinjoe013's most recent baseline version of Le Mans 1967 and giving it the starting grid & pit lane layout we need, Pitman has overhauled the walls at Maison Blanche to make the experience more realistic for us.

  • The Maison Blanche apex wall was moved closer to the track, making it similarly close to the inside white line as reality in 1967 (Note: the virtual track has far too much asphalt to the left of the white line - in reality about 30-40 cm - and the virtual Maison Blanche layout is generally a bit faster than the real track was in period)
  • The Maison Blanche apex wall is also collideable now (instead of a hole that lets you fall of the track)
  • The end of the fence on the left before Maison Blanche was reprofiled to deflect you away from the beginning of the moved Maison Blanche apex wall
  • The Maison Blanche entrance's outside wall on the right side is also collideable now, and so is the short wall between the two stacks of haybales on the right side: like the old apex wall, both were previously a hole that you fell into if you drove into them slowly enough

Bonus: we have also updated the track's Extension Config to fix the Haybales by injecting newly-made proper txNormals and txMaps/txDetail textures for the Haybale material. The haybales now respond to environment lighting far more realistically. Speaking of realism, they now also don't like when your exhaust flames get too close to them. The fire brigade will extinguish them after a bit, but they'll be charred by then.


Event Schedule

Public Free Practice and Prequalifying

Public Free Practice Server
(Public Testing Server with random skin assignment, no registration required)
Join Link: THR |1| THRacing | discord.me/THRacing
Free Practice Live Timing: http://5.75.183.156:8772/live-timing?server=0

This public test server will be online from 12th January 2026 to 31st January 2026 for these purposes:

  1. You can get used to the track conditions with day/night transitions
  2. You can get used to the cars - you can try them all
  3. The Free Practice server also serves as a Prequalifying timing screen to validate every registered driver's capability to drive a safe race and navigate tricky situations successfully in the car that is named in the booking request. This capability is closely related to the laptimes that you're able to achieve in your car, and therefore you need to prove yourself in the car that you sign up for, in order to be accepted into the entry list.

Our Orga team will compare your laptime in the registered car with undisclosed benchmarks set by our test driver with a full tank of fuel at the same grip level in the same car, with an achievable percentage of leeway allowed on top of that in order to be accepted in the event.

Last year's edition of our Endurance Classic at Le Mans demonstrated that a tighter limit on these capability deviations is necessary, as too many of the drivers who barely made the cut for the 2025 edition proved to be very prone to accidents in the race. It proved that when drivers already struggle to keep their car on track alone, they will have a much harder time when they need to cope with blue flags and darkness on top of that, and that negatively affected the experience for several other teams.

Qualifying Week: 26th-30th Jan 2026

  
  

Qualifying Server - 6 Heures du Mans
Monday, 2026-01-26 to Friday 2026-01-30 at 23:59 CET
Join link for registered participants: THR | QUALI + RACE | THRacing | discord.me/THRacing
Qualifying Live Timing: http://5.75.183.156:8772/live-timing?server=4

  • Start of qualifying: Monday, 26th January
  • End of qualifying: Friday, 30th January at 23:59 Central European Time (CET)
  • You can set qualifying laps during the entire qualifying period, and you can take turns with your co-driver on attempting to set the fastest lap of your car on the qualifying server. Drivers who share a car in the race are already booked into the same client slot on the qualifying server, so while driver 1 is connected to the server, driver 2 has to wait until driver 1 leaves it again, and viceversa.
  • Your car's best valid laptime on the qualifying server will determine your car's starting position.

Races

TEST RACES - Friday 2026-01-30 at 2030 CET

TEST Races Server
Friday, 2026-01-30 at 20:30 CET (Jointime)
Join link for registered participants: THR |4| WKDY RACES | THRacing | discord.me/THRacing

Two practice races will be hosted a day before the main event.

Please use this opportunity to rehearse the driver swaps with your co-driver(s) and how to use all required Apps (like Real Penalty). We copy the entry list from the main event. The test races are set up as follows:

  • Test Race Qualifying: 30 minutes (only a single driver per team allowed)
  • Test Race 1: 70 minutes
  • Test Race 2: 70 minutes (first 10 positions start in reversed order)

ENDURANCE RACE - Sunday 2026-01-31 at 1200 CET

  

Endurance Race - 6 Heures du Mans
Saturday 2026-01-31 at 11:25 CET (Jointime after Drivers Briefing)
Join link for registered participants: THR | QUALI + RACE | THRacing | discord.me/THRacing
Race Live Timing: http://5.75.183.156:8772/live-timing?server=4
Click here to find your local time for the Drivers Briefing

All participating cars will be ordered according to their best qualifying laptimes that were set on the Qualifying Server during Qualifying Week and will be lined up diagonally alongside the pit wall for a standing Le Mans Start at 16:00 CET

SessionStart TimeDuration
Driver's Briefing in Briefing voice channel
(min. 1 driver per car)
Saturday, 11:00 CET20 minutes
Jointime including WarmupSaturday, 11:25 CET30 minutes
Wait Time (stay on the server!)-5 minutes
Endurance RaceSaturday, 12:00 CET720 minutes (12h)

Server Settings

ParameterValue
Tyre blanketsOff
Fuel Rate100%
Damage Multiplier75%
Tyre Wear Rate100%
Track Grip Qualifying96%
Track Grip Race96% to 100%

Special Rules for the Event

Basic Rules at THR

  • The basic THR racing rules apply to the Endurance race as well
  • THR Race Control will review incident protests that are submitted by drivers through the "Protest an Incident" ticket of the THR Ticket System until 4th February 2026, at 23:59 CET.
  • Instead of Point Penalties, Time Penalties will be used
  • The race result stays unofficial until THR Race Control confirms it

Pit Lane Rules

Most importantly, do not back up more than two car lengths in pit lane. In 2022, a driver's actions in a mistaken attempt to back out of the entire pit lane caused a fatal 300 km/h collision. We do not want to see anyone doing something similar this time!

Standard Pit Stops

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To make a regular pit stop (no Longstop, no Driver Swap), it's all business as usual:

  1. You drive into the pit lane: be sure to be below 80 km/h the moment your car enters the pit lane. Unlike when you serve a penalty, during "pit stops" only your pit lane entry speed gets tracked by Real Penalty, so as soon as you have arrived on the pit lane surface, you can speed up again - but please be cautious in the pits and don't cause any accidents here!
  2. you stop in the red box in front of your pit crew to perform whichever pit strategy you have set in your pit menu
  3. Normal pit stops (fuel/tires/repairs while the driver stays on the server) are not subject to the Long Stop time restrictions. Ignore the timer of Real Penalty if you don't perform a "Long Stop". Details on those are described in the next chapter.

Long Stops with(out) Driver Swap


Every Team must complete 3 mandatory Long Stops.

If you perform more client reconnections during additional driver swaps, they are automatically treated as Long Stops so in those cases you have to follow the timer as well.

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Until the end of the race, every car has to serve a total of three mandatory "Long Stops" that are governed by a timer in the Real Penalty App.

The "Long Stop" is a feature built into Real Penalty to assist endurance racing. The Long Stop offers a standardized time window to level the ground between solo drivers and drivers who share a car and perform driver swaps when they follow the guideline correctly, and crucially without providing a time disadvantage to drivers with slower loading times for joining an Assetto Corsa session. Think of it as a minimum pit stop duration that your car only needs to adhere to on two occasions!

During a Long Stop here, a car has to spend 180 seconds between the pit entrance and the pit exit.

The reason for that time window is that this provides a comfortably wide-enough timeline for Driver A to drive into the pit lane, stop the car in the swap zone (outside of their pit box) & disconnect from the server in the swap zone before Driver B connects to the server to take over the car from Driver A. Driver B then has to keep track of the Real Penalty Long Stop Timer on their screen to identify when they will be allowed to exit the pit lane. Each participating car has to comply with the instructions below to perform a Long Stop successfully.

Some teams with only 2 drivers may consider performing a Long Stop without disconnecting from the server, and that is possible. A Long Stop doesn't technically force you to disconnect if you race together on the same Simulator Rig, or if you are a team of only 2 drivers where you only want to perform 1 real driver swap. To clear a Long Stop, your car simply needs to spend an uninterrupted 180 seconds between pit entrance and pit exit, after entering the pits while driving. You may not perform a Driver Swap directly after Teleporting to the Pits, because that would render your car unable to reconnect!

You only need to adhere to this during two pit stops in the race, unless you make more driver swaps!

If you want to swap drivers more often than twice, you technically can do that but it's a huge disadvantage. The moment you initiate a Driver Swap where one driver disconnects from the server and another driver of the same car connects to the server, your car's pit stop forcibly becomes a Long Stop in which you must comply with the 180 second Long Stop timer in Real Penalty. That would happen even after you would have already completed your two mandatory Long Stops, every additional unnecessary driver swap will cost you almost an entire lap.

Note:

  • An individual driver's stint time is not limited.
  • Driver swaps magically heal your car:
    • your damage gets reset
    • you can load your setup & set your fuel tank to full before you jump into the cockpit during a driver swap

How to Swap Drivers during a Long Stop:

  1. Drive into the PIT LANE and do not exceed the speed limit of 80 km/h! You must reduce the speed to a max of 85 km/h before you enter the pitlane. (If you enter the pits too fast, your team will be penalized).
  2. When you enter the pit lane, RED indicator will show "Keep driving to swap": you need to continue driving through the pit lane until this text on screen changes to "Stop to swap".
  1. As soon "Stop to swap" indicator appears, stop the car at any place in the pitlane but don't stop directly in front of your pit crew! During a driver swap, the connecting driver can load the setup with fuel and tires.
  1. As soon the car is fully stopped, the "Stop to swap" text changes to "Swap possible" will appear. You can now press ESC and quit Assetto Corsa.
  1. As soon as your Assetto Corsa client has closed, it's time for one of your co-drivers to connect to the race server. It is only possible to connect to the server after another driver has disconnected from the server. There is no need to rush the change because there is an equal countdown of 180 seconds during the two mandatory Long Stops, and this time window is plenty enough to complete a driver swap, even if your computer has slower loading times in Assetto Corsa.
  2. After joining the server, load your setup and click drive as usual. Don't forget to load the setup you would like to use during your stint, because otherwise, the default setup with significantly less fuel will be loaded!
  3. You must ensure that the countdown "Pitlane time" reaches 0 before you exit the pit lane. This countdown is the remaining minimum time of your Long Stop in order to make your Long Stop valid. The 180 second countdown starts when your car enters the pit lane, and the timer gets stopped prematurely by exiting the surface of the pit lane before the time is up. If you leave the pit lane before the 180 seconds have concluded, you will be penalized by Real Penalty with a time penalty of 30 seconds plus the remainder of the countdown. If you leave the pits way too early, your Long Stop might not even get counted as a Long Stop at all.
  1. Once you see "GO" instead of the Pitlane Time, it means that your Long Stop is completed and you are ready to leave the pit lane. You are able to roll away from your pit box before the timer reaches 0 but DO NOT leave the pit lane before the timer gets to 0.
  1. Drive out of the defined pit exit as described in the Pit Exit Code of Conduct: accelerate as hard as you can while staying on the inside line of the track throughout turn 1 until after the Dunlop Bridge.

You can checkout a Real Penalty Demonstration video for the Driver Swap here:
Assetto Corsa - Real Penalty - Demo "Driver Swap" 
(the video shows more Real Penalty features but we only use pit speed limits & driver swap)

Note:

  • Driver Swaps mess up your in-game Live Timing & Blue Flags, giving you two challenges:
    • Broken in-game Live Timing:
      After completing your car's first driver swap, your in-game live timing apps will not display your position correctly anymore. You can only use them to identify who drives the cars that are around you, but the positions next to the other drivers's names will always be wrong.
    • Broken in-game Blue Flags:
      After completing your first driver swap, your in-game blue flags will display nonsense for the rest of the race.
    • Solution for both:
      • Your co-driver needs to watch the live timing at http://5.75.183.156:8772/live-timing?server=4 to keep you informed about which nearby cars you are fighting with for position, and which cars are either lapping you or about to get lapped by you.
      • The only in-game App that can show you correct positions is the default F9 leaderboard app that you can bring up by pressing the F9 key. However, it only updates data once per lap (start/finish line) to tell you your position and the interval to the cars positioned ahead and behind you. These slow updates and the poor user interface make this app hard to follow and interpret correctly while driving. It shouldn't be more than a backup plan for you.
  • No Stint Duration Limits: it's entirely up to you how much time which driver spends behind the wheel
  • Every Driver Swap magically heals your car:
    • your car's damage gets reset
    • you can load your preferred setup before you jump into the cockpit

Pit Speed Limit

While it is not historically accurate to enforce a speed limit in the pit lane, it helps to avoid massive crashes that can happen next to an open pit lane if drivers enter the pit lane at very high speeds and lose control while trying to get their cars stopped in their pit box after applying the brakes too late.

However, we have disabled the automatic 80 km/h pit limiter on our server to avoid losing control through a game-forced application of your brakes. Consequently, you have to ensure by yourself that you will not exceed the pit speed limit even after you entered the pit lane!

The Real Penalty pit limit is set to 85 km/h. You must be slower than that to avoid a speeding penalty.

  • When you only perform a pit stop, you can already accelerate after the pit entrance again
  • When you are in pit lane to serve a penalty, you must remain under 80 km/h for the entire duration of the pit lane (valid for both Stop & Go and for Drive Through Penalty)

Also, all drivers must comply with the pit lane entry/exit instructions described in the infographic below:

Pit Exit Code of Conduct

The pit exit at Le Mans 1967 is very dangerous, so it is of the greatest importance that all drivers know and respect the Pit Exit Code of Conduct that is outlined in this section and the video below!

  1. Parallel pit exit below the tower only, no diagonal pit exit!
    Mind the speed limit until you have cleared the pit exit (you will see it in Real Penalty, not enabled below). If you were in the pits for one of your two Long Stops, make sure your Long Stop Timer reaches 0 before you drive through the exit of the pit lane.
  2. As soon as you are out of the pit lane:
    Accelerate as hard as possible and stay on the inside line of Courbe Dunlop until after the Dunlop Bridge. DO NOT LIFT THE THROTTLE UNTIL AFTER DUNLOP BRIDGE! Failing to obey this would greatly increase the chances of a major accident here.
  3. If you are on a flying lap and see somebody else leaving the pits:
    Take a sufficiently wide line into Courbe Dunlop that leaves enough room to the car that leaves the pits! The example below with an AI-driven Ford GT40 was mere inches away from disaster.
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Penalties

Penalty Types:

  • Automated Penalty displayed in Real Penalty App GUI: Pit Lane Speeding:
    • Level 1: 85 to 100 km/h: Drive Through Penalty
    • Level 2: 100 to x km/h: Stop and Go 10 Seconds
  • Automated Penalty displayed in Real Penalty App GUI: Premature Pit Exit after Driver Swap:
    If a driver sets off before the minimum time during a Driver Swap, they will be given a penalty equal to the number of seconds left in the countdown plus 10 seconds. The penalty will be applied after the race.
  • Manual Penalty: Post-race decisions by Race Control:
    Participants can submit formal protests against incidents that occurred during the race. These will be reviewed and decided upon by Race Control after the race. If Race Control issues a penalty, that will typically be a time penalty that is added to a participant's race result.

Note that the first two penalty types are shown on screen by the Real Penalty App and must be served very quickly. If Real Penalty gives you a penalty, you MUST comply with it. That particularly includes scenarios where you crashed into the pit lane as an innocent victim of an accident that somebody else caused. It's tough if you get a speeding penalty for crashing into the pit lane, but there is nothing that we can do about it.

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  • Maintain a speed of less than 80 km/h while driving through the entire pit lane from entrance to exit
  • Slow down to less than 80 km/h before the pit entrance
  • Exit the pit lane at less than 80 km/h, and only at the end of the pit lane

How to serve a Stop & Go Penalty (within 3 laps)

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  • Stop in the pitlane, but not in the red box of your pit crew!
    Simply come to a stop anywhere else within the boundaries of the pit lane.
  • Hold your brakes and wait for the penalty countdown to finish.
  • As soon as your penalty countdown is over, drive to the pit exit and rejoin the race immediately.
    • Attention 1: Do not perform a pit stop while you visit the pit lane to serve a penalty!
    • Attention 2: Penalties cannot be served in the red box of your pit crew, even if you disabled the refueling & tire changes through the pit menu!
    • Consequences if you fail to obey that:
      If you stop in your car's pit box, Real Penalty will register a pit stop, and that will reset your penalty as soon as you exit the pit lane so you'll have to serve it again.
  • When to serve your penalties
    • Special Case 1 - the handed-over Penalty:
      If Driver A received a penalty but did not serve it before handing over the car to Driver B, the penalty time gets converted into seconds and will be added to the Driver Swap time of 180 seconds.
    • Special Case 2 - the last-minute penalty:
      If you cant serve the penalty before the end of the race, the penalty seconds (+30 seconds) will be added to the result after the race.

How to FAIL a Stop & Go penalty's Drive Through Component and then fix it on the following lap:

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Limping and Teleporting back to pits

There are four ways to get back to the pits during a race, but as long as your car is intact, there is only one: driving into the pits like everyone else and performing your scheduled pit stops, which may not be shortened by porting the car back to the garage.

However, certain major accidents like the one below can damage your car so severely that racing to the pits at full speed in a car with severely impaired control would be irresponsible for safety reasons.

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In compliance with THR Basic Rule #10 "Teleporting back to pits", this chapter describes in greater detail how you can approach these scenarios. Although your choice of action is of a highly individual nature depending on your accident, the exact effect that it has on your car's steerability, and your individual ability as a driver to handle that situation, you must act responsibly above all else, and this chapter is a guideline that explains a suitable course of action.

Option 1: How to safely limp a damaged car to the pits for repairs

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  • Consider this before you try to limp your car back to the pits:
    • If your car is severely damaged, and you are already so close to the end of the lap that you want to limp it to the pits because it costs you less time than teleporting, the first thing you need to do is a damage assessment: Are all of your wheels still on the car and can you control your damaged car well enough to get to the pit lane without posing an unjustifiable hazard to other participants?
    • Only if you can control the trajectory of your car reliably at a speed of at least 60 km/h, you are allowed to limp it to the pit lane but you must turn on your hazard lights and check your mirrors before you re-enter the track.
    • If you got reported for causing an accident while limping back to the pits and Race Control finds you guilty for insufficient control of your damaged car while limping back to the pits, Race Control will penalize you.
  • What to do while limping:
    • First, turn on your hazard lights and check if the track is clear behind you: If yes, you can proceed to re-enter the track at a shallow angle parallel to the side of the road from which you came.
    • If you are on the left side of the track, continue there until you have enough clear space behind your car (check your mirrors and realtime/substanding apps!) to safely change to the right side of the track, where you will continue until you get to the pit lane.
  • Once you get to the pits:
    • If you have to make a Long Stop (usually a driver swap) soon anyway, this is the best opportunity to do it because it won't cost you any additional time unlike a normal repair stop
    • Normal Repair Stop:
      If your suspension is only bent but your wheel did not get ripped out of the car like in the video, you set up the necessary repairs in the pit menu and drive your car into your pit box to make a repair stop
    • ABSOLUTE EXCEPTION: Unable-to-repair-Teleportation within pit lane
      Only in the following specific scenarios that are technically impossible to repair in a normal pit stop, you are allowed to roll the car across the start/finish line inside of the pit lane and stop it in the pit lane before you teleport it to your pit box:
      • You ripped a wheel out of the car, like in the video
      • Your transmission or engine is unrepairably destroyed and you are only coasting with residual momentum (NO, an empty tank does not count: your engine starts again in a normal pit stop the moment it gets the first liter of fuel!)

Option 2: Teleporting to the pits

There are 3 ways to teleport your back to the pits if it's damaged so badly that you cannot limp it back to the pits safely anymore, or your car is completely unable to move under its own power (Examples: no fuel, blown engine, transmission failure).

  1. Stopping the car, hitting the ESC button & selecting "Back to pits":
    You get teleported into the pits and see the UI Menu, which can be closed via a click on the wheel button in the upper left corner. You get a time penalty and can leave the pits with a new repaired car after the end of the penalty.
  2. Using an input button, which is assigned to the Content Manager function "Setup in pits"
    You get teleported into the pits and see the UI Menu, which can be closed via a click on the wheel button in the upper left corner. You get a time penalty and can leave the pits with a new repaired car after the end of the penalty.
  3. Using an input button, which is assinged to the Content Manager function "Teleport to pits"
    You get teleported into the pits, get a new repaired car and are able to leave the pits immediately but you lose the progress of your current lap.

You can use either of these approaches, but the usage of the input-button-triggered teleportation only allowed directly after an accident. If you have to abort an attempt to limp a damaged car back to the pits after several hundred meters or more, you must stop the car, hit ESC and select "back to pits".

If a driver gets caught (via Stream, Incident Report, Stracker, etc.) using the teleportation features in an improper way or to gain an unfair advantage such as bypassing the duration of a pit stop, race control will investigate it and decide about a penalty, which can go as far as a complete disqualification.

Blue Flag monitoring by Co-Driver in Web Live Timing

You can only trust Assetto Corsa's Blue Flags until your car's first driver swap!

After this, you should rely on outside help from your Co-Driver to filter the Blue Flags, by making them use the ServerManager Live Timing at http://5.75.183.156:8772/live-timing?server=4 to keep track of the cars around you and relay their real race positions to you . This information provided by them is crucial for you to tell apart drivers who are a lap ahead of you (or already lapped by you) from drivers against whom you are fighting for position.

While you are in the car, you can of course use the Kunos F9 Timing App and Realtime-Style apps such as Substanding Relative, but it's a significantly better solution for your co-driver to support you as a spotter! Another option to get a general idea of positions is to follow our livestreams on Youtube, which will be linked as updates in the relevant sections below once their links are available. These streams will additionally be posted in #drivers chat in Discord when they go online.

Communication

Our main communication channel is our Discord Server.
Please follow:
https://discord.me/THRacing
Or just click the button in the right menu.

It is not mandatory, but recommended, that you join Voice Chat during Qualifying and Races.

There will be a group voice channel in the THR Discord for every participating Community and a dedicated voice channel for every registered car, ranked according to the starting number of their car. After 24th January 2026, you will find these voice channels by scrolling the through the THR Discord's channel list all the way down to the bottom.

  • Saturday Test Races: we invite all participating drivers from each of the participating communities to join our Discord Voice Channel "Qualifying + Race".
  • Pre-Race Briefing
    • Join "Briefing" voice channel for the Pre-Race Briefing on Sunday
    • In the unlikely scenario of a server crash, go here for a faster flow of information
  • During the race:
    • Car Crew Voice Channels:
      • For undisturbed communication between drivers of the same car supporting each other as crew chief using the THR Web Live Timing, each car's crew gets a dedicated voice channel
      • Note: These Channels are technically open for everyone to make it easier to communicate an apology in case you caused an accident. Other than that, please don't disturb your fellow competitors.
    • Group Voice Channels:
      • if you like to talk a lot with other drivers from your community, you can use the Group Voice Channels that we set up for each Community, but please pay great attention to your co-driver's insights from the live-timing about track positions & filtered blue flags
    • Live Interviews:
      if you want to give an interview during the race, jump into the waiting room for the language that you want to give an interview in. The commentators scan these waiting room channels and will drag you to their LIVE BROADCAST channels from there:
      • WAITING is the waiting room for English interviews during the live broadcast
      • WARTERAUM is the waiting room for German interviews during the live broadcast
  • Post-Race: Victory Lane Celebration & Raffle
    • After the race, the top 3 finishing teams of each class will be interviewed by the Broadcasters, and after that they will join "Outside Races (no PTT)"
    • We invite all of you to join our Voice Channel "Outside Races (no PTT)". After the victory lane interviews, we will hold a raffle betwen all teams who saw the checkered flag in this race.
      Grab your beverage of choice and enjoy the raffle!

Live Broadcasts

This special event will be covered by live broadcast by two teams (6 hours each) [English commentary].

Broadcast Info Board

To provide additional information, THR offers its traditional Broadcast Info Board.
The board is your point of reference for all the information you need about the race:

  • Team Info, Driver Info, Car Pic, Car Number, Team Name, etc.
  • Spotter Guide
  • Qualifying Results (after the Qualfying has finished)
  • Race Results (after the Race has finished)
  • during the race, it shows which driver is sitting in the car
  • Statistics about the Registration
  • Information about Track and all the Cars from the different classes

bit.ly/Infoboard_5th-THR-Endurance

English broadcast

The english live broadcast will be hosted on the THR youtube channel. Many thanks to PirateLaserBeam from Syndicate Motorsports for broadcasting our Endurance race the third time in a row and to Spitzlam and his Team for commentating a THR race for the first time.

Live Timing

The live timing for qualifying & race is found here:
http://5.75.183.156:8772/live-timing?server=4

Help

We have tried to provide all the necessary information on this page, and we might add additional chapters if we see a need for that.

If you have any further questions, please ask them in the #endurance-chat channel in our Discord.

Best wishes

This is important for me: THR is a volunteer-driven passion project, not a professional organization!

We are experienced in hosting events and we always try to do our best. However, races with so many participants from different communities are a challenge for us as well.

It's possible that some things may not run as smoothly as we hope, or that we can't respond and provide a solution immediately. Rest assured, though, that we try everything so that we can experience a great event together!

And if this one works well, similar events might occasionally happen in the future again. Why not drive in circles for 24 hours 😉

We wish you all an intense, exciting and overall really enjoyable Endurance Race!

[THR]pitman & the THR Orga Team


One more thing

We don’t really want to ask for money, but running THR involves not only the many hours contributed by the organizing team, but also ongoing costs.
Especially large events like the endurance races cause significantly higher expenses, such as:

  • server upgrades
  • costs for apps we use for the race
  • commentary
  • etc.

We discussed whether it would make sense to charge an entry fee, but decided against it. So it is still free to race with us, but if you enjoy it, we would appreciate it if you would help cover the costs with a donation or with becoming a THR Patron.