What is a Driver Swap in Le Mans Ultimate?

Simply, in online multiplayer races, you can pull into the pitlane and then leave the car. At this point, a friend or team member will take control of the same car in the same race.

This is aping real-world FIA World Endurance Championship races, such as the 24 Hours of Le Mans, where three drivers are allocated to each car, switching during pitstops. The biggest difference, however, is that the handover is done virtually.

This is key to endurance racing; asking a lone driver to complete an event was outlawed in the real world 24 Hours of Le Mans in the 1980s on safety grounds.

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Why Are Driver Swaps an Important Feature?

Without the ability to swap to a teammate mid-race, multiplayer races in Le Mans Ultimate were previously capped at 2.4 hours.

Creating this new functionality, which also allows for team registration for an event, opens the possibility of longer races, as seen in titles like Assetto Corsa Competizione or iRacing.

The aforementioned early-August event, for example, was a six-hour event around Qatar’s Lusail International Circuit. To date, this is now the longest race held on the platform, with more scheduled for the near future.

The second test race with driver swaps enabled will be the equally long 6 Hours of COTA, open to all between 5th and 7th September.

From there, we hope to see a calendar of team-based events heading into 2026, analogous to that seen in iRacing. That platform’s collaborative system helps create a greater sense of community, with shared achievements routinely shared and celebrated post-race.

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Le Mans Virtual Series to Return

Once the driver swap functionality has been tested and the Studio 397 development team behind Le Mans Ultimate are happy with the stability of the longer races, its flagship esports event is set to return.

The Le Mans Virtual Series has previously seen real-world drivers from multiple motorsport disciplines team up with the world’s best sim racers. Broadcast live, a series of races culminates in the blue-riband 24 Hours of Le Mans Virtual.

It last ran in 2023. Then, it used the venerable rFactor 2 and suffered from technical maladies, resulting in multiple red flags. Upon its return, it will utilise Le Mans Ultimate, and it may also introduce a new format with hopefully greater opportunities for fans to participate. Qualifying is set to begin at the end of 2025.

So, while this driver swap feature could be great for those who want to enter longer races with friends, it will also lead to the return of one of the most-viewed competitive sim racing competitions. And that, we can’t wait for...

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Written by the teams at trophi.ai and Traxion.GG.