The 2020 24 Hours of Le Mans was moved from its traditional June dates to 19–20 September because of the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on France. Rather than leave the calendar slot empty, the ACO, the FIA WEC and Motorsport Games created the 24 Hours of Le Mans Virtual using a digitised version of the 13.626 km Circuit de la Sarthe inside rFactor 2. The event was developed with simulator software company Studio 397 and sponsored by the Saudi Arabian Federation for Electronic and Intellectual Sports initiative. It was broadcast from Paris' Studio Gabriel and commentated by Ben Constanduros and Martin Haven, with expert analysis from Tom Kristensen, Allan McNish and esports commentators Lewis McGlade and Chris McCarthy.
Fifty teams of four drivers each competed across Le Mans Prototype (LMP) and Grand Touring Endurance (GTE) categories, with 30 LMP entries and 20 GTE. Every LMP team ran an Oreca 07, while GTE teams chose between the Aston Martin Vantage, Chevrolet Corvette C7.R, Ferrari 488 GTE and Porsche 911 RSR. GTE cars were subject to a balance of performance administered by the rFactor 2 developers.
Each driver was limited to a minimum of four hours and a maximum of seven hours behind the wheel, with no driver permitted to drive more than three hours within any five-hour period. At least two professional drivers holding an international FIA racing licence were required per car, alongside up to two sim racers. Drivers competed remotely from locations around the world and were required to complete at least ten laps in pre-event test sessions.
The 200-driver field was assembled by a committee of esports and motor racing representatives. Formula One drivers on the entry list included Max Verstappen, Lando Norris, Charles Leclerc and Pierre Gasly. Formula E, IndyCar, IMSA and FIA WEC professionals also competed, among them Fernando Alonso, Jean-Éric Vergne, António Félix da Costa, Nick Tandy and Juan Pablo Montoya. The list was capped at 50 cars after organisers received 85 entry requests, with a ten-team reserve list also published.
Qualifying took place on the evening of 12 June over two 20-minute sessions — GTE first, then LMP. Sim driver Jernej Simončič set a lap of 3 minutes 23.380 seconds to put the ByKolles – Burst Esports Oreca 07 on LMP pole. Joshua Rogers, the reigning Porsche Esports Supercup champion, took GTE pole in 3 minutes 46.550 seconds for the Porsche Esports Team.
The start was waved by former basketball player Tony Parker. Tom Dillmann in the pole-sitting ByKolles car led early but received a drive-through penalty for a jump start, promoting Kelvin van der Linde's E-Team WRT entry. A red flag at the fifth hour, caused by a computer systems fault, paused the race and allowed all 50 cars to continue after a restart. A second stoppage of around 30 minutes at the 19-hour mark addressed server problems.
Verstappen, driving for Team Redline, led strongly in the middle hours but lost time due to server lag that caused him to crash at Arnage and the Porsche Curves. His car ultimately retired around the halfway point, the event's first retirement, when further technical issues caused the entry to be driven by artificial intelligence before being disqualified. By the 22nd hour the race was a battle between the two Rebellion Williams Esports entries and the ByKolles squad.
In the final stages, Nikodem Wisniewski in the No. 1 Rebellion car conserved fuel meticulously and held off charging ByKolles driver Jernej Simončič. Wisniewski crossed the line first for the Rebellion team, sharing the overall winning car with Jakub Brzezinski, Louis Delétraz and Raffaele Marciello, finishing in 24 hours 30.007 seconds after 371 laps. ByKolles — Tom Dillmann, Esteban Guerrieri, Simončič and Jesper Pedersen — finished 17.781 seconds behind in second, with Rebellion's No. 13 entry of Jack Aitken, Agustín Canapino, Marc Gassner and Michael Romanidis third a further 5.203 seconds back.
In GTE, the No. 93 Porsche Esports Team car of Ayhancan Güven, Joshua Rogers, Tommy Østgaard and Nick Tandy led for 261 consecutive laps and won the class convincingly. Tandy became the first driver to win both the real and virtual 24 Hours of Le Mans. The Aston Martin Racing entry of Manuel Biancolilla, Lasse Sørensen, Nicki Thiim and Richard Westbrook finished second in GTE, one lap down.
The 2020 24 Hours of Le Mans Virtual was praised widely as a high-quality substitute for the postponed physical event. It won the Live Experience Award at the Leaders Sports Awards in September 2020, the Autosport Pioneering and Engineering Award at the Autosport Awards in December 2020, the VCO Simmy Award for Best Event, and the Best Use of Esports by a Sports Brand Award at the Sports Technology Awards. The event demonstrated that blending professional racing drivers with elite sim racers in a high-production broadcast format could reach mass audiences, a model subsequently adopted by the permanent Le Mans Virtual Series launched the following season.