My First LAN - Le Mans Esports 2019
In February 2019 I qualified for my first LAN and I was ecstatic. Le Mans had always been one of my absolute favourite tracks, and now I'd be given the opportunity to visit it in real life all expenses paid?!
In preparation for the event I practised night and day, putting in at least 5 hours a day for 3-4 weeks and gradually shifting my sleep schedule to fit the french time zone to reduce jet lag, going to bed around 3-4am and waking up at 12pm. Flying out the monday before the event and stopping over in Qatar, we arrived and met the organisers and other competitors for the trip from Paris down to the town of Le Mans (unfortunately we were delayed due to the line being hindered by a struck deer).
The days before the race were an absolute experience, having a trip to the Michelin lounge, karting at the track, and on thursday getting practise time on the rigs while qualifying. I would be paired with future Red Bull Racing Esports driver Robin Betka, an absolute rocket, and my future team mate at Light Speed Mariano Ocana. Together the three of us, from Mexico, Australia, and Deutschland, would form the MAD Motorsport team, managing to qualify 2nd overall for the upcoming series of races.
What would follow would follow on the friday would be 24 hours of gruelling racing. Split into 9 races; 5 of 2 hours and 3 of 3, and the final being 90 minutes, each race would have a prize fund for finishing on the podium, and so we made it our mission to maximise our performance in the first 8 races and sacrifice a bit of performance in the final. Jumping in after brilliant opening stints from Robin, I would cross the line to take the flag as the victor of the 1st and 7th races, with Mariano doing the same for the 2nd and 5th, landing us a total of 12,000 USD to split between the three of us.
The series was a new experience for me. Coming off the high of winning the 1st race, I eventually struggled a bit in my first stint in modern machinery, the Porsche 919, culminating in a spin. This severely damaged my confidence and it took some time after that race to recover it. However prior to my next stint in the rig, I went through a few mental exercises a friend had taught me, and this was enough to reset my mentality and develop a bit of confidence again. As much as I relish taking that first win for the team, race 6 will forever be one of the most important races in my career. This was the race that set me up for the win in race 7, as there was less pressure being in machinery that could only fight for the bottom 3 spots of the races. In this race I pulled off one of the best moves of my sim racing career, performing a double overtake in the first part of the lap at Spa.
The most interesting takeaway in my race was just how it feels to make it through 24 hours with only a 90 minute nap in between, and what’s more was with the real 24 hours of Le Mans starting just an hour after our race finished, I decided to stay up and watch the race start. I was like a zombie, but lo and behold I caught the opening parts of the race, went back to the tent, and slept for 12 hours before catching some fantastic midnight action! This event is still one of my favourite memories ever, and was the single best experience of 2019 for me.