After a successful racing event, the 2023 iRacing VCO Daytona 24 hour event can proudly feel that the mission was accomplished.
Its that race that lights up the sky with a buzz, the 2023 iRacing VCO Daytona 24 hour event was and should be seen as a positive look in the sim racing genre.
The biggest community event in the world of sim racing is in the books for 2023, as the checkered flag has now fallen on the iRacing VCO Daytona 24. The seventh annual running of the event, a virtual version of the annual Rolex 24 on the Daytona International Speedway road course, sees tens of thousands of drivers take part each year across multiple classes and time slots.
When all was said and done with the 2023 edition, 16,651 declared drivers and 4,191 teams took part in the event across four time slots and 85 splits, turning 2.25 million laps and running nearly 8.6 million miles. Racers were connected to iRacing servers, which transmitted nearly 16 terabytes of data, for a total time of nearly 26 years during the event. The largest time slot, launching at 12:00 GMT Saturday, featured 42 splits, welcoming users of all skill levels from around the world and giving everybody on the iRacing platform a chance to compete. For the highest-rated iRacers, Racespot broadcast all 24 hours of the top split in the largest time slot.
This year’s iRacing VCO Daytona 24 also marked the iRacing Special Event debut of the BMW M Hybrid V8, which will make its real-world racing debut in next week’s IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship season opener. BMW’s return to prototype racing comes in IMSA’s highly anticipated new GTP class, and is the brand’s first prototype in the 21st century. It was joined on track by the LMP2 class, featuring the Dallara P217, and the GT3 class, which featured six manufacturer choices that will all be represented in next week’s real-world race.
The iRacing VCO Daytona 24 is the first round of the VCO Grand Slam, which mirrors the Michelin Endurance Cup in the real-world IMSA season. The next round of the VCO Grand Slam is the iRacing VCO Sebring 12 on March 24-26, followed by the iRacing VCO 6hrs of the Glen from Watkins Glen International on June 16-18 and iRacing VCO Petit Le Mans at Michelin Raceway Road Atlanta on October 6-8.
The entire iRacing Special Events calendar, which features more than two dozen events across a wide range of racing disciplines, can be found at https://www.iracing.com/special-events/. From full-length NASCAR Cup Series races to global sports car enduros, America’s biggest races on dirt to the SCCA Runoffs, the iRacing Special Events calendar features something for everyone and is open to all iRacers.
Images via Tsutsu Racing, Justin Melillo, Sito Ferrer, Pol Munne Martinez, and Laurens Stade
