While Formula 1 manages to hoover up almost all of the racing news headlines, it’s far from the only motorsporting peak for drivers to climb. Each one puts differing skills to the test, from the fearless adaptability needed for WRC, to the perfected turns and slipstreaming of NASCAR and IndyCar oval racing. Then there’s the endurance racing of WEC and IMSA, with the jewels in the crown of the 24 hours of Le Mans, 24 Hours of Daytona and 12 Hours of Sebring, each contested by multi-class fields of racing cars, with multiple drivers per car, and a gruelling test of stamina, skill and split-second judgement.
With Endurance Motorsport Series, KT Racing is seeking to capture the essence of these cars, with Hypercars, LMP2 and GT from a bunch of major manufacturers, the challenge of driving them for long periods of time through changeable conditions, but also of the race management that takes place on the pit wall.
Endurance Motorsport Series is a fairly unique game, in that respect, making it a distinctive alternative to Le Mans Ultimate (which is currently in Early Access), sim racing in rFactor 2, or jumping into long format races in Forza Motorsport, Gran Turismo 7, Project Cars 2, and all the other racing games in history that have features Circuit de la Sarthe and other icons of this form of racing.
We got to go hands-on with a team running a pair of Porsche cars, with a shortened race at Fuji Speedway accelerating things like tyre wear, fuel usage and weather transitions to provide an indicative experience. Built using KT’s in-house KT Engine, it looks fantastic as you race in the shadow of Mt. Fuji, and as an ominous bank of rain rolls in to upend your race. Unfortunately, you’ll just have to trust me on this, as Nacon is yet to release any screenshots from this first-playable build of the game.
Driving both the Porsche 963 LMDh and a Porsche 911 GT3 R (992), and using Nacon’s upcoming RevoSim racing wheel, the base experience was definitely more on the accessible side of simcade racing, most likely with a bunch of racing assists turned on. That’s important for broad appeal, when this game is coming to consoles and PC, and will likely be very playable on a gamepad, but I’ve no doubt that you’ll be able to get a more exacting simulation if you desire one.
However, this game’s real trick is straddling the divide between driver and team manager. At any time you can switch views back to the pit wall and check on the overall progress of the race, check how conditions are changing, make the calls for the next round of pit stops, nudge the AI drivers to race in a particular way, ask them to provide feedback on the car to and diagnose issues, and more. While you’re able to hop in and out at any time, there is a driver line up of AI that will have their own particular driver stats and stamina for racing, oh, and when you personally head back on track, you don’t necessarily have to drive the car you started with, but can chop and change between the two.
It’s not exactly realistic to be able to do this, but Endurance Motorsport Series is perhaps more about capturing the spirit of the sport than any specific rules and regulations. Keen WEC fan that I am, I noticed minor details like pit stops replacing tyres and refuelling in the wrong order for that championship’s regulations and processes, though you can do things like swap only certain tyres if wear is affecting your car unevenly, or mixing and matching different compounds on different parts of the car.
Endurance Motorsport Series is a fascinating prospect that is trying something a bit different and with a style of racing that is decidedly niche, but that’s a big part of its appeal. If you’ve even a little love for endurance racing, this is absolutely one to keep an eye on as it heads for release in 2025, and I’m keen to see more.
