You buy Le Mans Ultimate, jump into your first online race and get punted at the very first corner, and your rating drops before you have even finished a lap. Most beginners go through exactly this because they go online with an untuned wheel, no practice and no idea how the start procedure works. This guide walks you through it step by step: what you need, which settings to touch, how to practise offline and how to get through your first online race cleanly.
The short version:
Buy the game on Steam (it is PC only for now).
On first launch, create a free RaceControl account and verify your email within 24 hours.
Calibrate your wheel or controller and turn the force feedback (FFB) down if it is too strong.
Spend a few evenings offline with one car on one track.
Join a Beginner Daily Race and aim for a clean finish, not a win.
What Le Mans Ultimate is
Le Mans Ultimate is the official game of the FIA World Endurance Championship (WEC) and the 24 Hours of Le Mans. It is made by Studio 397, the team behind rFactor 2. The full release arrived on 22 July 2025, after an Early Access period that started in February 2024.
Which platforms it runs on
As of September 2026 the game is PC only, sold through Steam, for Windows 10 and 11. The CEO of Motorsport Games has announced PS5 and Xbox Series X|S versions, and in March 2026 he talked about an early-to-mid 2027 release. Until those versions ship, you need a PC to play Le Mans Ultimate.
Car classes
You race the cars of the WEC and the European Le Mans Series (ELMS). For a beginner, LMGT3 is a comfortable place to start, and it is also the class our league runs.
Class | What it is | In the base game |
|---|---|---|
Hypercar | The fastest prototypes, the top class of the WEC | Yes |
LMP2 | Prototypes, slower than the Hypercars | Yes |
LMGT3 | GT cars close to their road-going versions, with ABS built into the car | Yes, 3 cars (the rest come in packs) |
GTE | The GT cars from earlier WEC seasons | Yes |
LMP3 | Prototypes from the ELMS | Partly: the ADESS AD25 is free, the rest come with the ELMS packs |
What you need to get started
A PC
These are the official requirements from the game's Steam page:
Minimum | Recommended | |
|---|---|---|
OS | Windows 10 or 11 | Windows 10 or 11 |
CPU | Intel Core i5-8400 or AMD Ryzen 5 2600 | Intel Core i5-10600 or AMD Ryzen 5 5600X |
Memory | 8 GB RAM | 16 GB RAM |
Graphics | NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1060 (6 GB) or AMD Radeon RX 580 (6 GB) | NVIDIA GeForce 2070 (8 GB) or AMD Radeon RX 6600 (8 GB) |
Storage | 45 GB | 45 GB |
Wheel or controller
You can play with a controller. Steam lists the game with partial controller support: it works on track, but you cannot navigate the menus with it.
For serious racing, a wheel and pedals are the better choice, because you feel the car through the force feedback and can meter throttle and brake more precisely. Which wheel to buy is a topic of its own, so we will leave it out here.
The game and the add-on packs
The regular Steam price is €39.99 (checked in September 2026), and it drops during sales. The base game includes 7 tracks: Monza, Spa, Sebring, Bahrain, Portimão, Fuji and Le Mans. Its LMGT3 cars are the Mercedes-AMG, the Ford Mustang and the McLaren 720S.
Everything else comes in paid DLC packs, including most of the GT3 cars, such as the BMW M4, Ferrari 296 and Porsche 911. For your first few weeks, the base game is all you need.
RaceControl account and connection
On first launch the game asks you to pick an account: a local one (offline only) or RaceControl (for online racing).
The free RaceControl Lite account is all you need to race online. Verify your email within 24 hours, or online access is switched off.
A wired internet connection is strongly recommended over Wi-Fi.
Set your Windows time zone to automatic. If your clock is off, the Join Event button may not appear on time.
First settings: wheel, FFB and assists
Wheel and pedals
Open Settings > Controls > Wheel & Pedals > Calibrate.
Turn the wheel fully left and fully right.
Press throttle, brake and clutch all the way and check that they read 0% and 100%.
Turn on Use Steering Wheel Range From Vehicle, as the official guide recommends.
Force feedback lives under Controls > Wheel & Pedals > Force Feedback. The main setting is FFB Strength: if the wheel pulls too hard or tires you out, turn it down. For powerful direct drive wheels, the official advice is 50-70% in game and more force from the wheel's own software.
If the wheel pulls the wrong way, look for Invert FFB (some brands, such as Thrustmaster, need it). On some wheels, turning off Steam Input improves the force feedback.
Controller
Click the cog in the top right and open Controls > Gamepad. Map steering, throttle and brake first. In the calibration tab, the official advice is a sensitivity of 10% or lower, because a stick has very little travel and high values make you more likely to spin.
Also map buttons for the MFD (the car's on-screen settings display). That way you can change traction control and pit stop settings without stopping.
Assists
The game offers assists such as Auto Shifting, Braking Help, Steering Help, Stability Control and ABS. Some of them carry a penalty that grows with the assist level (the official guide lists which), and some online races disable them. You can see this on the event page.
On LMGT3 cars, ABS is part of the car itself, and traction control (TC) is a car system rather than an assist. You adjust it in the garage or through the MFD while driving.
Our advice: start with automatic gears and braking help while you learn the track. Then drop one assist at a time, once you can drive consistently without it.
Practise offline before your first online start
For practice you use the Race Weekend mode. You pick a season, track, car, sessions, time of day and chance of rain. AI strength is set with Opponent Difficulty, and according to the official guide anything above 100% is "alien" level. Start well below that.
In practice and qualifying you can make the opponents invisible (Private Practice/Qualifying), so you can learn the track without traffic.
A plan for your first evenings
One car, one track. Example: a base-game GT3 car at Monza.
Learn the braking points first, speed comes later.
Goal: 10 clean laps in a row without leaving the track.
Then a Race Weekend against the AI: start from last and practise clean overtakes.
Track limits
To stay out of trouble, keep two wheels inside the white lines or all four wheels on the kerbs. In practice and qualifying a violation deletes your lap. In the race you collect warning points that lead to a drive-through, and a big cut earns a stop-go.
Your first online race
DR and SR in a nutshell
Driver Rank (DR) shows how fast you are compared to others. Everyone starts at Bronze 3. Safety Rank (SR) shows how cleanly you drive. You start at Bronze 0 and move up through Bronze, Silver, Gold and Platinum.
Every contact with a car or a wall costs you SR, and when two cars touch, both drivers lose SR, whoever was at fault. That is why the official advice for new drivers is to focus on SR first and let DR find its own level.
Daily Races: which tier is yours
Tier | Requirement | How often | What to expect |
|---|---|---|---|
Beginner | Open to everyone | Every hour | High assists, fixed setups, a single class |
Intermediate | Silver SR | Every 2 hours | Longer races, multiclass |
Advanced | Gold SR | Every 3 hours | Even longer, low or no assists, all classes |
You carry a Rookie badge for your first 10 races. After Daily Races come Weekly and Special Events, while Online Championships require a paid RaceControl Pro or Pro+ subscription.
Registering and starting, step by step
Pick an event. Its page shows the track, sessions, weather, a countdown and the rules.
Jump into the Practice Server while you wait.
Register early: servers boot 5 minutes before the start.
When the race opens, click Join Event.
On the formation lap, stay in line, no weaving, no harsh braking and no overtaking. When the game shows a 60 km/h limit, hold that speed in line, ideally with the pit limiter.
Start infringements are penalised automatically.
Rules that protect your rating
Blue flag means move over. Let the faster car through and give it room.
Do not defend aggressively on lap one. The goal is to get through cleanly, not to gain places.
Leave space for the car on the outside of a corner.
Not sure? Brake earlier.
Do not quit the server mid-race: disconnecting costs SR. If you have to stop, bring the car back to the pits.
There is more in the official guide to your first online race.
Common beginner mistakes
Mistake | What to do instead |
|---|---|
Going online without a single offline lap | Put in a few evenings in Race Weekend first |
Chasing positions and DR | Drive clean in the midfield, SR matters more |
FFB maxed out and the wheel fighting you | Turn FFB Strength down |
Controller stick far too sensitive | Sensitivity at 10% or lower |
Tweaking the car setup on day one | Stick to the default setup, Beginner races use fixed setups anyway |
No buttons mapped for the MFD | Map them in Controls, otherwise you cannot change TC |
Quitting the game after a mistake | Return to the pits, disconnecting costs SR |
How to join our GT3 league
Once you are racing cleanly in Daily Races, the next step is a championship with the same rivals every week. Our Le Mans Ultimate league runs in the LMGT3 class: a 7-round season (Monza, Daytona, Sebring, Spa, Bahrain, COTA and Barcelona), every Thursday from 21:00 Bulgarian time, with drivers' and teams' standings.
Signing up is free. You choose Le Mans Ultimate as your discipline and a role: driver or engineer (engineers support the team and do not appear in the standings).
You pick your car when you enter each round.
Check that you own the track: Daytona, COTA and Barcelona are not in the base game.
Taking part is currently free, you only need your own copy of the game.
Our live broadcasts are on the Virtual Esport Twitch channel.
Frequently asked questions
Is Le Mans Ultimate on PS5 or Xbox?
Not yet. As of September 2026 the game is PC only, through Steam. PS5 and Xbox Series X|S versions have been announced, and in March 2026 the target was early-to-mid 2027.
Can you play Le Mans Ultimate with a controller?
Yes. Set it up under Settings > Controls > Gamepad and keep stick sensitivity at 10% or lower. You cannot use the controller in the menus.
Do I need a subscription to race online?
Not for Daily Races: the free RaceControl Lite account is enough. You need a RaceControl Pro or Pro+ subscription for Online Championships.
Can I join the league as a beginner?
Yes, signing up is free. Still, get a few clean Daily Races under your belt before you line up on a Thursday night.
Create your free Virtual Esport account, pick Le Mans Ultimate and we will see you on the grid.