Anyone who previously wanted to put North American asphalt under their slicks in Le Mans Ultimate was limited to Sebring and the often polarising circuit in Austin (COTA). The track selection, strictly tied to the WEC, ensured absolute realism when recreating the real championship, but left the desire for more driving variety open. The announcement of the US Track Pass is therefore a real gamechanger for the simulation. The fact that the developers are now moving away from purely ACO tracks opens the door to a gigantic variety of gameplay. Of the six promised circuits in total, the first two heavyweights have already been revealed: Daytona International Speedway and WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca. These are expected to be released together with the next major update to version 1.4.
Looking into the crystal ball: When does it start?
Even though official release dates and prices for the paid Season Pass are not yet set in stone, the recently published multiplayer calendar for Le Mans Ultimate provides revealing clues. For the coming months, it features a striking number of events that are simply marked as “TBA” (To Be Announced). The first of these still-secret Special Events is already scheduled for 28 July, followed by further mysterious placeholders in August, September, October and December. Anyone who puts two and two together can clearly recognise the planned roadmap here. We can strongly assume that Daytona and Laguna Seca will arrive in our cockpits before the end of July, while the remaining four tracks will then likely be added in pairs throughout the autumn.
An IMSA feeling without the official stamp
What immediately caught our attention with this announcement from a purely technical perspective: the official IMSA brand is completely absent. In plain terms, this means that while we are getting the legendary American tracks, the whole thing will presumably not be wrapped in an official IMSA licence package with corresponding banners and menus. For us at the rigs, however, this changes absolutely nothing about the pure driving fun. The Hypercars in Le Mans Ultimate are the technical equivalent of the GTP machines from the American series. Simulating a 24-hour race at Daytona with the WEC Hypercars, LMP2s and GT3 cars from LMU brings exactly the multi-class chaos into our homes that we love so much about American racing culture.
Aerodynamic balancing act and the legendary Corkscrew
From a driving perspective, the arrival of these two tracks means a completely new challenge that will massively put our setup knowledge to the test. Daytona and Laguna Seca could hardly be more different. At Daytona, you will be forced to drastically reduce aerodynamic drag so you do not run out of steam on the endless banked straights. The critical point here will be the Bus Stop chicane, today’s Le Mans Chicane, where you have to brake extremely hard from top speed and aggressively throw the car over the curbs without losing the heavily unloaded rear.
Laguna Seca, on the other hand, is a pure handling circuit that will brutally drive up tyre wear in LMU’s already complex tyre model. The legendary Corkscrew corner will become the ultimate test of weight transfer management with the enormous weight and massive torque of a Hypercar. Anyone who does not release the brake extremely gently when turning into the blind drop will inevitably lose the front and slide helplessly into the Californian sand.
