The race was marked by two interruptions after a security breach was detected on the servers that hosted it.
You had to hold on to see the checkered flag of the virtual 24 Hours of Le Mans. Held on the rFactor2 video game on January 14 and 15, the race was interrupted twice. The organizers have announced that the two servers hosting the competition were victims of a security breach.
“It became clear during the first seven hours of the race that we had serious server problems, which led us to show the red flag (race interruption, editor’s note) twice”, explains Gérard Neveu, the executive producer of the competition.
Overwhelmed by repeated disconnections
After the vehicles crossed the finish line, the manager was able to detail the inconveniences suffered by the competitors on his site. “After an initial investigation, it appears that some competitors accidentally shared the IP addresses that connected them to the server with the public, which is not supposed to happen,” he said.
Once this IP address was revealed, the servers could be easily targeted. Faced with the disturbances, a global disconnection of all the pilots was caused. “This should never happen if the IP addresses are well protected”, assures Gérard Neveu.
On the track, double Formula 1 world champion Max Verstappen was in contention for the Redline team, which broadcast the race on his Twitch channel. Unfortunately, the pilot was overwhelmed by the repeated disconnections. After his third ejection, the Dutchman preferred not to return to the track.
“It’s unbelievable bad luck or it’s just incompetence,” blasted Max Verstappen.
Disgraceful for all the effort
The competitor felt that the organizers should reconsider where they put this race in the future. According to him: “On this platform, it will not work”, pointing to the automotive simulation game rFactor2.
“We have asked the rFactor2 platform to launch a full investigation to find out the origin of these issues and, of course, we will review our processes and guidelines to try to reduce the chances of similar issues occurring in 2024,” indicated Gérard Neveu.
Technical problems saw Max Verstappen’s team drop from race leader to 15th place. “It is dishonorable for all the efforts made by the team”, he regretted.
Hot, the F1 champion assured that he would no longer participate in this competition. very annoyed, he immediately deleted rFactor2 from his computer. “I think I’m going to uninstall the game. It’s nice, it will make some space on the PC. And I hope everyone will uninstall the game.”
