Exploring Imola In Le Mans Ultimate - Including Photo Comparisons

WEC visited Imola for the first time in April. Just three months later, sim racers get to enjoy the track in Le Mans Ultimate - but how does it stack up against the real circuit?

This April, a dream came true for me - I visited the Autodromo Enzo e Dino Ferrari, more colloquially known simply as Imola after the town in northern Italy it is located in. The track became iconic as the site of the San Marino Grand Prix in Formula One and is almost mythical to some fans due to the tragic deaths of Roland Ratzenberger and Ayrton Senna at the 1994 GP weekend.

It is also a fun track to drive in sim racing, in my opinion, so attending the WEC race there was an excellent experience that I cannot recommend highly enough. The World Endurance Championship will be coming back to the track in 2025, so if you can make the trip, it would be well worth considering.

Just three months after the real race happened, Le Mans Ultimate added the track via its first paid DLC pack alongside the 2024 version of the Peugeot 9X8 and the Lamborghini SC63. Of course, I had to take a look around the virtual rendition to see what I would recognize from the real event with the memory of it still being relatively fresh. So I figured I would take you along.

First things first, the track layout itself is laser scanned, so there should be no surprises in that regard. The Studio 397 team actually did this right ahead of the race weekend, as I was told on-site, so the circuit itself should be as accurate as can be. Indeed, if you have raced Imola in other sims, you will feel right at home. Some kerbs might and run-off areas might be a bit different to due recent changes (which means much more gravel again), but in general, it is the Imola we know.

Moving off the track itself, comparing the surroundings and scenery to the real event is always interesting to me. How well have the devs captured the atmosphere? Is everything where it was in real life as well? Of course, this is not exactly the most important part - you usually do not admire the scenery when racing, after all. But using LMU's free move camera, it is possible to explore the place a bit and compare some photos I took there with screenshots from the sim.

Senna Statue​

One of Imola's must-visit spots is the Ayrton Senna statue situated on the inside of the track, right by the catchfencing after the Tamburello chicane - roughly on the opposite site of where Senna's car came to rest when he had his final accident. The WEC weekend took place just two weeks before the 30th anniversary of his and Ratzenberger's deaths, so many racing fans used the opportunity to visit the memorial.

With it being hidden behind the fence, a bunch of trees and countless flags, t-shirts and other items fans fixed to said fence, the statue cannot be seen when driving. Despite this, it is included in titles such as Assetto Corsa Competizione or Automobilista 2, for example. LMU is no exception, although the statue is not fully modeled, only in a way that it looks decent when looked at from in front. Not that it matters much - it is still a nice gesture to include it.

The Gilles Villeneuve memorial right on the entry of the namesake chicane a little further down the track is also present, but can also not be seen when racing - unless you stop just right in the run-off area. Ratzenberger's memorial, which can be found on the side of one of the Tosa grandstands, cannot be seen from your car at all - as a result, it is not there in LMU, either.

Tosa​

Speaking of Tosa, its two grandstands are great spots to watch on-track action at Imola. Depending on where exactly you sit, you can see the cars go through Villeneuve, round the Tosa hairpin, and accelerate up the hill towards Piratella. On the WEC weekend, the huge video wall on the inside of the circuit was also extremely helpful.



Compared to the real event, this video wall is angled differently and facing away from the grandstands a little bit, but as there are no real spectators there who would rely on it, it does not really matter. Screen-related nitpicking aside, everything appears to be right where it should be, including the temporary grandstand in the background.

Interestingly, the big, green, empty board towards Villeneuve is used to hold a big sponsor banner in Le Mans Ultimate. Initially, I thought this might have been a case of the board serving as a greenscreen for interactive ad space that would change during the broadcast, but whenever it was visible in the actual broadcast, it was indeed just the blank, green board as well. Maybe the original plans called for a big banner there which for some reason did not materialize.

Ferris Wheel​

Not a mainstay at Imola as far as I am aware but part of the WEC fan zone, a big ferris wheel was placed behind the main grandstand on the WEC weekend. This was accompanied by several merch tents, the official Le Mans Ultimate booth, and an enormous stage where DJs would play sets throughout the weekend.

Of course, this ferris wheel had to be part of the scenery in LMU as well. With its towering size, it is easy to spot even when driving, so it would have been a bit odd to leave it out. Both the real photo and the screenshot were taken from the other side of the track walking towards Variante Alta (or Curva Gresini, as it is officially known these days). Heading away from the Acque Minerali viewing hill - a very nice spot to watch the action as well, with many fans even barbecueing there.



Obviously, there is no need to model every last access road on the inside of the track where you would not normally see them anyway, so it is not really a surprise that some are missing. And neither are the 2D trees, for that matter. If everything was modeled to the finest detail, the game performance would take a serious hit.

Main Straight From The Rivazza Hill​

Another excellent viewing spot is the hill inside the Rivazza turns, the final two corners on a lap at Imola. If you sit in the right spot, you can see the cars brake for and go through both of the left-handers, then accelerate down the start-finish straight almost all the way to the Tamburello chicane. It was here where we followed the final hour or so when the battle between Toyota and Porsche seemed to go down to the wire on a drying track.

The view from the hill is also excellent in Le Mans Ultimate. I only noticed that I did not grab the screenshot in the exact same spot after I was already out of the rig again, but to compare the scenery, the similar angle should do well enough. Even the tall building sticking out of the trees outside the circuit is there in virtual Imola - a nice detail.

As you would expect, the pit building and all its surroundings are as they were in real life. On race day, the place was packed, too, like in the screenshot, although there was much more red in the stands for obvious reasons. That, and the spectators looked decidedly less 2D at the actual event - but again, this saves performance and does not look bad when driving anyway.



All things considered, Studio 397 managed to capture the atmosphere of the Imola WEC weekend well. And the track is extremely fun to race in a Hypercar, too, so the chances of a future live stream featuring me pounding around the track in the 2024 9X8 are rather high, I'd say.

LMU Imola Special Event With Ticket Prizes​

The circuit has been out for a week at the time of writing this article, and it will feature in an online special event within LMU on the August 2 to 4 weekend. The 100-minute contest will be run in the Peugeot and Lamborghini Hypercars and offer different time slots over all three days, namely 06:00, 10:00, 14:00, 18:00 and 23:00 UTC.


Anyone who enters the special event in any of the time slots will be eligible to be drawn as a winner of one of ten pairs of tickets for 2025's Imola race day. Additionally, discount codes can be won for ticket purchases for the 2025 WEC event at the circuit, allowing winners to save 10% on general access tickets.

What are your impressions of Imola in Le Mans Ultimate? Let us know on Twitter @OverTake_gg or in the comments below!