VPC 2025 Build-up

Virtual racing competition seized from the period of mid 2024 to August 2025 but is it finally back and up running with new FVA boss Roy Seifert. (who also runs the VPC and has now got the Virtual Regional series' to be FV certified)

The 2024 VPC ended with Finn Tumo Kinnumen storming to the title and fan favourite Brit James Thompson runner-up to the title. 2015 Formula Virtual champion Elroy Wagner finished the championship in third. Stefan Klien ended the championship in the surprising fourth place, just ahead of 2014 Formula Virtual third place finished Karl Beckenbauer and 2016 Formula Virtual champion Adrien Simon.

Nikolai Milkovich and Jean Mattson, both successful FV alumni, would have different seasons as well, with the former finishing in 17th and the latter being in 18th. FV winner Diego Campos would have a hard time as well, finishing in 25th with his own team Campos Motorsport. Mattson was teammates with Wagner for the season why Milkovich was apart of the Campos Motorsport lineup with Campos.

The teams championship was won by Team Dinoco, which had Tumo Kinnumen, the young Dane Theo Sørensen who finished the championship in 15th and Australian Kirk Lazarus who finished dead last in the standings.

There were also two junior series' running alongside VPC, the American based VW Jetta Challenge and the European centered Mazda MX5 Challenge.

On the VW Jetta Challenge side of things, Australian Daniel Bruner, an one-time IndyVirtual podium sitter, would win the championship.

Female drivers Canadian Danielle LeClaire and Spaniard Isabella García came second and third in the championship. Brazilian Carlos Cabrera winner of the opening round, came fourth in the championship and won every race in the junior class apart from two. Behind him in fifth by one point was the Greek teammate of LeClaire, Nikandros Martin.

Hector Draper, the only former FV driver on the grid, came sixth in the championship, and got two wins – one at Virginia and another at Laguna Seca.

Three drivers on the grid Mikhail Milkovich, Jennifer Simpson and Son Mi-Ki made their racing debuts (Son did compete in the 2021 Virtual 24 Hours) in VW Jetta Challenge. Mikhail is the son of VPC drivers Nikolai and the youngest driver on the grid, he finished the championship in 18th.

Simpson, one the youngest female driver on the grid, finished the championship in 15th and was the only driver to retire in a race.

Son, who already had racing experience in the Virtual 24 Hours, was the oldest out of the trio of debutants at 26, he got two podiums in his campaign and finished the championship in 10th.

Malaysian team Tenuk Racing, which fielded Danielle LeClaire and Nikandros Martin, would win the teams championship.

Unfortunately no drivers in the VW Jetta Challenge will be making the step up to VPC.

On the Mazda MX5 Challenge side of things, the championship was dominated by Sanmarinese Luca Romero, who won the 2019 Virtual European Series and the 2023 eVirtual 2 season. Icelandic eVirtual  came runner-up to the title and two points behind was Puerto Rican Thomas Falzon, the youngest out of the trio at 25 years old.

The Latvian, Elmars Zarins and winner of the 2021 eVirtual 2 season, came fourth in the championship and his Norwegian teammate Felix Vestergaard-Holm who ran Vestergaard-Holm Autosport, came fifth in the championship after a lengthy break from racing.

Emma Wilson and Carson Davenport, the only former FV drivers – with Davenport being a two time FV face winner, in the series came 14th and 9th respectively.

Like the VW Jetta Challenge, three drivers also made their racing debts in the series, Alexander Breitner, Saul Porto and Emma Hirvonen. (the youngest in the championship, the highest placed female drivers and the daughter of former FV drivers Mattias Hirvonen)

Like Son Mi-Ki, Porto also competed in the 2021 Virtual 24 Hours, and even competed in the same exact team with him for the race, talk about a small world! Also like Son, Porto finished the championship in tenth!

Breitner finished his debut season in 15th while Hirvonen shocked the grid by grabbing a win in the second race of the second round at Snetterton and finishing the championship in 8th, alongside becoming the rookie champion.

Australian team, Honeycomb Multinational consisting of Luca Romero and Saul Porto, would win the teams championship.

Now the 2024 side of things are out of the way, let's focus on 2025.

In terms of the VW Jetta Challenge, only five teams and no drivers have been confirmed for the 2025 season. That being, defending teams champions, Tenuk Racing, K8ley Racing Australia, Geomjul Co. International, Gray Autosport and VAMO Rising Stars.

In the MX5 Mazda Championship, seven teams have been confirmed, defending teams champions, Honeycomb Multinational, Vestergaard-Holm Autosport, (which Felix Vestergaard-Holm will drive in,  being the only driver confirmed so far) Phoenix Motorsport, Aqua Sportscars Junior Team, K8ley Racing, GameTech International and Gray Autosport.

Meanwhile the grid for the 2025 VPC has already been confirmed. All teams from the previous years will be returning apart from Campos Motorsport, as British team Sector 1 Racing will take it's place.

Team Dinoco will retain Kinnumen and Sørensen, but not Lazarus who was unable to find a seat for 2025. Wagner would instead take Lazarus' place.

Phoenix Motorsport will retain Thompson and Hanson but not Jake Oakley, who like Lazarus, couldn't find a seat for 2025. Chloe King, the biggest prospect for Virtual racing and even tipped to make her FV debut after winning the 2024 VWRS title, took Oakley's place with her targets being to "take the VPC title."

K8ley Racing would retain Indian driver Raj Sharma, but dispose Samir Yilmaz and Dmytro Kovalenko in favourite of VWRS graduate and female Cypriot driver, Ellie-Mae Theodoulou. Douglas Bacon, who previous drove for McNair Automotives would also switch to K8ley Racing. Yilmaz would find a home at Sector 1 Racing for 2025 while Kovlaenko was unable to secure a seat.

Albanian-Dutch team Aqua Sportscars Team, would retain Ethan Knight and Milan Stankovic but would move Sung Kim Moon to a coaching role for their Mazda MX5 Challenge team. Thomas Falzon – who drove for Aqua Sportscars Junior Team in MX5, would take his place.

Porsche Motorsport would get rid of Rossendo Werner and Spencer James – with the Jamaican having a shocking season last year, for 2025, but keep Henri Ludwig. Jean Mattson would switch to Porsche after his debut season with Plus Ultra Racing didn't pan out. Luca Romero was also announced to make the step up to VPC with Porsche. James would find a seat in 2025 with GameTech International powered by SRT, while Werner did the same thing with ASM by Mathershaw Technology.

The newest team on the grid, Sector 1 Racing, would have the most peculiar lineup, considering of former eV3 driver Jack Dixon, Samir Yilmaz and Swiss driver Dario Mutti, who is set to become the youngest driver on the grid and was the 2022 eVirtual 3 champion. Diego Campos, Nikolai Milkovich and Heikki Veskila who all drove for Campos Motorsport last year, were all unable to find drive for the 2025 season.

Tenuk Racing would keep Klien but get rid of Newfield, who would find a seat for McNair Automotives. Karl Beckenbauer, who previously drove for GameTech, would take his place.

Plus Ultra Racing, already devoid an ageing former FV champion and FV winner, recruited Will Hoskins and Nathaniel Powers, who have both retired from FV competitions. Powers won the Formula Virtual five times and is considered the greatest of the sport while Hoskins finished runner-up to the 2014 FV title.

GameTech International powered by SRT would retain Del Fuego and as explained before, would replace the departing Beckenbauer with Spencer James.

ASM by Mathershaw Technology would depart with Yves Jacquet who was unable to find a seat for 2025, but to continue their partnership with 2016 Formula Virtual champion Adrien Simon. As explained before, Rossendo Werner would take Jacquet's place.

Vipera Corse and OSM Racing International were the only teams to retain their drivers, Ledesma and Lombardi for Vipera and Stokey for OSM.

So that's the grid for the 2025 Virtual Porsche Cup, will we see new winners or shock performances in the second season of the VPC?