![Circuit de la Sarthe track map](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/b/ba/Circuit_de_la_Sarthe_track_map.svg)
The 85th 24 Hours of Le Mans (french: link=no, 85
e 24 Heures du Mans) was a 24-hour
automobile endurance event held for
Le Mans Prototype
A Le Mans Prototype (LMP) is the type of sports prototype race car used in the 24 Hours of Le Mans, FIA World Endurance Championship, IMSA SportsCar Championship, European Le Mans Series and Asian Le Mans Series. Le Mans Prototypes were create ...
(LMP) and
Le Mans Grand Touring Endurance (LMGTE) cars from 17 to 18 June 2017 at the
Circuit de la Sarthe
The Circuit des 24 Heures du Mans, also known as Circuit de la Sarthe (after the 1906 French Grand Prix triangle circuit) located in Le Mans, Sarthe, France, is a semi-permanent motorsport race course, chiefly known as the venue for the 24 Hou ...
, near
Le Mans
Le Mans (, ) is a city in northwestern France on the Sarthe River where it meets the Huisne. Traditionally the capital of the province of Maine, it is now the capital of the Sarthe department and the seat of the Roman Catholic diocese of Le Man ...
before 258,500 spectators. The race's 85th running, organised by the
Automobile Club de l'Ouest
The Automobile Club de l'Ouest (English: Automobile Club of the West), sometimes abbreviated to ACO, is the largest automotive group in France. It was founded in 1906 by car building and racing enthusiasts, and is most famous for being the orga ...
, was the third of nine rounds in the
2017 FIA World Endurance Championship.
It was won by a
Porsche 919 Hybrid
The Porsche 919 Hybrid is a Le Mans Prototype 1 (LMP1) racing car built and used by Porsche in the 2014, 2015, 2016 and 2017 seasons of the FIA World Endurance Championship. It has a 90-degree V4 mid-mounted mono-turbocharged petrol engine ...
driven by
Earl Bamber
Earl Anderson Bamber (born 9 July 1990) is a professional racing driver from New Zealand, currently competing as a factory driver for Porsche Motorsport in the WeatherTech SportsCar Championship GTLM class.
He is the 2014 Porsche Supercup an ...
,
Timo Bernhard
Timo Bernhard (born 24 February 1981) is a former driver from Germany. He was a sports car driver from Porsche, but was seconded to Audi for selected events in 2009 and 2010. He is a winner of the Triple Crown in endurance racing. On 29 June 20 ...
and
Brendon Hartley
Brendon Hartley (born 10 November 1989) is a New Zealand professional racing driver who is currently competing in the FIA World Endurance Championship with Toyota Gazoo Racing.
He won the 2015 FIA World Endurance Championship, alongside his t ...
, which took the lead in the final two hours. The race was Bamber and Bernhard's second Le Mans victory, Hartley's first, and Porsche's 19th.
Toyota
is a Japanese multinational automotive manufacturer headquartered in Toyota City, Aichi, Japan. It was founded by Kiichiro Toyoda and incorporated on . Toyota is one of the largest automobile manufacturers in the world, producing about 10 ...
's
Sébastien Buemi
Sébastien Olivier Buemi (born 31 October 1988) is a Swiss professional racing driver, who competes in the FIA Formula E Championship for Envision Racing. He competed for Scuderia Toro Rosso in Formula One from 2009 to 2011. After leaving Formula ...
,
Anthony Davidson
Anthony Denis Davidson (born 18 April 1979) is a British former racing driver, currently working as an analyst for the Sky Sports F1 television channel, as part of the commentary team for WEC TV, as colour commentator for the F1 series of vide ...
and
Kazuki Nakajima
is a retired Japanese professional racing driver who drove in Formula One for the Williams-Toyota team from to . In 2012 and 2014, he won the Super Formula Championship driving for TOM'S. Racing for Toyota Gazoo Racing, he won the 2018, 2019 a ...
finished eighth in a
TS050 Hybrid after starting second, and were the only other competitors in the Le Mans Prototype 1 (LMP1) field to complete the event. The Le Mans Prototype 2 (LMP2) category was won by
Oliver Jarvis
Oliver Jarvis (born 9 January 1984) is a British professional racing driver currently racing in the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship for Mazda Team Joest.
Jarvis won the 2022 24 Hours of Daytona with Meyer Shank Racing.
Early life
Bor ...
,
Thomas Laurent
Thomas Laurent (born 5 April 1998) is a French racing driver who currently competes in the FIA World Endurance Championship for French team Signatech Alpine Matmut and in the European Le Mans Series with Graff Racing. He finished second in the 2 ...
and
Ho-Pin Tung
Ho-Pin Tung (; born December 4, 1982) is a Chinese people in the Netherlands, Chinese-Dutch racing driver who races with a Chinese license.
Career
Born in Velp, Gelderland, Netherlands, Tung started kart racing in the Netherlands in 1997 befo ...
in
Jackie Chan DC Racing
Jackie Chan DC Racing, formerly known as DC Racing, is a racing team that currently competes in the FIA World Endurance Championship and Asian Le Mans Series. The team is co-owned by Asian Le Mans champion David Cheng and actor Jackie Chan. Partne ...
's
Oreca 07
The Oreca 07 is a Le Mans Prototype built by French manufacturer Oreca to meet the 2017 FIA and ACO LMP2 regulations. It made its official race debut in the opening round of the 2017 IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship, the 24 Hours of Dayto ...
-
Gibson
Gibson may refer to:
People
* Gibson (surname)
Businesses
* Gibson Brands, Inc., an American manufacturer of guitars, other musical instruments, and audio equipment
* Gibson Technology, and English automotive and motorsport company based
* Gi ...
; they led the race for almost two hours in the closing stages of the event before finishing second overall. The second DC Racing entry of
David Cheng
David Cheng (born July 21, 1989) is an American sports car racing driver. He currently drives the No. 37 LMP2 Oreca 07 for Jackie Chan DC Racing in the Asian Le Mans Series and FIA World Endurance Championship.
Racing career
Born in Beijing, C ...
,
Tristan Gommendy
Tristan Gommendy (born 4 January 1979) is a French professional racing driver who currently competes in the European Le Mans Series with Duqueine Engineering.
Racing career
Early career
Born in Le Chesnay, Yvelines, Gommendy began his profess ...
and
Alex Brundle were three laps behind in third place overall, followed by the
Signatech Alpine of
André Negrão
André Negrão (born 17 June 1992, Campinas, São Paulo, Brazil) is a Brazilian driver in the World Endurance Championship (WEC), world champion in the WEC's superseason 2018/2019 and twice winner in the 24 Hours of Le Mans (2018 and 2019) in t ...
,
Nelson Panciatici
Nelson Panciatici (born 26 September 1988) is a French professional racing driver.
Career
Karting
Born in Reims, Panciatici started his karting career in 1998 and continued until 2004.[Pierre Ragues
Pierre Ragues (born 10 January 1984 in Caen) is a French racing driver, who competes in the FIA World Endurance Championship.
Career
Karting
Debuting in karting in 1994, Ragues was second in the Monaco Kart Cup in Formula A in 2001, and thir ...]
.
Aston Martin
Aston Martin Lagonda Global Holdings PLC is an English manufacturer of luxury sports cars and grand tourers. Its predecessor was founded in 1913 by Lionel Martin and Robert Bamford. Steered from 1947 by David Brown, it became associated with ...
won the Le Mans Grand Touring Endurance Professional (LMGTE Pro) category after the
Aston Martin Vantage
__NOTOC__
Aston Martin has used the Vantage name on a number of vehicles, normally indicating a high-performance version of another model. In one case, during 1972–1973, the Vantage was a distinct model, being a straight-6 powered version of ...
shared by
Jonathan Adam
Jonathan "Jonny" Adam (born 4 September 1984 in Lochgelly, Fife) is a British racing driver and a factory driver for Aston Martin Racing. He was the champion of the SEAT Cupra Championship in two of its six seasons – winning in 2007 and in 200 ...
,
Daniel Serra
Daniel Gardano Serra (born 24 February 1984) is a Brazilian auto racing driver. He competes full-time in the Brazilian Stock Car Pro Series, driving the No. 29 Chevrolet Cruze for Eurofarma-RC and is also a Ferrari Factory Driver.
He won 3 ti ...
and
Darren Turner
Darren Turner (born 13 April 1974) is a British professional racing driver and owner of Base Performance Simulators. He races for Aston Martin Racing as a factory driver and also works as a high performance test driver for Aston Martin.
He was ...
overtook the stricken
Chevrolet Corvette C7.R
The Chevrolet Corvette C7.R is a grand tourer#grand tourers in racing, grand tourer racing car built by Pratt & Miller and Chevrolet for competition in endurance racing (motorsport), endurance racing between 2014 and 2019. It is a replacement for ...
driven by
Antonio García,
Jan Magnussen
Jan Ellegaard Magnussen (born 4 July 1973) is a Danish professional racing driver and was a factory driver for General Motors until the end of the 2020 season. He has competed in Championship Auto Racing Teams (CART), NASCAR, the FIA Formula O ...
and
Jordan Taylor in the final two laps. A
Ford GT
The Ford GT is a mid-engine two-seater sports car manufactured and marketed by American automobile manufacturer Ford for the 2005 model year in conjunction with the company's 2003 centenary. The second generation Ford GT became available for ...
also passed the Corvette on the final lap to take second place for
Pipo Derani Pipo is a masculine given name. Notable people with the name include:
* Pipo (actor) (1933-1998), Mexican actor
* Pipo Nguyen-duy (born 1962), Vietnamese photographer
* Pipo of Ozora (1369–1426), Italian soldier
* Pipo (footballer, born 1992) ...
,
Andy Priaulx
Andrew Graham Priaulx, MBE ( born 8 August 1974) is a British professional racing driver from Guernsey. In 2019 he raced for Ford Chip Ganassi Team UK in the FIA World Endurance Championship, and Cyan Racing Lynk & Co in the FIA World Tou ...
, and
Harry Tincknell
Harry Tincknell (born 29 October 1991 in Exeter, Devon) is a British professional racing driver currently racing in the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship for Mazda Team Joest. He won the LMP2 class on his Le Mans 24 Hour race debut i ...
. The Le Mans Grand Touring Endurance Amateur (LMGTE Am) was won by a
JMW Motorsport Ferrari 488 GTE
The Ferrari 488 GTE is a grand tourer racing car built by Ferrari's in-house Competizioni GT unit, for competition in endurance racing. It is a replacement for the Ferrari 458 GT2 racing car, using the Ferrari 488 as a base. The car is built in a ...
driven by
Robert Smith,
Will Stevens
William Stevens (born 28 June 1991) is a British racing driver, who formerly competed in Formula One, Eurocup Formula Renault 2.0, Toyota Racing Series and the British Formula Renault Championships. In Formula One, he made his debut at the 20 ...
and
Dries Vanthoor
Dries Vanthoor (born 20 April 1998 in Heusden-Zolder) is a racing driver from Belgium. He currently competes in the GT World Challenge Europe and ADAC GT Masters for Audi. He is the younger brother of Laurens, and was the winner of the 2018 Ba ...
. Ferraris also finished second and third, with
Spirit of Race's
Marco Cioci
Marco may refer to:
People
* Marco (given name), people with the given name Marco
* Marco (actor) (born 1977), South Korean model and actor
* Georg Marco (1863–1923), Romanian chess player of German origin
* Tomás Marco (born 1942), Spanish c ...
,
Duncan Cameron and
Aaron Scott second and
Scuderia Corsa's
Townsend Bell
Townsend Bell (born April 19, 1975) is an American professional motor racing driver competing in the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship, and also as a motorsports commentator for NBC Sports’ IndyCar Series coverage.
Early career
He spent ...
,
Cooper MacNeil
Cooper MacNeil (born September 7, 1992 in Hinsdale, Illinois) is an American born racecar driver. He currently competes in the WeatherTech SportsCar Championship driving the No. 79 Weathertech Racing Porsche 911 RSR GTLM with co-drivers Matt Ca ...
and
Bill Sweedler
Bill(s) may refer to:
Common meanings
* Banknote, paper cash (especially in the United States)
* Bill (law), a proposed law put before a legislature
* Invoice, commercial document issued by a seller to a buyer
* Bill, a bird or animal's beak
Plac ...
in third place.
The result moved Bamber, Bernhard and Hartley to the
World Endurance Drivers' Championship lead with 83 points, ahead of previous leaders Buemi, Nakajima and Davidson. Jarvis, Laurent and Tung moved to third after their LMP2-class victory. Derani, Priaulx and Tincknell remained atop the
GT World Endurance Drivers' Championship with Adam, Serra and Turner's category win moving them to second.
Porsche
Dr. Ing. h.c. F. Porsche AG, usually shortened to Porsche (; see #Pronunciation, below), is a German automobile manufacturer specializing in high-performance sports cars, SUVs and sedans, headquartered in Stuttgart, Baden-Württemberg, Germany ...
overtook
Toyota
is a Japanese multinational automotive manufacturer headquartered in Toyota City, Aichi, Japan. It was founded by Kiichiro Toyoda and incorporated on . Toyota is one of the largest automobile manufacturers in the world, producing about 10 ...
to lead the
World Manufacturers' Championship
The World Manufacturers' Championship, also known as Automobile World Championship, was a competition organised by the AIACR between 1925 and 1930.
Scoring system
Unlike the modern Formula One points system, the championship awarded fewer points ...
by 28.5 points, as
Ford
Ford commonly refers to:
* Ford Motor Company, an automobile manufacturer founded by Henry Ford
* Ford (crossing), a shallow crossing on a river
Ford may also refer to:
Ford Motor Company
* Henry Ford, founder of the Ford Motor Company
* Ford F ...
passed
Ferrari
Ferrari S.p.A. (; ) is an Italian luxury sports car manufacturer based in Maranello, Italy. Founded by Enzo Ferrari (1898–1988) in 1939 from the Alfa Romeo racing division as ''Auto Avio Costruzioni'', the company built its first car in ...
for the
GT World Endurance Manufacturers' Championship lead with six races left in the season.
Background
The date for the 2017 race was confirmed by the
FIA World Motor Sport Council
The World Motor Sport Council (WMSC) is a major organ within the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile's governance structure. Its primary role is amending current regulations and drafting new regulations for all of international motor spo ...
at a press conference held by race organiser
Automobile Club de l'Ouest
The Automobile Club de l'Ouest (English: Automobile Club of the West), sometimes abbreviated to ACO, is the largest automotive group in France. It was founded in 1906 by car building and racing enthusiasts, and is most famous for being the orga ...
(ACO) at the
Musée des 24 Heures du Mans
The Museum of the 24 Hours of Le Mans (French: ) is a motorsport museum located at the Circuit de la Sarthe in Le Mans, France. It was founded in 1961 as the Automobile Museum de la Sarthe. In 1991, it was taken over by the organizers of the 24 ho ...
on 16 June 2016.
It was the 85th running of the
event
Event may refer to:
Gatherings of people
* Ceremony, an event of ritual significance, performed on a special occasion
* Convention (meeting), a gathering of individuals engaged in some common interest
* Event management, the organization of e ...
, held at the
Circuit de la Sarthe
The Circuit des 24 Heures du Mans, also known as Circuit de la Sarthe (after the 1906 French Grand Prix triangle circuit) located in Le Mans, Sarthe, France, is a semi-permanent motorsport race course, chiefly known as the venue for the 24 Hou ...
from 17 to 18 June 2017,
and the third of nine scheduled rounds of the
2017 FIA World Endurance Championship (FIA WEC). The race was scheduled to avoid conflicts with other major motorsport events, as was the case in (when it was held the same day as the ).
Before the race, Toyota drivers
Anthony Davidson
Anthony Denis Davidson (born 18 April 1979) is a British former racing driver, currently working as an analyst for the Sky Sports F1 television channel, as part of the commentary team for WEC TV, as colour commentator for the F1 series of vide ...
,
Kazuki Nakajima
is a retired Japanese professional racing driver who drove in Formula One for the Williams-Toyota team from to . In 2012 and 2014, he won the Super Formula Championship driving for TOM'S. Racing for Toyota Gazoo Racing, he won the 2018, 2019 a ...
and
Sébastien Buemi
Sébastien Olivier Buemi (born 31 October 1988) is a Swiss professional racing driver, who competes in the FIA Formula E Championship for Envision Racing. He competed for Scuderia Toro Rosso in Formula One from 2009 to 2011. After leaving Formula ...
led the
World Endurance Drivers' Championship with 50 points17 more than second-place
Timo Bernhard
Timo Bernhard (born 24 February 1981) is a former driver from Germany. He was a sports car driver from Porsche, but was seconded to Audi for selected events in 2009 and 2010. He is a winner of the Triple Crown in endurance racing. On 29 June 20 ...
,
Earl Bamber
Earl Anderson Bamber (born 9 July 1990) is a professional racing driver from New Zealand, currently competing as a factory driver for Porsche Motorsport in the WeatherTech SportsCar Championship GTLM class.
He is the 2014 Porsche Supercup an ...
and
Brendon Hartley
Brendon Hartley (born 10 November 1989) is a New Zealand professional racing driver who is currently competing in the FIA World Endurance Championship with Toyota Gazoo Racing.
He won the 2015 FIA World Endurance Championship, alongside his t ...
, and another five more than
Neel Jani
Neel Jani (born 8 December 1983) is a Swiss professional Porsche factory driver. His father is from India and his mother is German Swiss.
He achieved his greatest success winning the 24 Hours of Le Mans in 2016 after first joining Porsche's LMP ...
,
Nick Tandy
Nick Tandy (born 5 November 1984) is a professional British racing driver currently racing for Corvette Racing in the FIA World Endurance Championship in the 64 Corvette C8.R. His major victories include the 2015 24 Hours of Le Mans, the 20 ...
and
André Lotterer in third.
Toyota
is a Japanese multinational automotive manufacturer headquartered in Toyota City, Aichi, Japan. It was founded by Kiichiro Toyoda and incorporated on . Toyota is one of the largest automobile manufacturers in the world, producing about 10 ...
led the
World Manufacturers' Championship
The World Manufacturers' Championship, also known as Automobile World Championship, was a competition organised by the AIACR between 1925 and 1930.
Scoring system
Unlike the modern Formula One points system, the championship awarded fewer points ...
with 69.5 points, seven-and-a-half ahead of second-place
Porsche
Dr. Ing. h.c. F. Porsche AG, usually shortened to Porsche (; see #Pronunciation, below), is a German automobile manufacturer specializing in high-performance sports cars, SUVs and sedans, headquartered in Stuttgart, Baden-Württemberg, Germany ...
.
Ford Chip Ganassi Racing
Chip Ganassi Racing, LLC (CGR), also sometimes branded as Chip Ganassi Racing Teams, is an American auto racing organization with teams competing in the NTT IndyCar Series, IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship, FIA World Endurance Championshi ...
's
Pipo Derani Pipo is a masculine given name. Notable people with the name include:
* Pipo (actor) (1933-1998), Mexican actor
* Pipo Nguyen-duy (born 1962), Vietnamese photographer
* Pipo of Ozora (1369–1426), Italian soldier
* Pipo (footballer, born 1992) ...
,
Andy Priaulx
Andrew Graham Priaulx, MBE ( born 8 August 1974) is a British professional racing driver from Guernsey. In 2019 he raced for Ford Chip Ganassi Team UK in the FIA World Endurance Championship, and Cyan Racing Lynk & Co in the FIA World Tou ...
and
Harry Tincknell
Harry Tincknell (born 29 October 1991 in Exeter, Devon) is a British professional racing driver currently racing in the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship for Mazda Team Joest. He won the LMP2 class on his Le Mans 24 Hour race debut i ...
led the
GT World Endurance Drivers' Championship by two points over
AF Corse's
Sam Bird
Sam Jamie Bird (born 9 January 1987) is a British professional racing driver who currently drives for Jaguar TCS Racing in the FIA Formula E World Championship.
Career
Formula BMW
Bird made his name in single seater racing in the Formula B ...
and
Davide Rigon
Davide Rigon (born 26 August 1986) is an Italian professional racing driver who is currently competing in the FIA World Endurance Championship and other selected GT races for AF Corse. He is also currently part of the Scuderia Ferrari Formula ...
, and
Ferrari
Ferrari S.p.A. (; ) is an Italian luxury sports car manufacturer based in Maranello, Italy. Founded by Enzo Ferrari (1898–1988) in 1939 from the Alfa Romeo racing division as ''Auto Avio Costruzioni'', the company built its first car in ...
led
Ford
Ford commonly refers to:
* Ford Motor Company, an automobile manufacturer founded by Henry Ford
* Ford (crossing), a shallow crossing on a river
Ford may also refer to:
Ford Motor Company
* Henry Ford, founder of the Ford Motor Company
* Ford F ...
by seven points in the
GT World Endurance Manufacturers' Championship.
Regulation and circuit changes
After the 2016 race, when the lead car failed on its final lap and was eventually not classified in the final results, the standards by which a car is classified were changed. Instead of the mandatory six minutes for the race's final lap, penalties were assessed for any lap over six minutes on a graduated scale. Failure to complete the last lap of the race under fifteen minutes no longer led a car to be classified.
The slow-zone system used at Le Mans was also revised, with nine dedicated slow zones laid out around the circuit. Previously, individual
marshal posts were used to mark the beginning and end of slow zones. The dedicated zones were located so the beginning of is in a slow section of the circuit; previous slow zones could begin in areas of the track where cars were required to slow down from high speeds, causing accidents.
Modifications were made to the circuit from the Porsche Curves to the Ford
Chicane
A chicane () is a serpentine curve in a road, added by design rather than dictated by geography. Chicanes add extra turns and are used both in motor racing and on roads and streets to slow traffic for safety. For example, one form of chicane is ...
. The
run-off area
A run-off area is an area on a motorsport race track used for racer safety. Run-off areas are usually located along a road racing circuit where racers are most likely to unintentionally depart from the prescribed course. There are different type ...
where the last right-hand turn goes into the left-hand corner which begins the Corvette corner was widened, with the barrier at the Porsche Curves moved further back. The angle of the wall at the left-hand entry to the short
straight
Straight may refer to:
Slang
* Straight, slang for heterosexual
** Straight-acting, an LGBT person who does not exhibit the appearance or mannerisms of the gay stereotype
* Straight, a member of the straight edge subculture
Sport and games
* ...
before the Ford Chicane was also altered. The
Le Mans Prototype 2 (LMP2) category was revamped with the introduction of a single specification engine from
Gibson
Gibson may refer to:
People
* Gibson (surname)
Businesses
* Gibson Brands, Inc., an American manufacturer of guitars, other musical instruments, and audio equipment
* Gibson Technology, and English automotive and motorsport company based
* Gi ...
, with increased power output compared to 2016 LMP2 cars.
Cockpit and chassis designs mimicked the
Le Mans Prototype 1 (LMP1) regulations for safety.
The four approved chassis manufacturers were
Dallara
Dallara is an Italian race car manufacturer, founded by its current President, Gian Paolo Dallara. After working for Ferrari, Maserati, Lamborghini and De Tomaso, in 1972 in his native village of Varano de' Melegari (Parma), Italy he created "D ...
,
Ligier
Ligier (() is a French automobile and minibus maker created by former racing driver and rugby player Guy Ligier (1930–2015), specialized in the manufacturing of microcars.
Ligier is best known for its involvement in the Formula 1 World Champio ...
,
Oreca
ORECA (Organisation Exploitation Compétition Automobiles) is a French racing team and race car constructor, founded in 1973 and run by Hugues de Chaunac, former team manager of F1 team AGS. Oreca has had success in many areas of motorsport. ...
and
Riley.
Entries
Automatic invitations
Automatic entry invitations were earned by teams which won their class in the 2016 24 Hours of Le Mans or won championships in the
European Le Mans Series
The European Le Mans Series (abbreviated as ELMS) is a European sports car racing endurance series inspired by the 24 Hours of Le Mans race and organized by the Automobile Club de l'Ouest (ACO). The European Le Mans Series is similar to the ...
(ELMS),
Asian Le Mans Series
The Asian Le Mans Series is an Asian sports car racing endurance series created by the Automobile Club de l'Ouest (ACO) and based in Asia. It is the successor to the defunct Japan Le Mans Challenge which folded in 2007 after its second season. ...
(ALMS) and
GT3 Le Mans Cup (GT3 LMC). The second-place finisher in the ELMS
Le Mans Grand Touring Endurance (LMGTE) championship received an automatic invitation. Two participants from the
IMSA SportsCar Championship
The IMSA SportsCar Championship, currently known as the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship under sponsorship, is a sports car racing series based in the United States and Canada and organized by the International Motor Sports Association (IMS ...
(IMSA) were selected by the series as automatic entries by the ACO, regardless of their performance or category. As invitations were issued to teams, they could change their cars (but not their category) from the previous year. The LMGTE-class invitations from the ELMS and ALMS allowed a choice between the Pro and Am categories. ELMS'
Le Mans Prototype 3 (LMP3) champion was required to field an entry in LMP2, and the ALMS LMP3 champion could choose between LMP2 or LMGTE Am. The
GT3 LMC champions were limited to the LMGTE Am category.
The ACO issued its initial list of automatic entries on 23 January 2017.
Entry list and reserves
In conjunction with the announcement of entries for the 2017 FIA WEC and the
ELMS
Elms are deciduous and semi-deciduous trees comprising the flowering plant genus ''Ulmus'' in the plant family Ulmaceae. They are distributed over most of the Northern Hemisphere, inhabiting the temperate and tropical-montane regions of Nor ...
seasons, the ACO announced the full 60-car entry list for Le Mans and two reserves. In addition to the 28 guaranteed entries from the
WEC, 13 entries came from the ELMS, six from
IMSA
The International Motor Sports Association (IMSA) is a North American sports car racing sanctioning body based in Daytona Beach, Florida under the jurisdiction of the ACCUS arm of the FIA. It was started by John Bishop, a former executive direc ...
and eleven from the
ALMS
Alms (, ) are money, food, or other material goods donated to people living in poverty. Providing alms is often considered an act of virtue or Charity (practice), charity. The act of providing alms is called almsgiving, and it is a widespread p ...
; the rest of the field was filled with one-off entries only competing at Le Mans. Two cars were initially named to the reserve list; RLR Msport later withdrew their LMP2 Ligier, and a fourth entry (from Proton Competition) was not promoted to the race. With the withdrawal of
Audi Sport Team Joest
Joest Racing is a sports car racing team that was established in 1978 by former Porsche works racer Reinhold Joest. Their headquarters are in Wald-Michelbach, Germany.
Early years
As a combined driver/team owner, Reinhold Joest first began t ...
from LMP1, the class was reduced to six entries for the 24 Hours of Le Mans.
Garage 56
The ACO intended to continue the Garage 56 concept, which began in 2012. Garage 56 allows a 56th entry to test new technology at the race.
Welter Racing
Welter Racing is a French sports car maker that mainly enters in the 24 Hours of Le Mans, since 1990 under the name of Rachel and Gérard Welter, Peugeot's late head of design or Rachel Welter (his wife).
History
was well versed in endurance ci ...
intended to enter a three-cylinder prototype vehicle powered by
biomethane
Renewable natural gas (RNG), also known as sustainable natural gas (SNG) or biomethane, is a biogas which has been upgraded to a quality similar to fossil natural gas and having a methane concentration of 90% or greater. By increasing the concentr ...
fuel, stored in cryogenic tanks which could withstand very low temperatures, to concentrate and maximise fuel volume.
[ The car was not entered in the race, due to the team's funding problems.][
]
Pre-race balance of performance changes
The ACO and the FIA altered the balance of performance
In sports car racing, balance of performance (BoP) is a regulation and mechanism that maintains parity between competing vehicles by adjusting limits on a car's parameters, such as horsepower, weight, engine management, and aerodynamics to preven ...
(BoP) in the two LMGTE categories in an attempt to eliminate sandbagging. The Ford GT
The Ford GT is a mid-engine two-seater sports car manufactured and marketed by American automobile manufacturer Ford for the 2005 model year in conjunction with the company's 2003 centenary. The second generation Ford GT became available for ...
received a minimum weight increase and reduced turbocharger boost across all RPM levels to lower its performance. The Aston Martin Vantage
__NOTOC__
Aston Martin has used the Vantage name on a number of vehicles, normally indicating a high-performance version of another model. In one case, during 1972–1973, the Vantage was a distinct model, being a straight-6 powered version of ...
was made heavier with an air restrictor
A restrictor plate or air restrictor is a device installed at the intake of an engine to limit its power. This kind of system is occasionally used in road vehicles (e.g., motorcycles) for insurance purposes, but mainly in automobile racing, to l ...
elongated by , and the Chevrolet Corvette C7.R
The Chevrolet Corvette C7.R is a grand tourer#grand tourers in racing, grand tourer racing car built by Pratt & Miller and Chevrolet for competition in endurance racing (motorsport), endurance racing between 2014 and 2019. It is a replacement for ...
had less fuel capacity and its air restrictor lengthened by . Porsche's 911 RSR received a minimum weight increase of , and its air restrictor was lengthened by . The LMGTE Am-class Porsche 911 RSR's ballast was increased by ; the Ferrari 488 GTE and Aston Martin Vantage's ballasts were decreased by and , respectively. All three cars had minor power and restrictor adjustments.
Testing
A pre-Le Mans testing day was held at the circuit on 4 June. All race entrants were required to spend eight hours of track time, divided into two sessions. The morning session, held on a dirty track with lap times improving throughout, was led by pre-race favourite Toyota; Nakajima's 8 car lapped at 3 minutes 20.778 seconds. The second Toyota of Kamui Kobayashi
is a Japanese professional racing driver who competes in the FIA World Endurance Championship for Toyota Gazoo Racing (GR) and in the Super Formula Championship for KCMG . He previously competed in Formula One, Formula E, the GP2 Series, and ...
was almost seven-tenths of a second slower, and José María López
José María "Pechito" López (born 26 April 1983) is an Argentine race car driver who is currently competing in the FIA World Endurance Championship with Toyota Gazoo Racing and 2014–2016 World Touring Car Champion. He raced in the 2006 GP ...
was third in the No. 9 car. Porsche were off Toyota's pace by more than two seconds, and completed the LMP1 field with Bernhard fourth and Lotterer fifth. Oreca 07
The Oreca 07 is a Le Mans Prototype built by French manufacturer Oreca to meet the 2017 FIA and ACO LMP2 regulations. It made its official race debut in the opening round of the 2017 IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship, the 24 Hours of Dayto ...
s led LMP2 with 13 cars leading the time sheets, led by the No. 36 Signatech Alpine
Alpine may refer to any mountainous region. It may also refer to:
Places Europe
* Alps, a European mountain range
** Alpine states, which overlap with the European range
Australia
* Alpine, New South Wales, a Northern Village
* Alpine National Pa ...
of André Negrão
André Negrão (born 17 June 1992, Campinas, São Paulo, Brazil) is a Brazilian driver in the World Endurance Championship (WEC), world champion in the WEC's superseason 2018/2019 and twice winner in the 24 Hours of Le Mans (2018 and 2019) in t ...
the sole driver to lap below 3 minutes 30 seconds with a 3-minutes 29.809-second time, ahead of Rebellion
Rebellion, uprising, or insurrection is a refusal of obedience or order. It refers to the open resistance against the orders of an established authority.
A rebellion originates from a sentiment of indignation and disapproval of a situation and ...
and Graff
Graff may refer to:
* Graff (lunar crater)
* Graff (Martian crater)
* Graff (jewellers), jewelry boutique specializing in rare diamonds
** 2009 Graff Diamonds robbery, which took place at the above store
* Graff, Minnesota an unincorporated co ...
. LMGTE Pro was topped by Corvette
A corvette is a small warship. It is traditionally the smallest class of vessel considered to be a proper (or " rated") warship. The warship class above the corvette is that of the frigate, while the class below was historically that of the slo ...
with Jan Magnussen
Jan Ellegaard Magnussen (born 4 July 1973) is a Danish professional racing driver and was a factory driver for General Motors until the end of the 2020 season. He has competed in Championship Auto Racing Teams (CART), NASCAR, the FIA Formula O ...
's lap of 3 minutes 55.726 seconds, followed by Patrick Pilet
Patrick Pilet (born October 8, 1981) is a French professional racing driver. He has competed in major sports car endurance races like the 24 Hours of Le Mans, 24 Hours of Daytona, 24 Hours of Spa, 12 Hours of Sebring and Petit Le Mans.
Born in ...
's No. 91 Porsche and the second Corvette of Oliver Gavin
Oliver Benjamin Gavin (born 29 September 1972), is a British racing driver who joined Corvette Racing in 2002. He has won five American Le Mans Series class championships, five 24 Hours of Le Mans class wins, five 12 Hours of Sebring class win ...
. Matteo Cairoli
Matteo Cairoli (born 1 June 1996) is an Italian racing driver who currently competes in the FIA World Endurance Championship.
Career Junior formula
Cairoli began his single-seater racing career in 2012, competing in the Italian Formula Renault C ...
's No. 77 Porsche led LMGTE Am from Andrea Bertolini
Andrea Bertolini (born 1 December 1973, in Sassuolo) is an Italian professional racing driver currently driving for AF Corse in the FIA World Endurance Championship. He is the official test driver of the Maserati factory.
Bertolini began racing a ...
's DH Racing Ferrari.
The second session saw Toyota again leading with Kobayashi's 3-minute 18.132-second lap, followed by Buemi and López. Porsche were still off Toyota's pace with their best lap coming from Bamber's No. 2 car, followed by Jani's No. 1 entry. Nelson Panciatici
Nelson Panciatici (born 26 September 1988) is a French professional racing driver.
Career
Karting
Born in Reims, Panciatici started his karting career in 1998 and continued until 2004.[privateer
A privateer is a private person or ship that engages in maritime warfare under a commission of war. Since robbery under arms was a common aspect of seaborne trade, until the early 19th century all merchant ships carried arms. A sovereign or deleg ...]
(the No. 4 ByKolles Racing
ByKolles Racing, formally known as Kodewa GmbH & Co. KG, is an auto racing team based in Greding, Germany. It was founded in 2000 by Romulus Kolles and his son Colin Kolles as Kolles Racing.
History
The company initially participated in Germa ...
ENSO CLM P1/01 of Dominik Kraihamer
Dominik Kraihamer (born 29 November 1989 in Oberndorf) is an Austrian racing driver, who competes in the FIA World Endurance Championship for ByKolles Racing Team.
Career
Kraihamer's racing career began in 2004 in karting, where he found succe ...
) for sixth overall, going faster than Jean-Éric Vergne
Jean-Éric Vergne (born 25 April 1990), also known as JEV, is a French racing driver who competes in the FIA Formula E Championship with Dragon Racing. He became the 2017–18 ABB Formula E Champion, after clinching fifth in the New York ePrix ...
's No. 24 Manor and Alex Brundle's No. 37 Jackie Chan DC Racing
Jackie Chan DC Racing, formerly known as DC Racing, is a racing team that currently competes in the FIA World Endurance Championship and Asian Le Mans Series. The team is co-owned by Asian Le Mans champion David Cheng and actor Jackie Chan. Partne ...
entries. Gavin missed 91 minutes due to a mid-session engine change but set the day's best LMGTE Pro lap (3 minutes 54.701 seconds) towards the end of the test, beating Frédéric Makowiecki
Frédéric Makowiecki (born 22 November 1980) is a French professional racing driver, currently competing as a factory driver for Porsche Motorsport in the WeatherTech SportsCar Championship GTLM class.
Career
After competing in karting, Arra ...
's No. 92 Porsche. Aston Martin
Aston Martin Lagonda Global Holdings PLC is an English manufacturer of luxury sports cars and grand tourers. Its predecessor was founded in 1913 by Lionel Martin and Robert Bamford. Steered from 1947 by David Brown, it became associated with ...
led LMGTE Am with Pedro Lamy
José Pedro Mourão Lamy Viçoso, OIH, known as Pedro Lamy (; born 20 March 1972) is a Portuguese professional racing driver currently racing in endurance races teaming up with Mathias Lauda and gentleman driver Paul Dalla Lana. He was the fir ...
's 3-minutes 58.250-second lap from Fernando Rees
Fernando Rees (born January 4, 1985) is a retired Brazilian racecar driver. He started his career racing with go-karts back in 1993 at age 8. Fernando made his international single-seaters' debut in 2001, his endurance racing debut in 2007, ...
' Larbre Compétition
Larbre Compétition is a French auto racing team founded in 1988 by Jack Leconte. Based at the Circuit du Val de Vienne in Le Vigeant, Larbre has had considerable success in the Porsche Carrera Cup, French GT Championship, and international ...
Corvette. Erik Maris' No. 33 Eurasia Motorsport Ligier JS P217
The Ligier JS P217 is a Le Mans Prototype built by Onroak Automotive and named in a partnership with French racing driver Guy Ligier. The Ligier JS P217 was built to meet the 2017 FIA and ACO regulations for 2017 for the LMP2 category in the F ...
stopped the session by becoming stranded in the Dunlop Curves gravel trap. Paul-Loup Chatin
Paul-Loup Chatin (born 19 October 1991) is a professional racing driver from France who currently competes in the European Le Mans Series with IDEC Sport. He won the European Le Mans Series LMP2 class title in 2014 and 2019.
Career
Karting
Bor ...
's No. 17 IDEC Sport Ligier and Jan Lammers
Jan Lammers (Johannes Antonius Lammers, Zandvoort, 2 June 1956) is a racing driver
Auto racing (also known as car racing, motor racing, or automobile racing) is a motorsport involving the racing of automobiles for competition.
Auto racing h ...
's Racing Team Nederland Dallara collided at the second Mulsanne Chicane, but both continued without major damage. The session ended less than fifteen minutes early, when Roberto González's No. 25 Manor laid oil on the track and stopped.
Post-testing balance of performance changes
After testing, the FIA re-adjusted the BoP. The LMGTE Pro-category Corvettes had their performance reduced with an air-restrictor reduction. The Aston Martins, Ferraris, Fords, and Porsches received fuel-capacity increases to equalise refuelling times and stint lengths. The LMGTE Am-class Aston Martin and Ferraris increased their fuel capacity, with the Ferraris receiving turbocharger boost pressure increases.
Practice
Practice was held on 14 June, with the full 60-car field on the track for four hours in hot and sunny weather. Toyota led from the start once again, with Nicolas Lapierre setting the early pace and leading for most of the session until Bamber went faster. Kobayashi went quicker, until Jani's lap of 3 minutes 20.362 seconds in the final five minutes led the session. Alex Lynn
Alexander George Lynn (born 17 September 1993) is a British racing driver. He most recently competed in Formula E, driving for Mahindra Racing in the 2021 season, winning the second race of his home ePrix in London. Lynn has also competed full- ...
's No. 26 G-Drive Racing car led LMP2 with less than forty minutes left, with a 3-minute 30.363-second lap from Nelson Piquet Jr.
Nelson Angelo Tamsma Piquet Souto Maior (born July 25, 1985), also known as Nelson Piquet Junior or Nelsinho Piquet, is a Brazilian stock car racing driver and former Formula One and Formula E driver where he was champion in the 2014–15 seaso ...
's No. 13 Rebellion. Bruno Senna
Bruno Senna Lalli (, born 15 October 1983) is a Brazilian professional racing driver. He is the nephew of the late Ayrton Senna, three-time Formula One world champion. He is also the first man to win a race in every WEC class, and was the 2017 W ...
's sister No. 31 Rebellion was third. Aston Martins and Corvettes led LMGTE Pro from the start, until Bird's No. 71 AF Corse Ferrari lapped fastest at 3 minutes 54.832 seconds. The fastest Aston Martin was Darren Turner
Darren Turner (born 13 April 1974) is a British professional racing driver and owner of Base Performance Simulators. He races for Aston Martin Racing as a factory driver and also works as a high performance test driver for Aston Martin.
He was ...
's No. 97 entry in second, and the second AF Corse car of James Calado
James John Calado (born 13 June 1989) is a British professional racing driver from England, currently competing in the FIA World Endurance Championship and other selected GT races for AF Corse. He won the LMGTE Pro class of the 2017 FIA World ...
was third. The quickest LMGTE Am vehicle was Lamy's No. 98 Aston Martin, over a trio of Ferraris led by DH Racing. The safety cars were required for one hour and fifteen minutes, after Christian Philippon's Larbre Compétition Corvette went off the track leaving the Porsche Curves and damaged the car's bodywork against the tyre barrier. Stephane Lemeret's No. 88 Proton Porsche scraped a barrier through the Porsche Curves, but continued to the pit lane
In motorsports, a pit stop is a pause for refuelling, new tyres, repairs, mechanical adjustments, a driver change, as a penalty, or any combination of the above. These stops occur in an area called the pits, most commonly accessed via a pit lan ...
for repairs. Roberto Lacorte slid the Cetilar Villorba Corse Dallara into the Mulsanne corner gravel trap, and abandoned the car.
Qualifying
The first of three qualifying sessions began late Wednesday night under clear conditions. The start was delayed due to an incident during practice for the first Road to Le Mans race: a major crash necessitated barrier repairs to the Porsche Curves, and the session was shortened by twenty minutes. Slow zones and yellow flags limited the amount of quick running, and the rapidly-cooling track meant that the best chance to set the fastest lap times was missed. The session's first timed laps saw Porsche lead early on with a benchmark effort from Jani, followed by Bernhard's 3-minute 19.710-second lap. Fifteen minutes later, Kobayashi had no slower traffic impeding him and took provisional pole position
In a motorsports race, the pole position is usually the best and "statistically the most advantageous" starting position on the track. The pole position is usually earned by the driver with the best qualifying times in the trials before the rac ...
with a 3-minute 18.793-second lap. Nakajima was six-tenths of a second behind in second, and Bernhard was a provisional third. Lapierre was the slowest of the three Toyotas in fourth, and Jani was fifth. Rounding out the LMP1 field was Kraihamer, whose fastest time was ten seconds off Kobayashi's pace but clear of the LMP2 field.
Matthieu Vaxivière
Matthieu Vaxivière (born 3 December 1994) is a French racing driver from Limoges, France. He was the 2011 French F4 champion. In 2012 he raced in the V de V Endurance Cup, French GT, and 2e Grand Prix Èlectrique. In addition, he was 14th in t ...
carried TDS Racing's Oreca to the provisional pole in LMP2 with a 3-minute 29.333-second lap late in the session. He was half-a-second clear of Senna, who held the class pole until Vaxivière's lap. Vitaly Petrov
Vitaly Aleksandrovich Petrov ( rus, Вита́лий Алекса́ндрович Петро́в, p=vʲɪˈtalʲɪj ɐlʲɪkˈsandrəvʲɪtɕ pʲɪˈtrof; born 8 September 1984) is a Russian racing driver who drove in Formula One for Renault F1 ...
's No. 25 Manor was third-fastest, with teammate Vergne fourth. Eric Trouillet, in the No. 39 Graff Oreca, caused the session's first yellow flag when he struck the barriers leaving the second Mulsanne Chicane. The No. 27 SMP Racing
SMP Racing is the motor sport endurance racing team and also motorsport management created in 2013 by Boris Rotenberg, founder of the SMP Bank of Russia.
Description
The goal of SMP Racing is to train and unveil new talents. The team's training ...
Dallara caused further disruption when it hit the barriers and had a quickly-extinguished fire. Aston Martin led the LMGTE categories, with Nicki Thiim
Nicki Thiim (born 17 April 1989 in Sønderborg, Denmark) is a Danish professional racing driver, and Aston Martin Racing works driver in the FIA World Endurance Championship.
Biography
After competing in karting, Thiim won the 2006 Danish For ...
's No. 95 car quickest at 3 minutes, 52.117 seconds; Mathias Lauda
Mathias Lauda (born 30 January 1981) is an Austrian racing driver currently racing for Aston Martin Racing as a factory driver in the FIA World Endurance Championship. He is the son of the late three-time Formula One world champion Niki Laud ...
was the fastest Amateur-class entry with a 3-minute 55.134-second lap. Risi Competizione
Risi Competizione is an Italo-American auto racing Ferrari factory-backed team formed by Giuseppe Risi in 1997. Initially, the team had a partnership with Doyle Racing using the name Doyle-Risi Racing, but soon Giuseppe Risi took full control of t ...
's No. 82 Ferrari 488 was eleventh amongst the LMGTEs before ACO officials disallowed their fastest laps for disobeying ''parc fermé
''Parc fermé'', literally meaning "closed park" in French, is a secure area at a motor racing circuit wherein the cars are driven back to the pits post- and sometimes pre-race.
Area
For example, according to the FIA Formula One regulations, th ...
'' regulations by handling the tyres after the session.
Thursday's first qualifying session began with a stoppage for a crash. Maris spun and crashed his No. 33 car against the outside barriers leaving the first Mulsanne Chicane seventeen minutes in. He was unhurt, but was transported to the medical centre for a precautionary check-up; this meant that the organisers rescheduled the second qualifying to end at 21:30 Central European Summer Time
Central European Summer Time (CEST), sometimes referred to as Central European Daylight Time (CEDT), is the standard clock time observed during the period of summer daylight-saving in those European countries which observe Central European Time ...
(CEST) ( UTC+02:00). When it restarted, Kobayashi exited the pit lane early; aided by tailwinds on the Mulsanne Straight
The Mulsanne Straight (''Ligne Droite des Hunaudières'' in French) is the name used in English for a formerly long straight of the Circuit de la Sarthe around which the 24 Hours of Le Mans auto race takes place. Since 1990, the straight is int ...
and headwinds through the Porsche Curves, he reset the track lap record to 3 minutes 14.791 seconds. The No. 8 Toyota stopped leaving the second Mulsanne Chicane with an oil-supply problem which required an engine change. The Toyota returned to the track with ten minutes remaining, but fell to fourth as Buemi could not better its best time. Jani and Bernhard in the two Porsches lapped quicker, and moved to second and third. Yuji Kunimoto
is a Japanese auto racing driver. He is the younger brother of 2008 Macau Grand Prix winner Keisuke Kunimoto. As of 2021, he is racing for Team KCMG in the Super Formula Championship, and for Racing Project Bandoh in Super GT.
Career highligh ...
also improved the No. 9 Toyota's best lap, but fell to fifth.
Petrov's Manor set a new LMP2 class lap record of 3 minutes 25.549 seconds, more than a second faster than rookie Thomas Laurent
Thomas Laurent (born 5 April 1998) is a French racing driver who currently competes in the FIA World Endurance Championship for French team Signatech Alpine Matmut and in the European Le Mans Series with Graff Racing. He finished second in the 2 ...
in DC's No. 38 entry and Vergne's second Manor; Petrov demoted the ByKolles car to seventh overall. The LMGTE categories had some changes, with Aston Martin remaining the Pro leader; Jonathan Adam
Jonathan "Jonny" Adam (born 4 September 1984 in Lochgelly, Fife) is a British racing driver and a factory driver for Aston Martin Racing. He was the champion of the SEAT Cupra Championship in two of its six seasons – winning in 2007 and in 200 ...
bettered Thiim's first session lap, with Calado improving to second. Euan Hankey became the provisional LMGTE Am pole-sitter before Will Stevens
William Stevens (born 28 June 1991) is a British racing driver, who formerly competed in Formula One, Eurocup Formula Renault 2.0, Toyota Racing Series and the British Formula Renault Championships. In Formula One, he made his debut at the 20 ...
went faster to take the class pole. At the premature end of qualifying, with a half-hour left, Timothé Buret lost control of the No. 23 Panis Barthez Competition Ligier on the grass and was stranded in a gravel trap going into Tertre Rouge corner after striking the barrier.
As temperatures cooled for the final session, more than half the field improved their fastest laps but Kobayashi's time was not bettered. He took Toyota's third pole position at Le Mans and their first since 2014. Nakajima lapped more than two seconds quicker to put the No. 8 car alongside the sister No. 7 Toyota on the grid
Grid, The Grid, or GRID may refer to:
Common usage
* Cattle grid or stock grid, a type of obstacle is used to prevent livestock from crossing the road
* Grid reference, used to define a location on a map
Arts, entertainment, and media
* News g ...
's front row. Porsche did not improve from the second session, and were third and fourth. Hartley slowed and stopped the No. 2 Porsche at Indianapolis corner due to a rising oil temperature. He failed to return to the pit lane on hybrid power, and abandoned the car. Lapierre improved early on, and was fifth. Oliver Webb
Oliver "Oli" James Webb (born 20 March 1991 in Manchester) is a British auto racing driver. He is a 2004 Karting Champion, 2007 Formula BMW Scholarship winner, 2010 Formula 3 competitor, 2014 European Le Mans series Champion, 2015 Dubai 24 Hour ...
used clear air to return the ByKolles car to sixth overall. Lynn reset the LMP2 lap record early on by 11.3 seconds over the 2016 time, demoting the No. 25 Manor Oreca to second. Ho-Pin Tung
Ho-Pin Tung (; born December 4, 1982) is a Chinese people in the Netherlands, Chinese-Dutch racing driver who races with a Chinese license.
Career
Born in Velp, Gelderland, Netherlands, Tung started kart racing in the Netherlands in 1997 befo ...
's No. 38 DC car took third, battling with Senna for the position. The Oreca chassis, as well as the variant Alpine chassis, secured the first nine positions in LMP2; the Dallara of SMP Racing was the fastest of the other chassis, in tenth place.
Aston Martin led LMGTE Pro, with Richie Stanaway
Richie Stanaway (born 24 November 1991) is a racing car driver from New Zealand.
Career New Zealand
Born in Tauranga, Stanaway was originally from a motocross background, before making the switch to speedway at the age of twelve. Following tha ...
setting a new class record before Turner improved with a 3-minute 50.837-second lap for Aston Martin's first class pole since 2015. Calado separated the two cars in the closing minutes, and Bird came within 0.048 seconds of Stanaway. All five manufacturers in LMGTE Pro were within a second of Turner's lap, with the fastest Ford in fifth courtesy of Ryan Briscoe
Ryan Briscoe (born 24 September 1981) is an Australian-American professional racing driver from Sydney who has predominantly raced open-wheel and sports cars in Europe and America.
In IndyCar he collected 8 wins and 28 podiums, finishing third ...
; Antonio García sixth for Corvette, and Porsche seventh courtesy of Michael Christensen. The lead in LMGTE Am changed with Rees earning Larbre Compétition's first class pole in ten years with a 3-minute 52.843-second lap, almost four-tenths of a second clear of Lamy's No. 98 Aston Martin and Townsend Bell
Townsend Bell (born April 19, 1975) is an American professional motor racing driver competing in the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship, and also as a motorsports commentator for NBC Sports’ IndyCar Series coverage.
Early career
He spent ...
's No. 62 Scuderia Corsa Ferrari.
Post-qualifying
After qualifying, the FIA imposed an BoP ballast decrease on the LMGTE Am-category Porsches after they were slower on the straight; Porsche had requested a longer air restrictor for better performance.
Qualifying results
Provisional pole position
In a motorsports race, the pole position is usually the best and "statistically the most advantageous" starting position on the track. The pole position is usually earned by the driver with the best qualifying times in the trials before the rac ...
s in each class are denoted in bold. The fastest time set by each entry is denoted with a gray background.
Warm-up
A 45-minute warm-up session was held on Saturday morning. The No. 8 Toyota, driven by Nakajima, set the fastest lap at 3 minutes 18.308 seconds; Kobayashi's sister Toyota was three-tenths of a second slower in second. The best-placed Porsche was Tandy's No. 1 car in third, having led for most of the session. Kunimoto was fourth-fastest, and Hartley was fifth. Lynn set the fastest LMP2 lap at 3 minutes 27.096 seconds. Briscoe (driving the No. 69 Ford) was the quickest driver in LMGTE Pro, with the No. 83 DH Racing Ferrari driven by Bertolini the fastest of the LMGTE Am drivers by over a second. Paul Lafargue
Paul Lafargue (; 15 January 1842 – 25 November 1911) was a Cuban- Haitian revolutionary Marxist socialist, political writer, economist, journalist, literary critic, and activist; he was Karl Marx's son-in-law having married his second dau ...
oversteered the No. 17 IDEC car in the Porsche Curves, made contact with the barriers before stopping in the gravel trap, and returned to the pit lane for repairs.
Race
Start to evening
The weather was hot, with an air temperature of ; the track temperature ranged from . The race began with a rolling start
A rolling start is one of two modes of initiating or restarting an auto race; the other mode is the standing start. In a rolling start, the cars are ordered on the track and are led on a certain number of laps (parade or caution laps) at a pre-de ...
before 258,500 spectators at 15:00 local time, with the chairman and chief executive of the Formula One Group
The Formula One Group is a group of companies responsible for the Promotion (marketing), promotion of the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile, FIA Formula One World Championship, and the exercising of the sport's commercial rights.
The ...
Chase Carey
Chase Carey (born 22 November 1953) is an Irish-born American executive. He is the former chief executive officer and executive chairman of the Formula One Group. He has previously worked for News Corp, DIRECTV, 21st Century Fox and Sky plc. ...
waving the French tricolour
The national flag of France (french: link=no, drapeau français) is a tricolour featuring three vertical bands coloured blue ( hoist side), white, and red. It is known to English speakers as the ''Tricolour'' (), although the flag of Ireland ...
. Mike Conway
Mike Conway (born 19 August 1983) is a British professional racing driver. He lives in Sevenoaks, Kent and is currently competing in the FIA World Endurance Championship with Toyota Gazoo Racing.
Biography
Conway who was born in Bromley, Lo ...
maintained the No. 7 Toyota's pole-position advantage for most of the opening 60 minutes, before Buemi overtook him on the outside into Indianapolis turn for the lead after Conway made a braking error at the Dunlop Esses. The first hour saw the first retirement, when Webb had a front-left puncture at Tetre Rouge corner which made him crash the No. 4 ByKolles car against the wall and damage its front bodywork and engine.[ At the close of the hour, Thiim put the No. 95 Aston Martin in the LMGTE Pro lead after ]Alessandro Pier Guidi
Alessandro Pier Guidi (born December 18, 1983) is a racing driver from Italy. He drove two races for the Italian A1 Team. A Ferrari factory driver since 2017, he won LMGTE-PRO 2017 FIA World Endurance Championship and 2019 24 Hours of Le Mans, a ...
moved the No. 95 AF Corse Ferrari to the category lead for the opening two laps before falling to third in class.[
Rees briefly overtook Hand's No. 68 LMGTE Pro-class Ford, and Rees continued to pace the LMGTE Am field until a faster pit stop for Bell's No. 62 Scuderia Corsa Ferrari promoted it to the category lead.][ The LMP2 lead became a multi-team battle between the No. 38 DC car and the No. 13 and 31 Rebellion Racing teams, with the lead changing frequently during pit-stop cycles after the class pole-sitting No. 26 G-Drive Oreca of ]Roman Rusinov
Roman Aleksandrovich Rusinov ( rus, Рома́н Алекса́ндрович Ру́синов, p=rɐˈman ɐlʲɪˈksandrəvʲɪtɕ ˈrusʲɪnəv, born 21 October 1981 in Moscow) is a Russian auto racing driver who competed in the FIA World Endu ...
fell to 14th at the start. Khaled Al Qubaisi
Khaled Abdulla Al Qubaisi (born 22 December 1975 in Abu Dhabi) is an Emirati businessman and racing driver who is the Chief Executive Officer of Real Estate & Infrastructure Investments at Mubadala Investment Company. In his role at Mubadala, Al ...
's No. 88 Proton Porsche was caught by Rusinov, who lapped him on the inside in the centre of the Porsche Curves; both drivers crashed into the SAFER barrier at high speed. Although both cars could be driven to the pit lane, they had severe damage and were retired. The accident triggered the race's first localised slow-zone procedure to enable repairs to the barrier. On the Mulsanne Straight, Conway retook the overall lead in the No. 7 Toyota when his teammate (Buemi, in the sister No. 8 car) went wide at Mulsanne turn.
Laurent's No. 38 DC car was gaining on the two LMP2-leading Rebellion cars when its rear snapped out and he crashed lightly against the barrier at Indianapolis corner. Laurent entered the pit lane for new front bodywork, but the car lost two-and-a-half-minutes and fell to sixth place. After Marco Sørensen relieved Thiim in the No. 95 Aston Martin, he was slowed by a left-rear puncture from debris at Tertre Rouge corner. Sørensen relinquished the LMGTE Pro lead to Daniel Serra
Daniel Gardano Serra (born 24 February 1984) is a Brazilian auto racing driver. He competes full-time in the Brazilian Stock Car Pro Series, driving the No. 29 Chevrolet Cruze for Eurofarma-RC and is also a Ferrari Factory Driver.
He won 3 ti ...
's sister No. 97 Aston Martin, with the No. 67 Ford in second. After three-and-a-half hours, Bamber's No. 2 Porsche was forced to the garage for 65 minutesand 18 lapsto fix a failed front-axle hybrid harvesting motor which required multiple components (including the motor generator unit). Tandy's No. 1 Porsche overtook Davidson's No. 8 Toyota for second overall after a pit-stop cycle, challenging the No. 7 Toyota for the lead.[
Vaxivière unsettled the front of his TDS Racing Oreca car braking for the first Mulsanne chicane and moved left towards the unseen No. 82 Risi Ferrari of ]Pierre Kaffer
Pierre Kaffer (born 7 November 1976 in Bad Neuenahr-Ahrweiler, Rhineland-Palatinate) is a race car driver from Germany, currently living in Switzerland.
Career
In 1990, Kaffer started in Karting, moving in 1994 to Formula Ford, later Formula Ope ...
which he was lapping in traffic. In the resulting contact, Kaffer struck the Armco barrier at high speed and forced the retirement of the No. 82 car stopped in the run-off area. Kaffer was unhurt, but a lengthy slow zone was imposed to enable repairs to the damaged barriers; Vaxivière received a seven-minute stop-and-go penalty for the accident.[ The slow-zone coverage zone was extended past the Dunlop chicane to the Tetre Rouge turn after a succession of incidents which had deposited gravel on the circuit.] The slowdown brought the leading cars together and enabled Senna to extend the lead of the No. 31 LMP2 Rebellion Oreca car to over 90 seconds over his teammate, Piquet, in the second-place No. 13 entry.[ Tung's recovering No. 38 DC car was third in class, passing ]Pierre Ragues
Pierre Ragues (born 10 January 1984 in Caen) is a French racing driver, who competes in the FIA World Endurance Championship.
Career
Karting
Debuting in karting in 1994, Ragues was second in the Monaco Kart Cup in Formula A in 2001, and thir ...
' No. 35 Signatech Alpine. Although Kunimoto had to make an unscheduled pit stop to repair a loose right-side door, the No. 9 Toyota remained fourth.[
]
Night to dawn
As dusk fell, Nakajima's No. 8 Toyota was lapping faster than Lotterer's No. 1 Porsche and overtook it exiting the Arnage corner for second overall midway through the seventh hour. Nakajima immediately began to pull clear of Lotterer and gain on the race-leading No. 7 Toyota of Sarrazin. The No. 98 Aston Martin relinquished its lead in the LMGTE Am category to the No. 84 JMW Ferrari of Stevens when Lamy had a front-right puncture from debris. This removed the bodywork from the car's front-right corner, and Lamy dropped to the rear of the category when he made an unscheduled 18-minute pit stop for repairs. The No. 31 Rebellion car of Senna was given a drive-through penalty for overtaking another vehicle under slow-zone conditions. He was demoted from the lead of LMP2 to third in the category and his teammate, Piquet in the No. 13 Rebellion entry, became the new class leader.
Buemi was holding off Jani's No. 1 Porsche when the No. 8 Toyota began to leak oil, but telemetry did not indicate an issue. He went to the garage with smoke coming front the car's front right wheel arch due to a battery-damaging axle hybrid motor failure, losing 29 laps and almost two hours while components were changed.[ The left rear of ]Tommy Milner
Tommy Milner (born January 28, 1986), is an American GM factory racing and test driver, also currently employed full-time in Corvette Racing. He is also the co-owner of Team Hype Sim. He was featured in 2011 racing video game Shift 2: Unleashed ...
's No. 64 Corvette was damaged in a spin towards the barrier at the exit of the Porsche Curves due to an incorrectly-fitted left rear wheel nut when Milner, struggling to control the car, spun into the pit lane entry gravel.[ The car was beached on a kerb and was extricated by a recovery vehicle, but lost second in the LMGTE Pro (and four laps) to Tincknell's No. 67 Ford.][ Piquet ceded the No. 13 Rebellion car's lead in LMP2 to Senna's sister No. 31 vehicle when it spent a minute in the pit lane to repair a failed left rear tail light. Early in the tenth hour, ]Olivier Pla
Olivier Pla (born 22 October 1981) is a French racing driver currently competing in the FIA World Endurance Championship for Glickenhaus Racing. His younger brother Jim is also a racing driver
Career
French Formula Campus and Formula Three
Bor ...
beached the No. 66 Ford in the gravel run-off area at the left-hand turn after Indianapolis corner; it was recovered, leaving gravel on the racing line
In motorsport, the racing line is the optimal path around a race course. In most cases, the line makes use of the entire width of the track to lengthen the radius of a turn: entering at the outside edge, touching the "apex"—a point on the inside ...
. The incident led to the race's first safety car intervention, a half-hour for debris removal.
During the slow period, Jani spun the No. 1 Porsche at the pit-lane entry but did not lose position.[ When Kobayashi brought the race-leading No. 7 Toyota to the pit-lane exit, Algarve Pro Racing driver Vincent Capillare ran up to the car and gave Kobayashi the thumbs-up signal. Kobayashi interpreted this as a marshal's signal to exit the lane, but further confusion was created when Toyota radioed Kobayashi to stop the car because he had passed a red light.][ When racing resumed, Kobayashi had worn out the clutch enough to brake it and slowed; the clutch, not designed for starting, was stressed by the engine's power and torque. Kobayashi lost drive in the engine and attempted to return to the pit lane on hybrid power, but got as far as the pit lane entry straight before retiring the No. 7 car because of a low battery charge.][ The No. 7 Toyota's retirement promoted Tandy's No. 1 Porsche to the race lead, Lapierre's No. 9 Toyota to second and Rebellion's No. 31 LMP2-class-leading entry to third overall.]
Soon afterwards, the left rear corner of Lapierre's No. 9 Toyota and the right corner of Simon Trummer
Simon Trummer (born 8 June 1989 in Frutigen, Canton of Bern) is a racing driver from Switzerland.
Career
Karting
Trummer began his motorsport career in karting back in 2003, finishing second in the Swiss Junior Championship. He also finish ...
's No. 25 Manor Oreca made contact in the Dunlop Chicane.[ Trummer was beached in the gravel and was forced to retire the No. 25 car with major damage, but was unhurt; Lapierre continued with a left-rear puncture which caused the bodywork to fail.] Lapierre drove too quickly, and chunks of rubber from the rim of the disintegrating tyre damaged the gearbox hydraulics and an oil line.[ This caused the car to briefly catch fire, and Lapierre drove on hybrid power before being asked by his team to stop at the exit near the pit-lane entry and abandon the car at the side of the circuit. Safety cars were required again for 32 minutes as debris from the two stricken cars were removed from the track. The No. 9 Toyota's retirement moved the No. 31 and No. 13 Rebellion cars to second and third overall.][ When racing resumed, Tandy slowed the race-leading No. 1 Porsche because he had a nine-lap lead over the LMP2 order.][ Hankey's No. 90 ]TF Sport
TF Sport is a GT racing team that competes in blue-riband motorsport events throughout Europe including the FIA WEC Super Season and the 24 hours of Le Mans, headed by Tom Ferrier and supported by Aston Martin Racing.
Overview
Founded in 201 ...
Aston Martin fended off Marvin Dienst
Marvin Christopher Dienst (; born 24 February 1997) is a German racing driver, who last competed in the Deutsche Tourenwagen Masters for Mercedes-AMG Team Mücke Motorsport. Dienst won the Formula BMW Talent Cup in 2012 and the ADAC Formula 4 ...
's No. 77 Dempsey-Proton Porsche for third in LMGTE Am, with second to fourth in class covered by ten seconds.
After the race's halfway point, the No. 31 Rebellion Oreca car of Nicolas Prost
Nicolas "Nico" Jean Prost (born 18 August 1981) is a French professional racing driver. He most recently raced in the FIA Formula E Championship before quitting the series. Also, he was a longstanding racer in the FIA World Endurance Championshi ...
entered the garage for an inspection because Prost reported a gearbox problem. The inspection took five minutes, and the car lost one lap to fall to fourth in LMP2 (ceding the category lead to Tung's No. 38 DC). Christensen lost control of the No. 92 Porsche on the Ford Chicane kerb, heavily damaging the car's rear on the tyre barrier before stopping in the gravel. Although the Porsche was extricated and moved behind a barrier for an attempted restart, damage forced its retirement.[ Almost an hour later, ]Emmanuel Collard
Emmanuel Collard (born 3 April 1971) is a French professional racing driver. He is a former member of the Porsche Junioren factory team, but also drives for other marques.
Born in Arpajon, Essonne, Collard is the winner of the Le Mans Serie ...
crashed the No. 28 TDS Oreca into the tyre wall exiting the Porsche Curves at high speed after a driver error and retired; the safety cars came out for the third and final time (for 24 minutes) to enable repairs to the barrier and extrication of the stricken car. Collard sustained bruising and exited the car unaided; he was transported to the medical centre and then Le Mans Hospital for checks.[ AF Corse were caught out by the safety car's timing and brought both their cars into the pit lane, moving the No. 63 Corvette to fourth in LMGTE Pro.
]
Morning to finish
After green-flag racing resumed in the early morning, a slow zone was imposed when James Allen beached the No. 40 Graff entry in the gravel trap on the left-hand Indianapolis turn after contact with the barrier and was pushed back onto the circuit.[ The slow zone lowered the gap between Sørensen's LMGTE Pro-leading No. 95 Aston Martin and Pilet's second-placed No. 92 Porsche to less than 20 seconds.][ The Aston Martin and Porsche LMGTE Pro teams had different pit-stop strategies: the Aston Martins could do two stints on their tyres, and the Porsches could do three tyre stints because the manufacturers used different tyre brands.] Tung used the slow zone to return the No. 38 DC car to the LMP2 lead when Piquet's No. 13 Rebellion entry lost a minute in the slow zone. Calado's No. 51 AF Corse Ferrari had to drop out of the LMGTE Pro lead battle when Calado and Rob Bell
Robert Holmes Bell Jr. (born August 23, 1970) is an American author, speaker and former pastor. Bell founded Mars Hill Bible Church in Grandville, Michigan, and pastored it until 2012. Under his leadership, Mars Hill was one of the fastest ...
's No. 90 TF Aston Martin collided at the second Mulsanne chicane; they went to the garage to repair front bodywork damage and a rear diffuser
Diffuser may refer to:
Aerodynamics
* Diffuser (automotive), a shaped section of a car's underbody which improves the car's aerodynamic properties
* Part of a jet engine air intake, especially when operated at supersonic speeds
* The channel bet ...
replacement, respectively.
The No. 95 Aston Martin relinquished the LMGTE Pro lead to Jordan Taylor's No. 63 Corvette which cycled to Makowiecki's No. 92 Porsche on pit-stop rotation when driver Stanaway, on cold tyres after a scheduled pit stop, damaged the car's left front corner against the tyre wall at the Mulsanne hairpin. Stanaway drove to the pit lane for quick repairs, and was relieved by Thiim. The No. 31 Rebellion car bowed out of the LMP2 lead duel when it was garaged for more than an hour to replace gearbox internals;[ this promoted Panciatici's No. 35 Signatech Alpine to third in LMP2. Will Owen, driving ]United Autosports
United Autosports is a sports car racing team, founded by American businessman and entrepreneur Zak Brown and former British racing driver Richard Dean.
In 2020, United Autosports became the first ever team to win the prestigious 24 Hours of ...
' No. 32 car, was fourth in LMP2 when he spun twice (at Indianapolis corner and the Porsche Curves) and was passed by David Cheng
David Cheng (born July 21, 1989) is an American sports car racing driver. He currently drives the No. 37 LMP2 Oreca 07 for Jackie Chan DC Racing in the Asian Le Mans Series and FIA World Endurance Championship.
Racing career
Born in Beijing, C ...
's No. 37 DC entry. JMW had an anxious moment when Dries Vanthoor
Dries Vanthoor (born 20 April 1998 in Heusden-Zolder) is a racing driver from Belgium. He currently competes in the GT World Challenge Europe and ADAC GT Masters for Audi. He is the younger brother of Laurens, and was the winner of the 2018 Ba ...
lost control of the team's Ferrari at the pit-lane entry, but recovered without losing the LMGTE Am lead. The recovering No. 2 Porsche made its way to fifth overall with Hartley aboard by the 20th hour, and the LMGTE Pro lead battle was between three cars: the No. 97 Aston Martin, the No. 63 Corvette and the No. 91 Porsche.
After 21 hours 10 minutes, Lotterer's No. 1 Porsche slowed at the Dunlop Curves when the engine lost oil pressure. Lotterer tried to return to the pit lane on hybrid power, but was advised to stop and abandon the car at the side of the track on the Mulsanne Straight when Porsche thought that the problem could not fixed and did not want a slow zone or safety car to slow Hartley.[ The No. 1 Porsche's retirement promoted Laurent's LMP2-category-leading No. 38 DC Oreca car to the race lead, the first LMP2 overall leader in race history. ]Mathias Beche
Mathias Beche (born 28 June 1986 in Geneva) is a Swiss professional racing driver. He finished eighth overall and second in the LMP2 class of the 2012 24 Hours of Le Mans and is the reigning champion of the European Le Mans Series in the LMP2 clas ...
(in second overall) received a stop-and-go penalty when his mechanics committed an infraction while adjusting the brake duct and rear of the No. 13 Rebellion vehicle, and he fell behind Hartley's recovering No. 2 Porsche. Laurent lost a minute in the pit lane when the No. 38 DC car had its rear bodywork changed to repair faulty rear brake lights before Bernhard unlapped the Oreca entry to return the No. 2 Porsche to the lead lap, since he was lapping considerably quicker on average than the LMP2 entry.
Piquet's No. 13 Rebellion car battled Negrão's No. 35 Signatech Alpine for third overall in slower traffic before Piquet's pace unsettled his vehicle through the Porsche Curves and allowed Negrão to pull clear. The Rebellion entry received a ten-second time penalty for Piquet's collision with the No. 49 ARC Bratislava Ligier, and it fell back from the Alpine. Makowiecki's No. 91 Porsche bowed out of the battle for the LMGTE Pro victory when the car had a left-front puncture and made an unscheduled pit stop. Bernhard gained enough ground on Tung's No. 38 DC Oreca car to overtake it on the inside on the right-hand kink into Indianapolis turn for the race lead with just over one hour remaining.[ In the final hour, Negrão ceded the No. 35 Signatech Alpine's hold on third overall to Piquet's No. 13 Rebellion car when he slowly beached the Alpine in the gravel at Arnage corner while attempting to rejoin the circuit.] Adam in the No. 97 Aston Martin gained on Taylor's No. 63 Corvette and attempted to pass him for the LMGTE Pro lead, but ran wide and hit the Corvette. He tried again after Taylor drove across the gravel trap at the second Mulsanne Straight chicane and took the category lead on the start-finish straight with two laps remaining, which he maintained to the finish.[
The No. 2 Porsche team maintained the lead for the rest of the race to win after 367 laps,][ earning Bamber and Bernhard their second Le Mans victories, Hartley his first and Porsche's 19th. Toyota were able to repair the No. 8 car enough for it to finish nine laps behind the winning Porsche in eighth overall and the final LMP1 finisher. The No. 38 DC Oreca entry led the final 141 laps in LMP2 to win the category and finish a lap down in second overall.][ Rebellion's No. 13 car followed in provisional second and third overall, with the class podium completed by DC's No. 37 entry.][ Aston Martin secured their first LMGTE Pro Le Mans victory, with Turner taking his third category win and Adam and Serra their first. Tincknell's No. 67 Ford took second in class with a last-lap pass of Taylor's No. 63 Corvette, which had bodywork damage and a slow front-left puncture.][ JMW, unchallenged since the race's eighth hour, won the LMGTE Am class with the No. 84 Ferrari leading the last 234 laps.][ The Spirit of Race and Scuderia Corsa Ferraris completed the category podium, two laps behind in second and third.][
]
Post-race
The top three teams in each of the four classes appeared on the podium to collect their trophies, and spoke to the media at a later press conference. Bamber called Porsche's victory "incredibly nerve-wracking", "a great fightback from us, and one of those fairytale Le Mans stories I think." Hartley added, "You can't write these stories. It's Le Mans. It's always unpredictable. Sometimes at the beginning of the race you don't believe that such a story exists. But it did."[ ]Oliver Jarvis
Oliver Jarvis (born 9 January 1984) is a British professional racing driver currently racing in the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship for Mazda Team Joest.
Jarvis won the 2022 24 Hours of Daytona with Meyer Shank Racing.
Early life
Bor ...
said, "We can't be disappointed winning LMP2 and finishing second, but there was a moment when I saw the #1 Porsche at the side of the track and thought we could actually win! It would have been incredible."[ Tung called the LMP2 victory "extremely important. Not just to win here at Le Mans, it's so special, but also for the World Endurance Championship, it's a very important race."] Jota Sport team director Sam Hignett said an LMP2 car winning overall might have been "legendary" with "a little bit more luck", but the team was delighted to achieve its objectives.[ Actor ]Jackie Chan
Fang Shilong (born 7 April 1954), known professionally in English as Jackie Chan and in Chinese as Cheng Long ( zh, c=成龍, j=Sing4 Lung4; "becoming the dragon"), is a Hong Kong actor, filmmaker, martial artist, and stuntman known for ...
equated his team's class victory to his winning an Academy Award
The Academy Awards, better known as the Oscars, are awards for artistic and technical merit for the American and international film industry. The awards are regarded by many as the most prestigious, significant awards in the entertainment ind ...
. FIA president Jean Todt
Jean Todt (; born 25 February 1946) is a French motor racing executive and former rally co-driver. He was previously director of Peugeot Talbot Sport and then Scuderia Ferrari Formula 1 team principal, before being appointed chief executive offi ...
said that LMP2 cars driven by unknown drivers leading the race and finishing on the overall podium were "great for racing".
After the race, third-place-overall finisher No. 13 Rebellion Oreca was disqualified by race officials after it was found that the team had modified its rear bodywork by cutting a hole to allow them to access a faulty starter motor
A starter (also self-starter, cranking motor, or starter motor) is a device used to rotate (crank) an internal-combustion engine so as to initiate the engine's operation under its own power. Starters can be electric motor, electric, pneumatic ...
; it was declared an unnecessary modification of approved bodywork. The disqualification moved the second Jackie Chan DC Racing car to third place overall, and second in class. Rebellion Racing issued a statement admitting an "error of judgement". Rusinov was assessed a three-minute penalty at the following 6 Hours of Nürburgring
The 6 Hours of Nürburgring (formerly the Nürburgring 1000 km) was an endurance race for sports cars held on the Nürburgring in Germany and organized by the ADAC since 1953.
History
On the traditional 22.810 km long ''Nordschleife'' ...
, with three additional stop-and-go penalties suspended for the following three FIA WEC events, for his second-hour collision with Al-Qubaisi's Porsche. Rusinov called the penalty a "very harsh decision", saying that he had apologised to Al-Quabisi and his team; Al-Quabisi told Rusinov that he would have allowed him past at the next corner.
Toyota president Akio Toyoda
is a Japanese business executive and the current president of Toyota Motor Corporation. He is the great-grandson of the Japanese industrialist, Sakichi Toyoda, and the grandson of both the founder of Toyota Motors, Kiichiro Toyoda, and the found ...
suggested that hybrid technology may not yet have been developed enough to cope with the event's demands. Oreca president Hugues de Chaunac echoed Toyoda, suggesting that hybrid systems be less convoluted. Porsche team principal Andreas Seidl felt that the hybrid failures were a consequence of faster racing, and Porsche had not experienced such problems. Jarvis said that ACO rule changes attempting to slow the LMP1 hybrid cars were ineffective and impaired reliability. Capillaire issued an apology to Toyota (which was accepted) for indirectly causing the No. 7 car's retirement, saying that he ran across the pit lane to encourage Kobayashi. Kaffer accepted an apology from Vaxivière for the incident which took the Risi Ferrari out of the race, and for which Vaxivière was strongly criticised. Prodrive
Prodrive is a British motorsport and advanced engineering group based in Banbury, Oxfordshire, England. It designs, constructs and races automobile, cars for companies and teams such as Aston Martin, Bahrain Raid Xtreme and Team X44. Its advan ...
chairman David Richards praised the "extraordinary" team effort of his Aston Martin team to win LMGTE Pro; Adam called his pursuit of Taylor "the stint of my life", saying that his team's reaction to his race-winning overtake of Taylor "was quite emotional".
The result promoted Bamber, Bernhard and Hartley to the Drivers' Championship lead with 83 points; Buemi, Davidson and Nakajima fell to second with 66, and Jarvis, Laurent and Tung moved from sixth to third. Porsche overtook Toyota to lead the Manufacturers' Championship by 28.5 points. Derani, Priaulx and Tincknell remained the GT World Endurance Drivers' Championship leaders, with Adam, Serra and Turner second. Ford took the GT World Endurance Manufacturers' Championship lead from Ferrari with six races remaining in the season.
Race result
The minimum number of laps for classification (70 percent of the overall winning car's race distance) was 257 laps. Class winners are in bold.
Championship standings after the race
* Note: Only the top five positions are included for the Drivers' Championship standings.
* Note: Only the top five positions are included for the Drivers' Championship standings.
Footnotes
References
External links
*
{{24 Hours of Le Mans
Le Mans
Le Mans (, ) is a city in northwestern France on the Sarthe River where it meets the Huisne. Traditionally the capital of the province of Maine, it is now the capital of the Sarthe department and the seat of the Roman Catholic diocese of Le Man ...
24 Hours of Le Mans races
Le Mans
Le Mans (, ) is a city in northwestern France on the Sarthe River where it meets the Huisne. Traditionally the capital of the province of Maine, it is now the capital of the Sarthe department and the seat of the Roman Catholic diocese of Le Man ...
Le Mans
Le Mans (, ) is a city in northwestern France on the Sarthe River where it meets the Huisne. Traditionally the capital of the province of Maine, it is now the capital of the Sarthe department and the seat of the Roman Catholic diocese of Le Man ...
24 Hours of Le Mans
The 24 Hours of Le Mans (french: link=no, 24 Heures du Mans) is an endurance-focused Sports car racing, sports car race held annually near the town of Le Mans, France. It is the world's oldest active Endurance racing (motorsport), endurance r ...