This week sees one of the greatest events not just in the Motorsport calendar but the sporting calendar take place; the 24 Hours of Le Mans.
Fifty-four cars in six categories will take to the green flag at 4pm on Saturday in France for arguably the most gruelling test of man and machinery. Nineteen ex-F1 drivers are taking part, as well as many current stars from the global Motorsport scene, as well as Grey’s Anatomy star Patrick Dempsey and former Manchester United goalkeeper Fabien Barthez and former ‘The Stig’ Ben Collins.
56 cars were originally entered but the #22 Millenium Racing LMP2 car withdrew due to a lack of funding and the #99 Aston Martin Vantage GTE was crashed heavily during qualifying and was withdrawn from the race.
Le Mans: A Primer
For those new to endurance racing, there are usually two types of car: prototype cars and GT cars. The LMP1-H (hybrid), LMP1-L (privateer) and LMP2 cars are all prototype cars, and the LMGTE-Pro (solely for professional drivers) and LMGTE-Am (‘gentleman’ drivers allowed with at least one professional) cars are modified road cars designed for circuit racing. For Le Mans, a ‘56th garage’ exists where an experimental car can be granted access to the race, this year Nissan have designed the ZEOD, which is loosely based on the DeltaWing which ran two years ago and uses a lot of electric power, and broke the 300km/h barrier in qualifying solely on electricity.
LMP1: Toyota mighty but Porsche surprises
There were a few surprises early on as the #20 Porsche driven by Brendon Hartley and Mark Webber took provisional pole ahead of the #14 Porsche. Toyota fought back however and in the end the #7 took pole position by just three tenths of a second ahead of the #14 and the other Toyota, the current Championship leader. The #20 lines up behind ahead of the three Audis, including the #1 in seventh which had to have extensive repairs after a huge shunt which saw Loic Duval escape relatively unhurt. Marc Gene has been drafted in from Jota Sport of LMP2 as a replacement. The two privateer Rebellion cars line up behind, some way off the pace. Audi have won 12 of the 14 races held since the turn of the millennium, but winning this year will be tough.
LMP2: 17 entries, anybody can win!
There are lots of different entries by different teams in LMP2, which are considerably slower than LMP1 cars. However, there’s just five different cars taking part in this class, the Morgan LMP2, the Oreca 03R, the brand new Ligier JS P2, the Alpine A450b and the Zytek Z11SN. The Ligiers did well in qualifying, taking pole in that class ahead of the Zytek Jota car, with their replacement driver Oliver Turvey, former McLaren F1 test driver. The seventeen cars were separated by fewer than seven seconds, not a huge amount on a circuit as long as the Circuit de la Sarthe. There is all to play for in this category.
Invitational: Can the ZEOD last 24 hours?
As with any brand new car, there will be teething problems. It will be a fantastic achievement if the ZEOD can last all 24 hours without too many problems.
LMGTE Pro: Can Corvette, Porsche or Aston Martin stun Ferrari?
Nine cars make up the Pro field, three Ferrari 458s, two Porsche 911s (not to be confused with the LMP1 cars, the 919), two Corvette C7s and two Aston Martin Vantages, although the #99 Aston has since pulled out after Fernando Rees damaged the car beyond repair where Duval crashed. The #51 Ferrari took pole by over a second ahead of the fastest Corvette with the Bruni/Vilander/Fisichella car. Surprisingly, an Am car was only one position behind the fastest Pro car. Former Force India test driver James Calado was driving the #71 Ferrari when he crashed too in that same area of track, the car can be repaired but he has not been cleared to race, so has been replaced by Pierre Kaffer.
LMGTE Am: Can Sam Bird keep up with the Pro cars?
The largest number of entries in one class is the GTE Am class, with a staggering 19 cars entered. Sam Bird pulled out arguably the best performance in qualifying by placing his Ferrari only just behind the fastest Ferrari in the field, on his first trip to Le Mans, not bad for his first visit here. Most of the cars are either Ferrari or Porsche in this class but there are two more Aston Martins. This should be an interesting race too, with so many cars in this class, and whether any of the drivers can keep up with the Pro class.
This should be an excellent race to watch and with all the chaos in the build up to the race, we can only expect the race to have just as much action. There is what is shaping up to be an epic three-way battle for the most sought-after prize for all car manufacturers in Motorsports, the 24hrs of Le Mans. For the drivers, Tom Kristensen is going for his tenth win here, and many more drivers are looking to put their name into the history books. Can Mark Webber complete a second leg of the Triple Crown of Motorsport, which only Graham Hill has completed? Can Toyota win on their third attempt, or will Porsche do it in their return to the premier class? Only time will tell, and we will find out on Sunday when 24 hours are up.
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