Pair of former IndyCar drivers score Le Mans class wins
Bertrand Baguette and Martin Plowman, who each drove part-time in IndyCar in 2011 with Baguette full-time a year earlier, shared the winning No. 35 OAK Racing Morgan Nissan (sister No. 24 car, which finished second, pictured) in the LMP2 class with Ricardo Gonzalez.
Baguette, who nearly stole the 2011 Indianapolis 500 for Bobby Rahal’s team on fuel mileage, had to take evasive action when another LMP2 Oreca Nissan spun in front of him with just over one hour remaining. He avoided the other car and the Armco barriers to bring the car home to the finish.
“I’m delighted to win here because this is only the second time I have taken part in the 24 Hours of Le Mans," said the Belgian, who paid tribute to his countryman Jacky Ickx, a six-time Le Mans winner. “I hope I can follow in his footsteps and that this win was just the start."
Plowman struggled for available track time in the week leading up to his first Le Mans start, as red flags seemed to frequently occur prior to his stint in practice and qualifying. But the Englishman drove an excellent race and was rarely outside the top three positions in the 22-car class.
“Winning Le Mans is a dream for young drivers, so this is obviously the highlight of my career to date," he said. “Our thoughts also go out to the family of Allan Simonsen, because even though I didn’t know him personally, we have all lost a brother today."
Jean-Karl Vernay, who raced Plowman in the 2010 Firestone Indy Lights Series and secured that year’s championship, was part of the winning lineup in the GTE Am class in the No. 76 Imsa Performance Matmut Porsche 911 GT3 RSR.
Mike Conway, Detroit race one winner in IndyCar this year, joined Plowman on the LMP2 class podium. The Englishman co-drove the G-Drive Racing No. 26 Oreca 03 Nissan with John Martin and Roman Rusinov to a third-place finish in his Le Mans debut. NBC Sports Network