Porsche survives to win 24 Hours of LeMans

Timo Bernhard brings the winning Porsche home

Porsche has achieved its 19th overall Le Mans victory at the 85th running of the 24-hour race. Drivers Earl Bamber (NZ), Timo Bernhard (DE) and Brendon Hartley (NZ) brought home the Porsche 919 Hybrid in first place after a race full of drama.

It looked like the sister #1 car would take a dominant victory ahead of the LMP2 runners until it ground to a halt with a lack of oil pressure with three hours left on the clock. At the time it had a massive lead of 13 laps but all the LMP1 runners ran into trouble

The early stages of the race were all about Toyota until the Japanese manufacturer's 'curse' at Le Mans struck again.

The closest finish was in LMGTE-Pro – Corvette and Aston Martin were nose-to-tail on the last lap but the Corvette suffered a flat tire and it was over. There were five manufacturers on the same lap at the finish in LMGTE-Pro.

In a repeat of the classic battles for GT1 honors at the 24 Hours of Le Mans with Corvette Racing from ten years ago, Jonny Adam, Darren Turner and Daniel Serra took a dramatic victory for Aston Martin Racing in the GTE-Pro category with its No. 97 Aston Martin Vantage GTE.

The race came down in the second-to-last lap, as Adam passed Jordan Taylor’s No. 63 Corvette C7.R at the Ford Chicane, following a lock-up that resulted in a left-front puncture for the Corvette driver.

Taylor managed to bring his damaged car back to the pits, but lost second to the No. 67 Ford GT of Harry Tincknell, Andy Priaulx and Pipo Derani.

A total of 258,500 spectators came to watch this year’s 24 Hours of Le Mans, third round in the FIA World Endurance Championship. The Automobile Club de l’Ouest is delighted to have attracted such a huge crowd, indisputable proof of the worldwide popularity of endurance racing.

The 24 Hours of Le Mans remains as successful as ever. Spectators were treated to gorgeous weather, top-flight competitors, nerve-jangling upsets and varied fringe entertainment. Better traffic management and free car parks meant shorter queues and improved conditions for our many fans. All in all, the 24 Hours of Le Mans deserves its reputation as the most revered round in the FIA World Endurance Championship.

LMP1

The Toyotas clearly had the faster car, as evidenced by the #7’s record-breaking pole lap, but did they have the reliability?

Just after midnight, the #7 slowed on circuit. Driver Kamui Kobayashi tried desperately to make it back to pitlane, but eventually came to a stop and exited the car.

Not long after, its sister car, the #9, was hit by an LMP2 car in the Dunlop Chicane. A puncture and gearbox problem brought that car to a grinding halt only an hour after the retirement of the #7.

The #1 Porsche took control of the category through the early Sunday morning hours, but by mid-day a loss of oil pressure ended that car’s race.

As a result of the LMP1 attrition, the #38 ORECA (an LMP2 car) became the overall leader over the #2 Porsche, which was several laps down after a 65-minute trip to the garage earlier in the race.

The #2 ran down the #38 and took the overall lead with less than two hours remaining in the race. Driver Timo Bernhard never let go from there and took the checkered flag for Porsche, its third-straight Le Mans victory and 19th in total.

The #8 Toyota, the only other LMP1 still running at the checkered flag, was second (9th overall), nine laps behind the Porsche.

LMP2

What was a hotly contested class on its own became a race for the overall podium.

The two Vaillante Rebellion ORECAs (#13 and #31) were the early leaders, but the two Jackie Chan DC Racing ORECAs (#37 and #38) held with them.

First the #31 had to go to the garage for a gearbox issue Sunday morning. Shortly thereafter, the #13 made contact with the #49 Ligier. This earned the #13 a 10-second penalty on pit lane. It was poor timing, because right then, the #13 (Piquet Jr.) was in a good fight for second with the #35 Signatech Alpine Matmut.

This all allowed the #38 to move into the overall lead when the #1 Porsche dropped out of the race. It eventually fell to second overall behind the #2 Porsche, but still finished first in class.

Piquet Jr. was able to retake second and pull away from the #37 (Gommendy) who finished third. That made it two Jackie Chan DC Racing cars on the LMP2 podium.

LMGTE Pro

The winning #97 Aston Martin

Aston Martin was strong when it needed it the most. The #97 Aston Martin won its class from pole, but it wasn’t a simple affair.

The #97 and #95 team cars often took turns at the front of LMGTE Pro, as did the #51 and #71 AF Corse teammates.

Then, on Sunday morning, a dark horse emerged: the #63 Corvette.

It grabbed the lead with Magnussen at the wheel, who then turned it over to Jordan Taylor at the final pit stop with 45 minutes left in the race. Taylor exited pit lane with the #97 (Adam) right on his rear bumper.

After 24 hours of racing, this class came down to the final 10 minutes. The two went side-by-side through Arnage, making slight contact, but Taylor held the spot. Taylor then went through the gravel at the second chicane, on his own, and came out right next to Adam. This gave the Aston the momentum it needed to pass the Corvette in the final turn as the pair took the white flag nose-to-tail.

The trip through the chicane did the Corvette no favors; a flat tire and damaged suspension slowed Taylor on the final lap, allowing the #67 Ford (Tincknell) to come through and claim second behind the Aston. Taylor limped the #63 to the finish in third.

LMGTE Am

JMW Motorsport seemed the only ones to have this race under control. Its #84 Ferrari charged to the class lead Saturday evening, then stayed out of trouble and executed its pit stops perfectly.

The #55 Spirit of Race Ferrari chased the #84 through the second half of the race, but could not make any up ground and finished second, two laps behind the class winner.

The #62 Ferrari from Scuderia Corsa floated inside the top five throughout its race. In the end, it fended off the #99 Aston Martin and #77 Porsche to finish third and make it an all-Ferrari LMGTE Am podium.

Results