24 Hours of Le Mans 2015 | |||
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Race Information | |||
Series | World Endurance Championship | ||
Circuit | Circuit de la Sarthe | ||
Lap Length | 13.63km (8.47mi) | ||
No. Entries | 56 | ||
Tyres | Michelin, Dunlop | ||
Qualifying | |||
Pole | Neel Jani | ||
3:16.887 | |||
Team | Porsche Team | ||
#18 Porsche 919 Hybrid | |||
Class Winners | |||
LMP1 | #19 Porsche Team | ||
Earl Bamber | Nick Tandy | Nico Hülkenberg | |
LMP2 | #47 KCMG | ||
Matthew Howson | Richard Bradley | Nicolas Lapierre | |
GTE Pro | #64 Corvette Racing-GM | ||
Oliver Gavin | Tommy Milner | Jordan Taylor | |
GTE Am | #72 SMP Racing | ||
Viktor Shaitar | Aleksey Basov | Andrea Bertolini | |
Overall Winner | |||
Team | Porsche Team | ||
#19 Porsche 919 Hybrid | |||
Drivers | Earl Bamber | Nick Tandy | Nico Hülkenberg |
Distance | 5,383.7km (3,345.3mi) |
The 24 Hours of Le Mans 2015 was the 83rd running of the infamous 24 Hours of Le Mans, held at the Circuit de la Sarthe on the 13th/14th of June 2015. It was considered to be one of the most open races for many years, with Audi, Toyota, Porsche and Nissan all competing in LMP1 for victory. The race also formed part of the 2015 World Endurance Championship, with double points awarded to each class winner, with LMP1 joined by LMP2, GTE Pro and GTE Am.
Over the course of the race, Audi's three cars were all hit by problems, while Toyota found themselves off the pace and Nissan struggled to get to grips with their innovative new design. This left the #19 Porsche 919 Hybrid to take victory from the #17 car by a lap.[1] At the wheel of the race winning car were Nick Tandy, and two rookies in Earl Bamber and Nico Hülkenberg, with Hulkenberg becoming the first active Formula One driver to win the race since Johnny Herbert.[1]
Hong Kong based KCMG won the LMP2 class with their trio, consisting of Matthew Howson, Richard Bradley and Nicolas Lapierre.[1] The second factory backed Corvette CR-7 of Oliver Gavin, Tommy Milner and Jordan Taylor claimed the GTE Pro category, a victory made all the more emotional by the fact that the sister car was written off earlier in the week.[1] GTE Am saw Russian outfit SMP Racing claim the honours, as Viktor Shaitar, Aleksey Basov and Andrea Bertolini took victory, overtaking the #97 Aston Martin (which was leading from early on) in the final hour after the latter crashed out.[1]
Background[]
The World Endurance Championship was just two rounds old heading into the Le Mans week, with the 6 Hours of Spa-Francorchamps in May. Audi's #7 Audi R18 e-tron Quattro of André Lotterer, Marcel Fässler and Benoît Tréluyer (incidently the defending winners of the Le Mans 24 Hours) led the Championship after winning the opening season races, leading the #18 Porsche 919 Hybrid of Neel Jani, Romain Dumas and Marc Lieb. Audi led the manufacturers battle, with Porsche second and Toyota third, with all three marques battled with each other at every round.
In Le Mans terms, Nissan debuted their innovative GT-R LM Nismo (featuring front wheel drive and a front mounted engined), while Rebellion Racing brought their new R-One, although their power disadvantage to the hybrid manufacturers meant they were effectively out of the running.
Entries[]
As usual, the entries for the 24 Hours of Le Mans were announced over the winter of 2014, with the invitations to the winners of various series and races revealed first.[2] The entrants to the 2015 FIA World Endurance Championship were also handed automatic entries to the race, although those invited through victory may not change categories and take their place on the 2015 grid.[3] Entrants from the European Le Mans Series, Asian Le Mans Series and TUDOR United SportsCar Championship were also considered for entry.
Invitations[]
The class winners from the 24 Hours of Le Mans 2014 were all invited to take part, and all took their entries for the race.[2] AF Corse won the 2014 European Le Mans Series in the GTE Pro category but, as they had already won their entry through Le Mans, SMP Racing were given their entry.[2] USCC Overall runners up Wayne Taylor Racing were also invited to race in France, as were the winners of the Asian Le Mans Series, OAK Racing.[2]
24 Hours of Le Mans Invitations | |||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Class | No. | Entrant | Driver(s) | Car | Reason |
LMP1 | 7 | Audi Sport Team Joest | André Lotterer Marcel Fässler Benoît Tréluyer |
Audi R18 e-tron Quattro | 1st in Class |
LMP2 | 38 | Jota Sport | Simon Dolan Oliver Turvey Mitch Evans |
Gibson-Nissan 015S | 1st in Class |
GTE-Pro | 51 | AF Corse | Gianmaria Bruni Giancarlo Fisichella Toni Vilander |
Ferrari 458 Italia GT2 | 1st in Class |
GTE-Am | 95 | Aston Martin Racing | Christoffer Nygaard Nicki Thiim Marco Sørensen |
Aston Martin V8 Vantage | 1st in Class |
24 Hours of Le Mans 2014 | |||||
LMP2 | 36 | Signatech Alpine | Nelson Panciatici Paul-Loup Chatin Vincent Capillaire |
Alpine-Nissan A450b | 1st in Class |
GTE-Am | 72 | SMP Racing | Viktor Shaitar Aleksey Basov Andrea Bertolini |
Ferrari 458 Italia GT2 | 1st in Class |
2014 European Le Mans Series | |||||
LMP2* | N/A | Wayne Taylor Racing | Did not Compete | Nominated | |
GTE-Am | 24 | Scuderia Corsa | Bill Sweedler Townsend Bell Jeff Segal |
Ferrari 458 Italia GT2 | Nominated |
2014 United SportsCar Championship† | |||||
LMP2 | 35 | OAK Racing Team Total | Jacques Nicolet Jean-Marc Merlin Erik Maris |
Ligier-Nissan JS P2 | 1st in Class |
GTE-Am | 67 | Team AAI | Jun-San Chen Xavier Maassen Alex Kapadia |
Porsche 911 GT3 RSR | 1st in Class |
GTE-Am | 68 | Team AAI | Han-Chen Chen Gilles Vannelet Mike Parisy |
Porsche 911 RSR | 2nd in Class |
2014 Asian Le Mans Series |
- * Wayne Taylor Racing did not enter the 24 Hours of Le Mans despite being awarded a place.
- † The United SportsCar Championship may nominate entries to the ACO rather than base them on results.[2]
Full Entry List[]
As mentioned above, teams that had entered the World Endurance Championship in 2015 were also granted entry to Le Mans. These entries were then supplemented by additional entry applications from other Endurance competing teams.[3] Manufacturer based teams were given priority over private entries, while a list of five reserves was also included. Garage 56, in recent seasons reserved for a unique/experimental entry such as the DeltaWing, was filled with a regular entry.[3]
24 Hours of Le Mans Entry List | |||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Series | No. | Entrant | Driver(s) | Car | Tyres |
1 | Toyota Racing | Anthony Davidson Sébastien Buemi Kazuki Nakajima |
Toyota TS040 Hybrid | M | |
2 | Toyota Racing | Alexander Wurz Stéphane Sarrazin Mike Conway |
Toyota TS040 Hybrid | M | |
4 | Team ByKolles | Simon Trummer Pierre Kaffer Tiago Monteiro |
CLM-AER P1/01 | M | |
7 | Audi Sport Team Joest | Marcel Fässler André Lotterer Benoît Tréluyer |
Audi R18 e-tron Quattro | M | |
8 | Audi Sport Team Joest | Lucas di Grassi Loïc Duval Oliver Jarvis |
Audi R18 e-tron Quattro | M | |
9 | Audi Sport Team Joest | Felipe Albuquerque Marco Bonanomi René Rast |
Audi R18 e-tron Quattro | M | |
12 | Rebellion Racing | Nicolas Prost Nick Heidfeld Mathias Beche |
Rebellion-AER R-ONE | M | |
13 | Rebellion Racing | Alexandre Imperatori Dominik Kraihamer Daniel Abt |
Rebellion-AER R-ONE | M | |
17 | Porsche Team | Timo Bernhard Mark Webber Brendon Hartley |
Porsche 919 Hybrid | M | |
18 | Porsche Team | Romain Dumas Neel Jani Marc Lieb |
Porsche 919 Hybrid | M | |
19 | Porsche Team | Nico Hülkenberg Earl Bamber Nick Tandy |
Porsche 919 Hybrid | M | |
21 | Nissan Motorsports | Tsugio Matsuda Mark Shulzhitskiy Lucas Ordonez |
Nissan GT-R LM Nismo | M | |
22 | Nissan Motorsports | Harry Tincknell Michael Krumm Alex Buncombe |
Nissan GT-R LM Nismo | M | |
23 | Nissan Motorsports | Olivier Pla Jann Mardenborough Max Chilton |
Nissan GT-R LM Nismo | M | |
Le Mans Prototype 1 | |||||
26 | G-Drive Racing | Roman Rusinov Julien Canal Sam Bird |
Ligier-Nissan JS P2 | D | |
27 | SMP Racing | Maurizio Mediani David Markozov Nicolas Minassian |
BR-Nissan BR01 | M | |
28 | G-Drive Racing | Gustavo Yacamán Ricardo González Pipo Derani |
Ligier-Nissan JS P2 | D | |
29 | Pegasus Racing | Léo Roussel Ho-Pin Tung David Cheng |
Morgan-Nissan LMP2 | M | |
30 | Extreme Speed Motorsports | Scott Sharp Ryan Dalziel David Heinemeier Hansson |
Ligier-HPD JS P2 | D | |
31 | Extreme Speed Motorsports | Ed Brown Johannes van Overbeek Jonathan Fogarty |
Ligier-HPD JS P2 | D | |
34 | OAK Racing | Christopher Cumming Laurens Vanthoor Kevin Estre |
Ligier-HPD JS P2 | D | |
35 | Oak Racing Team Total | Jacques Nicolet Jean-Marc Merlin Erik Maris |
Ligier-Nissan JS P2 | D | |
36 | Signatech Alpine | Nelson Panciatici Paul-Loup Chatin Vincent Capillaire |
Alpine-Nissan A450B | D | |
37 | SMP Racing | Mikhail Aleshin Kirill Ladygin Anton Ladygin |
BR-Nissan BR01 | M | |
38 | Jota Sport | Simon Dolan Mitch Evans Oliver Turvey |
Gibson-Nissan 015S | D | |
40 | Krohn Racing | Tracy Krohn Niclas Jönsson João Barbosa |
Ligier-Judd JS P2 | M | |
41 | Greaves Motorsport | Gary Hirsch Gaëtan Paletou Jon Lancaster |
Gibson-Nissan 015S | D | |
42 | Strakka Racing | Nick Leventis Danny Watts Jonny Kane |
Dome-Nissan S103 | D | |
43 | Team SARD Morand | Pierre Ragues Oliver Webb Zoel Amberg |
Morgan-SARD Evo | D | |
45 | Ibanez Racing | José Ibañez Pierre Perret Ivan Bellarosa |
Oreca-Nissan 03R | D | |
46 | Thiriet by TDS Racing | Pierre Thiriet Ludovic Badey Tristan Gommendy |
Oreca-Nissan 05 | D | |
47 | KCMG | Matthew Howson Richard Bradley Nicolas Lapierre |
Oreca-Nissan 05 | D | |
48 | Murphy Prototypes | Karun Chandhok Mark Patterson Nathanael Berthon |
Oreca-Nissan 03R | D | |
Le Mans Prototype 2 | |||||
51 | AF Corse | Gianmaria Bruni Giancarlo Fisichella Toni Vilander |
Ferrari 458 Italia GT2 | M | |
63 | Corvette Racing-GM | Jan Magnussen Antonio Garcia Ryan Briscore |
Chevrolet Corvette C7R | M | |
64 | Corvette Racing-GM | Oliver Gavin Tommy Milner Jordan Taylor |
Chevrolet Corvette C7R | M | |
71 | AF Corse | Davide Rigon James Calado Olivier Beretta |
Ferrari 458 Italia GT2 | M | |
91 | Porsche Team Manthey | Richard Lietz Michael Christensen Jörg Bergmeister |
Porsche 911 RSR | M | |
92 | Porsche Team Manthey | Patrick Pilet Frédéric Makowiecki Wolf Henzler |
Porsche 911 RSR | M | |
95 | Aston Martin Racing | Marco Sørensen Nicki Thiim Christoffer Nygaard |
Aston Martin Vantage V8 | M | |
97 | Aston Martin Racing | Darren Turner Stefan Mücke Rob Bell |
Aston Martin Vantage V8 | M | |
99 | Astom Martin Racing V8 | Fernando Rees Alex MacDowall Richie Stanaway |
Aston Martin Vantage V8 | M | |
Le Mans GTE-Pro | |||||
50 | Larbre Competition | Gianluca Roda Paolo Ruberti Kristian Poulsen |
Chevrolet Corvette C7R | M | |
53 | Riley Motorsports* | Jeroen Bleekemolen Ben Keating Marc Miller |
SRT Viper GTS-R | M | |
55 | AF Corse | Duncan Cameron Alex Mortimer Matt Griffin |
Ferrari 458 Italia GT2 | M | |
61 | AF Corse | Peter Ashley Mann Raffaele Gianmaria Matteo Cressoni |
Ferrari 458 Italia GT2 | M | |
62 | Scuderia Corsa | William Sweedler Townsend Bell Jeffery Segal |
Ferrari 458 Italia GT2 | M | |
66 | JMW Motorsport | Abdulaziz Turki Alfaisal Jakub Giermaziak Michael Avenatti |
Ferrari 458 Italia GT2 | D | |
67 | Team AAI | Jun-San Chen Alex Kapadia Xavier Maassen |
Porsche 911 GT3 RSR | M | |
68 | Team AAI | Han-Chen Chen Gilles Vannelet Mike Parisy |
Porsche 911 RSR | M | |
72 | SMP Racing | Viktor Shaitar Aleksey Basov Andrea Bertolini |
Ferrari 458 Italia GT2 | M | |
77 | Dempsey-Proton Racing | Patrick Dempsey Patrick Long Marco Seefried |
Porsche 911 RSR | M | |
83 | AF Corse | François Perrodo Emmanuel Collard Rui Aguas |
Ferrari 458 Italia GT2 | M | |
88 | Abu Dhabi-Proton Racing | Christian Reid Khaled Al Qubaisi Klaus Bachler |
Porsche 911 RSR | M | |
96 | Aston Martin Racing | Roald Goethe Stuart Hall Franceso Castellacci |
Aston Martin Vantage V8 | M | |
98 | Aston Martin Racing | Paul Dalla Lana Pedro Lamy Mathias Lauda |
Aston Martin Vantage V8 | M | |
Le Mans GTE-Am |
- *Riley Motorsports were promoted from the reserve list.
Practice and Testing[]
Qualifying[]
Qualifying for the race was held over three sessions after the conclusion of scrutineering on Wednesday and Thursday before the weekend. The Wednesday night session was held from 22:00 to midnight, with an evening session from 19:00 to 21:00 on Thursday. Qualifying was then scheduled to conclude at midnight on Thursday, with a final two hour session from 22:00, when the track is, traditionally, at its fastest.
Session One[]
Qualifying started brightly, both literally (being the first session in the Le Mans week to be held in the dry) and figuratively, with the lap record being broken twice in the early minutes.[4] The first man to break the 2008 record was Timo Bernhard in the #17 on his first flying lap, just five minutes into the session, beating the record by eight tenths of a second.[4] Then Neel Jani, just moments after Bernhard crossed the line, recorded a time of 3:16.887 in the ~18 Porsche 919 Hybrid, although was unable to match his time later on.[4] Audi, it seemed, were biding their time, three seconds off of Porsche's time, with Toyota and Nissan further back.[4]
Richard Bradley also took little time in setting foot on the top of the time sheets, taking the KCMG Oreca-Nissan to provisional pole in LMP2 in the opening minutes.[4] They found themselves a second ahead of their nearest challengers Greaves Motorsport, whom would cause the only stoppage in the session after an accident a Mulsanne corner.[4] Jota Sport, defending their LMP2 crown in Le Mans, found themselves in third, ahead of the first of the new BR Engineering prototypes being run by SMP Racing.[4]
The GTE-Pros were topped by the Aston Martin Racing V8 squad in the #99 Aston Martin Vantage V8, ahead of the GTE-Am leaders, the #98 Vantage V8 run by the Aston Martin Racing team.[4] A third Aston Martin followed, with Corvette Racing-GM the closest to the British marque in GTE-Pro with their #63 Chevrolet Corvette C7R.[4] AF Corse's #71 lead the anti-Aston charge in GTE-Am for a time, until their fastest times were removed for exceeding track limits, with their counterparts in the #83 machine taking over the torch overnight.[4]
Session Two[]
A storm was scheduled to hit Le Mans and the Circuit de la Sarthe on Thursday evening, affecting both of the final sessions, although clear skies as the evening session went on showed this was an incorrect report.[5] Hot and humid conditions meant that the engines weren't running at their full potential as dusk settled over la Sarthe, with the #17 Porsche moving further ahead of the #8 Audi R18 e-tron Quattro, while André Lotterer improved the #7 Audi's time to move into fifth, still a second behind the final Porsche.[5] Toyota and Nissan remained well off the pace, while Rebellion Racing began to encroach a little further into the top ten times with both their cars.[5]
Team SARD Morand hit problems during the session and failed to set a time, as status quo ruled in LMP2, with only a couple of cars setting times better than they had on Wednesday.[5] Meanwhile, in GTE-Pro, Jan Magnussen was at the wheel of the #63 Corvette once again, and was starting to push the car closer to the Wednesday times, until debris got caught in the throttle system of the C7R.[5] This caused the throttle to stay wide open as the Dane went through the Porsche Curves, meaning there was little he could do to avoid first the armco and then concrete wall in the second part of the infamous chicane.[5]
Magnussen was taken to hospital for checks, while the session itself was ended with half an hour left on the clock, with the ACO announcing that Q3 would be extended by half an hour instead.[5] The #63 C7R, meanwhile, was dragged back to the pits, with Corvette announcing shortly afterwards that the car would be rebuilt, but not in time for Saturday.[5] The #63 Corvette was promptly removed from the starting list, with the crew set to work on the #64 car to ensure that the same issue did not affect that car too.
Session Three[]
Despite cooler air, a gripier circuit and an extra half an hour of running, the provisional pole time set by Jani remained unbeaten through the final session, with Porsche, Audi and Toyota all seeming to favour race setup instead. Only Nissan found themselves improving, the #22 car creeping into a second of the Team ByKolles car, although their joy would be brief. All three Nissan Nismos, and the ByKolles car, were all relegated to the back of the LMP grid at the end of the session as they had all failed to set a time within 110% of the pole time for LMP1, meaning they would have to fight their way past the LMP2 field as well, which they were on a par with in terms of pace.
G-Drive Racing put in a late charge to climb to second in LMP2 behind KCMG, who also held on to their pole time despite the fact it had been set so early on. Meanwhile, the AF Corse cars in both GTE-Pro and GTE-Am closed in on the Aston Martins at the top of their classes, with both the #51 and #71 Ferrari 458 Italia GT2s making up for their disallowed times, while the #64 Corvette claimed ninth in class, unable to match the times of the European entries.
Qualifying Result[]
So Porsche claimed their first Le Mans pole position since the 1997 race, which was also their sixth in a row in the World Endurance Championship. They also claimed the circuit record since its latest reconfiguration, breaking the old time by over a second and a half under a second, despite Neel Jani setting the time on his first run in the car.[4] Penalties were also applied to various LMP cars for various reasons.
Bold indicates the fastest time for each class in each session, with the name of the fastest car in each class also in bold. Italics show each car's fastest time in the entire qualifying session.
24 Hours of Le Mans Qualifying Result | |||||||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Pos. | No. | Entrant | Q1[6] | Q2[7] | Q3[8] | Grid | Class | ||||
1 | 18 | Porsche Team | 3:16.887 | 3:20.974 | 3:21.119 | 1 | LMP1 | ||||
2 | 17 | Porsche Team | 3:17.767 | 3:20.980 | 3:21.065 | 2 | LMP1 | ||||
3 | 19 | Porsche Team | 3:19.297 | 3:18.862 | 3:22.097 | 3 | LMP1 | ||||
4 | 8 | Audi Sport Team Joest | 3:19.866 | 3:21.681 | 3:22.678 | 4 | LMP1 | ||||
5 | 7 | Audi Sport Team Joest | 3:21.839 | 3:20.561 | 3:20.967 | 5 | LMP1 | ||||
6 | 9 | Audi Sport Team Joest | 3:21.081 | 3:22.595 | 3:20.997 | 6 | LMP1 | ||||
7 | 2 | Toyota Racing | 3:23.543 | 3:26.380 | 3:23.738 | 7 | LMP1 | ||||
8 | 1 | Toyota Racing | 3:23.767 | 3:25.233 | 3:24.562 | 8 | LMP1 | ||||
9 | 12 | Rebellion Racing | 3:26.874 | 3:28.745 | 3:38.053 | 9 | LMP1 | ||||
10 | 13 | Rebellion Racing | 3:31.933 | 3:38.044 | 3:28.930 | 10 | LMP1 | ||||
11* | 4 | Team ByKolles | 3:40.368 | 3:36.825 | 3:37.167 | 29 | LMP1 | ||||
12* | 22 | Nissan Motorsports | 3:41.400 | 3:42.230 | 3:36.995 | 30 | LMP1 | ||||
13* | 23 | Nissan Motorsports | 3:38.468 | 3:38.954 | 3:37.291 | 31 | LMP1 | ||||
14 | 47 | KCMG | 3:38.032 | 3:40.624 | 3:39.147 | 11 | LMP2 | ||||
15* | 21 | Nissan Motorsports | 3:51.289 | 3:39.992 | 3:38.691 | 32 | LMP1 | ||||
16 | 26 | G-Drive Racing | 3:39.867 | 3:47.713 | 3:38.939 | 12 | LMP2 | ||||
17 | 41 | Greaves Motorsport | 3:38.958 | 3:44.123 | 3:41.722 | 13 | LMP2 | ||||
18 | 38 | Jota Sport | 3:39.004 | 3:45.770 | 3:40.920 | 14 | LMP2 | ||||
19 | 36 | Signatech Alpine | 3:40.438 | 3:41.477 | 3:39.699 | 15 | LMP2 | ||||
20 | 46 | Thiret by TDS Racing | 3:39.923 | 3:40.441 | 3:39.805 | 16 | LMP2 | ||||
21 | 34 | OAK Racing | 3:40.058 | 3:43.853 | 3:40.078 | 17 | LMP2 | ||||
22 | 48 | Murphy Prototypes | 3:44.513 | 3:41.827 | 3:40.690 | 18 | LMP2 | ||||
23 | 28 | G-Drive Racing | 3:40.967 | 3:46.504 | 3:42.053 | 19 | LMP2 | ||||
24 | 43 | Team SARD Morand | 3:42.015 | No Time | 3:41.250 | 20 | LMP2 | ||||
25 | 29 | Pegasus Racing | 3:42.023 | 3:43.824 | 3:43.850 | 21 | LMP2 | ||||
26 | 27 | SMP Racing | 3:42.077 | 3:54.065 | 3:43.729 | 22 | LMP2 | ||||
27 | 42 | Strakka Racing | 3:42.237 | 3:44.704 | 3:43.750 | 23 | LMP2 | ||||
28 | 37 | SMP Racing | 3:42.417 | 3:52.383 | 3:43.549 | 24 | LMP2 | ||||
29 | 30 | Extreme Speed Motorsports | 3:44.675 | 3:42.862 | 3:42.453 | 25 | LMP2 | ||||
30 | 31 | Extreme Speed Motorsports | 3:46.165 | 3:44.631 | 3:46.585 | 26 | LMP2 | ||||
31 | 40 | Krohn Racing | 3:44.899 | 3:44.854 | 3:45.491 | 27 | LMP2 | ||||
32† | 45 | Ibañez Racing | 3:45.450 | No Time | 3:48.220 | 33 | LMP2 | ||||
33 | 35 | OAK Racing Team Total | 3:52.843 | 3:59.244 | 3:53.995 | 28 | LMP2 | ||||
34 | 99 | Aston Martin Racing V8 | 3:54.928 | 3:59.263 | 3:57.041 | 34 | GTE-Pro | ||||
35 | 51 | AF Corse | 3:59.815 | 3:57.503 | 3:55.025 | 35 | GTE-Pro | ||||
36 | 98 | Aston Martin Racing | 3:55.102 | 4:00.110 | 3:59.081 | 36 | GTE-Am | ||||
37 | 97 | Aston Martin Racing | 3:55.466 | 3:57.447 | 3:57.219 | 37 | GTE-Pro | ||||
38‡ | 71 | AF Corse | 3:57.216 | 3:58.398 | 3:55.582 | 54 | GTE-Pro | ||||
39 | 95 | Aston Martin Racing | 3:55.783 | 3:58.983 | 3:55.848 | 38 | GTE-Pro | ||||
40§ | 63 | Corvette Racing-GM | 3:55.963 | 3:59.754 | No TIme | WD | GTE-Pro | ||||
41 | 91 | Porsche Team Manthey | 3:57.192 | 3:57.843 | 3:56.618 | 39 | GTE-Pro | ||||
42 | 83 | AF Corse | 3:56.723 | 4:03.641 | 3:57.844 | 40 | GTE-Am | ||||
43 | 72 | SMP Racing | 3:57.271 | 3:58.837 | 3:56.877 | 41 | GTE-Am | ||||
44 | 92 | Porsche Team Manthey | 3:57.667 | 3:58.721 | 3:56.922 | 42 | GTE-Pro | ||||
45 | 64 | Corvette Racing-GM | 3:57.081 | 4:00.025 | 3:58.689 | 43 | GTE-Pro | ||||
46 | 53 | Riley Motorsport | 3:59.054 | 4:01.501 | 3:57.836 | 44 | GTE-Am | ||||
47 | 77 | Dempsey-Proton Racing | 3:58.822 | 4:08.157 | 3:57.842 | 45 | GTE-Am | ||||
48 | 88 | Abu Dhabi-Proton Racing | 3:58.259 | 4:02.361 | 3:58.771 | 46 | GTE-Am | ||||
49 | 55 | AF Corse | 3:59.091 | 4:03.765 | 3:58.433 | 47 | GTE-Am | ||||
50 | 61 | AF Corse | 4:02.544 | 4:00.311 | 3:58.695 | 48 | GTE-Am | ||||
51 | 62 | Scuderia Corsa | 3:58.946 | 4:05.332 | 4:03.162 | 49 | GTE-Am | ||||
52 | 50 | Larbre Compétition | 3:59.522 | 4:02.871 | 3:59.566 | 50 | GTE-Am | ||||
53 | 66 | JMW Motorsport | 4:00.551 | 4:03.881 | 3:59.612 | 51 | GTE-Am | ||||
54 | 96 | Aston Martin Racing | 4:01.160 | 4:04.193 | 4:01.146 | 52 | GTE-Am | ||||
55⁁ | 68 | Team AAI | 4:03.117 | 4:02.789 | 4:01.243 | 55 | GTE-Am | ||||
56 | 67 | Team AAI | 4:04.827 | 4:05.137 | 4:01.270 | 54 | GTE-Am |
- * Cars 4, 21, 22 and 23 were all relegated to the back of the Le Mans Prototype grid for failing to set a time within 110% of the LMP1 fastest time.
- † Ibañez Racing also relegated to the back of the LMP grid for failing to set a time within the 110% time for LMP2.
- ‡ The #71 AF Corse car was demoted to the back of the GTE grid as they failed to have all three drivers set a time within the 120% fastest time of the GTE-Pro class.
- § The #63 Corvette Racing-GM entry was withdrawn after Jan Magnussen's accident on Thursday evening.
- ⁁ Team AAI's #68 entry was relegated to the back of the grid as one of its drivers failed to set a time within the 120% time of the pole sitter in GTE-Am.
Race[]
With the Tricolour set to be waved at three o'clock in Le Mans on Saturday, the mornings entertainment was provided by a variety of races. The first in action was the Le Mans Classic, featuring cars from the 1950s and 60s races, before an Aston Martin race was released on the circuit, featuring a Template:Lola-Aston Martin B09/60, although the former LMP1 car started a lap down. A heavy crash during that race ended the morning's entertainment, with the focus fully on the 55 cars set to start the 83rd edition of the 24 Hours of Le Mans.
Report[]
The cars rolled through the Ford Chicane on the stroke of three o'clock on Saturday, the 13th of June, with the Tricolour dropping to start the race.[9] It was grid order heading into the Dunlop Chicane for the first time, before a dog fight opened up between the last two Porsche 919 Hybrids and the first two Audi R18 e-tron Quattros down the Mulsanne and beyond.[9] The #9 Audi was left to fight the [{Toyota|Toyotas]] while its sister cars mixed up with the #19 Porsche, taking the third of the Porsches before the end of the first lap.[9]
Timo Bernhard was quick to put a small gap between himself and the #18 machine, which was now brawling with three Audis and the #17 car, with Toyota's cars now falling away.[9] Nissan, meanwhile, missed the start with their #23 machine after a clutch issue in the warm-up, leaving their other two cars to mix it up with the LMP2 field, with Harry Tincknell and Lucas Ordóñez slowly rising through the field as the first hour progressed.[9] The leading cars in LMP2 seemed locked together all throught the first hour, although the KCMG car remained stubbornly at the head of the field.
The end of the first hour saw the first retirement of the race, with the #92 GTE-Pro entry of Porsche Team Manthey destroying its own engine into the first chicane on the Mulsanne. The car spun on its own oil, while the #13 Rebellion R-One and #42 Strakka cars came together in avoidance. The Rebellion found itself beached in the gravel, while the Strakka car limped back to the pits. The #92 Porsche, meanwhile, pulled over on the exit of the chicane, set ablaze by the oil sprayed onto its exhaust, although the fire was put out quickly.[9] Regardless, the first safety car of the day emerged, with the new Slow Zone system saved for another incident.[9]
Result[]
So, Porsche claimed their first Le Mans victory in seventeen years, with Nico Hülkenberg becoming the first driver since Johnny Herbert in 1991 to win the race while competing in Formula One. KCMG completed their first LMP2 victory since competing in Le Mans in 2013, while the #64 Corvette Racing-GM entry claimed an emotional victory in GTE-Pro. SMP Racing claimed the final honours on offer by winning GTE-Am, benefitting from the demise of the #98 Aston Martin Vantage V8 in the final hour.
The final result of the 24 Hours of Le Mans 2015 is displayed below, with class winners shown in bold. Points scored for the WEC entries is also displayed, while the fastest lap setter in each class is displayed in italics.
24 Hours of Le Mans Race Result | |||||||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Pos. | No. | Entrant | Laps | Time | Stops | FL. | Pts | Class | |||
1 | 19 | Porsche Team | 395 | 24:00:42.784 | 30 | 3:18.596 | 50 | LMP1 | |||
2 | 17 | Porsche Team | 394 | +1 lap | 30 | 3:18.186 | 36 | LMP1 | |||
3 | 7 | Audi Sport Team Joest | 393 | +2 laps | 32 | 3:17.475 | 30 | LMP1 | |||
4 | 8 | Audi Sport Team Joest | 392 | +3 laps | 31 | 3:17.831 | 24 | LMP1 | |||
5 | 18 | Porsche Team | 391 | +4 laps | 30 | 3:18.917 | 21 | LMP1 | |||
6 | 2 | Toyota Racing | 387 | +8 laps | 30 | 3:22.633 | 16 | LMP1 | |||
7 | 9 | Audi Sport Team Joest | 387 | +8 laps | 30 | 3:17.647 | 12 | LMP1 | |||
8 | 1 | Toyota Racing | 386 | +9 laps | 29 | 3:20.896 | 8 | LMP1 | |||
9 | 47 | KCMG | 358 | +37 laps | 31 | 3:36.836 | 51 | LMP2 | |||
10 | 38 | Jota Sport | 358 | +37 laps | 32 | 3:36.679 | LMP2 | ||||
11 | 26 | G-Drive Racing | 358 | +37 laps | 32 | 3:37.078 | 36 | LMP2 | |||
12 | 28 | G-Drive Racing | 354 | +41 laps | 35 | 3:38.109 | 30 | LMP2 | |||
13 | 48 | Murphy Prototypes | 347 | +48 laps | 30 | 3:38.715 | LMP2 | ||||
14 | 27 | SMP Racing | 340 | +55 laps | 35 | 3:42.444 | LMP2 | ||||
15 | 31 | Extreme Speed Motorsports | 339 | +56 laps | 32 | 3:42.890 | 24 | LMP2 | |||
16 | 45 | Ibañez Racing | 337 | +58 laps | 33 | 3:44.918 | LMP2 | ||||
17 | 64 | Corvette Racing-GM | 337 | +58 laps | 24 | 3:54.823 | GTE-Pro | ||||
18 | 13 | Rebellion Racing | 336 | +59 laps | 32 | 3:26.594 | 50 | LMP1 | |||
19 | 29 | Pegasus Racing | 334 | +61 laps | 34 | 3:40.794 | LMP2 | ||||
20 | 72 | SMP Racing | 332 | +63 laps | 23 | 3:56.165 | 50 | GTE-Am | |||
21 | 71 | AF Corse | 332 | +63 laps | 25 | 3:55.698 | 50 | GTE-Pro | |||
22 | 77 | Dempsey-Proton Racing | 331 | +64 laps | 23 | 3:58.832 | 36 | GTE-Am | |||
23 | 12 | Rebellion Racing | 330 | +65 laps | 34 | 3:27.184 | 36 | LMP1 | |||
24 | 62 | Scuderia Corsa | 330 | +65 laps | 26 | 3:57.299 | GTE-Am | ||||
25 | 51 | AF Corse | 330 | +65 laps | 26 | 3:54.991 | 36 | GTE-Pro | |||
26 | 83 | AF Corse | 330 | +65 laps | 23 | 3:56.841 | 30 | GTE-Am | |||
27 | 95 | Aston Martin Racing | 330 | +65 laps | 24 | 3:54.600 | 30 | GTE-Pro | |||
28 | 30 | Extreme Speed Motorsports | 329 | +66 laps | 36 | 3:39.702 | 20 | LMP2 | |||
29 | 35 | OAK Racing | 328 | +67 laps | 32 | 3:46.095 | 16 | LMP2 | |||
30 | 91 | Porsche Team Manthey | 327 | +68 laps | 25 | 3:56.863 | 24 | GTE-Pro | |||
31 | 61 | AF Corse | 326 | +69 laps | 25 | 3:57.565 | GTE-Am | ||||
32 | 40 | Krohn Racing | 323 | +72 laps | 35 | 3:42.168 | LMP2 | ||||
33 | 37 | SMP Racing | 322 | +73 laps | 36 | 3:41.402 | LMP2 | ||||
34 | 99 | Aston Martin Racing | 320 | +75 laps | 25 | 3:54.246 | 20 | GTE-Pro | |||
35 | 68 | Team AAI | 320 | +75 laps | 25 | 3:59.683 | GTE-Am | ||||
36 | 66 | JMW Motorsport | 320 | +75 laps | 21 | 3:58.646 | GTE-Am | ||||
37 | 67 | Team AAI | 316 | +79 laps | 26 | 4:00.996 | GTE-Am | ||||
NC* | 98 | Aston Martin Racing | 321 | Accident | 24 | 3:56.988 | GTE-Am | ||||
NC† | 22 | Nissan Motorsports | 242 | Not Classified | 26 | 3:55.888 | LMP1 | ||||
Ret | 34 | OAK Racing | 329 | 33 | 3:38.251 | LMP2 | |||||
Ret | 53 | Riley Motorsports | 304 | 24 | 3:55.896 | GTE-Am | |||||
Ret | 42 | Strakka Racing | 264 | 26 | 3:41.304 | LMP2 | |||||
Ret | 55 | AF Corse | 241 | 18 | 3:57.712 | GTE-Am | |||||
Ret | 23 | Nissan Motorsports | 234 | Gearbox | 23 | 3:36.525 | LMP1 | ||||
Ret | 46 | Thiriet by TDS Racing | 204 | 19 | 3:39.575 | LMP2 | |||||
Ret | 96 | Aston Martin Racing | 187 | 16 | 3:57.477 | GTE-Am | |||||
Ret | 43 | Team SARD Morand | 162 | 15 | 3:41.725 | LMP2 | |||||
Ret | 21 | Nissan Motorsports | 115 | 13 | 3:37.863 | LMP1 | |||||
Ret | 36 | Signatech Alpine | 110 | 9 | 3:40.324 | LMP2 | |||||
Ret | 97 | Aston Martin Racing | 110 | 7 | 3:56.026 | GTE-Pro | |||||
Ret | 50 | Larbre Compétition | 94 | 9 | 3:58.640 | GTE-Am | |||||
Ret | 41 | Greaves Motorsport | 71 | Battery | 6 | 3:40.834 | LMP2 | ||||
Ret | 88 | Abu Dhabi-Proton Racing | 44 | Engine | 2 | 3:59.008 | GTE-Am | ||||
Ret | 92 | Porsche Team Manthey | 14 | Engine | 1 | 3:58.639 | GTE-Pro | ||||
DSQ‡ | 4 | Team ByKolles | 260 | Disqualified | 29 | 3:33.560 | LMP1 | ||||
WD§ | 63 | Corvette Racing-GM | 0 | Withdrawn | 0 | GTE-Pro | |||||
Source |
- * The #98 Aston Martin Racing entry crashed in the final hour, but had completed 70% of the race distance.
- † The #22 Nissan GT-R LM Nismo finished the final lap of the race, but did not complete 70% of the race distance.
- ‡ Car #4 disqualified from the result due to a driver weight ballast discrepancy.
- § The #63 Corvette Racing-GM entry was withdrawn after Jan Magnussen's accident on Thursday evening.
Milestones[]
WEC Standings[]
The various WEC championships on offer in 2015 were left wide open depite the double points available in Le Mans. André Lotterer, Marcel Fässler and Benoît Tréluyer held a 20 point lead over Nick Tandy, the first of the Porsche backed drivers in the World Endurance Drivers Championship. The reverse was true in the Manufacturers battle, with Porsche's strong display meaning they held a 16 point lead over Audi, overturning their rival's total in the process. Rebellion Racing led the way in the Private LMP1 teams' Championship, despite only attending one race so far.
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References[]
Images and Videos:
References:
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 'PORSCHE SCORES A DOUBLE IN A THRILLING RACE!', 24h-lemans.com, (Automobile Club de l'Ouest, 14/06/2015), http://www.24h-lemans.com/en/news/porsche-scores-a-double-in-a-thrilling-race-_2_2_1746_21146.html, (Accessed 16/06/2015)
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 2.4 'INVITATION LIST TO TAKE PART IN THE OFFICIAL PRACTICE SESSIONS OF THE 2015 24 HEURES DU MANS', 24h-lemans.com, (Automobile-Club de l'Ouest, 2014), http://www.24h-lemans.com/wpphpFichiers/1/1/ressources/Pdf/2015/24-heures-du-mans/invitation-list-to-take-part-in-the-official-practice-sessions-of-the-2015-24-heures-du-mans.pdf, (Accessed 20/06/2015)
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 'LIST OF THE COMPETITORS, DRIVERS AND CARS ALLOWED TO TAKE PART IN THE FREE PRATICE SESSIONS OF 10th JUNE 2015', 24h-lemans.com, (Automobile-Club de l'Ouest, 2015), http://www.24h-lemans.com/wpphpFichiers/1/1/ressources/Pdf/2015/24-heures-du-mans/entry-list-24-heures-du-mans-2015.pdf, (Accessed 20/06/2015)
- ↑ 4.00 4.01 4.02 4.03 4.04 4.05 4.06 4.07 4.08 4.09 4.10 DiZinno, Tony, 'Jani Smashes Lap Record for Provisional Pole at Le Mans', sportscar365.com, (Sports Car 365, 10/06/2015), http://sportscar365.com/lemans/wec/jani-smashes-lap-record-for-provisional-pole-at-le-mans/, (Accessed 21/06/2015)
- ↑ 5.0 5.1 5.2 5.3 5.4 5.5 5.6 5.7 DiZinno, Tony, 'No. 63 Corvette Withdrawn from 24H Le Mans after Accident', sportscar365.com, (Sports Car 365, 11/06/2015), http://sportscar365.com/lemans/lemans24/corvettes-no-63-car-withdrawn-from-le-mans-after-accident/, (Accessed 22/06/2015)
- ↑ '83º Edition des 24 Heures du Mans Qualifying Practice 1', 24h-lemans.com, (Automobile Club de l'Ouest, 11/06/2015), http://fiawec.alkamelsystems.com/Results/05_2015/03_LE%20MANS/86_FIA%20WEC/201506102200_Qualifying%20Practice%201/03_Classification_Qualifying%20Practice%201.PDF, (Accessed 22/06/2015)
- ↑ '83º Edition des 24 Heures du Mans Qualifying Practice 2', 24h-lemans.com, (Automobile Club de l'Ouest, 12/06/2015), http://fiawec.alkamelsystems.com/Results/05_2015/03_LE%20MANS/86_FIA%20WEC/201506111900_Qualifying%20Practice%202/03_Classification_Qualifying%20Practice%202.PDF, (Accessed 22/06/2015)
- ↑ '83º Edition des 24 Heures du Mans Qualifying Practice 3', 24h-lemans.com, (Automobile Club de l'Ouest, 12/06/2015), http://fiawec.alkamelsystems.com/Results/05_2015/03_LE%20MANS/86_FIA%20WEC/201506112130_Qualifying%20Practice%203/03_Classification_Qualifying%20Practice%203.PDF, (Accessed 22/06/2015)
- ↑ 9.0 9.1 9.2 9.3 9.4 9.5 9.6 Kilbey, Stephen et al., 'Le Mans 24 Hours: Hour 1 Report, Early Lead For Porsche', dailysportscar.com, (Daily Sports Car, 13/06/2015), http://www.dailysportscar.com/2015/06/13/le-mans-24-hours-hour-1-report-early-lead-for-porsche.html, (Accessed 23/06/2015)