Photo : Nicolas COUSSEAU - ACO

 

The fastest lap in the history of the 24 Hours of Le Mans

Hans-Joachim Stuck completed a lap at an average speed of 251.815 km/h in 1985 with Rothmans Porsche team's No. 2 Porsche 962C, in 3:14:843. The German driver established a record during the qualifying sessions and though starting from the pole he finished third overall beaten by two other Porsches, but 956 models. As a side note, the best race lap that year went to Jacky Ickx with a time of 3:25:1, almost 11 seconds more than the pole time!

The fastest race lap

Jackie Olivier (John Wyer Automotive Engineering Ltd. team's No. 18 Porsche 917LH) held this record for 37 years, with an average of 244.387 km/h, before Stéphane Sarrazin dethroned him in 2008 (246.068 km/h in 3:19:394). The French driver did not hold it for long: Loïc Duval and the Oreca's No. 4 908 HDi FAP completed a lap at an average speed of 246.463 km/h, in 3:19:074 in 2010. This time is similar to the best lap at the 2013 edition: André Lotterer, at the wheel of the No. 1 Audi R18 e-tron quattro, achieved a time of 3:22:746. It is noteworthy that to clock the best race lap does not bring good luck as none of the three reached the highest step of the podium!

The most kilometers raced in 24 Hours

39 years! Dr. Helmut Marko's (well-known by Formula 1 fans being in charge of young Red Bull Racing drivers) and Gijs Van Lennep's record of 5,335.313 km raced with Martini Racing Team's No. 22 Porsche 917K in 1971 held for 39 years. The trio Timo Bernhard/Romain Dumas/Mike Rockenfeller crushed the previous record in 2010 with the No. 9 Audi R15: 5,410.713 km. The German manufacturer beat the record with three cars entered whereas the R15 was far, far behind the speed of its main rival, the Peugeot 908 HDi FAP.

Though the first two records should not have been beaten for quite awhile, the LM P1 regulation implemented this year shook things up, and so it is not outside the realm of possibility that the last record fall more or less soon. Indeed, the distance achieved does not only depend on the speed of the entered cars, but also on the weather, the presence of the safety car, track traffic…We'll see June 15th at 3:00 p.m.!

Cécile Bonardel / ACO - Translation by Nikki Ehrhardt

PHOTO: LE MANS (SARTHE, FRANCE), CIRCUIT DES 24 HEURES, 24 HOURS OF LE MANS, SUNDAY JUNE 13 2010, RACE. Timo Bernhard, with his teammates Romain Dumas and Mike Rockenfeller, beat the distance record at the 2010 24 Hours of Le Mans.