24h Le Mans
24 HOURS CENTENARY – PERPETUAL INNOVATION ⎮ Established in 2012, Garage 56 at Le Mans is reserved for a non-competing, innovative prototype. It has served as a platform for remarkable technological and human achievements over the years. Here is a closer look ahead of Hendrick Motorsports' arrival for the Centenary.
The history of Garage 56 breaks down into three major chapters.
The Nissan DeltaWing became the first occupant of Garage 56 in 2012 with a car focused on downsizing, a way of being competitive with lower power by betting on weight gain and aerodynamic finesse.
Designed from a single-seater turned prototype, the DeltaWing project attracted several prestigious partners: Chip Ganassi (who will return to Le Mans this year as an official Cadillac partner in the Hypercar class); the All American Racers team owned by 1967 24 Hours winner Dan Gurney; constructor Don Panoz, a pioneer of the rebirth of endurance racing in the late 1990s; Highcroft Racing, an American Le Mans Series championship winner in 2009 and 2010; and Nissan, the first Japanese manufacturer to clinch pole position at the race, in 1990. The DeltaWing was forced to retire prematurely on Saturday after a dust-up as it was keeping pace with the LMP2 field.
In 2014, the DeltaWing chassis served as a basis for the second Garage 56 occupant, also entered by Nissan, called the ZEOD RC (an acronym for Zero Emission On Demand Racing Car, for on-demand zero-emission racing cars). The hybrid prototype allowed its driver to switch at will from the internal combustion engine to the electric motor during the race. The ZEOD RC's primary goal was to complete a full lap of the 13.6 km circuit in 100% electric mode. The mission was accomplished by German driver Wolfgang Reip on Saturday morning during the warm-up before the race.
Garage 56 was the scene of an entirely different kind of undertaking in 2016. A quadri-amputee entrepreneur following a bacteriological accident suffered in 2012, Frédéric Sausset set his mind to taking part in the 24 Hours of Le Mans. He founded SRT 41 and obtained the support of the ACO, the FIA, and French team and 2013 LMP2 winner OAK Racing to run a specially fitted Morgan-Nissan chassis during the race.
Sausset shared the car with two veteran French drivers, Jean-Bernard Bouvet and Christophe Tinseau, with nine and 12 participations, respectively. The trio made it to the chequered flag and Sausset received a deserved tribute on the podium in the company of ACO President Pierre Fillon.
Five years later, SRT 41 returned to Garage 56 with an ORECA 07-Gibson entrusted to Matthieu Lahaye along with Japanese driver Takuma Aoki and Belgian driver Nigel Bailly, both paraplegics. Once again, they crossed the finish line.
For the Centenary, Garage 56 will welcome a Chevrolet Camaro ZL1, a modified version of the new generation car called "Next Gen" competing in the U.S. since 2022 in the Cup Series, NASCAR's principal championship.
The car is being fielded by Hendrick Motorsports in partnership with Chevrolet and Goodyear. It will be the first appearance in the 24 Hours by the most successful team in the Cup Series, with 14 titles and 295 wins at the time of this writing. "Even though Garage 56 is a ‘class of one,’ we are competitors and have every intention of putting a bold product on the race track for the fans at Le Mans," said Rick Hendrick last year during the announcement of this programme.
The team's Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 will be shared by a particularly qualified driver line-up: 2009 Formula 1 world champion Jenson Button (who took the start in the 24 Hours in 2018), Le Mans rookie Jimmie Johnson (who has won seven of Hendrick Motorsports' 14 Cup Series titles) and 2010 24 Hours winner with Audi Mike Rockenfeller (joint distance record holder with then teammates Timo Bernhard and Romain Dumas).
PHOTOS (Copyright - ACO/Archives): LE MANS (SARTHE, FRANCE), CIRCUIT DES 24 HEURES, 2012-2021 24 HOURS OF LE MANS: after hosting Nissan in 2012 (pictured here) and 2014, Garage 56 played a major role for disabled drivers in motorsport thanks to two participations by Frédéric Sausset's team, SRT 41, in 2016 and 2021 (#84). SEBRING INTERNATIONAL RACEWAY (FLORIDA, U.S.), MARCH 2023 (Copyright - Hendrick Motorsports): here testing for the Centenary, the Camaro ZL1 will sport the number 24, previously linked to Hendrick Motorsports as the racing number of one of its former drivers, three-time NASCAR Cup Series champion Jeff Gordon.
