24h Le Mans
The competitor exploits, shocking twists and caliber of racing at the 24 Hours of Le Mans between 1932 and 2012 have all made it one of the most legendary races in history. As we await the 2022 running on 11-12 June, enjoy this retrospective from 2012.
16-17 June 2012 (80th running)
Distance covered by the winners: 378 laps or 5,151.762 km (an average of 214.5 kph).
Audi's 11th win at the 24 Hours marked a major turning point in the race's history when a constructor won for the first time with hybrid technology. The German marque even pulled off a one two with its R18 e-tron quattro prototypes thanks to Marcel Fässler/André Lotterer/Benoît Tréluyer and Dindo Capello/Tom Kristensen/Allan McNish. Having starting from the pole, the Swiss, German and French drivers won their second 24 Hours in a row. In 2014, a third victory joined them with Olivier Gendebien/Phil Hill, Derek Bell/Jacky Ickx and Frank Biela/Tom Kristensen/Emanuele Pirro in the hall of fame of most victorious crews at Le Mans. Since 2012, hybrid technology has been responsible for every overall win thanks to Audi (from 2012 to 2014), Porsche (from 2015 to 2017) and Toyota (since 2018).
Audi also fielded two turbo diesel R18 prototypes, both making it into the top 5. Finishing third, Marco Bonanomi/Oliver Jarvis/Mike Rockenfeller achieved a hat trick behind the two hybrids and Romain Dumas/Loïc Duval/Marc Gené finished fifth. Private LMP1 teams Rebellion Racing and JRM finished fourth and sixth, respectively.
For its rookie participation in the 24 Hours, American team Starworks Motorsport finished seventh overall and won the LMP2 class with its Honda HPD ahead of the ORECAs entered by Thiriet by TDS Racing and Pecom Racing who rounded out the top 10 overall.
In addition to Honda, two other Japanese constructors took the start in the 2012 24 Hours. It also marked the first appearance of Garage 56 for innovative unranked prototypes occupied that year by the Nissan-DeltaWing as well as the big return of Toyota, the winner of the last four runnings.
The FIA World Endurance Championship was founded in 2012 with the 24 Hours as the third round on the calendar. That year's Le Mans winners Fässler/Lotterer/Tréluyer won the Drivers trophy and Ferrari/AF Corse, Starworks Motorsport and Larbre Compétition earned the titles in LMGTE Pro, LMP2 and LMGTE Am respectively. All three teams won their class at the 24 Hours.
After the last Grand Prix of the season in the rain in Brazil, Sebastian Vettel (Red Bull) beat Fernando Alonso (Ferrari) on the wire, winning the third of his four consecutive world titles.
In rally, French driver Sébastien Loeb was named WRC champion for the ninth and final time in a row. He won 72 of his 80 victories in the discipline between 2004 and 2012.
Meryl Streep on top again – On 26 February, Meryl Streep won her second Best Actress Oscar. She holds the record for nominations (among men and women) with 21 (17 for Best Actress, four for Best Supporting Actress).
The new king of tennis – By winning the French Open at Roland Garros for the seventh time on 10 June, Spaniard afael Nadal became the most successful male tennis player of the tournament, beating the record previously held by Swede Bjorn Borg.
James Bond at the Olympic Games – On 27 July, a few months before the release of Skyfall marking the 50th anniversary of the James Bond films, Daniel Craig appeared in a video alongside Queen Elizabeth II during the opening ceremonies of the London Summer Olympics which was followed by a parachute jump (peformed by two stuntmen of course) above the Olympic stadium!
A giant leap – Austrian Felix Baumgartner became the first parachutist to break the sound barrier in free fall, reaching the speed of Mach 1.25 (1,357.6 kph) after jumping from a balloon in the stratosphere at an altitude of 38,969 m. altitude. He achieved this feat on 14 October 2012, 65 years to the day after the sound barrier was first broken by plane by American pilot Chuck Yeager.
PHOTOS: LE MANS (SARTHE, FRANCE), 24 HOURS OF LE MANS, 16-17 JUNE 2012. At top: the top 5 overall pictured together including the #1 (winner) and #2 (second) Audi R8 e-tron quattros, the #4 (third) and #3 (fifth) Audi R18 ultras, and the #12 Lola-Toyota of Nick Heidfeld/Neel Jani/Nicolas Prost and Rebellion Racing (fourth). Below: Ferrari and its partner team AF Corse winning LMGTE Pro thanks to Gianmaria Bruni, Giancarlo Fisichella and Toni Vilander.
