The second day of scrutineering at the 2015 Le Mans 24 Hours was a full one! 34 cars were examined at the various check points. 102 drivers underwent the administrative formalities. Read on for the highlights.

A first for AAI

The Taiwanese team AAI was first up on the second day of Scrutineering. The team is not well-known in Europe and was invited to the 24 Hours thanks to its performance in the Asian Le Mans Series, the endurance championship that takes place in China and Japan. Alex Kapadia, Xavier Maassen and Jun-San Chen will be sharing the n°67 Porsche 911 GT3 RSR, while Mike Parisy, Gilles Vannelet and Han-Chen Chen take the wheel of the n°68 Porsche 911 RSR. The team may be Asian in origin but it also has a Belgian accent as Rudy Penders’ setup, Prospeed Compétition, is taking care of the logistics.

Porsche attracts attention

The Porsche 919 Hybrids were the centre of attention. The German cars have not yet won a race in the World Endurance Championship this season, but they are clearly the favourites for many fans. The n°17 was the most photographed of the three. Timo Bernhard, Mark Webber and Brendon Hartley share the red 919 Hybrid, with the livery that stands as a tribute to the n°23 P17 that won Le Mans 24 Hours in 1970. The black n°18 and the white n°19 were also very popular, but spectators seem to think that the n°17 will be the winner. Can Mark Webber win Le Mans this year? Maybe.

Scrutineering attracts crowds from afar

In the past two days, scrutineering has proved more than ever to be a family event and fans also come in groups to admire the cars. Some come a long way! Read about the Japanese fan who hasn’t missed a race in 15 years. To make it easier for fans to follow the procedures, for the first time this year, a big screen was set up on the square. We are pleased to say that all 56 cars passed scrutineering.

Toyota darling of the crowd

The Toyota drivers are extremely popular. Last year, Stéphane Sarrazin’s, Kazuki Nakajima’s and Alexander Wurz’s n°7 Toyota TS040 Hybrid started the race in pole position. It was one of the favourites and was in the lead for much of the race before electrical problems set in. However, if 2015 season results are anything to go by, it is doubtful that Toyota will repeat the performance this year. The Toyotas are not as fast as their opponents but have reliability on their side, as well as a tried and tested hybrid system and drivers they can count on, so some see Toyota winning this year. Many fans call out to Stéphane Sarrazin and Sébastien Buemi or tap them on the shoulder and say things like “this one’s yours”. What if Toyota came out on top in the battle for the overall win? Contrary to its opponents, the constructor has only entered two cars this year, and both carry many hopes.

Aston Martin’s art car

The British constructor has unveiled an art car for this year’s race. The n°97 Vantage entered in the LM GTE PRO class proudly bears a livery designed by Tobias Rehberger. The award-winning artist is renowned for his work based on optical illusions. “My design for the Aston Martin art car is rooted in my interest in distorted perception and related phenomena like auto moving patterns, optical effects, camouflage and visual confusion, which I have addressed in many works before”, says the German designer. “In this case, the design is based on a geometric optical effect pattern. Comparable to a fast object, a steady fixation on a point of the pattern is impossible.”

Geoffroy Barre — Translated from French by Emma Paulay