Final Summary 

The 79^th running of the 24hrs of  Le Mans has been one of the most exciting, dramatic , drama filled  races in recent memory. In LM P1 it had looked like Peugeot had pace combined with economy on their side while Audi had slightly more pace but would have to pit more often. Their routes to the final flag would therefore be different. Right from the start we knew it would be close. As this meant they could reel in the Peugeots when required but at a cost. The Audi plan then needed two huge changes of direction when they found themselves reduced to a lone contender after accidents eliminated two of their cars. This closed off all their options. Peugeots however kept their team intact and could concentrate solely on beating the Audi. It was a fantastic race, and it was easy to forget this was a 24 hour endurance race, not a sprint. They were always within seconds of each other or side by side, the standard of driving was superb as they sliced through slower traffic. Peugeot shadowed Audi all the way. Going into the final hours Audi still had the pace, they never eased up, but did they have the fuel? Peugeot on the other hand  had the luxury of a full team. So it would all boil down quite literally to last 45 minutes and the final pit stops. The cars came into the pit lane yards apart, Audi had time to change tyres and Peugeot didn’t. They left the pit lane 7.85 secs apart with the Audi in the lead.. Lotterer opened up a slim lead and then it began to rain if it wasn’t tense enough...at the finish they were 13.854 secs apart after 355 laps.
The winning petrol powered car was the #12 Rebellion Rebellion Racing Lola which came 12th overall behind the diesels.

Class results:

LM P2

This was due to be the battle of the manufacturers under the new regulations. Nissan versus Honda Performance Development. The winning #41 car came 8th overall with the #26 car 9th and the #33 car 10th. Proof that these cars were reliable and rapid despite the price constraints imposed upon them.

1st    41 Greaves Motorsport  Zytek Nissan   Karim Ojjeh, Thomas Kimber-Smith, Oliver Lombard.

2nd   26 Signatech Nissan  Oreca 03-Nissan Soheil Ayari, Frank Mailleux, Lucas Ordonez

3rd   33 Level 5 Motorsport Lola Coupe –HPD Scott Tucker, Christophe Bouchut, Joao Barbosa

LM GTE Pro

This was a great result for this new category with GM, Ferrari and BMW all on the podium. 18 cars started the race and 10 finished. All but one of The Porsches finished. The front running #74 Corvette racing Corvette crashed out in a collision with one of the Porsches sidelining the crowds favourite Jan Magnussen

1st   73  Corvette Racing Chevrolet Corvette C6 ZR1     Olivier Beretta,  Tommy Milner,  Antonio Garcia

2nd   51  AF Corse Srl Ferrari 458 Italia Giancarlo Fisichella,  Gianmaria Bruni, Toni Vilander

3rd   56  BMW Motorsport  BMW M3 GT  Andy Priaulx,  Dirk Muller,  Joey Hand

LM GTE Am

This, like LM GTE Pro is a new category and we saw 10 cars start and four finished. A good start that will hopefully encourage other teams to join in next year. Once again a great mixture of cars and close racing.

1st    55  Larbre Competition  Chevrolet Corvette C6 ZR1   Patrick Bornhauser,  Julien Canal,  Gabriele Gardel

2nd   70  Larbre Competition  Porsche 911 RSR (997) Christophe Bourret,  Pascal Gibon, Jean-Phillippe Belloc

3rd   68 Robertson Racing    Ford GT-Doran David Robertson,  Andrea Robertson,  David Murry

 

This was a tough race as always , but the attrition rate was high. Out of the 56 cars that started just 27 cars finished the race and 29 didn’t see the flag for a variety of reasons ,proving yet again what a tough race this is.
The 79th running of the 24 hrs of Le Mans will go down in history as a true classic. Congratulations to Audi and commiserations to Peugeot who lost the race by just 851 yards after 24 hours of racing.  A truly historic event.