The DeltaWing became a part of the history of the 24 Hours of Le Mans in 2012 when it was selected for the non-competitive “garage 56” entry, the slot reserved foandr an innovative prototype. Driven by Marino Franchitti, Michael Krumm and Satoshi Motoyama, its performance was promising. The car qualified in the middle of the LM P2 class but a collision caused by another prototype cut its race short. Since then, the DeltaWing has a new lease of life in the United States in a coupé version. On 19 September, it finished the race in the round of the TUSC at Circuit of the Americas (Texas) during the Lone Star Le Mans weekend which also included the fifth race in the World Endurance Championship.

The race spanned two hours and forty-five minutes and the DeltaWing team decided on a pit-stop strategy that was to make the most of safety car periods. Early in the race, Katherine Legge made up some ground, but managed to keep the fuel consumption down. Having worked her way up to third place, the British driver made her pit stop before the leaders in an attempt to overtake them. The cheekiness paid off. Memo Rojas took the wheel and the lead for several laps. Unfortunately though, the heat and worn tyres sent the car into a spin on corner 12. However the Mexican driver recovered and finished in a respectable seventh place. With an eighth at Mosport and sixth at Road America, this was the third finish in a row for the DeltaWing. Promising form for one of the most unsual cars ever seen at the 24 Hours of Le Mans.

Jean-Philippe Doret / ACO Translated from French by Emma Paulay

Photo: AUSTIN (TEXAS, USA), CIRCUIT OF THE AMERICAS, LONE STAR LE MANS, SATURDAY 19 SEPTEMBER 2015, TUSC RACE. For the first time this season, the DeltaWing took the lead in a TUSC race - before an audience of World Endurance Championship contestants who took to the track just afterwards for the fifth leg.