Abu Dhabi-Proton Racing most efficient in the pit

The winning #2 Porsche 919 Hybrid’s 30 pit stops amount to a total 38:08.574. The #5 Toyota TS050 Hybrid that so very nearly won was more efficient with stoppages amounting to 36:28.699. The most efficient of all though, was the #88 Porsche 911 RSR by Abu Dhabi-Proton Racing which spent only 27:43.016 in the pit lane. That excellent performance earned the team a third place in LM GTE Am.

The fastest lap time was broken a hundred times

The field having spent the first hour of the race behind a safety car due to heavy rain, all cars had a fairly steady pace during that time so this year’s statistics are unusual. Drivers from all classes took turns to set a “fastest lap in race”.  Olivier Pla (Ford GT), Vitaly Petrov (BR01), Patrick Pilet (Porsche) and Giancarlo Fisichella (Ferrari) each held the race record... fleetingly. Things went back to normal when the competitors were released. The fastest lap time of 03:21.445 was set by Kamui Kobayashi in the #6 Toyota TS050 Hybrid. However, André Lotterer’s in-race track record of 03:17.475 still stands.

Toyota led for 277 laps

Five cars led the race. The #2 Porsche 919 Hybrid led at first, thanks to Neel Jani’s pole position. The car led for 51 laps. Its sister car led for 53 laps. The #5 Toyota TS050 Hybrid spent 104 laps in the lead, compared to 173 for the #6. Apart from two laps up front, Audi was nowhere to be seen. The #7 R18 is the only LM P1 hybrid not to have taken the lead.

Winners Romain Dumas, Neel Jani and Marc Lieb covered 5,232.90 kilometres

They are the only ones to have topped 5,200 km. The runners-up in the #6 Toyota TS050 Hybrid clocked up 5,192.06 km and the #8 Audi R18, which came third, covered 5,069.37 km. In LM P2 the #36 Alpine 1460-Nissan totalled 4,864.81 km. In LM GTE Pro, the winning #68 Ford GT ran 4,633.31 km while Scuderia Corsa’s Ferrari, top of LM GTE Am, notched up 4,510.67 km.

A top speed of 343.4kph

Speed is of the essence at the 24 Hours of Le Mans. Even with two chicanes on the Mulsanne Straight, prototypes and GT s attain exhilarating speeds on this long stretch. Loïc Duval hit 343.4 kph in race week. The fastest driver in LM P2 was Ho-Pin Tung who registered 310.9 kph in the #35 Alpine A460. In LM GTE Pro Nicki Thiim can boast 304.7 kph with the Aston Martin Vantage V8 while veteran LM GTE Am driver Johnny O’Connell clocked 298.8 kph in Team AAI’s Corvette C7.R.  

The perfect lap

The ideal lap is not the same as the fastest lap. It is theoretical in that it comprises the best times in each sector on the circuit. Kamui Kobayashi, who recorded the fastest lap, was also fastest in the second sector, but not in the first (from the pit straight to Tertre Rouge) nor in the third (Arnage to Porsche curves). Mark Webber did the fastest first sector in the #1 Porsche 919 Hybrid while Lucas di Grassi was quickest in the third with the #8 Audi R18. Therefore, the best theoretical lap time in this race, 03:20.061, would require three drivers rolled into one! 

Photo: the Porsche 911 RSR GT fielded by Abu Dhabi-Proton Racing spent less than 30 minutes in the pits during this year’s 24 Hours of Le Mans.