Unbelievable. Dramatic. Exciting. The
adjectives and many others could describe easily this year's edition
of the 24 Hours of Le Mans, a race where Porsche
emerged from the dead with the No. 2 919 Hybrid to an overall win,
denying the almost believable triumph of an LMP2 car Jackie Chan
DC Racing carried on as much as possible with the No. 38 Oreca.
The race also showed an epic scrap in the LMGTE-Pro class,
worth remembering of the mid-2000s days of the GT1 monsters.
The race had trouble happening right at
the first lap as the No. 4 ByKolles CLM had front end damage
due to contact, leading the LMP1 privateer to an unscheduled pit
stop. On top, Toyota settled for the lead with the No. 7 TS050
with the No. 1 Porsche, the No. 8 Toyota and the No. 2 Porsche right
behind. Also unexpected was a straight off-course trip for the No.
36 Signatech Alpine at Arnage corner, with Gustavo Menezes' car
beached in the gravel and facing the barriers while bringing a slow
zone in action.
Near the first hour the 7 and 8 took
first and second and swapped places while the No. 1 Porsche was still
in close pursuit then reverted back to their original positions.
While that with and hour and a half the No. 26 G-Drive Oreca rammed
the back of the No. 88 Proton Porsche, with both cars crashing at the
Porsche corners but with the 88 receiving back and front end heavy
damage.
DC Racing and Manor were on the fight
for LMP2 honors but eventually fell down and gave place to the
Vaillante Rebellion Orecas as the No. 13 was leading the No.
31, while the LMGTE-Pro field was still fighting like crazy while
Aston Martin maintained its lead.
On the fourth hour the No. 2 was
knocked out of the lead battle due to lost front axle drive, which
needed extensive repairs, with the No. 1 car splitting the two
Toyotas in the overall standings. This time was also showing some
lack of stability and control from the LMP2 and GTE-Pro drivers, with
various spins and off-course excursions, such as what happened with
Ben Keating in the No. 43 Keating Riley and with David Heinemeier
Hänsson in the class leading No. 13 Rebellion Oreca. Such lack of
stability continued with more spins, and then with 5 hours of racing
the No. 28 TDS Oreca simply moved the No. 82 Risi Ferrari aside,
which led to a nose-first crash and spin of heavy proportions,
bringing another slow zone.
Once the night time approached the No.
8 Toyota took second position again, only to lose it near the end of
the eighth hour as brake overheat brought the No. 8 to the garage.
Another car hit by trouble was the No. 64 Corvette a few moments
after, as a tire blow sent it to the wall and the crash simply took
off the rear wing, and if this wasn't enough, the 64 spun at the
entry of the pitlane and got stuck in the gravel.
The whole situation had the unthinkable
turn or fortunes when the No. 7 Toyota got stuck into first
gear from the start of the lap 154 with 14 hours to go, limping
through practically the whole circuit with some moments when the car
simply stopped, and after getting into Arnage corner, the No. 7 came
to a total halt and retired of the race. While the team was still in
disbelief with what happened with the No. 7, the No. 9 Toyota had
a fire and a tire blow 20 minutes later, also limping for some time
until coming to a stop after the Porsche curves. Nicolas Lapierre
still struggled to get the car into the garage but it ran out of
battery energy and it couldn't switch gears, retiring near the pit
entry. When the green flag returned, the No. 1 Porsche was the
reigning overall leader while Vaillante Rebellion had the Nos. 31 and
13 Orecas in second and third.
The GTE scrap epic even at the night
time, with the No. 97 Aston Martin losing its long time
advantage in the lead after halfway in the race as the sister No. 95
car took the top spot and the No. 92 Porsche took second. A bit ahead
the Vaillante Rebellion 1-2 was broken as the No. 31 Oreca was in
the garage for quick checks and the No. 13 lost pace and then the
class lead to the No. 38 DC Racing Oreca, which quickly opened a good
gap to establish itself on top. Behind the Nos. 38 and 13, the No. 31
Vaillante Rebellion Oreca had its problems to hold third place as the
No. 35 Signatech Alpine was a constant threat, but once it got up to
speed the 31 got its podium position back.
The GTE-Pro had far to be finished
business in the morning as the No. 92 Porsche was announced as
a retirement and the No. 91 Porsche out of nowhere kicked the No. 95
Aston Martin out of the class lead, although this would change once
the pitstops start. Along with the Astons and the remaining Porsche,
the No. 63 Corvette was prompt to be a class win contender,
reaching a highest of second in class. The AF Corse Ferraris
were just outside the top-4 scrap but the No. 51 car practically
eliminated itself as James Calado had contact with Rob Bell in the
No. 90 TF Sport Aston Martin, which Calado admitted it was “a
rookie error”.
With 7 hours to go things started to
get complicated at the Vaillante Rebellion garage as the No. 13 Oreca
went for a routine stop but found itself not firing up, being towed
to garage for quick checks in the back of the car and then getting
back to racing, but with No. 38 DC Racing Oreca being 1 lap ahead the
damage to Rebellion's race was already done.
With 6 hours and a half to go Ritchie
Stanaway lost the brakes of the No. 95 Aston Martin and went to the
barriers at the end of the Hanaudières straight, returning to the
garage, which opened the class battle really wide, with the No. 97
Aston Martin, the No. 91 Porsche, the No. 63 Corvette and even the
No. 67 Ford trading places.
The No. 1 Porsche reduced its pace in 9
seconds to conserve equipment and stay in contention due to its 11
lap advantage to the No. 38 Jackie Chan DC Racing Oreca, but still
with this the car suffered of oil pressure decrease, limping through
half of the lap and stopped at the Hanaudières straight with 21
hours and 15 minutes of racing, only to confirm the retirement of the
No. 1 a few minutes later. Who also suffered a big hit was Mathias
Beche as the No. 13 Vaillante Rebellion Oreca received a stop &
go penalty as pitwork was done when the engine was on.
The last hours saw basically the No. 38
fighting to keep the overall while the No. 2 was reducing a gap of 3
laps. During this time the No. 38 had Thomas Laurent and Ho-Pin Tung
at the wheel, which gave the room for the Porsche to take out 9
seconds per lap, overtaking the Jackie Chan DC Racing Oreca with an
hour to go. The class that still had unfinished matters was GTE-Pro,
although the No. 97 Aston Martin was still showing what was capable
of, winning the battles against No. 63 Corvette thanks to stellar
drives of Daniel Serra, although pitwork left the No. 63 Corvette in
the lead in the final hour.
The LMP2 podium looked settle with 40
minutes to go but André Negrão went to the gravel and the No. 35
Signatech Alpine handled the second place in class to the No. 13
Vaillante Rebellion Oreca, which also meant the third place overall.
To the No. 2 Porsche it was just going
to the flag to win the 2017 edition of the 24 Hours of Le Mans, 1 lap
ahead of the competition. The LMP2 win stayed with the No. 38 Jackie
Chan DC Racing Oreca along with the second place overall, with the
No. 13 Vaillante Rebellion Oreca taking second place in class and
completing the overall podium. The LMP2 winning team had also the No.
37 Oreca in the LMP2 podium in third and finishing in fourth overall.
After a massive effort to go back to racing and recover places, the
No. 8 Toyota was the only Japanese LMP1 to finish, nine laps behind
the winner in ninth place overall.
The LMGTE-Pro finish was a Corvette vs.
Aston Martin battle as the No. 63 held the No. 97 for as much as
possible. Traffic and an unsuccessful attempt at Arnage corner held
the No. 97 of Johnny Adam in second for more time than expected in
the penultimate lap, but two off-track moments led to a left front
puncture that denied the class win to Jordan Taylor and his No. 63
car. The No. 67 Ford took the misfortune moment of the Corvette and
got second place in GTE-Pro, with the No. 63 Corvette limping to
third. The GTE-Am was a Ferrari show as the No. 84 JMW Motorsport
Ferrari dominated almost half of the race, with the No. 55 Spirit of
Race Ferrari in second and Scuderia salvaging a third place with the
No. 65 Ferrari after a difficult race.
The action now will return at the 6
Hours of Nürburgring on July 16th, time enough for
the teams to recover and complete their seasons in FIA WEC.
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