After one hundred years of providing some of the finest motor racing on the planet, the Automobile Club de l’Ouest(ACO) has presented the motorsport world with a spectacle par excellence. This year is not the 100th race, its actually the 91st race as the Le Mans 24 Hours was not held in 1936 (due to labour unrest) and for the nine years from 1940 to 1948 inclusive, there was no racing. The first race post-war was held in 1949, and it was as though the floodwaters of accumulated frustration from the absence of any serious international competition, was unleashed in one race.
As with most things in life, they tend to come and go in phases, and in motorsport this has much to do with the set of regulations governing the top tiers of racing at the time. For example, GT cars ruled in the 1950s, but in the 1960s and 1970s it was sports prototypes, and then Group C ruled the waves for a decade in the 1980s. But in the ‘90s, there was little guidance from the racing authorities until a private organisation created a colourful and exciting GT class of racing. In the 2000s and the first part of the teens it was all about prototypes again, until the manufacturers withdrew and the race organisers had to come up with a new plan. They called it Hypercars, and suddenly the manufacturers were back.
On the occasion of the centenary since the first running of the Le Mans 24 Hours, we had no less than seven manufacturers in the top Hypercar class: Toyota, Ferrari, Porsche, Peugeot, Cadillac, Glickenhaus and Vanwall. Although Toyota are the undoubted favourites in this race having participated in the Hypercar class for three years, there is no lack of racing experience amongst the other players, especially Ferrari, Porsche, Peugeot and Cadillac, and they were all spoiling for a fight. As if the heightened rivalry wasn’t enough, a thunderstorm was forecast for just after the start of the race which would certainly mix things up somewhat, but of one thing the spectators could be certain of, there would be no quarter given by any of the competitors come Sunday afternoon. And this is what the paying public had come to see, good racing and plenty of battles for the lead.
Race Week
It had been many years since the grandstands had been that full in the early practice and qualifying sessions during race week. There may be several reasons for this, but two compelling reasons would certainly be the fact that it was the race’s centenary year, and the other being that there was now some real competition up at the front of the grid. This was evidenced by the intensity of the shoot-out for the Hyperpole on Thursday evening, when realistically any one of five manufacturers could have snatched pole position. But, as some expected, Ferrari was having none of that, as they confirmed their speed by posting a time of almost one-and-a-half seconds ahead of their nearest rival, Toyota, in third place. Once the dust had settled, Ferrari had locked out the front row of the grid, followed by Toyota in third and Porsche fourth. There was drama for the No. 3 Cadillac when Sébastien Bourdais brought his car to a standstill out on the track with flames pouring out of the back. Bourdais was able to get out of the car safely, but sadly he was lying third fastest when the incident occurred, ruling out any chance of a top grid position.
Friday was largely given over to spectator events, which included an open pit lane, a track walk, and the ever-popular Drivers’ Parade. This latter spectacle is a must-see event for the race-going public and especially those infrequent visitors who have travelled far to watch the race. The drivers and teams are driven through the city centre over a period of several hours, with each driver trio sitting on the back of a wide variety of convertible classic cars. The crowd, who line the route up to six or eight deep, shout, call or whistle as loudly as possible, and the most lively get showered with gifts thrown to them by the drivers. The cacophony of sound made up of the crowd shouting, the cars revving loudly and hooting, must be experienced to be believed. It is all carried out in a carnival atmosphere and is thoroughly enjoyed by all.
Race Day
As can be expected, race day, Saturday brought an altogether different atmosphere. The 15-minute warm up session at around noon went off without hitch, but the big unknown was the weather, which forecasted thunderstorms for just after the start. The whole build up to the start was an even more packed affair than usual, with a band, dancers and other performers livening up the already charged atmosphere. The start was scheduled for 16h00, and right on cue 15 minutes before, the obligatory drop of the tricolour from a French airforce helicopter was accompanied this time by an attack helicopter for good measure. Then came the fly past by the jets, but this time they were headed by a huge Hercules air transporter, adding much drama to the eagerly awaited start. Nine-times winner of Le Mans, Tom Kristensen, drove the new centenary trophy through the crowd before the start, and shortly after the grid was cleared of the thousands of VIPs, wives, girlfriends, influencers and assorted hangers-on, the countdown commenced.
Just before the start, rain was seen over the far side of the circuit, but fortunately this did not persist for long. The cars headed off on their formation lap, and as the cars negotiated the Porsche Curves, the dramatic music started, which rose to a climax as the lead cars turned onto the start/finish straight. The two red Ferraris headed the charging field as they rushed headlong into Turn 1 and up to the Dunlop Bridge, but with the first lap completed it was the No. 8 Toyota that led the No. 50 Ferrari, with the No. 7 Toyota and the No. 51 Ferrari in tow. At the end of the first hour, Toyota (No. 8) led the race followed by Ferrari (No. 51), Toyota (No. 7), and three Porsches (Nos. 75, 6, 5) in fourth, fifth and sixth places. The No. 2 Cadillac was in seventh with the first of the Peugeots in eight.
There was a tremendous amount of place swapping up at the front of the field during the second and third hours, and at the end of the third hour it was Ferrari one and two. At around the three hour mark there was a substantial downpour of rain around the Indianapolis, Arnage area, and soon afterwards the No. 38 Jota Porsche slid off and impacted the barriers very heavily. The car lost its entire rear bodywork, and in fact drove the remainder of the track with a completely naked rear end and a heavily damaged front to match. Fortunately for the Jota team, the impact occurred just before the pit entrance and so a swift visit to the pits had the Jota Porsche back out again in 15 minutes.
At the end of the fourth hour it looked like an all-French affair with Peugeot holding the lead in the Hypercar class and Alpine-Renault occupying positions one and two in the LMP2 class. In the GTE Am class, Porsche dominated with the No. 85 Iron Dames 911 RSR ahead of the No. 56 Project One ’T-Rex’ car and the No. 911 Proton Competition car in third. But it was far from a one-marque race because at this time, the top ten cars in the GTE Am class were all on the same lap.
Saturday Night
Just after 22h00 heavy rain fell once more and this time the carnage was far more widespread, affecting LMP2, GTE Am and Hypercars. The black clouds had been steadily gathering and so it was inevitable that, after a week or more of extremely hot weather, the ground could not absorb the intense rain, and so the run-off onto the circuit was exacerbated all the more. The danger of course is that it may be raining heavily on one part of the circuit and not anywhere else, and so the decision to run slicks or wet-weather tyres is always a tough one for the teams.
With six and a half hours gone, and in the pouring rain, it was the No. 51 Ferrari which lead the No. 94 Peugeot and No. 7 Toyota. The strategy for the teams in these conditions was surely one of survival, because at the risk of stating the obvious, taking unnecessary risks here would certainly eliminate you from being amongst the runners come Sunday afternoon. At this stage, Porsche, Toyota, Peugeot and Ferrari had all had a turn of leading the race. Cadillac were still hanging in with their No. 2 car in fourth place and the No. 3 in eighth, and to be quite honest, staying on the track was all you could hope to do.
Having risen to as high as second place after six hours, in the eighth hour the No. 75 Penske Porsche 963 of Nasr/Jaminet/Tandy was retired with mechanical failure. As midnight struck, so did the drama hit an all-race high. The No. 66 Ferrari, while trying to avoid No. 39 Graff LMP2 car which was stranded in the middle of the track, collided with the No. 7 Toyota of Kobayashi, the Japanese car then also being hit by the No. 35 Alpine LMP2. A Full Course Yellow followed dropping all cars to 80 km/h. This multiple-car pile up promoted the No. 94 Peugeot into the lead and the game of musical chairs continued once again.
This race compares interestingly with last years race, when by midnight in 2022, there had not been a single retirement. By midnight this year the tally of eight retirements almost equalled the total for the whole of the 2022 race, which was a mere nine cars.
Sunday Morning
At 05h30 Le Mans started to rise from its lazy night hours, as the near-empty grand stands gradually began to stir. The sun was slow to appear thanks to the presence of the cloud cover and rain overnight.
As dawn broke, the No. 4 Vanwall Hypercar suffered an engine failure and came to a standstill at the start of the Porsche Curves. At around 08h00 on Sunday morning the No. 6 Penske Porsche was cut up by another car which sent the Porsche into the barrier. A lengthly trip into the pit garage ensued for the highest placed Penske Porsche, which was lying in fourth place at the time, while the No. 5 sister car was running down in ninth place at this time.
Running extremely well all race in GTE Am was the No. 85 Iron Dames Porsche 911 RSR, piloted extremely well by the three female drivers Sarah Bovy, Michelle Gatting and Rahel Frey. Also running strongly was the No. 24 Camaro ZL1 of Jimmy Johnson, Mike Rockenfeller and Jenson Button, in 29th place overall.
The No. 708 Glickenhaus, driven by Oliver Pla, was lying in eighth place when the driver overstepped the ripple strip at the track edge and dropped a tyre into the gravel trap at Indianapolis, and in doing so he damaged the underfloor on the curb as the car bottomed out. The subsequent damage caused the car to spin across the track and it impacted the barrier on the opposite side, the driver being forced to crawl in a crab-like fashion all the way back to the pits for what was a long repair.
At 11h36, the No. 911 Proton Competition Porsche 911 RSR (GTE Am) spun in the Porsche Curves and whacked the tyre wall heavily. Despite the severity of the impact, the car was able to make its way to the pits where the crew set upon it immediately. The car resumed the battle later and was able to finish fifth in class.
Sunday Afternoon
As the clock approached midday on Sunday, the highest ranking Peugeot (No. 93) was lying in fifth place overall, and running strongly, albeit three laps down on the leaders. At this time, the No. 34 Inter Europol Oreca was leading the LMP2 class, being followed by the No. 41 Team WRT. Every car in the LMP2 class is an Oreca 07-Gibson, effectively making this a one-make series within the wider Le Mans 24-hour race.
Against all expectations, the yellow No. 3 Cadillac which had suffered an anxiety-inducing engine fire in practice on Thursday, ran a consistent and trouble free race behind its No. 2 sibling. With two and half hours left to run, there were just 41 cars left on track with so many of the cars having had an ‘off’ at some point in the race. But this high rate of attrition is an indication of how hard the drivers were pushing themselves over the whole distance of the race, as most retirees were as a result of incidents as opposed to mechanical failures.
The NASCAR No. 24 Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 “came to Le Mans to race,” so said Chad Knaus, Hendrick Motorsports Vice President of Competition. The loud, brawling Chevy Camaro was a favourite with the spectators as it roared its way around Le Mans, settling in at 29th place for many hours. This placed it ahead of the GTE Am cars until later in the race when a gearbox issue dropped it down the field. But it still had enough ‘go’ to get back out there, finishing in 39th overall place.
An interesting development at this point of the race was that Brendon Hartley in the No. 8 Toyota pitted after just eight of his 12-lap stint. This was likely an attempt by Toyota to create pressure for Ferrari who were a steady and solid 15-18 seconds ahead. The thinking was that if the Toyota got itself on a different race strategy, and if there was a safety car incident towards the end of the race, that Toyota would be free to run ahead of the lead Ferrari which would then be on a different strategy. But, what is good for the goose is good for the gander as they say, and in response to Toyota’s move, Ferrari immediately pitted Alessandro Pier Guidi and put Antonio Giovinazzi in with a full tank. The two manufacturers had been on the same strategy up until that point, and this was an attempt by Toyota to mix things up to their advantage.
With all the attention on the battle at the top, the lead in GTE Am changed in the 21st hour when the No. 33 Corvette slipped, almost unnoticed, ahead of long-time class leaders, the No. 85 Iron Dames Porsche. They were followed by the No. 25 Aston Martin in third place. In the LMP2 class, the No. 34 Inter Europol Oreca led the class by 20 seconds from the No. 41 Team WRT. An hour later, the order across all three class remained largely unchanged for the top three in each class, apart for an additional retirement in the GTE Am class.
With cautious optimism, Peugeot had announced at their press conference on Friday ahead of the race that they would be happy with a top five finish, but with 22 hours completed, they languished down in ninth and twelfth places. In the Garage 56 press conference earlier in the week, the Chev Camaro team said they would be happy just to finish. Porsche didn’t predict their result, but they must have been hugely disappointed with their performance this weekend. Ferrari never really stated their goals, but if you had asked them before the race, they would have taken a win for sure. Cadillac was probably the surprise of the race for a lot of people in Europe, but as one contact pointed out during the week, they have had a lot of experience in the US and their package is a known quantity.
Le Mans has a way of choosing who succeeds and who fails, because just about anything can happen around the 13.6 km (8.5 mile) circuit, especially when 70% of a lap is driven flat out. For the No. 85 Iron Dames Porsche, which had led its class for ten hours, a late stop for new brakes pushed them off the podium and into fourth place. Although this was the highest placed finish for the valiant ‘Dames’, a win or a possible second or third place was within their grasp, but it was not to be.
When Ryo Hirakawa took over the wheel of the No. 8 Toyota with two hours to go following an impressive quadruple stint from Brendon Hartley, he was just 16 seconds behind the Ferrari. In an effort to close the gap, the Toyota went off at Arnage hitting the barriers and damaging the front and rear bodywork, the repair costing three crucial minutes. As a result, the contest with the leading Ferrari was essentially over, and the priority became reaching the chequered flag safely in second place.
Final Stages
In the final stages the No. 51 lead Ferrari found its stablemate, the No. 50 Ferrari, conveniently placed between itself and the No. 8 Toyota in second. Despite being several laps adrift of the leaders, the No. 50 Ferrari played the obedient sibling until the Toyota gave it the slip. With all the focus on the leaders, it was easy to forget that Cadillac were strongly placed in third and fourth, having held that station for some eight hours.
With just 20 minutes to go, the lead Ferrari gave everyone a big scare when it failed to start in the pits following a final ‘splash and dash’ refuelling. The crowd in the grandstand opposite the pits behind me were aghast, but let out a loud collective shout of joy with spontaneous clapping, when it did eventually start on its own. The final minutes were just reeled off and then finally, for the first time in 58 years, the Ferrari crossed the line victorious. The lap of honour took ages, and why not, they deserved it. Toyota were obviously very disappointed not to make it six in a row, and thereby set a new record, but it was not to be. After twenty four hours of eventful, nail biting, and downright stressful racing, the 100th anniversary of the running of this great race was brought to an end, with less than a minute-and-a-half separating the No. 51 Ferrari and the No. 8 Toyota.
The No. 51 Ferrari had moved into the lead in the 16th hour where it remained to the end. During those last eight hours, the fortunes of Ferrari and Toyota ebbed and flowed, but in the end, the No. 51 Ferrari had the speed and the reliability. Although it was the No. 50 Ferrari that had clinched pole position, the No. 51 car was well-placed just behind to keep up the pressure. The rate of attrition was significant, with just 40 cars finishing the race, and 22 retirees.
Final thoughts…
And so the big question remains, was the 100th anniversary of the Le Mans 24 Hours a memorable race or not? Certainly in as far as creating an exciting spectacle for the fans to watch, whether at the track or at home on the TV, it was a much more absorbing contest than we have become used to seeing over the last few years. The presence of seven manufacturers in the top class is an undoubted drawcard, and even down in the GTE Am class, the racing was nail biting. The LMP2 class does not hold the same interest as the other two classes sadly, perhaps due to the only difference between the cars being body colour and stickers.
The Le Mans 24 Hours will always be the pinnacle of endurance racing events. Nothing can prepare one for the rigours of the event, with the huge crowds and the vast distances between various famous spectating points around the circuit. This year saw a record attendance, at least in recent times, of 325,000 spectators which did place pressure on commuting and certain watering holes, but the whole centenary event went off without a hitch.
For Ferrari, winning the race in the ACO’s centennial year will go down in the history of the event. Of note perhaps was the absence of Porsche’s mention, their race performance being decidedly below the standard we have become accustomed to. But you can be sure that the Stuttgart manufacturer will be back at the top where it belongs, once the cars and the data has been sifted through in the coming weeks.
Mark these dates in your diary for next year: 15-16 June 2024, and be sure to be there!
Images by: Virtual Motorpix/Glen Smale
