This year’s 24 Hours of Le Mans marked the introduction of hybrid powertrains, Nissan’s experimental Deltawing racing concept and the return of Toyota to Le Sarthe. In the end, Audi was yet again triumphant with a perfect 1-2-3 finish.
In reality, the only real threat to Audi’s R18 e-tron Quattro and R18 Ultras were the TS030s from Toyota, who were also running a hybrid powertrain. The first few hours demonstrated the Toyotas’ unexpected pace as the two TS030s applied pressure on the R18s. The first to slip-up was from Frenchman Romain Dumas, who misjudged an opportunity to pass a GT backmarker and understeered into a tyre wall. But all wasn’t over for the number 3 car as Dumas leaped out and proceeded to rip the shattered front end off his R18 and managed to nurse it back to the pit despite heavily damaged suspension.
That incident brought the R18/TS030 gap further in Toyota’s favour until Anthony Davidson’s TS030 was clipped running up to the Mulsanne corner, sending it into the air with a complete flip and into the barriers with some force. Davidson also tried to get his car going, but was ultimately halted by a back injury that will see the Briton out of action for the next three months.
Nissan’s Deltawing concept was also running with the LMP2 pack quite admirably before suffering gearbox issues and spending quite a lot of time in the pits. But because the Nissan wasn’t running in any specific class, the team could expend some time in getting it back out. All went according to plan for the rest of the evening for the top teams, except when the lone TS030 collided with the experimental Deltawing – the death knell for the two Japanese teams efforts.
As straightforward as it may have seemed for Audi, there were nonetheless a few slip ups along the way. Audi R18 number 2 driver Allan McNish had victory in his grasp when he passed Fassler, but whilst also passing a GT car McNish had a minor incident at the Porsche curves and was able to pit without losing too much time.
It would’ve been a clean sheet for Audi, until Marc Gene in the number 3 R18 also had an accident at Mulsanne corner. The car was repaired, but that allowed privateers Rebellion Racing Lola and its drivers Nicolas Prost, Neel Jani and Nick Heidfeld to take advantage and slot in fourth.
Audi’s decade-long stranglehold continues, but it seems Toyota has a worthy contender and has committed to Le Mans for now. Nissan’s experimental entry bodes well for smaller engined, lighter cars for competition use – but the idea has yet to catch on.
POSITIONS AFTER 24 HOURS
Pos Car Drivers Class Laps Gap
1. #1 Audi Lotterer/Fassler/Treluyer LMP1 378
2. #2 Audi McNish/Capello/Kristensen LMP1 377 + 1 Lap
3. #4 Audi Jarvis/Bonanomi/Rockenfeller LMP1 375 + 3 Laps
4. #12 Lola Prost/Heidfeld/Jani LMP1 367 + 11 Laps
5. #3 Audi Gene/Dumas/Duval LMP1 366 + 12 Laps
6. #22 HPD Brabham/Dumbreck/Chandhok LMP1 357 + 21 Laps