ANOTHER VICTORY FOR TOYOTA GAZOO RACING AT THE 24 HOURS OF LE MANS

The 90th edition of the 24 Hours of Le Mans was held on June 11 and 12. It saw victory for Toyota Gazoo Racing, taking another one-two finish.

Toyota Gazoo Racing has won 5 consecutive victories in this event, which is the 3rd in the 2022 FIFA World Endurance Championship. This new double sees the victory of Sebastien Buemi and Brendon Hartley, accompanied by Ryo Harakawa in the LMP2 category, confirming the domination from the Japanese manufacturer and a bright future.

Rankings

Hypercar vehicles

1. No. 8, Toyota GR010 – Buemi, Hartley, Hirakawa (380 laps)
2. No. 7, Toyota GR010 – Conway, Kobayashi, Lopez (+2’01)
3. No. 709, Glyckenhaus 007 – Briscoe, Westbrook, Mailleux (+ 5 turns)
4. No. 708- Glickenhaus 007 – Pla, Dumas, Derani (+10 laps)
5. N° 36- Alpine A480 – Negrao, Lapierre, Vaxiviere (+18 laps)

LMP2 vehicles

1. No. 38-Oreca 07 Jota- Gonzalez, Felix de Costa, Stevens (369 laps)
2. N° 9- Oreca 07 Prema Orlen Team- Kubica, Deletra, Colombo (+2’21)
3. N° 28-Oreca 07 TDS RacingX Vaillante- de Vries, Beche, van der Helm (+1 lap)

GTE Pro Teams

• No. 91- Porsche 911 RSR- Bruni, Lietz, Makowiecki (350 laps)
• No. 51 -Ferrari 488 GTE AF Corse -Pier Guidi, Calado, Serra (+42)
• N° 52-Ferrari 488 GTE AF Corse -Morina, Fuoco, Rigon (+ 1 lap)

GTE Am Teams

• No. 33-Aston Martin Vantage TF Sport – Keating, Chaves, Sorensen (343 laps)
• N° 79 – Porsche 911 RSR Weathertech – MacNeil, Andlauer, Merrill (+44 laps)
• N° 98 – Aston Martin Vantage Northwest AMR – Dalla Lana, Pittard, Thiim (+ 1 lap)

History of the 24 Hours of Le Mans

The oldest and most prestigious active sports car endurance race in the world, the 24 Hours of Le Mans was first staged in 1923 near Le Mans. This race is also called « Grand Prix of endurance and efficiency ».
This event is one of the 3 stages of the « Triple Crown of Motorsport » with « The 500 km of Indianapolis » and the « Monaco Grand Prix ».

Organized by the ACO (Automile Club de l’Ouest), it takes place on the Circuit de la Sarthe, a mixture of closed public roads and sections dedicated to the race. Speed ​​and safety follow one another in the face of variable weather conditions. Several categories of vehicles participate, each with its own rules and pit stop times. Doing as many laps as possible in 24 hours is the goal.

Cars

The main brands of cars that have participated are Audi, Porsche, Alpine, Toyota, Ferrari, Chevrolet-Corvette, Gluckenhaus, Oreca, etc… Those that have won the victory in recent years are the Audi R18, Porsche 919 Hybrid, Toyota TS050.

The first race in 1923 saw the victory of René Léonard and André Lagache on a Walker L4, 2978cc, Chenard engine, in 128 laps or 2209.536 km. Gradually, we witnessed technical innovations, allowing some manufacturers to win several times.

It is noted, however, that the race did not take place in 1936 following strikes in the motor industry and the refusal of a postponement by the RAC of Great Britain for the race at Brooklands on the proposed date.
From 1940 to 1948, the race was suspended following the Second World War and the reconstruction of the country.

Ranking of manufacturer records

1. 19 victories for Porsche between 1970 and 2017,
2. 13 for Audi between 2000 and 2014,
3. 9 for Ferrari between 1949 and 1965
4. 7 for Jaguar between 1951 and 1990
5. 6 for Bentley between 1924 and 2003
6. 5 for Toyota between 2018 and 2022, i.e. 5 consecutive victories in 5 years.
7. 4 for Alpha-Roméo between 1931 and 1934 (4 consecutive years); and for Ford between 1966 and 1969 (4 years in a row)
8. 3 for Matra-Simca between 1972 and 1974 (3 consecutive years) and Peugeot in 1992, 1993 and 2009
9. 2 for Lorraine-Dietrich in 1925 and 1926 and for Bugatti in 1937 and 1939

Ranking pole position builders

• Porsche, 19 pole between 1968 and 2016,
• Audi 8 between 2000 and 2013
• Toyota 8 between 1999 and 2022,
• Peugeot, 6 between 1992 and 2010
• Ferrari, 3 between 1963 and 1973
• Ford, 3 between 1965 and 1967
• Matra-Simca, 2 in 1972 and 1974
• Renault-Alpine, 2 in 1976 and 1977
• Sauber-Mercéde,2 in 1989 and 1991
• 8 other manufacturers occupied the pole position between 1975 and 2005

Ranking of pilot records

• 9 wins between 1997 and 2003 (current record) for Tom Kritensen (Denmark)
• 6 between 1969 and 1982 for Jacky Icks (Belgium)
• 5 between 1975 and 1987 for Derek Bell (GB), Frank Biela (Germany) between 2000 and 2007, Emanuele Pirro (Italy) between 200 and 2007.
• 4 for Olivier Gendebien (Belgium) between 1958 and 1962, Henri Pescarolo (France) between 1972 and 1984, Yannick Dalmas (France) between 1992 and 1999, Sébastien Buemi (Switzerland) between 2018 and 2022.
• 3 for 14 pilots between 1928 and 2022 including New Zealander Brendon Hartley this year.
• 2 for 17 pilots between 1925 and 2019 including the French Gérard Larrousse in 1973 and 1974, Jean-Pierre Jaussaud in 1978 and 1980, and Romain Dumas in 2010 and 2016, or the Spaniard Fernando Alonso in 2018 and 2019.

No racing in 1936 following strikes in the motor industry and the refusal of a postponement by the RAC of Great Britain to race at Brooklands on the proposed date. It was the same between 1940 and 1948 following the Second World War and the reconstruction of the country.

Edition 2023

2023 will celebrate the 100th anniversary of the 24 Hours of Le Mans. This 91st edition will take place on June 10 and 11, 2023 and has some great surprises in store with the return of the French, Peugeot, the German Porsche and the Italian Ferrari in the Hypercar category as well as the American Cadillac which will take its first steps for the occasion. We will be able to witness beautiful duels between the winner of the last 5 years, Toyota and its new challengers. Free practice and qualifying should be combined over 2 days on June 7 and 8.

Following the revival of the Hypercar category under the impetus of Hypercar regulations, initiated last year, the « Le Mans Hypercar » and « Le Mans Daytona Hypercar » categories are renamed LMH and LMDH.

For its part, Peugeot begins the entry of its 9×8 on July 10 during the 6 hours of Monza. After 6 years of absence, Porsche returns with a prototype. His last victory was in 2017 thanks to his 919 Hybrid. As for the Scuderia Ferrari, absent since then June 73, it divulges the secret of its new machine very scrupulously.

Glinkenhaus has yet to confirm its participation and Alpine is giving itself a break before returning in 2024 at the earliest.

Following the entry of Porsche and Ferrari into hypercars, the GTE Pro category will no longer be represented and the « GTE Am » category will integrate new vehicles from GT3 in 2024:

• Toyota (LMH): 2 or 3 cars
• Peugeot 9×8 (LMH): 2 cars
• Porsche (LMDH): 2 cars
• Cadillac GTP (LMDh): 2 cars
• Ferrari (LMH): 2 cars
• Glinkenhaus (LMH): 2 cars (to be confirmed).

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VERONIQUE YANG

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