Hello, everyone, and welcome to the greatest motor race on the planet, the centenary of the Le Mans 24 Hour race. You've met the field, the teams and drivers. You've read my eloquent intro to the race. Now, we get down to business. This picturesque city, once a year, hosts the world's oldest and most prestigious endurance sports car race and this little hamlet goes wild. A centuries' worth of memories, innovation, and human endeavor is what this race is about. To finish first, you must first finish. Push hard, and expect the unexpected. These are the paraphrased words of the great nine-time race winner, Tom Kristensen. What a great day to go racing for this special event. 300,000 people are here! This is a new record crowd. We have seen 46 of the winning cars in 100 years on parade. This is amazing. Tom Kristensen is the Grand Marshal but not for the first time. He will also present the special centenary trophy at the end of the event tomorrow.
Our pal, Tom Kristensen was able to fly in the Goodyear blimp and have a great overhead view of this circuit. In the beginning, drivers ran to their cars until 1969 when Jacky Ickx walked to his car and since 1970 we have had rolling, flying starts here, which are just as intense and exciting. The Mulsanne straight is the pinnacle of the circuit, a straight four mile run for years. In 1990, chicanes were added but it only slowed the track down just a bit. We saw Peter Dumbreck fly the Mercedes in 1999 and thankfully after his aerial backflip, he walked away unhurt. We remember Toyota's crushing defeat in 2016. To win Le Mans is relief, happiness, and pride.
Who is going to win this year? We'll have to find out. We are also joined by Anthony Davidson, a driver who has run a t Le Mans before as well. Ferrari on pole on their return after half a century away as a factory team. Car #50 on the pole and #51 on the outside. A wonderful lap by Antonio Fuoco sharing with Miguel Molina and Nicklas Nielsen, the Italian, the Spaniard, and the Dane. Their sister car #51 on the outside, Alessandro Pier Guidi of Italy, James Calado of England, and another Italian, former F1 driver, Antonio Giovinazzi.
Alessandro Pier Guidi went to the top for a wee while but then Antonio Fuoco bettered the time at 3:22.9. Things went horribly wrong with a fuel fire in the #3 Cadillac factory car of Sebastien Bourdais while Fred Makowiecki in fourth, in the first of the Porsche 963's. The Toyota's #7 and #8 qualified fourth and fifth. Paul Loup Chatin on pole in LMP2 and Ben Keating in LM GTE Am. #48 being shared by Paul Loup Chatin, Paul Lafargue, and Laurents Horr. Don't forget the Garage 56 NASCAR Cup Chevrolet Camaro with Hendrick Motorsports to be driven by Jenson Button, Jimmie Johnson, and Mike Rockenfeller.
The NASCAR Cup car works well around Le Mans. They are a tad slower than the GT's but not much. They want to be consistent and the pit crew are the best in the business even with a manual jack while everyone else has air jacks built into their cars, which all sports cars do of course. We continue the pre-race show. Stay with us. We'll be open all night. Brendon Hartley in Toyota #8 says they are using experience and teamwork and trying hard to find speed. Anything can happen. We are all here, falling in love with Le Mans all over again. She is a grand old lady, but she can change her mood and jump out and bite you when you least expect it.
Basketball star Lebron James is going to wave the French flag when we get going and he says it is surely an honor to be here to see this great race. The Porsche 963's from Porsche Penske Motorsports are going to be looking for a lot today. They looked better here than they have in the opening races at Sebring, Portimao, and Spa. Reliability was not on their side at Spa last time out in late April with electrical troubles. We'll have to see how the factory Porsche 963's do. Kevin Estre is happy to be in the top class in Hypercar though and he is ready and raring to go.
This blog entry is going to be a wee bit longer than the rest since we are covering the pre-race before we get started. Porsche wants long run pace. Peugeot TotalEnergies are back at their home event, a race they have won three times. It is a historic moment for Peugeot to come back with the 9X8 Hypercar. It will be a long race and it will be emotional for the Peugeot team to get started. They know they are lacking general pace compared to the competition but they want to go for it and have no worries about their reliability. At Toyota, with their two cars, they want to win again going for their sixth overall win in as many years.
Sebastien Buemi, the Swiss driver, is looking for another triumph sharing with Brendon Hartley and with Ryo Hirakawa. He is going for a fifth victory to join illustrious company of drivers like Emmanuele Pirro, Frank Biela, and Derek Bell. But for Buemi he is focused totally on the job at hand and they will see what is going to happen. The competition in Hypercar is so close. Peugeot has a new livery too, the blue and white striped livery. At Glickenhaus they have a gearbox leak and Romain Dumas says the problem must be fixed. They are hoping to get out there for the race and will have to start from the pit lane and lose a lap.
Dumas sharing the first Glickenhaus with Olivier Pla and Ryan Briscoe. The sister car #709 has Frank Mailleux, Nathaniel Berthon, and Esteban Guttierez. Sebastien Bourdais and the #3 Cadillac are looking for good things for the Ganassi Racing team who have two cars here. One from the IMSA series and one from WEC. Bourdais sharing with Renger van der Zande and Scott Dixon. They lost their time after the fire and thankfully recovered the car. Folks, we still have more pre-race coverage coming your way.
This is an intense, high action, full speed, twice around the clock race from 4PM Saturday to 4PM Sunday. 1923 was the first race here on a 13.626 kilometer circuit which is around eight and a half miles. 62 cars in three classes from 26 teams are all here. Three drivers per car and the car going the longest distance wins. No driver can race more than 14 hours with each stint being a maximum of four hours in duration. Full throttle is applied for 80% of the lap. 2010 winners Audi with one of their diesel LMP1 cars have the distance record at 397 laps and 5,410 kilometers. We are going to hear the French national anthem now. La Marsiellaise.
The French Air Force with their helicopters are flying the flag in. We have Leigh Diffey, Calvin Fish, and Lena Gade in the broadcast booth for Eurosport. This is an electric atmosphere. Hypercars are really gaining a hold with 16 of them. Toyota, Ferrari, Porsche, Cadillac, and more. Toyota have been the team to beat here for a number of years now. This is a huge race that we are so privileged to see. Toyota have been there and done that. But we are going to see competition with all these fabulus cars and here comes the French flag delivered by the French Army. These images are stunning! 62 cars are about to take flight, albeit on the ground.
People have come from all over the world to see this race. The test day and practice sessions have been amazing and qualifying was a stunner! The Hyper Pole session was bonkers. A clean lap is what everyone was after. Lebron James has the Trois Couleurs. The legend, Jacky Ickx is here, a six-time winner, and there is Tom Kristensen, nine-time winner. So we have two gentlemen who are "Mr. Le Mans". This race is double points for the World Endurance Championship. The nerves are on fire. The excitement is palpable. But you have to treat this like any other race.
Chip Ganassi says that doing the best possible is what a lot of teams are looking for. You hope and hope to have a mistake free 24 hours. We are going to see a wee bit of rain like usual and sometimes it is an equalizer. We'll have to see how things go. Good to hear from Eurosport pit lane reporter, Jethro. CGR came years ago with the Ford GT program. Cadillac also has the #2 and #3 Cadillac as well as the #311 Action Express Cadillac. Porsche have four cars. Cadillac with three. Toyota with two. Ferrari with two. Peugeot with two. Glickenhaus with two.
It is looking wet as we watch the hydrogen prototype racer making demo laps. That car is the future of Le Mans with the alternative fuel idea. Mike Conway finally broke through at Toyota in 2021. Toyota are the favorites. Porsche have speed in the turns and Ferrari have the speed in a straight line. Felipe Nasr has not had an easy season with Porsche in IMSA but he is now finding his feet. Mathieu Jaminet and Nick Tandy are his co-drivers. 30 seconds away from the five minute board. We are getting set to start as soon as the hydrogen racer finishes its demo lap.
Toyota have revealed their GRH2 hydrogen Hyper Car. Alpine, BMW, and Lamborghini are coming next year to join the party. More than 300,000 people are here to watch. We have a dinosaur, a T Rex and we'll see a race car painted like a dinosaur too, as a tribute to one of the team owner's kids. The Ferrari's have electrified things back at Le Mans in the top category. Nicklas Nielsen is the only Ferrari driver who has had prototype experience before. Two minutes before we get going. We will hear later from Tom Kristensen in this broadcast. This is the 100th anniversary but the 91st running as there were times with no racing during WW. II. Lebron James gives the command to start engines in French.
Drivers, start your engines. Pilotes, demarrent vos moteurs. The cars roll off and we are looking for rain even though everyone seems to be on slick tires. It is damp on the Mulsanne straight. Car #43 has a mechanical issue, the DKR Engineering LMP2 Oreca with Tom von Rompuy, Ugo de Wilde, and Maxime Martin. We have no available intermediate tires at all for anybody. There is a Michelin soft tire but also the hard. This track will be wet in some places and bone dry in others. Soft wet tires don't like being overheated. The #311 Action Express Cadillac gets loose in the rain but they are OK.
We also see the Garage 56 NASCAR Cup car, the Chevrolet Camaro from Hendrick Motorsports with Jenson Button, Jimmie Johnson, and Mike Rockenfeller. Ferrari struggled in the damp conditions on slicks. When the track dries there could be crossover. The rain is in a specific place more or less. The Ferrari's will have to be on their toes. Everybody will. Focus on the long game. Take it easy and keep the car on the road, back up your braking. With the Camaro, it is right behind the LMP2 cars. It is even faster, by four seconds a lap compared to the GTE Am cars. It won't go to the rear of the field at the request of the GTE teams who said "get that massive Cup car out of our way!"
They want to show what a Cup car can do. Ferrari back at Le Mans and on pole for the first time in 50 years. Cadillac back for the first time in 21 years. Toyota going for six consecutive wins. Porsche are in the fight too. We are going to see an amazing race and it is just about to begin. On execution, Toyota have the edge. These two red Ferrari's have had blazing speed. Of the six Ferrari drivers, only one has started in a prototype in the Le Mans 24 Hours. All the talk is over. It is time to go racing, now. The 100th anniversary of the world's greatest endurance race.
Here they come. 62 cars. All cars assume grid places. Close the gaps, please. Two lines of cars. Lebron James waves the Trois Couleurs! The race is on! Let's go! Nicklas Nielsen and James Calado jump to the lead and here comes Buemi as Nassr locks the brakes! Peugeot and Bourdais in the gold Cadillac take evasive action. Felipe Nasr and Nico Muller jolly lucky to stay in it. Ferrari, Ferrari, Toyota, Toyota. Generate the tire temperatures. Earl Bamber aboard the #2 Cadillac. The start will be under review. Nasr tiptoeing the Porsche and the Vanwall is off the road al
Jack Aitken has just crashed the #311 Action Express Cadillac! Oh my! My pals are going to be on the back foot already! What happened? Caught out in the wet! Aitken sharing with Pipo Derania dn Alexander Sims, acecelerating off the Daytona chicane. Nielsen being proactive in his fight with Mike Conway. Let's hope the Cadillac can get back and get fixed. Toyota want to set their race up and have control, showing Ferrari they can compete. Safety Car as poor Jack Aitken is dragging the Cadillac #311 back to the pit lane. Spare a thought for the boys at Action Express, my pals for my favorite team.
We have Mark Kvamme off the road too in the #32 Inter Europol Competition Oreca. In replay, Jack Aitken, crawling in the wet, struggling for grip to the outside, and... crunch! He hit the wall after the first chicane. There is debris all over the place. For Mark Kvamme, he spins right in front of Mike Rockenfeller in the NASCAR Chevrolet Camaro. Action Express are going to do everything they can to fix this car after winning the 12 Hours of Sebring in March. Let's get this damage fixed and tr to get back on track. The suspension and the whole front end will have to fixed.
Action Express will be able to fix this car under the safety car. They are adequate garages. Welcome Tom Kristensen to the broadcast booth with Leigh and Calvin. I must admit, I feel for our boys at Action Express, but we can work our way through this and learn more as the race continues. Jack Aitken was totally caught out and let's hope we can fix the car and get back on track and keep pushing. It is bad news, but never, ever give up. Toyota when they took the lead, the team went bonkers, and understandably so. Jack Aitken was crossing the white line and it's like ice. He was caught out completely. The safety car laps are very slow and we are not yet at a point where we need to do the wave by.
Mike Rockenfeller in the #24 Chevrolet Camaro NASCAR Cup car with program manager Chad Knaus at Hendrick Motorsports. We also have Nicky Catsburg in the #33 Chevrolet Corvette C8.R sharing with Ben Keating and with Nico Varrone. Sebastien Buemi is having a charging issue under braking with the regeneration under braking on the Toyota #8. The team is on it, trying to fix the problem. Toyota also in trouble early doors after the contact with Felipe Nasr in the #75 Porsche 963. That is the Nasr, Tandy, Jaminet car. Jota in the lane in the #38 Porsche 963 with Antonio Felix Da Costa, Will Stevens, and Yifei Ye to top up on petrol. We also have LMP2 cars doing likewise.
Action Express in the garage, hard at work. We are waiting for the second of three safety cars. Bear to the right exiting the turns as cars are released from the pit lane. Giedo van der Garde in the Graff Racing LMP2 car is one of them. People just drove straight out of the pit lane somehow. Sebastien Buemi, Nicklas Nielsen, Mike Conway, James Calado, and Felipe Nasr the top five followed by Earl Bamber and Michael Christensen. So we have Toyota, Ferrari, Toyota, Ferrari, Porsche, Cadillac, Porsche. The slow motion shots of these Hypercars are amazing. Action Express continues to work trying to get the #311 Whelen Cadillac fixed.
We have a great commentary team on Eurosport. Leigh Diffey, Calvin Fish, Tom Kristensen, and Lena Gade. There are two Garage 56 Camaro's. One will go to Jim France and the other to Rick Hendrick. At Action Express the tub is fine but the left front suspension has to be replaced. Our guys are completely capable and we will treat this race when we get back out as a learning experience and a test. Will we race at Le Mans in the future? We'll have to see. At Toyota they are still wondering about the regeneation for the hybrid and Jack Aitken is standing in the garage still wondering what on earth happened to him.
Toyota #8 are continuing to have to deal with their hybrid trouble as we see the #14 Nielsen Racing LMP2 car in the pit lane along with one of the others. The #14 Oreca is shared by Rodrigo Sales, Mathias Beche, and Ben Hanley. Corvette #33 making a strategic pit stop for fuel and for drive time. DKR Engineering #43 in the pit lane too, making repairs to the tail of the car. Recall Maxime Martin had issues right off the start of this race. It is going to be a long, long day for a number of teams, and night, and more daytime running when we get to Sunday morning.
Ferrari have been bathing in the afterglow of their pole. We see the #25 ORT by TF Sport Aston Martin in the pit lane too. Ahmad Al Harthy, Michael Dinan, and Charlie Eastwood, the drivers. Alexander Sims is consoling Jack Aitken and Action Express will continue. Aitken has to be freaked out and upset no doubt. Again we will be back. The midfield to tail end runners are extending their fuel range. We have three cars penalized for leaving the pit lane while there was a red light on. We are in a settling period. Action Express though are scrambling like mad to fix the car and as I said earlier, I know this team, and their boss, Bob Johnson. They are going to get back into the fight, believe me.
Porsche Penske team manager Jonathan Diuguid looking on. He was with their IndyCar program but is now with their Porsche 963 factory program testing at a number of tracks. Nico Muller in the #94 Peugeot is told to pit for fuel if the pit lane is open and wait and stay out if closed. Prepare for merging. Pit lane closed. New safety car procedures this year with a merging process before we go back to green. This is a new idea to help alleviate cars being behind their competition with three safety cars. 16 Hypercars, 24 LMP2 cars, 21 GTE Am cars and the one Garage 56 car, the NASCAR Cup car. We heard at the ACO press conference about more manufacturers coming for next year such as Alpine with their new car, BMW with their M LMDh and Lamborghini as well.
Many pilots in LMP2 could be in Hypercar here at Le Mans next year. We have seen the merge. One safety car at 12 o'clock, one at 4 o'clock, and one at 8 o'clock. The LMP2 and GTE Am/Garage 56 will fall to the back before we go back to the green flag. So much fun to be in the trackside restaurants at Les Hunaudieres. We are talking to Alexander Sims at Action Express and Jack just got caught out in the damp taking a risk. He did all he could and has driven phenomenally. Our boys are putting the Cadillac back together again and getting the senosrs back on. We'll hopefully be back out there.
Go out there and do everything we can. Our team has tenacity and we have to just stick with it and keep going. We have had about 20 minutes to run through the pass around, and fully about 30 minutes. But it is the best way to get the track under control. Nicolas Minassian from IDEC Sport, he has been such a great driver and is now the team boss at IDEC. That is the Paul Loup Chatin, Paul Lafargue, and Laurents Horr car. The track is changing and so is the weather. Part of the track at least bathed in sunshine. We welcome Tom Kristensen back to the booth. The Jota #38 Porsche 963 is probably the only Hyper Car that has made a pit stop.
In 2004, Tom Kristensen with the Team Goh Audi R8, Rinaldo Cappello went to the gravel due to a tech issue and they were a lap down. The pace through the night got them back on the lead lap and they went on to win. When it hits you early, just stay with it and keep going. Toyota is not happy with the safety car point by. Is this the right thing to do? The three safety car idea can be a nightmare. The favorite teams won't like it but nthe underdogs will like it. Close up the field. That is what this whole idea is all about. It is a great way to keep the race alive. With three safety cars it separates you from the leader and puts you 1/3rd of a lap down.
We have seen the dropback and the merging as well as a way to get a wave by between your class leader and the safety car to get 7/8ths of a lap back. That is how things work in IMSA here in the states. Safety car into the lane at the end of this lap. There was damage to the #63 Prema Racing Oreca with Daniil Kvyat at the wheel of it sharing with Doriane Pin and with Mirko Bortolotti. We can hear the boys, Leigh, Calvin, and Tom, joking about their golf game. No overtaking before the control line. Sebastien Buemi, Nicklas Nielsen, Mike Conway, James Calado, Earl Bamber, Sebastien Bourdais. Green flag! Buemi gets a fabulous jump and now, Conway is sideways a tad and can't make a run on Nielsen just yet.
How can Nicklas Nielsen use the tow? It is crowded in the GTE Am class as well, look. Ferrari's, Porsche's, Corvette's, Aston Martin's. Three wide on the Mulsanne straight! No Porsche's made it to the top eight in Hyper Pole. Harry Tincknell, Alex Riberas, Louis Prette, and others were at the back of the field. Mike Conway is giving Nicklas Nielsen all he can handle and Earl Bamber in the Cadillac pressing Felipe Nasr. Conway makes his move on Nielsen and Nielsen has to give it up. No point to be scrapping so early out of Arnage. Felipe Nasr being hounded by Earl Bamber. Porsche 963 vs. Cadillac V Series R with the Toyota GR010's leading.
A warning for contact to Nasr at Penske Porsche. That was for making contact with Buemi. The #5 Porsche is back there, Michael Christensen, Fred Mkaowiecki, and Dane Cameron. As we spoke about the Porsche's have those multiple stripes for the 75th year with colors of many of their winning cars like the hippie and Pink Pig 917s, the Rothmans 956/962s and many, many more. Conway and Nielsen pushing and now, teammates alongside in the Daytona chicane and now, Paul di Resta pounces in the #93 Peugeot 9X8. Di Resta sharing with Jean Eric Vergne and Mikkel Jensen. The Peugeot 9X8 has no wing on the tail. It is a very avant garde design of course.
Calado haranguing Nielsen as Conway and Buemi are on it and so is the #2 blue Cadillac with Earl Bamber at the controls. Ferrari did the very same thing for Arturo Merzario and Carlos Pace who won the Le Mans pole half a century ago in 1973. Earl Bamber the meat in a Porsche sandwich. Nick Tandy, Nuco Hulkenberg, and Earl Bamber won for Porsche at Le Mans and now, Nicklas Nielsen is blocking the sister Ferrari! Antonello Coletta, sporting director is saying "please don't do that!" Bamber right alongside the Porsche too! This is bonkers. The two Ganassi Cadillac's are really strong as we have Lena Gade back.
Eight laps into the race and everyone is pushing each other really early. This is stressful stuff for the engineers to watch. The Porsche's are all together behind the Toyota's and the Ferrari's. We have only run eight laps and just a handful under green. We have Alex Jakes, Ben Constanduros and Alex Brundle who will join us on commentary as well. A great team. Paul Loup Chatin, Robert Kubica, Richard De Gerus, Pietro Fittipaldi, and Job van Uitert, the top five in LMP2. We've run almost an hour. Sebastien Bourdais has dropped to 14th spot in the #3 Ganassi Racing Cadillac V Series R after an early stop. Toyota on Ferrari! Nielsen and Conway scrapping hard! The pressure is on, look.
Calado wants it down the Mulsanne straight! Watch the kink before Mulsanne corner. Calado is pushing it. Conway being told by the Toyota team to look after his tires. Conway fighting the Ferrari into Indianapolis. The field is really coming together. Here come all three Porsche's. Felipe Nasr, Laurens Vanthoor, and Michael Christensen. Felipe Nasr flashing the lights at James Calado as we see a Ferrari diving for the lane, the #50. Everyone is bunched together in Hyper Car. Ferrari splitting strategies early doors. Nielsen pits a lap early and Calado could go deeper. Not much space in the Le Mans pit lane.
Splitting strategy is a smart idea. 14 sets of tires available and now, it is Ferrari, Toyota, Porsche on the Mulsanne straight! Wow! The three Porsche 963's are monstering Ferrari and Toyota both, just as predicted. Almost an hour into the race as the cars fly through the Porsche curves and Karting corner. The Peugeot 9X8 of Paul di Resta is really going for it early. The Porsche 963's are really similar to the lineage of the old 956's and 962's from the Group C days, from the thunder of the 1980s. The Hypercars are bringing the thunder back.
Paul Loup Chatin leads Robert Kubica and Pietro Fittipaldi in LMP2. Vanthoor to the outside trying to pass Felipe Nasr, his teammate. They run up again towards Mulsanne corner. Ease into the brakes and don't lock up. No ABS. Brake by wire for LMDh for Cadillac and Porsche.
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