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Le Mans 24 Hour - Race Report - 15/6/14

By MJP Media / Formula Photographie | 16 June 2014

Audi emerge victorious with a 1-2 result in an incident packed Le Mans 24 Hour. Toyota take the final podium position.

Audi's No. 2 R18 e-tron Quattro won the 2014 Le Man 24 Hour

As the expected challenges from Toyota and Porsche materialised and then faded away throughout the 2014 race, Audi persevered to claim a hard earned 1-2 finish in the 82nd running of the 24 Hours of Le Mans in front of a crowd of over ¼ million fans.

Benoit Treluyer took the No. 2 Audi R18 e-tron Quattro to the flag and top spot on the podium ahead of the sister Audi No. 1 car of Tom Kristensen, with both diesel-powered LMP1-H cars overcoming turbo failures. This was in every aspect a war of attrition for all of the 2014 prototypes from Toyota, Audi and Porsche.

From the very start of the race it was the Toyota and Audi teams that made their dominance at the track clear. The No. 7 Toyota TS 040 Hybrid took pole position and set the pace of the race early. As for the two Porsche teams that many fans felt had a great chance to win, the problems started early. The No. 14 Porsche 919 Hybrid had fuel pressure issues and the No. 20 car was initially off the pace of the elite drivers.

After several periods of rain that saw spins and caution flags, it was the No. 20 Porsche team that moved to the front of the pack with Timo Bernhard. The rain ceased and the racing was with all the top cars getting into a steady rhythm and at quarter distance the No. 7 Toyota was leading.

The No. 1 Audi took 2nd place to secure a 1-2 victory

At the halfway stage Audi suffered their first major problem with the No. 1 car requiring a new fuel injector which cost them 5 minutes and 20 seconds, followed by a turbo change 4 hours later. Then drama then continued with the No. 7 Toyota retiring at 5.00 am with electrical issues after leading the race for almost 14 hours leaving Alex Wurz's team devastated. This allowed the No. 20 Porsche to lead the time sheets.

Treluyer's Audi was set up for a nail biting final stint against the all new Porsche LMP1 squad of Mark Webber, but the former Red Bull F1 star's Porsche 919 Hybrid suddenly slowed on track with an engine issue with less than two hours to go. With serious issues for the No. 14 Porsche and both of the Toyotas it gave Audi a clear final run to the finish. Treluyer and co-drivers Andre Lotterer and Marcel Fassler secured their third Le Mans win in the last four years, only missing out in 2013. The No. 1 Audi of Le Mans legend Tom Kristensen, who was seeking his record 10th overall win, had to settle for second. This was quite a comeback for Audi after Loic Duval's huge crash on Wednesday which required the car to be completely rebuilt before the race.

Because of the Porsche dramas, the No. 8 Toyota TS040 Hybrid of Anthony Davidson, Sebastien Buemi and Nicolas Lapierre landed an unlikely podium finish.

The FIA World Endurance Championship points-leading Toyota was involved in a multi-car accident on the Mulsanne Straight during a sudden downpour in the second hour, which took out the No. 3 Audi. Lapierre limped the car back to the garage for repairs, which proved to be a pivotal point of the race.

Toyota claimed 3rd place with their TS 040 Hybrid

While Rebellion Racing's No. 13 LMP1-L retired early with engine failure, the Anglo-Swiss squad's No. 12 Rebellion R-One Toyota of Nicolas Prost, Nick Heidfeld and Mathias Beche finished an impressive fourth overall, aided by the late-race retirements of the two Porsches. Remarkably, only four of the nine LMP1s were classified in the end, in what proved to be one of the most unpredictable races in recent memory for the top prototype category.

In the LMP2 classification, it was the Jota Sport Zytek Z11SN Nissan driven by Simon Dolan, Harry Tincknell and Oliver Turvey that took the chequered flag. Sebastian Loeb in the Oreca 03 Nissan managed 4th in the LMP2 classification.

In the other 2 classes, the No. 51 AF Corse Ferrari 458 Italia GT2 driven by Gianmaria Bruni, Toni Vilander and Giancarlo Fisichella won the GTE-Pro classification and the No. 95 Aston Martin Racing Aston Martin Vantage GTE driven by Kristian Poulsen, David Heinemeier-Hansson and Nicki Thiim that won the GTE-Am race.

For many, Le Mans remains the pinnacle of motorsport. The demands on the drivers, teams and cars are unparalleled and it still attracts the biggest crowds with 263,300 attending this weekend. Audi will be ecstatic with a 1-2 after the challenges they faced both mechanically and from Porsche and Toyota. Porsche will take positives from their pace at times, but will be disappointed with reliability and Toyota will be left with a strange feeling after their 3rd place seems to have been possible only after others issues. All in all, it looks like 2015 could be a real battle of the giants at Le Mans.

Words copyright MJP Media
Pictures copyright MJP Media / Formula Photographie

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