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A very different 24 Hours

Published: 25th September 2020 By: Glen Smale

Online version: https://www.porscheroadandrace.com/a-very-different-le-mans-24-hours/

Le Mans 24 Hours, 19/20 September 2020: The pre-race grid was a busy place despite the presence of the Covid-19 pandemic – note the empty grandstand

The 2020 motor racing season will undoubtedly go down in history as the most unusual and disrupted year on record. Only twice has the Le Mans 24 Hour race been rescheduled from its traditional June slot, to a later date in September, the first being in 1968 when the race was run on 28/29 September due to ongoing unrest in Paris. The second occasion was this race just finished, this delay being due to the global Covid-19 pandemic, so it is quite significant that the race was still able to be contested at all in 2020. www.porscheroadandrace.com

Right on cue, just as was forecast, it rained overnight at Le Mans following a week of intense heat, which was so unusual for September. The first race of the day on Saturday was the Carrera Cup Deutschland Round 1 at 09h15. Usually, a number of these cars are eliminated at the first turn into the chicane as they all try to pile into the same little bit of track at the same time. It’s a classic case of trying to win the race at the first corner, but on Saturday this was not the case. It was almost as though the drivers had had a good talking to because, as the pace car came through the Ford Chicane and onto the start/finish straight to release the cars, the driver and passenger in the pace car could be seen to be waving their arms out of the window in an up-and-down fashion, motioning the group to slow down and be careful of overdoing it at the start. Against all expectations, all the cars were well behaved…for the first couple of laps anyway.

Le Mans 24 Hours, 19/20 September 2020: The race gets underway with the pole-sitting just ahead of the pack www.porscheroadandrace.com

But Saturday was of course primarily about the 24-hour race comprising a field of 59 cars that took to the track for the start of the 88th running of the Le Mans 24 Hours. The start was at the slightly earlier time of 14h30, in order to accommodate that other great road race that day, the Tour de France cycling event, which also finished on Sunday afternoon. While this race did not have the buzz of any past Le Mans races due to the race taking place behind closed doors, we did at least have a race and in the years to come, we will look back at this race as perhaps unusual, but also as a rather special race.

Le Mans 24 Hours, 19/20 September 2020: The #91 works Porsche 911 RSR driven by , and Frederic Makowiecki, lines up on the grid prior to the start www.porscheroadandrace.com

The breakdown

The field was made up of a very different set of cars this year. In the LMP1 class, there were just five contenders: two , two Rebellions and the ByKolles. After the Hyperpole, it was the #7 Toyota on pole, followed by the #1 Rebellion, #8 Toyota and #3 Rebellion. In a class of 23 LMP2 cars, it was the #22 that was on pole. The GTE Pro class was significantly depleted this year with just three manufacturers participating: Porsche, and . After the Hyperpole shoot out, it was the #91 Porsche 911 RSR of Bruni, Lietz and Makowiecki who headed the class, followed by #51 Ferrari and the #95 Aston Martin. In the GTE Am class it was the #61 Luzich Racing Ferrari followed by two , the #77 Dempsey-Proton Racing and #56 Team Project 1 cars.

Le Mans 24 Hours, 19/20 September 2020: The #57 GTE AM Team Project 1 Porsche 911 RSR still looks resplendent in its striking colour scheme – captured here in the early part of www.porscheroadandrace.com

the race piloted by , and

The race start

Leading up to the start of the race itself, the weather in the morning was first drizzly, then the sun peeped through the clouds which was an indication that the early morning dampness would soon burn off. And as expected it did, so that the lead up to the pre-race fanfare all took place in hazy, lazy sunshine. Despite the presence of Covid-19 precautions, the pre-race grid looked almost as packed as it usually does despite the need for social distancing, but the whole atmosphere was decidedly subdued. The ACO must, though, be congratulated for putting on an event of the magnitude of the Le Mans 24 Hours in such trying and challenging times.

Le Mans 24 Hours, 19/20 September 2020: The #92 works Porsche 911 RSR captured here www.porscheroadandrace.com

in the early part of the race in the hands of Michael Christensen, Kevin Estre and

At shortly before 14h30, the Porsche 911 pace car led the field away and about five or six minutes later the field arrived at the Ford Chicane, the final curve before the main start/finish straight. As the five red lights were switched off, the #7 Toyota led the field by a half a car length with the #1 Rebellion just itching to get going. By the time the lead cars reached Turn 1 at the end of the start/finish straight, the Rebellion had edged ahead of the Toyota. This position was short-lived though, as when the cars came around after completing the first lap, the #7 Toyota was a good 50 metres in the lead.

Le Mans 24 Hours, 19/20 September 2020: The #99 GTE AM Dempsey-Proton Racing Porsche 911 RSR driven by , Vutthikorn Inthraphuvasak and Lucas Legeret, accelerates hard out of Indianapolis towards Arnage on Saturday www.porscheroadandrace.com

In the GTE Pro class, the class pole sitting #91 Porsche steadily fall back and by the end of the first hour it was lying sixth in class and eventually eighth in the third hour. The Porsche drivers were frustrated by the 911’s lack of pace down the long straights at Le Mans, where they found their rivals easily pulling away from them. Porsche commented in a press release: “After just a few laps, it became clear that the rivals had not fully shown the potential of their cars in the practice sessions and qualifying. The Porsche 911 RSR lacked the top speed to match the pace of the competition on the long straights.” Alexander Stehlig (Head of Operations FIA WEC at Porsche) put it this way: “The first six hours of the race were very difficult for us. We weren’t quite able to maintain the pace of our rivals.”

Le Mans 24 Hours, 19/20 September 2020: The #91 works Porsche 911 RSR is seen here in the hands of Gianmaria Bruni exiting Tertre Rouge on the Friday during the Hyperpole shoot out in which it set the fastest qualifying time in the GTE Pro class www.porscheroadandrace.com

After around 40 minutes, the #91 pole-setting car served a five-second penalty at its first . However, Richard Lietz managed to remain within striking distance of the frontrunner during his stints, but an early puncture forced Estre in the #92 car to pit early. Christensen then underlined the strengths of the 911 RSR and stayed within reach of the leading group but in the fifth hour, his teammate reported a problem with the power steering. The entire power steering system was replaced and these two pit stops for repairs cost the crew 40 minutes, after which they unfortunately lost contact with the other GTE-Pro cars.

Le Mans 24 Hours, 19/20 September 2020: Here the #92 works Porsche 911 RSR is seen passing under the Dunlop Bridge early on Sunday morning driven by Michael Christensen, Kevin Estre and Laurens Vanthoor

At 20h30, after six hours of racing, the gap between the sixth-place #91 Porsche and the leading GTE-Pro car was around one lap, while the #92 Porsche was two places further www.porscheroadandrace.com

back in eighth place. Richard Lietz (#91) commented, “We’re faster in the corners, but we just can’t get past. We’re unable to do anything against the higher top speed of the other cars on the straights.”

Le Mans 24 Hours, 19/20 September 2020: Here the #77 Dempsey-Proton Racing 911 RSR GTE Am driven by Matt Campbell, Riccardo Pera and exits Indianapolis

Unfortunately the #88 Dempsey Proton Racing Porsche was involved in a collision early in the race. Just 24 minutes after the start, the #61 Ferrari had an accident at Turn 1 and Thomas Preining, who was driving the Porsche, tried to avoid the spinning Ferrari. However, there was little Preining could do other than to take avoiding action which saw him collide with the tyre barrier. The car sat abandoned for about two hours in the recovery area at the Dunlop Bridge before being returned to the pit garage where it remained for lengthy repairs. www.porscheroadandrace.com

Le Mans 24 Hours, 19/20 September 2020: The #88 Dempsey-Proton Racing 911 RSR GTE Am (drivers: Dominique Bastien, Adrien De Leener and Thomas Preining) was involved in an accident early on in the race, and remained abandoned near the Dunlop Bridge for ages

From third place in class at the start, the #56 Team Project 1 Porsche maintained a steady pace and in the third hour, the car moved up to second in class. The young Dutchman Larry ten Voorde, the newly crowned champion of the Porsche Mobil 1 Supercup who had won the race that same morning, put in a spirited drive. www.porscheroadandrace.com

Le Mans 24 Hours, 19/20 September 2020: The #56 Team Project 1 Porsche 911 RSR GTE Am driven by , and Larry ten Voorde passes under the Dunlop Bridge early on Sunday morning on its way to a fourth place finish in class

In eighth place after three hours in GTE Am was the second of the Team Project 1 Porsches, the striking #57 Wynn’s-sponsored Porsche driven by Jeroen Bleekemolen, Felipe Fraga and Ben Keating. However, balance issues and a collision with another car early on and the subsequent repair work also cost the team dearly, severely denting their chances of running at the front of the class. At 01h30 on Sunday morning, the #57 Porsche 911 RSR was back in the pits for a fresh set of front dampers. www.porscheroadandrace.com

Le Mans 24 Hours, 19/20 September 2020: The #57 Team Project 1 Porsche 911 RSR GTE Am driven by Jeroen Bleekemolen, Felipe Fraga and Ben Keating endured several problems during the race. The #57 car is seen here with the #99 Porsche hard on its tail approaching the Dunlop Bridge

In the early hours of Sunday morning, the #89 Team Project 1 Porsche 911 RSR driven by Steve Brooks, Andreas Laskaratos and Julien Piguet experienced first-hand why the Le Mans gravel beds are best avoided. An unplanned excursion into one of these gravel beds resulted in a return to the pits for minor repairs, but the car was soon up and running again. www.porscheroadandrace.com

Le Mans 24 Hours, 19/20 September 2020: The #89 Team Project 1 Porsche 911 RSR GTE Am was driven by Steve Brooks, Andreas Laskaratos and Julien Piguet, and was the last Porsche to finish the race

At the halfway mark, at 02h30 on Sunday morning, the Porsche standings in the GTE Pro class were as follows: #91 Porsche 911 RSR was fifth with the #92 Porsche 911 RSR in eighth place. In the GTE Am class: the #56 Project 1 Porsche occupied fourth place, the #77 Dempsey Proton Racing car was fifth followed by Gulf Racing’s #86 Porsche in sixth place. In ninth place in GTE Am was the #99 Dempsey Proton Racing Porsche with the #78 Proton Racing car in tenth and the third of the Team Project 1 cars, the #89 Porsche, was down in 17th place in class. The #57 Porsche was in 18th place with the #88 Dempsey Proton Racing Porsche 20th in class. www.porscheroadandrace.com

Le Mans 24 Hours, 19/20 September 2020: The #91 works Porsche 911 RSR was driven by Gianmaria Bruni, Richard Lietz and Frederic Makowiecki struggled against the competition and finished fifth in the GTE Pro class www.porscheroadandrace.com

Le Mans 24 Hours, 19/20 September 2020: The #92 works Porsche 911 RSR of Michael Christensen, Kevin Estre and Laurens Vanthoor suffered from power steering problems and finished sixth in the GTE Pro class

At around 06h00 on Sunday morning, the #91 Porsche had to pit for around 20 minutes for repairs to the electrical system. Gianmaria Bruni and his teammates Richard Lietz and Frédéric Makowiecki were down in sixth place, with the #92 Porsche occupying seventh place. www.porscheroadandrace.com

Le Mans 24 Hours, 19/20 September 2020: A regular at Le Mans was the #86 Gulf Racing Porsche 911 RSR GTE Am driven by Ben Barker, Michael Wainwright and Andrew Watson. The Gulf Porsche finished fifth in the GTE Am class www.porscheroadandrace.com

Le Mans 24 Hours, 19/20 September 2020: A favourite at Le Mans from some years back was the #78 Felbermayr Porsche 911 RSR driven by Michele Beretta, Horst Felbermayr Jr and Max Van Splunteren. This car finished twelfth in the GTE Am class

At three-quarter distance and with 18 hours of racing behind them, the two works Porsche 911 RSRs were placed sixth (#91) and seventh (#92). In the GTE Am class at this time, Matt Campbell, Christian Ried and Riccardo Pera were running in second place with the #77 Porsche 911 RSR, while the #56 Project 1 Porsche was one place further back in third. www.porscheroadandrace.com

Le Mans 24 Hours, 19/20 September 2020: The #88 Dempsey-Proton Racing 911 RSR that was involved in an early accident, was recovered to the pit garage, repaired and sent back out again. Although the car was well down the field, drivers Dominique Bastien, Adrien De Leener and Thomas Preining finished the race but were not classified as they had not completed the required number of laps – here the car speeds through the early hours of Sunday morning

At 11h00 on Sunday the #57 Porsche 911 RSR called into the pits. In just 10 seconds flat, the Team Project 1 pit crew exchanged the door of the car as the mirror had been damaged. www.porscheroadandrace.com

Le Mans 24 Hours, 19/20 September 2020: The #89 Team Project 1 Porsche 911 RSR of Steve Brooks, Andreas Laskaratos and Julien Piguet battles with the #61 Ferrari. The Porsche finished 16th in the GTE Am class

With just three hours to go, the #91 Porsche 911 RSR and its sister car the #92 still occupied the same positions that they had three hours earlier, being sixth and seventh places respectively. In the GTE-Am class it was the same story, with the #77 Dempsey Proton Racing Porsche holding second place with the #56 Team Project 1 car in P3.

For the two works Porsches in the GTE Pro class the result was already certain, they were to finish second last and last in class. This is such a pity for the 4.2-litre Porsche RSRs which featured this new, larger engine at Le Mans for the first time. This new engine was designed and intended to provide the Porsches with extra torque for improved acceleration out of corners, and to allow them to reach their top speed quicker. Alas, this was not to be, and www.porscheroadandrace.com

reading between the lines of the press releases, this was a sore point with the teams as well.

Le Mans 24 Hours, 19/20 September 2020: The #91 works Porsche 911 RSR of Gianmaria Bruni, Richard Lietz and Frederic Makowiecki heads down the hill into the sunrise and towards the Esses early on Sunday morning

In the GTE Am class it was a different matter completely, as Team Project 1 founder Hans- Bernd Kamps explained, “Everything was coming together perfectly! But this time it just wasn’t enough. We had a perfect strategy and had been performing excellently throughout the race. Second place looked to be ours, but a safety car in the closing stages cost us our time advantage over our competitors and we fell back down to fourth.” www.porscheroadandrace.com

Le Mans 24 Hours, 19/20 September 2020: The #56 Team Project 1 Porsche 911 RSR GTE Am driven by Matteo Cairoli, Egidio Perfetti and Larry ten Voorde drove a faultless and consistent race, just missing out on a podium place

A podium place would have been a just reward for Egidio Perfetti, Matteo Cairoli and Larry ten Voorde. The trio were among the fastest in their class throughout the race, fighting among the lead cars and barely putting a foot wrong. In the end, just eight seconds was the gap between the #56 Porsche 911 RSR and a podium place. www.porscheroadandrace.com

Le Mans 24 Hours, 19/20 September 2020: The #92 works Porsche 911 RSR of Michael Christensen, Kevin Estre and Laurens Vanthoor starts another lap of Le Mans just before the finish of the race. They would finish sixth and last in the GTE Pro class

In fifth place in GTE Am was the #86 Gulf Racing 911 RSR driven by the all-British trio of Michael Wainwright, Ben Barker and Andrew Watson. Finishing in tenth place was the #99 Dempsey-Proton Racing 911 RSR with the #78 Porsche in 12th place. The second Project 1 team of Ben Keating, Jeroen Bleekemolen and Felipe Fraga crossed the finish line in 14th position. Steve Brooks, Andreas Laskaratos and Julien Piguet finished 16th in the third Project 1 Porsche 911 RSR, with the Le Mans experience much more important to the crew than the result. www.porscheroadandrace.com

Race summary

The race was dry throughout, warm and humid, although slightly cooler than earlier in the week. From the track side, in the GTE Pro class, the Aston Martins sounded as fresh at the end of 24 hours as they did at the start, and the too, sounded and looked good. But, if truth be told, the Porsches looked as though they were struggling for air at any part of the circuit.

Le Mans 24 Hours, 19/20 September 2020: The #57 Team Project 1 Porsche 911 RSR GTE Am driven by Jeroen Bleekemolen, Felipe Fraga and Ben Keating would have finished better than its eventual 14th in the GTE Am class, had it not been for an accident and various technical problems

A total of 16 cars were classified as non-finishers: NC – 5 cars; Retired – 10 cars; Disq – 1 www.porscheroadandrace.com

car. This means that there were 43 finishers, and in many cases the competition was intense right up to the end. In these modern times, the teams regard the Le Mans as a 24-hour sprint, the much-improved technical reliability of the race cars making this a distinct possibility.

This was indeed a Le Mans 24 Hours with a difference. Besides the absence of spectators, the paddock was sparsely populated and there was no contact between journalists and the teams or their PR representatives. All communication in this respect, including the annual ACO press conference, was done electronically most of which worked, in a fashion.

Le Mans 24 Hours, 19/20 September 2020: The #99 Dempsey-Proton Racing Porsche 911 RSR driven by Julien Andlauer, Vutthikorn Inthraphuvasak and Lucas Legeret, accelerates powers down the start/finish straight towards the end of the race on Sunday. This car would finish tenth in the GTE AM class www.porscheroadandrace.com

I certainly considered it a privilege to be included amongst those members of the media invited to attend, as the total number this year was down from the usual 750 personnel to just 150. This covers all aspects of the media and includes journalists, photographers, TV and radio, so this was huge honour for us at PORSCHE ROAD & RACE.

Le Mans 24 Hours, 19/20 September 2020: The #77 Dempsey-Proton Racing 911 RSR GTE Am driven by Matt Campbell, Riccardo Pera and Christian Ried was the highest finishing Porsche, and crossed the line in second place in the GTE Am class, just 50 seconds behind the class winning Aston Martin

Next year

The 2021 season will not see the field divided up the way we have become familiar with, so no more LMP1, but we will see the new (LMH) class in action. Toyota has www.porscheroadandrace.com

confirmed its participation for 2021, as has Alpine, Glickenhaus and ByKolles, while will return with a Hypercar for the 2022 season. However, current spec LMP1 cars will be permitted to be ‘grandfathered’ for use in the 2021 season.

The 2021 WEC season, the ninth in this current WEC series, will consist of only six races in the year, but these dates are still provisional at this stage. The 2021 season will also mark the return to the traditional annual calendar and will no longer follow the Super Season format split across two calendar years.

Rnd Race Circuit Date

Pre-season testing Sebring Int. Raceway Florida, USA 13-14 March 2021

1000 Miles of 1 Sebring Int. Raceway Florida, USA 19 March 2021 Sebring

2 6 Hours of Spa Spa-Francorchamps, Belgium 1 May 2021

3 , Le Mans 12-13 June 2021

4 6 Hours of Monza Autodromo Nazionale di Monza, Italy 18 July 2021

5 6 Hours of Fuji Oyama, Shizuoka, Japan26 September 2021

Bahrain International Circuit Sakhir, 6 6 Hours of Bahrain 20 November 2021 Bahrain

Numerous announcements will be made in the coming months which we will bring you as and when the news breaks. www.porscheroadandrace.com

STOP PRESS

It emerged after the race, following routine tests, that three members of the Porsche team have tested positive for COVID-19. As a result, Porsche has decided to send only a reduced number of participants to the 24-hour race at the Nürburgring. This affects the factory- contracted racing drivers as well as members of Porsche Motorsport and Manthey-Racing who worked at the 24 Hours of Le Mans last weekend. This involves a total of nine racing drivers who were to drive the six 911 GT3 Rs for four customer teams this coming weekend. Porsche is in discussions with the affected teams to look for solutions so that the remaining 911 GT3 Rs can compete. For the same reason, it means that the Porsche GT Team will also not be participating in the seventh round of the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship on September 27th at Mid-Ohio.

Written by: Glen Smale Images by: Virtual Motorpix/Glen Smale

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