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Le Mans 24 Hour memories from 2019
Published: 11th June 2020 By: Glen Smale
Online version: https://www.porscheroadandrace.com/le-mans-24-hour-memories-from-2019/
Le Mans 24 Hours, 15-16 June 2019: The #93 factory Porsche 911 RSR driven by Nick Tandy, Earl Bamber and Patrick Pilet speeds past the pit lane exit in the early evening during Q2 on Thursday 13 June
As the weekend of the original 2020 Le Mans 24 Hours approaches, 13-14 June, we take a look back at some of the events that took place during the race week in 2019. Had things been running normally in 2020, we would have been on the ground at Le Mans this week, firmly ensconced in the Media Centre and capturing all the pre-race action, practice, qualifying and all the other events leading up to race day. www.porscheroadandrace.com
Le Mans 24 Hours, 15-16 June 2019: The #86 Gulf Racing Porsche 911 RSR driven by Michael Wainwright, Ben Barker and Thomas Preining is put through scrutineering at the Place de la République on Monday 10 June
But because there are so many racing enthusiasts around the world disappointed at the lack of racing at present, we thought we would bring you a look behind the scenes and some of our memories from the 2019 Le Mans 24 Hours. You can visit our website for a full report on last year’s race here.
So, let’s reminisce a little about the 2019 Le Mans race week… www.porscheroadandrace.com
Le Mans 24 Hours, 15-16 June 2019: The #78 Proton Competition Porsche 911 RSR driven by Louis and Philippe Prette with Vincent Abril, is put through scrutineering at the Place de la République on Monday 10 June www.porscheroadandrace.com
Le Mans 24 Hours, 15-16 June 2019: The drivers line up under the Rolex arch on the start/finish straight for the annual “Class of 2019” photo shoot on Tuesday 11 June www.porscheroadandrace.com
Le Mans 24 Hours, 15-16 June 2019: The #99 Krohn Racing Porsche 911 RSR driven by Tracy Krohn, Patrick Long and Niclas Jönsson negotiates the Ford Chicane early on during practice on Wednesday 12 June. A short while later, the car was involved in an accident on the Mulsanne Straight in which the #99 car was damaged beyond repair and driver Tracy Krohn hospitalised. Despite a replacement chassis being sourced and the car being ready for racing on the weekend, the doctors would not give Tracy Krohn the all-clear to drive, although he revealed to the author that he was feeling fine. What a pity! www.porscheroadandrace.com
Le Mans 24 Hours, 15-16 June 2019: The #93 factory Porsche 911 RSR driven by Nick Tandy, Earl Bamber and Patrick Pilet enters the start/finish straight at the beginning of another lap during practice on Wednesday 12 June www.porscheroadandrace.com
Le Mans 24 Hours, 15-16 June 2019: The #56 Team Project 1 Porsche 911 RSR driven by Jörg Bergmeister, Patrick Lindsey and Egidio Perfetti rides the ‘baguettes’ as it negotiates the Ford Chicane early on during practice on Wednesday 12 June. This car would go on to win the GTE Am class www.porscheroadandrace.com
Le Mans 24 Hours, 15-16 June 2019: The #92 factory Porsche 911 RSR driven by Michael Christensen, Kévin Estre and Laurens Vanthoor exits the pit lane during practice on Wednesday 12 June www.porscheroadandrace.com
Le Mans 24 Hours, 15-16 June 2019: The #92 factory Porsche 911 RSR driven by Michael Christensen, Kévin Estre and Laurens Vanthoor exits the Ford Chicane during practice, just after the thunderstorm hit on Wednesday 12 June www.porscheroadandrace.com
Le Mans 24 Hours, 15-16 June 2019: The #86 Gulf Racing Porsche 911 RSR driven by Michael Wainwright, Ben Barker and Thomas Preining climbs the hill to the Dunlop Bridge during Q2 on Thursday 13 June www.porscheroadandrace.com
Le Mans 24 Hours, 15-16 June 2019: The #91 factory Porsche 911 RSR driven by Richard Lietz, Gianmaria Bruni and Frédéric Makowiecki climbs the hill to the Dunlop Bridge during Q2 on Thursday 13 June. The #91 Porsche would finish second in the GTE Pro class www.porscheroadandrace.com
Le Mans 24 Hours, 15-16 June 2019: The #94 factory Porsche 911 RSR driven by Mathieu Jaminet, Sven Müller and Dennis Olsen approaches the Dunlop Bridge during Q2 on Thursday 13 June www.porscheroadandrace.com
Le Mans 24 Hours, 15-16 June 2019: The author (left) sits with Tracy Krohn (right) in the team’s hospitality tent on Thursday 13 June. Krohn had just been released from the hospital with the news that he was not allowed to drive in the race www.porscheroadandrace.com
Le Mans 24 Hours, 15-16 June 2019: Race engineers Norbert Singer ex-Porsche (left) and Dr. Wolfgang Ullrich ex-Audi (right) deep in discussion after the annual ACO Press Conference on Friday 14 June www.porscheroadandrace.com
Le Mans 24 Hours, 15-16 June 2019: Patrick Dempsey, pictured after receiving the 2019 Spirit of Le Mans award from the ACO at the annual ACO Press Conference on Friday 14 www.porscheroadandrace.com
June
Le Mans 24 Hours, 15-16 June 2019: The author (left) sits with Wayne Taylor (right), a pair of old school friends from South Africa on Friday 14 June. Taylor, who became a highly successful racing driver then later set up his own race team in the USA, Wayne Taylor Racing, always visits Le Mans when his sons (Ricky and Jordan) are competing there www.porscheroadandrace.com
Le Mans 24 Hours, 15-16 June 2019: The author caught up with legend Hurley Haywood for a quick chat in the Porsche hospitality tent on Friday 14 June. Not long before, we had just published a review of his autobiography on the Porsche Road & Race website www.porscheroadandrace.com
Le Mans 24 Hours, 15-16 June 2019: Porsche PR manager, Oliver Hilger (left), puts factory driver Nick Tandy (2nd from left), Director Factory Motorsport Pascal Zurlinden (3rd from left) and Mark Webber (right) under the spotlight during a Q&A session for the media in the Porsche hospitality tent on Friday 14 June www.porscheroadandrace.com
Le Mans 24 Hours, 15-16 June 2019: On every Friday afternoon at Le Mans, the pit lane is open to the public for the ever-popular pit walk. In this photo, the pit lane is quite empty but it is usually chock full of spectators
2020 Le Mans 24 Hours
Although we have been given a revised date of 19-20 September for the running of this year’s 24-hour race, it is not a simple case of just shifting the date. In September, the cars will run for longer in the dark than they would do in June, and the weather will be decidedly different. It might also be a possibility that the race will take place without spectators, or will it take place at all?
This year’s race will be different, that much we know for sure. The Covid-19 pandemic will have affected many of the usual racegoers in more ways than one as the race will now take www.porscheroadandrace.com
place at a time outside of the traditional summer holiday time. Added to this is the fact that many folk will be furloughed and perhaps with income down, Le Mans may be beyond their reach right now.
Le Mans 24 Hours, 15-16 June 2019: The quiet before the storm! As the days pass, the Media Centre gets progressively fuller until on the race weekend, it is heaving with journalists, photographers, computers, camera and TV gear. In this photo, Porsche Road & Race’s Elke Smale (left) works on some photos for the website
Added to this situation is the fact that drivers have had no time behind the wheel of a race car for the duration of the lockdown. Racing drivers rely on quick reflexes and a full racing programme during the season, and that means regular time in the car. If racing resumes just before the big one in September, there will be precious little time in which to sharpen their skills to be ready for the final race of the 2019/2020 season. However, the www.porscheroadandrace.com
#LeMans24Virtual might go some of the way to help drivers prepare for the race.
Porsche Road & Race can confirm, after discussions with the motorsport press department, that Porsche will be fielding just two 911 RSRs at this year’s Le Mans race. The two factory cars #91 and #92 will be starting at Le Mans, while the two CORE Autosport #93 and #94 cars will not be participating as originally planned as they will be racing in the IMSA series in the USA.
Le Mans 24 Hours, 15-16 June 2019: Finally race day arrives, and the grid is packed with drivers, team personnel, members of the media and many hanger’s on. You develop very sharp elbows in such situations, but sometimes it is just good to view the scrum from a distance. The start of the race is just a short while away…
What the fans really enjoy about an event like Le Mans, is that they can get up close to the www.porscheroadandrace.com
drivers and the cars but this will possibly be something that could be missing at this year’s race. There is a lot that is unknown this year, and we expect that the ACO will make an announcement in the middle of July about crowd attendance, but we can only hope that this great race will return to some form of normality in future years.
Written by: Glen Smale Images by: Virtual Motorpix/Glen Smale
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