Audi Wins the 82nd Le Mans 24 Hours!

[chaozbandit]

Yes, I did watch the entire race from start to finish. Let's just say many litres of coffee were consumed.

 

 

 

UPDATE: Audi has just released the press video following their victory at Le Mans 2014.

 

For those who don't know, the 82nd running of the Le Mans 24 Hours was super hyped for various reasons. Aside from updated FIA regulations requiring participating manufacturers to update their hybrid powertrains was the exciting announcement of Porsche's return to Endurance racing with their 919 Hybrid. Though it was a hard-fought battle for the legendary German marque, a podium finish was not meant to be as both #14 and #20 919s retired from the race with 2 hours to go. On the Toyota side of things, the TS040s also proved to be extremely competitive, building upon the already-magnificent TS030 chassis via updated aerodynamics and an improved hybrid system that moved power to all four wheels instead of the previous editions rear-only. Although the #8 TS040 crashed into the #3 R18 e-tron Quattro, the team worked tirelessly to repair and for the majority of the race ran it as a test mule, all the way to it's P3 finish. The #7 TS040 however retired due to an electrical fault in the hybrid system, essentially crippling the entire chassis. Mazda will remain the only Asian (JAP) manufacturer to have won the Le Mans endurance race, or at least until next year when Nissan joins the fray with their GTR LM LMP1 along with a very determined Toyota.

 

Though it was no surprise Audi would win, it was a hardfought battle for the four rings. The R18 e-Tron Quattros lacked the pace to match their rivals in the first half of the race and didn't wake up until darkness fell and the diesels could really push it. Despite a heart-breaking crash for Duval in the #3 car, the team pushed on and battled the #20 919 for P2, and eventually P1. For those who don't know, the #1 Audi was also completely destroyed in a high-speed crash during Wednesday's free practice (Duval is reported to be recovering in Hospital), and Audi worked through the night to import an entirely new carbon-fibre tub and supporting components to rebuild the car, which later finished P2 overall (had it been any other manufacturer, they wouldn't have even bothered). The real star of the show proved to be the #2 team however, yes the same crew that starred in the 2012 film Truth in 24 II, which showcased the abilities of Audi's female chief engineer and what Audi will do when two of it's three cars crashes out. Benoit Treluyer drove it to the finish, with visible tears in his eyes as he drove the final victory lap around the Circuit de la Sarthe (new for this year). Only three of the seven LMP1-H cars and only one of the two LMP1-L Rebellion cars survived to make it to the finish. (There was also supposed to be a Lotus sponsored car this year, but it was not finished in time)

 

Overall, it was an incredible race for all classes, not just the top-factory-only efforts. LMP2 (the cost-capped prototype privateer-only class) also saw some close action; A new chassis was also introduced this year due to the FIA mandating new safety regulations requiring more closed-cockpit cars, especially for the prototype class. Enter the OAK Racing Ligier chassis (which looks gorgeous imo), which would join the already proven Oreca, Zytek, and Morgan chassis in a battle for championship points. As far as engine choices goes, Nissan was the clear favourite for the field, having been chosen for the majority of cars in this class over rivals Judd (BMW) and Honda. The winner for this class was the Zytek Z11SN-Nissan chassis by the Jota racing team, who fought extremely hard to fend off their close-running rivals. There was also a Caterham sponsored car in this class, but I lost track of it.

 

As most of those who follow Le Mans will know, the FIA always allocates one garage spot to an experimental car of significant importance. Two years ago, the spot was awarded to Nissan with their DeltaWing project and despite the highly controversial lawsuit that followed, the heartbreaking sabotage by fellow countryman, and the highly emotional retirement, Nissan did get some important R&D out of it. Fast-forward two years and given the technology developed from the LEAF-RC, and we get the ZEOD-RC (Zero-Emissions On-Demand RaceCar). built using the highly efficient gasoline motor from the Juke platform, infused with the hybrid system of the LEAF-RC, and built with the aero-dynamics of the DeltaWing, we were all expecting a huge result from Nissan once again. But alas, it was not meant to be as less than three hours into the race, the ZEOD-RC retired with gearbox problems that rendered the entire powertrain useless. It was not entirely a loss for Nissan though, as in free practice they managed to hit 300 km/h on the Mulsanne Straight and managed to complete an entire lap of the Circuit de la Sarthe on battery power alone. It is unclear whether they could have repeated this feat over and over again throughout the night, but it showed real promise. Hopefully Nissan can input this knowledge within a year's time, as we wait for the next GT-R (R36) and the GTR LM LMP1 chassis that was recently announced (fun fact: the #0 ZEOD-RC was driven by GranTurismo Academy winners, and Reip tried everything he could to get the car running again). Provided at the bottom of the post is a video to the achievement.

 

 

Both GTE classes (GTE-PRO and GTE-AM) also saw some great racing action, with Chevrolet fielding their highly anticipated C7-R, Porsche with their updated 911 GT3 RSR (type 991), Ferrari with the ever so popular 458 Italia GTE/GT2 and Aston Martin Racing returning with their proven V8 Vantage GTEs. There were so many changes for the lead and for position in general that just keeping up with favourite drivers was difficult; for those who don't know, the Stig (yes, THE Stig) aka Ben Collins was racing in this class, along with movie star Patrick Dempsey and various other Pro (FIA gold and platinum drivers), some of which had factory racing experience from all around the world. Drivers from other disciplines also moonlighted in many free seats, coming from DTM, Formula 1, and IndyCar, among others. After 24 hours and countless mechanical and strategical faults, it was the #51 Ferrari 458 GTE of AF Corse (who fielded a total of 9 cars this year) who took the victory for the GTE-PRO class and the #95 Aston Martin Racing V8 Vantage GTE who took the win for the GTE-AM class. This is a bit of an aside, but those who watched last year would remember that the #95 car was the same car that had a high-speed crash at the beginning of the race at Tetre-Rouge, taking the life of super-talented Allan Simonsen; that part of the track has since been changed and to see the very same crew win in the class means a lot to the team. 

 

Congratulations to all 54 teams who participated in this year's Le Mans 24 Hours. You never know what will happen at the Circuit de la Sarthe and aside from the couple of hours of rain (it always rains here, no matter what), we got as much close racing as anyone could have wanted. Huge thanks to the organizers and staff who make this possible, and for the organizational bodies like the FIA who update regulations to improve the racing, not hinder it (things like slow zones that sat below full safety cars, which reduced the number of cautions and allowed teams to race for longer). Although the list of mechanical faults was extensive (revolving around tires and FIa-mandated components, specifically for GTE cars), there werent many retirements this year and no major accidents for us to remember going forward. If you're interested in motorsports and the increasingly impressive technology of the manufacturers participating, this is definitely a race you have to watch (not saying you're doing it wrong if you don't or prefer Formula 1 over this, but it really is more relevant to road cars). Best of luck to the teams that continue onto the rest of the WEC season, which has the next race in mid-September (6 Hours of the Circuit of the Americas).

 

But, before the finish and as the clock ticked into the final hour, we all knew Audi would win (though I'll be honest here, it really was hard to call it with 8 hours to go when all teams showed no signs of retiring). The #2 R18 e-tron Quattro was leading the field (and set the fastest lap of 3:22.567 during Happy Hour, besting the previous fastest lap of 3:23.547 set by a TS040) and the next closest Audi was the #1, fully rebuilt and 3 laps down from the leader. I don't know whether they intentionally made this call, or whether it was strategic to just get them home, but the two remaining R18s drove back-to-back as they paraded through the field to claim the four rings a thirteenth victory. Below are screenshots taken from the Audi onboards. (included: Benoit Treluyer in-car as he crosses the finish line at 3PM, parade lap before returning to Park Ferme)

 

 

 

As far as coverage goes, I know there was a dedicated Le Mans app that provided in-car onboards and audio, as well as live-timing if you paid for the app. Those in the states got streams on TV via FoxSports and those in Europe had EuroSport among others. However being in Canada, we barely got any TV coverage at all (compared to last year when SPEED streamed a couple of hours but skipped all the night racing) and like usual, we relied on purely internet streams. Luckily teams like NISMO (who ran LMP2 cars and the ZEOD-RC) streamed all of it on their YouTube channel (similar to what they do for all their Blancpain races with the GTR GT3) and Audi (who do this every year) had dedicated on-board streams on their website, as well as a synchronized audio feed to the Mobile1 RadioLeMans studio (I prefer this every year just because the commentators are so great). The fact that there is not much coverage of motorsport in general nowadays is utterly disgraceful to motorsports fans, however niche we may be, and this applies to all disciplines (not just endurance racing in general). Come on networks, allocate some of your resources so we can have a better viewing experience without charging us crazy premiums, and to the online streamers who do have this service: get rid of your stupid region locks. Though, the fact that the FIFA World Cup is going on at the same time may be a contributing factor...

 

I need more coffee.

-EXTRA CONTENT-

Audi making a pun following their victory: https://twitter.com/AudiBENL/status/478164014560600065

Follow me and my live-tweeting adventure: https://twitter.com/chaozbandit

 

VIDEO: Audi welcomes back Porsche to Le Mans

 

FILM: Truth in 24 II (for Audi R18 #2)

 

 

-RACE FINISH-

 

 

POSITIONS AFTER 24 HOURS

Pos Cl Car Drivers Laps Gap
1. LMP1 #2 Audi Fassler/Lotterer/Treluyer 379
2. LMP1 #1 Audi Di Grassi/Gene/Kristensen 376 + 3 Laps
3. LMP1 #8 Toyota Davidson/Lapierre/Buemi 374 + 5 Laps
4. LMP1 #12 Rebellion Prost/Heidfeld/Beche 360 + 19 Laps
5. LMP2 #38 Zytek Dolan/Tincknell/Turvey 356 + 23 Laps
6. LMP2 #46 Ligier Thiriet/Badey/Gommendy 355 + 24 Laps
7. LMP2 #36 Alpine Chatin/Panciatici/Webb 355 + 2m36.427s
8. LMP2 #24 Oreca Rast/Charouz/Capillaire 354 + 25 Laps
9. LMP2 #35 Ligier Brundle/Mardenborough/Shulzhitskiy 354 + 1m47.751s
10. LMP2 #43 Morgan Klien/Hirsch/Brandela 352 + 27 Laps
11. LMP2 #33 Ligier Cheng/Tung/Fong 347 + 32 Laps
12. LMP2 #34 Oreca Frey/Mailleux/Lancaster 342 + 37 Laps
13. GTEP #51 Ferrari Bruni/Vilander/Fisichella 339 + 40 Laps
14. GTEP #73 Chevrolet Magnussen/Garcia/Taylor 338 + 41 Laps
15. GTEP #92 Porsche Holzer/Makowiecki/Lietz 337 + 42 Laps
16. LMP2 #29 Morgan Schell/Leutwiller/Roussel 336 + 43 Laps
17. GTEA #95 Aston Poulsen/Heinemeier-Hansson/Thiim 334 + 45 Laps
18. GTEP #74 Chevrolet Gavin/Milner/Westbrook 333 + 46 Laps
19. GTEA #88 Porsche Ried/Bachler/Al Qubaisi 332 + 47 Laps
20. GTEA #61 Ferrari Perez-Companc/Cioci/Venturi 331 + 48 Laps
21. GTEA #90 Ferrari Montecalvo/Roda/Ruberti 330 + 49 Laps
22. GTEA #77 Porsche Dempsey/Foster/Long 329 + 50 Laps
23. LMP2 #42 Zytek Kimber-Smith/McMurry/Dyson 329 + 4.355s
24. GTEA #98 Aston Dalla Lana/Lamy/Nygaard 329 + 42.976s
25. GTEA #66 Ferrari Al Faisal/Neiman/Pumpelly 327 + 52 Laps
26. GTEA #70 Ferrari Nakano/Ehret/Rich 327 + 1m40.086s
27. GTEA #58 Ferrari Barthez/Pons/Ayari 325 + 54 Laps
28. GTEA #57 Ferrari Krohn/Jonsson/Collins 324 + 55 Laps
29. GTEA #76 Porsche Narac/Armindo/Hallyday 323 + 56 Laps
30. GTEA #53 Ferrari Mowlem/Patterson/Hamilton 319 + 60 Laps
31. GTEP #79 Porsche MacNeil/Curtis/Bleekemolen 319 + 1m16.511s
32. GTEA #67 Porsche Maris/Merlin/Helary 317 + 62 Laps
33. GTEP #97 Aston Turner/Mucke/Senna 310 + 69 Laps
34. GTEP #91 Porsche Pilet/Bergmeister/Tandy 309 + 70 Laps
35. LMP2 #27 Oreca Zlobin/Salo/Ladygin 303 + 76 Laps
36. GTEA #62 Ferrari Mallegol/Bachelier/Blank 295 + 84 Laps
37. LMP1 #14 Porsche Dumas/Jani/Lieb 348 + 31 Laps
38. LMP1 #20 Porsche Bernhard/Webber/Hartley 346 + 33 Laps
39. LMP2 #50 Morgan Ragues/Taylor/Ihara 341 + 38 Laps
40. LMP1 #7 Toyota Wurz/Sarrazin/Nakajima 219 Retired
41. GTEA #72 Ferrari Bertolini/Shaitar/Basov 196 Retired
42. GTEA #75 Porsche Perrodo/Collard/Palttala 194 Retired
43. GTEP #52 Ferrari Griffin/Parente/Leo 140 Retired
44. LMP2 #26 Morgan Rusinov/Pla/Canal 120 Retired
45. GTEA #60 Ferrari Mann/Case/Giammaria 115 Retired
46. LMP2 #47 Oreca Howson/Bradley/Imperatori 87 Retired
47. LMP1 #13 Rebellion Kraihamer/Belicchi/Leimer 73 Retired
48. LMP2 #48 Oreca Berthon/Gonzalez/Chandhok 73 Retired
49. LMP2 #41 Zytek Munemman/Latif/Winslow 31 Retired
50. GTEP #71 Ferrari Rigon/Kaffer/Beretta 28 Retired
51. LMP1 #3 Audi Albuquerque/Bonanomi/Jarvis 25 Retired
52. GTEA #81 Ferrari Wyatt/Rugolo/Bird 22 Retired
53. LMP2 #37 Oreca Ladygin/Minassian/Mediani 9 Retired
54. CDNT #0 Nissan Ordonez/Reip/Motoyama 5 Retired

[ZetZet]

Who could've possibly guessed? Right?

[ObeseWalrus]

Tom Kristensen would have won if he did not have the turbo problems

[chaozbandit]

Who could've possibly guessed? Right?

 

Audi completely wrecked one R18 in free practice and lost another R18 within the first 12 hours. Had they not rebuilt the #1 R18, Toyota would have still had two TS040s to challenge for the lead. Porsche would have also been able to run their 919s with a larger safety margin, and for the latter 12 hours were challenging for P1 and P3. It was pretty hard to call before the final 6 hours, especially since the R18s really lacked pace to keep up early on.

 

 

Tom Kristensen would have won if he did not have the turbo problems

 

Both the #1 and #2 R18s went into the garage to have their turbos replaced.

[ZetZet]

Audi completely wrecked one R18 in free practice and lost another R18 within the first 12 hours. Had they not rebuilt the #1 R18, Toyota would have still had two TS040s to challenge for the lead. Porsche would have also been able to run their 919s with a larger safety margin, and for the latter 12 hours were challenging for P1 and P3. It was pretty hard to call before the final 6 hours, especially since the R18s really lacked pace to keep up early on.

I remember last year both toyotas got messed up during the race because they were trying so hard to catch up to Audis. One flipped and one ran off the track I think. It was funny.

[Levent]

ZEOD RC was fun to watch till it broke down but still made 300kmh only on electric

[chaozbandit]

I remember last year both toyotas got messed up during the race because they were trying so hard to catch up to Audis. One flipped and one ran off the track I think. It was funny.

 

Last year the #8 TS030 was turned into by a Ferrari 458 GTE in the AM class at over 300 km/h (not that funny when you consider Davidson broke his back). The #7 retired due to engine failure.

[ZetZet]

ZEOD RC was fun to watch till it broke down but still made 300kmh only on electric

Electric motor is superior in power to weight. It's just batteries are shit.

 

Last year the #8 TS030 was turned into by a Ferrari 458 GTE in the AM class at over 300 km/h (not that funny when you consider Davidson broke his back). The #7 retired due to engine failure.

The flip was funny. I don't keep track of the crashes though.  :lol:

[chaozbandit]

 

Electric motor is superior in power to weight. It's just batteries are shit.

 

The flip was funny. I don't keep track of the crashes though.  :lol:

 

 

From an entertainment aspect, the 90s crash of Mark Webber in a Mercedes CLK GTR down the Mulsanne Straight was funnier, but still crashes like this aren't something to laugh at. 

[ZetZet]

From an entertainment aspect, the 90s crash of Mark Webber in a Mercedes CLK GTR down the Mulsanne Straight was funnier, but still crashes like this aren't something to laugh at. 

Oh I'm used to laughing at funny ones because I mostly watch amateur autocross in my country. In those crashes pretty much nothing can happen because speeds are so low, but the triple flips are amazing. Also once a guy flipped over on practice and drove off like it was nothing. 

[juretrn]

Audi uber alles!

 

I knew they can do it.

[Levent]

http://www.dailymotion.com/video/x1t4y0s_toyota-hybrid-pulled-out-to-overtake-in-the-traffic-wec-6-hours-of-spa-francorchamps_auto 

i wish it was possible to fit that electric engine to my 1.2 inline3 polo

[ZiggyManSaad]

Was a good race. It got really good in that first down pour. So much carnage. 

[chaozbandit]

http://www.dailymotion.com/video/x1t4y0s_toyota-hybrid-pulled-out-to-overtake-in-the-traffic-wec-6-hours-of-spa-francorchamps_auto 

i wish it was possible to fit that electric engine to my 1.2 inline3 polo

 

The Toyota TS040s are exceptional this year, hence why they were the favourites to win the race. The major change from the TS030 from last year to the current TS040 was that the hybrid power system drives all four wheels, instead of the previous two (which is what gave the TS030 an edge over the 2013 R18). Also Toyota uses a different KERS system to the Audi, which is why it can release it more efficiently (though I believe the Audi stores it quicker); Also on average, a LMP1 class car is over 100 km/h faster than a GTE class car and the Toyotas at Spa 2014 ran a higher downforce configuration, meaning they are capable of even better acceleration.

 

 

Was a good race. It got really good in that first down pour. So much carnage. 

 

Yeah, aside from the cars that went off track, the Audi crash was pretty brutal.

 

[ZiggyManSaad]

 

Yeah, aside from the cars that went off track, the Audi crash was pretty brutal.

 

The video from the Porsche that was in the guardrail shows how bad it really was. Two Toyota's taken out in less than 30 seconds less than 1/2 mile from each other; one in this crash and one down at the chicane.