The 24 Hours of Le Mans is widely acclaimed as one of the most prestigious automobile races on Earth and is quite aptly included in the ‘Triple Crown of Motorsport’ alongside the Indy 500 and Monaco Grand Prix. And this year’s edition of the race is expected to be the fastest ever, with LMP1 teams getting even more out of hybrid technologies than they did last year.
The speed of the cars is not the only the only attraction of this 24 hour extravaganza. Manufacturer interest in the FIA World Endurance Championship (WEC) - the series that this legendary French race is a part of - has been recovering rapidly with Porsche and Nissan re-joining the series in successive years.
We preview the event's 83rd running, looking at the prospects of all manufacturers competing in the flagship LMP1 category as well as Karun Chandhok, who in 2012 became the first Indian driver to go the distance. Chandhok has his sights on a podium within one of the many categories of sportscar racing that run at the same time.
[caption id="attachment_52250" align="alignnone" width="642"] sunset - Le Mans 24 Hours at Circuit Des 24 Heures - Le Mans - France[/caption]
WEC CATEGORIES
A WEC grid consists of both sportscars and prototypes and is formally divided into four categories, referred to as 'classes'. These are LMP1, LMP2, GTE Pro and GTE Am.
LMP1 (Le Mans Prototype) consists of the most sophisticated prototype endurance sportscars and features entries from both manufacturers and privateers. Four car manufacturers currently compete in LMP1, with Nissan joining fellow Japanese car maker Toyota and VW Group stablemates Audi and Porsche. Each of them would be boosted by hybrid power on top of their petrol/diesel engines.
Among the privateers, former-F1 team principal Colin Kolles will pitch his eponymous team against Rebellion Racing, who have switched from Toyota to AER engines over the winter.
LMP2 is reserved for privateers and sees car designed to a set budget. 19 cars from 15 teams will go head-to-head in this class, with G-Drive favourites for the victory on back of successive wins at Spa and Silverstone. Several teams from the European Le Mans Series (ELMS) and American-based Tudor United Sportscar Championship also compete at Le Mans in this category, given the high-profile status of this event.
Road-legal sportscars compete in GTE-Pro and GTE-Am classes, with the past experience of drivers determining which category they would race in. Ferrari, Porsche, Aston Martin, and Corvette, among others field customers car in these classes with Ford expected to join the bandwagon next year.
THE HEAVY HITTERS
As far as the overall stakes are concerned, however, the attention is squarely focused on the alpha category of Le Mans prototypes, LMP1. Audi, Porsche, defending WEC champions Toyota and Nissan with their radical and attention grabbing GT-R LM NISMO are the entrants. Realistically though, it is down to just between Audi, Porsche and Toyota as Nissan's testing and initial qualifying pace is not even good enough to be faster than the most rapid LMP2 entrant.
Audi
Audi has held stranglehold at Le Mans since the turn of the century, winning the prestigious race in 13 out of 15 occasions. Its most recent triumph came last year, when despite being only second best to Toyota’s LMP1 challenger, the #2 car of Lotterer, Fassler and Treluyer took the top step of the podium on account of superior reliability. The German luxury car manufacturer has a reported annual budget of 1,547 crore (242 million USD) for its sportscar racing program and given their results and how much mileage they rack up over the course of a WEC season, one could say it has been pretty emphatically justified.
The expectations remain high this year with the German manufacturer overhauling the R18 e-tron quattro. Substantial gains have been made by improving the aero-efficiency of the car while the regenerative storage capacity has been doubled to 4 (megajoule) mj per lap.
On the drivers front, Audi has lost Tom Kristensen, who duly retired from the sport at the end of last season, after registering nine Le Mans wins in the record books. However, the German marquee stills enjoys a formidable driver line-up, comprising of four WEC champions and equal number of Le Mans winners.
Leading the charge will be the the #7 car of Andre Lotterer, Marcel Fassler and Benoit Treluyer, who arrive in France after back-to-back victories at Silverstone and Spa. The #8 car will be driven by Formula E title contender Lucas Di Grassi, Loic Duval and Oliver Jarvis while Rene Rast, Marco Bonanomi, and Filipe Albuquerque will be fielded in team’s third entry.
[caption id="attachment_52274" align="alignnone" width="642"] Car #8 / AUDI SPORT TEAM JOEST (DEU) / AUDI R18 E-TRON QUATTRO Hybrid / Lucas DI GRASSI (BRA) / Loic DUVAL (FRA) / Oliver JARVIS (GBR) - Le Mans 24 Hours at Circuit Des 24 Heures - Le Mans - France[/caption]
Porsche
Porsche’s return to the top echelon of sportscar racing has only yielded a single victory to date although the outfit has consistently finished on the podium. But a company like Porsche will never settle for anything less than a victory at WEC’s blue riband event, especially after how the 2014 race unfolded.
Ex-F1 driver Mark Webber was leading the race in the #20 car, before mechanical gremlins subsided him to the garage, only a few hours before the chequered flag. The second entry, meanwhile, finished down in 11th place, after its own share of problems.
To avoid a repeat of last year, Porsche have made significant steps to improve the reliability of the 919 Hybrid, while also managing to make major performance leap ways. The car is nearly untouchable in qualifying and Audi have given hope of fighting its VW group stablemate for pole position.
In race trim too, Porsche looks to have made major strides, as proved from their long run pace in testing. The upgraded 919 Hybrid is also easier on the tyres than the outgoing car while upgradation to the 8 mj category would come handy on Circuit de la Sarthe’s long straights.
Like Audi, Porsche is also fielding an extra car at Le Mans, driven by Force India F1 driver Nico Hulkenberg, GTE graduate Nick Tandy and Porsche Supercup winner Earl Bamber. While Tandy and Bamber come from Porsche’s drivers stable, Hulkenberg decision to race at Le Mans shows his growing frustration at not finding a top seat in Formula 1.
The two full season entries maintain the same lineup as last year, with Marc Lieb, Romain Dumas and Neel Jani driving the #18 car, and Timo Bernhard, Brendon Hartley and Mark Webber driving the other Porsche in retro red colours.
[caption id="attachment_52245" align="alignnone" width="642"] Car #18 / PORSCHE TEAM (DEU) / PORSCHE 919 HYBRID Hybrid / Romain DUMAS (FRA) / Neel JANI (CHE) / Marc LIEB (DEU) - Le Mans 24 Hours at Circuit Des 24 Heures - Le Mans - France[/caption]
Toyota
Toyota might have won last year’s WEC title, a win at Le Mans eludes the Japanese marque - a race that’s worth more than the entire championship when it comes to bragging rights. And with Audi and Porsche having out-developed Toyota over the winter, there’s little chance one would see a Japanese car on the top step of the podium.
Toyota has sticked to the 6 mj category but has changed over 80% of the parts of the car, while also managing to shed weight by a few pounds. Updates include a brand new front structure and a new aerodynamic package.
Last year’s title winners Sebastien Buemi and Anthony Davidson would be behind the wheels of the #1 car, along with Kazuki Nakajima who has recovered from a crash at Spa in which he fractured his vertebra. The sister Toyota car also has a strong driver trio in form of two-time Le Mans winner Alex Wurz, multiple WEC race winner Stephane Sarrazin and former F1 test driver Mike Conway.
[caption id="attachment_52249" align="alignnone" width="642"] #2 TOYOTA RACING - Le Mans 24 Hours at Circuit Des 24 Heures - Le Mans - France[/caption]
Nissan
Nissan made a high-profile entry into WEC by showcasing the GT-R Nismo LM in a commercial during Super Bowl in February. The radical LMP1 challenger is a front-engined, front-wheel drive with rear tyres narrower than the front.
Naturally, the radical design brought a stew of issues along with it, forcing the Japanese manufacturer to skip the first two races in favour of more testing. It has also made some compromises on both the chassis and power unit side, such as giving up on four-wheel drive(now planned for next year), and competing in the lowest 2mj category, while having clear intentions of running in the highest 8mj category from the very beginning.
As far as Nissan’s driver roster is concerned, the #23 car will be shared by LMP2 championship runners up Olivier Pla, GT Academy winner Jann Mardenborough and ex-Marussia F1 driver Max Chilton. Harry Tincknell. Michael Krumm, Alex Buncombe will be driving the #22 car while Tsugio Matsuda, Mark Olegovich Shulzhitskiy, and Lucas Ordóñez will share duties in Nissan’s third car that will only be run at Le Mans.
[caption id="attachment_52251" align="alignnone" width="642"] Car #22 / NISSAN MOTORSPORTS (JPN) / NISSAN GT-R LM NISMO Hybrid / Harry TINCKNELL (GBR) / Michael KRUMM (DEU) / Alex BUNCOMBE (GBR) - Le Mans 24 Hours at Circuit Des 24 Heures - Le Mans - France[/caption]
KARUN CHANDHOK'S FOURTH ASSAULT AT LE MANS
Karun Chandhok’s Formula E campaign may have faltered since his fifth and sixth place finishes in Beijing and Putrajaya, the Chennai born driver arrives in France with his sights firmly set on a class podium.
Chandhok is in the third year of his association with Ireland's Nissan-powered Murphy Prototype in the LMP2 class. Participation in the 2013 edition - following a sixth place overall finish in 2012 with Honda powered JRM in the LMP1 class - resulted in a 12th place overall finish and sixth in LMP2.
Last year's race ended for Chandhok when around a quarter of the way into the 24 hours, he collided with another car in wet conditions, forcing Murphy Prototype to retire from the race.
Based on times in qualifying, Murphy may not achieve an LMP2 podium but will most likely do so in the ELMS class should they finish the race. Although, predictions and assumptions in this most dramatic of car races are often hard to back up given its inherent unpredictability and factors that include fuel loads, tyre life, reliability and the X-factor that the drivers bring behind the wheel and pedals.
Ultimately all the teams, drivers and the hardy fans who stick it out to follow the event can do is just enjoy the ride.
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