Once again the Le Mans 24 Hours threw up an excellent race from start to finish. Just like last year there was drama throughout the weekend, but this time around it was in GTE Pro where the race would be won or lost on the last lap.
Up front there was the mammoth fight between Toyota and Porsche. Toyota had the race in the bag, set a new fastest lap by 2 seconds, and had the race pace to keep Porsche at bay. Porsche even had problems with one of there cars early on, having to replace a hybrid motor drive unit. But once again that didn’t seem to matter as all 3 Toyotas hit problems. One had the same problem as Porsche with a hybrid motor issue, another had clutch failure (Not of there doing) and the third was hit by a lmp2 car that resulted in a flat tire. That tire was the death of the car though, as it chewed up more than just bodywork. Oh and lets not forget the Porsche V4 that let go. (Watch the highlights to see how this all worked its self out)
LMP2 had an epic fight and was even challenging for an overall win right up into the afternoon of the Sunday. There had been people joking about a LMP2 on the overall podium, but no one saw what was too come.
GTE Pro was where the real fight was though. The BoP had made all the cars competitive with each other, even with Ford’s whining. Through out the night Aston Martin Racing held the lead, but as pit stops where taken the lead swapped. This eventually brought the Corvettes and Porsche’s into the overall fight into the morning. Ford and Ferrari also had there shots, but some bad luck put an end to there chances.
But it was the last pit stop that made things really intense, Corvette and Aston both pitted at the same time. Corvette was in the lead, Aston second, and they where coming out of the pits nose to tail. Cue a mammoth battle that was only split by seconds, then the pressure got too much and a mistake was made. Once that had happened it was only a matter of time, on the start-finish the inevitable happened, the Aston pulled out and drove straight past the Corvette. A real race and a great farewell to the V8 Vantage GTE, which is to be replaced at the end of the year.
GTE Am, was a race of patient’s, Aston Martin lead at first, but during the night fell by the way side. JMW in there new Ferrari 488 GTE pulled out in front and never looked back. To say this was there first race with the car, it’s an impressive result too go straight into a 24 hour race and win. But that is what happened. Now we just need to wait another year for the next big race.
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It was always going to be unpredictable, but few could have anticipated a race with so many twists and turns…all the way to the chequered flag.
The 2017 24 Hours of Le Mans – third round of the FIA World Endurance Championship – was full of emotion, joy and disappointment, heat and drama, and it was Porsche LMP Team’s No.2 919 Hybrid which finally conquered all those sensations to take its 19th win at the world’s greatest endurance race.
A winner in the LMGTE Pro category was never going to be easy to predict, but this year’s 24 Hours of Le Mans kept fans, viewers, media and competitors on the edge of their seats right to the chequered flag. The race was held in intense heat and was pronounced “tough” by drivers up and down the field.
