Showing posts with label 2014 Le Mans. Show all posts
Showing posts with label 2014 Le Mans. Show all posts
Audi Triumphs again at Le Mans!

Photo credits: Audi

What a great race it was! The 24 Hours of Le Mans proved its self once again as one of the best races of the year. The 2014's edition saw an epic battle between Porsche, Toyota and Audi. Each one the three giant constructors looked like a winner at some point of the race.


After Ferrari president Luca Di Montezemolo gave the drivers the chequered flag last year, it was Fernando Alonso's turn to wave the French flag at the start of this year's race. This strengthens the possibility that Ferrari might consider entering Le Mans with a LMP1 prototype in the near future. But this is just speculation since Ferrari is already involved in Le Mans racing in the LM GTE Pro category. With that said, back to the race!


During the first part of the race, Toyota built a solid lead thanks to Audi's and Porsche's troubles but especially thanks to its powerful TS040 Hybrid racer which was clearly the fastest among the three.


Toyota dominated the race throughout the night but then came the time for the Japanese automaker to have its share of troubles. Audi took the lead of the 24 Hours race after overtaking the leading Toyota which stopped at Arnage. Porsche was following close behind but with a clearly slower car.


The dawn lights brought us a new leader as Nakajima's Toyota TS040 Hybrid #7 officially retired.


With the leading Toyota out of the race, things were looking good again for Tom Kristensen in the Audi #1 who might be running for his thenth Le Mans win! Until...


Within four hours from the arrival, the Audi #1 driven by T. Kristensen had to go back to the pit for a turbo change which cost the team more than 17 minutes. Meanwhile, the Porsche 919 Hybrid number #20 took the lead for a very short period of time, followed by the Audi R18 E-tron number #2 which was on average 5 seconds faster.





The Porsche seemed to have a really strong chance of finishing ahead since the more efficient 919 Hybrid required less pit stops. That was the case until, Mark's Porsche was hit by technical problems and had to enter the pits once again. It was the end of the race for the Porsche #20.





During that time, the Audi #2 took the lead followed by the Audi #1 and the Porsche #14. At this stage, it looked like nothing would stop Audi from claiming its 13th Le Mans victory. Sadly, the number #14 Porsche had to join the pits too, allowing the Toyota #8 to come back from far behind and occupy the 3rd spot.



The two Audi's then cruised together to the finishing line offering Audi its thirteenth overall Le Mans win and making it once step closer to Porsche all time record of 16 wins. Toyota once again failed to win after showing some real potential and the Swiss Rebellion racing team's Toyota R-One belonging to the LMP1-L sub category finished fourth.

Team Jota Sport won the LMP2 category's race with the Nissan powered Zytek Z11SN which crossed the line with O. TURVEY at the wheel.

In LM GTE Gro, it was Team AF Corse' Ferrari 458 Italia which crossed the line in 1st place with G. BRUNI at the wheel while ASTON MARTIN RACING's V8 Vantage completed the race at the top of the LM GTE Am category with K. Poulsen at the wheel.

It was a great race from Audi. But we're already excited about next year's race because we are sure that Porsche and Toyota won't accept their defeat. Next year, Nissan will be joining the show which means that we might be witnessing another golden era of Le Mans racing.




Full results can be found here.

11:12 PM Read More +
Silverstone 6 hours: Toyota 1-2, Porsche a Solid Third [VIDEO]


Yesterday, the Chinese GP took place where Lewis Hamilton was racing on another planet and led from start to the early chequered flag and beyond.. No surprises there, as the British 2008 World Champion seems more focused than ever and is tipped by many as this year's favorite for the championship.

But something big was happening on the other side of the planet. Porsche officially made its return to top endurance racing at the 6 hours of Silverstone. It was a rather surprising race where none of the Audi cars could finish the race. The returning Porsche team did pretty well by finishing third with Mark Webber achieving a podium in his first race with Porsche. Toyota achieved an amazing one-two finish with their TS040 hybrid race car on very wet conditions. Former F1 driver Sebatian Buemi was at the wheel of the winning Toyota and I bet he feels happier there.

The dominance of Toyota in this first race is the sign of a very disputed season and a thrilling 24 Hours of Le Mans next June. Next up, the 6 hours of Spa on May 3rd, it'll be interesting to see how the cars evolve until then!

Highlights video and full results after the jump.
9:23 PM Read More +
Porsche Conducts Problematic But Productive Testing at Paul Ricard


With the new era of hybrid race cars, getting a new challenger ready in time for the big day is becoming a challenge. So it's not a surprise that Porsche faced some technical problems during their first long distance tests conducted at the French Paul Ricard circuit with both 919 Hybrid racers on the track.

All six LMP1 works drivers took part on this test and a total distance of 4,756 kilometres was covered. Both driver line-ups, Romain Dumas/Neel Jani/Marc Lieb (car number 14) and Timo Bernhard/Brendon Hartley/Mark Webber (car number 20) completed a comprehensive test programme including day and night driving and a lot of pit stop practices.

Porsche describes the tests as very productive even if not trouble free. The first round of the World Championship is the 6 Hours of Silverstone that will take place on April 20. Stay tuned for more updated and you can find more details in the press release after the jump.


11:02 AM Read More +
Porsche Getting Ready for Le Mans

Photo credits: Porsche

Only a few weeks left until Porsche will return to top-level racing: the LMP1 class of the FIA World Endurance Championship and the 24h of Le Mans. And we couldn't be more excited! The wait is really painful but it's worth it. Now take off that camo!
11:50 AM Read More +
Porsche's 2014 Le Mans Prototype Officially Named 919 Hybrid


Things are already heating up for the 2014 Edition of the 24 Hours of Le Mans. Last week, Audi unveiled its 2014 LMP1 contender and today we can learn a little bit more about the Porsche LMP1 car. Porsche's Hybrid racer did not shed its camouflage yet but at least now we have an official name to call it: The 919 Hybrid.

During the Porsche Night of Champions last Saturday in Weissach, four drivers were officially confirmed to be part of Porsche's 2014 LMP1 programme: Timo Bernhard (DE, 32), Romain Dumas (FR, 36), Neel Jani (CH, 30) and the Mark Webber (AUS, 37) freshly released from Formula 1 team Red Bull Racing. Stay tuned for more.




[Source: 24h-lemans.com]
9:02 AM Read More +
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