All 62 cars competing in the 90th 24 Hours of Le Mans have all been scrutineered on Friday and Saturday and have taken part in Test Day on Sunday.
The Technical Director of reigning champions Toyota Gazoo Racing Pascal Vasselon described the team’s shaky start to the season: “We’ve been working on this race for the past year. We tested at Spa-Francorchamps but the hard reality is that we are not leading the WEC. At the 1000 Miles of Sebring we weren’t focused. We had to deal with the disappointment of second place as well as the #7’s spectacular accident. We made up for it at the TotalEnergies 6 Hours of Spa-Francorchamps. We won the race but we lost a car due to a faulty hybrid system, the first time in ten years. So we set about solving that issue. Given all that, we come to Le Mans less buoyant than usual.”
The two Glickenhaus 007 LMHs were eagerly awaited on day two of scrutineering, Romain Dumas, driver of the #708 with Olivier Pla and Pipo Derani said: “In our heads, we are winners. Last year we sprang a few surprises and this year we are just as well-prepared. It is quite a David and Goliath situation though, because Toyota do simulations throughout the season. But still, I think we’re in with a chance. First, we have to avoid the pitfalls and only then can we start worrying about where we are in the standings. When I won Le Mans with Audi in 2010 against Peugeot, we were six seconds slower and we still hold the distance record.”
Kevin Estre’s advice on how to win LMGTE Pro
This year LMGTE Pro sees a three-way battle between Ferrari, Chevrolet Corvette and Porsche. We are expecting a tight race again this year. Kevin Estre, driver of the #92 Porsche 911 RSR-19 reveals his idea of the key to success: “We are within a few tenths of each other and it’s up to us to be faster than the others, to be faultless, to have the right tyres at the right time, to balance the car on the corners and have good pace on the straights, to have a pit stop routine that runs like clockwork and put in a mistake-free run. Unfortunately, we are not alone and everyone else is trying to do the same. So, it will be tough out there.”
The Nielsen Racing #24 Oreca 07-Gibson has a new livery for the 24 Hours of Le Mans. The British team, winner of the 2022 Asian Le Mans Series has opted for a Mexican-inspired design as a nod to driver Rodrigo Sales. “It depicts a Mexican holiday, the Day of the Dead, that also happens to be my birthday”, he explains. “So it’s important to me! It’s a festive day when we welcome back the souls of our deceased relatives. I was very close to my grandparents and it’s a way of paying tribute to them, because I know they would have been so happy to see me race at Le Mans. So this livery is all about family, about Mexico, my roots.”
Sébastien Bourdais and Julien Canal are not the only local drivers to take part in this year’s race. The third is 18-year-old Reshad de Gerus, from La Réunion, a former pupil at the FFSA Academy and driver of the Duqueine Team #30 Oreca 07-Gibson. “I raced on the Bugatti Circuit several times and I took part in the French Formula 4 Championship in 2018 and 2019. I’ve been living in Le Mans for five years now and I feel very much at home here.” He adds: “I feel very lucky to race on the Circuit des 24 Heures du Mans. Not everyone gets the chance and I am very grateful to my team. My future is in endurance racing.”
Following scrutineering all 62 cars entered for the race were next on track for the eight hour test, during two sessions 09:00 to 13:00 and then 14:00 to 18:00. There is plenty of work for the teams and drivers: adjust settings, test various aerodynamic set-ups and various configurations on the cars.
Drivers new to the race – Rookies – will spend their time at the wheel getting to grips with the idiosyncrasies of the long circuit. Rookie drivers or any driver that has not competed in the 24 Hours of Le Mans since 2017 are required to complete at least 10 laps, five of which will be timed.
Test session one
At 9am, it was 17°C in Le Mans with a track temperature of 21°C. The Inter Europol Competition #34 Oreca 07-Gibson was the first car out of its garage, shortly followed by the 61 other cars entered for this year’s race. An important new feature for this year’s event is the 100% renewable fuel supplied by TotalEnergies, which all cars will be using. It is produced using French wine residues and enables a 65% reduction in CO2 emissions over its lifecycle.
Within the first half hour of the session, the Panis Racing #65 Oreca 07-Gibson lost a wheel while Julien Canal was driving it down the Mulsanne Straight. This incident resulted in the only red flag of the morning. At 10:01, the Porsche GT Team #92 Porsche 911 RSR-19 driven by Michael Christensen came to a halt at Tertre Rouge Corner as a result of a driveshaft issue. The Porsche GT Team had a difficult morning all round because at 11:18, the #91 driven by Gianmaria Bruni span off and hit the tyre barrier at Mulsanne Corner. A few other cars ran off track during the session, including the AMR #98 and #777 Aston Martin Vantages but there were no serious incidents.
The cars in the Hypercar class (the top class at the 24 Hours of Le Mans) gradually showed what they are capable of. While the LMP2s set the fastest times in the first part of the session, at 10:48 the #7 Toyota GR010 Hybrid driven by Mike Conway recorded a lap time of 3:33.886. Then Brandon Hartley moved in front in the #8 with a time of 3:33.641. This shows that the Japanese constructor was using this first session to carry out various tests and adjustments before embarking on a series of timed laps. After multiple tweaks, the #7 Toyota ended the morning at the top of the timesheets with 3:31.626. Meanwhile, the #8 Toyota completed 52 laps, the most of all entrants.
The Top 5 OVERALL at the end of the first session:
#7 Toyota GR010 Hybrid – Toyota Gazoo Racing – 3:31.626
#708 Glickenhaus 007 LMH – Glickenhaus Racing – 3:31.735
#8 Toyota GR010 Hybrid – Toyota Gazoo Racing – 3:31.977
#709 Glickenhaus 007 LMH – Glickenhaus Racing – 3:32.622
#36 Alpine A480-Gibson – Alpine Elf Team – 3:32.793
The best times in the other three classes:
LMP2 #38 Oreca 07-Gibson – JOTA – 3:33.964
LMGTE Pro #64 Chevrolet Corvette C8.R – Corvette Racing – 3:54.690
LMGTE Am #85 Ferrari 488 GTE Evo – Iron Dames – 3:55.678
Test Day resumed at 14:00 on Sunday afternoon under more favourable conditions, with lower humidity and higher temperatures in Le Mans, and there were no interruptions to the second session. So, apart from a few minor spins, the teams had the full four hours to complete their testing programme. They should all therefore be ready for the race except perhaps for the AF Corse #21 Ferrari that suffered some damage when it went off at Indianapolis with Simon Mann at the wheel just after 16:00.
A glance at the time sheets reveals that Romain Dumas (#708 Glickenhaus 007 LMH) set the first benchmark half an hour into the session at 3:30.104. His Argentinian rival, Pechito Lopez then took the lead, dipping under the 3-minute 30-second mark (3:29.896), while French team Alpine appeared to have trouble reaching peak speed and keeping up with rivals Toyota and Glickenhaus. Elsewhere, we got a glimpse of how the three-way battle in GTE Pro might pan out, with the Ferraris and Porsches recovering to chase the Chevrolet Corvette C8.Rs which dominated the morning session.
The Top 5 at the end of the second session:
#7 Toyota GR010 Hybrid – Toyota Gazoo Racing – 3:29.896
#708 Glickenhaus 007 LMH – Glickenhaus Racing – 3:30.104
#8 Toyota GR010 Hybrid – Toyota Gazoo Racing – 3:30.490
#709 Glickenhaus 007 LMH – Glickenhaus Racing – 3:30.822
#22 Oreca 07-Gibson – United Autosports – 3:32.099 (the leading LMP2)
The best times in the other classes:
LMGTE Pro #64 Chevrolet Corvette C8.R – Corvette Racing – 3:54.001
LMGTE Am #57 Ferrari 488 GTE Evo – Kessel Racing – 3:54.827
The car that completed the highest number of laps in the second session was the #7 Toyota, which went round the track a total of 53 times. A final noteworthy fact: this car also suffered a minor spin off track which brought the session to an early close with four minutes to go.
With five ladies competing in this year’s race here’s a quick update on how test went for them:
Lilou Wadoux alongside teammates Sebastien Ogier and Charles Milesi finished tenth overall in LMP 2 in the Richard Mille Racing Team #1 Oreca 07 Gibson.
In class they were 11th in the morning session and 10th in the afternoon.
Nineteenth in LMP2 was Sophia Floersch in the Algarve Pro Racing #47 Oreca 07 Gibson with teammates John Falb and Jack Aitkin.
In class they were 15th in the morning session and 18th in the afternoon.
In GTE AM #85 the Iron Dames Ferrari 488 GTE Evo finished sixth overall in class with drivers Rahel Frey, Michelle Gatting and Sarah Bovy.
In class they were fastest in the morning session and 17th in the afternoon.
Overall Test Day results
1 7 3:31.626 3:29.896 3:29.896 M. CONWAY / K. KOBAYASHI / J. LOPEZ / R. HIRAKAWA / B. HARTLEY Toyota Gazoo Racing HYPERCAR H
2 708 O. PLA / R. DUMAS / L. DERANI Glickenhaus Racing HYPERCAR 3:31.735 3:30.104 3:30.104 0.208 0.208
3 8 3:31.977 3:30.490 3:30.490 0.594 0.386 S. BUEMI / B. HARTLEY / R. HIRAKAWA / M. CONWAY / K. KOBAYASHI Toyota Gazoo Racing HYPERCAR H
4 709 R. BRISCOE / R. WESTBROOK / F. MAILLEUX Glickenhaus Racing HYPERCAR 3:32.622 3:30.822 3:30.822 0.926 0.332
5 22 P. HANSON / F. ALBUQUERQUE / W. OWEN United Autosports USA LMP2 3:34.111 3:32.099 3:32.099 2.203 1.277
6 38 R. GONZALEZ / A. FELIX DA COSTA / W. STEVENS JOTA LMP2 3:33.964 3:32.382 3:32.382 2.486 0.283
7 36 A. NEGRÃO / N. LAPIERRE / M. VAXIVIERE Alpine ELF Team HYPERCAR 3:32.793 3:32.420 3:32.420 2.524 0.038
8 23 A. LYNN / O. JARVIS / J. PIERSON / P. DI RESTA United Autosports USA LMP2 3:35.708 3:32.879 3:32.879 2.983 0.459
9 41 3:34.680 3:32.958 3:32.958 3.062 0.079 R. ANDRADE / F. HABSBURG / N. NATO / R. RAST / M. BORTOLOTTI Realteam by WRT LMP2
10 48 P. LAFARGUE / P. CHATIN / P. PILET IDEC Sport LMP2 3:34.576 3:33.088 3:33.088 3.192 0.130
11 31 S. GELAEL / R. FRIJNS / R. RAST / M. BORTOLOTTI WRT LMP2 3:36.376 3:33.154 3:33.154 3.258 0.066
12 37 Y. YE / R. TAYLOR / N. KRUETTEN COOL Racing LMP2 3:36.354 3:33.368 3:33.368 3.472 0.214
13 13 P. CIMADOMO / M. BECHE / T. VAN DER HELM TDS Racing x Vaillante LMP2 P/A 3:34.132 3:33.371 3:33.371 3.475 0.003
14 9 R. KUBICA / L. DELETRAZ / L. COLOMBO Prema Orlen Team LMP2 3:35.014 3:33.526 3:33.526 3.630 0.155
15 1 L. WADOUX / S. OGIER / C. MILESI Richard Mille Racing LMP2 3:35.265 3:33.642 3:33.642 3.746 0.116
16 65 J. CANAL / N. JAMIN / J. VAN UITERT Panis Racing LMP2 3:35.392 3:33.850 3:33.850 3.954 0.208
17 28 O. RASMUSSEN / E. JONES / J. ABERDEIN JOTA LMP2 3:35.508 3:34.118 3:34.118 4.222 0.268
18 5 3:34.567 3:34.200 3:34.200 4.304 0.082 D. CAMERON / E. COLLARD / F. NASR / M. JAMINET / H. NEWEY Team Penske LMP2
19 3 L. HORR / J. GLORIEUX / A. COUGNAUD DKR Engineering LMP2 P/A 3:36.951 3:34.219 3:34.219 4.323 0.019
20 34 J. SMIECHOWSKI / A. BRUNDLE / E. GUTIERREZ Inter Europol Competition LMP2 3:34.252 3:35.373 3:34.252 4.356 0.033
21 32 R. INEICHEN / M. BORTOLOTTI / D. VANTHOOR / R. RAST Team WRT LMP2 3:39.626 3:34.253 3:34.253 4.357 0.001
22 43 D. HEINEMEIER-HANSSON / F. SCHERER / P. FITTIPALDI Inter Europol Competition LMP2 3:35.238 3:34.281 3:34.281 4.385 0.028
23 83 F. PERRODO / N. NIELSEN / A. ROVERA AF Corse LMP2 P/A 3:37.410 3:34.326 3:34.326 4.430 0.045
24 47 S. FLOERSCH / J. FALB / J. AITKEN / A. PERONI Algarve Pro Racing LMP2 P/A 3:35.727 3:34.440 3:34.440 4.544 0.114
25 30 R. BRADLEY / G. ROJAS / R. DE GERUS Duqueine Team LMP2 3:37.280 3:34.596 3:34.596 4.700 0.156
26 24 R. SALES / M. BELL / B. HANLEY Nielsen Racing LMP2 P/A 3:37.738 3:34.861 3:34.861 4.965 0.265
27 35 J. LAHAYE / M. LAHAYE / F. HERIAU Ultimate LMP2 P/A 3:38.228 3:34.958 3:34.958 5.062 0.097
28 45 S. THOMAS / J. ALLEN / R. BINDER Algarve Pro Racing LMP2 P/A 3:34.973 3:35.237 3:34.973 5.077 0.015
29 39 E. TROUILLET / S. PAGE / D. DROUX Graff Racing LMP2 P/A 3:38.016 3:36.810 3:36.810 6.914 1.837
30 10 N. MÜLLER / R. CULLEN / S. BOURDAIS Vector Sport LMP2 3:37.239 3:37.034 3:37.034 7.138 0.224
31 44 M. KONOPKA / B. VISCAAL / T. VAUTIER / M. KONOPKA ARC Bratislava LMP2 P/A 3:39.384 3:37.170 3:37.170 7.274 0.136
32 27 C. CRESP / M. JENSEN / S. PALETTE CD Sport LMP2 P/A 3:44.535 3:42.738 3:42.738 12.842 5.568
33 64 T. MILNER / N. TANDY / A. SIMS Corvette Racing LMGTE Pro 3:54.690 3:54.001 3:54.001 24.105 11.263
34 52 M. MOLINA / A. FUOCO / D. RIGON AF Corse LMGTE Pro 3:55.693 3:54.037 3:54.037 24.141 0.036
35 91 G. BRUNI / R. LIETZ / F. MAKOWIECKI Porsche GT Team LMGTE Pro 3:55.467 3:54.263 3:54.263 24.367 0.226
36 51 A. PIER GUIDI / J. CALADO / D. SERRA AF Corse LMGTE Pro 3:55.563 3:54.395 3:54.395 24.499 0.132
37 74 F. FRAGA / S. BIRD / S. VAN GISBERGEN Riley Motorsports LMGTE Pro 3:55.474 3:54.437 3:54.437 24.541 0.042
38 92 M. CHRISTENSEN / K. ESTRE / L. VANTHOOR Porsche GT Team LMGTE Pro 3:55.542 3:54.444 3:54.444 24.548 0.007
39 63 A. GARCIA / J. TAYLOR / N. CATSBURG Corvette Racing LMGTE Pro 3:54.766 3:54.504 3:54.504 24.608 0.060
40 57 T. KIMURA / F. SCHANDORFF / M. JENSEN Kessel Racing LMGTE Am 3:55.818 3:54.827 3:54.827 24.931 0.323
41 66 R. VAN DER ZANDE / M. KVAMME / J. HART / J. FANNIN JMW Motorsport LMGTE Am 3:58.872 3:55.241 3:55.241 25.345 0.414
42 71 F. DEZOTEUX / P. RAGUES / G. AUBRY Spirit of Race LMGTE Am 3:56.887 3:55.349 3:55.349 25.453 0.108
43 98 P. DALLA LANA / D. PITTARD / N. THIIM Northwest AMR LMGTE Am 3:57.584 3:55.591 3:55.591 25.695 0.242
44 80 M. CRESSONI / G. FISICHELLA / R. HEISTAND Iron Lynx LMGTE Am 3:56.078 3:55.603 3:55.603 25.707 0.012
45 85 R. FREY / M. GATTING / S. BOVY Iron Dames LMGTE Am 3:55.678 3:56.579 3:55.678 25.782 0.075
46 93 M. FASSBENDER / M. CAMPBELL / Z. ROBICHON Proton Competition LMGTE Am 3:58.445 3:55.747 3:55.747 25.851 0.069
47 54 T. FLOHR / F. CASTELLACCI / N. CASSIDY AF Corse LMGTE Am 3:56.802 3:55.749 3:55.749 25.853 0.002
48 75 P. EHRET / C. HOOK / N. VARRONE Iron Lynx LMGTE Am 3:56.590 3:55.772 3:55.772 25.876 0.023
49 99 A. HARYANTO / A. PICARIELLO / M. RUMP Hardpoint Motorsport LMGTE Am 3:55.780 3:56.313 3:55.780 25.884 0.008
50 77 C. RIED / S. PRIAULX / H. TINCKNELL Dempsey – Proton Racing LMGTE Am 3:56.370 3:55.850 3:55.850 25.954 0.070
51 55 D. CAMERON / M. GRIFFIN / D. PEREL Spirit of Race LMGTE Am 3:56.650 3:55.913 3:55.913 26.017 0.063
52 777 S. HOSHINO / T. FUJII / C. FAGG D’Station Racing LMGTE Am 3:57.820 3:56.098 3:56.098 26.202 0.185
53 61 L. PRETTE / C. GRUNEWALD / V. ABRIL AF Corse LMGTE Am 3:56.113 3:56.240 3:56.113 26.217 0.015
54 33 B. KEATING / H. CHAVES / M. SØRENSEN TF Sport LMGTE Am 3:57.446 3:56.149 3:56.149 26.253 0.036
55 59 A. WEST / C. LEDOGAR / M. KLEIN Inception Racing LMGTE Am 3:56.352 3:56.714 3:56.352 26.456 0.203
56 86 M. WAINWRIGHT / R. PERA / B. BARKER GR Racing LMGTE Am 3:57.974 3:56.376 3:56.376 26.480 0.024
57 79 C. MACNEIL / J. ANDLAUER / T. MERRILL WeatherTech Racing LMGTE Am 3:57.624 3:56.489 3:56.489 26.593 0.113
58 21 S. MANN / C. ULRICH / T. VILANDER AF Corse LMGTE Am 3:56.626 3:59.414 3:56.626 26.730 0.137
59 60 C. SCHIAVONI / A. BALZAN / R. GIAMMARIA Iron Lynx LMGTE Am 3:58.674 3:56.643 3:56.643 26.747 0.017
60 56 B. IRIBE / O. MILLROY / B. BARNICOAT Team Project 1 LMGTE Am 3:57.997 3:56.670 3:56.670 26.774 0.027
61 46 M. CAIROLI / M. PEDERSEN / N. LEUTWILER Team Project 1 LMGTE Am 3:56.795 3:57.049 3:56.795 26.899 0.125
62 88 F. POORDAD / M. ROOT / J. HEYLEN Dempsey – Proton Racing LMGTE Am 3:59.304 3:58.353 3:58.353 28.457 1.558 By Melissa Warren
