The 24 Hours of Le Mans race is one of the most iconic events that car lovers and motorsports fanatics look forward to. This year, from June 10-14, the 83rd edition of the event took place at the Circuit de la Sarthe in Le Mans, France. The 24 Hour race is organized by the Automobile Club de l’Ouest.
56 cars, plus seven reserves were entered to take part in this year’s Le Mans. Drivers participated in pre-race practice runs during a testing day about two weeks before the event, followed by three qualifying sessions.
The qualifying rounds’ top three pole positions were all won by Porsche Team drivers, with positions 4, 5 and 6 going to Audi Sport Team Joest.
Read on to find out the race results and specs of some of the unbelievable cars that participated in the event!
The Legendary 24 Hour Automotive Race
On race day, 55 cars took to the track following the withdrawal of the No. 63 Chevrolet Corvette, which was experiencing mechanical difficulties.
The flag was waved at 3pm, signalling the start of the race which was led by Neel Jani, Swiss driver for the Porsche Team in a Porsche 919 Hybrid. Hour one of the race ended with the first retirement of a car – one of the Porsches began leaking oil and spun-out on the first s-turn of the track.
Students who want to become a mechanic may know that when this happens during a race, safety cars are usually deployed to slow the action until the oil gets cleaned up. At Le Mans, it took marshals 22 minutes to dry the spilled oil before the safety cars were called back.
By the time the race reached its halfway point, Porsche had a healthy lead over Audi – the crowd favorite and winner of several races in recent years.
Porsche’s drivers proved to be more than capable, winning the event comfortably with minimal damage to the No.19 car.
Automotive Participants in the 2015 Le Mans
Porsche’s big win this year can only be attributed to its drivers, but if you’re an aspiring auto mechanic, you’re probably curious about what was under the hood of the 919 Hybrid that they drove across the finish line.
Porsche Team’s Le Mans prototype has a honeycomb aluminum core that’s covered by a carbon composite body, weighing-in at 870kg before driver and fuel are added. No. 19’s engine is a Porsche 2.0 L (2,000 cc) direct-injected turbocharged V4 with a lithium-ion battery for energy recovery. The Porsche Team’s other 919 Hybrid placed second in the race.
A notable mention, placing 3rd and 4th in the standings were two Audi R18 e-tron quattros, driven by members of the Audi Sport Team Joest. Mid-engine powered by an Audi 4.0 litre V6 turbo diesel, the Audis were supposed to be more reliable cars at this year’s Le Mans, but ended up spending a lot of time in the hands of their pit crew’s auto technicians.
On the list of the other 49 cars that participated in the race were impressive models such as the Chevrolet Corvette C7.R, the Ferrari 458 Italia GT2, and the Aston Martin V8 Vantage GTE.
Here’s a quick look at some the highlights from Le Mans 2015.
What was your favorite car from this year’s 24 Hour Le Mans?
