Here’s news from the FIA World Endurance Championship: If ever there was a race which represented the ‘Spirit of Le Mans’ it was this year’s 81st edition, the third round of the FIA World Endurance Championship.
The 56 competitors who took the start and the 42 who were classified at the finish line at 15:00h today all displayed the qualities of endurance, competition, teamwork and determination in the face of adversity which personifies the most famous sportscar race in the world.
The No.2 Audi Sport Team Joest R18 e-tron quattro won today, after having led the race from the 7th hours; it is Tom Kristensen’s ninth victory – extending his record as the most successful driver at Le Mans – Allan McNish’s third and Loîc Duval’s first and the result moves the trio firmly into the lead of the World Endurance Drivers championship. They crossed the line ahead of the No.8 Toyota Racing TS030 Hybrid of Sébastien Buemi, Anthony Davidson and Stéphane Sarrazin. In third place was the No.3 Audi R18 of Jarvis-Gené-di Grassi.
The challenges for the race were many and constant throughout the 24 hours, with the entire paddock reeling in the early hours at the news of the loss of Aston Martin’s Allan Simonsen, Kristensen’s Danish countryman, to whom he paid tribute on the podium and after the race.
The Sarthois weather was also determined to play its hand in the outcome of the race and the rain showers were many and frequent from start to finish. Two heavy rain showers within the last 100 minutes threatened the result of many, but nothing was going to prevent the No.21 Strakka Racing HPD ARX03c from taking victory in the LMP1 Privateer category, with Nick Leventis, Jonny Kane and Danny Watts enjoying the view from the top of the podium for the first time in 2013. Their rivals Rebellion Racing uncharacteristically ran into problems with both their Lola Toyotas, but the team made superb efforts to get the No.12 and No.13 cars back on track to finish the race and thus claim points.
LMP2 victory went to OAK Racing, the French team actually claiming a 1-2 in class with their Morgan-Nissans. After a race-long battle between the two, it was the No.35 of Bertrand Baguette-Martin Plowman and Ricardo Gonzalez which prevailed over the No.24 of Olivier Pla-Alex Brundle-David Heinemeier Hansson. The Onroak-designed chassis and the entire OAK Racing team performed flawlessly to achieve their first victory in a FIA World Endurance Championship round. The team now lead the FIA Endurance Trophy for LMP2 teams. Third in class went to the No.26 G-Drive Racing ORECA Nissan of Roman Rusinov-Mike Conway-John Martin.
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