2010 24 Hours of Le Mans

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

2010 24 Hours of Le Mans
Previous: 2009 Next: 2011
Index: Races | Winners
The track layout of the Circuit de la Sarthe
The race-winning No. 9 Audi R15 TDI plus of Timo Bernhard, Romain Dumas and Mike Rockenfeller, which set a race record for overall distance covered

The 78th 24 Hours of Le Mans (French: 78e 24 Heures du Mans) was an non-championship 24-hour automobile endurance race for Le Mans Prototype (LMP) and Grand Touring (GT) cars held from 12 to 13 June 2010 at the Circuit de la Sarthe, near Le Mans, France, before 238,150 spectators. It was the 78th edition of the 24 Hours of Le Mans as organised by the automotive group, the Automobile Club de l'Ouest (ACO).

A Peugeot 908 HDi FAP shared by Sébastien Bourdais, Pedro Lamy and Simon Pagenaud started from pole position after Bourdais set the fastest overall qualifying lap in the first qualifying session. The team led the opening two hours until a suspension mounting fault in the third hour forced their retirement and giving the lead to the sister Peugeot squad of Anthony Davidson, Marc Gené and Alexander Wurz until they had to enter the garage to replace a failed alternator. Peugeot's third trio of Nicolas Minassian, Franck Montagny and Stéphane Sarrazin took the lead and maintained it for 144 consecutive laps before the engine failed due to connecting rod failure, handing the lead to an Audi R15 TDI plus driven by the Audi Sport North America team of Timo Bernhard, Romain Dumas and Mike Rockenfeller that they held to the finish. It was Bernhard, Dumas and Rockenfeller's maiden Le Mans victory and Audi's ninth since its first in 2000. The Audi Sport Team Joest trio of Marcel Fässler, André Lotterer and Benoît Tréluyer finished one lap behind in second and their teammates Rinaldo Capello, Tom Kristensen and Allan McNish completed the race podium another two laps adrift in third to give Audi a sweep of the overall podium positions.

Strakka Racing's HPD ARX-01C car of Jonny Kane, Nick Leventis and Danny Watts won the Le Mans Prototype 2 (LMP2) category after it led the event's final 267 laps. They were six laps ahead of the second-placed trio of Jan Charouz, Matthieu Lahaye and Guillaume Moreau who drove OAK Racing's Pescarolo 01-Judd. Larbre Compétition won the Le Mans Grand Touring 1 (LMGT1) class with Roland Berville, Julien Canal and Gabriele Gardel in a Saleen S7-R securing the squad's fifth category victory at the race. , Stéphan Grégoire, Jérôme Policand sharing the Luc Alphand Aventures Chevrolet Corvette C6.R and the Young Driver AMR team of Tomáš Enge, Peter Kox and Christoffer Nygaard in a Aston Martin DBR9 completed the class podium and order. A Team Felbermayr-Proton Porsche 997 GT3-RSR won the Le Mans Grand Touring 2 (LMGT2) category with drivers Wolf Henzler, Marc Lieb and Richard Lietz. 's Ferrari F430 GT2 shared by Dominik Farnbacher, Leh Keen and Allan Simonsen were two laps adrift in second and the class podium was completed by BMS Scuderia Italia's trio of Marco Holzer, Timo Scheider and Richard Westbrook in a Porsche 997 GT3-RSR.

Background and regulation changes[]

The 2010 24 Hours of Le Mans was the 78th edition of the event and took place on the 13.629 km (8.469 mi) Circuit de la Sarthe road racing track close to Le Mans, France from 12 to 13 June.[1][2] The race was first held in 1923 after the automotive journalist Charles Faroux, the Automobile Club de l'Ouest (ACO) general secretary Georges Durand and the industrialist Emile Coquile agreed to hold a test of vehicle reliability and durability. The 24 Hours of Le Mans is considered the world's most prestigious sports car races and is part of the Triple Crown of Motorsport.[3]

A series of rule changes for the race were accepted by the ACO in 2009.[4][5] It accepted cars eligible for the FIA GT1 World Championship to compete in the race provided that they were entered for any one of the ACO-administered championships in the American Le Mans Series (ALMS), Le Mans Series (LMS) or the Asian Le Mans Series (ASLMS).[4][5] There would now be three safety cars deployed to slow the race in the event of an incident rather than two as observed in LMS rounds and illuminated number panels were mandated for night conditions.[6] Pit stop times were extended because of new tyre switching regulations designed to not provide open-cockpit vehicles with an advantage.[4]

The ACO published a revised set of technical regulations in August 2009 adjusting the performance of diesel-powered and petrol-powered cars to try and create parity. The sizes of the diesel restrictors, restrictor advantages and petrol restrictors were decreased while the petrol restrictors and Aston Martin Le Mans Grand Touring 1 (LMGT1) engine restrictors in Le Mans Prototype 1 (LMP1) cars were enlarged. LMP1 diesel engine vehicles had their minimum weight ballast raised by 30 kg (66 lb) to 930 kg (2,050 lb) relative to petrol-powered cars. No other class had their minimum weights adjusted.[5][7]

Entries[]

The ACO Selection Committee received 84 entry requests between the entry phase from the 21 December 2009 opening to the 20 January 2010 deadline with priority given to manufacturer and full-time teams in one or more Le Mans-based championships such as the 2009 LMS, the 2009 ALMS and the 2009 ASLMS.[8][9] It initially planned to grant 55 entries divided between the LMP1, Le Mans Prototype 2 (LMP2), LMGT1 and Le Mans Grand Touring 2 (LMGT2) categories,[10][11] but the ACO thought of increasing the pit lane capacity to 56 cars with the intention of enabling teams to enter "a specific and innovative project" in future years and thus took steps to ensure the additional pit was operational on 4 June.[12]

Automatic entries[]

Automatic entries were earned by teams which won their class in the 2009 24 Hours of Le Mans and by those that achieved championship victory in other Le Mans-based series and events such as the LMS, the ALMS, the ASLMS, the FIA GT Championship and the Petit Le Mans. Some championship second-placed finishers were also granted automatic invitations in certain series.[13] An entry was also granted to the LMS Green X Challenge,[13] which was an award based on car fuel economy during each LMS event over the course of the season.[14] As entries were pre-selected to teams, they were restricted to a maximum of two cars and were not allowed to change their vehicles or category from the previous year to the next or their automatic invitation would be invalidated.[9][15] The ACO required automatic entries to confirm that they had taken up their berths prior to 11 January 2010.[9]

On 19 November 2009, the ACO published its final list of automatic entries featuring 29 teams. Corvette Racing, Lowe's Fernández Racing, Patrón Highcroft Racing and Sebah and Vitaphone Racing Team rejected their automatic entries.[11][13]

Automatic entries for the 2010 24 Hours of Le Mans[11][13]
Reason entered LMP1 LMP2 LMGT1 LMGT2
1st in the 24 Hours of Le Mans France Peugeot Sport Total Denmark [N 1] United States Corvette Racing[N 1] United States Risi Competizione
2nd in the 24 Hours of Le Mans France Team Peugeot Total Switzerland Sebah[N 1] France Luc Alphand Aventures Italy BMS Scuderia Italia
1st in the Le Mans Series United Kingdom Aston Martin Racing Portugal France Luc Alphand Aventures Germany Team Felbermayr-Proton
2nd in the Le Mans Series France Pescarolo Sport[N 2] Switzerland Sebah[N 1] N/A[N 3] United Kingdom
1st in the Petit Le Mans France Peugeot Sport Total N/A[N 4] United States Risi Competizione
1st in the American Le Mans Series United States Patrón Highcroft Racing[N 1] Mexico Lowe's Fernández Racing[N 1] United States Flying Lizard Motorsports
1st in the Asian Le Mans Series France Sora Racing[N 2] France OAK Racing Japan Germany Hankook
1st in the FIA GT Championship Germany Vitaphone Racing Team[N 1] Italy AF Corse
2nd in the FIA GT Championship Belgium Peka Racing[N 2] Belgium Prospeed Competition
1st in the LMS Green X Challenge Switzerland Sebah[N 1]

Entry list and reserves[]

The ACO announced the full 55-car list for Le Mans plus ten reserves during its yearly press conference that was broadcast live on the internet on the afternoon of 4 February 2010.[11][18] The ACO required all entries to confirm a nominated unreplaceable driver apart from when cases of force majeure were sent to the Sports Committee. Any team that vacated post 1 February 2010 would be replaced by a reserve entry by category with a GT car replacing another GT vehicle and the same procedure applied to LMP entries. The naming of the other two drivers was optional but recommended up to the 12 May 2010 following the 2010 1000 km of Spa.[9]

On 5 April 2010, Dome withdrew its Dome-Judd S102 LMP1 coupe after the partnership between it and French partner OAK Racing concluded, possibly over budget issues. The first withdrawal promoted the LMP2-category Pegasus Racing Norma MP200P-Judd car to the race.[19][20] Yoshimisa Hayashi requested that the ACO remove the Tokai University Courage-YGK vehicle from the list of reserve entries two days later to allow the university to focus on the following year and to construct a hybrid powertrain.[21][22] In May, Modena Racing Group (MRG) did not confirm to the ACO that they would enter the event with a Ferrari F430 GT2 prior to the entry deadline. Team Felbermayr-Proton thus had a second Porsche 911 GT3 RSR promoted to the race in lieu of MRG.[23]

That same month, PK Carsport withdrew its Chevrolet Corvette C6.R due to the car catching fire at the FIA GT1 World Championship meeting at Silverstone Circuit stopping the team from having adequate preparation and resources for Le Mans. AF Corse had a second Ferrari F430 GT2 added to the event as a result of PK's withdrawal.[24] The financially struggling Pescarolo Sport and Sora Racing withdrew their Pescarolo-Judd entries and the KSM Lola B07/40-Judd car and Matech Competition's second Ford GT1 following failed negotiations for the investment firm Genii Capital to purchase Pescarolo, marking Pescarolo's first Le Mans non-entry since 2000.[24][16] In June, the ACO announced that the first reserve Race Performance Radical SR9-Judd car would get the 56th entry in order to keep a LMP and GT entry balance.[25]

Practice[]

A single, four-hour free practice session on 9 June was available to all teams.[15] Peugeot led from the start and the fastest lap was a 3 minutes, 20.034 seconds set by the No. 2 Peugeot 908 HDi FAP of Franck Montagny. His teammate Sébastien Bourdais' No. 3 Peugeot was second-quickest and Loïc Duval came third in the No. 4 Team Oreca Matmut Peugeot. Marc Gené was the slowest Peugeot factory driver in fourth in the No. 1 car and the fastest Audi was the No. 7 Audi R15 TDI plus of Allan McNish in fifth.[26] Aston Martin Racing's No. 009 Lola-Aston Martin B09/60 of Darren Turner was the fastest petrol-powered LMP1 entry in eighth. David Brabham was the quickest LMP2 driver with a 3 minutes, 38.691 seconds lap in the No. 26 Highcroft Racing HPD ARX-01C entry even though the car had a fuel system problem.[27] Jonny Kane's No. 42 Strakka Racing-entered HPD ARX.01 and Thomas Erdos' No. 25 RML Lola B08/80-HPD cars were second and third in category.[26] Young Driver AMR's No. 52 Aston Martin DBR9 of Tomáš Enge led in LMGT1 from Stéphan Grégoire's No. 72 Luc Alphand Aventures (LAA) Corvette. Olivier Beretta's No. 64 Corvette led LMGT2 and was third amongst all LMGT entries, ahead of Marc Lieb's second-placed Team Felbermayr-Proton No. 77 Porsche 997 GT3 RSR.[27] Romain Grosjean lost control of Matech Competition's No. 60 Ford GT entering the Porsche Curves, striking the Armco and tyre barrier with the car's rear and stopping the session for half an hour.[27][28] His teammate Rahel Frey lost control of the sister No. 61 Ford in the same sequence of corners, removing the rear wing against the wall.[27][29] Both vehicles were repaired in time for the first qualifying session.[30]

Qualifying[]

The first of three two-hour qualifying sessions to set the race's starting order began late 9 June night,[15] in dry and cool conditions.[31][32] Nicolas Lapierre set the early pace in the No. 4 Oreca Peugeot with a 3 minutes, 21.192 seconds lap until a fuel pick-up issue forced him to stop at Arnage corner and ended his team's running for the session.[33][34] Bourdais then bettered Lapierre's lap time to a 3 minutes, 19.711 seconds in the final half an hour, putting the No. 3 Peugeot on provisional pole position.[34][35] Alexander Wurz's and Stéphane Sarrazin's sister Nos. 1 and 3 Peugeots followed in second and third with Lapierre's No. 4 Oreca car fourth. The quickest two Audis were the No. 9 and 8 entries of Mike Rockenfeller and Benoît Tréluyer in fifth and sixth.[33] Kane put the Strakka HPD ARX-01 car on provisional pole in LMP2 with a lap of 3 minutes, 36.168 seconds,[34] ahead of Brabham's Highcroft entry and Olivier Pla's Quifel ASM Team Ginetta-Zytek GZ09S/2 car.[32][35] An early lap by Enge in the Young Driver AMR Aston Martin was enough to lead the LMGT1 category.[36] Enge's lap was two seconds faster than Thomas Mutsch in Matech's second-placed No. 60 Ford followed by LAA's Corvettes of Julien Jousse and Jérôme Policand in third and fourth.[35] Gianmaria Bruni put the No. 82 Risi Competizione Ferrari on provisional pole in LMGT2 even after the car developed a broken gearbox output shaft that required the attention of mechanics in the garage for most of the session.[31][32][33] The Nos. 63 and 64 Corvettes of Jan Magnussen and Emmanuel Collard were second and third in category.[33][36] Separate accidents for the right-front of the No. 88 Team Felbermayr-Proton Porsche blocking the circuit and Matías Russo with the rear the No. 96 AF Corse Ferrari exiting the Porsche Curves caused interruptions to the session.[31][33]

Following the session, Russo was transported to the medical centre and found to be unhurt.[35] AF Corse withdrew the No. 96 Ferrari from the race due to heavy damage to the car and lack of spare parts.[37] The second session on 10 June commenced on a damp circuit following an earlier downpour but it quickly dried as qualifying progressed.[38][39] Wurz led the session with a 3 minutes, 23.238 seconds lap, but the No. 1 Peugeot remained second overall after Wurz was unable to lap faster amongst slower cars.[38] The sister Peugeots driven by Sarrazin and Simon Pagenaud were second and third.[39][40] Brabham gave the debuting Highcroft HPD ARX-01C vehicle provisional pole position in LMP2 with an improved lap of 3 minutes, 34.537 seconds to overtake the Strakka entry by 1.6 seconds.[41] The Quifel ASM Team Ginetta remained third in category.[38] In LMGT1, Bas Leinders moved the No. 70 Marc VDS Racing Team Ford GT past the No. 60 Matech car to second in class behind Enge's category-leading Young Driver AMR Aston Martin. Similarly, second place in LMGT2 was taken by AF Corse SRL's No. 95 Ferrari of Toni Vilander who set a lap almost three seconds faster and progressed four positions in class. Although there were crashes for Manuel Rodrigues' No. 13 Kolles Audi in the Porsche Curves, the No. 13 Rebellion Racing Lola B10/60 of Jean-Christophe Boullion at Karting corner, Mike Newton's No. 25 RML entry at Tertre Rouge turn and a collision between Jacques Nicolet and Stephane Salini on the inside at the Ford chicane, the session was not halted.[39][40][41]

Conditions continued to be dry for the final session that night.[42] Only a few cars were able to improve their lap times and Bourdais' pole position time from the first session was not bettered.[43] Peugeot secured their fourth successive pole position at Le Mans.[44] Bourdais' No. 3 Peugeot led the session with the day's quickest lap, a 3 minutes, 20.212 seconds.[43] Audi improved all three of their cars during the session to be 2.2 seconds behind the four Peugeots.[45] Rockenfeller's No. 9 entry was the highest-placed Audi in fifth with McNish's No. 7 car sixth and Marcel Fässler's No. 8 entry seventh.[42][45] In LMP2, HPD-powered cars took the first three places. Watts set a 3 minutes, 33.079 seconds lap in Strakka's car in the final hour to start first in category.[43] Brabham was unable to better Highcroft's lap due to traffic and fell to second.[46] Enge's first session lap in the Young Driver AMR Aston Martin was unchallenged in LMGT1 and he achieved his sixth category pole position in eight years.[43] Leinders' second session lap put the Marc VDS Ford second and Grosjean bettered the No. 60 Matech Ford's best lap to put it third in class.[42][45] The LMGT2 lead remained with Bruni's No. 82 Risi Ferrari which set no laps during the session because it was fitted with a race-specific gearbox and engine.[42] The two Corvettes of Oliver Gavin and Antonio García displaced the No. 95 AF Corse SRL Ferrari to be second and third in category.[45][46] Fewer incidents occurred during the session as teams focused on the race.[45]

Post-qualifying[]

The No. 82 Risi Ferrari was put under an ACO scrutineering inspection after the third qualifying session.[47] Marshals failed the car's inspection when they adjudged that the gurney flap on the rear wing was 2 mm (0.079 in) too low, demoting the vehicle to the rear of the LMGT2 starting order. The No. 64 Corvette was promoted to pole position in LMGT2 with the sister No. 63 car second in category.[48] The tub of the No. 13 Rebellion Lola car was sent to a nearby carbon fibre workshop to have a small hole in it repaired.[47]

Qualifying results[]

Pole position winners in each class are indicated in bold. The fastest time set by each entry is denoted in gray.

Final qualifying classification
Pos No. Team Car Class Day 1[49] Day 2[50] Gap Grid
1 3 Peugeot Sport Total Peugeot 908 HDi FAP LMP1 3:19.711 3:20.212 1
2 1 Team Peugeot Total Peugeot 908 HDi FAP LMP1 3:20.317 3:22.007 +0.606 2
3 2 Team Peugeot Total Peugeot 908 HDi FAP LMP1 3:20.325 3:20.961 +0.614 3
4 4 Team Oreca Matmut Peugeot 908 HDi FAP LMP1 3:21.129 3:23.141 +1.481 4
5 9 Audi Sport North America Audi R15 TDI plus LMP1 3:23.578 3:21.981 +2.270 5
6 7 Audi Sport Team Joest Audi R15 TDI plus LMP1 3:24.688 3:22.176 +2.465 6
7 8 Audi Sport Team Joest Audi R15 TDI plus LMP1 3:24.430 3:23.605 +3.894 7
8 007 Aston Martin Racing Lola-Aston Martin B09/60 LMP1 3:26.680 3:29.369 +6.969 8
9 009 Aston Martin Racing Lola-Aston Martin B09/60 LMP1 3:26.747 3:28.869 +7.036 9
10 6 AIM Team Oreca Matmut Oreca 01-AIM LMP1 3:30.056 3:29.506 +9.795 10
11 008 Signature-Plus Lola-Aston Martin B09/60 LMP1 3:29.774 3:37.142 +10.063 11
12 14 Kolles Audi R10 TDI LMP1 3:30.907 3:31.870 +11.196 12
13 15 Kolles Audi R10 TDI LMP1 3:31.661 3:34.401 +11.950 13
14 11 Drayson Racing Lola B09/60 LMP1 3:36.634 3:31.862 +12.151 14
15 42 Strakka Racing HPD ARX-01C LMP2 3:36.168 3:33.079 +13.368 15
16 12 Rebellion Racing Lola B10/60-Rebellion LMP1 No Time 3:33.490 +13.779 16
17 26 Highcroft Racing HPD ARX-01C LMP2 3:37.202 3:34.537 +14.826 17
18 5 Beechdean Mansell Ginetta-Zytek GZ09S LMP1 3:36.897 3:38.367 +17.186 18
19 13 Rebellion Racing Lola B10/60-Rebellion LMP1 3:44.101 3:37.093 +17.382 19
20 25 RML Lola B08/80-HPD LMP2 3:44.598 3:39.648 +19.937 20
21 40 Ginetta-Zytek GZ09S/2 LMP2 3:41.968 3:40.532 +20.821 21
22 35 OAK Racing Pescarolo 01-Judd LMP2 3:42.399 3:41.310 +21.599 22
23 19 Michael Lewis/ Lola B06/10-AER LMP1 4:00.646 3:43.167 +23.456 23
24 29 Lola B08/80-Judd LMP2 3:51.065 3:47.971 +28.260 24
25 41 Team Bruichladdich Ginetta-Zytek GZ09S/2 LMP2 3:55.680 3:51.189 +31.478 25
26 39 Lola B07/40 LMP2 3:52.972 3:51.310 +31.599 26
27 24 OAK Racing Pescarolo 01-Judd LMP2 3:52.730 3:52.008 +32.297 27
28 38 Norma M200P LMP2 4:03.784 3:52.837 +33.126 28
29 37 Gerard Welter WR LMP2 3:55.818 3:53.109 +33.398 29
30 28 Radical LMP2 3:59.361 3:53.942 +34.231 30
31 52 Young Driver AMR Aston Martin DBR9 LMGT1 3:55.025 4:02.133 +35.314 31
32 70 Marc VDS Racing Team Ford GT1 LMGT1 4:00.325 3:55.356 +35.645 32
33 60 Matech Competition Ford GT1 LMGT1 3:57.296 3:55.583 +35.872 33
34 73 Luc Alphand Aventures Chevrolet Corvette C6.R LMGT1 3:58.810 4:14.438 +39.099 34
35 72 Luc Alphand Aventures Chevrolet Corvette C6.R LMGT1 3:58.906 4:03.423 +39.195 35
36 82 Risi Competizione Ferrari F430 GT2 LMGT2 3:59.233 4:03.104 +39.522 55[N 5]
37 64 Corvette Racing Chevrolet Corvette C6.R LMGT2 4:01.012 3:59.435 +39.724 36
38 63 Corvette Racing Chevrolet Corvette C6.R LMGT2 4:00.097 3:59.793 +40.082 37
39 95 AF Corse SRL Ferrari F430 GT2 LMGT2 4:02.492 3:59.837 +40.126 38
40 61 Matech Competition Ford GT1 LMGT1 4:11.566 4:01.628 +41.917 39
41 77 Team Felbermayr-Proton Porsche 997 GT3-RSR LMGT2 4:02.001 4:01.640 +41.929 40
42 76 IMSA Performance Matmut Porsche 997 GT3-RSR LMGT2 4:01.755 4:06.630 +42.044 41
43 78 BMW Motorsport BMW M3 GT2 LMGT2 4:04.986 4:01.893 +42.182 42
44 97 BMS Scuderia Italia SpA Porsche 997 GT3-RSR LMGT2 4:06.278 4:02.014 +42.303 43
45 89 Hankook Ferrari F430 GT2 LMGT2 4:03.886 4:02.427 +42.716 44
46 96 AF Corse SRL Ferrari F430 GT2 LMGT2 4:02.615 No Time +42.904 WD
47 80 Flying Lizard Motorsports Porsche 997 GT3-RSR LMGT2 4:08.315 4:02.685 +42.974 45
48 50 Larbre Compétition Saleen S7-R LMGT1 4:03.175 4:06.091 +43.464 46
49 79 BMW Motorsport BMW M3 GT2 LMGT2 4:05.851 4:03.215 +43.504 47
50 83 Risi Competizione Ferrari F430 GT2 LMGT2 4:03.959 4:13.047 +44.248 48
51 85 Spyker Squadron Spyker C8 Laviolette GT2-R-Audi LMGT2 4:06.997 4:04.057 +44.346 49
52 92 Aston Martin V8 Vantage GT2 LMGT2 4:06.391 4:04.303 +44.592 50
53 69 Lamborghini Murciélago LP670 R-SV LMGT1 4:13.368 4:05.170 +45.459 51
54 75 Prospeed Competition Porsche 997 GT3-RSR LMGT2 4:14.578 4:10.017 +50.306 52
55 88 Team Felbermayr-Proton Porsche 997 GT3-RSR LMGT2 4:10.054 4:20.293 +50.343 53
56 81 Jaguar RSR Jaguar XKR GT2 LMGT2 4:13.537 4:12.431 +52.720 54

Warm-up[]

The drivers were given a 45-minute warm-up session on the morning of 12 June.[15] Cars were driven on intermediate rain tyres due to a wet track created by overnight rain and several drivers were caught out by the damp surface.[51][52] Audi and Peugeot exchanged the fastest lap until McNish in the No. 7 Audi went quickest overall with a time of 3 minutes, 51.401 seconds. Gené was the fastest Peugeot in second place driving the No. 1 car followed by his teammate Montagny's No. 3 entry in third. The quickest LMP2 time was a 4 minutes, 8.262 seconds set by Marco Werner in Highcroft's entry over Erdos' second-placed RML car. Leinders in the Marc VDS Ford GT was the fastest driver in LMGT1 while Jean Alesi put the No. 95 AF Corse SRL Ferrari first in LMGT2.[51][53][54] Tim Greaves damaged the front-left of the No. 41 Team Bruichladdich Ginetta-Zytek vehicle and the No. 73 LAA Corvette sustained a left-rear puncture.[52][55]

Race[]

Start and first hours[]

The race commenced in front of a crowd of 238,150 people at 15:00 local time on 12 June, with the waving of the French tricolour by Rolex CEO Bruno Meier and triple Olympic skiing champion Jean-Claude Killy.[56][57] The ambient temperature for both days was predicted to be around 20 and 23 °C (68 and 73 °F).[58] During a reconnaissance lap, the No. 80 Flying Lizard Motorsports Porsche driven by Neel Jani sustained a left-rear puncture when Jani went over a screw, overshot the Dunlop Chicane and mounted the kerbs.[59][60] Jani entered the pit lane and no bodywork damage was discovered.[58] Lamy in the pole-sitting No. 3 Peugeot maintained the lead for the opening laps with his factory teammates Montagny and Gené exchanging second and third places on the third lap. Lapierre, driving the No. 4 Oreca Peugeot, prevented McNish's No. 7 Audi from passing him for fourth.[61] The first lap also saw the race's first retirement as the No. 19 Autocon Motorsports Lola driven by Mike Lewis stopped after Arnage turn with gearbox input shaft failure. Julien Jousse's No. 73 LAA Corvette overtook Mutsch's No. 60 Matech Ford for third in LMGT1 as the class became a battle between Leinders' No. 70 Marc VDS Ford and Peter Kox's No. 52 Young Driver AMR Aston Martin as Patrick Long progressed to third in LMGT2.[59]

At high-speed on the back straight,[62] Nigel Mansell crashed the No. 5 Beechdean Motorsport Ginetta Zytek into the barriers between Mulsanne and Indianapolis turns due to a slow left-rear puncture that the team was unable to detect because that part of the circuit was not covered by telemetry.[63][64] Safety cars were deployed for 31 minutes to allow track marshals to repair the damage to the Armco barriers,[65] and a motionless Mansell remained in the car until doctors transported him by ambulance to the track's medical centre for check-ups and then to the local hospital.[66][67] The accident caused Mansell to suffer from amnesia, haematoma on his brain and a neck injury.[68] When the safety cars were withdrawn, Mutsch passed Kox for the LMGT1 lead after both drivers made pit stops under safety car conditions.[69] At the front, the safety cars had divided the field up, leaving the three factory Peugeots 57 seconds ahead of three Audis.[62] The lead of LMP2 became a duel between Kane's No. 42 Strakka and Brabham's No. 26 Highcroft entries.[59] Montagny had made a pit stop earlier than teammate Lamy but Montagny's stop was two seconds quicker than Lamy, moving the No. 2 Peugeot to first. Soheil Ayari attempted to lap the No. 24 OAK Pescarolo of Jean-François Yvon at Mulsanne turn but the two cars collided and Ayari's No. 6 Oreca spun.[58][70]

Before the second hour concluded, Dirk Müller stopped the No. 79 BMW on the first Mulsanne Straight chicane so he could conduct an inspection after feeling a right-rear problem. Müller discovered a right-rear puncture and was circumspect en route to the pit lane, where it was found that the vehicle's underside was damaged by kerbstones when Müller stopped.[71] Not long after Leinders lost control of the second-placed LMGT1 No. 70 Ford because of an underinflated left-rear tyre from running on the same tyre compounds since the start and impacted the tyre wall in the downhill Esses with the car's right-rear.[58][72] Leinders was able to return the car to the pit lane but the damage to it necessitated its retirement.[71][72] The third hour saw Lamy in the race-leading No. 3 Peugeot slow at Tetre Rouge corner with smoke coming from the right-front tyre being pressed against the bodywork.[73] Lamy entered the garage to retire the car because of the lower front-right suspension mounting point to the chassis being pulled out of the tub from mounting the kerbs too hard.[63][74] The retirement promoted Oreca's No. 4 Peugeot to third and Tom Kristensen's No. 7 Audi to fourth. Enge in the No. 52 Young Driver AMR car had been lapping faster than the No. 73 LAA car of Xavier Maassen and overtook the Corvette for second in LMGT1.[58][75]

The LMGT2 lead became a three-car battle between Beretta's No. 64 Corvette and Johnny O'Connell's sister No. 63 entry with Bruni in the No. 82 Risi Ferrari drawing closer to Beretta and O'Connell. Bruni and Beretta exchanged the lead several times over the following four hours.[58] This was due to the Risi Ferrari being better able to conserve fuel than the Corvette.[63] At the beginning of the fourth hour, Peter Dumbreck lost control of the No. 85 Spyker C8 at Indianapolis corner and was collected by the No. 38 Pegasus Racing Norma entry of Frederic de Rocha after again going off the circuit in the Porsche Curves.[76] De Rocha's car was sent into the outside barrier and it sustained unrepairable damage to its rear end and transmission that necessitated its retirement in the garage.[77][78] Anthony Davidson was lapping faster than his Peugeot teammate Sarrazin in the No. 2 car and moved the No. 1 entry to the overall race lead during a pit stop cycle.[76][79] The No. 9 Audi of Romain Dumas made minor contact with a television camera operator working for Speed during a routine pit stop, removing the car's right-front side-view mirror and knocking the camera operator to the ground.[79][80] The camera operator was transported out of the pit lane on a stretcher with a damaged shoulder and gashed leg.[58][77]

Evening to dawn[]

Kristensen in the fourth-placed No. 7 Audi was approaching a slow Andy Priaulx on the racing line because Priaulx was nursing a front-left puncture on the No. 79 BMW in the high-speed Porsche Curves.[81][82] Priaulx steered left in the first right-hand corner to allow Kristensen past but Kristensen had no space to pass on the outside and spun backwards into the tyre wall.[63][83] Kristensen was recovered from the gravel and the resulting pit stop to replace the damaged rear bodywork lost the No. 7 Audi three laps and fell to seventh.[81][84] Before the sixth hour ended, Bryce Miller crashed the No. 92 JMW Motorsport Aston Martin at the Porsche Curves hard enough to warrant the car's retirement, bringing out the safety cars for the second time to allow marshals to clean the track and extricate the stricken car.[85][86] During this slow period, Manuel Rodrigues damaged the front-left of the No. 14 Kolles Audi against the wall at the right-hand kink before Indianapolis turn and had to bring the car into the garage to repair the front bodywork.[87][88] Nick Leventis spun the No. 42 Strakka HPD on cold tyres into the inside Dunlop Chicane gravel trap but was recovered by a tractor and his team temporarily relinquished the LMP2 lead to Werner's No. 26 Highcroft car when it made a pit stop for checks.[63][88]

When racing resumed, Rockenfeller ran wide leaving the Porsche Curves in the No. 9 Audi and his teammate Tréluyer in the sister No. 8 entry overtook him for third into the Ford Chicane.[88][89] Almost immediately, Tréluyer damaged the nose of the No. 8 Audi on the kerbing and the resulting pit stop promoted the No. 9 car back ahead.[63] The No. 1 Peugeot continued to hold sway at the front until Gené relinquished the lead the car had held for 59 consecutive laps,[90] when the car was pushed into the garage with alternator failure which required the replacement of the alternator and electronic control unit. The stop lost the No. 1 Peugeot twelve minutes and it fell four laps down in seventh.[91][92] Jaime Melo's No. 82 Risi Ferrari bowed out of the duel for the LMGT2 lead when it was forced to the garage to fix intermittent gear selection issues but the repairs to it did not rectify the problem and the car was retired. This promoted the No. 64 Corvette of Gavin to the category lead with his teammate Magnussen in the No. 63 car second.[93][63] Strakka's No. 42 car continued to hold sway in LMP2 but Brabham in the Highcroft entry was closing the gap to Watts while Gene in the No. 1 Peugeot was recovering ground and gaining on McNish's fifth-placed No. 7 Audi.[58]

In the tenth hour, Yvon removed the No. 24 OAK Pescarolo's front-left corner in a collision with the barriers at the Ford Chicane after colliding with the rear of Mutsch's No. 60 Matech Ford and pushed him wide to the inside under braking. The safety cars were dispatched for the third time for nine minutes because marshals were required to remove debris from the circuit. Yvon was able to drive across the circuit and enter the garage for repairs to the No. 24 Pescarolo. Mutsch also entered the pit lane for repairs and forfeited the LMGT1 class lead to Larbre Compétition's No. 50 Saleen of Gabriele Gardel.[58][94] When racing resumed, Davidson had an anxious moment in the No. 1 Peugeot when he collected Alesi's slower No. 95 AF Corse Ferrari on the inside at the Dunlop Chicane and went into the gravel trap but he recovered with marshal assistance after losing a further 90 seconds to Kristensen's No. 7 Audi and made a pit stop for new front bodywork. Marino Franchitti in the No. 42 Highcroft car suffered a puncture that sent him into the gravel and extended Watts' No. 26 Strakka car lead by two-and-a-half laps but Franchitti remained second in LMP2.[94][95] Duval brought the second-placed No. 4 Oreca Peugeot into the garage for a quarter of an hour with repairable right-hand side driveshaft failure among other technical issues and the car fell to sixth overall.[58][63][94]

As the race approached half distance, Sarrazin's No. 2 Peugeot led from Dumas' No. 9 Audi and André Lotterer's sister No. 8 entry. Strakka's No. 42 car driven by Leventis continued to lead LMP2 lead because his team was faster than Highcroft. The LMGT1 category was headed by Gardel's No. 50 Larbre Saleen by two laps over Jousse's No. 73 LAA Corvette while LMGT2 was led by Collard's No. 64 Corvette over his teammate García in the No. 63 car.[58][96] Nicolas Minassian relieved Sarrazin in the race-leading No. 2 Peugeot and he extended the car's lead to a single lap over the second-placed No. 8 Audi of Lotterer after it sustained a right-rear puncture on its out-lap and a leaking airjack at a routine pit stop lost him a further half a minute.[63][97][98] Rockenfeller and later Timo Bernhard and their teammate Lotterer went quicker around this point and Minassian set faster lap times to further increase the No. 2 Peugeot's overall lead. The No. 60 Matech Ford GT that was in third position in LMGT2 was retired after attempts to restart the engine by adding oil and water to it were unsuccessful. Enge in the Young Driver car was lapping faster and passed the No. 73 LAA Corvette for third in LMGT1. Werner's Highcroft LMP2 car lost further ground to the class-leading Strakka entry when it entered the pit lane to replace the rear wing section and another pit stop that was slow due to a faulty left-front wheel nut.[58][99]

Morning to finish[]

In the early morning, Erdos moved the No. 25 RML entry to third in LMP2 when the No. 35 OAK Pescarolo was driven into the garage and Olivier Pla in the No. 40 Quifel-entered car went off the circuit at Arnage corner but recovered with assistance from marshals. Some teams also took the opportunity to switch their brake discs and calipers at this stage in the event, including the No. 64 Corvette of Beretta that was leading in LMGT2.[58][100] Smoke and fire began billowing from the right-hand exhaust of the race-leading No. 2 Peugeot of Montagny at Tetre Rouge corner due to connecting rod failure.[63][74][101] The Peugeot would later be abandoned at the side of the track on the Mulsanne Straight since Montagny could not drive to the pit lane and the overall lead the car had held for the previous 144 laps was ceded to Bernhard's No. 9 Audi.[90][102] The No. 63 Corvette stopped with García driving into Indianapolis corner with sudden engine crank sensor failure that warranted its retirement from second in LMGT2.[103][104] This moved Lieb's No. 77 Felbermayr-Proton Porsche to second and Vilander's No. 95 AF Corse Ferrari to third in category.[104]

The second placed car in LMGT1, the No. 73 LAA Corvette, was driven off the circuit on the approach to Indianapolis corner by Jousse and was retired with sudden transmission component failure.[58][105] This elevated the No. 52 Young Driver AMR car of Christoffer Nygaard and Policand's No. 72 LAA entry to second and third in class, respectively.[106][107] Not long after the LMGT2 class-leading No. 64 Corvette driven by Collard was caught off guard by Davidson's No. 1 Peugeot while Davidson was attempting to lap an unsighted Collard on the inside in the Porsche Curves. Collard spun backwards into the barrier and heavily damaged the Corvette's rear but was unhurt. He had difficulty returning to the garage for rear-end repairs and components changes that took 32 minutes to complete. Davidson, however, was immediately able to return to the pit lane to repair the Peugeot.[80][108] The accident led to the race's fourth safety car intervention for nine minutes to allow marshals to clear debris from the circuit and repair the damaged Armco barrier in the Porsche Curves.[58]

After green flag racing resumed, Lieb's No. 77 Felbermayr-Proton Porsche had assumed the LMGT2 lead that the No. 64 Corvette had maintained for 141 consecutive laps with the No. 89 Farnbacher Ferrari of Allan Simonsen second in class.[58][90] Franchitti maintained the Highcroft LMP2 entry's hold on second in class until a water leak problem and a cooling system pressure fault forced him to enter the garage several times and drop down the class order.[58] Larbre Compétition had an anxious moment when Roland Berville beached the No. 50 Saleen in the gravel close to the pit lane entry. Mechanics removed gravel from under the car but it retained the LMGT1 lead by six laps over the Young Driver team.[109][110] Gavin retired the No. 64 Corvette on the exit to Mulsanne corner with smoke billowing from the left-hand exhaust, which was a lasting legacy of Collard's earlier collision with Davidson.[110][111] Giancarlo Fisichella locked the front tyres on the No. 95 AF Corse Ferrari and entered the escape road at Indianapolis corner. The resulting pit stop to repair front-end damage lost the No. 95 car second in LMGT2 to Simonsen's No. 89 Farnbacher Ferrari.[109][110]

Strakka was required to repair the bodywork on Leventis' No. 42 car when he sustained a left-rear puncture but retained the LMP2 lead by five laps over Guillaume Moreau's No. 35 OAK Pescarolo. Lotterer locked the tyres on the No. 8 Audi and struck the tyre wall at Arnage corner, which necessitated a pit stop for new front bodywork. This enabled Wurz in the recovering No. 1 Peugeot to pass Lotterer for second at the Michelin chicane after a short battle before falling back behind the No. 8 Audi.[112] Wurz had unlapped the No. 1 Peugeot from the lead Audi before the car was retired in the pit lane with white smoke billowing from the engine compartment's right-hand side turn due to connecting rod failure.[74][113] The No. 1 Peugeot's retirement elevated Kristensen's No. 7 Audi to third overall and Lapierre's No. 4 Oreca Peugeot to fourth.[113] Rockenfeller made an unscheduled pit stop in the race-leading No. 9 Audi because he felt a vibration, which the team determined was caused by a wheel turned on the rim.[114] Fifteen minutes after Nygaard began driving the No. 52 Young Driver AMR car for its final stint, a drive shaft failed, causing him to enter the garage to allow mechanics to replace it but the team fell to third, behind Policand's No. 72 Luc Alphand Aventures Corvette.[115][116] Duval relieved Lapierre in the No. 4 Oreca Peugeot and closed to within ten seconds of Rinaldo Capello's third-placed Audi when the car retired with flames coming from its right-hand underside into Indianapolis corner because of a major oil fire.[117]

The No. 9 Audi leads the other two Audis in formation over the finish line to win the race

Bernhard, Dumas and Rockenfeller maintained the lead the No. 9 Audi had held for the final 133 laps,[90] and achieved their first Le Mans victories and Audi's ninth since its first in 2000 in a record-breaking 397 laps, covering 5,410.713 km (3,362.061 mi).[118][119] They finished a lap ahead of Fässler, Lotterer and Tréluyer's sister No. 8 car in second and the No. 7 car of Capello, Kristensen and McNish followed another two laps behind in third to complete an Audi sweep of the overall podium.[120] The No. 42 Strakka HPD car of Kane, Leventis and Watts maintained its lead in LMP2 for 267 successive laps to win the category by six laps ahead of the second-placed No. 35 OAK Pescarolo and nine laps over the third-placed No. 25 RML Lola car.[90][120] Larbre Compétition held their four-lap lead in LMGT1 and the No. 50 Saleen of Berville, Julien Canal and Gardel achieved the team's fifth class victory.[121][122] The No. 72 LAA Corvette in second and the third-placed No. 52 Young Driver AMR Aston Martin completed the class podium and were its final finishers.[122] Following the retirement of the No. 64 Corvette, the No. 77 Felbermayr-Proton Porsche maintained the lead of LMGT2 to win the category,[120] earning Lieb and Richard Lietz their second category victories and Wolf Henzler's first.[121] Team Farnbacher finished second in class, two laps behind the Felbermayr-Proton Porsche, and BMS Scuderia Italia were another nine laps adrift in third.[120]

Post-race[]

The top three finishing teams in each category appeared on the podium to collect their trophies and in the subsequent press conference.[15] Dumas said that he thought he could win even though some of the French press told him he could not, adding: "We knew we had reliability, and that was very important I think – and we had no problems on the car. It just kept running and running without any mistakes."[123] Bernhard commented: "We talked about it, among the three of us, about how it would feel just to stand on the podium with the whole crowd on the bottom cheering and then a couple of days later we achieved that."[124] Rockenfeller said he was overwhelmed that he had achieved his objective of winning at Le Mans: "I managed to win, with Timo (Bernhard) and Romain (Dumas). Thank you to everyone. My thanks to Audi, to the Joest team, our crew. Great!"[125] Audi technical director Ralf Jüttner heralded the winning-Audi's distance record as reliability not becoming a factor, "Nobody retires nowadays. The cars normally last. It's all about who is fast and who is slower."[125]

Kristensen did not believe Priaulx had seen his approaching car, saying: "It's Le Mans, so you should always expect the unexpected – and in a way I guess you could say I didn't expect that enough, but when there's a BMW driving with three very good and professional drivers, I would expect them to see me and not change the racing line when I'm coming [behind] with a lot more speed."[126] He later said that he had forgiven Priaulx: "At the time it was very frustrating, but when you look at the whole picture it is not so bad. We have finished on the podium. It's part of the way things work at this race."[127] Priaulx admitted he was disappointed to have been a contributing factor in the accident, commenting: "It wasn't like a last minute thing that I decided to go left, but he had committed. People have told me I am not, but my gut feeling is that I am responsible, but sometimes I am very hard on myself."[128]

Pagenaud affirmed Peugeot would return to Le Mans in 2011 and win the race and described the team's emotions at having all three of their cars retire: "Everyone in the team is in tears. This team is like a family and to win this race would have meant so much to us."[129] Davidson was pleased with his race performance and felt Le Mans was where he could demonstrate his ability after people had been judging him on his results in the high-profile Formula One series. He said he and Peugeot gained inspiration that they could potentially win the event before the conclusion of his quadrupal stint.[130] Strakka team manager Piers Phillips praised the team by saying: "Strakka is here for the long term, and this win, as fantastic as it is, is not the peak of our ambitions. It's the platform from which we can move forward. We've proved a point, set a precedent, and raised expectations."[131] Canal acknowledged that his team did not anticipate at having the opportunity to win in LMGT1 and team owner Jack Leconte expressed that he was pleased to claim the category victory as an privateer entry after previously receiving support from an manufacturer.[132]

Race results[]

Class winners are marked in bold. Cars failing to complete 70 per cent of winner's distance (277 laps) are marked as Not Classified (NC).[63][133][134]

Final race results
Pos Class No Team Drivers Chassis Tyre Laps Time/Retired
Engine
1 LMP1 9 Germany Audi Sport North America Germany Mike Rockenfeller
Germany Timo Bernhard
France Romain Dumas
Audi R15 TDI plus M 397 24:01'23.694
Audi TDI 5.5 L Turbo V10
(Diesel)
2 LMP1 8 Germany Audi Sport Team Joest Germany André Lotterer
Switzerland Marcel Fässler
France Benoît Tréluyer
Audi R15 TDI plus M 396 +1 Lap
Audi TDI 5.5 L Turbo V10
(Diesel)
3 LMP1 7 Germany Audi Sport Team Joest Denmark Tom Kristensen
United Kingdom Allan McNish
Italy Rinaldo Capello
Audi R15 TDI plus M 394 +3 Laps
Audi TDI 5.5 L Turbo V10
(Diesel)
4 LMP1 6 France AIM Team Oreca Matmut France Soheil Ayari
France Didier André
United Kingdom Andy Meyrick
Oreca 01 D 369 +28 Laps
AIM YS5.5 5.5 L V10
5 LMP2 42 United Kingdom Strakka Racing United Kingdom Nick Leventis
United Kingdom Danny Watts
United Kingdom Jonny Kane
HPD ARX-01C M 367 +30 Laps
HPD AL7R 3.4 L V8
6 LMP1 007 United Kingdom Aston Martin Racing Switzerland Harold Primat
Germany Stefan Mücke
Mexico Adrián Fernández
Lola-Aston Martin B09/60 M 365 +32 Laps
Aston Martin 6.0 L V12
7 LMP2 35 France OAK Racing France Matthieu Lahaye
France Guillaume Moreau
Czech Republic Jan Charouz
Pescarolo 01 D 361 +36 Laps
Judd DB 3.4 L V8
8 LMP2 25 United Kingdom RML United Kingdom Mike Newton
Brazil Thomas Erdos
United Kingdom Andy Wallace
Lola B08/80 D 358 +39 Laps
HPD AL7R 3.4 L V8
9 LMP2 24 France OAK Racing France Jacques Nicolet
Monaco Richard Hein
France Jean-François Yvon
Pescarolo 01 D 341 +56 Laps
Judd DB 3.4 L V8
10 LMP2 41 United Kingdom Team Bruichladdich United Kingdom Tim Greaves
Saudi Arabia Karim Ojjeh
France Gary Chalandon
Ginetta-Zytek GZ09S/2 D 341 +56 Laps
Zytek ZG348 3.4 L V8
11 LMGT2 77 Germany Team Felbermayr-Proton Germany Marc Lieb
Austria Richard Lietz
Germany Wolf Henzler
Porsche 997 GT3-RSR M 338 +59 Laps
Porsche 4.0 L Flat-6
12 LMGT2 89 Germany Hankook Germany Dominik Farnbacher
Denmark Allan Simonsen
United States Leh Keen
Ferrari F430 GT2 H 336 +61 Laps
Ferrari 4.0 L V8
13 LMGT1 50 France Larbre Compétition France Roland Berville
France Julien Canal
Switzerland Gabriele Gardel
Saleen S7-R M 331 +66 Laps
Ford 7.0 L V8
14 LMGT2 97 Italy BMS Scuderia Italia SpA Germany Marco Holzer
United Kingdom Richard Westbrook
Germany Timo Scheider
Porsche 997 GT3-RSR M 327 +70 Laps
Porsche 4.0 L Flat-6
15 LMGT1 72 France Luc Alphand Aventures France Stéphan Grégoire
France Jérôme Policand
Netherlands
Chevrolet Corvette C6.R D 327 +70 Laps
Corvette LS7.R 7.0 L V8
16 LMGT2 95 Italy AF Corse SRL Italy Giancarlo Fisichella
France Jean Alesi
Finland Toni Vilander
Ferrari F430 GT2 M 323 +74 Laps
Ferrari 4.0 L V8
17 LMGT2 76 France IMSA Performance Matmut France
France Patrick Pilet
United States Patrick Long
Porsche 997 GT3-RSR M 321 +76 Laps
Porsche 4.0 L Flat-6
18 LMP2 28 Switzerland France
France Marc Rostan
Switzerland
Radical D 321 +76 Laps
Judd DB 3.4 L V8
19 LMGT2 78 Germany BMW Motorsport Germany Jörg Müller
Brazil Augusto Farfus
Germany Uwe Alzen
BMW M3 GT2 D 320 +77 Laps
BMW 4.0 L V8
20 LMP2 40 Portugal Portugal Miguel Amaral
France Olivier Pla
United Kingdom Warren Hughes
Ginetta-Zytek GZ09S/2 M 318 +79 Laps
Zytek ZG348 3.4 L V8
21 LMGT2 75 Belgium Prospeed Competition Netherlands Paul van Splunteren
Netherlands
Belgium
Porsche 997 GT3-RSR M 317 +80 Laps
Porsche 4.0 L Flat-6
22 LMGT1 52 Germany Young Driver AMR Czech Republic Tomáš Enge
Denmark Christoffer Nygaard
Netherlands Peter Kox
Aston Martin DBR9 M 311 +86 Laps
Aston Martin 6.0 L V12
23 LMP2 37 France Gerard Welter France
France
France Tristan Gommendy
WR D 308 +89 Laps
Zytek ZG348 3.4 L V8
24 LMGT2 88 Germany Team Felbermayr-Proton Austria Horst Felbermayr
Austria
Slovakia Miro Konopka
Porsche 997 GT3-RSR M 304 +93 Laps
Porsche 4.0 L Flat-6
25 LMP2 26 United States Highcroft Racing Australia David Brabham
United Kingdom Marino Franchitti
Germany Marco Werner
HPD ARX-01C M 296 +101 Laps
HPD AL7R 3.4 L V8
26 LMP2 39 Germany France Jean de Pourtales
Japan Hideki Noda
United Kingdom Jonathan Kennard
Lola B07/40 D 291 +106 Laps
Judd DB 3.4 L V8
27 LMGT2 85 Netherlands Spyker Squadron Netherlands Tom Coronel
United Kingdom Peter Dumbreck
Netherlands Jeroen Bleekemolen
Spyker C8 Laviolette GT2-R M 280 +117 Laps
Audi 4.0 L V8
NC LMP1 11 United Kingdom Drayson Racing United Kingdom Paul Drayson
United Kingdom Jonny Cocker
Italy Emanuele Pirro
Lola B09/60 M 254 Not classified
Judd GV5.5 S2 5.5 L V10
Ret LMP1 4 France Team Oreca Matmut France Olivier Panis
France Nicolas Lapierre
France Loïc Duval
Peugeot 908 HDi FAP M 373 Engine
Peugeot HDi 5.5 L Turbo V12
(Diesel)
Ret LMP1 009 United Kingdom Aston Martin Racing United Kingdom Darren Turner
Denmark Juan Barazi
United Kingdom Sam Hancock
Lola-Aston Martin B09/60 M 368 Engine
Aston Martin 6.0 L V12
Ret LMP1 1 France Team Peugeot Total Austria Alexander Wurz
Spain Marc Gené
United Kingdom Anthony Davidson
Peugeot 908 HDi FAP M 360 Engine
Peugeot HDi 5.5 L Turbo V12
(Diesel)
Ret LMP1 15 Germany Kolles Denmark Christian Bakkerud
United Kingdom Oliver Jarvis
Netherlands Christijan Albers
Audi R10 TDI M 331 Gearbox
Audi TDI 5.5 L Turbo V12
(Diesel)
Ret LMP1 008 France Signature-Plus France Pierre Ragues
France Franck Mailleux
Belgium Vanina Ickx
Lola-Aston Martin B09/60 D 302 Accident damage
Aston Martin 6.0 L V12
Ret LMP1 2 France Team Peugeot Total France Nicolas Minassian
France Stéphane Sarrazin
France Franck Montagny
Peugeot 908 HDi FAP M 264 Engine
Peugeot HDi 5.5 L Turbo V12
(Diesel)
Ret LMGT2 64 United States Corvette Racing United Kingdom Oliver Gavin
Monaco Olivier Beretta
France Emmanuel Collard
Chevrolet Corvette C6.R M 255 Exhaust
Corvette 5.5 L V8
Ret LMGT1 73 France Luc Alphand Aventures France Julien Jousse
Netherlands Xavier Maassen
France Patrice Goueslard
Chevrolet Corvette C6.R D 238 Transmission
Corvette LS7.R 7.0 L V8
Ret LMGT2 63 United States Corvette Racing United States Johnny O'Connell
Denmark Jan Magnussen
Spain Antonio García
Chevrolet Corvette C6.R M 225 Engine
Corvette 5.5 L V8
Ret LMGT2 83 United States Risi Competizione United States Tracy Krohn
Sweden Niclas Jönsson
Belgium Eric van de Poele
Ferrari F430 GT2 M 197 Engine
Ferrari 4.0 L V8
Ret LMP1 14 Germany Kolles United States Scott Tucker
Portugal
France Christophe Bouchut
Audi R10 TDI M 182 Accident damage
Audi TDI 5.5 L Turbo V12
(Diesel)
Ret LMP1 12 Switzerland Rebellion Racing France Nicolas Prost
Switzerland Neel Jani
United States Marco Andretti
Lola B10/60 M 175 Gearbox
Rebellion 5.5 L V10
Ret LMGT1 60 Switzerland Matech Competition Germany Thomas Mutsch
Switzerland Romain Grosjean
Switzerland Jonathan Hirschi
Ford GT1 M 171 Engine
Ford 5.3 L V8
Ret LMP1 13 Switzerland Rebellion Racing France Jean-Christophe Boullion
Italy Andrea Belicchi
United Kingdom Guy Smith
Lola B10/60 M 143 Accident
Rebellion 5.5 L V10
Ret LMGT1 69 Japan Japan
Japan Koji Yamanishi
Japan Hiroyuki Iiri
Lamborghini Murciélago LP670 R-SV Y 138 Gearbox
Lamborghini 6.5 L V12
Ret LMGT2 82 United States Risi Competizione Brazil Jaime Melo
Italy Gianmaria Bruni
Germany Pierre Kaffer
Ferrari F430 GT2 M 116 Gearbox
Ferrari 4.0 L V8
Ret LMGT2 92 United Kingdom United Kingdom Rob Bell
United Kingdom Tim Sugden
United States Bryce Miller
Aston Martin V8 Vantage GT2 D 71 Accident
Aston Martin 4.5 L V8
Ret LMGT2 80 United States Flying Lizard Motorsports United States Seth Neiman
United States Darren Law
Germany Jörg Bergmeister
Porsche 997 GT3-RSR M 61 Radiator
Porsche 4.0 L Flat-6
Ret LMGT1 61 Switzerland Matech Competition Switzerland Natacha Gachnang
Switzerland Cyndie Allemann
Switzerland Rahel Frey
Ford GT1 M 59 Engine fire
Ford 5.3 L V8
Ret LMP2 29 Italy Italy
Italy
Italy
Lola B08/80 D 57 Suspension
Judd DB 3.4 L V8
Ret LMGT2 79 Germany BMW Motorsport United Kingdom Andy Priaulx
Germany Dirk Müller
Germany Dirk Werner
BMW M3 GT2 D 53 Fuel sensor
BMW 4.0 L V8
Ret LMP2 38 France France
France
France
Norma M200P D 40 Accident damage
Judd DB 3.4 L V8
Ret LMP1 3 France Peugeot Sport Total France Sébastien Bourdais
Portugal Pedro Lamy
France Simon Pagenaud
Peugeot 908 HDi FAP M 38 Suspension
Peugeot HDi 5.5 L Turbo V12
(Diesel)
Ret LMGT1 70 Belgium Marc VDS Racing Team Belgium Eric De Doncker
Belgium Bas Leinders
Finland Markus Palttala
Ford GT1 M 26 Accident damage
Ford 5.0 L V8
Ret LMP1 5 United Kingdom Beechdean Mansell United Kingdom Nigel Mansell
United Kingdom Greg Mansell
United Kingdom Leo Mansell
Ginetta-Zytek GZ09S D 4 Accident
Zytek ZJ458 4.5 L V8
Ret LMGT2 81 United States Jaguar RSR United States Paul Gentilozzi
United Kingdom Ryan Dalziel
Belgium Marc Goossens
Jaguar XKR GT2 Y 4 Electrical
Jaguar 5.0 L V8
Ret LMP1 19 United States Michael Lewis/ United States Michael Lewis
United States
Canada
Lola B06/10 D 1 Gearbox
AER P32T 4.0 L Turbo V8
DNS LMGT2 96 Italy AF Corse SRL Argentina Luís Pérez Companc
Argentina Matías Russo
Finland Mika Salo
Ferrari F430 GT2 M  – Did not start
(Accident)
Ferrari 4.0 L V8
Tyre manufacturers
Key
Symbol Tyre manufacturer
D Dunlop
H Hankook
M Michelin
Y Yokohama

Footnotes[]

  1. ^ a b c d e f g h Team declined their automatic invitation.[11][13]
  2. ^ a b c Team accepted their invitation but later withdrew their entry.[16]
  3. ^ Larbre Compétition finished second in the 2009 LMS but did not gain an automatic invitation to the LMGT1 category because the team did not enter every race of the season.[17]
  4. ^ Dyson Racing achieved victory in the LMP2 category in the 2009 Petit Le Mans but did not receive an automatic invitation due to the rear wing on their car not complying with 2009 ACO regulations.[17]
  5. ^ The No. 82 Risi Competizione Ferrari had its qualifying times disallowed following an infringement discovered in post-qualifying technical inspection.[48]

References[]

  1. ^ "2018 24 Hours of Le Mans – Press Information" (PDF). Automobile Club de l'Ouest. June 2018. pp. 7, 10, 16 & 21. Archived (PDF) from the original on 23 June 2019. Retrieved 23 June 2019.
  2. ^ Augustyn, Adam; C. Shepherd, Melinda; Chauhan, Yamini; Levy, Michael; Lotha, Gloria; Tikkanen, Amy (17 June 2019). "24 Hours of Le Mans". Encyclopædia Britannica. Archived from the original on 21 August 2021. Retrieved 25 July 2021.
  3. ^ O'Kane, Philip (2012). "A History of the 'Triple Crown' of Motor Racing: The Indianapolis 500, the Le Mans 24 Hours and the Monaco Grand Prix". In Hassan, David (ed.). The History of Motor Sport: A Case Study Analysis. Abingdon, Oxfordshire: Routledge. pp. 105–109. ISBN 978-0-415-67788-2 – via Open Library.
  4. ^ a b c Roberts, Luke (6 October 2009). "Le Mans 2010: ACO reveal GT1 and LMP1 regulation changes". Racecar Engineering. Archived from the original on 11 November 2011. Retrieved 25 September 2021.
  5. ^ a b c Abuelsamid, Sam (23 September 2009). "ACO reveals 2010 Le Mans rules, diesels get more weight, less air". Autoblog. Archived from the original on 26 September 2021. Retrieved 26 September 2021.
  6. ^ "ACO 2010 Sporting Regulations". DailySportsCar. 9 December 2009. Archived from the original on 26 September 2021. Retrieved 26 September 2021.
  7. ^ English, Steven (21 August 2009). "ACO publishes 2010 Le Mans rules". Autosport. Archived from the original on 26 August 2009. Retrieved 1 October 2021.
  8. ^ "Le Mans 24 Hours 2010 – Examining The Entry". DailySportsCar. 4 February 2010. Archived from the original on 27 January 2022. Retrieved 25 September 2021.
  9. ^ a b c d "2010 LM24 Entry Criteria Issued – Selection End Of January". DailySportsCar. 15 December 2009. Archived from the original on 25 September 2021. Retrieved 25 September 2021.
  10. ^ Spurring, Quentin (3 February 2010). "Jaguar joins entries for the 2010 24 Hours of Le Mans". Autoweek. Archived from the original on 27 January 2022. Retrieved 25 September 2021.
  11. ^ a b c d e Wittemeier, Roman (4 February 2010). "Le Mans 2010: Das sind die 55 Starter" [Le Mans 2010: These are the 55 starters] (in German). Motorsport-Total. Archived from the original on 27 January 2022. Retrieved 25 September 2021.
  12. ^ "24 Heures du Mans: A new reserve and a 56th pit". Automobile Club de l'Ouest. 28 May 2010. Archived from the original on 1 March 2012. Retrieved 25 September 2021.
  13. ^ a b c d e "2010 Le Mans 24 Hours – The Automatic Entries – 29 Possible Entrants". DailySportsCar. 19 November 2009. Archived from the original on 25 September 2021. Retrieved 25 September 2021.
  14. ^ "Michelin Energy Endurance Challenge". Le Mans Series. Archived from the original on 24 July 2008. Retrieved 25 September 2021.
  15. ^ a b c d e "24 Heures du Mans – Supplementary Regulations" (PDF). Automobile Club de l'Ouest. 23 November 2009. pp. 5, 9–10, 14, 20. Archived from the original (PDF) on 17 June 2010. Retrieved 25 September 2021.
  16. ^ a b Dagys, John (7 May 2010). "Le Mans: Pescarolos, Pekaracing Corvette Withdraw". Speed. Archived from the original on 8 May 2010. Retrieved 25 September 2021.
  17. ^ a b "2010 24 Heures du Mans: The official list of the 29 automatically selected entrants". Automobile Club de l'Ouest. 19 November 2009. Archived from the original on 13 December 2009. Retrieved 25 September 2021.
  18. ^ "Le Mans Press Conference To Be Simulcast 10 am UK Thursday". DailySportsCar. 4 February 2010. Archived from the original on 25 September 2021. Retrieved 25 September 2021.
  19. ^ Foubart, Claude (5 April 2010). "La Dome-Judd S102 Forfait! Maj" [The Dome-Judd S102 Forfeit! Update] (in French). Endurance-Info. Archived from the original on 8 April 2010. Retrieved 25 September 2021.
  20. ^ Watkins, Gary (8 April 2010). "Dome withdraws from Le Mans". Autoweek. Archived from the original on 25 September 2021. Retrieved 25 September 2021.
  21. ^ Foubert, Claude (7 April 2010). "Tokai University: Le Mans 2010 Non, L'hybride Oui!" [Tokai University: Le Mans 2010 No, the Hybrid Yes!] (in French). Endurance-Info. Archived from the original on 9 April 2010. Retrieved 25 September 2021.
  22. ^ "Dome Out Of 2010 Le Mans 24 Hours". DailySportsCar. 7 April 2010. Archived from the original on 25 September 2021. Retrieved 25 September 2021.
  23. ^ Dagys, John (6 May 2010). "Le Mans: Entry News & Notes". Speed. Archived from the original on 9 May 2010. Retrieved 25 September 2021.
  24. ^ a b "More Changes to the Le Mans 24 Hours Entry". DailySportsCar. 7 May 2010. Archived from the original on 25 September 2021. Retrieved 25 September 2021.
  25. ^ Watkins, Gary (5 June 2010). "Le Mans adds 56th entry, eyes new technology for next year". Autoweek. Archived from the original on 25 September 2021. Retrieved 25 September 2021.
  26. ^ a b Mercier, Laurent (9 June 2010). "Libres: Franck Montagny (Peugeot) plus Rapide Que La Pole 2009!" [Free: Franck Montagny (Peugeot) Faster than Pole 2009!] (in French). Endurance-Info. Archived from the original on 12 June 2010. Retrieved 1 October 2021.
  27. ^ a b c d "Le Mans 24 Hours – Wednesday – Free Practice". DailySportsCar. 9 June 2010. Archived from the original on 1 October 2021. Retrieved 1 October 2021.
    "Le Mans 24 Hours – Free Practice Times". DailySportsCar. 9 June 2010. Archived from the original on 1 October 2021. Retrieved 1 October 2021.
  28. ^ Codling, Stuart (9 June 2010). "Practice halted by Grosjean crash". Autosport. Archived from the original on 12 June 2010. Retrieved 1 October 2021.
  29. ^ Codling, Stuart (9 June 2010). "Peugeot dominant in first practice". Autosport. Archived from the original on 12 June 2010. Retrieved 1 October 2021.
  30. ^ "Aston Martin carries GT1 class in practice". Motorsport.com. 9 June 2010. Archived from the original on 1 October 2021. Retrieved 1 October 2021.
  31. ^ a b c "Le Mans 24 Hours – Wednesday Qualifying". DailySportsCar. 9 June 2010. Archived from the original on 1 October 2021. Retrieved 1 October 2021.
  32. ^ a b c Dagys, John (9 June 2010). "LM24: Peugeot On Provisional Pole". Speed. Archived from the original on 13 June 2010. Retrieved 1 October 2021.
  33. ^ a b c d e Codling, Stuart (9 June 2010). "Bourdais fastest in first qualifying". Autosport. Archived from the original on 12 June 2010. Retrieved 1 October 2021.
  34. ^ a b c "Peugeot domination remains in first qualifying". Motorsport.com. 10 June 2010. Archived from the original on 1 October 2021. Retrieved 1 October 2021.
  35. ^ a b c d Mercier, Laurent (10 June 2010). "Qualifs 1: Bourdais (Peugeot) Prend La Pole Provisoire !" [Qualifying 1: Bourdais (Peugeot) Takes the Provisional Pole!] (in French). Endurance-Info. Archived from the original on 13 June 2010. Retrieved 1 October 2021.
  36. ^ a b "Aston Martin claims GT1 provisional pole". Motorsport.com. 10 June 2010. Archived from the original on 1 October 2021. Retrieved 1 October 2021.
  37. ^ "Le Mans 24 Hours – Thursday Morning Notes". DailySportsCar. 10 June 2010. Archived from the original on 2 October 2021. Retrieved 2 October 2021.
  38. ^ a b c English, Steven (10 June 2010). "Peugeot still dominant in qualifying". Autosport. Archived from the original on 13 June 2010. Retrieved 1 October 2021.
  39. ^ a b c "Le Mans 24 Hours – Thursday Qualifying 19:00–21:00". DailySportsCar. 10 June 2010. Archived from the original on 1 October 2021. Retrieved 1 October 2021.
  40. ^ a b Mercier, Laurent (10 June 2010). "Qualifs 2: Les Positions Majoritairement Figées..." [Qualifiers 2: The Positions Mostly Frozen ...] (in French). Endurance-Info. Archived from the original on 13 June 2010. Retrieved 1 October 2021.
  41. ^ a b "Highcroft moves to LMP2 provisional pole". Motorsport.com. 11 June 2010. Archived from the original on 1 October 2021. Retrieved 1 October 2021.
  42. ^ a b c d "Le Mans 24 Hours – Final Thursday Qualifying". DailySportsCar. 10 June 2010. Archived from the original on 1 October 2021. Retrieved 1 October 2021.
  43. ^ a b c d Dagys, John (10 June 2010). "LM24: Peugeot Retains Pole". Speed. Archived from the original on 14 June 2021. Retrieved 1 October 2021.
  44. ^ Mercier, Laurent (11 June 2010). "Les Peugeot 908 Trustent Les Deux Premières Lignes!" [The Peugeot 908 Monopolizes the First Two Lines!] (in French). Endurance-Info. Archived from the original on 14 June 2010. Retrieved 1 October 2021.
  45. ^ a b c d e English, Steven (10 June 2010). "Bourdais clinches pole for Peugeot". Autosport. Archived from the original on 13 June 2010. Retrieved 1 October 2021.
  46. ^ a b "Bourdais' fastest time gave Peugeot the pole". Motorsport.com. 12 June 2010. Archived from the original on 1 October 2021. Retrieved 1 October 2021.
  47. ^ a b "Le Mans 24 Hours – Friday". DailySportsCar. Archived from the original on 3 October 2021. Retrieved 3 October 2021.
  48. ^ a b Turner, Kevin (11 June 2010). "Risi Ferrari fails scrutineering". Autosport. Archived from the original on 14 June 2010. Retrieved 3 October 2021.
    Megevand, Anthony (11 June 2010). "La Ferrari/Risi Probablement Déchue De Sa Pole…" [The Ferrari / Risi Probably Lost Its Pole ...] (in French). Endurance-Info. Archived from the original on 14 June 2010. Retrieved 3 October 2021.
  49. ^ "24 Heures du Mans: Qualifying 1" (PDF). Automobile Club de l'Ouest. 10 June 2010. Archived from the original (PDF) on 4 July 2010. Retrieved 10 June 2010.
  50. ^ "24 Heures du Mans: Qualifying 2 – After 4 Hours" (PDF). Automobile Club de l'Ouest. 11 June 2010. Archived (PDF) from the original on 4 July 2010. Retrieved 11 June 2010.
  51. ^ a b Wittemeier, Roman (12 June 2010). "McNish setzt die Bestzeit im Warmup" (in German). Motorsport-Total. Archived from the original on 3 October 2021. Retrieved 3 October 2021.
  52. ^ a b "Le Mans 24 Hours – Warm Up – Damp and Greasy". DailySportsCar. 12 June 2010. Archived from the original on 3 October 2021. Retrieved 3 October 2021.
  53. ^ Turner, Kevin (12 June 2010). "McNish tops wet warm-up". Autosport. Archived from the original on 15 June 2010. Retrieved 3 October 2021.
  54. ^ "24 Heures du Mans: Warm-up" (PDF). Automobile Club de l'Ouest. 12 June 2010. Archived (PDF) from the original on 17 June 2010. Retrieved 3 October 2021.
  55. ^ Mercier, Laurent (12 June 2010). "Le Warm up Au Menu Des Brèves Du Samedi Matin..." [The Warm up on the Saturday Morning Brief Menu ...] (in French). Endurance-Info. Archived from the original on 24 August 2010. Retrieved 3 October 2021.
  56. ^ Dufeu, Antoine (1 June 2010). "(Le Mans 2010) Bruno Meier et Jean-Claude Killy donneront le départ" [(Le Mans 2010) Bruno Meier and Jean-Claude Killy will give the start] (in French). Caradisiac. Archived from the original on 25 September 2021. Retrieved 25 September 2021.
  57. ^ Tassel, Pierre (14 June 2010). "Le Mans: fréquentation en hausse" [Le Mans: attendance on the rise]. Auto Hebdo (in French). Archived from the original on 27 January 2022. Retrieved 27 January 2022.
  58. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q Tremayne, Sam; English, Steven; Hughes, Emlyn; Creighton, Geoff (12 June 2010). "As it happened: The 78th Le Mans 24 Hours". Autosport. Archived from the original on 15 June 2010. Retrieved 25 September 2021.
  59. ^ a b c Goodwin, Graham; Slinger, Paul (12 June 2010). "Le Mans 24 Hours – Pre-Race and Hour 1". DailySportsCar. Archived from the original on 25 January 2022. Retrieved 24 January 2022.
  60. ^ Abumelsamid, Sam (12 June 2010). "Le Mans 2010: Early race report". Autoblog. Archived from the original on 25 January 2022. Retrieved 24 January 2022.
  61. ^ English, Steven (12 June 2010). "Peugeots hold lead at start". Autosport. Archived from the original on 15 June 2010. Retrieved 24 January 2022.
  62. ^ a b "Mansell team out after early crash". Motorsport.com. 12 June 2010. Archived from the original on 25 January 2022. Retrieved 24 January 2022.
  63. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k Watkins, Gary; Anderson, Ben; Turner, Kevin (17 June 2010). "Report – Le Mans 24H" (PDF). Autosport. 200 (12): 40–53. Archived (PDF) from the original on 25 September 2021. Retrieved 25 September 2021 – via Porsche Cars History.
  64. ^ Parries, Maggy (13 June 2010). "Slow Puncture Ends Beechdean Mansell Le Mans Dream". AutoMobilSport.com. Archived from the original on 31 January 2022. Retrieved 31 January 2022.
  65. ^ "Nigel Mansell suffers heavy crash at Le Mans". The Guardian. 12 June 2010. Archived from the original on 27 January 2022. Retrieved 24 January 2022.
  66. ^ "Nigel Mansell crashes on Le Mans 24 Hour race debut". BBC Sport. 12 June 2010. Archived from the original on 17 June 2010. Retrieved 24 January 2022.
  67. ^ "Magic keeps F1legend Mansell going after horror crash". Mumbai Mirror. 1 August 2016. Archived from the original on 25 January 2022. Retrieved 24 January 2022.
  68. ^ "Midlands-born F1 ace Nigel Mansell reveals his 'magic' solution to recovery from a near fatal crash". ITV News. 20 September 2015. Archived from the original on 25 January 2022. Retrieved 24 January 2022.
  69. ^ Strang, Simon (12 June 2010). "H1: #3 Peugeot leads early running". Autosport. Archived from the original on 15 June 2010. Retrieved 24 January 2022.
  70. ^ "Le Mans 24 Hours – Hour 2". DailySportsCar. 12 June 2010. Archived from the original on 27 January 2022. Retrieved 24 January 2022.
  71. ^ a b "After 2 hours – Peugeot gets the early jump". Motorsport.com. 12 June 2010. Archived from the original on 25 January 2022. Retrieved 24 January 2022.
  72. ^ a b Atkins, Russell (12 June 2010). "Leinders: Maybe we should have changed tyres..." Crash.net. Archived from the original on 13 June 2010. Retrieved 24 January 2022.
  73. ^ English, Steven (12 June 2010). "Peugeot forced to retire #3 car". Autosport. Archived from the original on 15 June 2010. Retrieved 24 January 2022.
  74. ^ a b c "Le Mans 2010: Why the 908's broke". Racecar Engineering. July 2010. Archived from the original on 25 January 2022. Retrieved 24 January 2022.
  75. ^ "Le Mans 24 Hours – Hour 3". DailySportsCar. 12 June 2010. Archived from the original on 27 January 2022. Retrieved 25 January 2022.
  76. ^ a b "No. 3 Peugeot retires, No. 1 holds hour four lead". Motorsport.com. 12 June 2010. Archived from the original on 25 January 2022. Retrieved 25 January 2022.
  77. ^ a b "Le Mans 24 Hours – Hour 4". DailySportsCar. 12 June 2010. Archived from the original on 27 January 2022. Retrieved 25 January 2022.
  78. ^ "Pegasus Racing race report". Motorsport.com. 16 June 2010. Archived from the original on 25 January 2022. Retrieved 25 January 2022.
  79. ^ a b Codling, Stuart (12 June 2010). "H4: #1 Peugeot takes race lead". Autosport. Archived from the original on 17 June 2010. Retrieved 25 January 2022.
  80. ^ a b "Pressure mounts in closing hours". Motorsport.com. 13 June 2010. Archived from the original on 26 January 2022. Retrieved 26 January 2022.
  81. ^ a b "Kristensen hits barriers, more woes for Audi". Motorsport.com. 13 June 2010. Archived from the original on 25 January 2022. Retrieved 25 January 2022.
  82. ^ Strang, Simon (12 June 2010). "Audi hits out at Priaulx over incident". Autosport. Archived from the original on 15 June 2010. Retrieved 25 January 2022.
  83. ^ "Lead Audi goes off the road". Crash. 12 June 2010. Archived from the original on 13 June 2010. Retrieved 25 January 2022.
  84. ^ Smith, Damien (August 2010). "Audi gifted ninth Le Mans". Motor Sport. 86 (8): 28–29. Archived from the original on 9 May 2021. Retrieved 25 January 2022.
  85. ^ "Cruel Lack at Le Mans". JMW Motorsport. June 2010. Archived from the original on 28 June 2010. Retrieved 25 January 2022.
  86. ^ "Second Safety Car called". Crash. 12 June 2010. Archived from the original on 13 June 2010. Retrieved 25 January 2022.
  87. ^ English, Steven (12 June 2010). "H7: #1 Peugeot pulls away". Autosport. Archived from the original on 15 June 2010. Retrieved 25 January 2022.
  88. ^ a b c "Le Mans 24 Hours – Hour 7". DailySportsCar. 12 June 2010. Archived from the original on 27 January 2022. Retrieved 25 January 2022.
  89. ^ English, Steven (12 June 2010). "H7: #1 Peugeot pulls away". Autosport. Archived from the original on 15 January 2022. Retrieved 25 January 2022.
  90. ^ a b c d e "24 Heures du Mans: Race: Leader Sequence" (PDF). Automobile Club de l'Ouest. 13 June 2010. p. 1. Archived from the original (PDF) on 17 June 2010. Retrieved 24 January 2022.
  91. ^ Mercier, Laurent (13 June 2010). "H+10 : Peugeot Garde Les Commandes Mais Audi Suit..." [H+10: Peugeot Keeps the Controls but Audi Follows...] (in French). Endurance-Info. Archived from the original on 17 June 2010. Retrieved 25 January 2022.
  92. ^ English, Steven (12 June 2010). "Alternator glitch delays lead Peugeot". Autosport. Archived from the original on 15 June 2010. Retrieved 25 January 2022.
  93. ^ Turner, Kevin (12 June 2010). "Risi Ferrari suffers gearbox blow". Autosport. Archived from the original on 16 June 2010. Retrieved 25 January 2022.
  94. ^ a b c "Le Mans 24 Hours – Hours 10–12". DailySportsCar. 13 June 2010. Archived from the original on 27 January 2022. Retrieved 25 January 2022.
  95. ^ Strang, Simon (13 June 2010). "H11: Recovering #1 Peugeot spins". Autosport. Archived from the original on 16 June 2010. Retrieved 25 January 2022.
  96. ^ Codling, Stuart (13 June 2010). "H12: Audi closes in on lead Peugeot". Autosport. Archived from the original on 17 June 2010. Retrieved 25 January 2022.
  97. ^ Codling, Stuart (13 June 2010). "H13: #2 Peugeot stretches lead". Autosport. Archived from the original on 17 June 2010. Retrieved 25 January 2022.
  98. ^ English, Steven (13 June 2010). "#8 Audi frustrated by small delays". Autosport. Archived from the original on 17 June 2010. Retrieved 25 January 2022.
  99. ^ "Le Mans 24 Hours – Hours 13–15". DailySportsCar. 13 June 2010. Archived from the original on 27 January 2022. Retrieved 25 January 2022.
  100. ^ "Le Mans 24 Hours – Hour 16". DailySportsCar. 13 June 2010. Archived from the original on 27 January 2022. Retrieved 26 January 2022.
  101. ^ "Peugeot hopes go up in smoke, Audi leads". Crash. 13 June 2010. Archived from the original on 13 June 2010. Retrieved 26 January 2022.
  102. ^ English, Steven (13 June 2010). "#2 Peugeot retires from the lead". Autosport. Archived from the original on 16 June 2010. Retrieved 26 January 2022.
  103. ^ Broomhead, James (17 June 2010). "Corvette Racing Make The Wrong History at Le Mans". The Checkered Flag. Archived from the original on 26 January 2022. Retrieved 25 January 2022.
  104. ^ a b "Le Mans 24 Hours – Hour 17". DailySportsCar. 13 June 2010. Archived from the original on 27 January 2022. Retrieved 26 January 2022.
  105. ^ "24 Heures du Mans 2010 : Troisième podium en cinq ans!" [2010 24 Hours of Le Mans: Third podium in five years!] (in French). Luc Alphand Adventures. 16 June 2010. Archived from the original on 14 July 2011. Retrieved 26 January 2022.
  106. ^ Mercier, Laurent (13 June 2010). "H+21: Audi Contrôle Mais Peugeot N'abdique Pas..." [H+21: Audi Controls but Peugeot Does Not Abdicate...] (in French). Endurance-Info. Archived from the original on 17 June 2010. Retrieved 26 January 2022.
  107. ^ "Le Mans 24 Hours – Hour 18". DailySportsCar. 13 June 2010. Archived from the original on 27 January 2022. Retrieved 26 January 2022.
  108. ^ English, Steven (13 June 2010). "Davidson clashes with GT2 leader". Autosport. Archived from the original on 16 June 2010. Retrieved 26 January 2022.
  109. ^ a b English, Steven (13 June 2010). "H19: #9 Audi continues to lead". Autosport. Archived from the original on 16 June 2010. Retrieved 26 January 2022.
  110. ^ a b c "Le Mans 24 Hours – Hour 19". DailySportsCar. 13 June 2010. Archived from the original on 27 January 2022. Retrieved 26 January 2022.
  111. ^ Atkins, Russell (13 June 2010). "Gavin blasts Davidson for ending Corvette bid". Crash. Archived from the original on 13 June 2010. Retrieved 26 January 2022.
  112. ^ Strang, Simon (13 June 2010). "H21: #1 Peugeot pressuring Audis". Autosport. Archived from the original on 16 June 2010. Retrieved 26 January 2022.
    "Le Mans 24 Hours – Hour 21". DailySportsCar. 13 June 2010. Archived from the original on 27 January 2022. Retrieved 26 January 2022.
  113. ^ a b Strang, Simon (13 June 2010). "H22: Audi 1-2-3 after #1 Peugeot exit". Autosport. Archived from the original on 16 June 2010. Retrieved 26 January 2022.
    "Le Mans 24 Hours – Hour 22". DailySportsCar. 13 June 2010. Archived from the original on 27 January 2022. Retrieved 26 January 2022.
  114. ^ Codling, Stuart (13 June 2010). "Rockenfeller happy despite tyre issue". Autosport. Archived from the original on 16 June 2010. Retrieved 26 January 2022.
  115. ^ "Young Driver AMR race report". Motorsport.com. 14 June 2010. Archived from the original on 28 January 2022. Retrieved 27 January 2022.
  116. ^ "Le Mans 24 Hours – Hours 23 and 24 – To The Finish". DailySportsCar. 13 June 2010. Archived from the original on 28 January 2022. Retrieved 26 January 2022.
  117. ^ Strang, Simon (13 June 2010). "H23: ORECA Peugeot retires as well". Autosport. Archived from the original on 16 June 2010. Retrieved 26 January 2022.
  118. ^ Pass, Martyn (2010). "Audi Race Facts". DailySportsCar. Archived from the original on 29 August 2021. Retrieved 29 August 2021.
  119. ^ English, Steven (13 June 2010). "Audi claims win as Peugeot crumbles". Autosport. Archived from the original on 15 June 2010. Retrieved 26 January 2022.
  120. ^ a b c d Dagys, John (13 June 2010). "LM24: Shock 1-2-3 For Audi". Speed. Archived from the original on 17 June 2010. Retrieved 24 January 2022.
  121. ^ a b Goodwin, Graham. "Significant Happenings". DailySportsCar. Archived from the original on 27 January 2022. Retrieved 26 January 2022.
  122. ^ a b Mercier, Laurent (16 June 2010). "24h 2010 : Analyse De La Course En GT1..." [24h 2010: Analysis of the GT1 Race...] (in French). Endurance-Info. Archived from the original on 19 June 2010. Retrieved 26 January 2022.
  123. ^ Atkins, Russell (17 June 2010). "Dumas: Nobody believed we could win – but I did". Crash. Archived from the original on 20 June 2010. Retrieved 5 March 2022.
  124. ^ Strang, Simon (13 June 2010). "Q & A with Bernhard, Rockenfeller". Autosport. Retrieved 5 March 2022.
  125. ^ a b Moser, Stefan (13 June 2010). "Quotes after the race at Le Mans". Audi Media Center. Retrieved 5 March 2022.
  126. ^ "Kristensen: I expected more from a professional". Crash. 12 June 2010. Archived from the original on 13 June 2010. Retrieved 5 March 2022.
  127. ^ Codling, Stuart (13 June 2010). "Kristensen forgives Priaulx over crash". Autosport. Archived from the original on 17 June 2010. Retrieved 5 March 2022.
  128. ^ Strang, Simon (12 June 2010). "Priaulx gutted over Audi incident". Autosport. Archived from the original on 17 June 2010. Retrieved 5 March 2022.
  129. ^ Codling, Stuart (13 June 2010). "Pagenaud: Peugeot will return stronger". Autosport. Archived from the original on 15 June 2010. Retrieved 5 March 2022.
  130. ^ English, Steven; Strang, Simon (14 June 2010). "Davidson thrilled with performance". Autosport. Archived from the original on 16 June 2010. Retrieved 5 March 2022.
  131. ^ "Strakka thrilled by LMP2 success". Crash. 15 June 2010. Archived from the original on 20 June 2010. Retrieved 5 March 2022.
  132. ^ English, Steven (13 June 2010). "Larbre surprised to win GT1". Autosport. Archived from the original on 19 June 2010. Retrieved 5 March 2022.
  133. ^ "24 Heures du Mans: Overall classification is provisional for the first two places of the GT2 category" (PDF). Automobile Club de l'Ouest. 13 June 2010. Archived from the original (PDF) on 4 July 2010. Retrieved 13 June 2010.
  134. ^ "Le Mans 24 Hours 2010". Racing Sports Cars. Archived from the original on 26 January 2022. Retrieved 26 January 2022.

External links[]

Retrieved from ""