Ask anyone about endurance racing and everyone inevitably thinks of Le Mans, so why is Le mans such an iconic race.

At the start of the 2008 season we set a target to visit all the 24 hour endurance races to view and experience for ourself and to ask the question "is the 24 Heures Du mans on a level simply above everything else". Our journey so far as taken us to an unusably cold race in Florida for the Rolex 24 Hour, the blistering heat of Bahrain and the soaking rain of the Nurburgring.

   

After counting the cost of our travels and wounding if we could afford the fuel to travel to Le Mans and back we soon packed up our cameras and equipment and made the long journey by road to Le Mans. Traveling by night from our base in Yorkshire we arrived some 4 hours later in Dover at 12.00 midnight...this is when the magic of the Le Mans 24 Hour race starts to become a reality. We where greeted by the large amount of sports cars, campers bikes you name it all with Le mans stickers and logos carefully placed upon there vehicles, what is it that makes fans in there hundreds of thousands make the annual pilgrimage to travel to Le mans.

It very hard to explain why but as soon as you make the long drive from Callas to Le mans you start to understand why as soon as you hit Le mans city, their is almost a kind of magic in the air everywhere you look and go it's filled with excitement, joy and every person from every nation are joined together with the same passion that is Le mans.






This year after years of waiting will finally welcomed back Porsche to prototype racing at Le mans, love or hate Porsche you cant take away the history and excitement that Porsche Motorsport brings to the race.


   

The Porsche customer teams where well prepared after testing for the highlight of the sports car racing season, with a total of five racing vehicles: two Porsche RS Spyder and three Porsche 911 GT3 RSR.

Bringing the pair of RS Spyder to the classic are the teams of Van Merksteijn Motorsport (Netherlands) and Essex (Denmark), after having already won the first three rounds of the Le Mans Series (LMS) this season. The 476 hp Weissach-built sports prototype experienced a double premiere in Le Mans in front of over 200,000 spectators. It is its first race over 24 hours and the first time on this historic circuit for the RS Spyder.

  

For the LMS Van Merksteijn team as well, the 24 hour race was a premiere – and in three ways for Jos Verstappen, the ex-Formula 1 pilot had never driven at Le Mans, had never driven a 24 hour event – and never at night. Verstappen was impressed with the circuit’s fast corners. “The track is not for the meek. It’s thrilling and very demanding, for a Le Mans rookie the length alone is daunting,” he says. “Because there was hardly a dry moment during testing I wasn’t able to drive at the limit. But I have complete faith in our car and I’m looking forward to this race.” The two other drivers of the Dutch trio, Jereon Bleekemolen and team owner Peter van Merksteijn, already have two Le Mans races to their credit.

   

In the GT2 class a total of three Porsche teams tried to repeat their win of last year. Competing for the German Felbermayr-Proton team is Porsche works driver Wolf Henzler (Germany) as well as Alex Davison (Australia) and Horst Felbermayr sen. (Austria). The Flying Lizard Motorsports team (USA) competes with Americans Johannes van Overbeek and Seth Neiman as well as Porsche works driver Joerg Bergmeister (Germany). The trio of the French IMSA Performance Matmut squad was made up of team owner Raymond Narac (France) and the Porsche works drivers Patrick Long (USA) and Richard Lietz (Austria).

Double victory for Porsche RS Spyder

The Le Mans premiere for the Porsche RS Spyder could not have gone better: The sports prototype from Weissach celebrated a double victory in the LMP2 class. After a trouble free run without a single technical problem, Jos Verstappen, Jeroen Bleekemolen and Peter van Merksteijn (all Netherlands) crossed the finish line first. The trio from the Van Merksteijn Motorsport team held an eight lap advantage over the second-placed RS Spyder of John Nielsen, Casper Elgaard (both Denmark) and Porsche works driver Sascha Maassen (Germany). Taking up the marathon from first and second, the two teams controlled the race with their 476 hp RS Spyder right from the start.

  

“This success is something very special in my racing career,” said an ecstatic ex-Formula 1 pilot Jos Verstappen. “Winning in Le Mans means you go down in racing history. For me it was also important as I’d never competed in a 24-hour race before. The car was unbelievably reliable and fantastic to drive. It was great fun right from the first to the last minute.” His team mate, Peter van Merksteijn, who also owns the Dutch team, was totally over the moon. “This is crazy,” said the 52-year-old. “Every team member has worked untiringly. Above all, Jos drove like a young god. My job was actually only to bring the RS Spyder back to the pits without injuries and not to lose too much time to Jos and Jeroen. This worked. Porsche’s support was excellent and the co-operation couldn’t have been better.” Just one unscheduled repair disturbed their run. The underbody had come loose through cutting over the kerbs and had to be reattached.

   

For the Essex pilots, a touch of wistfulness was mixed with their joy over second place. In the first third of the race the Danish team had led for some time – and hopes had justifiably grown for a Le Mans win. Two slow punctures and an additional pit stop due to electronic problems robbed them of this chance. “It’s incredibly moving to secure second at our very first 24 hour race as a team,” said John Nielsen, who acts as driver and team boss and who claimed overall victory at the long distance classic in 1990. Sascha Maassen also had positive feedback about his Essex team. “Right from the start I felt great in my guest team and I was surprised at the level of engagement and determination at which they worked,” said the Porsche works driver. “It was a highlight to drive the RS Spyder here in Le Mans. Thanks to the unusually good balance and road holding of the car you always had total trust in the vehicle even in the ultra fast passages.”

In contrast, the three teams with the Porsche 911 GT3 RSR in the near-standard GT2 category experienced bad luck. An accident and a technical defect robbed all hopes of repeating last year’s victory.

   

The teams in the near-standard GT2 class also took off into the race with their Porsche 911 GT3 RSR showing great promise. In qualifying, the Porsche works driver Patrick Long (USA) had undercut the magical four-minute mark with a lap time of 3:58.152 minutes in the sports car category for the first time and with his German works driver team mate Wolf Henzler, claimed a double pole position result. In the race two Porsche 911 GT3 RSR held a clear lead. After two hours an unlucky collision between Long and his compatriot Seth Neiman robbed them of any chance to win. For the French IMSA Performance Matmut team with Long, works driver Richard Lietz (Austria) and Raymond Narac (France) this signalled the end of their race. The 911 of the Flying Lizard Motorsports team could rejoin the race, but sat more than 30 laps behind to secure sixth at the flag with drivers Joerg Bergmeister (Germany), Neiman and Johannes van Overbeek (USA). With this, Bergmeister turned the fastest lap by far in the GT2 category in 3:59.887 minutes.

Fifth place in the GT2 class went to Porsche works driver Wolf Henzler (Germany), Alex Davison (Australia) and Horst Felbermayr sen. (Austria). Until midnight, the trio delivered a spirited fight for the lead against a Ferrari, but fell far back due to a one-hour stop for repairs in the night. “Apart from this technical defect our 911 ran like clockwork. But the competition in our class is so close that it’s very difficult to make up any lost time,” said Henzler.

 
Above one the three LMP1 Peugeot's, Peugeot where very unlucky not to win this years race.


Le Mans would not be the same without the Pit Babes, images above and below by Paul Holroyd

Le Mans brings fans from all over the World all here to have a good time. Below fans wait with supersoakers outside the track.

Le Mans is not just for the die-hard motorsport fan, fan's always go that extra mile at Le Mans dressing up in fancy-dress. Below fan takes photo's dressed up as a Smurf. Image by Luke Holroyd

 

RS Spyder has the best overall efficiency of all participants

The Porsche RS Spyder achieved another double victory in a second discipline at the Le Mans 24 hour race: The sports prototype claimed first and second in the “Michelin Energy Endurance Challenge Trophy” as the vehicle with the best overall efficiency. The classification is based on a formula with factors including fuel consumption, vehicle weight and average speed. The double victory of the RS Spyder in the LMP2 class at the 24 hour race signifies a double success over all other opponents, as all four classes are classified equally in the Michelin Challenge. This means that the petrol-powered RS Spyder was substantially more efficient at the 24 Hours of Le Mans than the diesel-powered vehicles in the more powerful LMP1 class.

 

Like in the race itself, the Dutch Porsche customer team, Van Merksteijn Motorsport, also led the Michelin Energy Endurance Challenge Trophy, followed by the Danish Essex team. Third in the Challenge went to Oreca Matmut (France). On the winner’s rostrum in Le Mans, the team principals also received a cheque for 10,000 Euro. In the European Le Mans Series (LMS) as well, Porsche customer teams occupy positions one and two in the Michelin Challenge – there, the 476 hp Porsche RS Spyder is not only successful in the race but also has the best overall efficiency of all vehicles.

Fast Facts: 24 Hours of Le Mans

 

(above) Race officials look on from the pit exit.

 


(above) Flying Lizards practice pit stops at Thursdays practice.



The finish of the 24 hour race.

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