The two ten minutes qualifying sessions, the first for the GT cars and the second for the Hypercars and LMP2
cars were held late on the Friday afternoon following two 90mins and a 60mins free practice periods on the
Thursday and Friday, giving everybody plenty of time to assess and get used to the circuit changes. In the
LMGTE Pro class it was the pair of works Porsches that topped the times, with the #91 example of
Gianmaria Bruni just 0.1sec quicker than the #92 car of Michael Christensen. The LMGTE Am class saw the
#21 AF Corse Ferrari 488 GTE EVO driven by Christoph Ulrich initially top the times, but his time was
disallowed for exceeding track limits, relegating it to the back of the grid. The class pole position thus went to
the TF Sport entered #33 Aston Martin Vantage AMR driven by Ben Keating, followed by the similar #98
Northwest Aston Martin entry driven by Paul Dalla Lana. In the LMP2 class it was the #83 AF Corse entered
Oreca 07-Gibson driven by Alessio Rovera that took the honours. The overall and Hypercar pole position went
to the #708 Glickenhaus 007 LMH driven by Olivier Pla, just 0.228sec quicker than the #36 Alpine
A480-Gibson driven by Mathieu Vaxiviere.
Race day started of in bright warm sunshine, but there was the forecast of some rain showers during the
afternoon. When the lights went out at 13.00 to signal the rolling start of the six hour race, it was the pole
sitting Glickenhaus driven by Olivier Pla that led in the opening stages, but the race was barely underway
when the #44 ARC Bratislava entered Oreca 07-Gibson crashed heavily, spreading debris all over the track,
which caused the race to be red flagged whilst the debris and car were removed and the barrier made safe
again. This would be the first of three red flag stoppages, the next coming about 90 minutes into the race,
when the forecast “showers” arrived, which turned out to be a deluge that flooded the track in places, making
it too dangerous to continue until the rain abated. The race turned into a real rollercoaster, with the three red
flag stoppages, six safety car periods and five full course yellows due to the rain and various incidents, which
resulted in less than half the race being run under green flag conditions.
As the race progressed, the Glickenhaus 007 LMH slipped down the order, whilst Toyota lost their #8 Toyota
car of Buemi/Hartley/Hirakawa early on, when it retired trackside with hybrid system problems. This left the
fight at the head of the field for overall honours between the #7 Toyota of Conway/Kobayashi/ Lopez, and the
#36 Alpine of Negro/Lapierre/Vaxiviere. The former took the overall race win by some 27secs, with the
Glickenhaus taking the final Hypercar podium spot, albeit a lap down and in 9th place overall. In the LMP2
class it was the #31 WRT entered Oreca 07-Gibson driven by Galeal/Frijns/Rast that took the honours. It even
led the race overall during the wet period, when Robin Frijns put on a masterful display of wet weather driving
to pull away from the Toyota driven by Mike Conway, eventually finishing third overall, only 38secs behind the
second place Alpine Hypercar. In the LMP2 Pro/Am class the win was taken by the AF Corse entered #83
Oreca 07-Gibson of Perrodo/Nielsen/Rovera, adding to its overall LMP2 class pole position in qualifying.
In the GT classes the #21 AF Corse Ferrari in the Am class, which had started from the back of the grid after
its qualifying indiscretion, fought its way back to take the class lead driven by Toni Vilander during the
opening stint, but his co-drivers couldn’t match his pace and it slipped down the order, not helped by a late
excursion into the gravel trap at Les Combes! The LMGTE Am class win eventually going to the #77 Dempsey
Proton Racing entered Porsche driven by Reid/Priaulx/Tincknell, ahead of the class pole sitting #33 Aston
Martin of Keating/Chaves/Sorensen. In the LMGTE Pro class the pair of works Porsches had a coming
together just after the start, which resulted in a rear tyre puncture for the #91 car of Bruni. This resulted in him
having to complete virtually a full lap to get the tyre changed, dropping the car well out of contention for any
class honours. Going into the final stages it was the pair of AF Corse entered Ferraris that led the class in the
order of the #51 car driven by James Calado ahead of the #52 example driven by Antonio Fuoco, but they
were being hunted down by the #92 Porsche driven by Michael Christensen. With around 30 minutes
remaining the Porsche muscled its way past the #52 Ferrari at the La Source hairpin, making light contact in
the process, and set off after the class leader. However, through the final laps James Calado was able to keep
his Ferrari ahead, and took the class win by just 0.523sec from the Porsche, with the sister #52 Ferrari
completing the podium, less than a second further back.
Race Podiums
Overall
1st - #7, Toyota Gazoo Racing, Toyota GRO10 Hybrid, M. Conway/K. Kobayashi/J. Lopez
2nd - #36, Alpine ELF Team, Alpine A480-Gibson, A. Negro/N. Lapierre/M. Vaxiviere
3rd - #31, WRT, Oreca 07-Gibson, S. Galeal/R. Frijns/R. Rast
Hypercar
1st - #7, Toyota Gazoo Racing, Toyota GRO10 Hybrid, M. Conway/K. Kobayashi/J. Lopez
2nd - #36, Alpine ELF Team, Alpine A480-Gibson, A. Negro/N. Lapierre/M. Vaxivierre
3rd - #708, Glickenhaus Racing, Glickenhaus 007 LMH, O. Pla/R. Dumas/L. Derani
LMP2
1st - #31, WRT, Oreca 07-Gibson, S. Galeal/R. Frijns/R. Rast
2nd – 41, Realteam by WRT, Oreca 07-Gibson, R. Andrade/F. Habsburgh/N. Nato
3rd - #38, JOTA, Oreca 07-Gibson, R. Gonzalez/A. Da Costa/W. Stevens
LMP2 Pro/Am
1st - #83, AF Corse, Oreca 07-Gibson, F. Perrodo/N. Nielsen/A. Rovera
2nd - #45, Algarve Pro Racing, Oreca 07-Gibson, S. Thomas/J. Allen/R. Binder
3rd - #35, Ultimate, Oreca 07-Gibson, J. Lahaye/M. Lahaye/F. Heriau
LMGTE Pro
1st - #51, AF Corse, Ferrari 488 GTE EVO, J. Calado/ A. Pier Guidi
2nd - #92, Porsche GT Team, Porsche 911 RSR-19, M. Christensen/K. Estre
3rd - #52, AF Corse, Ferrari 488 GTE EVO, M. Molina/A. Fuoco
LMGTE Am
1st - #77, Dempsey-Proton Racing, Porsche 911 RSR-19, C. Ried/S. Priaulx/H. Tincknell
2nd - #33, TF Sport, Aston Martin Vantage AMR, B. Keating/H. Chaves/M. Sorensen
3rd - #98, Northwest AMR, Aston Martin Vantage AMR, P. Dalla Lana/D. Pittard/N. Thim
|
