WEC - Preview for the 2020 24 Hours of Le Mans

11.09.20

At 14h30 on Saturday 19 September the 88th edition of the 24 Hours of Le Mans is due to get underway.  This will be Round 7 of the 2019/20 FIA World Endurance Championship.

Lap distance:    13.629 km

Race duration: 24 hours

Location:          Situated 200km from Paris, Le Mans is located on the Sarthe River. Traditionally the capital of the province of Maine, it is now the capital of the Sarthe department and is a part of the Pays de la Loire region.

Other Races:     Road to Le Mans – Porsche Carrera Cup 

Website:           LeMans.org

Airport:            Paris Orly – 198km – http://www.airport-orly.com/

 

WHAT HAS CHANGED FOR THE 2020 24 HOURS OF LE MANS?

Hyperpole 

The traditional qualifying session for Le Mans has been shaken up for 2020. There will now be two stages, designed to encourage sheer speed and spectacular track action.
 
On Thursday there will be qualifying and at the end of this session, 24 competitors – the six best in each class – will go on to compete in a new “Hyperpole” session the following day [Friday].  Hyperpole will determine the first six places on the grid for each class. 

Behind closed doors 

Due to the current COVID-19 pandemic and for the first time in Le Mans history, this year’s event will be staged behind closed doors. Fans will be able to watch all the action from home on television or via various digital platforms including the official FIA WEC app.

Change of start time
The start of this year’s race will be at 14h30 CEST on Saturday 19 September instead of its more recent 15h00 start time. 

Not the Season Finale

Originally the 2020 24 Hours of Le Mans was going to be the final race of the 2019/20 FIA WEC season.  However this is now going to be held in Bahrain in November.

 

ENTRY LIST

CLICK HERE for the 60 car entry list for the 2020 24 Hours of Le Mans

 

VIDEO TEASER

 

ROLL OF HONOUR

Winners
 20152016201720182019
LMP1

Hulkenberg/ Bamber/ Tandy

No19 Porsche Team

Porsche 919 Hybrid (M)

395 laps

Dumas / Lieb / Jani

No2 Porsche Team

Porsche 919 Hybrid (M)

384 laps

Hartley / Bamber  Bernhard

No2 Porsche Team

Porsche 919 Hybrid (M)

367 laps

Buemi / Nakajima / Alonso

No8  Toyota Gazoo Racing

Toyota TS050-Hybrid (M)

388 laps

Buemi / Nakajima / Alonso

No8  Toyota Gazoo Racing

Toyota TS050-Hybrid (M)

385 laps

LMP2

Howson / Bradley / Lapierre

No47 KCMG

Oreca 05-Nissan

358 laps

Menezes / Lapierre / Richelmi

No36 Signatech Alpine

Alpine A460-Nissan (D)

357 laps

Tung / Jarvis / Laurent

No38 Jackie Chan DC Racing 

Oreca 07-Gibson

366 laps

Lapierre / Negrao / Thiriet

No36 Signatech Alpine Matmut

Alpine A470-Gibson (D)

367 laps

Lapierre / Negrao / Thiriet

No36 Signatech Alpine Matmut

Alpine A470-Gibson (M)

368 laps

LMGTE Pro

Gavin / Milner / Taylor

No64 Corvette Racing – GM**

Chevrolet Corvette C7R

337 laps

Hand / Muller / Bourdais

Ford Chip Ganassi Team USA **

Ford GT (M)

340 laps

Turner / Adam / Serra

No97 Aston Martin Racing

Vantage

340 laps

Christensen / Estre / Vanthoor

No92 Porsche GT Team

Porsche 911 RSR (M)

344 laps

Calado / Pier Guidi/ Serra

no51 AF Corse

Ferrari F488 GTE EVO (M)

342 laps

LMGTE Am

Shaytar / Bertolini / Basov

No72 SMP Racing

Ferrari 458 Italia

332 laps

Sweedler / Bell / Segal

No62 Scuderia Corsa**

Ferrari 458 Italia (M)

331 laps

Smith / Stevens / Vanthoor

No84 JMW Motorsport**

Ferrari F488 GTE

333 laps

Campbell / Ried / Andlauer

No77 Dempsey-Proton Racing

Porsche 911 RSR (M)

335 laps

Bergmeister/ Perfetti / Lindsey

No56 Team Project 1

Porsche 911 RSR (M)

334 laps

 

 

 

Pole Position

 

2015

2016

2017

2018

2019

LMP1

N. Jani

No18 Porsche Team

Porsche 919 Hybrid (M)

3:16.887

N. Jani

No2 Porsche Team

Porsche 919 Hybrid (M)

3:19.733

K. Kobayashi

No7 Toyota Gazoo Racing TS 050-Hybrid (M)

3:14.791

K. Nakajima

No8  Toyota Gazoo Racing

Toyota TS050-Hybrid (M)

3:15.377

 

 

K. Kobayashi

No7 Toyota Gazoo Racing Toyota TS 050-Hybrid (M)

3:15.497

LMP2

R. Bradley

No47 KCMG

Oreca 05-Nissan

3:38.032

R. Rast

No26 G-Drive Racing

Oreca 05-Nissan

3:36.605

A.Lynn

No26 G-Drive Racing 

Oreca 07-Gibson

3:25.352

P. Chatin

No48 IDEC Sport

Oreca 07-Gibson

3:24.842

L. Duval

No28 TDS Racing Oreca 07-Gibson (D)

3:25.345

LMGTE Pro

R. Stanaway

No99 Aston Martin Racing

Aston Martin Vantage V8

3:54.928

D. Muller

Ford Chip Ganassi Team USA **

Ford GT

3:51.185

D. Turner

No97 Aston Martin Racing Vantage

3:50.837

G.Bruni

No91 Porsche GT Team

Porsche 911 RSR

3:47.504

M. Soresen

No95 Aston Martin Racing Vantage

3:48.000

LMGTE Am

P. Lamy

No98 Aston Martin Racing

Aston Martin Vantage V8

3:55.102

R. Bell

No61 Clearwater Racing

Ferrari F458 Italia

3:56.827

F. Rees

No50 Labre Competition 

Chevrolet Corvette C7.R

3:52.843

M. Carroli

No88 Dempsey-Proton Racing

Porsche 911 RSR

3:50.728

M. Carroli

No88 Dempsey-Proton Racing

Porsche 911 RSR

3:51.439

 

LAP RECORDS

LMP1

M. Conway

Toyota TS050-Hybrid

3m17.297

248.6kph

15-16 June 2019

LMP2

N. Berthon

Oreca 07  – Gibson

3m27.200

236.7kph

16-17 June 2018

LMGTE Pro

J. Magnussen

Chevrolet Corvette C7.R 

3m49.448

213.8kph

16-17 June 2018

LMGTE Am

M. Cairoli 

Porsche 911 RSR

3m52.567

210.9kph

15-16 June 2019

 

DID YOU KNOW?

  • 2020 will be 88th edition of the 24 Heures du Mans.  The first race was held in 1923.
  • 2020 is only the second time the event has been held in September.  The first was in 1968.
  • This is the first time the 24 Hours of Le Mans has been held with no spectators
  • 17.262 km (10.726 Miles) was the length of the original circuit in 1923. It was shortened in 1929 and again in 1932.
  • The city of Le Mans has hosted the French Grand Prix on four occasions: 1906, 1921, 1929 and 1967
  • The fastest speed achieved on the Mulsanne Straight was 403.9kph / 251mph set by Roger Dorchy’s WM-Peugeot in 1988.
  • 5410km  (3362 Miles) – the greatest distance achieved by a winning car (2010 Audi R15 TDI – Romain Dumas, Timo Bernhard, Mike Rockenfeller).  By comparison the winning car in 2019 completed 385 laps or 5246km.
  • After winning the 1967 race with A.J. Foyt and Ford, American Dan Gurney spontaneously sprayed champagne while celebrating on the podium.  This was the first occasion that this had been done and one that has become the traditional victory celebration.
  • In 2018 Fernando Alonso became the first Formula One Grand Prix winner to win at Le Mans since Michele Alboreto in a Joest Racing TWR Porsche WSC-95 in 1997
  • 1997 was also the first of Tom Kristensen’s record nine wins at Le Mans.

FIA WEC TIMETABLE

Wednesday, 16 September   

08:00 - 18:00               Scrutineering 

Thursday, 17 September       

10:00 - 13:00               Free Practice 1

14:00 - 17:00               Free Practice 2

17:15 – 18:00              Qualifying Practice Session

20:00 – 00:00              Free Practice 3

Friday, 18 September

10:00 – 11:00              Free Practice 4

11:30 – 12:00              Hyperpole

Saturday, 19 September

10:30 – 10:45              Warm-up

14:30                           RACE START

Sunday, 20 September

14:30                           RACE FINISH

14:45                           Podium Ceremony

 

FIA OFFICIALS

Eduardo Freitas                         FIA Race Director

Jean-Francois Veroux                FIA WEC Steward (Chairman)

Manuel Leal                              FIA Technical Delegate

Christian Wahlen                      FIA Medical Delegate

Jeff Carter                                 FIA Media Delegate

Cristobal Lopera                        Chief timekeeper

Yannick Dalmas                         Driver Adviser