Le Mans, 11-12 June, 2022 |
The entry comprised of 62 cars, five in the Hypercar class, 27 in the LMP2 class, seven in the LMGTE Pro
class and 23 in the LMGTE Am class. The Hypercar class comprised of a pair each of Toyota
GR010-Hybbrids and Glickehaus 007LMP1s, with a single Alpine A480. All but one of the cars in the LMP2
class were Oreca 07-Gibsons, the outsider being the #27 Ligier JSP217 entered by CD Sport, whilst the
LMGTE Pro class comprised of a pair each of CorvetteC8.Rs and Porsche 911 RSR-19s, with a trio of Ferrari
488 GTE EVOs. In the LMGTE Am class the largest contingent was Ferrari, with a dozen 488 GTE EVOs in
the entry list, whilst the remainder of the class comprised of eight Porsche 911 RSR-19s and three Aston
Martin Vantage AMRs. As an aside, all the cars in this year’s race were running on 100% sustainable fuel,
namely Total Excellium Racing 100 biofuel, which is said to reduce carbon emissions by 65%. |
The entry comprised of 62 cars, five in the Hypercar class, 27 in the LMP2 class, seven in the LMGTE Pro
class and 23 in the LMGTE Am class. The Hypercar class comprised of a pair each of Toyota
GR010-Hybbrids and Glickehaus 007LMP1s, with a single Alpine A480. All but one of the cars in the LMP2
class were Oreca 07-Gibsons, the outsider being the #27 Ligier JSP217 entered by CD Sport, whilst the
LMGTE Pro class comprised of a pair each of CorvetteC8.Rs and Porsche 911 RSR-19s, with a trio of Ferrari
488 GTE EVOs. In the LMGTE Am class the largest contingent was Ferrari, with a dozen 488 GTE EVOs in
the entry list, whilst the remainder of the class comprised of eight Porsche 911 RSR-19s and three Aston
Martin Vantage AMRs. As an aside, all the cars in this year’s race were running on 100% sustainable fuel,
namely Total Excellium Racing 100 biofuel, which is said to reduce carbon emissions by 65%. |
Qualifying Results |
The start of the formation lap for the race was signalled by a flypast of the Patrouille de France air display
team, with nationalistic blue, white and red smoke trails pluming in their wake. The field then followed the
safety car for the formation lap, before being released by the starter, who this year was Patrick Pouyanné,
the Chairman and CEO of TotalEnergies, the official fuel supplier for the race. It only took a few hundred
metres before the first incident occurred, when there was contact between the class pole sitting #31 LMP2
car and the #22 United Autosports USA example, which ended with the latter beached in the gravel trap
with a damaged nose section. It was eventually extricated and made its way back to the pits for repairs,
whilst despite the considerable time lost, it made it to the chequered flag 14th overall and 10th in class. The
#31 car was adjudged to have been the perpetrator of the incident and was given a 60secs time penalty. It
fought back from this and was in contention for a class podium until it crashed out late on the Sunday
morning. The LMP2 class win eventually going to the Jota entered #38 Oreca 07-Gibson driven by
Gonzalez/Da Costa/Stevens, with the Prema Orlen Team entered #9 example of Kubica/Deletraz/Colombo
taking 2nd in class, finishing on the same lap, whilst Jota made it a double podium finish, with their #28 car
of Rasmussen/Jones/Aberdein claiming 3rd place. |
The LMGTE Am class was won by the #33 TF Sport entered Aston Martin Vantage AMR driven by Keating/
Chaves/Sorensen, after the # 79 WeatherTech Racing Porsche of MacNeill/Andlauer/Merrill had an off track
excursion early on the Sunday morning, but still managed to claim 2nd overall. It was a good day for Aston
Martin as the #98 example driven by Dalla Lana/Pittard/Thiim finished 3rd, the Ferrari challenge having
evaporated during the course of the race, with the highest placed finisher being the #54 AF Corse entry of
Flohr/Castellacci/Cassidy, which finished 6th in class. The class pole sitting #61 Ferrari of
Abril/Prete/Grunewald could only turn this into a 10th in class finish. |
At the head of the field it was the pair of Toyotas that made the running, swapping places for the lead as the
pit stops cycled through, until the #7 example suffered a problem with the front hybrid system,
necessitating a stop for repairs, which left the #8 car driven by Buemi/Hartley/Hirakawa with a clear
advantage that it held to the chequered flag. The #7 Toyota of Conway/Kobayashi/Lopez was still able to
take 2nd place on the same lap as the sister car, and five laps clear of the #709 Glickenhaus 007 LMP1
driven by Briscoe/Westbrook/Mailleux. The sister #708 Glickenhaus of Pla/Dumas/Derani was a further 5
laps in arrears in 4th place overall, whilst the only other hypercar runner, the Alpine A480 of
Negrao/Lapierre/Vaxivierre finished well down the order in 23rd place overall after a variety of issues
including an accident and clutch problems. |