2001 24 Hours of Le Mans
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Le Mans in 2001

The 2001 24 Hours of Le Mans was the 69th Grand Prix of Endurance, and took place on 16 and 17 June 2001.

Background

Preview

The 2001 24 Hours of Le Mans was the 69th edition of the race and took place at the 8.454 mi (13.605 km) Circuit de la Sarthe road racing circuit close by Le Mans, France from 16 to 17 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. It is considered the world's most prestigious sports car race and is part of the Triple Crown of Motorsport.[3]

Track and regulation changes

After the 2000 race, the ACO and the French government modified the Route nationale 138 which forms the Mulsanne Straight, by decreasing the height of a hill by 7.9 ft (2.4 m) on the approach to the Mulsanne Corner where Mark Webber had an airborne accident in a Mercedes-Benz CLR during a warm-up session for the 1999 edition.[4][5] Work in the area costing almost F6.5 million was mandated by motor racing's governing body, the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA), to comply with road safety regulations and traffic using the area was diverted onto an alternate route. It commenced on 1 December 2000 with the removal of 7,000 m3 (250,000 cu ft) of cuttings and continued until mid-March 2001.[6][7] Other changes included a widening of the run-off area to the outside on the approach to the right-hand Indianapolis corner and a gravel trap and spectator section was moved further back in an attempt to enhance safety.[8]

The ACO allowed cars in the Le Mans Prototype 675 (LMP675) category to be installed with a V6 turbocharged engine with a maximum capacity of 2,000 cc (120 cu in) up from a V4 power unit in the 2000 event. Teams could also fit a V8 engine into a car in the event that it was normally aspirated. The governing body also revoked a regulation for a car's headlights to be switched on in daylight hours and the FIA would supervise laboratory crash tests conducted on all vehicles.[9] Changes to the format of the weekend saw the test day have 48 cars and 6 reserves all driving together in lieu of individual sessions for Grand Touring and Prototypes and would not eliminate any cars from contention as seen in previous editions of the race.[10][11]

Entries

The ACO received 80 "good quality" inquires for applications by the deadline for entries on the midnight of 28 February 2001.[12][13] The ACO's eight-person selection committee granted 48 invitations to the 24 Hours of Le Mans in-late March. Entries were divided between the Le Mans Prototype 900 (LMP900), Le Mans Grand Touring Prototype (LMGTP), LMP675, Le Mans Grand Touring Sport (LMGTS) and Le Mans Grand Touring (LMGT) categories.[13][14]

Automatic entries

Automatic entries were earned by teams which won their class in the 2000 24 Hours of Le Mans, or have won Le Mans-based series and events such as the 2000 Petit Le Mans of the American Le Mans Series, the Race of a Thousand Years held as part of the Asian-Pacific Le Mans Series and the 2000 1000 km of Nürburgring of the European Le Mans Series.[15][16] As entries were pre-selected to teams, they were restricted to a maximum of two cars and were not allowed to change their vehicles nor their competitors' licence from the previous year to the next. Entries were permitted to change category provided that they did not change the make of vehicle and the ACO granted official permission for the switch.[13]

The ACO published its final list of automatic berths on 26 January 2001.[15] Audi Sport North America, Viper Team Oreca and Dick Barbour Racing were the three teams out of the twelve that were pre-selected to decline their automatic invitations.[16]

Reason Entered LMP LMGTS LMGT
1st in the 24 Hours of Le Mans Germany Audi Sport Team Joest France Viper Team Oreca Japan Team Taisan Advan
1st in the 1000 km of Nürburgring United States Panoz Motor Sports France Viper Team Oreca United States Dick Barbour Racing1
1st in the Petit Le Mans Germany Audi Sport North America United States Corvette Racing Pratt United States Dick Barbour Racing1
1st in the Race of a Thousand Years Germany Audi Sport North America1 France Viper Team Oreca1 United States Dick Barbour Racing1
Source:[15][16]
1.^  – Team declined their automatic invitations.[16]

Entry list and reserves

The ACO announced the full 48-car entry list for Le Mans plus six reserves on 4 April. The Ascari, Audi, Bentley, Cadillac, Courage, Chrysler, Dome and Panoz brands were accepted into the two Prototype classes, which featured a mixture of works teams and privateers. Cars from Lola, Pilbeam and Reynard featured in the eight-vehicle LMP675 class. Chrysler, General Motors via its Chevrolet division and Saleen were the three manufacturers in the LMGTS category. The majority of cars in the LMGT class were from Porsche with Callaway represented by one team.[17] On 27 April, the No. 59 Saleen/Allen Speedlab-entered S7 was withdrawn from the race. The No. 21 Team Ascari car was promoted from the top of the list of reserves to take the vacated slot on the grid.[18]

Testing

A mandatory pre-Le Mans test day split into two daytime sessions of four hours each was held at the circuit on 6 May,[13] involving all 48 cars and four reserve entries.[19] The morning session was led by Audi with a lap of 3 minutes, 36.054 seconds from Stefan Johansson in the No. 4 Johansson Motorsport R8. The top-placed works Audi was Tom Kristensen's No. 1 Team Joest car in second and the fastest Bentley EXP Speed 8 was the No. 7 of Stéphane Ortelli in third. Emanuele Pirro of Team Joest, Johnny Herbert for Champion Racing and Yannick Dalmas in a Chrysler LMP occupied fourth to sixth positions.[20] A broken exhaust header caused the carbon fibre chassis on David Brabham's Panoz LMP07 to catch fire in the final moments of the morning session. Panoz withdrew the No. 12 car for the rest of the test day due to extensive damage it sustained.[20][21] Eric van de Poele for Dick Barbour set the fastest lap in the LMP675 category,[22] while the Larbre Compétition team led both GT classes with the No. 58 Oreca Viper and the No. 60 Porsche.[23] Several drivers ran off the circuit during the session. Kristensen damaged the No. 2 Audi's front-right and the car's suspension arm was replaced. The No. 64 Corvette's steering failed and the car was stopped on the Mulsanne Straight.[24]

The second test session had Audi continue to lead with Rinaldo Capello in the No. 2 car with the day's fastest lap of 3 minutes, 32.742 seconds. This was followed by an improved time for the Champion Racing car of Ralf Kelleners in second and Martin Brundle in Bentley's No. 8 car in third. Racing for Holland was fourth courtesy of a lap from Jan Lammers and the second Joest Audi of Frank Biela rounded out the top five.[25] The Dick Barbour team continued to lead the LMP675 category with an improved lap of 3 minutes, 44.272 seconds,[26] ahead of the trio of drivers of the second-placed No. 38 ROC Auto Reynard 01Q and Claudia Hurtgen's No. 32 Roock/KnightHawk Racing Lola B2K/40-Nissan in third.[23][27] Oliver Gavin moved the No. 60 Saleen Allen Speedlab S7R to the head of LMGTS with a lap of 3 minutes, 54.344 seconds. He was followed by Johnny Mowlem's No. 62 Ray Mallock car on the soft compound tyres and Corvette's No. 63 C5-R was third-fastest in the session.[27] Xavier Pompidou in the No. 73 Freisinger Motorsport Porsche led the LMGT class with the No. 80 Larbre car second.[28] Fabio Babini's No. 83 Seikel Motorsport car and the No. 35 Rowan Racing Pilbeam MP84-Nissan made contact at the Ford Chicane late in the session and the former was unable to continue driving.[27][29]

Qualifying

There were eight hours of qualifying divided into four two-hour sessions available to every entrants on 13 and 14 June. During the sessions, all entrants were required to set a time within 110 per cent of the fastest lap established by the fastest vehicle in each of the five categories to qualify for the race.[13] The first session took place in clear weather conditions.[30] Audi, the pre-race favourites,[31] led early on with a flying lap from Kristensen before his teammate Capello followed with a 3 minutes, 34.880 seconds time to go fastest overall. Kristensen stood three-tenths of a second adrift in second. Lammers followed in third and Kelleners was fourth for Champion Racing. The fastest Bentley was in fifth position after a lap from Brundle.[30] The No. 12 Panoz of Jan Magnussen stopped after the PlayStation chicane and was then sidelined with a blocked gearbox.[32] Anthony Reid carried the No. 34 MG-Lola EX257-Lola to provisional pole position in the LMP675 category with a time of 3 minutes, 42.065 seconds ahead of the ROC Auto Reynard and No. 36 Dick Barbour entries.[30][33] The crew of MG's No. 33 car set no laps because it suffered from an alternator issue that created a misfire.[30][32] The GTS class of GT was led by Ron Fellows' No. 64 Corvette, who set a 3 minutes, 55.552 seconds lap. Andy Pilgrim in the sister No. 63 Corvette was second followed by Christophe Bouchut's No. 58 Larbre Oreca in third. At the conclusion of the session, the No. 80 Larbre Porsche led in LMGT from the No. 70 Aspen Knolls MCR Callaway C12-R and the No. 72 Team Taisan Advan car.[32][33]

The day's fastest laps were predicted to possibly be set within the opening fifteen minutes of the second session due to lowering ambient temperatures and light levels.[34] Kristensen improved provisional pole position to a 3 minutes, 32.458 seconds lap seven minutes into the session to be four seconds faster than Allan McNish's 2000 pole lap.[35][36] He was unable to improve any further because of an electrical misfire that affected the No. 1 Audi. Capello fell to second; the No. 2 car had a power steering fault just as Christian Pescatori relieved his co-driver. Kelleners moved Champion Racing to third after a change of gearbox. Lammers of Racing for Holland fell to fourth and Brundle's No. 7 Bentley was demoted to fifth because a punctured tyre on the Mulsanne Straight sent him into the gravel trap at Mulsanne Corner. Reid MG's No. 34 car had a possible blocked fuel filter that regulated its fuel pressure; the car kept the class pole of LMP675.[36][37] Kevin McGarrity elevated the sister No. 33 MG to second in class and ROC Auto fell to third.[33] In LMGTS, Oliver Gavin's No. 60 Saleen led the session and took the provisional class pole position from Corvette Racing.[37] Fellows crashed into a tyre barrier at the second Mulsanne Chicane and the No. 63 Corvette sustained heavy rear-end damage.[35][37] He was unhurt.[36] The sole non-Porsche car in LMGT of the Aspen Knolls MCR-entered Callaway C12 of Cort Wagner moved to the front in class with Patrice Goueslard's No. 80 Larbre car second.[33][36]

Conditions were overcast for the third practice session on 14 June and some rain fell intermittently.[38] None of the first three Audi teams improved their times from the day before as most teams focused on locating their racing setups. Lammers set the session's fastest lap at 3 minutes, 34.838 seconds to strengthen Racing for Holland's hold on fourth position and he moved to within half a second of Herbert's Champion Audi. Johanasson was second-quickest and his time moved the No. 4 Audi from eighth to fifth in the final ten minutes of the session.[39] Jordi Gené set the fastest time in the LMP675 in the ROC Auto Reynard yet he was almost four seconds behind the class pole-sitting No. 34 MG.[39][40] The LMGTS class remained the same upfront as Gavin improved the No. 60 Saleen's fastest lap time to a 3 minutes, 52.849 seconds and took a new class record.[41] The No. 58 Larbre Oreca of Christophe Bouchut retained third place in category. The lead of LMGT changed when Goueslard's No. 80 Larbre entry took the category pole position late on before Wagner in the Aspen Knolls Callaway used his team's race engine to reclaim the position.[39][42] Perspective Racing's Michel Neugarten went off the circuit and damaged the rear of the No. 75 Porsche at the PlayStation chicane. Luis Marques in the No. 74 Luc Alphand Adventure car leaked oil at the entry to the Michelin chicane due to a hose problem and marshals quickly cleaned the track. Noël del Bello's No. 79 vehicle of Georges Forgeois damaged its front-left in an accident.[43]

As temperatures cooled in the final qualifying session due to fading light,[44] Capello waited in his garage before he negotiated slower traffic to set a 3 minutes, 32.249 seconds lap in the No. 2 Audi and demoted Kristensen from pole position.[45] Kristensen's No. 1 car had its damper unit and front bodywork changed and ran a race-tuned engine along with soft compound tyres;[44][46] he could not better his teammate's lap because of a slow puncture when he ran into a gravel trap at the first Mulsanne Straight chicane,[47] giving the No. 2 car pole position.[44][45] Champion Racing were not able to improve their lap and took third. Lammers' third-session time secured Racing for Holland fourth and Johannson's No. 4 Audi took fifth. Anthony Reid twice reset the fastest lap in LMP675 to secure pole position for the No. 34 MG team with a 3 minutes, 41.769 seconds lap.[46][47] Kevin McGarrity in the sister MG was second in class after an oil leak caused the team to change engines. Gené's ROC Auto entry took third in the category.[44][47] The GT categories remained the same with the No. 60 Saleen's lap time set by Gavin giving it pole position in the GTS class and Wagner's lap in LMGT was not bettered by any other driver.[41] Team Advan's No. 72 Porsche driven by Kazuyuki Nishizawa had an accident at the Porsche Curves and sustained damage to its front and rear.[48]

Qualifying results

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

Pos Class No. Team Car Day 1 Day 2 Gap Grid
1 LMP900 2 Audi Sport Team Joest Audi R8 3:33.514 3:32.429 — 1‡
2 LMP900 1 Audi Sport Team Joest Audi R8 3:32.458 3:37.678 +0.029 2
3 LMP900 3 Champion Racing Audi R8 3:34.349 3:38.787 +1.920 3
4 LMP900 9 Racing for Holland Dome S101 3:36.031 3:34.838 +2.419 4
5 LMP900 4 Johansson Motorsport Audi R8 3:37.451 3:35.128 +2.699 5
6 LMP900 16 Team PlayStation Chrysler LMP 3:36.155 3:44.755 +3.726 6
7 LMGTP 7 Team Bentley Bentley EXP Speed 8 3:36.535 3:37.441 +4.106 7‡
8 LMP900 5 DAMS Cadillac Northstar LMP01 3:39.892 3:37.402 +4.973 8
9 LMGTP 8 Team Bentley Bentley EXP Speed 8 3:37.408 3:38.512 +4.979 9
10 LMP900 19 SMG Courage C60 3:38.746 3:54.156 +6.317 10
11 LMP900 15 Viper Team Oreca Chrysler LMP 3:38.814 3:42.559 +6.385 11
12 LMP900 6 DAMS Cadillac Northstar LMP01 3:39.596 3:41.991 +7.167 12
13 LMP900 17 Pescarolo Sport Courage C60 3:40.926 3:39.789 +7.300 13
14 LMP675 34 MG Sport & Racing Ltd. MG-Lola EX257 3:42.065 3:40.243 +7.814 14‡
15 LMP900 10 Team Den Blå Avis-Goh Dome S101 3:42.089 3:40.958 +8.529 15
16 LMP900 14 Viper Team Oreca Chrysler LMP 3:42.215 3:48.022 +9.786 16
17 LMP675 33 MG Sport & Racing Ltd. MG-Lola EX257 3:42.476 3:56.274 +10.047 17
18 LMP900 20 Team Ascari Ascari A410 3:42.931 11:18.421 +10.502 18
19 LMP900 12 Panoz Motor Sports Panoz LMP07 3:48.083 3:42.974 +10.545 19
20 LMP900 18 Pescarolo Sport Courage C60 3:43.924 3:43.004 +10.575 20
21 LMP900 11 Panoz Motor Sports Panoz LMP07 3:51.969 3:43.498 +11.049 21
22 LMP900 21 Team Ascari Ascari A410 3:46.398 3:43.663 +11.234 22
23 LMP675 38 ROC Auto Reynard 2KQ-LM 3:48.075 3:44.198 +11.759 23
24 LMP675 36 Dick Barbour Racing Reynard 01Q 3:49.650 3:46.008 +13.679 24
25 LMP675 30 Gérard Welter WR LMP01 3:49.986 3:50.006 +17.557 25
26 LMGTS 60 Saleen/Allen Speedlab Saleen S7-R 3:54.190 3:52.849 +20.420 26‡
27 LMGTS 63 Corvette Racing Pratt Chevrolet Corvette C5-R 3:55.552 3:59.399 +23.123 27
28 LMGTS 58 Larbre Compétition Chrysler Viper GTS-R 3:58.658 3:56.838 +24.609 28
29 LMGTS 64 Corvette Racing Pratt Chevrolet Corvette C5-R 3:58.209 3:57.052 +24.803 29
30 LMP675 32 Roock-KnightHawk Lola B2K/40 3:57.942 3:57.099 +24.850 30
31 LMP675 37 Dick Barbour Racing Reynard 01Q 3:58.533 3:57.257 +25.028 31
32 LMGTS 62 RML Saleen S7-R 4:02.022 3:58.626 +26.297 32
33 LMGTS 61 Konrad Motorsport Saleen S7-R 4:03.135 3:58.868 +26.439 33
34 LMP675 36 S+R Rowan Racing Ltd. Pilbeam MP84 4:14.269 3:59.302 +26.873 34
35 LMGTS 57 Equipe de France FFSA Chrysler Viper GTS-R 4:00.790 4:02.181 +28.341 35
36 LMGTS 56 Paul Belmondo Racing Chrysler Viper GTS-R 4:02.148 4:02.183 +29.719 36
37 LMGTS 55 Paul Belmondo Racing Chrysler Viper GTS-R 4:06.329 4:02.791 +30.362 37
38 LMGT 70 Aspen Knolls MCR Callaway C12-R 4:13.063 4:10.168 +37.738 38
39 LMGT 80 Larbre Compétition Porsche 911 GT3-RS 4:13.834 4:11.738 +38.509 39
40 LMGT 83 Seikel Motorsport Porsche 911 GT3-RS 4:15.167 4:11.787 +38.547 40
41 LMGT 72 Team Taisan Advan Porsche 911 GT3-RS 4:18.010 4:13.158 +40.729 41‡
42 LMGT 77 Freisinger Motorsport Porsche 911 GT3-RS 4:18.918 4:13.816 +41.587 42
43 LMGT 79 Noël del Bello Porsche 911 GT3-RS 4:18.573 4:24.058 +46.143 43
44 LMGT 76 PK Sport Ltd-Ricardo Porsche 911 GT3-RS 4:18.625 4:23.422 +46.196 44
45 LMGT 74 Luc Alphand Adventure Porsche 911 GT3-RS 4:18.926 4:24.814 +46.427 45
46 LMGT 82 Seikel Motorsport Porsche 911 GT3-RS 4:23.973 4:19.445 +47.216 46
47 LMGT 75 Perspective Racing Porsche 911 GT3-RS 4:20.667 4:38.786 +48.238 47
48 LMGT 71 Racing Engineering Porsche 911 GT3-RS 4:30.143 4:24.840 +52.391 48
Sources:[49]

Warm-up

The drivers took to the track at 09:00 local time on 16 June for a 45-minute warm-up session.[13] It was held on a damp track after overnight rain;[50] teams focused on systems checks, setting up their cars against the weather of the time, tried several tyre compounds and ensuring their drivers had some driving experience.[50][51] Christian Pescatori's No. 2 Audi lapped fastest at 3 minutes, 40.497 seconds, ahead of Pirro's sister No. 1 Joest Audi, the highest-placed Bentley of Guy Smith's No. 7 car, Sébastien Bourdais in Pescarolo Sport's No. 17 C60 and Éric Bernard's No. 5 DAMS Cadillac Northstar LMP.[50][52] The ROC Auto Reynard set the fastest LMP675 lap at 3 minutes, 51.491 seconds. RML's No. 62 Saleen paced the LMGTS category and the Aspen Knolls MCR Callaway led in LMGT.[50] Klaus Graf's No. 11 Panoz had a tyre issue and went into the gravel trap at the exit to Indianapolis corner from which marshals extricated him.[50][51] Corvette's No. 64 car stopped at the Dunlop Bridge with a broken oil pump belt and the No. 80 Larbre Porsche leaked oil from its underside due to a possible fuel system fault.[52]

Race

220,000 people attended the event.[53] Audi's top two finishers had to share the podium with a Bentley interloper, but their margin over third place was formidable.

Corvette Racing's achievement of a GTS class win was sullied by a slow pace and the presence of two GT class Porsche 911s in front of them. It was the last time a Porsche team would finish in front of the GTS class until they had the class-consolidating 4.0 liter 997 GT3 RSR in their possession, in 2010.

Race results

Pos Class No Team Drivers Chassis Tyre Laps
Engine
1 LMP900 1 Germany Audi Sport Team Joest Germany Frank Biela
Italy Emanuele Pirro
Denmark Tom Kristensen		 Audi R8 M 321
Audi 3.6 L Turbo V8
2 LMP900 2 Germany Audi Sport North America France Laurent Aïello
Italy Rinaldo Capello
Italy Christian Pescatori		 Audi R8 M 320
Audi 3.6 L Turbo V8
3 LMGTP 8 United Kingdom Team Bentley United Kingdom Andy Wallace
United States Butch Leitzinger
Belgium Eric van de Poele		 Bentley EXP Speed 8 D 306
Bentley 3.6 L Turbo V8
4 LMP900 16 France Team PlayStation Monaco Olivier Beretta
Austria Karl Wendlinger
Portugal Pedro Lamy		 Chrysler LMP M 298
Mopar 6.0 L V8
5 LMP675 38 France ROC Auto Spain Jordi Gené
Switzerland Jean-Denis Délétraz
France Pascal Fabre		 Reynard 2KQ-LM M 284
Volkswagen HPT16 2.0 L Turbo I4
6 LMGT 83 Germany Seikel Motorsport Italy Gabrio Rosa
Italy Fabio Babini
Italy Luca Drudi		 Porsche 911 GT3-RS Y 283
Porsche 3.6 L Flat-6
7 LMGT 77 Germany Freisinger Motorsport United States Gunnar Jeannette
France Romain Dumas
France Philippe Haezebrouck		 Porsche 911 GT3-RS Y 282
Porsche 3.6 L Flat-6
8 LMGTS 63 United States Corvette Racing Pratt Canada Ron Fellows
United States Scott Pruett
United States Johnny O'Connell		 Chevrolet Corvette C5-R G 278
Chevrolet LS7R 7.0 L V8
9 LMGT 75 France Perspective Racing France Thierry Perrier
Belgium Michel Neugarten
United Kingdom Nigel Smith		 Porsche 911 GT3-RS D 275
Porsche 3.6 L Flat-6
10 LMGT 80 France Larbre Compétition France Jean-Luc Chéreau
France Patrice Goueslard
France Sébastien Dumez		 Porsche 911 GT3-RS M 274
Porsche 3.6 L Flat-6
11 LMGT 72 Japan Team Taisan Advan Japan Hideo Fukuyama
Japan Atsushi Yogo
Japan Kazuyuki Nishizawa		 Porsche 911 GT3-RS Y 273
Porsche 3.6 L Flat-6
12 LMGT 82 Germany Seikel Motorsport Canada Tony Burgess
Morocco Max Cohen-Olivar
New Zealand Andrew Bagnall		 Porsche 911 GT3-RS Y 272
Porsche 3.6 L Flat-6
13 LMP900 17 France Pescarolo Sport France Sébastien Bourdais
France Jean-Christophe Boullion
France Laurent Rédon		 Courage C60 M 271
Peugeot A32 3.2 L Turbo V6
14 LMGTS 64 United States Corvette Racing Pratt United States Andy Pilgrim
United States Kelly Collins
France Franck Fréon		 Chevrolet Corvette C5-R G 271
Chevrolet LS7R 7.0 L V8
15 LMP900 6 France DAMS South Africa Wayne Taylor
Italy Max Angelelli
France Christophe Tinseau		 Cadillac Northstar LMP01 M 270
Cadillac Northstar 4.0 L Turbo V8
16 LMGT 76 United Kingdom PK Sport Ltd-Ricardo United Kingdom Mike Youles
United Kingdom Davey Warnock
United Kingdom Stephen Day		 Porsche 911 GT3-RS D 265
Porsche 3.6 L Flat-6
17 LMGT 74 France Luc Alphand Adventure France Luc Alphand
France Michel Ligonnet
France Luis Marques		 Porsche 911 GT3-R M 265
Porsche 3.6 L Flat-6
18 LMGTS 60 United States Saleen/Allen Speedlab Austria Franz Konrad
United Kingdom Oliver Gavin
United States Terry Borcheller		 Saleen S7-R G 246
Ford 6.9 L V8
19 LMP675 30 France Gérard Welter France Stéphane Daoudi
Japan Yojiro Terada
France Jean-René de Fournoux		 WR LMP01 M 245
Peugeot 2.0L Turbo I4
20 LMGTS 58 France Larbre Compétition France Christophe Bouchut
France Jean-Philippe Belloc
Portugal Tiago Monteiro		 Chrysler Viper GTS-R M 234
Chrysler 8.0 L V10
NC LMGT 79 France Noël del Bello France Sylvain Noël
France Jean-Luc Maury-Laribière
France Georges Forgeois		 Porsche 911 GT3-R D 193
Porsche 3.6 L Flat-6
DNF LMP900 14 France Viper Team Oreca Japan Seiji Ara
Japan Masahiko Kondo
Portugal Ni Amorim		 Chrysler LMP M 243
Mopar 6.0 L V8
DNF LMGTS 62 United Kingdom RML United Kingdom Johnny Mowlem
United Kingdom Ian McKellar
Belgium Bruno Lambert		 Saleen S7-R D 175
Ford 6.9 L V8
DNF LMP900 9 Netherlands Racing for Holland Netherlands Jan Lammers
Netherlands Donny Crevels
Belgium Val Hillebrand		 Dome S101 M 156
Judd GV4 4.0 L V10
DNF LMP900 20 United Kingdom Team Ascari South Africa Werner Lupberger
United Kingdom Ben Collins
Finland Harri Toivonen		 Ascari A410 G 134
Judd GV4 4.0 L V10
DNF LMP900 15 France Viper Team Oreca France Yannick Dalmas
France Stéphane Sarrazin
France Franck Montagny		 Chrysler LMP M 126
Mopar 6.0 L V8
DNF LMGT 70 United States Aspen Knolls MCR United States Bob Mazzuoccola
United States Vic Rice
United States Cort Wagner		 Callaway C12-R G 98
Chevrolet 7.0 L V8
DNF LMP675 36 United States Dick Barbour Racing Belgium Didier de Radiguès
Germany Sascha Maassen
Japan Hideshi Matsuda		 Reynard 01Q G 95
Judd GV675 3.4 L V8
DNF LMP675 32 United States Roock-KnightHawk Germany Claudia Hürtgen
United States Rick Fairbanks
United States Chris Gleason		 Lola B2K/40 A 94
Nissan 3.4 L V6
DNF LMP675 33 United Kingdom MG Sport & Racing Ltd. United Kingdom Julian Bailey
United Kingdom Mark Blundell
United Kingdom Kevin McGarrity		 MG-Lola EX257 M 92
MG XP20 2.0 L Turbo I4
DNF LMP900 11 United States Panoz Motor Sports Germany Klaus Graf
United Kingdom Jamie Davies
South Africa Gary Formato		 Panoz LMP07 M 86
Élan 4.0 L V8
DNF LMP900 12 United States Panoz Motor Sports Australia David Brabham
Denmark Jan Magnussen
France Franck Lagorce		 Panoz LMP07 M 85
Élan 4.0 L V8
DNF LMP900 3 United States Champion Racing United Kingdom Johnny Herbert
Belgium Didier Theys
Germany Ralf Kelleners		 Audi R8 M 81
Audi 3.6 L Turbo V8
DNF LMP900 10 Denmark Team Den Blå Avis-Goh Denmark John Nielsen
Japan Hiroki Katoh
Denmark Casper Elgaard		 Dome S101 G 66
Judd GV4 4.0 L V10
DNF LMP900 21 United Kingdom Team Ascari Netherlands Klaas Zwart
France Xavier Pompidou
Canada Scott Maxwell		 Ascari A410 G 66
Judd GV4 4.0 L V10
DNF LMGTS 55 France Paul Belmondo Racing Belgium Vincent Vosse
Belgium Vanina Ickx
Sweden Carl Rosenblad		 Chrysler Viper GTS-R D 61
Chrysler 8.0 L V10
DNF LMGTP 7 United Kingdom Team Bentley United Kingdom Martin Brundle
Monaco Stéphane Ortelli
United Kingdom Guy Smith		 Bentley EXP Speed 8 D 56
Bentley 3.6 L Turbo V8
DNF LMP900 5 France DAMS France Éric Bernard
France Emmanuel Collard
Belgium Marc Goossens		 Cadillac Northstar LMP01 M 56
Cadillac Northstar 4.0 L Turbo V8
DNF LMP900 19 France SMG France Philippe Gache
France Jérôme Policand
France Anthony Beltoise		 Courage C60 M 51
Judd GV4 4.0 L V10
DNF LMGTS 56 France Paul Belmondo Racing France Grégoire de Galzain
Belgium Anthony Kumpen
France Jean-Claude Lagniez		 Chrysler Viper GTS-R D 44
Chrysler 8.0 L V10
DNF LMGT 71 Spain Racing Engineering United Kingdom Robin Donovan
United States Terry Lingner
United States Chris MacAllister		 Porsche 911 GT3-R D 44
Porsche 3.6 L Flat-6
DNF LMP900 18 France Pescarolo Sport France Emmanuel Clérico
France Didier Cottaz
France Boris Derichebourg		 Courage C60 M 42
Peugeot A32 3.2 L Turbo V6
DNF LMP900 4 United Kingdom Johansson Motorsport Sweden Stefan Johansson
Netherlands Tom Coronel
France Patrick Lemarié		 Audi R8 M 35
Audi 3.6 L Turbo V8
DNF LMP675 34 United Kingdom MG Sport & Racing Ltd. United Kingdom Anthony Reid
United Kingdom Warren Hughes
United Kingdom Jonny Kane		 MG-Lola EX257 M 30
MG XP20 2.0 L Turbo I4
DNF LMP675 37 United States Dick Barbour Racing Canada John Graham
Venezuela Milka Duno
United States David Murry		 Reynard 01Q G 4
Judd GV675 3.4 L V8
DNF LMGTS 61 Germany Konrad Motorsport Switzerland Walter Brun
Switzerland Toni Seiler
United States Charles Slater		 Saleen S7-R G 4
Ford 6.9 L V8
DNF LMGTS 57 France Equipe de France FFSA France David Terrien
France Jonathan Cochet
France Jean-Philippe Dayraut		 Chrysler Viper GTS-R M 4
Chrysler 8.0 L V10
DNF LMP675 35 United Kingdom S+R Rowan Racing Ltd. Republic of Ireland Warren Carway
United Kingdom Martin O'Connell
France François Migault		 Pilbeam MP84 A 3
Nissan VQL 3.0 L V6
  • Distance – 4381.65 km
  • Average Speed – 180.949 km/h
  • Highest Trap Speed – Audi R8 – 318 km/h (race), Dome Judd S101 – 335 km/h (Practice)[54]

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. ↑ Jensen, Tom (7 March 2006). "SPEED Top 10 Moments #4: Mercedes Le Mans Flip". Speed. Archived from the original on 21 August 2006. Retrieved 12 January 2020.
  5. ↑ "Inauguration of the "new" bump on Mulsanne Straight". Automobile Club de l'Ouest. 27 March 2001. Archived from the original on 8 May 2001. Retrieved 13 January 2020.
  6. ↑ Denoyelle, Nicolas (22 March 2001). "69e édition de la course d'endurance, les 16 et 17 juin 2001 Les abords des Hunaudières reboisés" [69th edition of the endurance race, June 16 and 17, 2001 The surroundings of the reforested Hunaudières]. Ouest-France (in French). Archived from the original on 6 May 2001. Retrieved 13 January 2020.
  7. ↑ "69e édition de la course d'endurance, les 16 et 17 juin 2001 Hunaudières : les bosses en moins" [69th edition of the endurance race, June 16 and 17, 2001 Hunaudières: fewer bumps]. Ouest-France (in French). 21 March 2001. Archived from the original on 18 February 2002. Retrieved 13 January 2020.
  8. ↑ "La Sarthe Changes at Indianapolis Too". TotalMotorSport. 25 January 2001. Archived from the original on 29 February 2004. Retrieved 13 January 2020.
    "Indianapolis Corner Work Continues". TotalMotorSport. 23 March 2001. Archived from the original on 24 December 2003. Retrieved 13 January 2020.
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  54. ↑ Official Le Mans 2001 Annual Archived 2016-05-08 at the Wayback Machine: mulsannecorner.com
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