186 drivers are named on the 2024 24 Hours of Le Mans entry list today, but one that isn’t is Romain Dumas.
Romain was at Circuit Paul Ricard over the ELMS weekend assisting a friend in coaching a young driver, yet another chapter in a career that has seen factory driver duty at Le Mans with Porsche, Pescarolo, Audi and Glickenhaus.
Then of course there has been success in rally, rally raid and four wins at the Pikes Peak International Hill Climb, including the outright record in the VW ID.R EV prototype and more recently as the Ford factory driver of the Supervan 4.2
Paddock sources tell us that a late switch of plans from an LMP2 team saw a potential 2024 Le Mans start for the two-time overall Le Mans winner (plus a GTE Pro class win), cancelled out.
If that position holds then Romain will end his Le Mans starting streak at 23 consecutive years, after a 2001 debut with Freisinger Motorsport.
24 is ‘only’ a number, and of course a 24th start can happen in a future year, but, just as we did when Emmanuel Collard’s streak ended in 2018 (ironically also after 23 consecutive starts – and he has had two Le Mans starts since), we’re taking a moment here to mark an extraordinary run.
23 years, eight different classes, seven podium finishes overall and in class and those three wins. Here’s hoping it’s 23 not out!
