Whilst plenty of attention this week will, quite rightfully, fall on the stars who make up the 18-car Hypercar field, as per usual they are far from the be-all and end-all of the 186 participants in this year’s race.
The 24 Hours of Le Mans has always, from its very first edition, been a Pro/Am event, a fact cemented in 2011 when distinct Pro/Am classes were first introduced.
This year’s race features 34 Bronze-rated drivers, split across the LMP2 Pro/Am and LMGT3 categories, who have all taken very different journeys to this point.
None of them, however, have more experience at Le Mans than François Perrodo, with the “myth and legend” of Le Mans drawing him back for a 14th consecutive start.
The Frenchman, a two-time class winner, will again compete aboard AF Corse’s #183 ORECA 07 – Gibson in LMP2 Pro/Am, alongside Matthieu Vaxiviere and Ben Barnicoat.
“You’d think that you could start telling yourself there must be something else to do, and I’ve actually been lucky to do some other really long races, but Le Mans is so special,” he tells DSC.
“It’s the big one. It’s the one everybody wants to race. The public is amazing. The tracks’s really cool, it’s like an open road track for most of the parts, so it’s just really special, and the novelty doesn’t wear out.”
Few drivers have experienced a fuller range of the emotions that Le Mans can throw at someone than Perrodo, who has had the elation of winning, suffered the pain of retirement, and the heartbreak of his car failing post-race inspections.
“Over the past 14 years, I can say that I’ve had it all,” he says.
“I’ve had some retirements, some crashes, some massive penalties, some wins, and some podiums, so it’s almost like a lesson of life. You go through highs and lows and that’s what Le Mans is all about, so let’s hope this year is going to be high.
“It takes a lot to win Le Mans, and, dare I say, even a little bit of luck, so we’ll see about this year, but we’ve got a good lineup, the car’s nice, the team’s amazing, and I think everybody’s ready.”
The challenge of triumphing in LMP2 Pro/Am has only risen since Perrodo last did so in 2024, with several new additions to the Bronze roster in recent years, as well as the closing of differences between teams, further raising the level in the class.
“The level is insane,” Perrodo explains. “I think that the field has never been stronger.”
“In a way that’s what’s cool. It’s reflected also in the ELMS, particularly with the bronze level, it’s just gone so high now. Some of those bronze’s are within a second of their pros, which I’m very envious about, but it’s not just about speed when you’re a bronze, and I certainly know that, so hopefully we can keep our head cool and do a good race.”
At the opposite end of the experience spectrum, Heart of Racing’s Gray Newell is amongst this year’s rookie class. The American is set to drive the #23 Aston Martin Vantage AMR LMGT3, alongside Eduardo Barrichello and former class winner Jonny Adam.
The step up to LMGT3 has been a significant one for the 28-year-old, who has made the step up GT World Challenge America having climbed SRO’s North American ladder.
“I’m trying to treat it like any other race, but that’s pretty hard to do here,” Newell tells DSC. “I’m super honoured to be here to have this opportunity. It’s really incredible, and I’m just looking forward to making the most of it.”
With the Circuit des 24 Heures du Mans not available to test at, Newell has turned to the simulator for his preparation, although has deliberately kept his virtual running to a minimum.
“I have a regiment of exercise, and might get on my simulator and do as many laps as I can,” he epxlains. “Unfortunately, the sim seems to be a bit different than the onboards that we have, so I didn’t want to do too much of it and build some bad muscle memory,
After two races full of learning, Wednesday’s qualifying session has seemingly offered a breakthrough for the American, with Newell ending up second in LMGT3, only 0.024 seconds off pole position, in a significant improvement for someone who told DSC pre-event that they “need to step up a little bit in terms of qualifying.”
“It was a great session, and a really fantastic car,” he reflected afterwards. “I would say that was definitively the best qualifying car I’ve had the fortune of driving. I should give myself some credit too, because I feel like I drove really well, and it’s nice to know that I’ve taken a big step forward here.”
As well as working on qualifying, another focus point for Newell has been track limits with penalties for this offence costing him dearly at the 6 Hours of Spa-Francorchamps.
“The big one coming from Spa is track limits, which unfortunately cost us a pretty penny of time,” he explains.
“Unfortunately, the FIA is pretty brutal when it comes to track limits enforcement, which has been a bit hard for me to get used to, because coming from the US, we don’t really have track limits. That’s definitely been something that I have to really just nail down and make sure that we’re not leaving anything on the table there.”
Wednesday and Thursday’s Free Practice sessions offered Newell his first night running at the Circuit des 24 Heures du Mans, which, with its limited amount of flood lighting, makes the 13.626-kilometre course a completely different experience.
“It was actually a lot more different than I was expecting,” Newell states.
“This track is actually not very well lit, and a lot of the lights are in odd, awkward places, so you can’t see your turn in point or braking marker from the daytime at all. You have a light and you’re trying to find some reference to offset that, and it was a challenge. I felt like I got it towards the end, but I definitely think there’s a little bit more work for me to do there.”
Amongst Newell’s competition will be the #92 The Bend Manthey Porsche 911 GT3 R (992.2) LMGT3, in which Yasser Shahin will seek to claim a second Le Mans victory in three starts, competing with Richard Lietz and Riccardo Pera.
“No question, there’s a sense of nostalgia,” he says of his allure to Le Mans. “You don’t have a race that runs for the decades that it has without it having notoriety.
“The lack of red flags, the fact that it just keeps going, the fact that the safety car procedure is a last resort, which means the racing is real from the get-go. Just the perseverance and the lack of error required to triumph, which I’ve had the good fortune of doing once here, I think is quite magnetic, because once you’ve tasted some success here, and realise what it takes to win after 24 hours of racing by a few seconds, you just have a newfound respect for precision and no mistakes.”
The lack of race-reseting cautions is especially important in a Pro/Am category, with it meaning that, unlike at events such as the 24 Hours of Daytona, it’s unlikely that the gains or losses made by Bronze-ranked drivers will be eliminated later on.
“It’s quite motivating to know that you know you’ll make a big difference,” Shahin summarises.
The 49-year-old had a dream start to his Le Mans career, with him amongst the first LMGT3 winners in 2024, a victory he scored with Manthey, Lietz and Morris Schuring.
“I actually think it’s one of those moments that’s actually better relived,” he says.
“In the moment, it probably lacks a bit of impact, because you don’t quite realise the magnitude of the achievement. I actually refused to put on my suit for the podium until about a minute to go. I didn’t want to jinx it, and sure it was exciting there and then, but afterwards, being able to relive it has actually been better because you just realise how difficult it is.”
One year later, the Australian then landed on the opposite side of the Le Mans coin, with his #31 WRT BMW retiring after colliding with some wildlife overnight.
“I think somebody told me in my first year, there’s a saying that says Le Mans chooses you, and I think so much just has to go right,” Shahin says.
“We’ve had races in the World Endurance Championship where the smallest mistake has cost us a podium, you’re sitting on a seatbelt when getting out, being tapped by a Hypercar in traffic, and there’s not much you can do.
“You realise not only you need to be fast, you can’t make any mistakes in the pits, and then you have to be incident-free, and the car has to be reliable. Probably the biggest thing I’d add with these endurance races, especially the 24, is how incredible the entire team effort has to be.”
Following a season away at WRT, which both Shahin, and Manthey’s director of racing Patrick Arkenau, credit as improving his driving through the experience of racing a very different car, the Australian has returned to the German squad. Part of the attraction in returning to Manthey is the opportunity to race alongside six-time class winner Lietz, who is making his 20th start this year.
“I’ve always had a form of coaching in my driving career, and I’ve always put myself around not just the best of drivers, but around drivers that can actually tell you why,” Shahin explains.
“They’re two very different things. A fast driver is not necessarily someone who can actually explain exactly why or how they did it, and in that, you couldn’t ask for a better teammate than Richard Lietz.
“You might find a driver that has better single lap pace, but I don’t think you’ll find anybody that is really feeling and understanding everything the car is doing, and someone who’s more self-aware of his inputs, so it’s fantastic driving with someone of his skill and accomplishments. I mean, this is his 20th Le Mans start.”
With a Le Mans victory already under his belt, the main goal for Shahin this year will be decided in November, with his eyes set on the FIA WEC LMGT3 drivers’ title. This, therefore, means that the aim for Le Mans is to bank points, rather than go all-in for victory.
“I think an incident-free Le Mans,” he sets out as a result which will make him happy.
“I won’t hide that we are in this for the championship, and so we will walk away smiling ear-to-ear if we end up on that podium. I think that we’ll set our sights for a top-five finish. If we’re better than that and up on the podium, it’ll be an amazing memory.
“It’s double points, so we’re all very aware of that, and we’re very aware of making sure the car lasts. I think one big thing you’ve got in our driver lineup, we’ve got three quite mature drivers, without pumping my own tyres up in any way. I think there’s a lot of discipline in this team, we’re quite happy to seed positions or time with an eye on the whole race.”
