The 2021 Le Mans 24 Hours will equal last year’s record 61 car starting grid after Era Motorsport announced this morning that following an incident in practice on Thursday, the Era Motorsport and IDEC SPORT Racing have decided to withdraw their #17 Oreca from the race.
“It’s heartbreaking to be pulling out of Le Mans before we even got a chance to race, but I know we’re doing the right thing,” said Era Motorsport Owner Kyle Tilley. “We had high hopes going into the event, but with a handful of unfortunate events in the span of a few days, this year’s race week has been a constant uphill battle. Circuit de la Sarthe demands respect, and we take the speeds and technicality of this track very seriously.
“The low downforce nature of the LMP2 makes it incredibly difficult to drive on the hard Goodyear compound, and the BOP hasn’t played into our favour either. After a last-minute driver swap, a new chassis, and a second on-track incident, we had to make the tough call: If we don’t feel 100% confident going into this race, we feel we have the responsibility to our competitors not to run.”
The incident in practice was only one in a series of unfortunate events for the team in the last few days, beginning with a last-minute driver-swap after team principal and driver Kyle Tilley sustained a shoulder injury. The team secured a backup driver who, unbeknownst to the public, subsequently tested positive for COVID.
Despite the further setback, the team was able to secure Frenchman and 24 Hours of Le Mans race winner Thomas Laurent. Laurent joined the team after the official test day had already concluded last week, where #17 Oreca was hit by another car and sent into the barrier. The crash caused enough damage for the team to build up a new car from another chassis to be able to compete.
Then in FP3 three on Thursday afternoon, the #17 car had another incident, a significant hit for Merriman, driver OK, but the already rebuilt car was badly damaged once again.
“This is an event where you really have to be on top of your game across the board, and with these setbacks, we just didn’t feel we were there this time,” said Tilley. “Sadly, this isn’t the type of event where you can close your eyes and hope for the best. That’s what makes it Le Mans. I hope our fans can respect the decision. It was a tough one to make, as no one wants to win here more than we do. I’d like to thank our drivers, crew, and everyone at IDEC Racing for all the hard work they put in for this one. We’ll be back.”
The Porsche factory team meanwhile are in the midst of a rebuild of the #92 911 RSR-19 after Kevin Estre’s Hyperpole hit at Indianapolis, the car deemed to be beyond immediate repair.
