Grid and driver shots
The official pre-race grid shot eventually assembled this evening in dry conditions after earlier spots of rain had threatened.
A sunnier afternoon greeted the earlier pre-race assembly of this year’s 186 drivers’ photograph (above).
#51 Ferrari crew wins pit stop challenge
Pre-race build-up at the circuit continues steadily as team staff and spectator numbers begin to check in for the coming event. But there’s still activity to enjoy, not least the first competitive event of the week, the Pit Stop Challenge. All pit crews took part, competing to change all four wheels and tyres in the fastest time. It may seem fun, but it’s taken very, very seriously, with bragging rights at stake!
Perhaps a statement of intent for things to come, Ferrari AF Corse’s #51 crew came out on top with a time of 9.68 seconds, a margin of 0.12 and 0.17 over the #7 and #8 Toyota Gazoo Racing crews respectively. Unsurprisingly the top times were all Hypercar teams, the best six covered by just 0.2 seconds, ahead of a sterling effort by Team WRT, the #31 BMW’s LMGT3 crew; four Goodyears swapped out in 10.28, just ahead of the D’Station Racing Aston Martin.
The top eight times were all under 10 seconds.
Lietz recieves Wingfoot Award for Spa
Speaking of tyres, alongside his race victory with team-mates Yasser Shahin and Morris Schuring, Richard Lietz also won the Goodyear Wingfoot Award at the last WEC round at Spa-Francorchamps. The Wingfoot award recognises consistent performance by measuring drivers’ performance over an entire driver stint (for Le Mans, this will be across two consecutive stints).
After receiving the trophy, he said: “It feels good [to win the award]. Especially at Spa, as it’s quite demanding on tyres, so to have a consistent car and setup to perform over a stint is for sure a good result for the team, the setup and the manufacturer.”
“The key to achieve a constant lap time is to drive on the limit of the tyre and not over. We had around 50 hours of testing before the season started so we know the tyre quite well and had a good setup. The more you have to be consistent, and the more you have to look after the tyre, the better it is for our car, team and setup combination,” he explained.
Goodyear Racing EMEA has also achieved the highest possible score in the FIA’s Environmental Accreditation programme, underlining the manufacturer’s commitment to sustainability.
Goodyear & Ferrari achieve three-star FIA Environmental Accreditation
Recognising clear long-term strategies towards mitigating the impact of global motorsport operations, Goodyear is the first ACO tyre partner to achieve the top three-star rating in the FIA Environmental Accreditation framework.
Innovative measures to reduce materials, extend competitive tyre life and reduce whole process emissions support the brand’s presence in the FIA World Endurance Championship, 24 Hours of Le Mans and European Le Mans Series.
The brand switched to using a single specification of slick racing tyre in WEC in 2022. This year, with the introduction of the LMGT3 class for which Goodyear is the exclusive supplier, it still brings one specification of slick to each event. Other classes and championships with multiple compounds mean tyre manufacturers often have to produce an excess to meet demand. This change has seen a 33% reduction in the number of tyres Goodyear produces during a season, fewer tyres transported to the track and therefore lower freight requirements.
In addition, Ferrari has also received Three-Star level certification, from processes such as hospitality waste management, digital systems and optimised transport logistics. AF Corse team’s involvement in the top class of the World Endurance Championship has adopted a management system that reduces the team’s environmental impacts and measures its social and economic effects.
BMW Photoshoot
BMW staged a ‘then and now’ photoshoot. Rolling out its #15 1999 race winning V12 LMR, then crewed by Pier-Luigi Martini / Yannick Dalmas and Jo Winkelhock, and its 2024 #15 M Hybrid V8 challenger, the simplicity of the 6.0 litre V12 engined winner makes for an interesting comparison; 25 years of prototype regulations, technology and aero-dynamic advancement in stark contrast.
Past and future racing side by side.
The V12 LMR and Hybrid V8 are owning the Le Mans track. 💪🚗 pic.twitter.com/1tM4R5HIio
— BMW M Motorsport (@BMWMotorsport) June 10, 2024
Rookie Jack Hawksworth required to do more laps in FP1
It was noted in the wrap up of the test day that Jack Hawksworth, who was a late addition to the #87 Akkodis ASP Lexus, didn’t complete his required running during the Le Mans test sessions.
As a Le Mans debutant without an FIA Platinum ranking, Hawksworth was required to complete 10 laps of running during the Test day, with at least 5 of those laps as timed laps.
Hawksworth completed 7 laps in the first session, and was put back in the #87 late in the second session of the day with over 10 minutes left on the clock – enough time to complete his remaining three laps. However, the red flag to recover the #7 Toyota GR010 which hit the wall at Indianapolis brought the session to a premature close.
As a consequence, the stewards have imposed the requirement that Hawksworth must complete 5 laps during FP1 to be permitted to race in the event, and those laps must be completed before any other driver can take the wheel of the #87 Akkodis ASP Lexus.
A Late Le Mans call-up from the other side of the world
News from the the Road to Le Mans paddock is a last-minute call-up for Australian racer and team owner Garth Walden, who just last weekend was running his race team at Tailem Bend in South Australia, and come Thursday will be racing at Le Mans!
An entirely unexpected call from RLR M-Sport at 9:00pm Saturday evening kick-started what will be a 20,000km journey for the Sydney-based racer, who will join Mexican young-gun Ian Aguilera in the #5 RLR M-Sport Ligier JSP320 Nissan for two 55-minute races supporting the Le Mans 24 Hour.
Walden was in fact celebrating the team’s first race win in Radical Cup Australia when the call came in.
“We had just won the first Radical Cup Race at The Bend and were out with the team (Garth Walden Racing) in Tailem Bend having a Pizza when the phone rang on Saturday night,” he explained.
“My phone rang at about 9:00pm local time, which isn’t unusual when you’re away racing. What was a surprise was that it was RLR asking if I could be in Le Mans by Wednesday – which aside from being an incredible opportunity also offers its own share of logistical challenges when you’re on the other side of the world.
“I told them I needed to get through Sunday’s racing before confirming with them, fortunately we came through with four straight cars and a podium finish so the decision to go came then – but really, how could I say no?
“Once I decided to do it there was a mad rush to sort flights – let alone having to get back to Sydney to grab the passport and all my gear.
“There was a lot to do in a short space of time but it’s absolutely worth it for this chance to live a dream and race at Le Mans.”
Another piece of this logistics puzzle was the fact that Walden’s GWR team is running cars in Porsche Carrera Cup as part of this weekend’s Supercars weekend in Darwin.
“I rang (driver) Dylan O’Keeffe to make sure he was good with me not being there – he was jealous he couldn’t come!
“The guys that run his car have got him sorted so I’ll be watching from afar which will be strange, but it’s an opportunity I couldn’t miss and they all understand.
“These things don’t come around often, especially at this point in your career, so I’m excited. I’ve never been to Le Mans so that’s pretty exciting and the 20-hours of travel to get there will be spent watching onboards, looking at data and track maps and trying to understand which way it all goes.
“I’ve done a lot in my motorsport journey, but this is the wildest thing I’ve ever done in my career, especially in such a short space of time. But you have to grab these opportunities as much as you can.”
While it will be Walden’s Le Mans debut, he has previous experience in LMP3 machinery. He piloted the #14 Inter Europol Ligier JSP3 to fourth in class alongside Radical Australia racer Peter Paddon and American youngster Austin McCusker at the 2020 Asian Le Mans Series round at The Bend.
Walden currently races in GTWC Australia with Mike Sheargold – the pair leading the Am category in the #45 GWR/RAM Motorsport Mercedes AMG – and the Garth Walden Racing team has recently celebrated its 10th anniversary. GWR’s Peter Paddon leads the Radical Australia championship while Dylan O’Keeffe sits sixth in Carrera Cup Australia.
