[LM24 Race] Le Mans 2023 Race Thread

[J Jay]

8/10 race:

+ Podium positions in most classes down to the last few minutes
+ Close racing in the top class for almost all the race
+ Strategies playing out across the night/morning running
+ Mechanical issues overcome with ingenuity and grit
+ Well-placed finishes for many cars driven without trouble
+ Garage 56 out-rumbling Cadillacs and Corvette

- Safety car procedure taking far too long on such a large track
- Driving standards amongst LMP2 drivers, amateur and professional

[N Martin]

It's a good job Ryo made that mistake. Considering Ferraris final stop.

[AndreasDavour]

Good points all. I give it a 9/10 though.

[N Martin]

It's been a great race. I'm off to enjoy the sunshine now. Thanks for the chat everyone all week. Thoroughly enjoyed it. Cheers everyone.

[AndreasDavour]

See you all next year.

[Adam43]

Race Positions at the 24 hour mark (342 laps)

It is a legal requirement that you click on this YouTube link before you look at the table.

Pos	0	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	17	18	19	20	21	22	23	24
1	50	8	2	50	94	75	51	51	94	94	94	8	51	8	8	8	51	51	51	51	51	51	51	51	51
2	51	51	5	51	6	8	75	94	50	8	2	51	8	51	51	51	8	8	8	8	8	8	8	8	8
3	8	7	75	94	7	7	50	7	2	2	8	94	2	2	2	2	2	2	2	2	2	2	2	2	2
4	75	75	8	38	8	94	94	2	51	50	51	2	6	6	6	6	3	3	3	3	3	3	3	3	3
5	7	6	38	7	75	50	2	8	8	51	3	6	3	3	3	3	6	93	93	93	93	93	5	5	50
6	2	5	6	2	38	51	8	50	7	3	6	3	93	93	93	93	93	709	5	5	5	5	50	50	708
7	5	2	7	8	2	2	7	5	5	6	50	93	708	708	709	709	708	5	50	50	50	50	708	708	709
8	3	93	50	6	50	709	3	3	3	5	93	709	709	709	708	708	709	50	708	709	709	708	709	709	93
9	6	38	51	93	51	5	5	6	6	93	708	708	5	5	5	5	5	708	709	708	708	709	93	93	5
10	93	94	94	75	5	3	6	93	93	709	709	5	50	50	50	50	50	94	94	94	94	94	34	34	34
11	94	709	93	5	709	6	93	708	708	708	38	50	30	34	41	94	94	34	34	34	34	34	41	41	41
12	708	4	709	709	3	708	709	709	709	38	5	34	41	65	34	34	34	41	41	41	41	41	48	31	30
13	311	48	4	3	708	38	708	34	38	41	34	30	65	30	94	41	41	30	30	30	30	48	30	30	36
14	709	50	3	28	35	93	34	23	34	34	37	65	47	41	65	48	30	65	65	65	48	30	31	36	31
15	4	41	41	35	36	41	23	38	41	65	41	47	34	94	30	30	48	48	36	48	65	31	65	48	48
16	48	28	36	36	23	28	28	41	80	48	30	41	48	48	48	65	65	36	31	36	31	65	36	10	10
17	28	36	28	23	30	23	41	28	28	63	47	48	31	36	36	36	36	31	48	31	36	36	10	94	311
18	41	10	23	10	41	34	65	35	45	30	65	10	36	31	31	31	31	10	10	28	28	10	94	311	23
19	47	22	10	65	28	9	9	80	65	80	48	31	10	28	28	28	28	28	28	10	10	28	23	23	35
20	63	9	30	34	10	37	30	75	30	28	36	36	28	10	10	10	10	6	6	6	23	23	311	35	45
21	14	3	34	30	65	80	35	45	37	37	31	28	94	80	80	45	45	45	38	35	22	22	35	45	22
22	9	45	48	41	9	65	48	65	35	47	28	38	80	45	45	35	35	35	35	23	35	35	45	65	6
23	10	35	35	708	48	10	80	30	48	36	10	80	35	35	35	23	23	22	22	22	45	45	22	22	37
24	45	39	22	80	47	47	47	48	63	10	45	45	45	22	23	22	22	23	45	45	311	311	6	6	28
25	22	30	65	9	37	45	45	47	36	31	80	23	4	23	22	38	38	38	23	311	6	6	37	37	65
26	923	43	47	48	923	30	38	37	47	45	23	4	23	47	38	57	311	311	311	37	37	37	28	28	33
27	65	31	31	47	45	48	36	36	10	23	35	35	22	57	57	24	37	37	9	85	85	33	33	33	94
28	34	34	9	37	34	35	37	63	31	35	56	56	56	54	85	54	57	9	37	25	25	85	85	25	25
29	23	80	43	923	80	923	923	10	39	85	54	54	54	85	24	86	24	56	24	33	33	25	25	85	86
30	31	14	39	45	93	36	63	39	23	54	4	57	57	25	54	25	56	24	25	56	56	56	56	56	85
31	37	37	80	63	63	31	10	31	56	56	85	85	85	56	25	56	33	33	33	54	86	54	86	86	54
32	80	47	708	39	39	63	39	923	85	911	911	911	86	24	56	37	54	85	56	86	54	86	54	54	43
33	43	23	63	31	31	39	31	56	54	57	25	25	25	88	86	85	25	25	85	57	57	98	98	98	98
34	35	65	923	54	85	54	66	4	57	25	57	86	88	86	37	80	85	54	54	38	24	43	43	43	9
35	30	24	45	85	56	911	85	85	911	4	24	22	24	38	33	33	9	57	57	98	98	100	9	9	56
36	32	56	37	56	911	85	54	54	25	98	86	24	911	33	911	911	86	86	86	24	43	39	100	100	100
37	39	60	56	911	72	72	56	57	98	24	33	88	33	911	98	9	911	911	911	911	100	9	39	74	39
38	36	54	86	72	25	66	911	911	24	86	63	33	98	98	88	311	98	98	98	100	39	74	74	39	74
39	24	923	85	25	66	56	4	25	4	88	98	98	37	37	9	98	100	100	100	43	9	57	24	24	24
40	33	57	911	74	54	57	25	98	86	33	88	100	38	100	311	100	74	43	43	9	911	24	57	38	38
41	25	83	24	66	74	25	24	24	88	22	22	37	100	9	100	74	43	74	39	39	74	38	38
42	54	88	54	57	88	88	57	88	33	100	100	74	9	311	74	43	39	39	74	74	38
43	21	33	74	88	57	24	98	777	22	77	74	777	74	74	43	39
44	83	911	100	86	24	98	777	86	100	74	77	9	777	777	777	88
45	57	86	25	24	777	777	88	33	77	777	777	311	311	43	39	777
46	55	21	72	777	98	4	33	22	74	39	9	43	43	4	47	4
47	74	100	88	98	100	74	86	100	777	9	311	39	39	39	4	47
48	77	74	60	100	86	86	74	74	9	311	43	32	32	32	32	32
49	86	85	83	22	33	100	100	77	66	32	32
50	100	25	57	32	4	33	22	66	923	43	39
51	85	63	777	33	22	22	77	9	311
52	60	777	66	4	77	77	32	32	32
53	72	72	77	83	32	43	72	311	43
54	56	13	16	77	83	32	311	43
55	911	66	32	43	43	311	43	72
56	16	55	98	60	311	83	83
57	98	77	33	16	60	60	60
58	66	98	55	311	16	16	16
59	88	16	21	55	55	55	55
60	38	708	13	21	21	21	21
61	13	32	14	13	13	13	13
62	777	311	311	14	14	14	14

[J Jay]

Tom Kristensen continues his descent into "old man who thinks he's still hip" with fist-bumps from the #51 crew

[Adam43]

Originally Posted by J Jay

Tom Kristensen continues his descent into "old man who thinks he's still hip" with fist-bumps from the #51 crew

[Adam43]

Retirements:

#	Team	Car	Class
57	Kessel Racing	Ferrari 488 GTE Evo	LMGTE Am
911	Proton Competition	Porsche 911 RSR - 19	LMGTE Am
80	AF Corse	Oreca 07 - Gibson	LMP2
88	Proton Competition	Porsche 911 RSR - 19	LMGTE Am
4	Floyd Vanwall Racing Team	Vanwall Vandervell 680	HYPERCAR
777	D'Station Racing	Aston Martin Vantage AMR	LMGTE Am
47	COOL Racing	Oreca 07 - Gibson	LMP2
77	Dempsey - Proton Racing	Porsche 911 RSR - 19	LMGTE Am
32	Inter Europol Competition	Oreca 07 - Gibson	LMP2
63	Prema Racing	Oreca 07 - Gibson	LMP2
7	Toyota Gazoo Racing	Toyota GR010 HYBRID	HYPERCAR
66	JMW Motorsport	Ferrari 488 GTE Evo	LMGTE Am
923	Racing Team Turkey	Oreca 07 - Gibson	LMP2
75	Porsche Penske Motorsport	Porsche 963	HYPERCAR
72	TF Sport	Aston Martin Vantage AMR	LMGTE Am
83	Richard Mille AF Corse	Ferrari 488 GTE Evo	LMGTE Am
60	Iron Lynx	Porsche 911 RSR - 19	LMGTE Am
16	Proton Competition	Porsche 911 RSR - 19	LMGTE Am
55	GMB Motorsport	Aston Martin Vantage AMR	LMGTE Am
21	AF Corse	Ferrari 488 GTE Evo	LMGTE Am
13	Tower Motorsports	Oreca 07 - Gibson	LMP2
14	Nielsen Racing	Oreca 07 - Gibson	LMP2

[Adam43]

Just for completeness, how the hourly lap count compared to the other hypercar years and the 2010 record.

[Adam43]

There was some decent slip streaming in the race. Top speed achieved was by #50 347.8 km/h.

http://fiawec.alkamelsystems.com/Res..._Hour%2024.PDF

[Sodemo]

I struggle to think of a Lemans with so many incidents. This is a stark contrast to the 2000 race when literally nothing happened.

Congrats to Ferrari but I think Toyota were a little hard done by with the bop changes.

[Aysedasi]

Well, that was just sensational. Leaving well to one side any of the thoroughly boring BoP issues, I thought that was bloody superb, pretty much from start to finish. It had everything. Fantastic win for Ferrari but a great show was put on by all of the manufacturers and the class battles in P2 and GTEAm were great too. For me, the veteran of now 36 Le Mans, as an event for me and those who were with me, that just has to be the best of them all. Superb!! 11/10 from the Sitting in a Little Hotel Not Far From Le Mans jury.

[Hawkwood]

342 laps - have to go back over 20 years, to 2001, to find a lower lap count.


I really didn't do well in the annual predictions!

[chernaudi]

Basically whoever was going to win this was going to earn it. Toyota and Ferrari didn't have problem free races, it was mostly how big the problems were and when.



I think that Toyota still have work to do with the brake by wire on their car, which has been something of a problem child it's whole life.


I also have to admit that I wasn't insanely impressed with some of the driving standards that caused a good number of the accidents and DNFs. Several innocent victims taken out in kinda stupid incidents. And it wasn't just am drivers, pros were making stupid mistakes.


Ferrari came to race and knew that they had to earn their spot back at the top. Toyota knew that it was their hill to defend. Porsche was sort of disappointing in LM spec, with the Jota car outperforming the factory cars until it's demise.



Peugeot at least survived, which given how things have gone for them in the sprint races was far from certain.

[batmobile]

Safe travels back home to all !!!

[Aysedasi]

Originally Posted by batmobile

Safe travels back home to all !!!

Thanks Eric and thank you to the people of Le Mans (and elsewhere) for their excellent hospitality!!

[belt driven]

Great race! Kudos to MTTV for showing the entire race in U.S. No more (if not LESS) commercials than an IMSA race.

I can imagine Chip Ganassi's giant grin @ Roger...

[Matador]

Originally Posted by chernaudi

I think that Toyota still have work to do with the brake by wire on their car, which has been something of a problem child it's whole life.

Originally Posted by Sodemo

I struggle to think of a Lemans with so many incidents. This is a stark contrast to the 2000 race when literally nothing happened.

Congrats to Ferrari but I think Toyota were a little hard done by with the bop changes.

Absolute performance aside (It is what it is at this point), what if the extra weight indirectly caused the issues with the braking system, which up until now seemed to have been quite well sorted?

[broadrun96]

Well done fit folks from North Carolina, to paraphrase a certain Mr Clarkson

[S griffin]

Well the coverage on Quest came in just as the #7 Toyota had it's race ending collision coming onto Mulsanne. 7 really isn't a lucky number at LM.

Overall from the coverage that I saw and from what I've read, this seems to be the best LM for a long time. Plenty of different makes competing for the overall victory, with some good old fashioned endurance racing incidents and mechanical problems. Pleased for Ferrari. There were some questioning whether they could keep up their pace for enough of the 24 hours, but they did enough. Helped a bit by others hitting problems, but hey, that isn't unusual in a 24 hour race is it?

Great battle it seems for the win between #51 and #8, with both of them pushing so hard, mistakes were inevitable. But both kept going to keep it open till the end

Peugeot finally seemed to find the speed, but incidents and mechanical problems meant they were no longer a factor after a while.

Good to see Glick going out on a high with 6th and 7th for both cars, despite a couple of incidents.

Anyway, I bet the ACO are relieved. Their BOP changes made it a close contest, so it was in some ways justified from them

[Sodemo]

What were the relative weights that the cars were running to?

[skycafe]

Originally Posted by belt driven

I can imagine Chip Ganassi's giant grin @ Roger...

Yeh, Porsche did not have a great race, but the two CGR Cadillacs did pretty well to survive the fray.

[skycafe]

The #311 Cadillac (Action Express) did not have a good race week at all.

[chernaudi]

Well, aside from the negatives of attrition and rain and the new pace car procedure that can use some tweaks (though its reasoning is understandable and valid), let's focus on the positives.


Ferrari and Toyota gave each other as much as they could handle, that alone was worth the price of admission. Corvette showed that even now you can go from first, to worse, back to first even in a class as packed at GTE Am. And like with Toyota vs Ferrari, it was down to who had problems, when and how significant, as much as pace. There was never really a dull moment, for better or worse.


I remember watching back in 2006 and often times during the Audi Sport years where often it was down to which Audi would win. Success is never a 100% guarantee at Le Mans. I have to admit that I've had just as much fun watching this race as even back then, for different reasons. In the more "boring" races you can admire the atmosphere of the event more. In the more "compelling" events, the event spoke for itself.