| There is no greater single day in motorsports than the 24 Hours of Le Mans. This year's competition will go down as one of the most-challenging races in the event's history thanks to ever-evolving weather that that changed as often as the teams did drivers. But above all, the 2013 24 Hours of Le Mans will be remembered for the death of Aston Martin driver Allan Simonsen, who was involved in a single-car accident existing the quick Tertre Rouge corner early on in the race. Because of the recurring downpours that led to a handful of accidents and subsequent repairs to the circuit and cleanup, nearly six hours of the race were spent behind the safety car. Attrition set in among the race's premier class as Audi's lead R18 e-tron Quattro, driven by Marcel Fässler, André Lotterer, and Benoît Tréluyer, spent a significant amount of time in the garage because of a defective alternator—the group eventually finished fifth. The second of Toyota's TS030 racers, piloted by Alex Wurz, Nicolas Lapierre, and Kaz Nakajima, came home in fourth after Lapierre ran into the tire barrier at the Porsche curves after chasing down Audi's third-placed number-three car of Marc Gené, Oliver Jarvis, and Lucas di Grassi. Anthony Davidson, Sébastien Buemi, and Stéphane Sarrazin took Toyota's lead car to a second-place finish behind Audi's fourth consecutive and 12th overall win since 2000. "Mr. Le Mans" Tom Kristensen crossed the finish line for the four-ringed brand, taking his ninth victory, teamed with lovable Scotsman Allan McNish, who took him his third winner's trophy, and Loïc Duval. The LMP2 class was won by the OAK Racing entry of Bertrand Baguette, Martin Plowman, and Ricardo González. The GTE Pro class was won—somewhat disappointingly—by the factory Porsches of Marc Lieb, Richard Lietz, and Romain Dumas. We say disappointingly because the number-97 Aston Martin, sister car to Allan Simonsen's entry, led the GTE Pro class until the closing stages of the race when a mechanical issue put the car a lap down. The GTE Am class was taken by the IMSA Performance Matmut Porsche team, consisting of Raymond Narac, Christophe Bourret, and Jean-Karl Vernay.
Beyond the race, there was the usual array of automobilia, art, model cars, champagne, inebriation, and an assortment of umbrellas, ponchos, and rain gear. Outside of the race, there was plenty to talk about, too, and much of that was dominated by the corporate drama at the Volkswagen Group. Two days prior to the race's start, Audi's head of R&D Wolfgang Dürheimer was sacked. Even though he retains responsibility for the VW Group's motorsports activities, he was absent in Le Mans. The LMP2 class was won by the OAK Racing entry of Bertrand Baguette, Martin Plowman, and Ricardo González. The GTE Pro class was won—somewhat disappointingly—by the factory Porsches of Marc Lieb, Richard Lietz, and Romain Dumas. We say disappointingly because the number-97 Aston Martin, sister car to Allan Simonsen's entry, led the GTE Pro class until the closing stages of the race when a mechanical issue put the car a lap down. The GTE Am class was taken by the IMSA Performance Matmut Porsche team, consisting of Raymond Narac, Christophe Bourret, and Jean-Karl Vernay. Beyond the race, there was the usual array of automobilia, art, model cars, champagne, inebriation, and an assortment of umbrellas, ponchos, and rain gear. Outside of the race, there was plenty to talk about, too, and much of that was dominated by the corporate drama at the Volkswagen Group. Two days prior to the race's start, Audi's head of R&D Wolfgang Dürheimer was sacked. Even though he retains responsibility for the VW Group's motorsports activities, he was absent in Le Mans.  from Car and Driver Blog http://blog.caranddriver.com | |||
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