Le Mans 2014 – Audi 1-2 marks 13th win for Ingolstadt

24h Le Mans 2014

An eventful weekend saw Audi clinch its 13th overall victory at the 2014 24 Hours of Le Mans through a stunning 1-2 finish, with Marcel Fassler, Andre Lotterer and Benoit Treluyer in the No.2 Audi R18 e-tron quattro laying claim to the top step of the podium.

The No. 1 Audi piloted by Lucas di Grassi, Marc Gene and Tom Kristensen came second. The car was completely rebuilt following a heavy collision in practice on Wednesday with Loic Duval – who is thankfully unharmed – driving. Gene replaced the Frenchman, who was deemed unfit to participate, for the race.

Crashes and reliability problems beset all three works LMP1 teams, with the latter taking out the No. 7 Toyota TS040 Hybrid that had been leading the race beforehand at the 15th hour. The remaining No. 8 Toyota driven by Anthony Davidson, Sebastien Buemi and Nicolas Lapierre finished third, after being involved in an accident in the second hour that wiped out the No. 3 Audi.

24h Le Mans 2014

Audi was not spared from reliability problems either, with both remaining cars having turbocharger problems one after the other, but still managed to hold on to the lead.

As for Porsche on its first race back into top-flight competition since 1998, both cars were plagued with drivetrain problems near the end of the race. The No. 14 Porsche 919 Hybrid eventually came in 11th, while the No. 20 car that was earlier chasing for the lead (and in which Mark Webber made his return to the circuit after 11 years in Formula 1) retired from the race.

24h Le Mans 2014

Elsewhere, the No. 38 Jota Sport Nissan-powered Zytek Z11SN driven by Simon Dolan, Harry Tincknell and Oliver Turney claimed victory in the LMP2 class, the No. 51 AF Corse Ferrari 458 Italia GT2 piloted by Gianmaria Bruni, Giancarlo Fisichella and Toni Vilander finished first in the GTE Pro class and the No. 95 Aston Martin V8 Vantage GTE driven by David Heinemeier Hansson, Kristian Poulsen and Nicki Thiim won the GTE Am class.

What happened to this year’s experimental Garage 56 entry, you may ask? Well, the Nissan ZEOD RC managed to complete its goals of completing a lap of the 13.6 km Circuit de la Sarthe and hitting 300 km/h using electric power alone. Unfortunately, the gearbox expired just 24 minutes into the race, forcing the hybrid into retirement.

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Jonathan Lee

After trying to pursue a career in product design, Jonathan Lee decided to make the sideways jump into the world of car journalism instead. He therefore appreciates the aesthetic appeal of a car, but for him, the driving experience is still second to none.

 

Comments

  • AVH (Member) on Jun 16, 2014 at 1:56 pm

    13th, 3 more races to beat Porsche’s record of 16 Le Mans win. The Toyota, to me the best sounding of the lot, did rather well with No. 3 with them fielding 2 cars instead of the Audi 3.. Really wished Porsche could do better, but its their first time back after a long long time, and in this game Audi’s experiece with Le Mans tuly played a HUGE leading role.

    PS: Stayed up all night watching the 10th-14th hour, instead of watching World Cup.

    Like or Dislike: Thumb up 12 Thumb down 0
    • kington on Jun 16, 2014 at 2:29 pm

      Indeed, it was a strong showing by the Toyota hybrids though i was rooting for the Porsches. Their last Le Mans racer which spawned the 911 GT1 and Carrera GT was my favorite Le Mans machine.

      If only Mazda could make a comeback as well.

      Like or Dislike: Thumb up 1 Thumb down 0
      • Same L0r on Jun 16, 2014 at 6:09 pm

        Bravo Toyota again prove its advance technology and reliable quality.

        For the Proton fanboys who think their persona/satria/Preve/Suprima S are the best car in the world: Get Proton’s ass on the Le Mans track first. No need talk so much and syok sendiri!

        Like or Dislike: Thumb up 1 Thumb down 10
        • “Crashes and reliability problems beset all three works LMP1 teams, with the latter taking out the No. 7 Toyota TS040 Hybrid that had been leading the race beforehand at the 15th hour.”

          The leading Toyota broke down.

          Like or Dislike: Thumb up 5 Thumb down 0
    • paulz on Jun 19, 2014 at 8:16 am

      Same goes to my situation as well, staying up almost 17 hours..time to time to check updates and watch live feed from Le Mans apps. It was a good fight between every cars until almost everyone struck down with hybrid engine gremlins and forced to pit stop for time being before the race ended. Salute to Audi for their best performance and i do hope they will get tougher challenge especially Nissan will comes in by next year event.

      Like or Dislike: Thumb up 0 Thumb down 0
  • venven81 on Jun 16, 2014 at 1:58 pm

    a big congrats goes to team Audi for once again clinching the top spots in the most enduring race in the motorsports! although it didn’t have the fastest car on track but it had proven that reliability is more crucial than anything else in the competition. nice try Toyota but you gotta try harder next year. Porsche, welcome back and congrats on finishing the race as targeted :D

    Like or Dislike: Thumb up 2 Thumb down 2
  • Boy Racer (Member) on Jun 16, 2014 at 2:10 pm

    Cute R18.

    Like or Dislike: Thumb up 0 Thumb down 0
  • toyota do really well at Le Mans. shame about their road hybrids though

    Like or Dislike: Thumb up 1 Thumb down 0
  • Well done audi! eventhough being handicapped by a reduced of 14 liter fuel compared the petrols of the Porrsche & Toyota. Quite silly the rules, why penalise those using a more efficient engine?

    Like or Dislike: Thumb up 0 Thumb down 0
    • Bro, you are totally wrong lerr.. this is 24hrs race & not GT race.. actually Porsche & Toyota has upper hand, cab carry more fuel than Audi after 2014 rule change.. more fuel + less pit stop (Porsche/Toyota) Vs less fuel + more pit stop (Audi)..

      Like or Dislike: Thumb up 0 Thumb down 0
      • AVH (Member) on Jun 16, 2014 at 11:22 pm

        Actually is a Catch 22 situation here.

        Audi consume less fuel w/ smaller fuel tank
        Posrche and Toyota consume more fuel w/ larger fuel tank.

        You can shoose, the Toyota has a power advantage thou.

        Like or Dislike: Thumb up 0 Thumb down 0
        • If you follow WEC, you will notice Audi doesn’t agreed & make a lot of noise on the rule change (some more at last minute)… Paul also write it here if I not mistaken…

          Like or Dislike: Thumb up 0 Thumb down 0
  • Jinba Ittai on Jun 16, 2014 at 3:20 pm

    I really wish that Le Mans will get more coverage. These guys are driving a few F1 complete races in one full day non-stop. Yes, reliability is key in this race and it was disappointed to see Toyota suffering from electrical faults in their main contender car. LMP1, LMP2, GTE Pro and GTE Am, all showed lots of close fights all the way to the 24th hour mark

    Like or Dislike: Thumb up 1 Thumb down 0
    • paulz on Jun 19, 2014 at 8:19 am

      Eurosport (under Astro sport channel) already showcase Le Mans coverage for 24 hours non-stop action.

      Like or Dislike: Thumb up 0 Thumb down 0
  • Le Mans technology is much more interesting than formula 1.. Fuel efficiency, durability, recovery system..

    Great team work, endurance.. and very pretty car, nicer than F1 cars with the ugly nose infront.

    Like or Dislike: Thumb up 2 Thumb down 0
    • Well said!
      I love the way LeMans actually don’t impose so much restriction and allow engineers to be creative.

      Like or Dislike: Thumb up 0 Thumb down 0
  • Jaybond on Jun 17, 2014 at 8:53 am

    Toyota has been unlucky again at Le Mans 24 Hours racing, similar situation back in 1999 with their awesome Toyota TS090 GT1 which like the TS040 of year 2014, the top running car at Le Mans. It’s a bitter disappointment to say the least. Toyota has quite a long history in Le Mans 24 hours since the early 1980s alongside Nissan & Mazda as the main contenders from Japan.While you lost count of how many times the Germans won the Le Mans (Porsche, Sauber-Mercedes & Audi), Japan has only won once with Mazda and I think they fully deserved to win this year with Toyota but of course, there’s always next year (this year’s WEC crown could be a consolation for them).Next year will see the return of Nissan to the top category.

    Like or Dislike: Thumb up 0 Thumb down 1
  • “smug face time” LOL…
    Proud to be Audi owner!

    Like or Dislike: Thumb up 0 Thumb down 0
 

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