Le Mans 2015: Porsche takes 17th win, first in 17 years

Porsche 919 Hybrid (19), Porsche Team: Nick Tandy, Earl Bamber, Nico Huelkenberg (l-r)

It’s been a gruelling, action-packed weekend that saw up to six cars in fierce contention, but in the end it was Porsche that came up tops to win the 2015 24 Hours of Le Mans. Nico Hülkenberg, Earl Bamber and Nick Tandy in the #19 Porsche 919 Hybrid clinched the chequered flag ahead of teammates Timo Bernhard, Mark Webber and Brendon Hartley in the throwback red #17 for an all-Stuttgart 1-2 finish.

The lead Porsche LMP1 ran like clockwork without any incidents – its closest shave being right next to a heavy shunt by a GTE-Pro Aston Martin – when other cars ran into a variety of troubles. As such, it was in exactly the right place to take the company’s 17th win (extending its record for most wins) and its first since its last race in 1998.

Behind the #19 prototype, the #17 – painted red to commemorate Porsche’s first win exactly 45 years ago in a red 917 – was booked in for a one-minute penalty in the middle of the race for overtaking under yellow flags, but otherwise its run was just as uneventful. The black #18, which crashed twice mid-race and was then plagued with reliability issues, ultimately finished fifth.

Porsche 919 Hybrid (17), Porsche Team: Timo Bernhard, Mark Webber, Brendon Hartley

This marked the end of a five-race winning streak for Audi – it took third place with last year’s winners Marcel Fassler, Andre Lotterer and Benoit Tréluyer in the #7 Audi R18 e-tron quattro, even after ejecting most of its rear bodywork at one point and then being hit by a drive-through penalty. Elsewhere, Ingolstadt was beset either by crashes (#8, which finished fourth) or mechanical woes (#9, which finished seventh).

How about the rest of the factory LMP1 teams? Well, reigning world champion Toyota was uncharacteristically been off the pace all weekend, leading to the #2 Toyota TS040 Hybrid taking sixth place ahead of the #1 car in eighth, eight and nine laps down on the leaders respectively.

Porsche Team: Timo Bernhard, Brendon Hartley, Mark Webber, Fritz Enzinger, Leiter LMP1,  Nico Huelkenberg, Nick Tandy, Earl Bamber (l-r)

As for Nissan, its radical new front-engined GT-R LM Nismo was problematic from the start – its hybrid system wasn’t as powerful as initially intended, and the car ran front-wheel drive instead of AWD – and was hit by gremlins all throughout. After spending much of its time at the back of the overall grid (the race was basically treated as an extended testing session), the team only got the #22 car past the finish line; it wasn’t classified, however, as it did not manage to complete 70% of the winner’s race distance.

The rest of the grid saw the #47 KCMG Nissan-powered Oreca 05 driven by Richard Bradley, Matthew Howson and Nicolas Lapierre took victory in LMP2, the #67 Chevrolet Corvette C7R piloted by Oliver Gavin, Tommy Milner and Jordan Taylor clinched the GTE-Pro win and the #72 SMP Racing Ferrari 458 Italia driven by Andrea Bertolini, Victor Shaytar and Alexey Basov won the GTE-Am class after a heartbreaking last-hour crash by the leading #98 Aston Martin V8 Vantage.

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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

  • The Porsche 919 hybrid has an 2.0 engine only. Apparently engine downsizing works in motorsports too…

    Like or Dislike: Thumb up 1 Thumb down 0
    • GT3 (Member) on Jun 15, 2015 at 11:43 am

      Downsizing is one of the way to increase fuel efficiency, as the regulation itself limits the amount of fuel each cars can use.
      And those systems/inventions experimented in racing will then applied to road cars.

      Like or Dislike: Thumb up 3 Thumb down 0
  • tok nimoe on Jun 15, 2015 at 11:16 am

    didn’t the no.22 nissan finish the race?

    Like or Dislike: Thumb up 0 Thumb down 0
    • No. 22 finished the race, but was an unclassified finisher as it hadn’t done at least 70%, of the distance covered by the winner.

      Like or Dislike: Thumb up 0 Thumb down 0
    • Disappointing on Nissan this round, hopefully next Le Mans they have better luck…

      Like or Dislike: Thumb up 0 Thumb down 0
    • Kancil Hybrid on Jun 15, 2015 at 12:08 pm

      Nissan GTR #21, 22, 23 all classified as retired.

      Congrats Porsche! 2.0 V4 Turbo + ERS.

      Like or Dislike: Thumb up 1 Thumb down 0
    • Jonathan Lee (Member) on Jun 15, 2015 at 2:13 pm

      Clarified that bit of the report. Indeed, the #22 did finish the race, but was not classified because it didn’t cover at least 70% of the winning car’s covered distance.

      Like or Dislike: Thumb up 2 Thumb down 0
  • GT3 (Member) on Jun 15, 2015 at 11:47 am

    Congrats to Porsche team for winning the iconic (and will be historic) race. Their hardwork are paid now in 2nd year of their return to LeMans.
    Kudos to Nissan too, for coming up with NISMO GT-R LM which is revolutionary and unconventional concept with their front-wheel-drive (or wrong-wheel-drive for some people LOL). I love how their engineers love to try new things, even after the ‘weird’ Delta Wing race car.

    Like or Dislike: Thumb up 5 Thumb down 0
    • Jonn Dol on Jun 15, 2015 at 1:19 pm

      Judging from the performance of the FWD Nissan GT-R LM – it’s hopeless and woeful to say the least. You can have a powerful RWD or AWD(full time) racecar, but not a powerful FWD racecar.The competition will leave you for dead.
      Nissan should just scrapped the FWD drivetrain altogether, and concentrate on a RWD or AWD (if regulation permits?) drivetrain. But still maintain that Front Mounted Engine location, for a unique configuration. A Front Engined and RWD Nissan GT-R LM is a much better proposition (something like what is found in the Panoz LMP01 Le Mans car 14/15 years ago). Unless, the NISMO Top bosses are still stubborn..

      Like or Dislike: Thumb up 3 Thumb down 3
  • kampungEGGpower! on Jun 15, 2015 at 11:54 am

    Porsche wouldn’t have made it if they are smart enough to use FWD setup…lol tat gtr is a joke…

    Like or Dislike: Thumb up 2 Thumb down 1
  • wow finally audi beaten…nice

    Like or Dislike: Thumb up 2 Thumb down 1
  • KarTiN (Member) on Jun 15, 2015 at 9:47 pm

    Excellent show from Porsche to own this race again, definitely separate Le Mans from Le Boys.

    Like or Dislike: Thumb up 3 Thumb down 0
 

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