The 21 Best Moments From The Epic Le Mans 24 Hours 2016
The Le Mans race got underway in a rather low-key manner, with rain and wet weather meaning that the cars pulled away from the grid behind the safety car. After 54 minutes of waiting it officially started and the two Porsche cars led away.
Close stuff between the 3 factory LMP1 teams! @Porsche_Team @Toyota_Hybrid @audisport #LeMans24pic.twitter.com/AOcnmHMDBt;— baronvonclutch
It may have only been one hour in, but the top three cars were separated by just a few seconds, with some great battling and jostling for position.
3. Quite a view
The camera view from the rear of the No.69 Ford GT made for some brilliant onboard footage!
These helicopter/LMP1 slow-motion shots at the Esses were also pretty damn cool!
5. Shake up at the front
The No.7 Audi LMP1 car hit trouble early on, which took a major potential race winner out of contention from the very beginning.
The No.89 Porsche dropped it at the first corner, hitting the wall with a fair amount of force, which resulted in retirement.
The race was made official when Tracy Krohn spun his Ligier LMP2 car off at one of the chicanes. Classic Krohn.
@Mattzel89 That's the 3rd time that car has been off. #Doh #LM24 #LeMans24pic.twitter.com/Iac5qelZvg;— lanzarotecamel
The No.28 Morgan went off several times in quick succession, and that would continue as the race progressed…
9. P1 for me
Things got pretty heated as the sun started to set…
Magnificent and unique view over #LeMan24! Well, this is @24hoursoflemans #WECpic.twitter.com/oSS6HmlO1z;— fiawec
Undoubtedly the best part of Le Mans is the night racing!
The No.6 Toyota and No.2 Porsche battled closely for first place as night fell, with Neel Jani moving ahead with 15 hours to go.
The safety car was deployed after the No.91 Porsche blew up and spilled fluid onto the Porsche Curves!
The No.67 Ford GT collided with one of the prototypes during the night, going for a spin but continuing.
No. 38 makes it back to pits but a fair amount of front-end damage. #LeMans24pic.twitter.com/nYhPrIpmBQ;— speed
The No.38 Jota Sport Gibson car went off at the final chicane and just tapped the wall; not a good way to start the morning.
Following the No.91 Porsche’s off on the previous day, the No.64 Corvette tried to go one better and did so with a heavy hit with the barriers at the first corner. Fortunately the driver was okay.
The @ByKOLLES is on FIRE. @s_trummer out of the car. #LeMans24pic.twitter.com/UGk2X9XioN;— baronvonclutch
"Hard hit. Good thinking by Panciatici to take hands off of the wheel before impact. #LeMans24 https://t.co/ikRLOlPeMM";—
Several other cars hit trouble over the next few hours, including the No.35 Signatech Alpine LMP2 machine, the ByKolles LMP1 privateer and the No.50 Corvette.
17. In one shot
After such a long stint of the race, the top three drivers - the two Toyotas and the No.2 Porsche - were still right with each other and separated by just a few seconds. Not bad!
Late trouble for the No. 6 Toyota. Fortunately, it is able to get out of the gravel without losing too much time.pic.twitter.com/hNdkpJcaod;— speed
In close succession, Kamui Kobayashi spun the No.6 Toyota and Matt Rao crashed in the Manor after the front bodywork folded under the car.
19. Toyota slows
Having held the lead for quite some time, Kazuki Nakajima’s No.5 Toyota suddenly started to slow with just five minutes left on the clock.
Heartbreakingly the car ground to a halt on the main straight. He got it going again but failed to finish. Truly staggering stuff after well over 23 hours of on-track action.
The No.2 Porsche of Neel Jani, Marc Lieb and Romain Dumas went on to claim the 2016 Le Mans 24 Hours win, ahead of the No.6 Toyota and No.8 Audi.
In LMP2 the No.36 Signatech Alpine was victorious, while the No.68 Ford GT brought the manufacturer back to the top step of the podium, finishing first in GTE Pro. The GTE Am win went to the No.62 Ferrari.
21. Garage 56 makes the finish
The Garage 56 entry is for cars displaying new technologies. After a year absence it returned with the No.84 Morgan, a modified LMP2 car with a quadruple amputee as one of its drivers.
Frédéric Sausset used a braking and throttle system controlled by his thighs via paddles on the seat and steered by attaching the prosthetic on his right arm to the steering column.
Despite an infection causing him to lose his forearms and legs, Sausset refused to give up racing and his story is undoubtedly the most inspiring at Le Mans. The car finished the race in 38th place, a truly brilliant achievement by the entire team and driver line-up.
What was your favourite moment? Let us know below!
Comments
This was an intense race
So did porche or ford win? Im a bit confused.
porsche won overall, ford won the LMGT class
im more frustrated that ford got the 82 car DQ’d….hopefully the fords broke the 7% rule and corvette and aston take the 1,2,3
I feel really sad for Toyota. They’re already trying to win le mans since the 80s and they never came so close.
#toyotadeservedlemans
They did an amazing job, but they did not deserve the win. That’s Le Mans for you.
So the No. 2 Porsche won but then it says
“In LMP2 the No.36 Signatech Alpine was victorious, while the No.68 Ford GT brought the manufacturer back to the top step of the podium, finishing first in GTE Pro. The GTE Am win went to the No.62 Ferrari”
Can someone explain that to me? Were all these cars in the same race but different categories? Thanks in advance
These are all different categories. LMP1 (in which Porsche won) is the one with the fastest cars, its the top category. After that, you have the LMP2, which also has prototypes, then GTE Pro, which Ford won using the Ford GT, and the GTE Am with lower category GT cars.
If you watch the videos, you can see that the cars are pretty different, the LMPs look like Formula cars, while the GT cars are, well, similar to road cars.
Who bloody cares if Porsche won their 18th Le Mans victory,
Doesn’t seem like it kek
by that logic porsche win 2014, audi lose half of their victories, toyota/mercedes win le mans 1998. etc etc
Porsche should have done this…
Comment of the year right here 😂😂
Wow I feel so bad for Toyota…
I feel terrible for Toyota…