2015 24 Hours of Le Mans

Today we are leaving on vacation. The destination is not the usual tourist hot spots one would expect, instead we're visiting the world's oldest active sports car race in endurance racing. Yes, we are going to the 83rd running of the famed 24 Hours of Le Mans. Though we won't be professionally covering the race I will be providing an overview of the overall experience for future reference. Call it a first step. Of course, we will be tweeting as well.

view from pit out towards start line

About our 8.500+ km journey to Circuit de la Sarthe:
So first a nine hour Trans-Atlantic flight will take us from Curaçao to Schiphol, Amsterdam, where a connecting flight will bring us to Charles de Gaulle airport in France. From here a 90 minute train ride and we should be in Le Mans. Hopefully all will go as planned.

In Le Mans we have secured from Wednesday through Monday lodging at a house that's pretty close to the center of town. This was reserved through ACO as early as August 2014.


Our tentative schedule is as follows:

WEDNESDAY:
Free practice 16:00-20:00, free practice Porsche Carrera Cup 20:30-21:30, followed by qualifying practice session 22:00-00:00.

THURSDAY:
Group C qualifying practice 16:00-17:00, qualifying practice Porsche Carrera Cup 17:30-18:30, followed by another qualifying session till 24:00.

FRIDAY:
Visiting the pit and the track, 10:00-18:00, Visage on Mulsanne 10:00-17:00, and the driver's parade through town center 17:30-19:30

SATURDAY:
Race warm up 09:00-09:45, group C race (Le Mans Legends) 10:05-10:50, Porsche Carrera Cup Race 11:15-12:00, Pit walk 12:15-13:15, 24 Heures du Mans - beginning of starting procedures 14:22, START of the race 15:00. Here we go! 

SUNDAY
Happy Hour, depending at what time we wake up, race end 15:00, podium celebration 15:10.

just before the start of the 24 hr race

Our main vantage point will be from grandstand Bernato - T14 which is on the main straight across from pit out. However, we will also visit all the important corners, especially Terte Rouge, the end of the Mulsanne straight, Arnage, Porsche curves, Ford chicane and the famed Dunlop curve.


Though I have been to the 24 Hours of Le Mans before (in 1998 when Porsche last won here) we have poured a great deal of time and effort in preparing for the race week. Loads of research and getting the rights contacts in place, and preparing access to the necessary documentation. From all of this, one thing stands out. Just how meticulous this race is organized. The Automobile Club de l'Ouest (ACO) have done a terrific job in constantly improving this event over the years, which draws some quarter of a million fans and spectators to the Circuit de la Sarthe. To illustrate just how meticulous this race is run click here to visit the 28 page long press information - media kit. It is well worth your time.

List of entries to the 83rd running of this classic endurance race:

LMP1 (14 entries):
1. Toyota Racing, Toyota TS040 Hybrid - Anthony Davidson
2. Toyota Racing, Toyota TS040 Hybrid - Alexander Wurz
4. ByKolles, CLM P1/01 AER - Simmon Trummer
7. Audi Team Joest, Audi R18 e-tron quattro, Marcel Fassler

8. Audi Team Joest, Audi R18 e-tron quattro, Lucas di Grassi

9. Audi Team Joest, Audi R18 e-tron quattro, Filipe Albuquerque
12. Rebellion Racing, Rebellion R-One AER, Nicolas Prost

13. Rebellion Racing, Rebellion R-One AER, Mathias Beche

17. Porsche Team, Porsche 919 Hybrid, Timo Bernhard

18. Porsche Team, Porsche 919 Hybrid, Romain Dumas

19. Porsche Team, Porsche 919 Hybrid, Nico Hulkenberg

21. Nissan Motorsports, Nissan GT-R LM Nismo, Tsugio Matsuda

22. Nissan Motorsports, Nissan GT-R LM Nismo, Harry Tincknell

23. Nissan Motorsports, Nissan GT-R LM Nismo, Olivier Pla

About the LMP1 entries:
Manuf., Layout, Engine, ERS class, ERS, MGU
Toyota,  Mid, AWD,  3.7 L V8,           6MJ,   Supercapacitor, Kinetic
Audi,     Mid, AWD,  4.0 L V6 TDI     4MJ,   Flywheel Accumulator,  Kinetic
Porsche: Mid, AWD,  2.0 L V4 Turbo, 8MJ,   Ion-Lithium Battery, Kinetic & Heat
Nissan:  Front, FWD, 3.0 L V6 Twin Turbo, 2MJ, Mechanical Flywheel, Kinetic

LMP2 (20 entries):
26. G-Drive Racing, Ligier JS P2 Nissan, Roman Rusinov
27. SMP Racing, BR01 Nissan, Mikhail Aleshin
28. G-Drive Racing, Ligier JS P2 Nissan, Gustavo Yacaman
29. Pegasus Racing, Morgan Nissan, Leo Russel
30. Extreme Speed Motorsports, HPD ARX 04b, Scott Sharp

31. Extreme Speed Motorsports, HPD ARX 04b, Ed Brown

34. Oak Racing, Ligier JS P2 Nissan, Ho-Pin Tung

35. Oak Racing, Ligier JS P2 Nissan, Jacques Nicolet

36. Signatech-Alpine, Alpine A450b Nissan, Nelson Panciatici

37. SMP Racing, BR01 Nissan, Maurizio Mediani
38. Jota Sport, Gibsob 015S Nissan, Simon Dolan
39. Team SARD-Morand, Morgan EVO SARD, Christian KLien
40. Krohn Racing, Ligier JS P2 Nissan, Tracy Khon
41. Greaves Motorsports, Gibson 015S Nissan, Johnny Mowlem
42. Strakka Racing, Strakka-Dome S103 Nissan, Nick Leventis
43. Team SARD-Morand, Morgan EVO SARD, Pierre Ragues

45. Ibanez Racing, Oreca 03R Nissan, Jose Ibanez

46. Thiriet by TDS Racing, Oreca 05 Nissan, Pierre Thiriet
47. KCMG, Oreca 05 Nissan, Matthew Howson
48. Murphy Prototypes, Oreca 03R Nissan, Greg Murphy


GTE-Pro (9 entries):
51. AF Corse, Ferrari F458 Italia, Gianmaria Bruni
63. Corvette Racing GM, Corvette C7.R, Jan Magnussen
64. Corvette Racing GM, Corvette C7.R, Oliver Gavin
71. AF Corse, Ferrari F458 Italia, Davide Rigon
91. Porsche Team Manthey, Porsche 911 RSR, Richard Lietz
92. Porsche Team Manthey, Porsche 911 RSR, Patrick Pilet
95. Aston Martin Racing, Aston Martin Vantage, Marco Sorensen
97. Aston Martin Racing, Aston Martin Vantage, Darren Turner

99. Aston Martin Racing, Aston Martin Vantage, Fernando Rees

GTE-Am (13 entries):

50. Larbre Competition, Corvette C7.R, Gianluca Roda
55. AF Corse, Ferrari F458 Italia, Duncan Cameron

61. AF Corse, Ferrari F458 Italia, Peter Mann

62. Scuderia Corse, Ferrari F458 Italia, William Sweedler

66. JWM Motorsports, Ferrari F458 Italia, George Richardson

67. Team AAI, Porsche 911 GTE RSR (997), Jun-san Chen*

68. Team AAI, Porsche 911 GTE RSR (997), Han-chen Chen

72. SMP Racing, Ferrari F458 Italia, Viktor Shaitar
77. Dempsey Proton Racing, Porsche 911 RSR, Patrick Dempsey
83. AF Corse, Ferrari F458 Italia, Francois Perrodo
88. Abu Dhabi Proton Racing, Porsche 911 RSR, Christian Rien
96. Aston Martin Racing, Aston Martin Vantage, Roald Goethe
98. Aston Martin Racing, Aston Martin Vantage, Paul Dalla Lana


For the spotters guide, click on the images below. These will automatically expand to a larger readable size on your screen.

Below a couple of snaps of the Pesage, Day 1 of the 2015 Le Mans 24 Hours endurance race:

Grandstands 

What's interesting is that this endurance race is growing. Pierre Fillon, ACO President, has informed that at some point in the future the field will go up from 56 cars up to 60. The new pits are expected to be built at pit out. Phillipe on the growth: "..there seems to be a bigger field at Le Mans every year".

Should you wish to follow us on Twitter:
@dekodanny
@priscillajoy18

Source: Speed, FIA WEC, ACO, Wikipedia

Photo credit: ACO, FIA WEC, Jalopnik, crank&piston.com