Le Mans – Audi scores a superb double for the 82nd edition!

The 82e edition of the 24 Hours of Le Mans had surprises in store with the return of Porsche against Audi and Toyota. If its rivals managed to take the lead in the race, it was the Ingolstadt manufacturer who scored a 13th victory in the Sarthe (three successes short of Porsche's absolute record) by signing a resounding double (its second which adds to five triplets). The No. 18 R2 of Benoît Tréluyer, Marcel Fässler and André Lotterer won two laps ahead of the No. 1 car of Marc Gené (replacing Loïc duval), Tom Kristensen and Lucas di Grassi, while she lost five laps following mechanical problems with the turbo.

After the abandonment of the No. 3 of Bonanomi-Jarvis-Albuquerque at the start of the event which occurred during the collision with the No. 8 Toyota of Nicolas lapierre (video), the No. 7 Toyota of Wurz-Sarrazin-Nakajima was able to stay at the head of the race until a fire broke out causing it to abandon around 5 a.m. Porsche thought it would achieve the feat by taking advantage of the turbo problems slowing down the R18s still in play, but the 919 Hybrids gave way in the final hours. The transmission failed in the No. 20 of Webber-Hartley-Bernhard which claimed victory, while it was the gearbox that failed in the No. 14 of Jani-Dumas-Lieb.

Toyota saves the furniture by taking the last step of the podium with the TS040 from Lapierre-Davidson-Buemi. But the disappointment is palpable within the Japanese team which was the favorite for this edition. Rebellion Racing achieved a superb result, while still taking advantage of the concerns of the manufacturer teams, by taking fourth place with the No. 12 of Cheers-Heidfeld-Beche. The sister car No. 13 of Kraihamer-Belicchi-Leimer retired following an engine problem.

The LMP2 category also put on a superb show as the outcome emerged in the final hour. The #35 G-Drive Racing Ligier of Mardenborough-Brundle-Shulzhitskiy was undoubtedly the fastest before suffering engine problems which dropped it to fifth place. The victory thus went to Jota Sport and the crew of the No. 38 made up of Simon Dolan, Harry Tincknell and Oliver Turvey who offered the first success to the British team and the second to Zytek after Greaves' victory in 2011.

The Ligier from Thiriet by TDS Racing has long been the best contender, but the No. 46 from Thiriet-Gommendy-Badey was the victim of a broken hub carrier and finally took second place by half a margin. winners' minute. L'Alpine of Panciatici-Webb-Chatin also aimed for victory before falling victim to the same problem. Signatech will console itself with the last match of the podium, a good result considering the inexperience of Oliver Webb and Paul-Loup Chatin .Sébastien Loeb Racing also posted a very good performance for its debut in Sarthe by taking fourth place with the Oreca 03R from Rast-Charouz-Capillaire after a race without a hitch.

Photos from the 82nd edition of the 24 Hours of Le Mans can be viewed on this link.

Discover the analysis of the 82nd edition of the 24 Hours of Le Mans carried out by our special correspondents in issue 1965 of AUTOhebdo, available from tomorrow evening in digital version, and from Wednesday on newsstands.