Romain Dumas at the top of the 24 Hours

Winner of the 24 Hours of Nürburgring, the 24 Hours of Spa, the 12 Hours of Sebring, champion in the American Le Mans Series, Romain Dumas has been racing in endurance for many years, with great success. Only one event was missing from his list of achievements, the legendary 24 Hours of Le Mans. Official driver Porsche, the Cévenol was able to drive with Audi in Sarthe in 2009, knowing that he was joining the manufacturer offering him the best chance of winning.

Indeed, with eight victories in nine years, the form of Ingolstadt possessed incredible know-how. But last year, nothing went as planned. Alexandre Prémat, teammate of Romain Dumas, went out on the second lap of the race, before the No. 15 R3 accumulated problems. Until then, his best result at Le Mans remained his third place with Pescarolo Sport, in 2007, alongside Emmanuel Collard and Jean-Christophe Boullion.

Returning with Audi to Le Mans this year, Dumas had every intention of shining there, while remaining humble. On Wednesday, the first free practice sessions were not very reassuring for Audi, but on Thursday, things went better. “ At the end of the qualifying session, at least on my car, we were able to drive in 3:22, even on worn tires and with gasoline. », Declared the Cévenol on Friday afternoon, sure of being able to compete with the 908s in the race. Confidence was therefore present in the ranks of the firm with the rings, despite the domination of Peugeot at the stopwatch level.

During the race, second Audi for a long time, the No. 15 R9 TDI drove in the shadow of that of the "dream team", the No. 7 of Kristensen, McNish and Capello. Then the latter experienced an unfortunate setback, Tom Kristensen sending his car into the piles of tires while trying to avoid a BMW. Audi no. 9 then took the lead in the German convoy, in the distant wake of the Peugeot 908 HDi FAP. We know the rest: the Vélizy cars failed one after the other, sending Dumas, Bernhard and Rockenfeller to first place, then to victory (see video). The Frenchman, after winning several legendary races in the world of endurance, won the most beautiful one.

« It?s great, it?s really hard to describe, explains Romain, the first Frenchman to win the 24 Hours of Le Mans since Yannick Dalmas (1999). Even though I was sure we had a chance. Even though it was small, I really thought we had one. We were able to take advantage of the team's intelligence: everyone working together, not making mistakes, working together to make the car progress. In the end, it paid off. »

Even if the victory is beautiful and deserved, and despite the fact that he has been riding endurance for a long time, Romain Dumas had difficulty imagining his victory. “ How can you imagine winning the 24 Hours of Le Mans? Whether it's Mike, Timo or me, we've all won in 24-hour races elsewhere but Le Mans is magical, the hardest to get. At the start of the week, we discussed it with Timo and Mike, looking at the podium, saying to ourselves that we might be able to do it. But it was hard to believe it, especially after the first tests. »

But, after Wednesday's test session, Audi worked a lot and the R15 TDI was then much more manageable and consistent, allowing the trio of the No. 9 to complete a worry-free race. “The team reacted really well. We really improved the car. People often came to ask me why we were so slow during practice and, when I said that we were preparing for the race, no one believed me. Proof that yes. We had a perfect race, with zero problems. This was the key to success. We will come back next year hoping to do as well. »