Repaired in time, the JOTA n°12 will be at the start of the 24 Hours of Le Mans

Since Wednesday evening, the Hertz Team JOTA mechanics had been engaged in their own race, a race against time. Following Callum Ilott's accident at the very end of Free Practice 2, who hit the barrier in the Esses de la Forêt, the British team worked to recover the Porsche n°12 from scratch, starting from an empty monohull.

A titanic job – which would normally have taken three weeks to complete, according to JOTA – which had to be completed before this Friday at 20 p.m. since the English team managed to obtain a waiver from the ACO to organize an exceptional shakedown on the adjacent aerodrome of the circuit.

After long hours of work and waiting, Hertz Team JOTA is achieving a real feat by putting the No. 12 Porsche back on wheels. The freshly built 963 will be present this Friday evening at the airfield for the shakedown, the English team confirmed to us. However, he will have to participate in the warm-up on Saturday noon to confirm his presence on the starting grid of the 24H of Le Mans.

These cars are typically built over 3 weeks…but the mechanics at JOTA are pulling this off within 24 hours…pulling this off will be the first win of the weekend 👏🏼 pic.twitter.com/1VOoKoNI8b

— Jota Sport (@JotaSport) June 14, 2024

“We know the car will be ready for the race, and all efforts are going in this direction,” Callum Ilott assured us this Friday morning. "I'm pretty sure we're all on schedule." That should do it. We have a half hour shakedown, which should be enough time to make sure everything is put together properly. Then they will have time to analyze, to check everything. Tomorrow we have the warm-up in which Will [Stevens] will participate. We will be able to know if the car is handling as it should, and even have some time to adjust it if necessary. I'm sure we won't have any problems. »

JOTA ready to go back into battle

The Briton, still a little shaken by his accident with some neck pain, found a smile again this Friday, he who felt “very bad for the team” in the hours following the accident. Probably reassured by the progress of work on the No. 12 Porsche, the young English driver did not fail to shoot “a big tip of the hat” to his team.

In detail, Callum Ilott explained that the vast majority of parts fitted to the new monocoque come from the damaged car, with the exception of the nose and therefore the monocoque. “There shouldn't be any problems there, the performance should be good. These cars are very strong, but if you hit a barrier a little sideways and unfortunately damage just one part [of the monocoque], you have to replace everything, underlines the 25-year-old pilot. It's a huge job with all the electrical wiring. I think if it was a car, it would have taken three times less time, but that's understandable. It's a shame it's taking so long. »

“It's a shame we couldn't make it to the Hyperpole because I think I was only a tenth behind the Penske Porsche, and we knew we still had some left under our belt., especially regretted Callum Ilott. We knew we could do a good job. It's a bit of a shame in that regard, but that's what it is. We still start 8th, so it's not too bad. We have a good rhythm. » 

ALSO READ > The starting grid for the 24 2024 Hours of Le Mans