Jump to content

2018 24 Hours of Le Mans

This is a good article. Click here for more information.
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

2018 24 Hours of Le Mans
Previous: 2017 Next: 2019
Index: Races | Winners
Circuit de la Sarthe track
Side view of a red, white and black Toyota TS050 Hybrid enclosed in a space at an automobile show
The race-winning No. 8 Toyota TS050 Hybrid

The 86th 24 Hours of Le Mans (French: 86e 24 Heures du Mans) was an 24-hour automobile endurance race for Le Mans Prototype and Le Mans Grand Touring Endurance cars entered by teams of three drivers each held from 16 to 17 June 2018 at the Circuit de la Sarthe, close to Le Mans, France. It was the 86th running of the event, as organised by the automotive group, the Automobile Club de l'Ouest (ACO), since 1923. The race was the second round of the 2018–19 FIA World Endurance Championship, with 36 of the race's 60 entries contesting the series. Approximately 256,900 people attended the race. A test day was held two weeks prior to the race on 3 June.

A Toyota TS050 Hybrid car shared by Sébastien Buemi, Kazuki Nakajima and Fernando Alonso began from pole position after Nakajima recorded the fastest lap time in the third qualifying session. It and the sister Toyota of Mike Conway, Kamui Kobayashi and José María López exchanged the lead for most of the first half of the race until Buemi took a one-minute stop-and-go penalty for speeding in a slow zone that was enforced for an accident during the night. Alonso and Nakajima retook the lead from their teammates in the 16th hour and maintained it for the rest of the race to win. It was Alonso, Buemi and Nakajima's first Le Mans win and Toyota's first in its 20th try. The sister Toyota of Conway, Kobayashi and López finished two laps behind in second, and a Rebellion R13 vehicle driven by Thomas Laurent, Gustavo Menezes and Mathias Beche completed the podium in third.

The Le Mans Prototype 2 (LMP2) class was led for 360 consecutive laps by the G-Drive Racing Oreca 07 car of Roman Rusinov, Andrea Pizzitola and Jean-Éric Vergne and was the first team to finish the race. It was later disqualified for running an illegal refuelling component and G-Drive lost an appeal. The class victory was taken by the Signatech Alpine team of Nicolas Lapierre, Pierre Thiriet and André Negrão. A Graff-SO24 team of Vincent Capillaire, Jonathan Hirschi and Tristan Gommendy was second and a United Autosports Ligier JS P217 car driven by Hugo de Sadeleer, Will Owen and Juan Pablo Montoya finished third. On its 70th anniversary Porsche won both of the Le Mans Grand Touring Professional (LMGTE) categories with Michael Christensen, Kévin Estre and Laurens Vanthoor's No. 92 car ahead of the No. 91 911 RSR car of Richard Lietz, Gianmaria Bruni and Frédéric Makowiecki in Le Mans Grand Touring Professional (LMGTE Pro) and Dempsey-Proton's trio of Matt Campbell, Christian Ried and Julien Andlauer winning in Le Mans Grand Touring Amateur (LMGTE Am).

The result increased Alonso, Buemi and Nakajima's lead in the LMP Drivers' Championship to 20 points over their teammates Conway, Kobayashi and López. Beche, Laurent and Menezes retained third place and Lapierre, Thiriet and Negrão's victory in LMP2 moved them to fourth. In the GTE Drivers' Championship Christensen and Estre took the lead from Billy Johnson, Stefan Mücke and Olivier Pla. Toyota further extended their lead over Rebellion Racing in the LMP1 Teams' Championship to 27 points as Porsche went further ahead of Ford in the GTE Manufacturers' Championship with six races remaining in the season.

Background

[edit]
View of the Ford Chicanes as viewed from slightly above the ground
The Circuit de la Sarthe, where the race was held.

The dates for the 2018 24 Hours of Le Mans were confirmed at a meeting of the FIA World Motor Sport Council in its headquarters in Geneva, Switzerland on 19 June 2017.[1] It was the 86th edition of the event,[1] and the second of eight automobile endurance races of the 2018–19 FIA World Endurance Championship (WEC).[2]

Before the race Toyota drivers Fernando Alonso, Sébastien Buemi and Kazuki Nakajima led the LMP Drivers' Championship with 26 points, eight ahead of their teammates Mike Conway, Kamui Kobayashi and José María López and a further three in front of Mathias Beche, Thomas Laurent and Gustavo Menezes of the Rebellion team. The ByKolles trio of Tom Dillmann, Dominik Kraihamer and Oliver Webb were fourth with 12 points and SMP Racing's Mikhail Aleshin and Vitaly Petrov were fifth with 10 points.[3] In the GTE Drivers' Championship Billy Johnson, Stefan Mücke and Olivier Pla of Ford Chip Ganassi Racing led with 25 points, ahead of the Porsche duo of Michael Christensen and Kévin Estre in second and AF Corse's Davide Rigon and Sam Bird third.[3] Toyota (26 points) led the LMP1 Teams' Championship by 11 points over Rebellion in second. The ByKolles team was a further three points behind in third as Porsche led Ford by four points in the GTE Manufacturers' Championship.[3]

Circuit changes

[edit]

After the 2017 24 Hours of Le Mans, modifications were made to the Porsche Curves section of the Circuit de la Sarthe to increase safety. Barriers on the inside of the final right-hand corner were dismantled and relocated further away from the circuit, allowing for the construction of paved run-off area and escape roads. This same alteration had been done on the barriers outside the corner in 2017. This modification re-profiled the corner slightly, shortening the lap distance by 3 m (9.8 ft). The ACO also constructed a new starting line gantry 145 m (476 ft) further up the main straight to increase the capacity for cars at the start of the race. The finish line and all timing beacons remained at the previous starting line at the exit of the Ford Chicane.[4]

Entries

[edit]

Automatic entries

[edit]

Automatic entry invitations were earned by teams that won their class in the 2017 24 Hours of Le Mans. Invitations were also sent to teams who had won championships in the European Le Mans Series (ELMS), Asian Le Mans Series (ALMS), and the Michelin GT3 Le Mans Cup. The second-place finisher in the ELMS Le Mans Grand Touring Endurance (LMGTE) championship earned an automatic invitation as well. Finally, the ACO choose two participants from the IMSA SportsCar Championship (IMSA) to be automatic entries regardless of their performance or category. As invitations were granted to teams, they were allowed to change their cars from the previous year to the next but not their category. The LMGTE class invitations from the European and ALMS were allowed to choose between the Pro and Am categories. European Le Mans Prototype 3 (LMP3) champion was required to field an entry in Le Mans Prototype 2 (LMP2) while the ALMS LMP3 champion could choose between LMP2 or LMGTE Amateur (LMGTE Am). The Michelin Le Mans Cup LMP3 champion did not receive an automatic entry and the Grand Touring 3 (GT3) champion was limited to the LMGTE Am category.[5]

The ACO announced its initial list of automatic entries on 5 February 2018.[5] The Porsche LMP Team did not continue in the WEC after the 2017 season while the FIST-Team AAI squad opted to concentrate on their GT3 entries.[5] The JDC-Miller Motorsports team, which was invited via driver Misha Goikhberg winning the Jim Trueman Award as "the top sportsman" in the Daytona Prototype International (DPi) category of the 2017 IMSA, told ACO officials on 9 February that it would forgo its automatic invitation due to financial trouble concerning its entry.[6]

Automatic entries for the 2018 24 Hours of Le Mans
Reason invited LMP1 LMP2 LMGTE Pro LMGTE Am
1st in the 24 Hours of Le Mans Germany Porsche LMP Team China Jackie Chan DC Racing United Kingdom Aston Martin Racing United Kingdom JMW Motorsport
1st in the European Le Mans Series (LMP2 and LMGTE) Russia G-Drive Racing United Kingdom JMW Motorsport
2nd in the European Le Mans Series (LMGTE) United Kingdom TF Sport
1st in the European Le Mans Series (LMP3) United States United Autosports
IMSA SportsCar Championship at-large entries United States JDC-Miller Motorsports United States Keating Motorsport
1st in the Asian Le Mans Series (LMP2 and GT) China Jackie Chan DC Racing X Jota Taiwan FIST-Team AAI
1st in the Asian Le Mans Series (LMP3)
2nd in the Asian Le Mans Series (GT) Taiwan FIST-Team AAI
1st in the Michelin Le Mans Cup (GT3) Italy Ebimotors
Source:[5]

Entry list

[edit]

In conjunction with the announcement of entries for the 2018–19 FIA World Endurance Championship and the 2018 European Le Mans Series, the ACO announced the full 60 car entry list, plus nine reserves during a press conference at the Rétromobile Show in Paris on 9 February.[7] In addition to the 36 guaranteed entries from the WEC, 13 came from the ELMS, seven from IMSA, three from the ALMS and a single one-off entry only competing at Le Mans. The field was split evenly with 30 cars in each of the combined LMP and LMGTE categories.[8]

Garage 56

[edit]

The ACO intended to continue the Garage 56 concept, started in 2012. Garage 56 allows a 56th entry to test new technologies at the race. Panoz and Green4U Technologies announced during the 2017 24 Hours of Le Mans weekend they intended to enter its Green4U Panoz Racing GT-EV car in the 2018 race. The all-wheel drive car intended to utilise two electric motors on each of its axles with a swappable battery lasting between 90 and 110 mi (140 and 180 km) within a tandem style LMP body.[9] On 8 February, the ACO confirmed the Garage 56 concept would not be continued for 2018 due to a lack of feasible options.[10]

Reserves

[edit]

Nine reserves were initially nominated by the ACO, limited to the LMP2 (six cars) and LMGTE Am (three cars) categories.[7] ARC Bratislava announced the termination of its ELMS LMP2 programme on 11 February after its Ligier JS P217 car was placed eighth in the reserves list and leaving the team unlikely to be promoted to the race entry.[11] Six days later, IDEC Sport withdrew its reserve JS P217 entry so that the team could concentrate on improving the performance of its entered No. 28 car.[12] By the test day, two reserves remained on the list after five of the seven entries withdrew: KCMG's Dallara P217 entry and a Racing Engineering Oreca 07 car.[13]

Pre-race balance of performance changes

[edit]

The FIA Endurance Committee altered the equivalence of technology in the LMP classes and the balance of performance in the LMGTE categories to try and create parity within them. All non-hybrid LMP vehicles had their fuel flow of petrol per hour reduced from 110 kilograms per hour (243 lb/h) to 108 kilograms per hour (238 lb/h). The Toyota TS050 Hybrid cars had no performance alterations.[14]

For the LMGTE categories the Aston Martin Vantage GTE vehicles received an extra 5 kg (11 lb) of weight and a minor reduction in turbocharger boost pressure as The BMW M8 GTE had 13 kg (29 lb) of weight added and a reduction of power to lower their performances. The Porsche 911 RSR received a reduction in performance with a 0.6 mm (0.024 in) smaller air restrictor on the intake of its engine, the Ferrari 488 GTE vehicles had an extra 11 kg (24 lb) of weight added to it and the Ford GT was made 12 kg (26 lb) heavier and an increase in turbocharger boost pressure. In the LMGTE Am class the Aston Martin and Porsche vehicles had their top speeds lowered with a smaller air restrictor and the Ferrari had its turbocharger boost pressure reduced.[15]

Testing

[edit]
A man in his mid-30s wearing a navy blue baseball cap with a team name in white capital letters and a white T-shirt with sponsors logos that is unbuttoned at the top button . He is sporting a stubble.
Fernando Alonso (pictured in 2017) recorded the fastest overall lap in testing

A test day was held on 3 June and required all race entrants to participate in eight hours of track time divided into two sessions.[16] Toyota led the morning session with a 3 minutes, 21.468 seconds lap from Alonso's No. 8 TS050 car.[17] The fastest non-hybrid car was Laurent in the No. 3 Rebellion R13 vehicle, ahead of Conway's Toyota, the sister Rebellion team of Bruno Senna,[17] and the No. 17 SMP BR Engineering BR1 car driven by Stéphane Sarrazin.[18] Oreca vehicles led the LMP2 category with seven cars at the top of the timing charts, with the No. 26 G-Drive entry driven by the team's reserve driver Alexandre Imperatori seven-tenths of a second ahead of the No. 48 IDEC Sport car of Paul-Loup Chatin.[18] Ford took the first four positions in the LMGTE Pro class, the No. 67 car of Andy Priaulx leading Mücke's No. 66 entry with a 3 minutes, 53.008 seconds lap.[17] Late in the session, the No. 95 Aston Martin of Marco Sørensen and Harrison Newey's No. 35 SMP Dallara vehicle made contact in traffic between Mulsanne and Indianapolis corners, causing Sørensen to crash heavily against a barrier beside the circuit and prematurely end the session with 51 minutes to go.[18] Sørensen was unhurt; he was transported to the circuit's medical centre for a precautionary check before being released and Aston Martin switched to a spare chassis.[19] The Clearwater Racing Ferrari car was fastest in the LMGTE Am category with a lap of 3 minutes, 58.967 seconds from driver Keita Sawa.[17]

The second test session started half an hour earlier than scheduled to give teams more time on the circuit.[20] Toyota again led from the start with a lap from Kobayashi in the No. 7, followed by Alonso's 3 minutes, 19.066 seconds time to top the session. Beche improved the No. 3 Rebellion's lap to duplicate its first session result in second place. The second Rebellion car of André Lotterer set a lap late on to go fourth, ahead of Vitaly Petrov's No. 11 SMP car.[21] Nathanaël Berthon improved the fastest lap in LMP2, moving the DragonSpeed team ahead of Chatin and G-Drive's Jean-Éric Vergne and Matthieu Vaxivière. Patrick Pilet in the No. 93 Porsche and Gianmaria Bruni's No. 91 car passed Priaulx's No. 66 and Olivier Pla's No. 67 Ford cars in LMGTE Pro. Another Porsche in LMGTE Am, driven by Julien Andlauer for the Dempsey-Proton team, overtook Sawa's fastest time from the morning session to be ahead of Giancarlo Fisichella's Spirit of Race Ferrari.[20] Two safety car periods were required after separate crashes by Alessandro Pier Guidi's No. 51 AF Corse Ferrari at Tetre Rouge corner and António Félix da Costa's No. 82 BMW in the Porsche Curves.[21]

Post-testing balance of performance changes

[edit]

Following testing the ACO altered the balance of performance for a second time in the LMGTE Pro and Am categories. The Aston Martin Vantage GTE received an increase in performance with its turbocharger boost pressure raised and a 4 L (0.88 imp gal; 1.1 US gal) increase in maximum fuel volume. BMW and Ford had their car's performance raised with a minor increase in turbocharger boost ratio; the Ford's fuel allocation was lowered to 2 L (0.44 imp gal; 0.53 US gal). The Chevrolet Corvette C7.R, BMW and Ford vehicles received weight increases. Porsche had no performance changes. In LMGTE Am the Aston Martin Vantage was given an increase of 2 L (0.44 imp gal; 0.53 US gal). Porsche and Ferrari had no performance alterations.[22]

Practice

[edit]

A single four-hour free practice session on 13 June was available to the teams before the three qualifying sessions.[16] Rain forecast for 14 June prompted several teams to set laps at full racing speed in anticipation of the first qualifying session determining the race's starting order.[23] Toyota led from the start once again, with Kobayashi going fastest in the final 20 minutes at 3 minutes, 18.718 seconds, half a second faster than Buemi in second. Laurent and Ben Hanley of the DragonSpeed team were third and fourth and Jenson Button for the SMP squad completed the top five.[24] Oreca cars took the first five positions in the LMP2 category with a lap of 3 minutes, 26.529 seconds from Vergne, followed by Chatin, Loïc Duval of the TDS Racing team, Berthon and Tristan Gommendy for the Graff squad.[25]

The No. 37 Jackie Chan car of Nabil Jeffri sustained right-front corner damage in a crash at Indianapolis corner mid-way through the session and the car did not return to the circuit.[24][25] Porsches led the first three positions in LMGTE Pro with a lap of 3 minutes, 50.819 seconds from Laurens Vanthoor's No. 92 RSR leading the class until his teammate Pilet overtook him with 20 minutes to go. Pla was the fastest non-Porsche in fourth and Miguel Molina's No. 71 AF Corse Ferrari was fifth. Matteo Cairoli helped Porsche to be fastest in LMGTE Am, ahead of Ben Barker's Gulf car and Fisichella.[25] Pilet had an accident at the exit to the first Mulsanne Chicane, damaging the No. 93 car against a tyre wall and scattering debris on the circuit. A local slow zone was required after Michael Wainwright beached the No. 86 Gulf Porsche in a gravel trap at the Dunlop Curve.[24]

Qualifying

[edit]

The first of three qualifying sessions to set the race's starting order with the quickest lap times set by each team's fastest driver began late Wednesday night under dry conditions,[16][26] as Toyota again led the time sheets early on with a lap from López, followed by Nakajima's 3 minutes, 17.270 seconds time after eight minutes to go fastest. Neither improved their lap times over the rest of the session, giving the No. 8 car provisional pole position. The fastest non-hybrid car was Sarrazin's SMP entry in third, following the Rebellion cars of Senna and Menezes. The fastest LMP2 lap was a 3 minutes, 24.956 seconds time from Chatin and early category pace setter Duval was second. Vergne, DragonSpeed's Pastor Maldonado and Nicolas Lapierre of the Signatech Alpine team were third to fifth in class.[27] Porsche took the first two positions in the LMGTE Pro class with a lap of 3 minutes, 47.504 seconds from Bruni to reset the category lap record at his first attempt. Bruni lost control of the rear of the No. 92 car into the Dunlop Curves and spun through 180 degrees into a gravel trap soon after.[28] Christensen in second was a tenth of a second faster than the Ford cars of Pla and Mücke. The fastest Ferrari was fifth after a lap by Per Guidi. Cairoli led the LMGTE Am class with a 3 minutes, 50.669 seconds lap, followed by his Dempsey-Proton teammate Matt Campbell and Barker.[27]

A man in his late 20s wearing a white and blue jacket with sponsors logos on both sides is looking to the extreme left of the camera
Kazuki Nakajima (pictured in 2012) took pole position for Toyota in the third qualifying session.

Thursday's first qualifying session was stopped three times for crashes. Sven Müller caused rear damage to the No. 94 Porsche against a tyre wall at Indianapolis corner. Priaulx spun at the entry to Tetre Rouge corner with his left-rear wheel on the grass and damaged his car's rear in a collision with a tyre barrier. He was able to restart the car but the damage to the barriers caused a red flag. This was followed by the right-rear suspension on Lapierre's car failing on a kerb and sending him into a gravel trap. He continued to the pit lane and the session was stopped for nine minutes to allow track marshals to clear gravel strewn on the circuit. The session ended with 38 minutes to go after Giorgio Sernagiotto crashed the No. 47 Cetilar Vilorba Corse Dallara car against a tyre barrier opposite the first Mulsanne chicane after a front-left puncture. Sernagiotto was unhurt and was transported to the medical centre for a mandatory check-up.[29] Alonso led the session with a lap of 3 minutes and 18.021 seconds; he did not improve on co-driver Nakajima's lap from the first session. The two LMP1 entries to improve their lap times was the CEFC TRSM Ginetta G60-LT-P1 cars of Alex Brundle and Charlie Robertson. The IDEC team maintained its advantage in LMP2 as Porsche continued to lead in LMGTE Pro and Am. Fisichella's Spirit of Race Ferrari overtook the Gulf squad for third in LMGTE Am.[29]

With the multiple stoppages in qualifying, the third session was expanded by half an hour in order to give teams more time on the circuit.[30] Early in the session Nakajima reset the fastest time to a 3 minutes, 15.377 seconds without slower traffic impeding him.[31] He took Toyota's fourth pole position at Le Mans and Alonso's, Buemi's and Nakajima's first.[32] The No. 7 Toyota team could not improve the car's fastest lap and began from second. The Rebellion team were third and fifth with Senna ahead of Laurent after officials invalidated the latter's fastest time for failing to stop at a red light instructing him to enter the scrutineering bay.[30] Sarrazin's SMP car separated the duo in fourth. In LMP2, Duval took the category pole position from Chatin until his fastest time was deleted for missing a red light to enter the scrutineering bay. Berthon took second and Vergne was third. Porsche secured pole position in both of the LMGTE classes with Bruni securing it in Pro and Cairoli in Am courtesy of their laps from the first session. Per Guidi led the session to move the No. 51 Ferrari to fourth in LMGTE Pro as Barker improved the Gulf team's lap to be six-tenths of a second behind the Dempsey-Proton squad. A slow zone procedure was used after Matt Griffin beached the Clearwater Ferrari in a gravel trap at Indianapolis corner and track marshals extricated it.[33]

Post-qualifying

[edit]

Following qualifying, the ACO altered the balance of performance in the LMGTE categories for the third time. 10 kg (22 lb) of ballast was removed from the BMW M8 and the Aston Martin Vantage while the Corvette C7.R car was made 5 kg (11 lb) lighter. The Porsche 911 car had its weight increased by 10 kg (22 lb) and the Ford GT vehicles were lightened by 8 kg (18 lb). The Ferrari 488 received an 1 L (0.22 imp gal; 0.26 US gal) increase in fuel capacity. In LMGTE Am, Aston Martin received a 10 kg (22 lb) decrease of weight and Porsche had 10 kg (22 lb) added to their cars. Ferrari had no performance changes. The world governing body of motor racing, the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA), restricted all LMGTE Pro cars to a maximum of 14 laps per stint.[34]

Qualifying results

[edit]

Pole position winners in each class are indicated in bold. The fastest time set by each entry is denoted in gray.

Final qualifying classification
Pos. Class No. Team Qualifying 1 Qualifying 2 Qualifying 3 Gap Grid
1 LMP1 8 Toyota Gazoo Racing 3:17.270 3:18.021 3:15.377 1
2 LMP1 7 Toyota Gazoo Racing 3:17.377 3:19.860 3:17.523 +2.000 2
3 LMP1 1 Rebellion Racing 3:19.662 3:23.261 3:19.449 +4.072 3
4 LMP1 17 SMP Racing 3:19.483 3:27.288 3:22.121 +4.106 4
5 LMP1 3 Rebellion Racing 3:19.945 3:22.000 3:24.156 +4.568 5
6 LMP1 10 DragonSpeed 3:21.110 4:05.947 3:23.413 +5.733 6
7 LMP1 11 SMP Racing 3:21.408 3:22.548 No time +6.031 7
8 LMP1 4 ByKolles Racing Team 3:22.505 3:25.330 3:42.221 +7.128 8
9 LMP1 6 CEFC TRSM Racing 3:30.339 3:24.343 3:23.757 +8.380 9
10 LMP2 48 IDEC Sport 3:24.956 3:29.270 3:24.842[A 1] +9.465 10
11 LMP2 31 DragonSpeed 3:26.508 3:30.168 3:24.883 +9.506 11
12 LMP2 26 G-Drive Racing 3:26.447 3:27.975 3:25.160 +9.780 12
13 LMP2 28 TDS Racing 3:25.240 3:25.291 3:38.752[A 2] +9.863 13
14 LMP1 5 CEFC TRSM Racing 3:30.481[A 2] 3:25.268 3:32.100 +9.891 14
15 LMP2 23 Panis Barthez Competition 3:29.421 3:28.008 3:25.376 +9.999 15
16 LMP2 36 Signatech Alpine Matmut 3:26.681 3:28.069 3:27.297 +11.304 16
17 LMP2 39 Graff-SO24 3:29.860 3:26.701 3:29.696 +11.324 17
18 LMP2 22 United Autosports 3:26.772 3:32.989 3:27.646 +11.395 18
19 LMP2 38 Jackie Chan DC Racing 3:27.999 3:31.581 3:27.120 +11.743 19
20 LMP2 37 Jackie Chan DC Racing 3:27.468 3:40.074 3:27.226 +11.849 20
21 LMP2 40 G-Drive Racing 3:31.291 3:27.280 3:27.503 +11.903 21
22 LMP2 47 Cetilar Villorba Corse 3:27.993 3:28.292 No time +12.616 22
23 LMP2 29 Racing Team Nederland 3:28.556 3:32.343 3:28.111 +12.734 23
24 LMP2 32 United Autosports 3:30.347 3:28.159 3:29.299 +12.782 24
25 LMP2 35 SMP Racing 3:28.629 3:32.178 3:32.432 +13.252 25
26 LMP2 34 Jackie Chan DC Racing 3:33.755 3:36.004 3:29.474 +14.097 26
27 LMP2 44 Eurasia Motorsport 3:35.385[A 2] 3:39.949 3:33.585 +18.208 27
28 LMP2 33 Jackie Chan DC Racing 3:35.237 3:36.604 3:36.517[A 1] +19.860 28
29 LMP2 50 Larbre Compétition 3:38.206 3:39.569 3:39.401 +22.829 29
30 LMP2 25 Algarve Pro Racing 3:44.177 3:46.772 3:39.518 +24.141 30
31 LMGTE Pro 91 Porsche GT Team 3:47.504 3:51.150 3:50.141 +32.127 31
32 LMGTE Pro 92 Porsche GT Team 3:49.097 3:51.101 3:51.631 +33.720 32
33 LMGTE Pro 66 Ford Chip Ganassi Team UK 3:49.181 3:52.849 3:50.166 +33.804 33
34 LMGTE Pro 51 AF Corse 3:49.854 3:53.032 3:49.494 +34.117 34
35 LMGTE Pro 68 Ford Chip Ganassi Team USA 3:49.582 3:53.352 3:50.706 +34.205 35
36 LMGTE Pro 93 Porsche GT Team 3:50.261 3:49.621 3:49.589 +34.212 36
37 LMGTE Pro 69 Ford Chip Ganassi Team USA 3:50.593 3:52.298 3:49.761 +34.384 37
38 LMGTE Pro 94 Porsche GT Team 3:50.089 No time No time +34.712 38
39 LMGTE Pro 63 Corvette Racing – GM 3:50.789 3:52.994 3:50.242 +34.865 39
40 LMGTE Pro 71 AF Corse 3:50.669 3:53.998 3:50.246 +34.869 40
41 LMGTE Pro 67 Ford Chip Ganassi Team UK 3:50.429 3:53.883 3:52.292 +35.052 41
42 LMGTE Pro 82 BMW Team MTEK 3:50.579 3:53.999 3:52.123 +35.202 42
43 LMGTE Pro 81 BMW Team MTEK 3:50.596 3:55.150 3:53.078 +35.219 43
44 LMGTE Am 88 Dempsey-Proton Racing 3:50.728 4:09.946 3:56.232 +35.351 44
45 LMGTE Pro 64 Corvette Racing – GM 3:50.952 3:52.923 3:51.124 +35.575 45
46 LMGTE Pro 52 AF Corse 3:52.112 3:52.572 3:50.957 +35.580 46
47 LMGTE Am 86 Gulf Racing UK 3:52.517 4:03.603 3:51.391 +36.014 47
48 LMGTE Am 77 Dempsey-Proton Racing 3:51.930 4:09.835 No time +36.553 48
49 LMGTE Am 54 Spirit of Race 3:52.756 3:51.956 3:56.496 +36.579 49
50 LMGTE Pro 97 Aston Martin Racing 3:52.486 3:55.424 3:53.534 +37.109 50
51 LMGTE Am 56 Team Project 1 3:52.985 3:58.235 3:54.406 +37.608 51
52 LMGTE Am 90 TF Sport 3:55.661 4:01.710 3:53.070 +37.693 52
53 LMGTE Am 80 Ebimotors 3:55.569 3:58.072 3:53.402 +38.025 53
54 LMGTE Am 61 Clearwater Racing 3:55.076 3:55.727 3:53.409 +38.032 54
55 LMGTE Am 84 JMW Motorsport 3:54.384 3:53.439 3:58.615 +38.062 55
56 LMGTE Pro 95 Aston Martin Racing 3:54.780 3:56.630 3:53.523 +38.146 56
57 LMGTE Am 98 Aston Martin Racing 3:54.307 3:58.707 3:53.817 +38.440 57
58 LMGTE Am 85 Keating Motorsport 3:54.000 3:58.661 3:54.668 +38.623 58
59 LMGTE Am 99 Proton Competition 4:03.107 3:54.720 3:54.953 +39.343 59
60 LMGTE Am 70 MR Racing 3:54.951 4:02.540 3:55.343 +39.574 60
Source:[39]

Notes

  1. ^ a b The No. 33 DC Racing Ligier and No. 48 IDEC Oreca had their fastest lap time deleted for failing to slow to 80 km/h (50 mph) in a Slow Zone.[35]
  2. ^ a b c The No. 28 TDS Oreca, No. 44 Eurasia Ligier, and No. 6 TRSM Ginetta-Mechachrome had several lap times deleted for failing to stop for a mandatory weight check. These included their fastest times of the session.[36][37][38]

Warm-up

[edit]

A 45-minute warm-up session was held on Saturday morning and took place in dry and sunny weather.[16] Kobayashi set the fastest lap of 3 minutes, 18.687 seconds in Toyota's No. 7 car, ahead of his teammate Buemi in second. Hanley's DragonSpeed BR1 was third and the fastest non-hybrid LMP1 car. The No. 17 SMP car and the No. 1 Rebellion vehicle were fourth and fifth. The fastest LMP2 lap was recorded by Ricky Taylor in Jackie Chan's No. 34 Ligier car at 3 minutes, 29.466 seconds to demote Vergne from the lead of the class. Lapierre was second for the Signatech Alpine team. Scott Dixon, driving the No. 69 Ford GT car, was the quickest driver in LMGTE Pro with Jeroen Bleekemolen in Keating Motorsport's Ferrari fastest in LMGTE Am.[40]

Race

[edit]

Start and first hours

[edit]
The start of an automobile endurance race at the Circuit de la Sarthe
The start of the 2018 24 Hours of Le Mans

The conditions on the grid were dry and sunny before the race; the air temperature was between 15 and 22 °C (59 and 72 °F) and the track temperature ranged from 14 to 31 °C (57 to 88 °F).[41] Approximately 256,900 people attended the event.[42] The French tricolour was waved at 15:00 Central European Summer Time (UTC+02:00),[16] by multiple Grand Slam tennis champion Rafael Nadal to start the race,[43] led by starting pole sitter Buemi.[44] At the start of the parade lap, a misfiring engine and a subsequent spin on cold tyres at the Dunlop Curve dropped Tom Dillmann's No. 4 ByKolles car to the rear of the field.[44] A mounting failure detached the front bodywork on Lotterer's No. 1 Rebellion vehicle and removed downforce from the car entering the Dunlop Curve. It struck the rear of Hanley's DragonSpeed BR1 car.[45] Both cars dropped down the race order. Conway passed Buemi to lead the first four laps until Buemi passed him on the fifth lap. Rain fell during this period though it was not heavy enough to affect the race.[46] Laurent passed Sarrazin's No. 17 BR1 car for third on the Mulsanne Straight before Sarrazin returned to third place by slipstreaming past Laurent into Mulsanne corner. The first hour ended with Vergne passing Duval for the lead of LMP2 and Chatin fell to third. The Porsches of Bruni and Estre duelled for first place in LMGTE Pro as Barker overtook Carioli for the top of LMGTE Am.[47]

Buemi relinquished the lead to his teammate Conway after the No. 8 Toyota made an unscheduled pit stop to have its rear crash structure replaced and the car rejoined the race in second position.[48][49] Berthon ceded fourth place in LMP2 after a front-right wheel detached on the approach to Arnage corner and lost three laps as a new wheel hub assembly was installed onto the car. 1 hour and 40 minutes in, Wainwright's No. 86 Gulf Porsche lost control under braking and crashed into an Armco steel barrier on the outside at Indianapolis turn with its left-hand corner, requiring a slow zone between Mulsanne and Arnage corners to recover the car and to repair the barrier.[49] Conway used the slow zone and a routine pit stop from his teammate Buemi to return to the lead on lap 32.[50] As the second hour ended, Sébastien Bourdais's No. 68 Ford, which moved to second place in LMGTE Pro after a pit stop sequence, was passed by Frédéric Makowiecki's No. 92 Porsche entering the Mulsanne corner and the No. 77 Dempsey-Proton led in LMGTE Am.[49] He continued to advance through the order and overtook his Porsche teammate Vanthoor for the lead of LMGTE Pro with the two cars running nose-to-tail.[51] During a pit stop to relieve Buemi, television footage appeared to show Alonso reversing in the pit lane to pass a LMGTE vehicle parked ahead of him. Footage released later confirmed Alonso had not reversed but was moved back by mechanics, preventing the car from being disqualified.[52]

In the fourth hour, Alonso overtook his teammate López in the Porsche Curves to retake the lead in the No. 8 Toyota. Bourdais used a battle between the Porsche duo of Vanthoor and Makowiecki on the Mulsanne Straight to take the lead of LMGTE Pro. Not long after the left-rear tyre on Gabriel Aubry's No. 38 Jackie Chan Oreca failed on the Mulsanne Straight, littering the track with debris and removing the car's front-left fender. Aubry retained control of the vehicle to allow him to return to the pit lane and the incident required the deployment of the safety cars to slow the race.[53] The safety cars were withdrawn after 15 minutes and racing resumed.[54] The safety cars had separated the LMGTE Pro field, the No. 92 Porsche led by more than a minute from the sister No. 91 due to Richard Lietz being required to remain in the pit lane. Although López made an unscheduled pit stop to replace a left-rear puncture, he took the lead from his teammate Alonso and led by 41⁄2 seconds.[55] Antonio Giovinazzi in the No. 52 AF Corse Ferrari overtook Dixon on the outside for second in LMGTE Pro. Soon after Dominik Kraihamer was lapping slower LMGTE cars in the Porsche Curves when the rear of the No. 4 ByKolles car and the front of the No. 80 Ebimotors Porsche made contact. Kraihamer's rear wing was removed sending him into a collision against a concrete wall at Corvette corner. Kraihamer was unhurt; the crash caused the deployment of the safety cars for half an hour as marshals repaired the barrier and cleared the track of debris.[56][57]

Early evening to night

[edit]

As the safety car period ended the Toyota cars of López and Alonso scythed their way through heavy traffic. Toyota then invoked team orders on López to return the lead to Alonso entering Arnage turn one lap later.[56] The safety cars had divided the field in LMGTE Pro, leaving Nicky Catsburg's No. 81 BMW in second place and the two class Porsches of Earl Bamber and Lietz in third and fourth.[57] Juan Pablo Montoya, driving the No. 23 United Autosports car, crashed into a tyre barrier at Indianapolis corner and activated a local slow zone. Marshals extricated the car from the gravel and Montoya continued.[58] Pierre Thiriet was caught out by the exit of the slow zone. He lost control of the rear of the Signatech car at Mulsanne turn and fell to fourth in LMP2.[59] In the seventh hour, Pilet and Bruni overtook Martin Tomczyk's BMW car for second and third in LMGTE Pro as Romain Dumas' No. 94 vehicle slowed in the Porsche Curves and retired with a front-right suspension bracket failure. Not long after Paul Dalla Lana was en route to the pit lane when he lost control of the No. 98 Aston Martin and crashed against a tyre barrier at the entrance to the Porsche Curves. The damage to the car caused its retirement and required a local slow zone. Vergne used the slow zone to increase his lead over the LMP2 field to almost two minutes and Kobayashi closed to within less than a second of Nakajima.[60][61]

As night fell, Kobayashi passed Buemi to return to the lead of the race. The No. 91 Porsche of Makowiecki was elevated to second in LMGTE Pro ahead of the No. 93 of Nick Tandy after a routine sequence of pit stops.[62] Matevos Isaakyan had an anxious moment with a rear suspension failure on the No. 17 SMP car at the entrance to the Porsche Curves. The car speared backwards into a tyre barrier to the outside of the track and sustained damage. Isaakyan could not get the car moving and contacted his team for advice on how it could be made mobile.[63] Marshals pushed the car behind a barrier and repairs were made to its rear. Isaakyan retired after an engine bay fire.[64][65] The retirement of the SMP vehicle elevated the Rebellion cars of Laurent and the recovering Lotterer to third and fourth and Vergne's LMP2-leading G-Drive car to fifth overall. Porsche's control on the first three positions in LMGTE Pro was broken after Tandy's No. 93 car was forced into the garage with an electrical problem.[64] Early in the tenth hour, the No. 8 Toyota of Buemi incurred a one-minute stop-and-go penalty for speeding in a slow zone, dropping the car two minutes, ten seconds behind Conway's No. 7 car. Philipp Eng's No. 81 BMW relinquished its hold on third place in LMGTE Pro due to a broken damper losing him 11 minutes in the garage.[66][67]

As the race approached its midway point, Alonso lowered the deficit to the race-leading No. 7 Toyota to 1 minute and 16 seconds and Roman Rusinov's G-Drive car led by one lap over Lapierre in LMP2. Christensen in the No. 92 Porsche was 1 minute, 53 seconds ahead of his teammate Bruni in LMGTE Pro and Andlauer's No. 77 Dempsey-Proton held sway over Bleekemolen's Keating Ferrari in LMGTE Am.[68] During the 13th hour, Menezes drove the No. 3 Rebellion car to the garage for a nine-minute repair to its underfloor. He ceded third place to Jani's No. 1 car. José Gutiérrez crashed the No. 40 G-Drive car at the exit to the Porsche Curves and ricocheted onto the circuit facing oncoming traffic. Gutiérrez was unhurt; the damage to the car caused its retirement and a local slow zone was enforced.[69] The slow zone increased López's lead over Alonso to two minutes.[70] Soon after Jani came to the pit lane to repair his car's underbody and emerged after a nine-minute pit stop in fourth place, behind his teammate Menezes.[71][72] Fisichella brought the Spirit of Race Ferrari into third in LMGTE Am drivers and drew closer to Bleekemolen in second.[72]

Morning to early afternoon

[edit]

In the early morning Kobayashi led his teammate Nakajima by around ten to twelve seconds.[73] Nakajima eliminated the time deficit to retake the lead from Kobayashi at the Mulsanne corner and a series of fast lap times put Buemi ahead by more than half a minute.[74] BMW lost one of their two LMGTE Pro entries when Alexander Sims slid on oil laid on the track in the Porsche Curves and damaged the rear of the No. 82 car in a collision against a barrier.[71] At the conclusion of the 16th hour, Cairoli was in fifth in LMGTE Am when he lost control of the No. 88 Dempsey-Proton Porsche car due to a suspension failure and crashed into a tyre barrier at the Ford Chicane.[75][76] The car was retired due to the heavy damage sustained to it and a slow zone was enforced in the area.[76] Both of the Toyota cars were observed speeding in the area and incurred separate one-minute stop-and-go penalties; their multi-lap lead over the Rebellion team kept them in first and second positions. Further down the order, the No. 10 DragonSpeed BR1 had an accident when Hanley lost control of the car in the Porsche Curves and retired.[77] Fifth place in the LMGTE Pro became a battle between the No. 63 Corvette of Mike Rockenfeller and Dixon's No. 69 Ford with the two exchanging position before Dixon claimed it.[78]

Several LMGTE cars took the opportunity to change brake discs at this point in the morning to ensure that cars would finish the race, including the leading car in LMGTE Pro, the No. 92 Porsche.[78] Antonio García drove the No. 63 Corvette car past Ryan Briscoe's No. 69 Ford and gradually drew closer to the No. 68 Ford.[79] Traffic loosened a drain cover built into a kerb at the outside of the Tertre Rouge corner and its metal casting was launched onto a verge. It required the deployment of the safety cars to allow workers to refit the grill and make it safe to drive over.[80] As the safety cars were recalled after half an hour,[81] Alonso fell behind Conway until he overtook him for the lead in slower traffic on the Mulsanne Straight. The LMGTE Pro field closed up with Bruni's No. 92 Porsche car and Müller's No. 68 car close by for second place in class.[80] Not long after Paul di Resta lost control of the No. 23 United Autosports Ligier in the Porsche Curves and the car's front-left corner struck an unprotected concrete barrier. The car slid onto the grass and stopped. Di Resta vacated the car unhurt and was transported to the medical centre for a precautionary check-up as the car was retired.[82] The accident required the intervention of a fourth safety car period. When racing resumed the Dempsey-Proton team's lead in LMGTE Am was lowered to less than half a minute and Makowiecki fell behind Bourdais and Priaulx to fourth place in LMGTE Pro. The No. 39 Graff vehicle of Vincent Capillaire overtook François Perrodo's TDS car for fourth in LMP2.[83]

The No. 23 Panis Barthez Ligier car of Will Stevens, which had held second place in the LMP2 category, entered the pit lane to undergo repairs to its clutch and promoted the Signatech Alpine team to the position.[84] López lost control of the No. 7 Toyota at the exit to the Dunlop Curve and lost 16 seconds to the race-leader Alonso.[85] The IDEC car forfeited second place in LMP2 to Capillaire due to a cracked gearbox casing forcing its retirement,[86] as Makowiecki and Bourdais exchanged second in LMGTE Pro; Makowiecki avoided punishment from the stewards for defensive driving preventing Bourdais from overtaking him.[85] Ben Keating, whose No. 85 Keating Ferrari was second in LMGTE Am, lost control of the rear of the car under braking and was beached in a gravel trap at Mulsanne corner. The car relinquished its hold on second place to the Spirit of Race team and fell one lap behind the class leading No. 77 Dempsey-Proton car.[87] Kobayashi, in second and within 80 minutes of the finish,[88] missed the entry to the pit lane and Toyota required him to slow to 80 km/h (50 mph) by engaging the full course yellow flag limiter to conserve fuel.[89] The No. 7 car lost one lap to the No. 8 entry; it incurred two ten-second stop-and-go penalties for exceeding the number of laps permitted for a single stint by a LMP1 hybrid car and fuel allowance.[90]

Finish

[edit]

Unhindered in the final hours of the race, Nakajima achieved victory for the No. 8 Toyota team, which completed 388 laps and was two laps ahead of Kobayashi's No. 7 Toyota. Rebellion, unable to match the pace of the Toyota cars, finished third and fourth with the No. 3 R13 ahead of the No. 1 car.[90] It was Alonso, Buemi and Nakajima's first Le Mans victory,[91] and Toyota's first on its 20th try.[92] Toyota became the first Japanese manufacturer to win at Le Mans since Mazda in 1991 and Alonso completed a second leg of the Triple Crown of Motorsport (the 24 Hours of Le Mans, the Indianapolis 500 and the Monaco Grand Prix).[92] The G-Drive team led the final 360 laps with the No. 26 Oreca to be the first car to finish the race in LMP2,[93] provisionally earning the team and its drivers Andrea Pizzitola, Rusinov and Vergne their first class victories.[91] Signatech Alpine were the highest-placed full-season WEC team in second and the Graff Racing squad completed the class podium.[91] On its 70th anniversary Porsche took its first win in the LMGTE Pro category since 2013 with the No. 92 car ahead of the No. 91 entry, and the German marque won in LMGTE Am with the No. 77 Dempsey-Proton car winning by 1 minute, 39 seconds over the No. 54 Spirit of Race Ferrari.[94] There were 25 lead changes amongst two cars during the race. The No. 7 Toyota's 205 laps led was the most of any car with the race-winning No. 8 leading 13 times for a total of 183 laps.[93]

Post-race

[edit]

Obviously it has been a long time dream for me to be there and to experience Le Mans. It's great to have the first opportunity and be in a competitive team as Toyota, to dominate free practice, qualifying and the race. It was a competition between the two of our cars in the garage. In the end we got a little bit more lucky and a little bit more better set up.

Fernando Alonso talking about his maiden experience at the 24 Hours of Le Mans[95]

The top three teams in each of the four classes appeared on the podium to collect their trophies and spoke to the media in a later press conference.[16] Alonso said he was worried about his car having a mechanical issue preventing him from winning the race, "Right now I'm maybe still in a little bit [of] shock because we were so focused on the race and so stressed at the end watching the television. I'm not used to watching my car racing, I'm normally in it."[96] Nakajima said he believed Toyota was calmer than in previous years, "To win this race has been a dream of Toyota's since 1985, and there are so many guys still here that have been involved in the project so long, I'm so proud to be here to represent them."[97] Buemi said the one-minute stop-and-go penalty he took made his team uncertain whether they would win, "All the preparation that goes behind that day, all of us, all six drivers, we've been driving for many days, in the nights, and finally when you win it, it's something really big."[98]

After all of the non-hybrid cars were unable to challenge the Toyota team, Jani called the race "a procession" and said the Rebellion R13 car lost more than ten seconds per lap to the TS050 Hybrid, "Our spread between our quickest lap and our average is huge, their spread is a lot smaller because they can be flexible with how they overtake cars in a straight line."[99] Lotterer reiterated his teammate's view and said he believed the FIA and the ACO would address the issue, "We didn't stand a chance. Let's face it, it was one of the boring editions of the Le Mans 24 Hours. I have to admit that it was difficult to get the most out of every lap. How do you stay motivated?"[100] Oliver Webb agreed with Lotterer and said he felt the following 6 Hours of Silverstone would suit the car's high-downforce configuration.[100] Frank-Steffen Walliser, the head of Porsche Motorsport, said he felt comments from Bourdais over a perceived view that Makowiecki had inadequate driving standards during a battle for second in LMGTE Pro were invalid, "Firstly, this is not a pony farm; secondly, in my view, it was hard but fair at all times. The scenes when Fred himself was pushed into the grass were not shown on TV. Apart from that – what do you expect when two Frenchmen fight for second place in the biggest French race? Is that supposed to be peace, joy, pancakes? I don't think so!"[101]

During post-race scrutineering, the technical delegates discovered that the LMP2-winning No. 26 G-Drive and the No. 28 TDS cars had modified refuelling rigs in their fuel system assemblies extending to the dead man valve and inside the cone of the fuel restrictor to lessen the time spent in the pit lane, causing the stewards to disqualify the cars.[102] Both teams filed an appeal to the penalties with the FIA International Court of Appeal.[103] The tribunal met on 18 September and delayed giving a verdict because the judges on the panel wanted extra time to review the appeal and informed the team's lawyers of this.[104] On 2 October, the tribunal heard the G-Drive and TDS team's appeal. G-Drive argued the modified component was a "commendable technical innovation" with no specific regulation about modifications between the fuel flow restristrictor and the dead man's valve established. The court upheld the stewards' decision by deeming the introduction of an additional component protruding the fuel flow restrictor a regulation transgression. The Signatech Alpine team took the win in LMP2, the No. 39 Graff car was second and the No. 32 United Autosports vehicle completed the class podium in third.[105]

The result increased Alonso, Buemi and Nakajima's lead in the LMP Drivers' Championship to 20 points over their teammates Conway, Kobayashi and López in second. Beche, Laurent and Menezes remained in third place. Lapierre, André Negrão and Thiriet's victory in LMP2 moved them from seventh to fourth and Jani, Lotterer and Senna were fifth.[3] Christensen and Estre took the lead of the GTE Drivers Championship from Johnson, Mücke and Pla. Bruni and Lietz were in third position.[3] Toyota increased their lead over the Rebellion squad in the LMP1 Teams' Championship to 27 points. The ByKolles and SMP Racing teams retained third and fourth.[3] Porsche moved further away from Ford by 44 points in the GTE Manufacturers' Championship and Ferrari maintained third place with six races remaining in the season.[3]

Race results

[edit]

The minimum number of laps for classification (70 per cent of the overall winning car's race distance) was 272 laps. Class winners are in bold.[106]

Final race classification
Pos Class No Team Drivers Chassis Tyre Laps Time
Engine
1 LMP1 8 Japan Toyota Gazoo Racing Switzerland Sébastien Buemi
Japan Kazuki Nakajima
Spain Fernando Alonso 		Toyota TS050 Hybrid M 388 24:00.52.247
Toyota 2.4 L Turbo V6
2 LMP1 7 Japan Toyota Gazoo Racing United Kingdom Mike Conway
Japan Kamui Kobayashi
Argentina José María López 		Toyota TS050 Hybrid M 386 +2 Laps
Toyota 2.4 L Turbo V6
3 LMP1 3 Switzerland Rebellion Racing France Thomas Laurent
United States Gustavo Menezes
Switzerland Mathias Beche 		Rebellion R13 M 376 +12 Laps
Gibson GL458 4.5 L V8
4 LMP1 1 Switzerland Rebellion Racing Brazil Bruno Senna
Germany André Lotterer
Switzerland Neel Jani 		Rebellion R13 M 375 +13 Laps
Gibson GL458 4.5 L V8
5 LMP2 36 France Signatech Alpine Matmut France Nicolas Lapierre
France Pierre Thiriet
Brazil André Negrão 		Alpine A470 D 367 +21 Laps
Gibson GK428 4.2 L V8
6 LMP2 39 France Graff-SO24 France Vincent Capillaire
Switzerland Jonathan Hirschi
France Tristan Gommendy 		Oreca 07 D 366 +22 Laps
Gibson GK428 4.2 L V8
7 LMP2 32 United States United Autosports Switzerland Hugo de Sadeleer
United States Will Owen
Colombia Juan Pablo Montoya 		Ligier JS P217 D 365 +23 Laps
Gibson GK428 4.2 L V8
8 LMP2 37 China Jackie Chan DC Racing Malaysia Jazeman Jaafar
Malaysia Weiron Tan
Malaysia Nabil Jeffri 		Oreca 07 D 361 +27 Laps
Gibson GK428 4.2 L V8
9 LMP2 31 United States DragonSpeed Mexico Roberto González
Venezuela Pastor Maldonado
France Nathanaël Berthon 		Oreca 07 M 360 +28 Laps
Gibson GK428 4.2 L V8
10 LMP2 38 China Jackie Chan DC Racing Netherlands Ho-Pin Tung
France Gabriel Aubry
Monaco Stéphane Richelmi 		Oreca 07 D 356 +32 Laps
Gibson GK428 4.2 L V8
11 LMP2 29 Netherlands Racing Team Nederland Netherlands Giedo van der Garde
Netherlands Jan Lammers
Netherlands Frits van Eerd [nl] 		Dallara P217 M 356 +32 Laps
Gibson GK428 4.2 L V8
12 LMP2 33 China Jackie Chan DC Racing China David Cheng
United States Nick Boulle
France Pierre Nicolet 		Ligier JS P217 D 355 +33 Laps
Gibson GK428 4.2 L V8
13 LMP2 23 France Panis Barthez Competition France Julien Canal
France Timothé Buret
United Kingdom Will Stevens 		Ligier JS P217 M 352 +36 Laps
Gibson GK428 4.2 L V8
14 LMP2 35 Russia SMP Racing Russia Viktor Shaytar
United Kingdom Harrison Newey
France Norman Nato 		Dallara P217 D 345 +43 Laps
Gibson GK428 4.2 L V8
15 LMGTE
Pro 		92 Germany Porsche GT Team Denmark Michael Christensen
France Kévin Estre
Belgium Laurens Vanthoor 		Porsche 911 RSR M 344 +44 Laps
Porsche 4.0 L Flat-6
16 LMGTE
Pro 		91 Germany Porsche GT Team Austria Richard Lietz
Italy Gianmaria Bruni
France Frédéric Makowiecki 		Porsche 911 RSR M 343 +45 Laps
Porsche 4.0 L Flat-6
17 LMGTE
Pro 		68 United States Ford Chip Ganassi Team USA United States Joey Hand
Germany Dirk Müller
France Sébastien Bourdais 		Ford GT M 343 +45 Laps
Ford EcoBoost 3.5 L Turbo V6
18 LMGTE
Pro 		63 United States Corvette Racing – GM Denmark Jan Magnussen
Spain Antonio García
Germany Mike Rockenfeller 		Chevrolet Corvette C7.R M 342 +46 Laps
Chevrolet 5.5 L V8
19 LMP2 47 Italy Cetilar Villorba Corse Italy Roberto Lacorte
Italy Giorgio Sernagiotto
Brazil Felipe Nasr 		Dallara P217 D 342 +46 Laps
Gibson GK428 4.2 L V8
20 LMGTE
Pro 		52 Italy AF Corse Finland Toni Vilander
Brazil Pipo Derani
Italy Antonio Giovinazzi 		Ferrari 488 GTE Evo M 341 +47 Laps
Ferrari F154CB 3.9 L Turbo V8
21 LMGTE
Pro 		66 United States Ford Chip Ganassi Team UK Germany Stefan Mücke
France Olivier Pla
United States Billy Johnson 		Ford GT M 340 +48 Laps
Ford EcoBoost 3.5 L Turbo V6
22 LMGTE
Pro 		51 Italy AF Corse United Kingdom James Calado
Italy Alessandro Pier Guidi
Brazil Daniel Serra 		Ferrari 488 GTE Evo M 339 +49 Laps
Ferrari F154CB 3.9 L Turbo V8
23 LMGTE
Pro 		95 United Kingdom Aston Martin Racing Denmark Nicki Thiim
Denmark Marco Sørensen
United Kingdom Darren Turner 		Aston Martin Vantage AMR M 339 +49 Laps
Aston Martin 4.0 L Turbo V8
24 LMGTE
Pro 		71 Italy AF Corse Italy Davide Rigon
United Kingdom Sam Bird
Spain Miguel Molina 		Ferrari 488 GTE Evo M 338 +50 Laps
Ferrari F154CB 3.9 L Turbo V8
25 LMGTE
Am 		77 Germany Dempsey-Proton Racing Australia Matt Campbell
Germany Christian Ried
France Julien Andlauer 		Porsche 911 RSR M 335 +53 Laps
Porsche 4.0 L Flat-6
26 LMGTE
Am 		54 Switzerland Spirit of Race Switzerland Thomas Flohr
Italy Francesco Castellacci
Italy Giancarlo Fisichella 		Ferrari 488 GTE M 335 +53 Laps
Ferrari F154CB 3.9 L Turbo V8
27 LMGTE
Pro 		93 United States Porsche GT Team France Patrick Pilet
United Kingdom Nick Tandy
New Zealand Earl Bamber 		Porsche 911 RSR M 334 +54 Laps
Porsche 4.0 L Flat-6
28 LMGTE
Am 		85 United States Keating Motorsports United States Ben Keating
Netherlands Jeroen Bleekemolen
Germany Luca Stolz 		Ferrari 488 GTE M 334 +54 Laps
Ferrari F154CB 3.9 L Turbo V8
29 LMGTE
Am 		99 Germany Proton Competition United States Patrick Long
United States Tim Pappas
United States Spencer Pumpelly 		Porsche 911 RSR M 334 +54 Laps
Porsche 4.0 L Flat-6
30 LMGTE
Am 		84 United Kingdom JMW Motorsport United Kingdom Liam Griffin
United States Cooper MacNeil
United States Jeff Segal 		Ferrari 488 GTE M 332 +56 Laps
Ferrari F154CB 3.9 L Turbo V8
31 LMGTE
Am 		80 Italy Ebimotors Italy Fabio Babini
Denmark Christina Nielsen
France Erik Maris 		Porsche 911 RSR M 332 +56 Laps
Porsche 4.0 L Flat-6
32 LMP2 50 France Larbre Compétition France Erwin Creed
France Romano Ricci
France Thomas Dagoneau 		Ligier JS P217 M 332 +56 Laps
Gibson GK428 4.2 L V8
33 LMGTE
Pro 		81 Germany BMW Team MTEK Netherlands Nicky Catsburg
Germany Martin Tomczyk
Austria Philipp Eng 		BMW M8 GTE M 332 +56 Laps
BMW S63 4.0 L Turbo V8
34 LMGTE
Am 		56 Germany Team Project 1 Germany Jörg Bergmeister
United States Patrick Lindsey
Norway Egidio Perfetti 		Porsche 911 RSR M 332 +56 Laps
Porsche 4.0 L Flat-6
35 LMGTE
Am 		61 Singapore Clearwater Racing Republic of Ireland Matt Griffin
Malaysia Weng Sun Mok
Japan Keita Sawa 		Ferrari 488 GTE M 332 +56 Laps
Ferrari F154CB 3.9 L Turbo V8
36 LMGTE
Pro 		67 United States Ford Chip Ganassi Team UK United Kingdom Harry Tincknell
United Kingdom Andy Priaulx
Brazil Tony Kanaan 		Ford GT M 332[N 1] +56 Laps
Ford EcoBoost 3.5 L Turbo V6
37 LMGTE
Pro 		97 United Kingdom Aston Martin Racing United Kingdom Alex Lynn
United Kingdom Jonathan Adam
Belgium Maxime Martin 		Aston Martin Vantage AMR M 327 +61 Laps
Aston Martin 4.0 L Turbo V8
38 LMGTE
Am 		70 Japan MR Racing Monaco Olivier Beretta
Italy Eddie Cheever III
Japan Motoaki Ishikawa 		Ferrari 488 GTE M 324 +64 Laps
Ferrari F154CB 3.9 L Turbo V8
39 LMGTE
Pro 		69 United States Ford Chip Ganassi Team USA Australia Ryan Briscoe
United Kingdom Richard Westbrook
New Zealand Scott Dixon 		Ford GT M 309[N 2] +79 Laps
Ford EcoBoost 3.5 L Turbo V6
40 LMGTE
Am 		86 United Kingdom Gulf Racing United Kingdom Michael Wainwright
United Kingdom Ben Barker
Australia Alex Davison 		Porsche 911 RSR M 283 +105 Laps
Porsche 4.0 L Flat-6
41 LMP1 5 China CEFC TRSM Racing United Kingdom Charlie Robertson
United Kingdom Michael Simpson
France Léo Roussel 		Ginetta G60-LT-P1 M 283[N 3] +105 Laps
Mecachrome V634P1 3.4 L Turbo V6
NC LMP2 44 Philippines Eurasia Motorsport Italy Andrea Bertolini
Sweden Niclas Jönsson
United States Tracy Krohn 		Ligier JS P217 D 334 Incomplete final lap
Gibson GK428 4.2 L V8
DNF LMP1 11 Russia SMP Racing Russia Mikhail Aleshin
Russia Vitaly Petrov
United Kingdom Jenson Button 		BR Engineering BR1 M 315 Engine
AER P60B 2.4 L Turbo V6
DNF LMP2 48 France IDEC Sport France Paul Lafargue
France Paul-Loup Chatin
Mexico Memo Rojas 		Oreca 07 M 312 Gearbox
Gibson GK428 4.2 L V8
DNF LMGTE
Am 		90 United Kingdom TF Sport United Kingdom Euan Hankey
Republic of Ireland Charlie Eastwood
Turkey Salih Yoluç 		Aston Martin V8 Vantage GTE M 304 Driveshaft
Aston Martin 4.0 L Turbo V8
DNF LMP2 22 United States United Autosports United Kingdom Phil Hanson
United Kingdom Paul di Resta
Portugal Filipe Albuquerque 		Ligier JS P217 D 288 Crash
Gibson GK428 4.2 L V8
DNF LMGTE
Pro 		64 United States Corvette Racing – GM United Kingdom Oliver Gavin
United States Tommy Milner
Switzerland Marcel Fässler 		Chevrolet Corvette C7.R M 259 Overheating
Chevrolet 5.5 L V8
DNF LMP1 10 United States DragonSpeed United Kingdom Ben Hanley
Sweden Henrik Hedman
Netherlands Renger van der Zande 		BR Engineering BR1 M 244 Crash
Gibson GL458 4.5 L V8
DNF LMP2 25 Portugal Algarve Pro Racing United States Mark Patterson
Netherlands Ate de Jong
South Korea Tacksung Kim 		Ligier JS P217 D 237 Gearbox
Gibson GK428 4.2 L V8
DNF LMGTE
Am 		88 Germany Dempsey-Proton Racing United Arab Emirates Khaled Al Qubaisi
Italy Matteo Cairoli
Italy Giorgio Roda 		Porsche 911 RSR M 225 Suspension
Porsche 4.0 L Flat-6
DNF LMGTE
Pro 		82 Germany BMW Team MTEK Portugal António Félix da Costa
United Kingdom Alexander Sims
Brazil Augusto Farfus 		BMW M8 GTE M 223 Damage
BMW S63 4.0 L Turbo V8
DNF LMP2 40 Russia G-Drive Racing Australia James Allen
Mexico José Gutierrez
France Enzo Guibbert 		Oreca 07 D 197 Crash
Gibson GK428 4.2 L V8
DNF LMP2 34 China Jackie Chan DC Racing United States Ricky Taylor
France Côme Ledogar
Denmark David Heinemeier Hansson 		Ligier JS P217 D 195 Engine
Gibson GK428 4.2 L V8
DNF LMP1 6 China CEFC TRSM Racing United Kingdom Oliver Rowland
United Kingdom Alex Brundle
United Kingdom Oliver Turvey 		Ginetta G60-LT-P1 M 137 Electrical
Mecachrome V634P1 3.4 L Turbo V6
DNF LMP1 17 Russia SMP Racing France Stéphane Sarrazin
Russia Matevos Isaakyan
Russia Egor Orudzhev 		BR Engineering BR1 M 123 Crash
AER P60B 2.4 L Turbo V6
DNF LMGTE
Pro 		94 United States Porsche GT Team France Romain Dumas
Germany Timo Bernhard
Germany Sven Müller 		Porsche 911 RSR M 92 Suspension
Porsche 4.0 L Flat-6
DNF LMGTE
Am 		98 United Kingdom Aston Martin Racing Canada Paul Dalla Lana
Austria Mathias Lauda
Portugal Pedro Lamy 		Aston Martin V8 Vantage GTE M 92 Crash
Aston Martin 4.0 L Turbo V8
DNF LMP1 4 Austria ByKolles Racing Team United Kingdom Oliver Webb
France Tom Dillmann
Austria Dominik Kraihamer 		ENSO CLM P1/01 M 65 Collision
Nismo VRX30A 3.0 L Turbo V6
DSQ LMP2 26 Russia G-Drive Racing Russia Roman Rusinov
France Andrea Pizzitola
France Jean-Éric Vergne 		Oreca 07 D 369 Disqualified [N 4]
Gibson GK428 4.2 L V8
DSQ LMP2 28 France TDS Racing France François Perrodo
France Loïc Duval
France Matthieu Vaxivière 		Oreca 07 D 365[N 5] Disqualified [N 4]
Gibson GK428 4.2 L V8
Source:[106][108][109]
Tyre manufacturers
Key
Symbol Tyre manufacturer
D Dunlop
M Michelin

Notes

  1. ^ The No. 67 Ford was penalised 11 laps and 1:23.499 by the stewards following the race for Tony Kanaan failing to meet the minimum overall drive time of six hours.[107]
  2. ^ The No. 69 Ford was penalised 2 laps and 1:42.968 by the stewards following the race for Scott Dixon failing to meet the minimum overall drive time of six hours.[107]
  3. ^ The No. 5 Ginetta was penalised 6 laps and 2:45.613 by the stewards following the race for Léo Roussel failing to meet the minimum overall drive time of six hours.[107]
  4. ^ a b The No. 26 G-Drive and No. 28 TDS Orecas, both under the operation of TDS Racing, were disqualified from the race after the team was found to have illegally modified their refueling equipment in order to fuel both cars faster than regulations allowed.[102]
  5. ^ Prior to the disqualification, the No. 28 TDS Oreca was penalised 1 lap and 1:18.188 by the stewards following the race for François Perrodo exceeding the maximum drive time of four hours within a six-hour period.[107]

Championship standings after the race

[edit]
  • Note: Only the top five positions are included for Drivers' Championship standings.
  • Note: Only the top five positions are included for the Drivers' Championship standings.

References

[edit]
  1. ^ a b "Dates for the 2018 24 Hours of Le Mans announced: 16/17 June". FIA World Endurance Championship. 20 June 2017. Archived from the original on 23 June 2017. Retrieved 11 July 2019.
  2. ^ "FIA Revises WEC 2018–19 Calendar". Auto Action. 22 September 2017. Archived from the original on 22 April 2018. Retrieved 11 July 2019.
  3. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k "Standings". Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile. Archived from the original on 11 July 2019. Retrieved 11 July 2019.
  4. ^ Davoine, Basile; Watkins, Gary (22 February 2018). "Porsche Curves safety upgrade on Le Mans 24 Hours circuit completed". Autosport. Archived from the original on 28 February 2018. Retrieved 15 June 2018.
  5. ^ a b c d Goodwin, Graham (5 February 2018). "Auto Entries Fixed For 2018 Le Mans 24 Hours". DailySportsCar. Archived from the original on 8 February 2018. Retrieved 11 July 2019.
  6. ^ Dagys, John (9 February 2018). "JDC-Miller Forgoes Le Mans Entry". SportsCar365. Archived from the original on 7 April 2019. Retrieved 11 July 2019.
  7. ^ a b "2018 24 Hours of Le Mans – The Entry List Revealed". Automobile Club de l'Ouest. 9 February 2018. Retrieved 11 July 2019.
  8. ^ "86th Le Mans 24H entry list revealed". Racer. 9 February 2018. Archived from the original on 25 April 2018. Retrieved 11 July 2019.
  9. ^ Dagys, John (15 June 2017). "Panoz Unveils GT-EV; Targets Garage 56 Entry". SportsCar365. Archived from the original on 3 August 2017. Retrieved 11 July 2019.
  10. ^ Watkins, Gary (8 February 2018). "No 'Garage 56' experimental entry for 2018 Le Mans 24 Hours". Autosport. Archived from the original on 14 February 2018. Retrieved 11 July 2019.
  11. ^ Dagys, John (11 February 2018). "ARC Bratislava Pulls Plug on LMP2 Program". SportsCar365. Archived from the original on 11 July 2018. Retrieved 11 July 2019.
  12. ^ Kilbey, Stephen (17 February 2018). "IDEC Sport's Le Mans Reserve Withdrawn". DailySportsCar. Archived from the original on 24 March 2018. Retrieved 11 July 2019.
  13. ^ Kilbey, Stephen (17 May 2018). "Final Le Mans Entry & Test Entry Revealed". DailySportsCar. Archived from the original on 12 September 2018. Retrieved 11 July 2019.
  14. ^ Watkins, Gary (22 May 2018). "WEC LMP1 privateers given power reduction ahead of Le Mans test". Autosport. Archived from the original on 30 May 2018. Retrieved 11 July 2019.
  15. ^ Dagys, John (22 May 2018). "Multiple Changes in Le Mans GTE-Pro BoP". SportsCar365. Retrieved 11 July 2019.
  16. ^ a b c d e f "24 Heures du Mans 2018 Specific Regulations" (PDF). Automobile Club de l'Ouest. 18 December 2017. pp. 9–10, 24, 49, 52 & 104. Archived (PDF) from the original on 11 July 2019. Retrieved 11 July 2019.
  17. ^ a b c d Watkins, Gary (3 June 2018). "Le Mans Test Day: Fernando Alonso tops morning session for Toyota". Autosport. Archived from the original on 11 July 2019. Retrieved 11 July 2019.
  18. ^ a b c Kilbey, Stephen (3 June 2018). "#8 Toyota Leads #3 Rebellion in Red-Flagged Morning Session". DailySportsCar. Archived from the original on 12 October 2018. Retrieved 11 July 2019.
  19. ^ Lloyd, Daniel (3 June 2018). "Aston Martin Reverts to Spare Chassis After Sorensen Crash". SportsCar365. Archived from the original on 11 July 2019. Retrieved 11 July 2019.
  20. ^ a b Goodwin, Graham; Kilbey, Stephen (3 June 2018). "Toyota Finishes Test Day Top After Multiple Improvements in Afternoon Session". DailySportsCar. Archived from the original on 12 October 2018. Retrieved 12 July 2019.
  21. ^ a b Lloyd, Daniel (3 June 2018). "Alonso Quickest at Le Mans Test Day". SportsCar365. Archived from the original on 11 July 2019. Retrieved 12 July 2019.
  22. ^ Klein, Jamie (12 June 2018). "Aston Martin handed boost in latest GTE BoP". motorsport.com. Archived from the original on 12 July 2019. Retrieved 12 July 2019.
  23. ^ Smith, Luke (13 June 2018). "Kamui Kobayashi fastest for Toyota in Le Mans practice". Crash. Archived from the original on 12 July 2019. Retrieved 12 July 2019.
  24. ^ a b c Potts, Marcus; Little, Martin; Tickell, Sam; Kilbey, Stephen (13 June 2018). "Toyota Fastest in Free Practice, but Rebellion Close (Updated)". DailySportsCar. Archived from the original on 18 October 2018. Retrieved 12 July 2019.
  25. ^ a b c Cozens, Jack; Newbold, James; Klein, Jamie (13 June 2018). "Le Mans 24 Hours practice: Toyota claims 1–2 late in session". Autosport. Archived from the original on 12 July 2019. Retrieved 12 July 2019.
  26. ^ Baldwin, Alan (14 June 2018). Osmond, Ed (ed.). "Motor racing: Nakajima puts Alonso's Toyota on provisional pole at Le Mans". Reuters. Archived from the original on 13 July 2019. Retrieved 13 July 2019.
  27. ^ a b Errington, Tom; Newbold, James; Klein, Jamie (13 June 2018). "Le Mans 24 Hours: Nakajima puts #8 Toyota on provisional pole". Autosport. Archived from the original on 13 July 2019. Retrieved 13 July 2019.
  28. ^ Goodwin, Graham; Potts, Marcus; Little, Martin; Tickell, Sam (14 June 2018). "Toyota On Provisional Pole As Records Tumble in LMP2 & GTE". DailySportsCar. Archived from the original on 20 October 2018. Retrieved 13 July 2019.
  29. ^ a b Goodwin, Graham; Potts, Marcus; Little, Martin; Kilbey, Stephen (14 June 2018). "Red Flags Curtail An Incident-Packed Second Qualifying". DailySportsCar. Archived from the original on 20 October 2018. Retrieved 13 July 2019.
  30. ^ a b Kilshaw, Jake (14 June 2018). "Nakajima Puts No. 8 Toyota on Pole". SportsCar365. Archived from the original on 13 July 2019. Retrieved 13 July 2019.
  31. ^ Jacobs, Caleb (15 June 2018). "Toyota Dominates LMP1 Le Mans Pole, Porsche Qualifies on Top in GTE-Pro and Am". The Drive. Archived from the original on 13 July 2019. Retrieved 13 July 2019.
  32. ^ Contractor, Sameer (15 June 2018). "Le Mans 24: Kazuki Nakajima's Flying Lap Puts The No. 8 Toyota On Pole". NDTV. Archived from the original on 13 July 2019. Retrieved 13 July 2019.
  33. ^ Potts, Marcus; Little, Martin; Tickell, Sam (15 June 2018). "Toyota On Pole As Penalties Rock LMP2". DailySportsCar. Archived from the original on 20 October 2018. Retrieved 13 July 2019.
  34. ^ Lloyd, Daniel (15 June 2018). "Aston Martin Gets Break in Post-Qualifying BoP Change". SportsCar365. Archived from the original on 13 July 2019. Retrieved 13 July 2019.
  35. ^ "Decision No. 20" (PDF). Automobile Club de l'Ouest. 14 June 2018. Archived from the original (PDF) on 15 June 2018. Retrieved 14 June 2018.
  36. ^ "Decision No. 17" (PDF). Automobile Club de l'Ouest. 14 June 2018. Archived from the original (PDF) on 14 June 2018. Retrieved 14 June 2018.
  37. ^ "Decision No. 18" (PDF). Automobile Club de l'Ouest. 14 June 2018. Archived from the original (PDF) on 15 June 2018. Retrieved 14 June 2018.
  38. ^ "Decision No. 23" (PDF). Automobile Club de l'Ouest. 14 June 2018. Archived from the original (PDF) on 15 June 2018. Retrieved 14 June 2018.
  39. ^ "FIA WEC 86º Edition des 24 Heures du Mans – Qualifying Practice – Final Classification" (PDF). Automobile Club de l'Ouest. 15 June 2018. p. 1. Retrieved 9 January 2020.
  40. ^ Errington, Tom; Cozens, Jack; Klein, Jamie (16 June 2018). "Le Mans warm-up: Kobayashi pips Buemi in Toyota LMP1 battle". Autosport. Archived from the original on 13 July 2019. Retrieved 13 July 2019.
  41. ^ "86º Edition des 24 Heures du Mans: FIA WEC – Race – Weather Report" (PDF). FIA World Endurance Championship. 17 June 2018. p. 1. Retrieved 13 July 2019.
  42. ^ "A 256,900 strong crowd at the 2018 24 Hours of Le Mans". Automobile Club de l'Ouest. 17 June 2018. Archived from the original on 13 July 2019. Retrieved 13 July 2019.
  43. ^ McGee, Nicholas (14 May 2018). "Rafael Nadal gearing up to start 24 Hours of Le Mans". The Hindu. Archived from the original on 13 July 2019. Retrieved 13 July 2019.
  44. ^ a b Goodwin, Graham (16 June 2018). "Starting Driver for the 2018 Le Mans 24 Hours". DailySportsCar. Archived from the original on 22 October 2018. Retrieved 13 July 2019.
  45. ^ Hensby, Paul (16 June 2018). "Lotterer Reveals Mounting Failure Caused Opening Corner, Opening Lap Crash". The Checkered Flag. Archived from the original on 15 July 2019. Retrieved 15 July 2019.
  46. ^ Goodwin, Graham; Potts, Marcus; Little, Martin; Kilbey, Stephen (16 June 2018). "LM24 Hour 1: Toyota in Control, Dramas in LMP1, Battles in GTE Pro". DailySportsCar. Archived from the original on 14 July 2019. Retrieved 14 July 2019.
  47. ^ Cozens, Jack; Errington, Tom; Klein, Jamie (16 June 2018). "Le Mans 24 Hours: Toyota holds early one-two after frantic start". Autosport. Archived from the original on 14 July 2019. Retrieved 14 July 2019.
  48. ^ Kilbey, Stephen (16 June 2018). "LM24 Hour 2: Toyota, Porsche extend leads". Racer. Archived from the original on 14 July 2019. Retrieved 14 July 2019.
  49. ^ a b c Goodwin, Graham; Potts, Marcus; Little, Martin; Kilbey, Stephen (16 June 2018). "LM24 Hour 2: Trouble For #11 SMP BR1, Shunt For Gulf Porsche". DailySportsCar. Archived from the original on 14 July 2019. Retrieved 14 July 2019.
  50. ^ Cozens, Jack; Newbold, James; Klein, Jamie (16 June 2018). "Le Mans hour 2: Slow zone helps #7 Toyota take the lead". Autosport. Archived from the original on 14 July 2019. Retrieved 14 July 2019.
  51. ^ Kilbey, Stephen (16 June 2018). "LM24 Hour 3: Porsches battle in GTE Pro; Toyota in control". Racer. Archived from the original on 14 July 2019. Retrieved 14 July 2019.
  52. ^ Freeman, Glenn (17 June 2018). "Watch: Video evidence that proved Alonso didn't reverse in pits". motorsport.com. Archived from the original on 14 July 2019. Retrieved 14 July 2019.
  53. ^ Goodwin, Graham; Potts, Marcus; Little, Martin; Kilbey, Stephen (16 June 2018). "LM24 Hour 4: Major Traumas, Safety Car, But Toyota Untroubled". DailySportsCar. Archived from the original on 22 October 2018. Retrieved 15 July 2019.
  54. ^ Cobb, Haydn (16 June 2018). "Nakajima retains Toyota lead after Alonso, Lopez battle at Le Mans". Crash. Archived from the original on 15 July 2019. Retrieved 15 July 2019.
  55. ^ Errington, Tom; Newbold, James; Klein, Jamie (16 June 2018). "Le Mans hour 4: Toyotas swap places as safety car shakes race up". Autosport. Archived from the original on 15 July 2019. Retrieved 15 July 2019.
  56. ^ a b Potts, Marcus; Little, Martin; Tickell, Sam; Kilbey, Stephen (16 June 2018). "LM24 Hour 5: Dramas For ByKolles, Utterly Thrilling Action". DailySportsCar. Archived from the original on 19 October 2018. Retrieved 15 July 2019.
  57. ^ a b Cozens, Jack; Newbold, James; Klein, Jamie (16 June 2018). "Le Mans hour 5: Alonso takes lead from Lopez after safety car restart". Autosport. Archived from the original on 15 July 2019. Retrieved 15 July 2019.
  58. ^ Bradley, Charles (16 June 2018). "Montoya beats himself up over Le Mans shunt". motorsport.com. Archived from the original on 15 July 2019. Retrieved 15 July 2019.
  59. ^ Potts, Marcus; Tickell, Sam (16 June 2018). "LM24 Hour 6: The Relative Calm as Leaders Consolidate". DailySportsCar. Archived from the original on 15 July 2019. Retrieved 15 July 2019.
  60. ^ Potts, Marcus; Little, Martin; Kilbey, Stephen (16 June 2018). "LM24 Hour 7: Into Dusk And Toyotas Swap The Lead". DailySportsCar. Archived from the original on 16 July 2019. Retrieved 15 July 2019.
  61. ^ Cozens, Jack; Errington, Tom; Klein, Jamie (16 June 2018). "Le Mans hour 7: Leading Toyotas separated by less than one second". Autosport. Archived from the original on 15 July 2019. Retrieved 15 July 2019.
  62. ^ Cozens, Jack; Errington, Tom; Klein, Jamie (16 June 2018). "Le Mans hour 8: Kobayashi builds small lead for #7 Toyota". Autosport. Archived from the original on 15 July 2019. Retrieved 15 July 2019.
  63. ^ Kilbey, Stephen (16 June 2018). "LM24 Hour 8: Drama for LMP1 privateers as night falls". Racer. Archived from the original on 15 July 2019. Retrieved 15 July 2019.
  64. ^ a b Potts, Marcus; Little, Martin; Tickell, Sam (16 June 2018). "LM24 Hour 9: Toyota & Rebellion On Course". DailySportsCar. Archived from the original on 15 July 2019. Retrieved 15 July 2019.
  65. ^ Myrehn, Ryan; Kilshaw, James (16 June 2018). "Isaakyan, SMP Find Trouble in Hour 8". SportsCar365. Archived from the original on 15 July 2019. Retrieved 15 July 2019.
  66. ^ Cozens, Jack; Newbold, James; Errington, Tom (16 June 2018). "Le Mans hour 10: Penalty setback for #8 Toyota in second". Autosport. Archived from the original on 15 July 2019. Retrieved 15 July 2019.
  67. ^ Boeriu, Horatiu (17 June 2018). "BMW M8 GTE finishes 12th in its Le Mans debut". BMW Blog. Archived from the original on 10 July 2021. Retrieved 15 July 2019.
  68. ^ Errington, Tom; Newbold, James (17 June 2018). "Le Mans 24 Hours: Alonso catching Lopez at 12-hour mark". Autosport. Archived from the original on 15 July 2019. Retrieved 15 July 2019.
  69. ^ Goodwin, Graham; Potts, Marcus (16 June 2018). "LM24 Hour 13: Delay For #3 Rebellion, #40 ORECA Out". DailySportsCar. Archived from the original on 15 July 2019. Retrieved 15 July 2019.
  70. ^ Errington, Tom; Newbold, James (17 June 2018). "Le Mans 24 Hours H13: Late slow zone gives López Alonso reprieve". Autosport. Archived from the original on 15 July 2019. Retrieved 15 July 2019.
  71. ^ a b Dagys, John (17 June 2018). "Rebellions Hit Trouble; Toyota Advantage Extended". SportsCar365. Archived from the original on 15 July 2019. Retrieved 15 July 2019.
  72. ^ a b Goodwin, Graham (17 June 2018). "LM24 Hour 14: Second Rebellion entry loses ground". Racer. Archived from the original on 15 July 2019. Retrieved 15 July 2019.
  73. ^ Watkins, Gary; Cozens, Jack (17 June 2018). "Le Mans 24 Hours: Kobayashi stabilises #7 Toyota's lead in hour 15". Autosport. Archived from the original on 15 July 2019. Retrieved 15 July 2019.
  74. ^ Watkins, Gary; Cozens, Jack; Klein, Jamie (17 June 2018). "Nakajima reclaims Le Mans 24 Hours lead in #8 at two-third distance". Autosport. Archived from the original on 15 July 2019. Retrieved 15 July 2019.
  75. ^ Little, Martin; Tickell, Sam (17 June 2018). "LM24 Hour 16: Drama For BMW & Dempsey Proton As The Sun Rises". DailySportsCar. Archived from the original on 15 July 2019. Retrieved 15 July 2019.
  76. ^ a b "24 Heures du Mans 2018: WEC, 2. Lauf, 24H Le Mans" (Press release) (in German). Proton Competition. 17 June 2018. Archived from the original on 15 July 2019. Retrieved 15 July 2019.
  77. ^ Kilbey, Stephen (17 June 2018). "LM24 Hour 17: DragonSpeed falters, Porsches static in GTE". Racer. Archived from the original on 15 July 2019. Retrieved 15 July 2019.
  78. ^ a b Potts, Marcus; Little, Martin; Tickell, Sam (17 June 2018). "LM24 Hour 17: The Race Comes Awake". DailySportsCar. Archived from the original on 25 October 2018. Retrieved 16 July 2019.
  79. ^ Potts, Marcus; Little, Martin; Tickell, Sam (17 June 2018). "LM24 Hour 18: Three-Quarter Distance". DailySportsCar. Archived from the original on 25 October 2018. Retrieved 16 July 2019.
  80. ^ a b Potts, Marcus; Little, Martin; Tickell, Sam; Kilbey, Stephen (17 June 2018). "LM 24 Hour 19: Safety Car Adds Spice". DailySportsCar. Archived from the original on 12 July 2019. Retrieved 16 July 2019.
  81. ^ Cozens, Jack; Errington, Tom; Klein, Jamie (17 June 2018). "Le Mans hour 19: Alonso leads by more than one minute in Toyota #8". Autosport. Archived from the original on 16 July 2019. Retrieved 16 July 2019.
  82. ^ McGill, Jim (17 June 2018). "Crash ends Paul Di Resta's Le Mans dream". The Scotsman. Archived from the original on 16 July 2019. Retrieved 16 July 2019.
  83. ^ Potts, Marcus; Little, Martin; Tickell, Sam (17 June 2018). "LM24 Hour 20: The Battle Hots Up in GTE-Pro". DailySportsCar. Archived from the original on 16 July 2019. Retrieved 16 July 2019.
  84. ^ Kilshaw, Jake (17 June 2018). "Problems for Contending Ligiers in Hour 20". SportsCar365. Archived from the original on 16 July 2019. Retrieved 16 July 2019.
  85. ^ a b Potts, Marcus; Little, Martin; Tickell, Sam; Kilbey, Stephen (17 June 2018). "LM24 Hour 21: Porsche vs Ford to the Limit". DailySportsCar. Archived from the original on 12 July 2019. Retrieved 16 July 2019.
  86. ^ Errington, Tom; Newbold, James; Klein, Jamie (17 June 2018). "Le Mans hour 22: Nakajima takes over leading Toyota from Alonso". Autosport. Archived from the original on 16 July 2019. Retrieved 16 July 2019.
  87. ^ Kilbey, Stephen (17 June 2018). "LM24 Hour 22: No.8 Toyota closing in on victory". Racer. Archived from the original on 16 July 2019. Retrieved 16 July 2019.
  88. ^ Cozens, Jack; Newbold, James; Klein, Jamie (17 June 2018). "Le Mans hour 23: Kobayashi pit error costs #7 Toyota a lap". Autosport. Archived from the original on 16 July 2019. Retrieved 16 July 2019.
  89. ^ Dagys, John (17 June 2018). "Drama for No. 7 Toyota in Hour 23". SportsCar365. Archived from the original on 16 July 2019. Retrieved 16 July 2019.
  90. ^ a b Dagys, John (17 June 2018). "Toyota Dominates 24H Le Mans; Alonso Wins on Debut". SportsCar365. Archived from the original on 16 July 2019. Retrieved 16 July 2019.
  91. ^ a b c Goodwin, Graham (17 June 2018). "2018 Le Mans 24 Hours, The Winners & Podium Finishers". DailySportsCar. Archived from the original on 25 October 2018. Retrieved 16 July 2019.
  92. ^ a b Baldwin, Alan (17 June 2018). Osmond, Ed (ed.). "Toyota win Le Mans with double F1 champion Alonso". Reuters. Archived from the original on 16 July 2019. Retrieved 16 July 2019.
  93. ^ a b "FIA WEC – 86º Edition des 24 Heures du Mans – Race – Leader Sequence" (PDF). FIA World Endurance Championship. 17 June 2018. Retrieved 16 July 2019.
  94. ^ Miller, Fiona (17 June 2018). "Porsche celebrates 70th anniversary in style with Le Mans victories". FIA World Endurance Championship. Archived from the original on 16 July 2019. Retrieved 16 July 2019.
  95. ^ Saunders, Nate (21 June 2018). "Fernando Alonso: My Le Mans win was the greatest of all time". ESPN. Archived from the original on 28 September 2018. Retrieved 16 July 2019.
  96. ^ Errington, Tom (17 June 2018). "Fernando Alonso feared repeat of Indy 500 heartbreak at Le Mans". Autosport. Archived from the original on 16 July 2019. Retrieved 16 July 2019.
  97. ^ Dagys, John (17 June 2018). "Nakajima: Le Mans Win a "Long Time" Coming". SportsCar365. Archived from the original on 28 April 2019. Retrieved 16 July 2019.
  98. ^ Kilbey, Stephen (17 June 2018). "Le Mans win moves Toyota past 2016 heartbreak". Racer. Archived from the original on 16 July 2019. Retrieved 16 July 2019.
  99. ^ Klein, Jamie; Watkins, Gary (19 June 2018). "2018 Le Mans 24 Hours Jani's 'most boring' and just 'a procession'". Autosport. Archived from the original on 16 July 2019. Retrieved 16 July 2019.
  100. ^ a b Klein, Jamie; Wittemeier, Roman (20 June 2018). "WEC must "wake up" after Toyota Le Mans rout – Lotterer". motorsport.com. Archived from the original on 24 April 2019. Retrieved 16 July 2019.
  101. ^ Klein, Jamie; Wittemeier, Roman (19 June 2018). "Porsche: Bourdais had no right to complain about Makowiecki". motorsport.com. Archived from the original on 16 July 2019. Retrieved 16 July 2019.
  102. ^ a b "Le Mans 24 LMP2 winners disqualified over refueling violation". Autoweek. 18 June 2018. Archived from the original on 16 July 2019. Retrieved 16 July 2019.
  103. ^ Lloyd, Daniel (21 June 2018). "G-Drive, TDS Appeal LMP2 Exclusions". SportsCar365. Archived from the original on 16 July 2019. Retrieved 16 July 2019.
  104. ^ Baudet, Philippe (18 September 2018). "Toujours pas de verdict, Signatech-Alpine commence à trouver le temps très long". Le Berry Républicain (in French). Retrieved 16 July 2019.
  105. ^ Watkins, Gary (2 October 2018). "G-Drive loses appeal against disqualification from Le Mans LMP2 win". Autosport. Archived from the original on 4 January 2019. Retrieved 16 July 2019.
  106. ^ a b "FIA WEC 86th 24 Heures du Mans Race – Provisional Classification" (PDF). Automobile Club de l'Ouest. 17 June 2018. Archived from the original (PDF) on 16 July 2018. Retrieved 17 June 2018.
  107. ^ a b c d Dagys, John (18 June 2018). "No. 67 Ford Loses Fourth in GTE-Pro Due to Drive Time Infraction". Sportscar365. Archived from the original on 20 August 2018. Retrieved 18 June 2018.
  108. ^ "2018 24 Hours of Le Mans". Racing-Reference. Archived from the original on 18 May 2019. Retrieved 9 January 2020.
  109. ^ "Le Mans 24 Hours 2018". Racing Sports Cars. Archived from the original on 9 January 2020. Retrieved 9 January 2020.
[edit]
Wikimedia Commons has media related to 2018 24 Hours of Le Mans.
External videos
video icon 2018 24 Hours of Le Mans on YouTube


FIA World Endurance Championship
Previous race:
6 Hours of Spa-Francorchamps 		2018–19 season Next race:
6 Hours of Silverstone
Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=2018_24_Hours_of_Le_Mans&oldid=1253679124#Entries"