Alonso, Buemi and Nakajima take WEC title with Le Mans win

    The #8 Toyota inherited the lead after the sister #7 car ran into problems in the final hour of the 24 Hours of Le Mans.

    Published On Jun 17, 2019 12:37:00 PM

    6,521 Views

    Toyota Gazoo Racing’s Fernando Alonso, Sebastien Buemi and Kazuki Nakajima – driving the #8 TS050 Hybrid – took a surprise win at the 24 Hours of Le Mans after the sister #7 Toyota car suffered a puncture in the final hour of the endurance race. The result sees Alonso, Buemi and Nakajima secure the World Endurance Drivers’ Championship, adding to the Manufacturers’ Championship title that Toyota had won at Spa.

    The #7 TS050 Hybrid – driven by Mike Conway, Kamui Kobayashi and Jose Maria Lopez had held a strong lead for majority of the race after starting from pole position. However, with just an hour to go, the car slowed down with Jose Maria Lopez behind the wheel, after already pitting for a suspected puncture. Toyota later confirmed that while the car’s tyre pressure sensors indicated a front-right puncture, it was actually the right-rear tyre that suffered a puncture. As a result, Lopez had to head to the pits once again, handing the lead to the #8 car driven by Nakajima.

    Nakajima held on to that lead to cross the chequered flag 16.972 seconds ahead of Lopez. Vitaly Petrov, Mikhail Aleshin and Le Mans debutant Stoffel Vandoorne took 3rd place in the SMP Racing No. 11 car, a distant 6 laps behind the Toyotas.

    In the LMP2 class, Signatech Alpine Matmut was able to defend its Le Mans LMP2 title, with Nicolas Lapierre, André Negrao and Pierre Thiriet taking the class victory in the #36 Ligier JSP217 – Gibson car. The team inherited the lead after #26 G-Drive Racing Aurus-branded ORECA – driven by Roman Rusinov, Jean-Eric Vergne and Job van Uitert lost 20 minutes at a scheduled pitstop due to a mechanical issue. The result helped Signatech Alpine Matmut secure the LMP2 title from Jackie Chan DC Racing, with the latter’s #38 Jackie Chan DC Racing Oreca driven by Ho-Pin Tung, Stephane Richelmi and Gabriel Aubry taking 2nd place.

    Indian racer Arjun Maini was also contesting his first 24 Hours of Le Mans, racing the #43 Oreca 07-Gibson for British team RLR MSport alongside Norman Nato and John Farano. Unfortunately, the car was running in the top 15 when it retired due to a mechanical issue, just over four hours from the finish.

    The #51 AF Corse 488 GTE driven by James Calado, Alessandro Pier Guidi and Daniel Serra took victory in the GTE Pro class, handing Ferrari its first win the class since 2014. Meanwhile, Keating Motorsports' privateer Ford GT driven by Ben Keating, Jeroen Bleekemolen and Felipe Frag overcame a stop-and-go penalty to win in the GTE Am class.

    Results

    POS

    CLASS

    CAR

    DRIVERS

    LAPS

    GAP

    1

    LMP1

    #8 Toyota

    Buemi, Nakajima, Alonso

    385

     

    2

    LMP1

    #7 Toyota

    Conway, Kobayashi, Lopez

    385

    + 16.972s

    3

    LMP1

    #11 BR

    Petrov, Aleshin, Vandoorne

    379

    + 6 Laps

    4

    LMP1

    #1 Rebellion

    Jani, Lotterer, Senna

    376

    + 9 Laps

    5

    LMP1

    #3 Rebellion

    Laurent, Berthon, Menezes

    370

    + 15 Laps

    6

    LMP2

    #36 Alpine

    Lapierre, Negrao, Thiriet

    368

    + 17 Laps

    7

    LMP2

    #38 Oreca

    Tung, Richelmi, Aubry

    367

    + 18 Laps

    8

    LMP2

    #28 Oreca

    Perrodo, Vaxiviere, Duval

    366

    + 19 Laps

    9

    LMP2

    #22 Ligier

    Hanson, Albuquerque, Di Resta

    365

    + 20 Laps

    10

    LMP2

    #48 Oreca

    Lafargue, Chatin, Rojas

    364

    + 21 Laps

    11

    LMP2

    #26 Aurus

    Rusinov, Van Uitert, Vergne

    364

    + 24.853s

    12

    LMP2

    #30 Oreca

    Jamin, Ragues, Dumas

    363

    + 22 Laps

    13

    LMP2

    #23 Ligier

    Binder, Canal, Stevens

    362

    + 23 Laps

    14

    LMP2

    #39 Oreca

    Gommendy, Capillaire, Hirschi

    362

    + 0.930s

    15

    LMP2

    #25 Oreca

    Zollinger, Pizzitola, Falb

    357

    + 28 Laps

    16

    LMP2

    #20 Oreca

    Fjordbach, Andersen, Beche

    356

    + 29 Laps

    17

    LMP2

    #50 Ligier

    Creed, Ricci, Boulle

    355

    + 30 Laps

    18

    LMP2

    #47 Dallara

    Lacorte, Sernagiotto, Belicchi

    352

    + 33 Laps

    19

    LMP2

    #32 Ligier

    Cullen, Brundle, Owen

    348

    + 37 Laps

    20

    GTE Pro

    #51 Ferrari

    Pier Guidi, Calado, Serra

    342

    + 43 Laps

    21

    GTE Pro

    #91 Porsche

    Lietz, Bruni, Makowiecki

    342

    + 49.193s

    22

    GTE Pro

    #93 Porsche

    Pilet, Bamber, Tandy

    342

    + 1m07.157s

    23

    GTE Pro

    #68 Ford

    Hand, Muller, Bourdais

    342

    + 2m12.161s

    24

    GTE Pro

    #67 Ford

    Priaulx, Tincknell, Bomarito

    342

    + 3m23.128s

    25

    GTE Pro

    #69 Ford

    Briscoe, Westbrook, Dixon

    341

    + 44 Laps

    26

    GTE Pro

    #66 Ford

    Mucke, Pla, Johnson

    340

    + 45 Laps

    27

    LMP2

    #29 Dallara

    Van Eerd, Van Der Garde, De Vries

    340

    + 1m57.322s

    28

    GTE Pro

    #94 Porsche

    Muller, Jaminet, Olsen

    339

    + 46 Laps

    29

    GTE Pro

    #63 Chevrolet

    Magnussen, Garcia, Rockenfeller

    337

    + 48 Laps

    30

    GTE Pro

    #92 Porsche

    Christensen, Estre, Vanthoor

    337

    + 1m57.103s

    31

    GTE Pro

    #82 BMW

    Farfus, Da Costa, Krohn

    335

    + 50 Laps

    32

    GTE Am

    #85 Ford

    Keating, Bleekemolen, Fraga

    334

    + 51 Laps

    33

    GTE Am

    #56 Porsche

    Bergmeister, Lindsey, Perfetti

    334

    + 44.943s

    34

    GTE Am

    #84 Ferrari

    Segal, Baptista, Lu

    334

    + 1m29.127s

    35

    GTE Am

    #62 Ferrari

    Macneil, Vilander, Smith

    333

    + 52 Laps

    36

    GTE Am

    #77 Porsche

    Campbell, Ried, Andlauer

    332

    + 53 Laps

    37

    GTE Am

    #57 Ferrari

    Kimura, Cozzolino, Ledogar

    332

    + 22.399s

    38

    GTE Am

    #78 Porsche

    Prette, Prette, Abril

    332

    + 2m49.697s

    39

    GTE Am

    #61 Ferrari

    Perez-Companc, Griffin, Cressoni

    331

    + 54 Laps

    40

    GTE Am

    #54 Ferrari

    Flohr, Castellacci, Fisichella

    331

    + 1.505s

    41

    GTE Am

    #86 Porsche

    Wainwright, Barker, Preining

    331

    + 1m05.858s

    42

    GTE Am

    #83 Ferrari

    Gostner, Frey, Gatting

    330

    + 55 Laps

    43

    GTE Pro

    #89 Ferrari

    Derani, Jarvis, Gounon

    329

    + 56 Laps

    44

    GTE Am

    #70 Ferrari

    Ishikawa, Beretta, Cheever

    328

    + 57 Laps

    45

    GTE Am

    #90 Aston

    Yoluc, Hankey, Eastwood

    327

    + 58 Laps

    46

    GTE Pro

    #97 Aston

    Martin, Lynn, Adam

    325

    + 60 Laps

    47

    LMP2

    #34 Ligier

    Smiechowski, Winslow, Moore

    325

    + 1m29.998s

    48

    GTE Am

    #60 Ferrari

    Schiavoni, Pianezzola, Piccini

    324

    + 61 Laps

    49

    GTE Pro

    #81 BMW

    Catsburg, Tomczyk, Eng

    309

    + 76 Laps

    50

    LMP2

    #43 Oreca

    Farano, Maini, Nato

    295

    + 90 Laps

    51

    LMP2

    #31 Oreca

    Gonzalez, Maldonado, Davidson

    245

    + 140 Laps

    52

    LMP2

    #37 Oreca

    Heinemeier-Hansson, King, Taylor

    199

    + 186 Laps

    53

    LMP1

    #17 BR

    Sarrazin, Orudzhev, Sirotkin

    163

    + 222 Laps

    54

    LMP1

    #4 Enso

    Dillmann, Webb, Ruberti

    163

    + 2h35m00.370s

    55

    LMP2

    #49 Ligier

    Konopka, Enqvist, Tereschenko

    160

    + 225 Laps

    56

    GTE Pro

    #71 Ferrari

    Rigon, Bird, Molina

    140

    + 245 Laps

    57

    GTE Pro

    #95 Aston

    Thiim, Sorensen, Turner

    132

    + 253 Laps

    58

    GTE Am

    #98 Aston

    Dalla Lana, Lamy, Lauda

    87

    + 298 Laps

    59

    GTE Pro

    #64 Chevrolet

    Gavin, Milner, Fassler

    82

    + 303 Laps

    60

    GTE Am

    #88 Porsche

    Hoshino, Roda Jr, Cairoli

    79

    + 306 Laps

    61

    LMP1

    #10 BR

    Hedman, Hanley, Van Der Zande

    76

    + 309 Laps

     

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