Sports blog information from USA TODAY.
Seven-time NASCAR champion Jimmie Johnson describes the feelings of receiving so much support from fans at the 24 Hours of Le Mans before climbing in and driving the Garage 56 NASCAR Chevy Camaro ZL1 Cup car through the streets of Le Mans to the …
Seven-time NASCAR champion Jimmie Johnson describes the feelings of receiving so much support from fans at the 24 Hours of Le Mans before climbing in and driving the Garage 56 NASCAR Chevy Camaro ZL1 Cup car through the streets of Le Mans to the circuit as part of a special vehicle parade.
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Formula 1 world champion Jenson Button and teammate Jimmie Johnson and Mike Rockenfeller finally got to turn official laps in the Garage 56 NASCAR Chevy Camaro ZL1 Cup car during the test day for the 24 Hours of Le Mans, which comes after one year …
Formula 1 world champion Jenson Button and teammate Jimmie Johnson and Mike Rockenfeller finally got to turn official laps in the Garage 56 NASCAR Chevy Camaro ZL1 Cup car during the test day for the 24 Hours of Le Mans, which comes after one year of incredible effort by Hendrick Motorsports and the rest of the project’s partners to bring the program to life.
Or CLICK HERE to watch on YouTube.
Take a look at the opening day of activities for the 100th anniversary of the 24 Hours of Le Mans with the Garage 56 team from NASCAR and Hendrick Motorsports with Marshall Pruett as the Le Mans-tuned Chevy Camaro ZL1 Cup car goes through technical …
Take a look at the opening day of activities for the 100th anniversary of the 24 Hours of Le Mans with the Garage 56 team from NASCAR and Hendrick Motorsports with Marshall Pruett as the Le Mans-tuned Chevy Camaro ZL1 Cup car goes through technical inspection in the center of town.
Or CLICK HERE to watch on YouTube.
Ferrari AF Corse maintained its advantage in the second and final Le Mans Test Session 2 at Circuit de la Sarthe, run on a hot afternoon to conclude Test Day. After the No. 50 Ferrari 499P led the first session with Antonio Fuoco, the No. 51 Ferrari …
Ferrari AF Corse maintained its advantage in the second and final Le Mans Test Session 2 at Circuit de la Sarthe, run on a hot afternoon to conclude Test Day.
After the No. 50 Ferrari 499P led the first session with Antonio Fuoco, the No. 51 Ferrari turned up the wick to record the fastest time of the day — a 3m29.504s by Antonio Giovinazzi. Ferrari Driver Academy graduate Fuoco set a 3m29.856s in the No. 50 car, although that was only enough to make him fourth fastest in the afternoon.
Two Hypercars that spent significant time in the garage this morning recovered to show well in the afternoon. After an electrical issue brought it to a stop in the first session, the No. 93 Peugeot TotalEnergies 9X8 got back on track to make up for the lost time. The No. 75 Porsche Penske Motorsports 963 also spent a lot of the session in its garage undergoing a brake system component change, but it was able to get out for some running in the last hour.
Laurens Vanthoor wound up second fastest in the No. 6 Penske Porsche 963, just over a tenth away from Giovinazzi’s best time, while Felipe Nasr went fifth fastest in the No. 75 Porsche at the very end, just ahead of the No. 5 Porsche of Frederic Makowiecki.
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Toyota Gazoo Racing’s morning test came to a disappointing end when Mike Conway crashed the No. 7 Toyota GR010 HYBRID at Tetre Rouge. After two hours of repairs, the No. 7 was not only back on track, but third fastest and completed 39 laps. The sister No. 8 Toyota wasn’t up near the top of the time sheets but did log laps steadily — with the reminder to all that these times likely won’t be representative of the days to come.
Paul di Resta was fastest for Peugeot, setting a 3m30.427s in the once-ailing No. 93 car, good for seventh fastest. Not far behind, the “blue deuce” No. 2 Cadillac Racing V-Series.R of Earl Bamber was the best of the marque. All three Cadillacs had trouble-free test sessions.
Even the three privately-built Hypercars, the No. 4 Floyd Vanwall Racing Team Vandervell 680 and the two Glickenhaus Racing 007s, were able to show flashes of competitive pace over one lap.
JOTA’s “Mighty 38” may have been elevated to Hypercar but its No. 28 ORECA 07 still gives the team a fighting presence in LMP2. Pietro Fittipaldi set the car’s best time towards the end of the afternoon session at 3m35.472s – the only man to surpass the sub-3m36s bracket.
Fittipaldi took the top spot from the No. 31 Team WRT ORECA which had been leading the time sheets courtesy of Ferdinand Habsburg. In third was the No. 35 Alpine Elf Team ORECA of Andre Negrao, looking a little more representative of the best that the Signatech-operated squad has to offer, with Matthieu Vaxiviere right behind him in fourth aboard the refreshed No. 36. Tom Blomqvist was fifth fastest aboard the No. 23 United Autosports ORECA.
In LMGTE Am, the No. 66 JMW Motorsport Ferrari 488 GTE EVO was quickest for the second straight session. Louis Prette paced the morning test, but this time Thomas Neubauer had the fastest time at 3m56.088s. Less than a tenth of a second adrift was Francesco Castellacci in the silver No. 54 AF Corse Ferrari, while Daniel Serra made it a Ferrari 1-2-3 class result in the fluorescent yellow No. 57 Kessel Racing (CarGuy) Ferrari.
But the top Porsche wasn’t very far back — there were only two-tenths separating Neubauer from fourth-fastest Benjamin Barker in the No. 86 GR Racing Porsche.
But the biggest impression of the day might have been made by Hendrick Motorsports’ Garage 56 car. The No. 24 Camaro ZL1 lapped more than two seconds better than the quickest time in GTE Am, with Mike Rockenfeller reeling off a 3m53.761s early in the test, showing more of the NASCAR entry’s potential.
“It was incredible.”@JimmieJohnson made the most of his first run out at Le Mans. pic.twitter.com/FrlmYf5xcx
— NASCARG56 (@nascarg56) June 4, 2023
UP NEXT: Official practice for the 24 Hours of Le Mans begins with Free Practice 1 set for 2pm local time on Wednesday.
The first test session for the centenary edition of the 24 Hours of Le Mans – one of two sessions on Test Day ahead of next weekend’s race – ended with the No. 50 Ferrari AF Corse 499P of Antonio Fuoco leading the field of 62 cars with a time of …
The first test session for the centenary edition of the 24 Hours of Le Mans — one of two sessions on Test Day ahead of next weekend’s race — ended with the No. 50 Ferrari AF Corse 499P of Antonio Fuoco leading the field of 62 cars with a time of 3m30.886s. But the session included a setback for Hypercar heavyweight Toyota when Mike Conway got into the grass with his No. 7 Toyota Gazoo Racing GR010 HYBRID and spun into the barrier at Tertre Rouge.
Conway was uninjured but the incident inflicted significant damage to the front body panels of the Toyota. The crash led to a red flag which brought an early end to the session.
Behind Fuoco, Peugeot also enjoyed an encouraging start as its No. 94 Peugeot 9X8 was fast and trouble-free, completing a session-best 31 laps with Gustavo Menezes setting the second-fastest time, at 3m31.346s (a faster lap of 3m31.189s was deleted for exceeding track limits). However, the sister car stopped on track early in the session with a mechanical issue.
The Porsche 963s now look fast too. Laurens Vanthoor in the No. 6 Penske Porsche Motorsport 963 set a time of 3m30.787s which would have stood as the fastest — had it not been deleted for exceeding track limits as well. Even so, Porsche still was represented in the top three as Yifei Ye reeled off a 3m31.477s in the No. 38 Hertz Team JOTA 963. The second Ferrari of James Calado was fourth fastest.
Conway wound up fifth fastest with a 3m31.856s, just 0.2s ahead of the fastest Cadillac V-Series.R, the yellow No. 3 from the Chip Ganassi Racing-run squad courtesy of Renger van der Zande.
Reshad de Gerus was a surprise pacesetter in the LMP2 class, driving the No. 47 COOL Racing ORECA to a time of 3m36.409s — faster than two of the Hypercars, and a full second quicker than the next-fastest driver in the class.
Louis Prette took the No. 66 JMW Motorsport Ferrari 488 GTE EVO left the way in LMGTE Am with a 3m56.623s.
The NASCAR Garage 56 entry got off to a strong start, too: The No. 24 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 looked competitive with the GTE Am field, especially in the hands of Jenson Button, who set a 3m56.880s, which would have been fourth-quickest in the GTE Am running order.
The ACO has confirmed that tire warmers are set to be re-introduced to the FIA World Endurance Championship for the 24 Hours of Le Mans next month, under a single-race exemption. According to the ACO, this decision has been made to ensure that …
The ACO has confirmed that tire warmers are set to be re-introduced to the FIA World Endurance Championship for the 24 Hours of Le Mans next month, under a single-race exemption.
According to the ACO, this decision has been made to ensure that “drivers of all experience levels will be able to compete in the safest possible environment regardless of track conditions and temperatures.”
It will also give “tire manufacturers, teams and drivers will gain valuable time to develop a better understanding of how to bring cold tires up to temperature ahead of the remainder of the 2023 FIA WEC season.”
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The return of tire warmers will apply to all three classes, with the warming ovens set to be powered by 100% sustainable fuel from the series’ exclusive supplier TotalEnergies.
This decision comes after several significant incidents impacted the 6 Hours of Spa weekend, caused by cars struggling on cold tires in the changeable conditions.
The new-for-2023 policy was originally introduced to reduce the FIA WEC’s environmental impact as part of a long-term tire “road map” after months of discussions with the series’ tire manufacturers, Michelin and Goodyear. However, the incidents for front-running Hypecars in Spa involving Brendon Hartley (Toyota) in qualifying at Raidillon and Antonio Fuoco (Ferrari) on the way down to Eau Rouge during the race, put the issue in the spotlight.
The reaction to the incidents included an openly critical statement after the race from Antonello Coletta, the head of Attiva Sportive GT.
“Starting from the assumption that the rules are the same for everyone and that we abide by them, I think we need to reflect on the ban on tire warmers,” he said. “It’s a common opinion in the paddock and among professionals, not to mention the drivers, that this situation has become dangerous. At Spa, there have been many accidents and extreme episodes due to cold temperatures and changeable weather, and it’s time to do some serious thinking on the matter because it has major ramifications for safety.
“We are on the eve of a decisive race like the 24 Hours of Le Mans where, overnight, temperatures are low and speeds very high. It’s not just an issue for us. The accidents involved different cars, from different classes, driven at the time by both professional and gentleman drivers, and this situation had already been predicted some time ago.”
RACER understands that Ferrari was the only manufacturer openly lobbying for this change.
The final gaps in the 2023 Le Mans 24 Hours entry list have been filled, with today’s release of the latest provisional entry list for the centenary race. There have been a handful of changes in the three main classes, though only in the driver …
The final gaps in the 2023 Le Mans 24 Hours entry list have been filled, with today’s release of the latest provisional entry list for the centenary race.
There have been a handful of changes in the three main classes, though only in the driver columns. There have been no changes to the list of teams, but the reserve list has been reduced to eight following a withdrawal from IMSA stalwart Risi Competizione.
With all 186 drivers now named, we have a clear picture of the level of quality in the field for this year’s running of the world’s greatest endurance race, set for June 10-11. The list includes no fewer than 16 drivers with F1 experience, two of whom are world champions: Jenson Button and Jacques Villeneuve. It also features 10 previous overall Le Mans winners, 11 WEC world drivers’ championship winners, five GTE Pro champions and 16 other class champions.
There are also title winners from various other global championship including NASCAR, IndyCar, Champ Car, IMSA and WTCC.
In Hypercar, the latest edition of the entry confirms the drivers for Glickenhaus Racing’s second 007 LMH. The No. 709 will be driven by Franck Mailleux, who stood in for Ryan Briscoe at Spa in the No. 708, Nathanael Berthon who will make his eighth Le Mans start and former Sauber and Haas F1 driver Esteban Gutierrez.
LMP2, meanwhile, sees a few new names confirmed.
In Prema Racing’s No. 9 WEC-entered ORECA, Juan Manuel Correa returns after missing Sebring and Spa due to his F2 commitments. It means future Lamborghini LMDh driver Andrea Caldarelli is without a drive in the race.
DKR Engineering brings a newly confirmed all-Belgian trio to the entry, with just one of the team’s ELMS full-season drivers, Tom Van Rompuy, set to drive. He will be joined by BMW factory driver Maxime Martin and Ugo de Wilde in the No. 43 Pro-Am entered ORECA.
The remaining tweaks and additions come in the GTE Am field, for the category’s final appearance at Le Mans.
At the top of the list, Jan Heylen is named alongside Ryan Hardwick and Zacharie Robichon in the No. 16 Proton Competition Porsche. Heylen becomes the team’s third co-driver of the season, after Harry Tincknell in the WEC races pre-Le Mans and Alessio Picariello in the ELMS season opener.
It may come as a surprise to some to see this lineup feature in the ELMS No. 16 rather than the FIA WEC No. 88, but Proton’s efforts will reshuffle after Le Mans with the arrival of its Porsche 963 for the Hypercar category.
With Hardwick and Robichon in the No. 16, the No. 88 that has contested the opening WEC races of the season will be driven by Harry Tincknell, Brendan Iribe and Oliver Millroy. Originally Gianmaria Bruni was listed as the car’s nominated first driver, but a drive for the 2022 GTE Pro Le Mans class winner has not come to fruition for what would have been his 15th start. However, the Italian ace is still expected to form part of Proton’s Porsche 963 effort in IMSA and WEC post-Le Mans, along with Tincknell.
In the third and final car entered by Proton, Martin Rump has been named, as expected, alongside his full-season ELMS teammates Michael Fassbender and Richard Lietz in the No. 911.
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Three of the Ferrari teams on the GTE Am list have added new names to the grid.
AF Corse’s No. 21 sees Diego Alessi’s seat taken up by Frenchman Julien Piguet. ELMS outfit JMW Motorsport has named a new set of drivers for its No. 66 488. The British team will race with Thomas Neubauer, Louis Prette and Giacomo Petrobelli. Meanwhile, Asian Le Mans Series GT3 title winner Walkenhorst Motorsport has signed Chandler Hull, Jeff Segal and Andrew Haryanto for its Le Mans debut.
There are no surprises from the Aston Martin teams in the entry, although this entry list confirms the addition of Heart of Racing trio Ian James, Daniel Mancinelli and Alex Riberas in the No. 98 Northwest AMR Vantage. They replace Paul Dalla Lana, Axcil Jefferies and Nicki Thiim, following PDL’s sudden retirement last month.
The absence of Dalla Lana and Thiim breaks two significant streaks. This year would have been Dalla Lana’s 11th start and Thiim’s 10th.
Inter Europol Competition has confirmed that Jan Magnussen will spearhead the driver lineup for its No. 32 LMP2 Pro-Am ORECA at this year’s Le Mans 24 Hours. The Polish team has signed the former longtime Corvette Racing factory driver for what will …
Inter Europol Competition has confirmed that Jan Magnussen will spearhead the driver lineup for its No. 32 LMP2 Pro-Am ORECA at this year’s Le Mans 24 Hours.
The Polish team has signed the former longtime Corvette Racing factory driver for what will be his 24th start in the race. The Dane, who made his debut at Le Mans in 1999, has four class wins to his name, all with Corvette in GT1, and will hope to add to his successes this year.
“It is extra special, as it will be my 24th participation in Le Mans,” he said. “Crazy to think that during my first race in 1999, I said to the press that I would not come back again. When I later crossed the finish line and saw the crew standing on the pit wall tired, dirty but also happy to see the car finish the race, everything changed.
“Since then, Le Mans has been the greatest moment of the year, and I’m happy to be back again for another try. With only weeks until the start, we have limited time for testing and preparation, but with a strong team behind us combined with a lineup of drivers with lots of long-distance experience, we are optimistic and looking forward to getting started.”
Magnussen will drive alongside fellow Dane Anders Fjordbach and Californian Mark Kvamme, who have both been teammates of his in the past.
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Magnussen has competed at Le Mans with Fjordbach, as part of High Class Racing’s LMP2 effort in his most recent start back in 2021. He also has 24-hour experience with Kvamme, sharing the No. 53 MDK Motorsports Porsche in the Rolex 24 At Daytona earlier this year.
In addition to the No. 32, Inter Europol will field its full-season FIA WEC-entered No. 34 ORECA in the race, with Jakub Smiechowski, Fabio Scherer and Albert Costa.
Porsche revealed an updated livery for the trio of 963 Hypercars that it will run at the Le Mans 24 Hours in June. The base design that Porsche Penske Motorsport’s 963s currently sport in the FIA World Endurance Championship will remain, but the …
Porsche revealed an updated livery for the trio of 963 Hypercars that it will run at the Le Mans 24 Hours in June.
The base design that Porsche Penske Motorsport’s 963s currently sport in the FIA World Endurance Championship will remain, but the update — revealed ahead of tomorrow’s 6 Hours of Spa-Francorchamps — adds stripes to the cars to pay tribute to the brand’s motorsport successes in sports car racing as part of its 75th anniversary celebrations.
The Le Mans-only livery will feature 15 stripes in seven different colors, that will run from the front to the rear of the cars.
Porsche Penske Motorsport reveals Le Mans Centenary colours which celebrates heritage of the numerous iconic liveries of the brand in la Sarthe. ✨#WEC #LeMans24 @PorscheRaces pic.twitter.com/4NDl7fB71N
— FIA World Endurance Championship (@FIAWEC) April 28, 2023
The stripes feature colors from iconic Porsche liveries from the past including the Gulf, “Pink Pig,” “Hippie” and Salzburg 917s, Rothmans 956s, Martini-backed 936s, and Penske-run RS Spyders from the American Le Mans Series.
To differentiate between the three 963s, the fins on each engine cover will be painted in different colors: black for the No. 5 car, white for the No. 6 and red for the brand’s third car, the No. 75.
“In Le Mans, our three Porsche 963 will be truly eye-catching at the 75th anniversary of our brand and the 100th anniversary of the 24-hour race. I do not doubt that this design will immediately win the hearts of fans,” said Porsche’s vice president of motorsport, Thomas Laudenbach.
“We embraced the vehicle designs from Porsche’s rich and illustrious history at Le Mans,” he added. “The 917 as a pink ‘pig’ and the ‘hippie car’ from 1970 — these liveries have made racing history and are still popular today. With our special design on the three Porsche 963, we’re continuing this great tradition at Le Mans.”
“The Porsche 963 has a very long wheelbase, so we had to play with the proportions a bit,” explained Stephane Lenglin, Porsche exterior designer. “The lines of color fanning out to the rear lend beautiful dynamics and harmonious proportions.
“Working on this design was a lot of fun. We played with many different color combinations and finally settled on seven color schemes that allow an immediately recognizable look into Porsche’s long and illustrious history and the special Le Mans liveries. I’m sure that the cars will be well received by the fans.”
As Cadillac V-Series.R prototypes compete on two continents this weekend – in the GTP class of the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship in Long Beach and in the Hypercar class of the FIA World Endurance Championship in the six-hour race at …
As Cadillac V-Series.R prototypes compete on two continents this weekend — in the GTP class of the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship in Long Beach and in the Hypercar class of the FIA World Endurance Championship in the six-hour race at Portimao in Portugal — the Cadillac Racing teams are looking forward to the 24 Hour of Le Mans and working toward success in the world’s biggest endurance race.
For Action Express Racing, that will be a new experience. And while its No. 3 will see action in the six-hour race at Spa in two weeks’ time, Chip Ganassi Racing will run that car alongside its No. 2, with support and observation by key AXR personnel.
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“We’re fortunate to have the opportunity with CGR at Spa,” said AXR director of operations Chris Mitchum, who will travel to Spa for the race. “We will be much more than an interested watching party. Bill Keuler, our crew chief, will work on the 3 car with the Ganassi group. We’ve all gotten to this one-team point where we know each other and work together well.
“Not being a WEC team nor competing in the WEC, there are a lot of nuances that we know we don’t understand. One of our biggest goals is to understand the tech and inspection process. Having Bill as a mechanic on the ground to go through that and having myself there to watch the bigger picture and understand the flow is important to understand what the WEC officials are looking for and how the other teams operate. We want to take in as much as we can, and this is the best we can do without actually operating a car there.”
That won’t be the only preparation for Le Mans, as the team will do an endurance test at Road America with drivers Pipo Derani, Alexander Sims and Jack Aitken — the victorious trio from the Mobil 1 Twelve Hours of Sebring.
“CGR is doing an endurance test. We’re doing a two-day test at Road America with all three drivers with our WEC car, so that’s our Le Mans preparation. That will work out well,” Mitchum explained. “They’ll drive the car they’re going to drive at Le Mans, use the seat insert they use. We’ll work though all our test procedures, and GM has a tight list of things that need to get accomplished. I think in doing that, it’s the best preparation we can have with the landscape as it is.”
The logistics in conducting a multi-continent campaign, especially with the current supply chain issues and shortage of spares, is challenging, although Mitchum notes that the capabilities to move cars and equipment is much more advanced than the last time he looked at going to Le Mans 15 years ago. But the team still has to get the car from the Road America test to France, and much of the other equipment and spares are already on the way.
“We have some great partners that we’re utilizing. You end up dividing your thought process between what parts and pieces you can operate in IMSA without them here and what parts and pieces you need,” Mitchum said. “Our biggest challenge is how do we operate at the spares level we want, on two different continents effectively at the same time. You don’t want to just air freight everything; you have to be realistic. Our sea container with support pieces and parts that we need left when we landed here in Long Beach and then we’ll air freight our car just after Laguna.”
The team will still have a car in the U.S., the one it will race in the Sahlen’s Six Hours of the Glen. But the team will have everything it needs to keep going should the worst happen.
“We will still take our primary car, a spare tub and all the spares we need so that we operate on our disaster-times-two plan the same as we would in IMSA as we would over in France. We’ve outfitted the inside of that sea container so if we need to do some fabrication work, we can use it as a workshop. There is not a stress level of how is it going to come together; it’s constant attention.”
Mitchum and the team are realistic in their expectations for the 24 Hours of Le Mans. What they do expect is to learn as much as possible in order to be better when Action Express competes there again.
