24 Hours of Le Mans: Corvette disappointed by its double retirement
While both cars were dominating the race, one was forced to retire due to a mechanical issue, and the other, which was leading its category, was sent into the barrier by an LMP2 car.
The Corvette number 64 was heading for an easy victory, but fate decided otherwise. With only a few hours left in this long race, the Sims-Tandy-Milner trio’s car was leading by almost a minute. But on the straight line of Hunaudières, it got caught in the middle of an LMP2 battle and became the collateral damage.
While a first prototype had a very slight deviation, the AF Corse number 83 of François Perrodo also had one, but more pronounced, as there was contact with the Corvette number 64. The latter had to retire after hitting the barrier. However, Alexander Sims doesn’t hold a grudge against the Frenchman, as he was heading – barring any issues – towards victory.
“It’s never pleasant when things beyond our control happen, but we’re on track with 60 other cars and human errors are possible. I’m certain Perrodo didn’t anticipate it, we were just in the wrong place at the wrong time,” he told Motorsport.com.
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« We had done everything we could until then, we were very good. Naturally, it was extremely disappointing. When you know that you have no more chance, in a way it’s hard to swallow. I wouldn’t say that [the victory] was guaranteed, but we were in a relatively comfortable position, we had a good pace and we were in the lead with an acceptable lead. »
The second GTE PRO, number 63, also had to throw in the towel after numerous visible and invisible mechanical damages at the back of the car, as specified by the team. It was not clear if this was a continuation of a previous suspension problem during the first six hours of the race. All efforts were made to get the car back on track, but due to safety concerns for the team’s drivers and other competitors, the decision was made to retire.
