Porsche, so close to the comeback of the decade at the 24 Hours of Le Mans
With three cars entered, the German manufacturer could have dreamed big. The feat with #6 was not far off.
There is reason to have regrets. Porsche came very close to winning the 24 Hours of Le Mans. Without that disqualification of the #6 in qualifying, who knows what the crew of this hypercar could have done?
A frenzied pace, a phenomenal start, and intense pressure on Ferrari. On board, Kevin Estre, Laurens Vanthoor, and Matt Campbell were perfect. Despite an evident lack of performance compared to the Scuderia, the crew of the German car can have no regrets: they gave it their all and achieved a fantastic result. It may not be the victory, but climbing from last to second place is something fantastic.
An absolutely incredible race, sums up Jonathan Diuguid, managing director of Porsche Penske Motorsport. Our three factory cars ran without any technical issues. It was in the pit lane that we had to spare the number 6 car the least, which explains why it achieved the best position within our team. Our performance was perfect, we just lacked a bit of speed in certain phases of the race. We will come back even stronger next year.
Despite all these positive aspects, the drivers of car #6 obviously shared regrets and a certain disappointment at coming so close to the Grail. “We ran an absolutely perfect race and we practically had a hand on the biggest trophy – it’s rare to be so close to such a triumph. It’s a shame,” says Laurens Vanthoor.
The performance of #6 was so exceptional that one could almost forget the two other cars in the race. The #5 also made a fantastic start, snatching the lead from the two Cadillacs on the Hunaudières straight. This excellent start to the race was marred by penalties and a puncture that cost a lot of time. In the end, it finished in fifth place. « We fought like lions, but I have never experienced such tight competition at Le Mans. The pace was incredibly high, and it was incredibly exciting », analyzes Julien Andlauer.
Finally, the Porsche #4 was certainly the most anonymous of the Stuttgart cars. Like many competitors in this race, what went wrong were the various penalties taken by the drivers. We lost any chance of success relatively early due to a penalty and bad luck during a yellow flag phase. It is difficult to make up a lost lap under such circumstances. After that, a race like this is obviously very long. Personally, I had a lot of fun, it was a great new experience. I learned a lot and became faster and faster. My first 24-hour race at Le Mans: super cool, shares Pascal Wehrlein, for whom it was the first time at Le Mans. The German and his teammates finished in eighth position.
