43 teams (fielding 61 cars) competed in the 87th 24 Hours of Le Mans, the Super Finale of the FIA WEC 2018-19 World Endurance Championship. There were winners, of course, but also mechanical glitches, track incidents and early retirements. Joy for some, disappointment for others... Here’s a summary of the 24 Hours of Le Mans for the MR Racing team, which ran in the LMGTE Am class.

24H Le Mans

Le Mans Series

24 Heures du Mans

FIA WEC

Eduardo Freitas has officiated at the 24 Hours of Le Mans as Race Director since 2012. He explains the whys and wherefores of one of the lynchpins of the race regulations.

<p>&quot;Well, everything has to have a beginning and an end. Under the FIA&rsquo;s code of driving, cars should be contained between the two white lines,&rdquo; states Eduardo Freitas, making the boundaries clear from the outset. &quot;A driver is free to develop her or his own style and technique, within those limits. Abusing a track limit is gaining a sporting advantage, otherwise drivers wouldn&#39;t do it. If it&#39;s a mistake it&#39;s a mistake, but in certain places, the way that they do it, you can clearly see it&#39;s not a mistake. However, from where we stand, they are treated as mistakes because if we treated them all as track limits, we would have to report all of them to the stewards.&quot;</p>

<h2>A safety issue</h2>

<p>Freitas explains: &ldquo;Coming back to the white lines: we do simulate speeds of the cars on track. So, if you allow a car to start cutting on the inside of a turn and going wide on the exit of a turn, the speed will obviously be faster. Then we calculate runoffs. And in the runoffs, you will see tyre barriers, high speed barriers, and so on. The idea is to dissipate energy [to slow the car] if things go wrong. On one hand we&#39;re trying to create runoffs long enough to accommodate a car that loses control, but if we then allow cars to go faster than we accounted for, by cutting corners, then we have a safety issue.&rdquo; The Race Director adds that the calculations include a margin for error.</p>

<h2>Rebellion quashed</h2>

<p>&quot;There was a mutiny a few years ago here in Le Mans. I found out which driver, a GT driver, was the leader. I believe in discussion, so I called the driver to my office. I said, listen, do you know why we monitor track limits? and he replied that it was a pain, so I asked again. Do you know why we do it? &lsquo;Yeah, it&#39;s because of the lines.&rsquo; I said, it&rsquo;s not just that. Here, this is a simulation of a GT car on this circuit. We know that the GT will be doing this racing line, if he loses control here, he will be at this speed, correct? Yeah. What happens if he cuts here and I let him go wide there, he&#39;ll be faster, but look at his impact. Energy. If I allow him to go faster, his impact will be bigger, correct? There was a moment of silence and then &lsquo;Ah. We didn&#39;t know that.&rsquo; Once he understood why we monitor track limits, he totally changed his attitude.&quot;</p>

<h2>Monitoring</h2>

<p>So how does the Race Director monitor track limits? &quot;There are several ways. We have judges of fact, which is a role given to some of the marshals stationed all around the track. Each time a car crosses the line, they note, with pencil and paper, the number and time of day and report it to race control. Another method is by GPS, which is less reliable. We use a combination of GPS and camera in our track limit analysis system. With the camera, we can immediately identify the car and wipe the time for that lap.&quot;</p>

24 Heures du Mans 2024 - ONBOARD PORSCHE #6 KEVIN ESTRE / HYPERPOLE

24 Heures du Mans 2024 - A bord de la Porsche n°6 avec Kevin Estre

<h2>The particularities of Le Mans</h2>

<p>The Dunlop Chicane is a sticking point. &ldquo;Since we did away with tyre warmers, there&rsquo;s a tendency to cut the right-hand corner.&rdquo; It&rsquo;s hard not to make mistakes with cold tyres. But the Race Director could see it wasn&rsquo;t always a mistake. We gave ourselves a year to find the solution. We came up with GPS geo fencing. We take a close look every time we see that someone has gone wide.&quot;</p>

<p>Alterations have been made to the end of the last chicane on the left. K&eacute;vin Estre&rsquo;s 2024 pole position was the subject of debate because the Porsche driver had brushed the boundaries at that spot. &quot;The car was on track, but to be able to ascertain that the car was on the track, you need to zoom in, you need to expand, compensate the pixelization of the image.&quot; Freitas took the issue to the ACO. &ldquo;Between the white line and the edge of the asphalt, you can clearly fit a car.&quot; So, they decided to put the white line behind the kerb. It was not so for Test Day, but will be repainted today, assures Freitas. &quot;Would I do the same in Tertre Rouge, for example? No, it&#39;s totally out of the question. At Tertre Rouge, we have a different solution to make it dissuasive to go out. At Tertre Rouge and Karting, it&#39;s not just a matter of moving a line. You need to keep the line where it is and create a deterrent because they are fast corners. Very fast corners. For the runoffs we don&#39;t have a lot of margin to play with. So we need other deterrents. Gravel strips do a magnificent job of that.&quot;</p>

<h2>Penalties</h2>

<p>Race control detects offences. We report them to another body, the stewards, who decide on the penalty. They take time to refer to the rulebook and look at the driver&rsquo;s record. How many times has she or he done this during the season? A &ldquo;regular customer&rdquo; will face a stiffer penalty. During Free Practice all infringement penalties are cancelled. However, extra penalties can be added for repeated infringements. For example, on Test Day, if a driver carries on after the black/white flag (4th track limit infringement) he or she will be handed a 5-minute stop and go. In the race, drivers have 10 credits. On the 11th they get a warning, and at 12, they are reported to the stewards. From experience, the Race Director knows that drivers will use up all their credits. The aim is to cut corners, but avoid penalties.</p>

Eduardo Freitas explains the 24 Hours of Le Mans track limits

It's time for the Hyperpole (in its new format)! Who will score pole position at the 93rd 24 Hours of Le Mans? The electrifying support races Road to Le Mans, the Porsche Sprint Challenge and the Ford Mustang Challenge are also on today's programme.

<h2>24 Hours of Le Mans | Free Practice</h2>

<p>Four additional&nbsp;hours of track time across&nbsp;two sessions&nbsp;are in store this afternoon for 24 Hours entrants. This is their final opportunity&nbsp;to finesse settings ahead of the big race. Drivers take&nbsp;turns doing&nbsp;laps to&nbsp;become&nbsp;intimately acquainted with this&nbsp;notoriously demanding circuit. Two sessions are scheduled: the first from 14:45&nbsp;to 17:45 and&nbsp;the second at night from 23:00&nbsp;to midnight.</p>

<h2>24 Hours of Le Mans | Hyperpole&nbsp;</h2>

<p>Two Hyperpole sessions (H1 and&nbsp;H2) are scheduled for today in its new format. In&nbsp;H1, the&nbsp;24 cars that qualified the day before in&nbsp;LMP2 and&nbsp;LMGT3 (2 x 12) battle it out for&nbsp;20 minutes to secure a spot in the top 8 and permission to take&nbsp;part in H2.&nbsp;This elimination format is&nbsp;then be repeated by the&nbsp;Hypercars&nbsp;with the top 15 prototypes competing in H1 to determine the 10 finalists. In H2, qualifiers have 15 minutes to put the pedal to the metal and earn&nbsp;the best possible starting grid position. Hyperpole is scheduled between&nbsp;20:00 and&nbsp;21:55.</p>

<p>The Hyperpole is brought to a close with&nbsp;an unforgettable ceremony.&nbsp;The drivers who have distinguished themselves are invited to take&nbsp;the podium, accompanied by their team manager, at 22:05. A Hyperpole trophy is&nbsp;presented&nbsp;to reward their performance&nbsp;and&nbsp;determination&nbsp;to clinch&nbsp;the pole.</p>

<h2>Road To Le Mans</h2>

<p>Road to Le Mans competitors&nbsp;hit the track today in a race against the clock for two qualifying sessions from&nbsp;11:45 to&nbsp;12:05 and&nbsp;12:20 to&nbsp;12:40. Then, they line up for the first 55-minute race starting at 18:25.&nbsp;</p>

<h2>Porsche Sprint Challenge</h2>

<p>After Qualifying 1 (09:00 to 09:20) and&nbsp;2 (09:35 to 09:55), drivers face off in Race 1 starting at 13:10. Don&#39;t miss seeing&nbsp;71 Porsches snaking through the&nbsp;Dunlop chicane and hurtling down the Mulsanne Straight!</p>

<h2>Ford Mustang Challenge</h2>

<p>This American one-make championship is always a favourite at the 24 Hours of Le Mans. Each competitor&nbsp;will take the wheel of a&nbsp;Ford Mustang Dark Horse R&nbsp;equipped with a 5.0-litre, naturally aspirated 500-hp V8 for&nbsp;two qualifying sessions. Join us from 10:30 to 11:15&nbsp;to enjoy the roar!</p>

<h2>Arnage in the Race</h2>

<p>Arnage in the Race highlights car and moto&nbsp;racing&nbsp;through an exhibition, meet-and-greets with local motorsport&nbsp;figures and a parade in the city centre&nbsp;of Arnage. The exhibition is&nbsp;launched this year with Club Lotus France.</p>

<h2>Pascal Obispo and&nbsp;Roszalie Concerts</h2>

<p>To continue his triumphant tour of sold-out Z&eacute;niths and multiple festivals, Pascal Obispo invites you to discover his brand new show &quot;Correspondance&quot;. Live an unforgettable experience&nbsp;as this artist celebrates his 30-year career with&nbsp;great classics and much more.&nbsp;This phenomenal&nbsp;concert will get underway&nbsp;right after the Hyperpole!&nbsp;</p>

<h4><u>Thursday&nbsp;12 June Programme</u></h4>

<p>09:00 &ndash; 09:20&nbsp;: Porsche Sprint Challenge&nbsp;| Qualifying&nbsp;1<br />
09:00 &ndash; 23:00&nbsp;: 24 Hours Museum open<br />
09:35 &ndash; 09:55&nbsp;: Porsche Sprint Challenge&nbsp;| Qualifying 2<br />
10:00 &ndash; 00:00&nbsp;: Fan&nbsp;Zones, Kids Zone, ACO H2 Hydrogen and Constructors Villages open; hydrogen demonstration at&nbsp;14:10<br />
10:30 &ndash; 11:15&nbsp;: Ford Mustang Challenge | Qualifying&nbsp;1 &amp; 2&nbsp;<br />
11:45 &ndash; 12:05&nbsp;: Road To Le Mans | Qualifying 1<br />
12:20 &ndash; 12:40&nbsp;: Road To Le Mans | Qualifying&nbsp;2&nbsp;<br />
13:10 &ndash; 13:55&nbsp;: Porsche Sprint Challenge | Race 1<br />
14:45 &ndash; 17:45&nbsp;: 24 Hours of Le Mans | Free Practice 3<br />
15:00 &ndash; 22:00&nbsp;: Support race&nbsp;paddocks open&nbsp;(Maison Blanche)<br />
18:25 &ndash; 19:25&nbsp;: Road to&nbsp;Le Mans | Race 1<br />
20:00 &ndash; 20:20&nbsp;: LMP2 &amp;&nbsp;LMGT3 Hyperpole 1<br />
20:00 &ndash; 00:00&nbsp;: Pascal Obispo and&nbsp;Roszalie concerts<br />
20:35 &ndash; 20:50&nbsp;: LMP2 &amp;&nbsp;LMGT3&nbsp;Hyperpole 2<br />
21:05 &ndash; 21:25&nbsp;: Hypercar Hyperpole 1&nbsp;<br />
21:40 &ndash; 21:55&nbsp;: Hypercar Hyperpole 2<br />
22:05 &ndash; 22:25&nbsp;: Hyperpole ceremony<br />
23:00 &ndash; 00:00&nbsp;: 24 Hours of Le Mans | Free Practice 4</p>

<p>Watch the&nbsp;<strong><a href="http://fiawec.tv/page/679a56921229db49627128a6">FIA WEC live</a></strong>&nbsp;or on demand on the official&nbsp;FIA WEC TV app, your all-access pass to the FIA World Endurance&nbsp;Championship including the&nbsp;24 Hours of Le&nbsp;Mans. Don&#39;t miss a second of the action! For more info, go to the app.</p>

2025 24 Hours of Le Mans – Thursday 12 June programme

The #8 Toyota Gazoo Racing GR10 - Hybrid of Ryo Hirakawa ended Wednesday at the stroke of midnight on top in the menacing ‘dark knight’ Toyota - but it wasn’t without drama at the end!

<p>The sun went down&hellip; the lights got turned on for the first time, with Free Practice 2 ending the track action for the teams taking part in the 2025 24 Hours of Le Mans. Two hours on the clock for the 62 cars to dial themselves in, and acclimatise themselves to the blanket of darkness. The dance of the headlights, searching into the distance, trailing brake lights, the glow from the brake disks, the pops from the exhausts - who&rsquo;s on a mission and who is adjusting their braking points. There is something special about night time at Le Mans.&nbsp;&nbsp;</p>

<h2>Hypercar</h2>

<p>The ever present #83 AF Corse run Ferrari 499P has been near the sharp end in many of the sessions so far this week and they set the initial pace in the opening hour of the session with Phillp Hanson at the wheel of the striking yellow prancing horse. Sebastien Buemi in menacing black #8 Toyota was 1.065 seconds behind and the star of this afternoon, Alex Lynn in the thunderous #12 Hertz Team JOTA Cadillac in third a further half a second back. With the fastest time from the #83 - a sub 03:26 time deleted, this shuffled the pack as the clock hit zero with the #8 Toyota on top, #12 Cadillac second and the #83 Ferrari rustling up on its 22nd lap a third fastest time.</p>

<p>As track temperatures dropped, movement on the leaderboard was gradual or sporadic. Teams only get three hours over the two days in the darkness and even with a brief Red Flag stopage - teams went straight back out to make every kilometre count. Last years victors the #50 Ferrari put in a giant shift - gathering 28 laps in total, amassing over 380 kilometres of data.</p>

<p>One of the positives to take away from FP2 was a glimpse of pace from Peugeot TotalEnergies, with the #93 Peugeot 9X8 running well into the top 10 at various points - with fellow French hopefuls Alpine trading times.</p>

<p>Aston Martin fans can see the progress of the Valkyrie. After the #009 rounded out the top 15 qualifiers for Hyperpole 1 and 2 tomorrow, the Aston Martin Thor Team finished the session in 13th - improving with every run in the car.</p>

<p>The #8 Toyota was in the wars after the chequered flag had fallen - making contact and glancing the #57 Kessel Racing Ferrari 296 LM6T3. Both drivers are ok - but the teams will have a long night ahead to check over both cars.</p>

<h2>LMP2</h2>

<p>In the LMP2 category Spike gained his wings with Louis Deletraz flying around Circuit de la Sarthe. The Swiss driver right at home in the AO by TF ORECA was quickest this afternoon and continued that trend when the sun went down, eking out a margin of 1.1 seconds early in the session. The #22 United Autosports version of the LMP2 car was second while #37 CLX - Pure Racing were happy with their nights work in third.</p>

<h2>LMGT3</h2>

<p>It was a flying formation for the Akkofis ASP Team who marched both of their Lexus RC F LMGT3 cars to first and second respectively in the LMGT3 order - a position they held for most of the session. Keeping in touch, and the only other GT car under the 03:56 barrier was the #92 Manthey 1ST Phorm Porsche 911 GT3 R LMGT3.<br />
<br />
Two cars failed to make it out of the garages for Free Practice 2. The #33 TF Sport Corvette saw the mechanics poring over the rear of the car all night, while the #63 Iron Lynx garage was a hive of activity with the engine out of the Mercedes-AMG - and the car being rebuilt with what looked like donor parts from another car.&nbsp;</p>

<h4><u>Free Practice 1: Top 5 Classification:</u></h4>

<p>1. Toyota GR010 Hybrid #8 Toyota Gazoo Racing &ndash; S&eacute;bastien Buemi / Brendon&nbsp; Hartley / Ryo Hirakawa - 3:26.156<br />
2. Cadillac V-Series.R #12 Cadillac Hertz Team JOTA &ndash; Will Stevens / Norman Nato / Alex Lynn - 3:26.607<br />
3. Ferrari 499P #83 AF Corse &ndash; Robert Kubica / Yifei Ye / Philip Hanson - 03:26.680<br />
4. Porsche 963 #4 Porsche Penske Motorsport &ndash; Felipe Nasr / Nick Tandy / Pascal Wehrlein - 03:26.748<br />
5. Ferrari 499P #50 Ferrari-AF Corse &ndash; Antonio Fuoco / Nicklas Nielsen / Miguel Molina - 3:26.809</p>

<h4><u>Free Practice 2: Fastest times in the LMP2 and LMGT3 categories:</u></h4>

<ul>
	<li>LMP2 : Oreca 07-Gibson #199 AO by TF &ndash; PJ Hyett / Dane Cameron / Louis Deletraz (LMP2 Pro/Am)</li>
	<li>LMGT3: Lexus RC F LMGT3 #87 Akkodis ASP Team &ndash; Petru Umbrarescu / Jos&eacute; Mar&iacute;a L&oacute;pez / Clemens Schmid</li>
</ul>

<p>Tomorrow, we will take it up a level. We have Free Practice 3, kicking things off at 14:45 local time followed by the new format Hyperpole, with the final dress rehearsal - Free Practice 4 coming tomorrow night. Who will show their true colours. Who will take pole for the 93rd edition of the 24 Hours of Le Mans . You don&rsquo;t want to miss a thing!&nbsp;&nbsp;</p>

Toyota fires back with night session topping form in FP2

Road to Le Mans, the Porsche Sprint Challenge France and the Ford Mustang Challenge are all exhilarating support races at the 93rd 24 Hours of Le Mans. Here's a round-up after the first free practice sessions.

<h2>ROAD TO LE MANS Free Practice: Th&eacute;o Micouris the Fastest ahead of qualifying</h2>

<p>The fourth of six&nbsp;Michelin Le Cup rounds,&nbsp;Road to Le Mans is the high point of the season. The&nbsp;58 entrants&nbsp;(116 drivers, two per car) took advantage of two one-hour free practices today. The field is made up of three categories: LMP3, LMP3 Pro-Am and&nbsp;GT3.</p>

<p>The morning session went off without a hitch. In the head category, David Hadrien (R-ace GP&#39;s #85 Duqueine D09) topped the timesheet in 3:50.288. In Pro-Am, Julien Lemoine clocked a respectable&nbsp;time of 3:53.259 (Ans Motorsport&#39;s #84 LMP3 Ligier) and the Ferrari 296 GT3 driven by Eliseo Donno dominated&nbsp;GT3 in 3:58.303.</p>

<p>The night&nbsp;session (20:30&ndash;21:30) was slightly disrupted when&nbsp;contact was made between the #6&nbsp;LMP3 Ligier JS P325 and the #7&nbsp;Adess AD25.&nbsp;as de quoi, toutefois, perturber le train des meilleurs. Already one to watch&nbsp;in the&nbsp;previous session, cooler temps helped Team Virage Ligier improve its times&nbsp;(P1 and P3).&nbsp;Brazilian driver&nbsp;S&eacute;rgio Sette C&acirc;mara, a former reserve and development driver for&nbsp;McLaren F1 Team in 2019 then&nbsp;Red Bull Racing in&nbsp;2020, secured the second fastest time&nbsp;(P1 in Pro-Am). Team Motopark&#39;s #65 Mercedes-AMG GT3 driven by Lukas Dunner clocked the best time in&nbsp;GT3.</p>

<p>The&nbsp;58 Road to Le Mans competitors will hit the track again tomorrow, Thursday 12 June, when things get serious:&nbsp;qualifying from&nbsp;11:45 to&nbsp;12:40 and the start of Race&nbsp;1 at&nbsp;18:25!</p>

<h2>Enzo Jouli&eacute; and&nbsp;Cl&eacute;ment Loeul Leading the Charge in the Porsche Sprint Challenge France</h2>

<p>Entrants in the&nbsp;Porsche Sprint Challenge France participated in two free practices. This&nbsp;championshipnat de France groups together various racing Porsches&nbsp;as well as series-produced Porsches adapted for&nbsp;circuits. For example,&nbsp;Porsche 911 type 992 GT3 Cups, 911 type 992 GT3 Rs and&nbsp;GT4 RSs. During the morning&nbsp;FP1, young French hopeful Enzo Joulie&nbsp;made his mark at the wheel of Martinet by Alm&eacute;ras&#39; #97&nbsp;Porsche 992 GT3 Cup ahead of Louis Meric in Racetivity&#39;s #31 Porsche LM31 and&nbsp;Sylvain No&euml;l in Racing Technology&#39;s #111 Porsche.</p>

<p>This relatively calm session was followed by another early in the afternoon with current 992 GT3 Cup leader&nbsp;Victor Blugeon in ABM&#39;s #74 Porsche quickly snatching P1. Shortly after a Full Course Yellow, the times went crazy. Kim Andr&eacute; Hauschild in HRT Performance&#39;s #48&nbsp;Porsche slipped into the lead only to be immediately overtaken by Cl&eacute;ment Loeul in Ancel Motorsport&#39;s #100 Porsche. Times were only slightly slower than the morning session, but the gaps at the top of the timesheet were extremely tight. Loeul finished in the lead thanks to a time of&nbsp;4:04.531, though&nbsp;Blugeon did almost catch up to him in the final lap. Joulie rounded out the top 3.</p>

<p>The first qualifying session for the Porsche Sprint Challenge is tomorrow at&nbsp;09:00.</p>

<h2>The Fun Cut Short for the&nbsp;Mustangs</h2>

<p>Robert Noaker of&nbsp;Robert Noaker Racing clocked the fastest time of the two&nbsp;Mustang Challenge free practices. The American turned in a lap in&nbsp;4:20.174 then 4:21.271 at the wheel of his&nbsp;Mustang Dark Horse R. Only one other competitor clocked a time under&nbsp;4:24 (Cameron McLeod of&nbsp;Ryan McLeod Racing Cars in 4:23.963). The second session was ended prematurely by a red flag. The most consistent drivers on the track were able to complete&nbsp;six laps. A red flag had already shortened the morning session&nbsp;when the engine bonnet of Academy Motorsport&#39;s #97 driven by Marco Signoretti became detached and went flying at Mulsanne.</p>

2025 24 Hours of Le Mans – Support race results after first free practices

24 Heures du Mans 2019

<h3>TEAM: MR Racing</h3>

<p><strong>Class:</strong> LMGTE Am</p>

<p><strong>Car:</strong> Ferrari 488 GTE</p>

<p><strong>Drivers:</strong></p>

<ul>
	<li>Motoaki Ishikawa (2nd participation)</li>
	<li>Eddie Cheever, III (2nd participation)</li>
	<li>Olivier Beretta (23rd&nbsp;participation)</li>
</ul>

<p>This year, MR Racing took the&nbsp;start in its&nbsp;second 24 Hours of Le Mans. The Japanese team qualified in 59th&nbsp;position with a time of 3:54.051 clocked by&nbsp;Eddie Cheever, III during the third session. Other than an incident in a gravel trap at the Porsche curves and another at the&nbsp;Forza Motorsport chicane, the #70 Ferrari 488 GTE had a smooth race, finishing&nbsp;41st overall and 10th in the LMGTE Am class.</p>

SBB_1924A_DSC_3482.jpg

FGA_1924A_D514813.jpg

<p><strong>PHOTO: LE MANS (SARTHE, FRANCE), CIRCUIT DES 24 HEURES DU MANS, SATURDAY&nbsp;15 JUNE 2019, RACE. MR Racing&#39;s #70&nbsp;Ferrari 488 GTE driven by&nbsp;Motoaki Ishikawa, Eddie Cheever III and&nbsp;Olivier Beretta.</strong></p>

24H LE MANS

The 2019 24 Hours of Le Mans for MR Racing (LMGTE Am)

TEAM: MR Racing

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2025 24 Hours of Le Mans – Thursday 12 June programme

Toyota fires back with night session topping form in FP2

2025 24 Hours of Le Mans – Support race results after first free practices

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