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WEC 24 Hours of Le Mans

2022 Le Mans 24 Hours Live Commentary and Updates

Live updates for the 2022 Le Mans 24 Hours at the Circuit de la Sarthe

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Summary

  • Summary
    -Toyota wins 2022 Le Mans 24 Hours with #8 GR010 HYBRID of Buemi, Hartley and Hirakawa, securing its fifth consecutive victory in the 24 Hours, a fourth for Buemi and a third for Hartley
    -Sister #7 Toyota crew of Lopez, Conway and Kobayashi finishes second after having to perform a power cycle on the hybrid system, as Glickenhaus #709 completes the podium
    -Jota #38 ORECA Gibson-07 dominates LMP2 class as Da Costa, Stevens and Gonzalez beat the impressive #9 Prema entry driven by Kubica, Deletraz and Colombo
    -Rasmussen, Jones and Aberdein make it two Jota cars on the podium in #28 entry as Algarve Pro Racing #45 wins pro/am class in 15th position
    -Porsche wins final GTE Pro race at Le Mans with #91 of Bruni, Lietz and Makowiecki as Corvette suffers double disaster with early contenders; #92 Porsche also suffers blowout while leading
    -Puncture for #51 Ferrari of Pier Guidi, Calado and Serra proves decisive in allowing Porsche to win Pro class for first time since 2018, but #51 and #52 Ferraris still complete podium
    -TF Sport Aston Martin repeats 2020 GTE Am class victory as the challenge of multiple rapid Porsches fade away; Keating, Chaves and Sorensen secure honours over WeatherTech Porsche of Andlauer, MacNeil and Merrill

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Hello and welcome to Autosport’s live coverage of the 2022 Le Mans 24 Hours. We’ll be here throughout the next 24 hours and beyond with our team of journalists bringing you all the updates from the 90th edition of the world’s most famous endurance race as it happens. The race is just over half an hour away, with the cars lined up on the grid for pre-race ceremonies. James Newbold is at the wheel for the first stint, here goes!

There has been no shortage of talking points in the build-up to this third round of the World Endurance Championship, despite the five-car Hypercar field remaining unchanged from last year’s edition (won by Toyota). We’ll do our best to cover them over the next half an hour before the race starts. There’s no Peugeot, remember – we’ll get our first glimpse of the new 9X8 Le Mans Hypercar in the next WEC round at Monza in July.

Toyota Gazoo Racing is gunning for its fifth consecutive victory, which would level the run of wins scored by Audi Sport Team Joest between 2010 and 2014.  Sebastien Buemi, in the #8 car, is aiming for a fourth win at Le Mans that would put him in hallowed company with Henri Pescarolo, Yannick Dalmas and Olivier Gendebien.

Toyota has annexed the front row of the grid, with two-time Le Mans winner Brendon Hartley in the #8 GR010 HYBRID pipping team-mate and defending winner Kamui Kobayashi’s #7 car to top spot in the decisive Hyperpole on Thursday night. Hartley said it was a particularly special achievement because Kobayashi - who he labelled "Mr Qualifying around here" - was aiming to secure a fifth pole in six years.

But boutique American manufacturer Glickenhaus believes it has a realistic shot of becoming the first garagiste effort to win the 24 Hours since 1980. Jim Glickenhaus believes his two Glickenhaus 007 LMH cars are a match for the Toyotas over a double-stint, and says it didn’t prioritise qualifying to the same extent as the Japanese marque. Here’s the full story: https://www.autosport.com/le-mans/news/glickenhaus-confident-of-matching-toyota-pace-in-le-mans-24-hours/10320243/

On the subject of garagistes, Gary Watkins has written an unmissable feature looking back over the great privateer entrants at Le Mans that challenged the factory giants down the years from De Cadenet to Rebellion. Plus subscribers can check that out here: https://www.autosport.com/le-mans/news/the-great-le-mans-garagistes-that-challenged-factory-might/10318383/

Just how realistic is a non Toyota winner? Well, Glickenhaus is now a much better-proven outfit than the one entering only its third WEC race at Le Mans last year. Its car boasts improved ergonomics, while the Podium Advanced Technologies team that runs them is more strategically astute. Moreover, Toyota can only deploy power from its front axle when it reaches 190km/h this year, which should level the playing field considerably compared to last year (when it could do so from 120km/h in the dry and 150km/h in the wet). As Gary has written for his preview feature, it's not a foregone conclusion: https://www.autosport.com/le-mans/news/why-a-fifth-toyota-win-at-le-mans-is-far-from-a-certainty-in-2022/10317788/ 

The packed Le Mans grandstands are currently being treated to the sight of a military helicopter dropping off the Tricolore, which will be waved by this year's honourary starter Patrick Pouyanne, the CEO of TotalEnergies.

The Balance of Performance is never far away from discussion at Le Mans, and this year is no different. Alpine, the third member of the Hypercar contingent, and Ferrari have both had at least one more BoP tweaks than Derby County managed wins in their fabled 2007-08 Premier League season. Let’s dig into that.

Alpine had a power boost prior to last Sunday's test day, then another boost prior to Hyperpole on Thursday, before finally a reduction was issued on Friday. It will now be able to run at a maximum power of 417kW, which compares to the 450kW it had at Le Mans last year, the 427kW it had in Hyerpole and 420kW on the test day. The corresponding reduction in energy per stint might mean it’s unable to hit its target of 12-lap stints, which could be a major factor in the race.

This is the final hurrah for the GTE Pro class at Le Mans, after it was announced on Friday during the annual ACO press conference that it will be dropped from the WEC at the end of this season. With both Porsche and Ferrari committed to the Hypercar class in 2024, all parties want to sign off on a high, but Ferrari's hopes were dented by a power reduction issued on Wednesday. It received a small boost on Friday, but is still a net 0.05 bar down on what it started the meeting with.
The Italian cars were outpaced in Hyperpole by the Corvettes and Porsches, with Nick Tandy and Antonio Garcia locking out the front row with the American muscle cars. The C8.R only made its Le Mans debut last year, having missed the 24 Hours in 2020 due to COVID, but pushed Ferrari all the way and went on to finish second with the #63 of Garcia, Jordan Taylor and Nicky Catsburg. Can it go one better this year?
Incidentally, the #64 Corvette that Tandy will share with Tommy Milner and Alexander Sims had its victory hopes dashed by contact with the class-winning #51 Ferrari leaving the grid last year when James Calado's windscreen fogged up and he made contact with Milner that broke the diffuser. Luckily there's no chance of that this year, with conditions absolutely perfect for racing.
We mentioned that the GTE Pro class will be missing from the grid next year, but don't forget we've got plenty to look forward to at the 100th anniversary edition in 2023. Ferrari and Peugeot will join Toyota and Glickenhaus in running Le Mans Hypercars, while Porsche and Cadillac will be present with new LMDh cars based on LMP2 machinery. BMW, Lamborghini and Acura should join the party in 2024 as well. Anybody else excited?
Gary Watkins
Gary Watkins
For one of the few lucky Brits to have been here at Le Mans for the two COVID years, it's great that we've got a proper crowd back. The build-up through the couple hours leading up to the start is always a highlight of the week for me. You'll find so many drivers - including the great and the good from the world of Formula 1 - who will tell it's like nothing they've ever experienced. This is the 32nd time I've experienced it and still it gives me goosebumps.
The starting drivers are all strapped into their cars, and the formation lap is not far away. The tension is rising.
The cars are rolling as the formation lap gets underway. Bring on the noise!

Here's your run down of the starting drivers in Hypercar:

1. Buemi (Toyota #8)
2. Conway (Toyota #7)
3. Lapierre (Alpine)
4. Mailleux (Glickenhaus #709)
5. Pla (Glickenhaus #708)

In LMP2, your top 10 starting drivers are:

1. Rast (#31 WRT)
2. Owen (#22 United Autosports)
3. Da Costa (#38 Jota)
4. Habsburg (#41 Realteam by WRT)
5. Kubica (#9 Prema)
6. Lynn (#23 United Autosports)
7. Milesi (#1 Richard Mille)
8. Van Uitert (#65 Panis)
9. Nasr (#5 Penske)
10. Bortolotti (#32 WRT)

The GTE Pro starting drivers are:

1. Tandy (#64 Corvette)
2. Garcia (#63 Corvette)
3. Makowiecki (#91 Porsche)
4. Estre (#92 Porsche)
5. Molina (#52 Ferrari)
6. Calado (#51 Ferrari)
7. Fraga (#74 Ferrari)

The leaders are now lining up two-by-two around the Porsche Curves in formation ready for the start. Are we ready?
It's a hectic start as Buemi in the #8 Toyota holds the lead from team-mate Conway, and the two Glickenhaus cars jump past the Alpine. Further back, LMP2 contender the #22 United Autosport ORECA shoots off into the gravel on the run to the Dunlop Chicane!
It's a flying start in LMP2 for Robert Kubica - the 2008 Canadian Grand Prix winner has moved into the lead of the class and passed Nicolas Lapierre's Hypercar Alpine for fourth outright!
The order is unchanged in GTE Pro as we continue around the first lap, with Tandy leading Corvette team-mate Garcia, but Estre has got ahead of Makowiecki in the sister #91 car for third.
Owen in the #22 LMP2 ORECA that started second is being craned back onto the track - replays show he was pincered between two other cars. Meanwhile Sophia Florsch has hit trouble too, and is crawling slowly down the Mulsanne - still on her first lap in the #47 Algarve Pro ORECA.
Lapierre has now got back ahead of Kubica in the lead LMP2 car, so the five Hypercars are now running line astern on the timing screens. Pla, who started fifth, has leapt ahead of Mailleux in the sister Glickenhaus.
After his scintillating opening lap, LMP2 leader Kubica has now been reeled in by polesitter Rast, with Da Costa third, Nasr fourth and Milesi fifth. Habsburg has come into the pits after a slow opening lap - he started fourth, so we can only assume was also involved in the melee approaching the first corner.
Owen has made it back to the pits, but the car he'll be sharing with 2020 LMP2 class winners Albuquerque and Hanson is set for a long 23 hours and 49 minutes...
There's been a fair bit of chopping and changing in the GTE Am order meanwhile. Poleman Vincent Abril in the #61 AF Corse Ferrari has been shuffled back to seventh as a quintet of Porsches move to the front. Harry Tincknell now leads from third on the grid in the #77 Dempsey-Proton car, with Ben Barker second in the #86 GR machine and Matteo Cairoli third in the #46 Project 1 entry. Fourth is Alessio Picariello (#99 Hardpoint) and fifth is Julien Andlauer (#79 WeatherTech).
There's been an early stop meanwhile for the #85 Iron Lynx-run 'Iron Dames' Ferrari of Michelle Gatting - she started from sixth in the all-female entry.
Back in GTE Am again, Cairoli has moved into second in class, passing Barker. The top six are now all Porsches, with Ben Barnicoat in the Project 1-run Inception car moving ahead of Nicki Thiim's NorthWest AMR machine, then future Peugeot Hypercar driver Mikkel Jensen eighth in the CarGuy Ferrari and poleman Abril back in ninth.
Change of lead in GTE Am, Cairoli passes Tincknell on the run to the second Mulsanne Chicane. Barker then demotes the two-time Le Mans class-winner to third, with Picariello right on his case.
Picariello is driving the #99 Hardpoint entry, which is actually run in partnership between Proton and Absolute Racing. IMSA racer Rob Ferriol was due to drive that car with Katherine Legge and Adrien de Leener after winning a free entry as the best bronze-graded driver in the GTD class last year. He races in the US under the Hardpoint Racing banner, but transferred his entry to Absolute on the eve of the test day.
Early GTE Am leader Tincknell drops a further two places, as Picariello takes into third and Andlauer into fifth. Also on the move is Jan Heylen, the sometime Champ Car racer advancing up to eighth in the #88 Proton-Dempsey Porsche.
Rast has just pitted from second in LMP2, but is given a one-minute penalty for the lap one contact with Owen on the run to Turn 1. That's a tough break for the #31 crew which lead the WEC standings and took pole.
Lynn had a good few laps and had made his way up to third after Rast's stop (the three-time DTM champion will have to come in again of course to serve his penalty) after passing 2021 LMP2 winner Milesi and two-time IMSA champion Nasr. Now all the other leading LMP2 runners come in for their first stops.
Gary Watkins
Gary Watkins
The stops for the #31 and #28 Jota ORECAs came after seven racing laps, but nine laps in total (with the recon and warm-up lap). The rest come in after eight (8 + 2 = 10). Ten laps is what the P2  boys think they can do between stops - at a push. With the reduced fuel capacity this year (down 10 litres), it requires a bit of fuel saving to get there.
There's a scrappy moment entering the pits for Ben Hanley in the #22 Nielsen Racing LMP2 car, who goes over the white lines before coming back again. I wager he won't be the last...
Lappery is commencing now for the Toyotas, with Buemi leading Conway through the traffic. There's 23 and a half hours to come of this, so they'd better get used to it.

By: autosport.com

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