Paul di Resta apologises for massive crash on Le Mans debut
Paul di Resta has apologised to his United Autosports LMP2 team for crashing out of contention for a class podium finish in the Le Mans 24 Hours


The ex-Formula 1 star, making his La Sarthe debut in the #22 United Ligier JS P217, had just moved up to fourth place in class when he suffered a major off at the Porsche Curves at the start of the 20th hour of the race.
Di Resta - who shared the #22 car with Filipe Albuquerque and Phil Hanson - hit an unprotected concrete wall in the incident and was taken to the medical centre afterwards, although he escaped unharmed.
"Massive apologies to the team, who busted their asses and their balls all night to try and make up what we had, the issue [with a missing GPS sensor] in the first hour," said di Resta.
"We were on the edge all the way, but I've got to apologise for making a costly error that's ended our chances.
"It looked like we could have been on the podium, but you can always say what could have been.
"We had decent pace when we had been pushing, we had to be aggressive.
"For someone like me it's going to take a few days to get over, because it hurts when you let people down."

Di Resta admitted he was having trouble getting his tyres up to temperature, but refused to blame this for the crash.
"I was struggling a bit, because as soon as I left the pits the safety car came out, just never really got [the tyres] up to temperature," the Scotsman explained.
"I'm not going to put it down to excuses, because I've more than enough experience under circumstances like that.
"It's just a law of averages, sometimes you blow it and I blew it today."
United Autosports team owner Zak Brown said di Resta's ego was a "bit bruised" after the crash.
"Paul is physically fine, he's obviously upset," Brown told Eurosport. "We had a great race going, he drove - as did his team-mates - really well.
"We were closing in on a podium and he just had a snap oversteer moment, corrected the first time but couldn't quite save the second.
"As he said, he feels fine, but his ego's a bit bruised."

Le Mans hour 20: Alonso increases lead for #8 Toyota
Le Mans hour 21: Chasing #7 Toyota loses time to leader with spin

Latest news
Daytona 24: Westbrook’s Ganassi Cadillac tops second practice
Richard Westbrook ensured Cadillac’s new V-LMDh snagged top spot in second practice for the Daytona 24 Hours, ahead of the #10 Wayne Taylor Racing Andretti Autosport Acura.
Auer suffers back injury in Daytona 24 practice shunt
Mercedes driver Lucas Auer has suffered a back injury and been taken to hospital following a violent crash in opening practice for this weekend's Daytona 24 Hours.
Daytona 24: WTR Acura tops heavily interrupted FP1
Five red flags disrupted the first practice session for this weekend's Daytona 24 Hours, while Filipe Albuquerque put the Wayne Taylor Racing Andretti Autosport Acura on top.
Pedrosa to make KTM MotoGP wildcard outing in Spanish GP
Dani Pedrosa will make his first MotoGP race start since the 2021 Styrian Grand Prix with a wildcard entry for KTM at this year’s Spanish GP in April.
Why the WEC should make space for modern garagistes in 2023
OPINION: There is plenty of excitement over the glut of manufacturers tackling the Hypercar class of the World Endurance Championship this season. The selection committee is set to face headaches over who it decides to admit and who gets turned away from the 2023 entry list, but history tells us that the smaller entrants have a place
Autosport writers' most memorable moments of 2022
The season just gone was a memorable one for many of our staff writers, who are fortunate enough to cover motorsport around the world. Here are our picks of the best (and in some cases, most eventful) from 2022
Is Qatar the price motorsport fans have to pay?
OPINION: Fresh from hosting a controversial 2022 football World Cup, Qatar has added its name to the 2024 World Endurance Championship calendar. Although questions may be asked about its presence on the calendar, is it simply the price to pay for having a healthy racing championship?
How Toyota defeated Alpine for the 2022 WEC title
Toyota #8 trio Brendon Hartley, Sebastien Buemi and Ryo Hirakawa outscored their rivals in the last season before the World Endurance Championship’s top class gets ultra-competitive. Here's how their Hypercar battle with Alpine and the remaining class tussles played out in LMP2, GTE Pro and GTE Am
The long road to convergence for sportscar racing's new golden age
The organisers of the World Endurance Championship and IMSA SportsCar Championship worked together to devise the popular new LMDh rule set. But to turn it from an idea into reality, some serious compromises were involved - both from the prospective LMDh entrants and those with existing Le Mans Hypercar projects...
How Porsche's Le Mans legend changed the game
The 956 set the bar at the dawn of Group C 40 years ago, and that mark only rose higher through the 1980s, both in the world championship and in the US. It and its successor, the longer-wheelbase 962, were voted as Autosport's greatest sportscar in 2020 - here's why
Why BMW shouldn't be overlooked on its return to prototypes
OPINION: While the focus has been on the exciting prospect of Ferrari vs Porsche at the Le Mans 24 Hours next year, BMW’s factory return to endurance racing should not be ignored. It won't be at the French classic next year as it focuses efforts on the IMSA SportsCar Championship, but could be a dark horse in 2024 when it returns to La Sarthe with the crack WRT squad
The problem sausage kerbs continue to cause
Track limits are the problem that motorsport doesn't seem to be able to rid itself of. But the use of so-called 'sausage kerbs' as a deterrent has in several instances only served to worsen the problem, and a growing number of voices want to see action taken
Subscribe and access Autosport.com with your ad-blocker.
From Formula 1 to MotoGP we report straight from the paddock because we love our sport, just like you. In order to keep delivering our expert journalism, our website uses advertising. Still, we want to give you the opportunity to enjoy an ad-free and tracker-free website and to continue using your adblocker.
You have 2 options:
- Become a subscriber.
- Disable your adblocker.