CloseSoooo, to kick this party off again... Le Mans 2015!!!
It was a blast! So happy to have seen the two Porsches cross the lines first... a well deserved victory if you ask me.
Next to that, I got a quick run-in with Futch, who took part in the driver's parade and whose team became 4th in the GT AM class. It was very nice to meet you François, and happy that all my cheering worked! :-D
It is notable that the car with the least experienced drivers won. Two of the three never drove at LM before this year and Tandy ( a "mere" Carrera Cup racer) just did a GT race some years back.
This proves that the "names" are not necessarily the best talents around AND that the 919 is a fantastic racing car.
I also think that those who whinge that Porsche is all about SUVs and detached from its sportscar and motorsport roots should conclusively shut up. In a period of 12 months we've seen the 918, the GT4, the GT3RS and the 919 
--
"Form follows function"
Congratulations to Porsche in LMP1, in GTE it was a bit embarassing for them initially IMO.
Personally, we had an epic weekend to honor this epic race, nothing compares to LM!
2003 BMW M3 CSL (sold) / 2008 Porsche 911 GT3 RS / 2013 MINI John Cooper Works GP / 2014 BMW Alpina D3 biturbo Touring
If anyone thinks motorsport is dead, they should visit Le Mans 24hrs. What a place, what a race!
Personal highlight for me was the discovery of a new viewing place right before the kink on the Hunaudières.
M3 CSL / Alpina D3 Bi-Turbo Touring / RS2 Avant / GT3RS Kermit
Jun 15, 2015 5:58:50 PM
reginos:It is notable that the car with the least experienced drivers won. Two of the three never drove at LM before this year and Tandy ( a "mere" Carrera Cup racer) just did a GT race some years back.
This proves that the "names" are not necessarily the best talents around AND that the 919 is a fantastic racing car.
I also think that those who whinge that Porsche is all about SUVs and detached from its sportscar and motorsport roots should conclusively shut up. In a period of 12 months we've seen the 918, the GT4, the GT3RS and the 919
--
"Form follows function"
Audi's 14 victories at Le Mans (Yes, I've inculded Bentley 2003) didn't make them a sportscar manufaturer, or did they? 
It's great to see Porsche win Le Mans again and they did definitely deserve it (although I'd personally hoped for Audi to win 
), but a win at Le Mans doesn't change my view on the company Porsche. However, I do certainly get your point. Porsche is not just about SUVs, but they are (economically) the most important cars in their line-up. Without the SUVs, Porsche wouldn't even be participating at Le Mans anymore. On the other hand, a big part of Porsche's heritage (which is a big part of the brand's appeal to most people) comes from Le Mans and racing in general. Porsche simply needs both.
Suzy
Jun 15, 2015 7:32:38 PM
Whatever we might say against the current model line-up, Porsche continues to be an Iconic Brand embedded in the culture and consciousness of enthusiasts globally.
It's amazing that the SUVs haven't reduced the value of Porsche at all. On the contrary most of the best Porsches in history have been created off the back of the financial strength afforded by the Cayenne revenues and profits.
Another LM win might be meaningless (even Mazda have won LM) if it didn't prove that the authentic Porsche ethos is still alive to the present day. Besides, to come back after all this time and win convincingly in the second year takes commitment and engineering depth.
"Form follows function"
What a race and a well deserved win for Porsche!
Watching the 919 around the slower corners it looked smoother than the R18, so Audi had to push harder to keep the pace I think, but still they were able to do quadruple stints on the tires all the time. Luckily for Porsche, I was surprised that Audi had the Gremlins this year, not them. In the end the only car that faced no issues during the 24 hours took the win, so the rules of endurance racing are still valid. Nevertheless it was great to see the cars at 100% during the whole race, especially those magnificent stints of Albuquerque, Tandy and again Lotterer.
Regarding GTE: A shame, both Futch's car and the Porsches had issues.
@CGX car nut, LMP and GTE are two different programs and furthermore all three burning cars were of different spec, so I really wonder what was the issue.
Jun 15, 2015 8:30:48 PM
Rotbart:What a race and a well deserved win for Porsche!
Watching the 919 around the slower corners it looked smoother than the R18, so Audi had to push harder to keep the pace I think, but still they were able to do quadruple stints on the tires all the time. Luckily for Porsche, I was surprised that Audi had the Gremlins this year, not them. In the end the only car that faced no issues during the 24 hours took the win, so the rules of endurance racing are still valid. Nevertheless it was great to see the cars at 100% during the whole race, especially those magnificent stints of Albuquerque, Tandy and again Lotterer.
Regarding GTE: A shame, both Futch's car and the Porsches had issues.
@CGX car nut, LMP and GTE are two different programs and furthermore all three burning cars were of different spec, so I really wonder what was the issue.
I followed Le Mans radio during the race and the general consensus was that Porsche moved resources to the 919 and away from the other programs. It was mentioned more than once and by several different commentators and appeared base on statements made by more knowledgeable individuals close to the programs.
Jun 15, 2015 10:30:16 PM
Finally home, don't have the energy to do a full write up yet.
Was talking to Hurley Haywood and he seems to think the 'rookies' has the edge as they are not seasoned and didn't know better and were cornering at a faster pace than the other 2 'seasoned' crew.
It's quite obvious from the start that the LMP1 program will get the bulk of the attention, that's the headline grabber. We were talking about the GT3RSR's pace inside the hospitality centre, and there is something lacking on the 991 platform.
Audi stayed in the game until about 3 hrs to go, putting up a great fight. Their downfall was the brake overheating problem, something to do with the regen, and the parade of #7, #8, #9 into the pit box every 2 laps or so was the downfall. Once #17 grabbed 2nd place, and the #19 still running strong, celebration was getting prepared with about 90 mins to go, the Porsche flags are being handed out, but no one was touching them yet. Buckets of champagne was also getting ready and glasses lined up behind the kitchen door. But once Audi conceded, everything just start rolling out.
I jokingly said they had to invite me back next year, as this was my first Le Mans and I am their lucky charm 
On a side note, the Audi hospitality bus also came in 2nd behind the Porsche bus on the trip back to the airport hotel from Le Mans. We took over the main section of the restaurant and when the Audi people rolled in, they went off to one of the side section.
I think Porsche unexpectedly jinx the black car and the red car, they were using the white car as the centre piece for their Le Mans effort, and it turned out the white car did win.
A big part of the race as actually won in the pits. The Porsche crew were consistently 5-6 seconds faster than the Audi crew, that's almost half a lap of advantage over the course of the race. Something to do with the car's layout, left hand drive vs right hand drive.
After hearing all the cars races by, I have concluded that the 458s, like the one Futch drove, sounds THE BEST. Not the loudest, but they have the sweetest sounding sound among the whole field.
The Astons also have one of the better sounding cars, it is the loudest that's for sure. The Viper was also loud, but like a truck engine loud.
The Corvettes are a tad quieter than the Astons but that V8 sounds great too.
The RSR's sound, hmm, disappointing when compared with everyone else, I thought it sounds great all by itself.
The Audi's are unbelievably quiet, I guess the 5k max rpm on the diesel really puts a damper on the sound.
The Toyota's V8 are quite loud, The Nissan's V6 sounded weird. The Rebellion R-Ones has the most distinctive pop, I can tell it's coming before I lay eyes on it. 919's exhaust sounds are ok, didn't sounded like a 4 banger that's for sure and revving to 8k also helps it make a much louder sound than the Audi.
Think the V8s still are best sounding engines, especially when it's NA.
Whoopsy:The Nissan's V6 sounded weird.
I don't like to root against anyone, but I really hate the concept of that car. I'm REALLY not in favor of a FWD race car (or even a commuter car with FWD for myself).
73 Carrera RS 2.7 Carbon Fiber replica (1,890 lbs), 06 EVO9 with track mods. Former: 73 911S, Two 951S's, 996 C2, 993 C2, 98 Ferrari 550
Jun 16, 2015 5:48:10 AM
Whoopsy:A big part of the race as actually won in the pits. The Porsche crew were consistently 5-6 seconds faster than the Audi crew, that's almost half a lap of advantage over the course of the race. Something to do with the car's layout, left hand drive vs right hand drive.
This is one of THE major reasons for the victory. Porsche could do 14 lap stints, but chose to do 13. This meant that there was more fuel left in the tank when they came in for a refuel; thus the shorter time needed to top-up. A very clever strategy and beautifully executed. Hopefully the drivers took the pit crew to dinner.
Whoopsy:After hearing all the cars races by, I have concluded that the 458s, like the one Futch drove, sounds THE BEST. Not the loudest, but they have the sweetest sounding sound among the whole field.
The Astons also have one of the better sounding cars, it is the loudest that's for sure. The Viper was also loud, but like a truck engine loud.
The Corvettes are a tad quieter than the Astons but that V8 sounds great too.
The RSR's sound, hmm, disappointing when compared with everyone else, I thought it sounds great all by itself.
The Audi's are unbelievably quiet, I guess the 5k max rpm on the diesel really puts a damper on the sound.
The Toyota's V8 are quite loud, The Nissan's V6 sounded weird. The Rebellion R-Ones has the most distinctive pop, I can tell it's coming before I lay eyes on it. 919's exhaust sounds are ok, didn't sounded like a 4 banger that's for sure and revving to 8k also helps it make a much louder sound than the Audi.
Think the V8s still are best sounding engines, especially when it's NA.
I agree, the noise of the 458 on downshifts it awesome. The Aston and the Vette sound good too in a bassy American way. Porsche sounds just ok. I heard a 488 road car there and it sounded pretty shit. Let's hope the GTE car sounds better, it should, but it will never sounds as good as an NA engine. I mean let's not kid ourselves, turbo engines sounds worth than their NA counterpart, period. But c'est la vie.
Back home since yesterday, thank you everyone for your kind works and support. What a gruelling race it has been.
I have mixed feelings to be honest, happy to have finished, happy to have shown that we were competitive this year, but obviously disappointed with P4, it's the crap place isn't it? 38 seconds from a podium after 24 hours of racing, WTF!
We were in the top 3 until about 1am and then, we still don't know exactly what happened, either a brake failure or a suspension failure but Rui almost lost car at the S de la foret after the Dunlop chicane and had to pit. We lost 5 laps! I was gutted. But Manu told me, push like hell, this is LM, anything can happen, and we pushed, and pushed, and pushed. Clawed from 8th to 6th, then 5th, then 4th with cars dropping out in front (I feel horrible for my friend Paul who crashed the Aston in the last hour, they were comfortably in the lead for the whole race).
This is Le Mans, you don't win it, you outlast it. And it's exactly what happened with Porsche 19, they weren't the quickest but they were the ones with the least problems. I glad the kids won it, it's always nice to have an outsider like Hulk win. Nick's a good mate too, we often share the same flight back to London so I'm happy for them. Same as 1998 with Aiello who came for only one race, Manu Collard then, gave his seat away because he signed a contract for two years with the Toyota GT one.
Personally, I'm happy, I've improved since last year, I was the second fastest gentleman of the race behind Paul (and the Aston is quicker) and compared to my direct competitors I drove almost double what they drove. Dempsey and Basov drove 4 hours, Paul 6 and me 7. It's exhausting, the stress, the tension, the heat, I lost four kg in my first stint, then subsequently it was better.
The atmosphere is amazing, there's something about LM that is just special. Hopefully next year we will do better, we have proven we have the speed to get a podium now. Bring it on!
The racing was great, mostly clean, some really bad LMP2 and GT drivers out there, you wonder who the ACO qualified them. The fight in GT was good, shame for the Pros in the Ferrari with the gearbox problem. I'm very sad for my friend Patrick too in the Porsche pro, this year was a really bad year for them in GTE, even with a good car, they were never in a position to win. Porsche needs to urgently rethink it's long term strategy. The future is still unclear, Turbo Flat 6 or mid engined V8 car.
It was super nice to meet Joost during the parade, brief but cool. Sorry I missed you Porker.
On a side note, I saw the Fort GT GTE and it is magnificent. The road car is amazing, the race car is just plain awesome.
Next one is Nurburgring, points wise we did a good operation, we are now second in the world championship behind the Russians and the Aston is 3rd.
The parade was crazy, as every year. We had to wait too long and it's not great the day before the race, but the fans are on fire!
There were a lot of supercars at the parade including that thing, it sounded great but the look is odd.
Our piece of shit from last year, looks nice but the performace and reliability were terrible.
Great write up François! thanks for that and for the race. You guys did a really good job. It was bad luck that hit you. Like you say, you don't win Le Mans, you outlast it. Apart from that bad luck, your team did an amazing job. You were really fast, especially during the night. I think at one point I was checking the laptimes and you were the 2nd fastest GT car on track (Pro and Am), after the Corvette.
For me and I assume for everyone else here too, it gives an extra dimension if there's someone participating in the race who is a fellow Rennteam member. It just makes the race even more exciting to watch.
I'll be tuned in and cheering for you again on the 30th of August! 
Suzy
SuzyF:For me and I assume for everyone else here too, it gives an extra dimension if there's someone participating in the race who is a fellow Rennteam member. It just makes the race even more exciting to watch.
+1
Was also wondering what happened, dropping from 2nd place to 8th place at some point in the race. But good recovery and despite the 'crappy' 4th place, a stunning performance 
M3 CSL / Alpina D3 Bi-Turbo Touring / RS2 Avant / GT3RS Kermit
So great to read a report from the experience on the inside. I could ramble on for hours on how the atmosphere is great on the outside, yet we have no clue how it must be actually do it, it must be gruelling.
We stayed up until 10.30AM Sunday morning and just had to lie down after that, and all we had to do was watch a race - and drink. Can't imagine how though it is on the other side. 
What's cool about staying awake for that long next to the racetrack, you get to feel connected to the drivers pushing on through the night themselves. That and the fact there was a nice girl at the wine bar in the village. 
@Futch, don't worry, we fail at that each year. 
Racing is more important at that time.
--
2003 BMW M3 CSL (sold) / 2008 Porsche 911 GT3 RS / 2013 MINI John Cooper Works GP / 2014 BMW Alpina D3 biturbo Touring
Jun 16, 2015 10:51:47 AM
Rotbart:What a race and a well deserved win for Porsche!
Watching the 919 around the slower corners it looked smoother than the R18, so Audi had to push harder to keep the pace I think, but still they were able to do quadruple stints on the tires all the time. Luckily for Porsche, I was surprised that Audi had the Gremlins this year, not them. In the end the only car that faced no issues during the 24 hours took the win, so the rules of endurance racing are still valid. Nevertheless it was great to see the cars at 100% during the whole race, especially those magnificent stints of Albuquerque, Tandy and again Lotterer.
Regarding GTE: A shame, both Futch's car and the Porsches had issues.
@CGX car nut, LMP and GTE are two different programs and furthermore all three burning cars were of different spec, so I really wonder what was the issue.
I followed Le Mans radio during the race and the general consensus was that Porsche moved resources to the 919 and away from the other programs. It was mentioned more than once and by several different commentators and appeared base on statements made by more knowledgeable individuals close to the programs.
But the thing is that this shouldn't have affected the RSR as a car that much. As far as I know there were only minor adjustments on all GTE cars concerning reliability plus the LM aero kits. Furthermore GTE has BoP which was adjusted as well at the beginning of the season - still the Astons are able to compensate tire wear with more power...
The problem I see is the heavy driver switching between WEC and TUSC due to more GTE drivers in LMP, so it will be interesting to see which GT program will continue next year. I don't think both will, since Porsche will use the migration year 2016 to compete with their 991 RSR against the new for 2016 cars from Ford, Ferrari (confirmed testing), Aston (no confirmation yet) and Corvette. So they probably won't be that competitive until their new weapon launches in 2017 with a 4.0 liter turbo engine.
Then Porsche may have 3 full season P1s next year, because hey Tandy, Bamber and Hulkenberg won Le Mans, don't waste the talent
Futch:Personally, I'm happy, I've improved since last year, I was the second fastest gentleman of the race behind Paul (and the Aston is quicker) and compared to my direct competitors I drove almost double what they drove. Dempsey and Basov drove 4 hours, Paul 6 and me 7. It's exhausting, the stress, the tension, the heat, I lost four kg in my first stint, then subsequently it was better.
Wow! 
Maybe you could get Weightwatchers to sponsor you for next year's entry. 
fritz
@Futch, great to get some first hand inside information! 7 hours, this is almost one third of the race, I didn't expect that from a non pro - amateur would be the wrong term - driver and at a good pace, as you mentioned, as well.
A shame the race didn't let you step on the podium. Strike back at the Nürburgring!
I have to go to Le Mans one of the next years, in fact I cannot understand I haven't already been there 
FUTCH - Great report and well done. I felt so sad for both you and the "Dane Train" in the 95 Aston, both ending 4th. I know the feeling all to well from our last 12H race at Zandvoort. Honestly it stinks, and you just want to have at least a walk up to the podium. Keep pushing, then I am sure that you will have one of these cups to the shelf.
4kg weight loss...another motivation to keep racing 
See you at PR.
Jun 16, 2015 12:41:16 PM
Spyderidol:This is one of THE major reasons for the victory. Porsche could do 14 lap stints, but chose to do 13. This meant that there was more fuel left in the tank when they came in for a refuel; thus the shorter time needed to top-up. A very clever strategy and beautifully executed. Hopefully the drivers took the pit crew to dinner.
Wouldn't they just run with less fuel if they were doing shorter stints? Less fuel equals less weight equals the car being faster and still less time to refuel. I would think you'd still want the tank down to nearly empty when you come in, otherwise you are just hauling dead weight around the track for no reason.
It's actually pretty amazing that the 919 only uses around 4.5L of fuel per lap, 64 litre tank. That's around 33L/100km. About what I get in my F12, 240km from 80L. It's amazing what the hybrid system can do help the fuel economy part.
#98 Aston crashed right in front of us, it was unreal as we know it was the lead car and by a lot. It was so close for them yet the finish line is so far away. Paul has to be gutted. A slight mental mistake is all it takes.
I have noticed those GTE cars almost always go straight 'behind' the apex for the second last chicane before the front straight, most don't even bother trying to turn and follow the track, they only brake and turn for the last one to get on the front straight. Could be the curbing that threw him off?
Joost, Bjoern, sorry didn't have time to come around and meet up, Porsche has stuff arranged for us pretty much through out the whole 24hrs, they got us pit tours, helicopter rides and brought the drivers and other personal to the hospitality for meet and greet and interviews through out the race. The best part is that Porsche let the execs to drink with us, didn't ask them to stay sober!!
They hosted us at Le Taverne des Arts for the parade so we had a very good view.
One think I regret was that I didn't win a hot lap on board a GT3RS before the race.
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