As a Formula 1 geek who feels Nico Hulkenberg is a seriously underrated driver in the series, it is with great joy that I report his winning the 2015 24 Hours of Le Mans on his very first attempt.
Three drivers who have never given it a shot claimed victory in a marque that was determined to reclaim its Le Mans pedigree having been absent from the top step since 1998. Porsche ran perfectly while sister VW Group team, Audi, struggled with mechanical issues that prevented their continued domination of the race.
I’ll be honest, I was excited for Nico that he was running the race this year but felt Mark Webber, in the sister Porsche, would be the guy to watch along with Audi’s Benoit Treluyer. In the end, Hulkenberg and teammates Nick Tandy and Earl Bamber took the top step.
Some of you who attended the F1 race at COTA last year will recall Bamber taking the Porsche Cup win there. A great day for Hulkenberg who may have been wondering what life after F1 might be like given no team has given him a competitive ride. Perhaps this is the answer?
Results
| Pos | Class | Driver | Team | Car | Gap |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | LMP1 | N.Hulkenberg, E.Bamber, N.Tandy | Porsche Team | Porsche | – |
| 2 | LMP1 | T.Bernhard, M.Webber, B.Hartley | Porsche Team | Porsche | 1 Lap |
| 3 | LMP1 | M.Fassler, A.Lotterer, B.Treluyer | Audi Sport Team Joest | Audi | 2 Laps |
| 4 | LMP1 | L.di Grassi, L.Duval, O.Jarvis | Audi Sport Team Joest | Audi | 3 Laps |
| 5 | LMP1 | R.Dumas, N.Jani, M.Lieb | Porsche Team | Porsche | 4 Laps |
| 6 | LMP1 | A.Wurz, S.Sarrazin, M.Conway | Toyota Racing | Toyota | 8 Laps |
| 7 | LMP1 | F.Albuquerque, M.Bonanomi, R.Rast | Audi Sport Team Joest | Audi | 8 Laps |
| 8 | LMP1 | A.Davidson, S.Buemi, K.Nakajima | Toyota Racing | Toyota | 9 Laps |
| 9 | LMP2 | M.Howson, R.Bradley, N.Lapierre | KCMG | ORECA/Nissan | 37 Laps |
| 10 | LMP2 | S.Dolan, M.Evans, O.Turvey | JOTA | Gibson/Nissan | 37 Laps |
| 11 | LMP2 | R.Rusinov, J.Canal, S.Bird | G-Drive Racing | Ligier/Nissan | 37 Laps |
| 12 | LMP2 | G.Yacaman, L.Derani, R.Gonzalez | G-Drive Racing | Ligier/Nissan | 41 Laps |
| 13 | LMP2 | K.Chandhok, M.Patterson, N.Berthon | Murphy Prototypes | ORECA/Nissan | 48 Laps |
| 14 | LMP2 | M.Mediani, D.Markozov, N.Minassian | SMP Racing | BR Engineering/Nissan | 55 Laps |
| 15 | LMP2 | E.Brown, J.van Overbeek, J.Fogarty | Extreme Speed Motorsports | Ligier/HPD | 56 Laps |
| 16 | LMP2 | P.Perret, I.Bellarosa, J.Ibanez | Ibanez Racing | ORECA/Nissan | 58 Laps |
| 17 | GTE Pro | O.Gavin, T.Milner, J.Taylor | Corvette Racing | Chevrolet | 58 Laps |
| 18 | LMP1 | A.Imperatori, D.Kraihamer, D.Abt | Rebellion Racing | Rebellion/AER | 59 Laps |
| 19 | LMP2 | L.Roussel, D.Cheng, H-Pin Tung | Pegasus Racing | Morgan/Nissan | 61 Laps |
| 20 | GTE Am | V.Shaitar, A.Bertolini, A.Basov | SMP Racing | Ferrari | 63 Laps |
| 21 | GTE Pro | D.Rigon, J.Calado, O.Beretta | AF Corse | Ferrari | 63 Laps |
| 22 | GTE Am | P.Dempsey, P.Long, M.Seefried | Dempsey Racing – Proton | Porsche | 64 Laps |
| 23 | LMP1 | N.Prost, M.Beche, N.Heidfeld | Rebellion Racing | Rebellion/AER | 65 Laps |
| 24 | GTE Am | B.Sweedler, T.Bell, J.Segal | Scuderia Corsa | Ferrari | 65 Laps |
| 25 | GTE Pro | G.Bruni, T.Vilander, G.Fisichella | AF Corse | Ferrari | 65 Laps |
| 26 | GTE Am | F.Perrodo, E.Collard, R.Aguas | AF Corse | Ferrari | 65 Laps |
| 27 | GTE Pro | M.Sorensen, C.Nygaard, N.Thiim | Aston Martin Racing | Aston Martin | 65 Laps |
| 28 | LMP2 | S.Sharp, R.Dalziel, D.Hansson | Extreme Speed Motorsports | Ligier/HPD | 66 Laps |
| 29 | LMP2 | J.Nicolet, J-M.Merlin, E.Maris | Oak Racing | Ligier/HPD | 67 Laps |
| 30 | GTE Pro | R.Lietz, M.Christensen, J.Bergmeister | Porsche Team Manthey | Porsche | 68 Laps |
| 31 | GTE Am | P.Mann, R.Giammaria, M.Cressoni | AF Corse | Ferrari | 69 Laps |
| 32 | LMP2 | T.Krohn, N.Jonsson, J.Barbosa | Krohn Racing | Ligier/Judd | 72 Laps |
| 33 | LMP2 | M.Aleshin, K.Ladygin, A.Ladygin | SMP Racing | BR Engineering/Nissan | 73 Laps |
| 34 | GTE Pro | F.Rees, A.MacDowall, R.Stanaway | Aston Martin Racing | Aston Martin | 75 Laps |
| 35 | GTE Am | H.C.Chen, G.Vannelet, M.Parisy | Team AAI | Porsche | 75 Laps |
| 36 | GTE Am | A.Al Faisal, K.Giermaziak, M.Avenatti | JMW Motorsport | Ferrari | 75 Laps |
| 37 | GTE Am | J.San Chen, A.Kapadia, X.Maassen | Team AAI | Porsche | 79 Laps |
| 38 | GTE Am | P.D.Lana, P.Lamy, M.Lauda | Aston Martin Racing | Aston Martin | 74 Laps |
| – | LMP2 | C.Cumming, L.Vanthoor, K.Estre | Oak Racing | Ligier/HPD | Retirement |
| – | GTE Am | J.Bleekemolen, B.Keating, M.Miller | Riley Motorsports-Ti Auto | SRT/Dodge | Retirement |
| – | LMP2 | N.Leventis, D.Watts, J.Kane | Strakka Racing | Dome/Nissan | Retirement |
| – | LMP1 | S.Trummer, P.Kaffer, T.Monteiro | Team ByKolles | CLM/AER | Not classified |
| – | LMP1 | H.Tincknell, M.Krumm, A.Buncombe | Nissan Motorsports | Nissan | Not classified |
| – | GTE Am | D.Cameron, M.Griffin, A.Mortimer | AF Corse | Ferrari | Retirement |
| – | LMP1 | O.Pla, J.Mardenborough, M.Chilton | Nissan Motorsports | Nissan | Retirement |
| – | LMP2 | P.Thiriet, T.Gommendy, L.Badey | Thiriet by TDS Racing | ORECA/Nissan | Retirement |
| – | GTE Am | R.Goethe, S.Hall, F.Castellacci | Aston Martin Racing | Aston Martin | Retirement |
| – | LMP2 | P.Ragues, O.Webb, Z.Amberg | Team SARD Morand | Morgan/SARD | Retirement |
| – | LMP1 | T.Matsuda, M.Shulzhitskiy, L.Ordonez | Nissan Motorsports | Nissan | Retirement |
| – | GTE Pro | D.Turner, S.Mucke, R.Bell | Aston Martin Racing | Aston Martin | Retirement |
| – | LMP2 | N.Panciatici, P-L.Chatin, V.Capillaire | Signatech Alpine | Alpine/Nissan | Retirement |
| – | GTE Am | G.Roda, P.Ruberti, K.Poulsen | Larbre Competition | Chevrolet | Retirement |
| – | LMP2 | G.Hirsch, G.Paletou, J.Lancaster | Greaves Motorsport | Gibson/Nissan | Retirement |
| – | GTE Am | C.Ried, K.Al Qubaisi, K.Bachler | Abu Dhabi-Proton Racing | Porsche | Retirement |
| – | GTE Pro | P.Pilet, F.Makowiecki, W.Henzler | Porsche Team Manthey | Porsche | Retirement |
| – | GTE Pro | J.Magnussen, A.Garcia, R.Briscoe | Corvette Racing | Chevrolet | Withdrawn |
Great win for Nico and the entire Porsche Team. I have the highest respect for Audi and what they have achieved at Le Mans over the last 15+ years, but its awesome to see someone finally beat them again. I think its important for the WEC and sportscar racing as a whole for someone other than Audi to win. I think a lot of casual fans are turned off from watching Le Mans because Audi always won, it was almost inevitable, just like now people are turned off from watching F1 because of the inevitability of Mercedes always winning. My… Read more »
Proves that Hulkenbeg can compete in any discipline. Now all we need is a brand new big bucks team to give him a shot at winning in Formula 1. it’s probably the only chance he’ll have a getting a sniff at a title.
I like how the FIA regulates WEC power units.
Lacking Fox Sports 2 in our area, I opted for the $10 ticket via the FIA/WEC app. I am glad I did. The coverage was excellent and the presenters didn’t bother with tedious explanations for neophytes. We got the world feed plus constant on demand in-car camera for LMP1 contenders as well as contenders in other classes. Goodbye Fox.
Fair play to Nico Hulkenberg; it looks to me like the 1 minute stop/go penalty served by Mark Webber early in the race did not solely represent the difference between P1 and P2.
Thank you Todd for remembering Earl Bamber and Nick Tandy existed and also raced incredibly hard to take that car to overall victory, It’s a refreshing change this morning!
In New Zealand the race result was reported as ‘two kiwis on the podium at Le Mans for the first time since 1966’ – nothing parochial about kiwis ;-)
I like it :-) You got a third kiwi on the podium, with Mitch Evans in LMP2.
Thanks Tom, The media here probably don’t understand there is more than one class at Le Mans , so figuring out that Mitch Evans also ‘won’ would be too hard.
I’ve got some post race thoughts on the race myself, should be up later today
Great posting, thanks for helping us figure our the classes! And yes, you are right, Hulkenberg did a great job according to the commentary.
Congrats to the few drivers I’m aware of (new to WEC). I’ve watched Hartley for years so when he and Webber were paired, I wanted them to win, or Nico. If they finished alternately, I’d probably say that I really wanted Nico to win. It’s better the way it is because he needs a better drive in F1.
It’s unlikely that he gets anything better, or wins a race. Mercs won’t give up their drivers, Ferrari and Bottas seem set, and no other constructor can compete at this time.
The Hulk just cant catch a break! “Rumours suggest Ferrari are not happy with an all German driver line up.”