LM GTE @ 24 Hours of Le Mans 2013
The 90th anniversary running of the Le Mans 24 Hours LMGTE categories, featured entries from Ferrari, Aston Martin, Porsche and Corvette as well as Dodge Viper from ALMS. It was a tough race for the drivers with changing conditions, with a mix of dry and wet track along with cool temperatures and wind. Several incidents such as the tragic death of Allan Simonsen triggered several safety cars, some for 45’.
📷 Luc Warnotte @ Le Mans June 2013.
The 2013 24 Hours of Le Mans marked Porsche's official return in the LM GTE Pro class, with a factory team of two 911 RSRs.
The Porsche 911 achieved a fantastic one-two.
Car #92 driven by Romain Dumas-Marc Lieb-Richard Lietz went for victory after a striking duel with the Aston Martin driven by Peter Dumbreck-Darren Turner-Stefan Mücke on Sunday morning.
📷 Luc Warnotte @ Le Mans June 2013.
📷 Luc Warnotte @ Le Mans June 2013.
Porsche scored a superb one-two, with #91 driven by Jörg Bergmeister-Patrick Pilet-Timo Bernhard finishing second.
📷 Luc Warnotte @ Le Mans June 2013.
Aston Martin had an ambitious five-car line-up to mark the centenary year of Aston Martin across the two GTE Pro and Am classes. After Simonsen’s tragic accident, the team continued racing with the family's consent. Aston Martin's remaining cars were one and two in GTE Pro for a long time, after having dominated the qualifying sessions with two Aston Martin taking the first line of the class start. Frédéric Makowiecki's #99 achieved the best time and Stefan Mücke got the #97 Aston Martin 2nd.
📷 Luc Warnotte @ Le Mans June 2013.
Darren Turner was quickest off the start line taking the lead from Rob Bell, and the pair continued leading the race together through the night.
When the rain reappeared at the end of the race, the Aston Martin made a pit stop to change tires while the two factory Porsches remained on the track taking the two first steps of the podium.
Darren Turner, Peter Dumbreck and Stefan Mücke ended 3rd with their #97 Aston Martin Racing Aston Martin Vantage GTE, one lap behind the 2 Porsches.
📷 Luc Warnotte @ Le Mans June 2013.
Antonio Garcia, Jan Magnussen and Jordan Taylor brought home the #73 Compuware Corvette in 4th place after starting 7th, and we witnessed a remarkable comeback of the trio, that picked up three spots in the final six hours. Antonio Garcia and Jan Magnussen were the 2013 ALMS Driver Champions that year and Chevrolet Corvette Racing won the 2013 ALMS Manufacturer/Team championships to celebrate the end of the C6.R era.
📷 Luc Warnotte @ Le Mans June 2013.
The #74 Corvette Racing Compuware Corvette C6.R finished 7th of the GTE Pro, with Oliver Gavin, Tommy Milner and Richard Westbrook driving. Westbrook and Oliver Gavin had to pit twice for suspected tire issues and once for what the drivers thought to be a fuel pressure issue.
📷 Luc Warnotte @ Le Mans June 2013.
The “balance of perfomance” was decisively adverse for the AF Corse Ferrari 458 Italia GT2 cars that dominated the 24 Hours of Le Mans 2012. The best result was a fifth place of the Ferrari 458 Italia GT2 #71 driven by Kamui Kobayashi, Toni Vilander and Olivier Beretta.
One position behind was its sister car, the Ferrari 458 Italia GT2 N°51 with Giancarlo Fisichella, Gianmaria Bruni and Matteo Malucelli.
Ferrari got their revenge during the 2013 season by winning the GT Constructors’ title with #51 and the GT Drivers’ title for Gianmaria Bruni (Giancarlo Fisichella was replaced by Toni Vilander in the last race of the season (Bahrain), finishing third of the race with Kamui Kobayashi).
📷 Luc Warnotte @ Le Mans June 2013.
Le Mans in 2013 was the return of the Dodge Viper GTS-R with SRT after stringing some impressive results in the late 1990s, finishing one-two at the 24 Hours of Le Mans in 1998, 1999 and 2000.
Dodge Viper GTS-R #53 driven by Marc Goosens, Dominik Farnbacher, and Ryan Dalziel finished 8th of the class, 9 laps behind the winning Porsches.
📷 Luc Warnotte @ Le Mans June 2013.
Dodge Viper GTS-R #93 driven by Jonathan Bomarito, Kuno Wittmer, and Tommy Kendall ended 9th, 14 laps behind the winners.
📷 Luc Warnotte @ Le Mans June 2013.
At 9:51, on Sunday morning, the #99 Aston Martin was leading the way with #97 in 3rd. However, a wet track caused driver Frédéric Makowiecki (who qualified on pole) to spin and collide with the barrier. It was the end of the race for Rob Bell and Bruno Senna, who shared the #99.
The centenary year of Aston Martin was marked by a tragedy after nine minutes of racing and on the fourth lap, when Danish Racing driver Allan Simonsen, 34 was killed. His Aston Martin was approaching the fast corner that leads into the Mulsanne straight before the car shifted sharply to the left, leaving the track and hitting the barriers at the Tertre Rouge corner, where cars typically reach speeds of up to 105 mph.
Two days earlier, Allan Simonsen, had qualified his #95 Aston Martin on pole in the GTE Am category and was a favorite. He shared his car for Le Mans with fellow Danes Christoffer Nygaard and Kristian Poulsen, Allan Simonsen, being the top professional.
Nygaard and Poulsen were joined by another equally rapid Dane, Nicki Thiim for the rest of the season. #95 marked up three victories (Silverstone, Fuji and Bahrain) and two second places in 2013, plus a remarkable six class position from the eight rounds, and these results placed them 4th in the classification for LMGTE Am Teams.
