24h Le Mans
Looking in detail at the driver line-ups entered by Porsche in this 84th edition of the 24 Hours of Le Mans, it is interesting to see that of the numbers compiled, the German marque counts in its ranks the most experienced driver of all in LM P1, but also the one who competed in the oldest edition of Le Mans (1998)!
Of the three big manufacturers entered this year to win at the 24 Hours of Le Mans, Porsche is the one with the most experienced driver at Le Mans. It's Romain Dumas, who has taken the start 15 times. Of all the factory drivers in LM P1, meaning entered by a constructor, he has the most participations, and in different classes. First seen in GT (with Freisinger Motorsport in 2001 and 2002), he returned four times, namely in 2013 to bring Porsche the win in LM GTE Pro, in a 911 RSR. A driver in the Pescarolo adventure in 2007 and 2008, he took the start at the 24 Hours of Le Mans four times with Audi. It was with Audi in fact that he won in 2010, in an Audi R15+, along with Mike Rockenfeller and Timo Bernhard.
In its driver line-ups, Porsche also has the LM P1 driver who has participated in the oldest edition of the 24 Hours of Le Mans. Yes, Romain Dumas participated for the first time in 2001, Timo Bernhard in 2002 and Marc Lieb in 2003; but before them, Mark Webber was at the start in 1998 with Mercedes-Benz! In a CLK LM, he was forced to retire very early in the race, then the following year he wasn't even at the start after his car took flight during the warm-up. He waited until 2014 to return, then reached the second step on the overall podium in 2015.
The last amusing statistic comes from compiling all the starts at the 24 Hours of Le Mans by driver line-up: Romain Dumas, Neel Jani and Marc Lieb are the strongest trio, with 32 starts, that's 10.7 on average each! No other driver line-up compares, not even at Audi with the trio Marcel Fässler, André Lotterer and Benoît Tréluyer and their 28 starts combined, or 9.4 on average. However, they have all each won at the 24 Hours of Le Mans three times, whereas at Porsche, only Timo Bernhard and Romain Dumas have claimed the top step on the podium, once (2010), and that was with Audi!
Porsche driver line-ups for the 2016 24 Hours of Le Mans
Timo Benrhard, Brendon Hartley and Mark Webber, No. 1 Porsche 919
Timo Benrhard: debut at the 24 Hours of Le Mans in 2002, 9 starts, best result winner (2010)
Brendon Hartley: debut at the 24 Hours of Le Mans in 2012, 4 starts, best result second (2015)
Mark Webber: debut at the 24 Hours of Le Mans in 1998, 3 starts, best result second (2015)
Romain Dumas, Neel Jani and Marc Lieb, Porsche No. 2 919 Hybrid
Romain Dumas: debut at the 24 Hours of Le Mans in 2001, 15 starts, best result winner (2010)
Neel Jani: debut at the 24 Hours of Le Mans in 2009, 7 starts, best result fourth (2012 and 2014)
Marc Lieb: debut at the 24 Hours of Le Mans in 2003, 10 starts, best result fourth (2014)
Photo: At Porsche, of all the drivers at the start, none has already won at the 24 Hours of Le Mans with the German marque. Timo Bernhard and Romain Dumas have each won once, in 2010, but were with Audi at the time!
