24h Le Mans
ACO Sporting Director Vincent Beaumesnil reviews the 88th 24 Hours of Le Mans held in September behind closed doors.
In collaboration with several medical experts, the Prefecture and the Fédération Internationale de l’Automobile, the ACO established a COVID-19 protocol for the 2020 24 Hours of Le Mans. We were particularly conservative to safeguard the organisation of our event and reduce the stress factor as much as possible. Today, the day after the 88th running of the race, we can confirm everything went well. We accredited more than 8,000 individuals between the organisers, competitors and media, and separated them to limit movement between the various groups during the race that was held in the absence of spectators unfortunately.
The requirement of mandatory tests was complicated but beneficial. We estimate more than 8,000 PCR tests were administered for the event, including 2,800 taken in the centre set up specifically for the 24 Hours of Le Mans just outside the circuit. The tests detected a few positifve cases and prevented those persons from entering the circuit enclosure. Our medical team also carried out certain unannounced checks to verify the protocol was being respected by the various groups in the paddock, and I have to say everyone was on board. Everything went well, the organisation of the event was never in jeopardy. We can be satisfied with that.
I would like to thank the entire staff at the circuit, and would also like to acknowledge those who were unable to join us this year for any number of reasons. There were 600 less marshals and volunteers around the track than usual: we operated at bare bones, but never below the acceptable threshold to ensure safety. The teams on site did a remarkable job given they had to work in longer shifts and that includes medical services. So I take my hat off to all of those individuals as the race would not have taken place without them. Our event is complexe and lasts several days, which requires rotating teams in a widespread location and different paddocks. A huge challenge was undertaken without a hitch.
We will soon debrief all of the teams on this new shorter, more intense format. Thursday seemed extremely busy for the teams, so we'll take a look at that in hindsight. Some aspects we may keep, others we may not. You have to be adaptable. We adopted this format to avoid mobilising the teams for too long this year, but that doesn't mean it will become the norm.
The Hyperpole went very well. We combined an exercise in pure speed on Friday with the race against the clock of Thursday with traffic. There were two selections for this race and we can now clearly see when the teams were looking to complete their fastest time.
Though the night portion of the race was longer, there were no more interruptions like the safety or slow zones than normal. That shows the caliber of drivers, both Pro and Am. We got lucky with the weather too because storms had been expected. In LMP1, bravo to Toyota for winning for the third time in a row. For its final appearance in the 24 Hours of Le Mans, the TS050 Hybrid deserved the trophy as it is closes the remarkable era of the LMP1 hybrid in motorsport before we head into Hypercar. Rebellion demonstrated such a performance level it was a contender to win. The LMGTE Pro, LMP2 and LMGTE Am classes were all incredibly intense as well.
