24 Hours of Le Mans – Cockpit confidential (8): The Finish

The finish is always a special moment in every motorsport discipline, and in many other sports too. It is especially so when the event lasts as long and feelings and emotions are on overload. Throughout the history of the 24 Hours, there have been memorable finishes like in 2016 when Kazuki Nakajima (Toyota TS050 Hybrid) missed out on victory by four minutes, leaving the Porsche 919 Hybrid to steal the win! There was also the 1966 race concluded by a 20-metre winning margin for Ford. Here’s a brief recap of the tightest finishes and the biggest landslides.  

The closest finishes
 
1966 FORD (Amon/McLaren) – FORD (Miles/Hulme): 20 metres

1969 FORD (Ickx/Oliver) – PORSCHE (Larrousse/Herrmann): 120 metres

1933 ALFA ROMEO (Nuvolari/Sommer) – ALFA ROMEO (Chinetti/Varent): 401 metres

2011 AUDI (Fässler/Lotterer/Tréluyer) – PEUGEOT (Lamy/Bourdais/Pagenaud): 775 metres (13.854 seconds)

2004 AUDI (Ara/Capello/Kristensen) – AUDI (Davies/Herbert/Smith): 2.267 km (41.354 seconds)…

2017 PORSCHE (Bernhard/Bamber/Hartley) – ORECA (Tung/Laurent/Jarvis): 13.82 km 
 
The widest gaps at the finish
 
1934 ALFA ROMEO (Chinetti/Etancelin) – RILEY (Sébilleau/Delaroche): 180.208 km 

1981 PORSCHE (Ickx/Bell) – RONDEAU (Haran/Streiff/Schlesser): 186.025 km 

1963  FERRARI (Scarfiotti/Bandini) – FERRARI (Beurlys/Langlois): 215.390 km 

1987 PORSCHE (Stuck/Bell/Holbert) – PORSCHE (Yver/de Dryver/Laesssig): 259.785 km 

1927 BENTLEY (Benjafield/Davis) – SALMSON (De Victor/Hasley): 349.808 km 

Driver’s impressions...

Nicolas Lapierre, #36 Alpine A470, Signatech Alpine Matmut (LMP2): Irrespective of the result, finishing is already a victory in itself! The fatigue hits you when the pressure suddenly drops. Emotions are running high and that’s why you often see people crying. It’s a special moment. So if on top of all that, there is a result that the entire team has been pursuing for months, that’s fantastic [Lapierre has won the LMP2 class twice]. 

Olivier Beretta, #70 Ferrari 488 GTE, MR Racing (LMGTE Am): It’s magic… if you’re in front [laughs]. I’ve been lucky in that I’ve quite a few top 3 finishes at the 24 Hours of Le Mans [including six GT wins] and it’s really special. If you run a good race, without too many snags, and you cross the finish line, then it’s a great feeling.

André Lotterer, #1 Rebellion R13-Gibson (LMP1): It’s highly emotional! If you cross the finish line, it means you have managed to achieve something in the race. It’s a sort of reward for all the mechanics – everyone. I’ve had the opportunity to cross the finish line several times [the German driver has been an outright winner of the 24 Hours of Le Mans three times, in 2011, 2012 and 2014] and it’s a very special feeling, very pleasant. All the track marshals wave their flags and the crowd cheers and claps. That’s when all the magic of Le Mans finds its true meaning!  

Tristan Gommendy, #39 Oreca 07-Gibson (LMP2): It’s the end of what seems like an extremely long adventure! There is often a lot of emotion regardless of whether the result is good or not so good. The main thing is you have worked very hard and managed to get to the end, regardless of where you stand! Everyone has had to battle to get where they are and that means a lot of emotion and exhaustion. You have to keep a lid on it all week and when you see the chequered flag, it all bubbles over.

Andy Priaulx, #67 Ford GT (LMGTE Pro): It’s a great relief! Everyone is physically, emotionally and mentally drained. It’s a real accomplishment when you finish the race. It’s a race that can be cruel: one year, I led through to the 23rd hour with BMW... and we lost everything in the last hour.

Cooper MacNeil, #84 Ferrari 488 GTE, JMW Motorsport (LMGTE Am): Finishing the 24 Hours of Le Mans is a real satisfaction as it’s certainly the toughest race in the world. You have to “survive” to see you name on the general classification sheet!