Photo : OLIVIER BEROUD / VISION SPORT AG - OLIVIER BEROUD / VSA

 

In the meantime of finding out if he will become the first Japanese to win the 24 Hours at the wheel of a Japanese car, if the Chinese team KCMG will claim a podium finish in the LM P2 class, or if the Nissan ZEOD RC will be the first 100% electric prototype to complete a 24 Hours circuit lap, let us revisit 10 important dates and 25 years of history.

1990 – Nissan was the first Japanese manufacturer to score the pole position at the 24 Hours of Le Mans, thanks to the Brit, Mark Blundell.
1991 – The victory of Johnny Herbert, Bertrand Gachot and Volker Weidler made Mazda the first (and only to this day) Japanese manufacturer to win at Le Mans.
1995 – Teammate of JJ Lehto and Yannick Dalmas, Masanori Sekiya was the first Japanese driver to win the 24 Hours of Le Mans, at the wheel of  a McLaren F1 GTR.
1999 – Third at the wheel of the Toyota GT-One, Ukyo Katayama, Keiichi Tsuchiya and Toshio Suzuki were the first 100% Japanese driver line-up to reach the podium at the 24 Hours.
2008 – Cong Fu Cheng was the first Chinese driver at the start of the 24 Hours, at the wheel of a Pescarolo belonging to the Saulnier Racing team (today known as OAK Racing). He finished third in the LM P2 class (18th overall), along with Pierre Ragues and Matthieu Lahaye.
2010 – Fifth overall, the Honda HPD of the British team Strakka Racing won in the LM P2 class. Driven by Jonny Kane, Danny Watts and Nick Leventis, it became the first car in the class to roll more than 5,000 kilometers in La Sarthe.
2012 – DeltaWing project sponsor, Nissan inaugurated Garage 56, dedicated to an innovative prototype outside of ranking.
2012 – The Thai driver Tor Graves was the first citizen of his country to pass under the checkered flag at Le Mans (6th in the LM P2 class with Oreca Nissan).
2013 – KCMG was the first Chinese team to take the start of the 24 Hours.
2014 – First participation of a 100% Chinese driver line-up at the 24 Hours of Le Mans, with Adderly Fong-David Cheng-Ho Pin Tung, in the No. 33 Ligier JS P2-Honda HPD.

Jean-Philippe Doret / ACO - Translation by Nikki Ehrhardt / ACO

Photo: LE MANS (SARTHE, FRANCE), CIRCUIT DES 24 HEURES, 24 HOURS OF LE MANS, THURSDAY JUNE 12, QUALIFYING. Thanks to his pole position, Kazuki Nakajima (with helmet at center, with his teammates Alex Wurz at left and Stéphane Sarrazin at right) have entered into 24 Hours and Japanese motorsports history.