On June 13, 1971 at his second participation, Gijs van Lennep won at the 24 Hours of Le Mans at the wheel of a Porsche 917 K shared with Helmut Marko. That day, the Dutch driver and the Australian established a new distance record, with 5,335 kilometers covered at an average of 222 km/h.

Forty-one years later, the record was beaten on Sunday, June 13, 2010. Peugeot dominated in pure performance through Sunday morning. The retirement of leader Franck Montagny kicked off a veritable epidemic of failures that would go on to impact the other French prototypes still in the race. In ambush, Audi took control: Romain Dumas and his German teammates Timo Bernhard and Mike Rockenfeller won and beat, with 5,405 kilometers covered (at an average of 225 km/h), Marko and van Lennep's record.

Gijs van Lennep and Romain Dumas are truly two Porsche flagbearers. At the wheel of the German cars (917, Carrera then 936), the New Zealander has finished in the top 5 five times. In 16 participations, Romain Dumas has taken the start at Le Mans nine times in a Porsche.

In 1976, Gijs van Lennep won his second victory at the 24 Hours, along with Jacky Ickx. The duo made history in the Porsche 936, the first turbocharged engine prototype to win at Le Mans. Exactly 40 years later, Romain Dumas, along with Marc Lieb and Neel Jani, won his second victory. In the 919 Hybrid, he realized his biggest dream: to win at the 24 Hours at the wheel of a Porsche. Though the New Zealander, at the time 34 years old, has retired from motorsports competition, Romain Dumas is surely far from doing the same...with more wins to come?

Translation by Nikki Ehrhardt / ACO

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Photo: For the second time (and the first with Porsche!), Romain Dumas (at left) gave his handprint as winner at the 24 Hours of Le Mans, accompanied by his teammates Neel Jani (center) and Marc Lieb (at right).