24h Le Mans
The 2017 24 Hours of Le Mans press conference will be held on Thursday 2 February. In the meantime, let’s look back at the winners in the LM P2 class since the World Endurance Championship was introduced in 2012.
As we wait to see how the new 2017 LM P2 technical regulations will or won't affect the hierarchy in the class in the World Endurance Championship (WEC) as well as the European Le Mans Series and Asian Le Mans Series, this second installment takes a look back at the achievements of the teams and manufacturers at the 24 Hours of Le Mans since 2012.
- Since 2012, the LM P2 class just gets more and more competitive, and since the inception of the World Endurance Championship (WEC), five different teams have won the last five editions of the 24 Hours of Le Mans: Starworks Motorsport (2012), OAK Racing (2013), Jota Sport (2014), KCMG (2015) and Signatech Alpine (2016).
- In 2015, the Chinese national anthem played for the first time at the 24 Hours of Le Mans circuit in commemoration of the victory for the KCMG team and its Oreca 05-Nissan, after dominating the race. Nicolas Lapierre, Matt Howson and Richard Bradley led 349 laps.
- In 2014, Jota Sport was the only team entered full-time in the European Le Mans Series (ELMS) to win the LM P2 class at the 24 Hours of Le Mans, with a Zytek-Nissan driven by a 100% British driver line-up: Simon Dolan-Harry Tincknell-Oliver Turvey. Two other ELMS teams joined Jota Sport on the podium, Thiriet by TDS Racing (second) and Signatech Alpine (third).
- The World Endurance Championship (WEC) has seen the emergence of two Russian teams. The winningest team in LM P2 since 2012 and the 2015 winner of the FIA Endurance LM P2 Drivers and Teams Trophy, G-Drive Racing is still chasing its first 24 Hours of Le Mans victory, after claiming two podium finishes (third in 2015 then second in 2016). Last year, SMP Racing reached the third step on the LM P2 podium at the 24 Hours with its own chassis, the BR01-Nissan.
- In terms of chassis, five different marques have won at Le Mans: Honda HPD in 2012, Morgan in 2013, Zytek (Gibson since 2015) in 2014, Oreca in 2015 and Alpine in 2016...with a very special place for French constructors. The Onroak Automotive outfit develops Morgan chassis, called such due to a partnership with the British manufacturer of road sports cars. The Alpine A460 that won in 2016 has an Oreca 05 chassis winner in 2015.
Click below for the first installment in this series:
LM P2 at Le Mans 2012-2016 (1) - Must-see competition
Photo: Since 2013, the LM P2 class has seen the renaissance Alpine with victory at the 2016 24 Hours of Le Mans.
