The public at the 73rd edition of the 24 Hours of Le Mans long believed the win went to Henri Pescarolo, for whom admiration has not waned even today. Things began well: starting from the first row, his two cars took off impeccably. But the car driven by leaders Emmanuel Collard-Jean Christophe Boullion-Erik Comas, which started from pole position, experienced a gearbox problem after two and a half hours of racing.

Exiting the pits seven hours behind, all night it raced frantically and regained about 12 seconds a lap, until three hours from the finish it was in the wake of the lead Audi driven by Tom Kristensen-JJ Lehto-Marco Werner. But this Grand Prix-level chase was not without consequences: the engine started to get hot and the No. 16 Pescarolo had to tone it down in order to finish in second place.

Winner for the seventh time (and sixth consecutive), Kristensen beat Belgian driver Jacky Ickx's win record at Le Mans. At the time, Kristensen's record boasted an extraordinary success rate: in nine participations from 1997 to 2005, he had only been forced to retire twice (in 1998 and 1999) and had reached the top step on the podium an astonishing seven timses! Two more victories would follow in 2008 and 2013.

In addition to this new record, another performance was highly anticipated: that of French rally man Sébastien Loeb, teammate of Eric Helary and Soheil Ayari in the No. 17 Pescarolo. The story had begun two weeks earlier on Sunday, June 5th during the preliminary testing for the 73rd edition of the 24 Hours of Le Mans.

"Sébastien's first participation in the 24 Hours of Le Mans was a great adventure followed by a great deal of people. He managed to qualify brilliantly in absolutely extraordinary circumstances, recalls Henri Pescarolo, still full of admiration 11 years later. "He had come directly from the Rally of Turkey, which he had won, traveling via helicopter then on a private jet."

To allow the World Rally Champion to complete his 10 mandatory laps for any driver competing in the 24 Hours of Le Mans for the first time, the organizers and the Prefecture of the Sarthe even extended the day of testing by one hour. "Sébastien arrived at Le Mans half an hour before the end of that Test Day, with a stunning crowd awaiting him, continues Henri Pescarolo. "He had never driven at the 24 Hours circuit itself, just in simulation."

When the French driver took the track, raindrops were beginning to fall! A quick change of tyres and 10 laps later, Sébastien Loeb had masterfully scored a ticket to his first 24 Hours. Despite a retirement after an incident for one of his teammates, he came back in 2006 and claimed the second step on the podium, along with Eric Helary and Franck Montagny. After a fourth place finish for his team in the LM P2 class in 2014, Sébastien Loeb's return as a driver is still highly anticipated, 10 years after his podium finish.

73rd edition of the 24 Hours of Le Mans: the podium
1-Tom Kristensen-JJ Lehto-Marco Werner (No. 3 Audi R8)
2-Emmanuel Collard-Jean Christophe Boullion-Erik Comas (Pescarolo Hybrid)
3-Frank Biela-Emanuele Pirro-Allan McNish (No. 2 Audi R8)

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

> Special content and exclusive videos: get more with myACO! Register here!
> More info about the online community myACO free to endurance racing fans here!