24h Le Mans
After Yannick Dalmas won his fourth and final victory at the 24 Hours of Le Mans, it took 11 years to see a French driver once again on the top step of the podium. His name is Romain Dumas.
In the book "1999, le choc des titans" (Glénat BD) about the 67th edition of the 24 Hours of Le Mans, the story of Laurent-Frédéric Bollée recalls the end of an era and the beginning of another, represented namely by the arrival of Audi. And in 2010, it was precisely at the wheel of one of Audi's prototypes that Romain Dumas continued the legacy of French drivers at the 24 Hours.
When Romain Dumas competed in his first 24 Hours of Le Mans in 2001, Yannick Dalmas was at the start for the 11th and next-to-last time. In 1992, he won his first 24 Hours of Le Mans at his second start (Romain Dumas at his 10th). But Yannick Dalmas and Romain Dumas have something in common: they have both been factory Porsche drivers at the 24 Hours of Le Mans.
Eleven years slipped by between Yannick Dalmas' last victory and Romain Dumas's first. And indeed, endurance racing entered a new era, of which the success of Audi became the symbol with eight wins between 2000 and 2009. Also, endurance racing found new life thanks to the American Don Panoz. Constructor of cars boasting his name, in the U.S. he created the Petit Le Mans race at Road Atlanta as well as the American Le Mans Series. In Europe, the LMES (Le Mans Endurance Series) and LMS (Le Mans Series) became the current ELMS (European Le Mans Series) launched in 2012 and rounded out by the Asian Le Mans Series on the Asian continent.
Though Yannick Dalmas was the only French driver to win at Le Mans for years, Romain Dumas' victory was followed by those of Benoît Tréluyer (2011-2012-2014, with Marcel Fässler and André Lotterer) and Loïc Duval (2013, with Tom Kristensen and Allan McNish).
Yannick Dalmas and Romain Dumas are today at the heart of the World Endurance Championship (WEC) created in 2012. Dalmas serves as an FIA consultant (and sometimes driver of the Safety Car). To perfect his knowledge of the LM P1 hybrid prototypes, he took the wheel of one at the Bahrain circuit during the Rookie Test, the official end-of-season testing sessions for the World Endurance Championship (WEC). Dumas has clinched five victories since 2012, including his dream win this year: to win the 24 Hours of Le Mans at the wheel of a Porsche, his favorite marque. It was a triumphant year which ended on a high note with the World Endurance Drivers Trophy.
Photo: Yannick Dalmas (at left) congratulates Romain Dumas, a second-time winner in 2016. Dumas has also held the distance record at the 24 Hours of Le Mans since 2010.
