2017 24 Hours of Le Mans

The 85th 24 Hours of Le Mans (French: 85e 24 Heures du Mans) was an automobile endurance event at the Circuit de la Sarthe, Le Mans, France. It was the 85th running of the 24 hour race organised by the Automobile Club de l'Ouestas well as the third round of the 2017 FIA World Endurance Championship.

Kamui Kobayashi claimed pole position for Toyota by breaking the overall timed lap record for the current iteration of the Circuit de la Sarthe as well as the fastest average lap speed in the history of Le Mans. After securing pole position at Le Mans the previous two years, returning race winner will start the race third. [1 ]

Regulation changes
Following the 2016 event in which the leading car failed on its final lap and was eventually not classified in the final results, the standards by which a car is classified have been changed. Instead of the mandatory six minutes for the final lap of the race, penalties will be awarded for any lap over six minutes on a gradual scale. Failure to complete the last lap of the race in under fifteen minutes will now lead to a car no longer being classified.[2 ]

The slow zone system used at Le Mans has also been revised, with nine dedicated slow zone sectors laid out around the circuit. Previously individual marshal posts were used to mark the beginning and end of slow zones. The dedicated zones have been located such that the beginning of the 80 km/h (50 mph) is in a slow section of the circuit; previous slow zones could begin in areas of the track where cars were required to slow down from high speeds and cause accidents.[3 ]

The LMP2 category was revamped with the introduction of a single specification motor from Gibson, with increased power output compared to 2016 LMP2s.[4 ] Cockpit and chassis designs also mimic the LMP1 regulations for safety.[5 ] The four approved chassis manufacturers were Dallara, Ligier, Oreca and Riley.[6]

Automatic invitations
Automatic entry invitations are earned by teams that won their class in the previous running of the 24 Hours of Le Mans, or won championships in the European Le Mans Series, Asian Le Mans Series, and the Michelin GT3 Le Mans Cup. The second-place finisher in the European Le Mans Series LMGTE championship also earns an automatic invitation. Two participants from the WeatherTech SportsCar Championship are chosen by the series to be automatic entries by the ACO regardless of their performance or category. As invitations are granted to teams, they were allowed to change their cars from the previous year to the next, but not allowed to change their category. The LMGTE class invitations from the European and Asian Le Mans Series are allowed to choose between the Pro and Am categories. European Le Mans Series' LMP3 champion is required to field an entry in LMP2 while the Asian Le Mans Series LMP3 champion may choose between LMP2 or LMGTE Am. The Michelin GT3 Le Mans Cup champions are limited to the LMGTE Am category.[7 ]

Entry list
In conjunction with the announcement of entries for the 2017 FIA World Endurance Championship and the 2017 European Le Mans Series, the ACO announced the full 60 car entry list for Le Mans, plus two reserves.[8 ] Two cars were initially named to the reserve entry list for the event; RLR Msport later withdrew their LMP2 Ligier, while a fourth entry from Proton Competition remained without being promoted to the race.

With the withdrawal of Audi from LMP1, the class was reduced to just six entries for the 24 Hours of Le Mans.

Qualifying
Toyota took to the top of the field in qualifying, locking out the first row on the grid and breaking several lap records in the process. Kamui Kobayashi's 3:14.791 lap time during the second qualifying session was nearly two seconds faster than the qualifying lap record set in 2015 on the current 13.629 km (8.469 mi) version of the Circuit de la Sarthe, and averaged 251.882 km/h (156.512 mph) to beat Hans-Joachim Stuck's 1985 qualifying run.[1] The No. 8 Toyota secured second place during the final session after suffering an engine oil issue earlier in the day in the second session, necessitating an engine change. Porsche settled for third and fourth on the grid, but not before the No. 1 stopped on the circuit due to overheating and was unable to continue the final session. The third Toyota remained in fifth place for all three qualifying sessions, while the ByKolles ENSO CLM was sixth fastest.

The LMP2 category, with all-new, more powerful cars for 2017, were over 11 seconds faster than the class pole time the previous year. Alex Lynn led the category with a 3:25.352 lap, giving G-Drive their third consecutive pole position in the World Endurance Championship. The No. 25 Manor were two-tenths of a second behind, while DC Racing's No. 38 entry was a further half of a second behind. Oreca chassis, as well as the variant Alpine chassis, secured the first nine positions in the LMP2 class, while the Dallara of SMP Racing was the fastest of the other chassis in tenth place.[1 ] Eurasia Motorsport suffered the only major incident of the qualifying session after Erik Maris spun into a barrier on the exit of the first Mulsanne chicane at the start of the second qualifying session, stopping the session for half an hour.[9 ]|undefined

Aston Martin led the LMGTE Pro category with Darren Turner setting a 3:50.837 lap time, the fastest lap of Le Mans for an LMGTE car. All five manufacturers in LMGTE Pro were within a second of Turner's lap, with the fastest Ferrari in second, Ford fifth, Corvette sixth, and Porsche seventh. Larbre Compétition led LMGTE Am, with Fernando Rees setting a 3:52.843 lap time with the Corvette, four-tenths of a second clear of the No. 98 Aston Martin; the No. 62 Scuderia Corsa Ferrari was third in the class.[10 ]

Qualifying result
Provisional pole positions in each class are denoted in bold. The fastest time set by each entry is denoted with a gray background.

Race result
Class winners denoted by bold.