2015 24 Hours of Le Mans

The 83rd 24 Hours of Le Mans (83e 24 Heures du Mans) was an automobile endurance event held from 10 to 14 June 2015 at the Circuit de la Sarthe, Le Mans, France. It was the 83rd running of the 24 Hour race organised by the Automobile Club de l'Ouest as well as the third round of the 2015 FIA World Endurance Championship. A test day was held two weeks prior to the race on May 31.

The No. 18 Porsche 919 Hybrid of Neel Jani, Romain Dumas, and Marc Lieb started from pole position after Jani broke the circuit's lap record in qualifying. The race was won by the No. 19 Porsche of Nick Tandy and Le Mans rookies Earl Bamber and Nico Hülkenberg, followed a lap behind by the second Porsche of Mark Webber, Brendon Hartley and Timo Bernhard. Audi's best car was defending race winners Benoît Tréluyer, Marcel Fässler, and André Lotterer in third place a further lap behind the two Porsches. This was the seventeenth overall victory for Porsche, and their first since.

The LMP2 category was won by the KCMG Oreca-Nissan driven by Richard Bradley, Matthew Howson, and Nicolas Lapierre. The trio led all but nine laps of the race but only held a 48 second lead over the Jota Sport Gibson-Nissan at the race's end. Corvette Racing won their first class victory since despite one of their two cars being withdrawn after an accident in qualifying. Oliver Gavin, Tommy Milner, and Jordan Taylor held a five lap margin in LMGTE Pro over the AF Corse Ferrari in second after breaking away from the rest of the field in the latter half of the race. The LMGTE Am class was led for much of the race by the No. 98 Aston Martin until driver Paul Dalla Lana crashed in the Ford Chicane in the final hour of the race, handing the victory to the SMP Racing Ferrari of Viktor Shaitar, Aleksey Basov, and Andrea Bertolini.

Circuit and regulation changes
Following the introduction of slow zones during the 2014 24 Hours of Le Mans, the ACO revised the system for 2015. The limited speed in the zones was increased from 60 km/h to 80 km/h. The number of zones around the circuit has also increased from 19 to 35, with a new lighting system to assist marshals added to each zone. LMP teams are also required to carry additional flashing rain lights from Le Mans onward following a collision between two prototypes in the rain at 6 Hours of Spa-Francorchamps caused by low visibility.

Modifications were made to the circuit from Mulsanne Corner to the Corvette Curves. The circuit was widened on the road connecting Mulsanne to Indianapolis, and again from Indianapolis to the Porsche Curves, although the kerbs remain in their previous locations. The first corner of the Porsche Curves has a larger run-off area on the outside while SAFER barriers have been installed on the inside wall. The Corvette Corners also now feature a sand run-off area.

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 have won championships Le Mans-based series such as the United SportsCar Championship, the European Le Mans Series, and the Asian Le Mans Series. Some championship runner-ups are also granted automatic invitations in certain series. All current FIA World Endurance Championship full-season entries also automatically earn invitations. As invitations are granted to teams they are allowed to change their cars from the previous year to the next, but are not allowed to change their category. In the European Le Mans Series, the LMGTE class champion and runner-up are allowed to choose between the Pro and Am categories, while the GTC class champion is limited solely to an Am entry. The Asian Le Mans Series GTC competitors are also limited to the LMGTE Am class.

The ACO announced its initial list of automatic entries on 15 December 2014.

Reserves
Seven reserves were initially nominated by the ACO, limited to the LMP2 and LMGTE Am categories. Algarve Pro Racing withdrew their reserve LMP2 entry, while Riley Motorsports was promoted from the reserve list when the second SARD-Morand entry withdrew from the World Endurance Championship. Five reserves remained on the list: A second KCMG LMP2, a second Ibañez LMP2, a third Proton Porsche, and the Formula Racing Ferrari and Gulf Racing Porsche.

Testing and practice
A pre-Le Mans testing day was held at the circuit on 31 May, involving all 56 entries as well as the KCMG Oreca-Nissan, Ibañez Oreca-Nissan, Gulf Racing Porsche, and Formula Racing Ferrari reserve entries. Two LMP3 class Ginettas and two additional AF Corse Ferraris also participated. The two four-hour sessions were held under mixed weather conditions as rain swept through the area several times. Neel Jani set the fastest time in the early session with a 3:21.945 for the No. 18 Porsche, but Brendon Hartley improved to a 3:21.061 in the sister No. 17 Porsche. Audi's best time was a 3:22.307 for Marco Bonanomi in the No. 9 car, while Toyota could only muster a 3:25.321 lap. Laurens Vanthoor was the fastest LMP2 driver in the No. 34 OAK Ligier-Honda. Darren Turner's No. 97 Aston Martin was quickest in LMGTE Pro while Pedro Lamy helped Aston Martin also lead in LMGTE Am. The session served as the first appearance for the trio of Nissan GT-R LM Nismo amongst its World Endurance Championship competitors, although the cars were not on pace with the LMP1 field.

Four hours of practice were held for the field on Wednesday afternoon, but again suffered from variable wet conditions throughout. The No. 17 Porsche once again led the session although Mark Webber was the man to set the 3:21.362 lap time. Audi closed to within half a second with Loïc Duval's 3:21.950 lap. The LMP2 category had only a single car manage a lap under 3:40 when Richard Bardley set a 3:39.897 lap, a full second ahead of the No. 34 OAK Ligier-Honda. The KCMG car had earlier caused the session to be red flagged when the car came to a stop at the first Mulsanne chicane. The Murphy Prototypes Oreca-Nissan later caused a second stoppage when Mark Patterson spun in the Porsche Curves and impacted the safety barrier. The LMGTE Pro category was again led by Aston Martin, Richie Stanaway's No. 99 car setting a 3:55.895 lap, followed by the No. 64 Corvette and the No. 97 Aston Martin. Mathias Lauda kept the No. 98 Aston Martin ahead in LMGTE Am, nearly two seconds ahead of the two Proton Porsches.

Qualifying
The first dry session of the week occurred on Wednesday night in the first of three qualifying sessions. The first timed laps of the session immediately saw the qualifying record for the track, in its current configuration, broken. Timo Bernhard's first timed lap of 3:17.767 in the No. 17 Porsche broke the record by nearly a second, only to be followed by Neel Jani in the No. 18 Porsche with a 3:16.887 lap time. Neither driver improved their times over the rest of the session, giving the No. 18 Porsche provisional pole position, followed in third by the remaining Porsche 919. The Audi trio followed, with Loïc Duval leading the group but nearly three second off the pole pace. Toyota's best effort came from Stéphane Sarrazin in the No. 2 car, nearly two seconds adrift of the Audi lap times. Nissan's lap times improved to a 3:38.468, but were over twenty seconds off the pole position time.

The fastest LMP2 lap time was also set early in the session, with Richard Bradley recording a 3:38.032 time in the KCMG Oreca-Nissan, nearly a full second ahead of the Greaves Motorsport Gibson-Nissan. The Greaves car, driven by rookie Gaëtan Paletou, later caused the session's only stoppage when it collided with the safety barriers at Mulsanne Corner and had to be towed back to the garage. Aston Martin dominated the LMGTE categories in the first qualifying session, with four of their five entries leading the overall positions in the category. Richie Stanaway set the fastest time of 3:54.928 in the No. 99 car, while Pedro Lamy was the fastest Amateur category entry with a 3:55.102 lap to be second fastest among all LMGTEs. Gianmaria Bruni's AF Corse Ferrari was third amongst LMGTEs before ACO officials disallowed their fastest lap times for going beyond the track limits, demoting the car down the grid. The two remaining LMGTE Pro Aston Martins followed the dual class pole sitters, with Corvette the first car from another marque.

Initial weather forecasts predicted rain for the Thursday qualifying sessions, but it failed to materialize. The teams had two full sessions of clear but hot and humid conditions. Nick Tandy's Porsche led the session with a 3:18.862 lap, but remained in third position on the provisional grid. Audi No. 7 was the only other car to put in an improved lap time amongst the top ten cars. TDS Racing was the fastest LMP2 car in the session with a 3:40.441 yet still over two seconds behind the pole time of KCMG. The LMGTE categories also remained much the same, as Aston Martin still occupied the top four qualifying positions. Twice the session was stopped for heavy accidents, first for the No. 55 AF Corse Ferrari of Duncan Cameron who became stuck in a gravel trap for about fifteen minutes. The second stoppage occurred when Jan Magnussen suffered a mechanical failure in his No. 63 Chevrolet Corvette C7.R and hit the barriers twice in the Porsche Curves. Repairs to the barriers forced the cancellation of the remainder of the session, although half an hour was added to the final qualifying session. The Corvette was unable to be repaired and the team was forced to withdraw from the race.

As temperatures cooled in the final qualifying session, over a third of the field improved their fastest laps, but Jani's pole position time was unchallenged. Audi No. 7 led the session with a 3:20.967 lap time, still over four seconds shy of pole position. Nissan improved all three of their cars during the session, closing to within a second of the closest LMP1 competitor. The No. 26 G-Drive Ligier-Nissan closed to within a second of KCMG to take second grid position in LMP2, while Greaves remained in third. In LMGTE Pro the No. 51 AF Corse Ferrari rebounded from the loss of their qualifying times in the first session to lead the final session and come within a tenth of a second of Aston Martin. The sister AF Corse Ferrari also improved to fourth in the category to split the top of the grid in the class amongst the two manufacturers. The lead in LMGTE Am remained with the No. 98 Aston Martin, a second and a half ahead of the No. 83 AF Corse Ferrari. SMP Racing improved their time by leading both of the day's qualifying sessions to take second place on the grid, splitting the Aston Martins. The No. 67 AAI Porsche suffered a fire during the session which halted qualifying for nearly half an hour.

Porsche's pole position is their sixth consecutive in the FIA World Endurance Championship, extending back to the 2014 6 Hours of Shanghai. It is also the company's first pole position at Le Mans since.

Qualifying results
Provisional pole positions in each class are denoted in bold. The fastest time set by each entry is denoted in gray.

Race
The French tricolour was waved at 15:00 Central European Summer Time to start the race, led by starting pole sitter Neel Jani. Fifty five cars planned to take the start following the withdrawal of the No. 63 Chevrolet Corvette, but the No. 23 Nissan missed the opening laps while undergoing repairs to its clutch. Timo Bernhard overtook Jani on the first lap while the trio of Audis were able to pass the No. 19 Porsche by the end of the second lap. The top six cars remained within a few seconds of each other as the group pulled away from the Toyotas. The first hour of the race ended with the first retirement as the No. 92 Manthey Porsche began leaking oil and spun on the first chicane of the Mulsanne. Despite resuming driver Patrick Pilet pulled to the side of the track further down the Mulsanne as the engine compartment soon caught fire. The No. 42 Strakka Dome-Nissan and the No. 13 Rebellion were caught off guard by Pilet's oil and collided with one another in the chicane, stranding the Rebellion in the gravel trap while the Dome returned to the pits for repairs.

The safety cars were deployed to slow the race as marshals worked for twenty-two minutes to dry the spilled oil along the Mulsanne. As the safety cars were recalled, André Lotterer in the No. 7 Audi used slower traffic to pass both Porsches in front of him and take over the race lead, just as Nico Hülkenberg moved to fourth place by passing the remaining Audis. In the LMP2 the safety car had split the field up, leaving the TDS Racing and KCMG Oreca-Nissans forty seconds ahead of their class. Richard Bradley for KCMG was able to fight with TDS Racing's Tristan Gommendy on the restart and eventually retake the class lead it had lost at the race start. Lotterer was later forced to give up the race lead as a puncture on one of the No. 7's tyres required an extra pit stop, allowing Brendon Hartley's No. 17 Porsche to the front of the race. Loïc Duval was caught on an approach to a slow zone in Indianapolis by a group of slowed LMGTE cars and took avoiding action in the grass off track. The No. 8 Audi clipped the No. 51 AF Corse Ferrari and was thrown back across the track, impacting the barriers head on and ripping the car's front bodywork off. Safety cars were required once again as the barriers needed lengthy repairs, while Duval was able to drive the damaged Audi back to the garage. Repairs took less than five minutes and the car resumed in eighth place.

Several cars suffered issues during the second safety car period. Nicki Thiim brought the No. 95 Aston Martin from the LMGTE Pro lead straight to the team's garage with a leaking power steering system, handing the class lead to its sister No. 99 Aston Martin. The No. 88 Proton Porsche suffered an engine fire in the second Mulsanne chicane, extending the safety car period as it was tended to. KCMG retained their LMP2 class lead ahead of the TDS Racing car while behind the safety car, while the sole Corvette, No. 71 AF Corse Ferrari, and two circulating Aston Martins were nose to tail in LMGTE Pro, continuing their battle after the safety car period ended. Oliver Gavin's Corvette eventually pulled away from the rest of the LMGTE Pro field. The Riley Viper relinquished its lead in LMGTE Am to the No. 98 Aston Martin and the SMP Ferrari. As the safety car period ended the No. 17 Porsche of Hartley held the race lead, but Filipe Albuquerque was in pursuit in the No. 9 Audi, breaking the Le Mans lap record with a time of 3:17.647. The No. 9 Audi was able to mount a better challenge to the leading Porsche, and René Rast was able to take the race lead after pit stops.

During the sixth hour of the race Gary Hirsch lost power in his Greaves Gibson-Nissan through the Esses and came to a halt; the car would later be abandoned after Hirsch was unable to repair a broken battery terminal. The No. 71 Ferrari was forced to the garage to fix starter motor problems, bowing out of its battle with Corvette and Aston Martin in LMGTE Pro. As dusk settled on the circuit, the No. 18 Porsche of Romain Dumas braked too late for Mulsanne Corner and hit a tire barrier. The car was able to return to the pits, only requiring new front bodywork, but the car fell to fifth position. Not long after Paul-Loup Chatin crashed his Signatech Alpine at Mulsanne Corner, bringing the safety cars out for the third time of the race. During this slow period Rob Bell pulled the No. 97 Aston Martin off course and retired. When racing resumed, Hülkenberg was able to attack the leaders, first overtaking Webber's Porsche on the opening lap then passing Rast when he made a scheduled pit stop. Webber was later given a one minute stop and go penalty for passing in a yellow flag zone, dropping him to fourth place. Nissan lost one of their three LMP1 entries when Tsugio Matsuda's No. 21 car stopped at Arnage and was unable to continue. The No. 22 Nissan also suffered a setback when it hit debris out on the racetrack and required a lengthy repair.

As the race approached its halfway point, Lotterer gained on the No. 9 Audi moved into second place, becoming Audi's lead challenger to Porsche. Several LMGTE cars took the opportunity to change brake discs at this point in the morning, including Fernando Rees in the No. 99 Aston Martin. Returning to the track Rees' car failed to stop in time for the first Mulsanne chicane and hit the rear of the TDS Racing Oreca-Nissan. The Oreca, which had held second place in the LMP2 category, was abandoned in the gravel at the chicane while Rees limped the damaged Aston Martin back to the garage for repairs. The No. 26 G-Drive Ligier took over second place in LMP2, although still a lap behind the leading KCMG Oreca while the lead in LMGTE Pro was now left to the No. 64 Corvette and the No. 51 AF Corse Ferrari on the same lap. In the early morning the No. 7 Audi's hold on second place was relinquished when the rear bodywork of his Audi came apart on the circuit, requiring a seven minute stop for repairs and dropping the car down the race order.

Roald Goethe was caught off guard as Hülkenberg lapped his No. 96 Aston Martin in Corvette Corner, causing Goethe to spin and impact a concrete barrier. Goethe was conscious but needed aid in getting out of the Aston Martin requiring the intervention of a fourth safety car period. Oliver Turvey had been the fastest driver in LMP2 at the time, bringing the Jota Gibson-Nissan into third place. The No. 64 Corvette came to the pits during the safety car period to change brakes, but was unable to get back out of pit lane in time before the exit was closed, forfeiting the class lead to the No. 51 AF Corse Ferrari. When racing resumed Mark Webber was able to attack the No. 9 Audi and take second position. The No. 42 Strakka Dome pulled off the track on the front stretch with gearbox issues, requiring a local slow zone. The No. 7 Audi of Lotterer made contact with Tandy's leading Porsche while both cars were in the slow zone, earning Lotterer a penalty. Viktor Shaitar overran the Indianapolis corner and became stuck in the gravel, losing two laps as it was extracted but remaining in second place in LMGTE Am.

The No. 9 Audi began to fall off the race pace after multiple visits to the garage for repairs to its hybrid system, but the No. 7 Audi kept fighting as Lotterer reset the fastest lap of the race with a 3:17.476 time. KCMG had a scare when Nicolas Lapierre missed the Indianapolis corner, but recovered without losing the class lead. The No. 51 AF Corse Ferrari slowed on course and came to the garage with gearbox issues, handing the LMGTE Pro lead back to Corvette and allowing the No. 71 AF Corse Ferrari to climb to second place after recovering from its earlier issues. Jann Mardenborough's Nissan came to a halt at the Porsche Curves after smoke bellowed out of the front of the car as the gearbox failed, leaving Nissan with a single car left circulating. Light rain began to fall on portions of the circuit in the final hour, but it was not heavy enough to affect the race. Paul Dalla Lana, having led the previous 125 laps in LMGTE Am and within forty five minutes of the race finish, went straight on at the Ford Chicane and crashed into a barrier, ending the car's run and promoting the SMP Ferrari to the class lead which it held to the finish.

Unhindered in the final hours of the race, Nico Hülkenberg took the chequered flag for the No. 19 Porsche, a lap ahead of Hartley's No. 17 Porsche. Audi, in only their third defeat at Le Mans since, were a further lap behind in third place with the No. 7 car. Toyota, unable to match the pace of Audi and Porsche, were twelve laps behind for a seventh place finish, while debutants Nissan successfully finished the race with one of their cars, although it failed to complete enough laps for classification. . KCMG, unchallenged since the early hours of the race, were victorious in the LMP2 class, while Jota Sport was able to take second place from G-Drive Racing in the final hours. Corvette Racing held their five lap lead in LMGTE Pro, earning Oliver Gavin his fifth class victory, while AF Corse completed the class podium with the No. 71 ahead of No. 51. Following the loss of the No. 98 Aston Martin in the final hour, actor Patrick Dempsey's team moved into second place behind the winning SMP Ferrari, while Scuderia Corsa, in their first appearance at Le Mans, finished third.

Race result
The minimum number of laps for classification (70% of the overall winning car's race distance) was 276 laps. Class winners are denoted in bold.