2016 24 Hours of Le Mans

The 84th 24 Hours of Le Mans (24 Heures du Mans) was anautomobile endurance event held from 15 to 19 June 2016 at the Circuit de la Sarthe, Le Mans, France. It was the 84th running of the 24 Hour race organised by the Automobile Club de l'Ouest as well as the third round of the 2016 FIA World Endurance Championship. A test day was held two weeks prior to the race on 5 June.

Neel Jani of Porsche started from pole position for the second consecutive year, but heavy rainfall forced the organizers to start the race behind a safety car. Once the rain had stopped the field and the track sufficiently dried the field was released from under safety car conditions. Toyota, Audi, and Porsche traded off the race lead in the early hours until the No. 6 Toyota established a firm hold on first place, followed by the No. 5 Toyota and No. 2 Porsche. Issues for the No. 6 eventually allowed the No. 5 Toyota to take over the lead, maintaining a small gap from the Porsche. Kazuki Nakajima was driving the Toyota to the finish in the closing three minutes of the race when it suffered a mechanical issue and stopped on the circuit right after the finish line on his last lap. Jani overcame the one-minute gap to the ailing Toyota and passed it on the final lap,taking the race victory; It was Jani and co-driver Marc Lieb's first Le Mans win and Romain Dumas' second. The sister Toyota of Stéphane Sarrazin, Mike Conway, and Kamui Kobayashi finished three laps behind in second, while the No. 8 Audi of Loïc Duval, Lucas di Grassi, and Oliver Jarviscompleted the race podium.

The LMP2 category was won the Signatech Alpine-Nissan of Gustavo Menezes,Nicolas Lapierre, and Stéphane Richelmi after it led the final 196 laps of the race. Roman Rusinov, René Rast, and Will Stevens of G-Drive Racing finished on the same lap as the Alpine, while the all-Russian SMP Racing BR01-Nissan of Vitaly Petrov, Kirill Ladygin, and Viktor Shaitar was four laps behind in third. On the day of the fiftieth anniversary of their first overall 24 Hours of Le Mans victory, Ford won the LMGTE Pro class with the No. 68 American entry ofJoey Hand, Sébastien Bourdais, and Dirk Müller. Risi Competizione Ferrari were second with Giancarlo Fisichella, Toni Vilander, and Matteo Malucelli, after they and the winning Ford had led all but 26 laps of the race. Ford USA's sister car of Ryan Briscoe, Scott Dixon, and Richard Westbrook was third. Americans also led the LMGTE Am category, with Scuderia Corsa's Townsend Bell, Jeff Segal, and Bill Sweedler edging out the fellow Ferrari of AF Corse, driven by Emmanuel Collard, Rui Águas, and François Perrodo. Khalid Al Qubaisi, Patrick Long, andDavid Heinemeier Hansson were third in class for Abu Dhabi-Proton.

Entries
Following the construction of additional garage complexes, the ACO initially planned to expand the race entry from 56 cars to 58, but early pace on construction allowed this to be further increased to 60 cars ahead of the initial 2017 plans.

Automatic invitations
Automatic entry invitations were earned by teams that won their class in the previous running of the 24 Hours of Le Mans, or won championships in theEuropean Le Mans Series or the Asian Le Mans Series. Some championship runners-up were also granted automatic invitations in certain series. Two participants in the WeatherTech SportsCar Championship are chosen by the series to be automatic entries by the ACO regardless of their performance. AllFIA World Endurance Championship full-season entries automatically earned invitations. As invitations were granted to teams, they were allowed to change their cars from the previous year to the next, but not allowed to change their category. In the European and Asian Le Mans Series, the LMGTE class invitations 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. European Le Mans Series GTC class champions are limited to the LMGTE Am category.

Among the fourteen automatic invitations granted, three teams chose not to accept: Team LNT and Marc VDS have not continued their European Le Mans Series efforts in 2016 while SMP Racing has opted to concentrate on their LMP2 entries and forgo defense of their Le Mans victory in LMGTE Am.

Garage 56
The Garage 56 entry to display new technologies returned following an absence in 2015. Frédéric Sausset, a quadruple amputee, participated in the race driving a modified Morgan LMP2 developed in conjunction with Onroak Automotive. The adapted automobile featured a throttle and braking system controlled by Sausset through his thighs while steering was achieved by attaching his right limb directly to the steering column. The car was also able to be driven in a normal fashion by his co-drivers. SRT 41 initially planned to use a new Audi engine for the programme but later changed to the ubiquitous Nissan LMP2 engine. The team participated in the Silverstone European Le Mans Series race as a precursor to Le Mans, the first Garage 56 entry to compete prior to Le Mans.

Entry list
In conjunction with the announcement of entries for the FIA World Endurance Championship and the European Le Mans Series, the ACO announced the full 60 car entry list and ten car reserve list on 5 February.

Reserves
Ten reserves were named by the ACO to replace any entries which were withdrawn prior to the official test session. Greaves Motorsport, Riley Motorsports, and Proton Competition later withdrew their reserve entries. Algarve Pro Racing was promoted to the race entry when TDS Racing withdrew their LMGTE Am Aston Martin. Six reserves remained before the race, with a second entry from Pegasus Racing and Team AAI, as well as lone entries from JMW Motorsport, Courage, OAK Racing, and DragonSpeed.

Testing and practice
A mandatory test session for all sixty entries was held on 5 June, split into two sessions during the day. The morning session was led by Porsche, with Neel Jani setting a lap time of 3:22.334. The second Porsche followed, ahead of the two Audis and two Toyotas. Orecas led the LMP2 category with six cars at the top of the timing charts, led by the Signatech Alpine of Nicolas Lapierre ahead of Eurasia Motorsport and Manor. Porsche also led the LMGTE Pro category with a 1-2, the No. 92 ahead of the No. 91 and followed by the No. 63 Corvette. The No. 55 AF Corse Ferrari was the fastest in LMGTE Am, ahead of the second Ferrari of Scuderia Corsa.

The second test session had Audi leap to the top of the field when Lucas di Grassi set a 3:21.375 lap time, followed by an improved time for the No. 2 Porsche of Mark Webber. The No. 8 Audi required repairs for much of the session after issues arose with the suspension system on the car. Tristan Gommendy improved the fastest lap in LMP2, moving Eurasia Motorsport ahead of the Signatech Alpine. The Michael Shank Ligier-Honda of Oswaldo Negri, Jr. had an accident in the final hour of the session, bringing a premature end to the test. Antonio García moved the No. 63 Corvette ahead of the pair of Porsches, while another Corvette in LMGTE Am, driven by reserve driver Nick Catsburg for Larbre Compétition overtook the fastest time from the morning session.

A single free practice session was available to the teams prior to the three qualifying sessions. Rain fell at parts of the circuit throughout the four hours, but the No. 8 Audi led for much of the session until overtaken by the No. 2 Porsche Brendon Hartley until it too was pipped by Neel Jani with a lap of 3:22.011 in the closing ten minutes. The session was briefly stopped withPierre Kaffer's ByKolles CLM-AER caught fire on the Mulsannes Straight, while Toyota ended the session with the No. 6 entry damaged after hitting the barriers exiting the Indianapolis corner. KCMG led the LMP2 category ahead of the Signatech Alpine and Panis-Barthez Ligier-Nissan. Separate crashes byBruno Senna of RGR Sport and Inès Taittinger of Pegasus Racing led to stoppages in the session. The LMGTE Pro field was led by Fords and Ferraris, with three Fords leading the class until overtaken by the Risi Ferrari and later the No. 51 AF Corse Ferrari. Scuderia Corsa led the LMGTE Am category for much of the session until Rob Bell gave Le Mans rookies Clearwater Racing the fastest lap of the class in the final fifteen minutes.

Qualifying
Six hours of qualifying sessions were available to all the entrants, but pole position for the race was decided by Neel Jani in the first 10 minutes of the opening session. Jani's 3:19.733 lap time was able to hold at the top of the field as rain affected the two qualifying sessions the following day. The position was the second consecutive at Le Mans for both Jani and Porsche, while the sister car was nearly half a second behind in the second position. Toyota's Stéphane Sarrazin was a further half second behind for third, followed by the other Toyota. Audi struggled to get their cars on track at the start of the first session as both cars suffered mechanical ailments, eventually setting lap times three seconds slower than the pole position Porsche to hold onto fifth and sixth positions. Dominik Kraihamer was the fastest privateer in the No. 13 Rebellion, while the ByKolles entry did not appear during the session while repairs were made following the fire in the practice session. The LMP2 category was led by René Rast of G-Drive Racing with a 3:36.605 lap time set in the final fifteen minutes of the session, after the lead in the category had been swapped between the G-Drive entry and the two Alpines over the course of the two-hour session. DC Racing's Alpine held on for second in the class while Signatech was third. Pu Jun Jin had an accident near Tertre Rouge which ended Eurasia Motorsport's night.

The LMGTE Pro category qualifying was swept by the new cars making their debuts at Le Mans. Ford's new GT in the hands of Stefan Mücke set a lap time of 3:51.185, three-tenths of a second ahead of its American sister car the No. 69 Ford. Ferrari's new 488 was third in the class for AF Corse, a further tenth of a second behind the two Fords. The British pair of Fords followed in fourth and fifth places, followed by two further Ferraris, with the No. 92 Porsche almost four seconds off the class pole position time as the first car with previous experience at Le Mans. Risi Competizione's Ferrari brought out the only red flag of the session as Giancarlo Fisichella became stuck in the gravel trap in the Porsche Curves after a spin. In LMGTE Am Rob Bell's 3:56.827 lap in the Clearwater Racing Ferrari beat out the No. 98 Aston Martin; two AF Corse Ferraris followed in third and fourth positions.

The following day the second qualifying session opened with a dry track but threatening skies. Several LMP2 and LMGTE teams were able to improve their qualifying times in the opening half an hour of the session before rainfall started. The biggest improvement in the beginning of the session was the Abu Dhabi-Proton Porsche in LMGTE Am, taking third place in the class, while the ByKolles CLM-AER went out in the wet to set first lap times of qualifying and take its place at the back of the LMP1 field. Pegasus Racing led the few improved times in the LMP2 category to earn the fifteenth position. Porsche No. 1 was the fastest in the session but its lap time was over three seconds off the provisional pole position. The second session ended without the track drying again and no times were improved in any category. All four Aston Martins chose to not set lap times in the session as they changed their engines. The third qualifying session began an hour later under a light rain but soon turned to deluge within ten minutes, prompting race officials to stop qualifying for nearly an hour as several cars aquaplaned. When the rain tapered off and qualifying resumed, many teams chose not to participate or set a large number of lap times as no improvements could be made to qualifying lap times.

Following qualifying the ACO altered the balance of performance in the LMGTE Pro category, adding 10 kg (22 lb) of ballast and lowering turbocharger boost pressure in the Ford GT and adding 25 kg (55 lb) of ballast to the Ferrari 488s to lower their performance. Similarly, Aston Martin and Corvette received an increase in performance by allowing a larger air restrictor on the air intake of their engines. Porsche had no performance changes.

Qualifying results
Provisional pole positions in each class are denoted in bold. The fastest time set by each entry is denoted with a gray background. Times for Qualifying 3 are not included as many teams did not set a lap time, and no team made an improvement on their time.

Final minutes
With 11 minutes left, the #2 Porsche car came in to replace all four of its tires in an unscheduled pit stop. With 6:30 left, the gap between the lead #5 Toyota and the #2 Porsche was 1:14, with both cars on the lead lap. Delayed radio transmissions by Kazuki Nakajima revealed at about this time that the #5 was experiencing a severe loss of power on acceleration, and this was evidenced by the #2 rapidly catching it. With 4:30 to go, the gap had been reduced to 37.580 seconds, and Toyota had to decide whether to bring its car into the pits or to keep it on the race track. The team elected to keep the car on track, and Nakajima had to stop the car, but stopped it just after the start/finish line as the #5 car's power gave out entirely, with 3:25 remaining on the clock. The #2 Porsche passed it a few seconds later to claim the LMP1 and overall lead in what turned out to be the final lap of the race.

Nakajima held the #5 car stationary just past the start/finish line until the 24 hour clock officially ran out, then pushed the car ahead at whatever speed it could manage to complete the last lap. Officially, it took the #5 Toyota 11:53.815 to complete the final lap of the race, which is above the maximum allowed time of six minutes. This led to the No. 5 car not being classified in the race results and not earning any championship points.

Porsche completed the final lap of the race first overall to claim their 18th championship. The #6 Toyota, three laps behind it, claimed second, and Audi, a full 12 laps behind the Porsche in the #8 car, claimed the last step of the podium.

Race result
Class winners are denoted with bold.