24 Heures du Mans - 2022 - LMGTE Pro - 24 Hours of Le Mans

The LMGTE Pro winning Porsche 911 RSR-19 exiting the Dunlop Chicane on Sunday morning.

It was great to be back at this year's 24 Hours of Le Mans.  I always look forward to the LMGTE Pro battles and I was excited to be seeing the mid-engined Corvettes for the first time.  There were 3 manufacturers entered this year with 2 Corvettes vs 2 Porsches and 3 Ferraris.  Thus Corvette Racing vs AF Corse vs Porsche GT Team vs Riley Motors Sports (the only privateer team).

There were the usual complaints about the BOP (Balance of Performance) from some of the teams, especially Ferrari.  The qualifying showed that the Corvettes had the ultimate pace but the Porsches were not far behind.   However, the race was also about reliability and luck.  The Corvettes were not lucky and lost the No.63 car on  Sunday morning with various issues and then shortly after their No.64 car was unintentionally touched by the LMP2 car of Francois Perrodo, as 3 cars were side by side, and it went crashing into the barrier.  Thus within a few minutes Corvette went from leading the race to having both cars retire.  Francois, always the gentleman, went to apologise to the Corvette team but it was heartbreak for the Chevrolet management, drivers and engineers.  Ferrari and Porsche then battled it out but Porsche had the pace and luck to take the win.

This was the last Le Mans for the LMGTE Pro category, as there is not enough interest from the manufacturers, and thus the new GT3 Premium class will replace it in 2024.  Factory teams will not be allowed in this class so it looks like we won't see the factory Corvettes at Le Mans in the future - a great shame as I have really enjoyed seeing the factory Corvettes at Le Mans.

All of the cars in the last LMGTE Pro class at the 24 Hours of Le Mans are featured below in the pictures and commentary.

Results :

1st in Class and 28th Overall.  No.91.  Porsche 911 RSR.  Gianmaria Bruni, Richard Lietz, Frédéric Makowiecki. 350 laps.

On Saturday evening the No.91 Porsche enters the Dunlop Chicane.  At this time he was running fourth behind the two Corvettes and his team mate.  But with over 19 hours to go there was plenty of time for things to change.

2nd in Class and 29th Overall.  No.51.  Ferrari 488 GTE Evo.  Alessandro Pier Guidi, James Calado, Daniel Serra. 350 laps, 43 seconds behind class winner.

On Sunday morning the No.51 Ferrari enters the Dunlop Chicane in third place.  During the next couple of hours that was to become second with the bad luck that hit the lead Corvette.

3rd in Class and 30th Overall.  No.52.  Ferrari 488 GTE Evo.  Miguel Molina, Antonio Fuoco, Davide Rigon. 349 laps.

It is a little after 10pm on Saturday night and the No.52 Ferrari is running fourth in class as it cuts the apex at Tertre Rouge. At this point he was running a little ahead of the eventual class winner.  

4th in Class and 31st overall.  No.92. Porsche 911 RSR.  Michael Christensen, Kevin Estre, Laurens Vanthoor.  348 laps.

The No.92 Porsche cuts the apex at Tertre Rouge during the second hour of the race whilst running third.

5th in class and 32nd overall. No.74.  Ferrari 488 GTE Evo.  Felipe Fraga, Sam Bird, Shane van Gisbergen.  347 laps.  

The No.74 Riley Motorsports Ferrari early in the race, entering the Esses.

DNF. No.64. Chevrolet Corvette C8.R.  Tommy Milner, Nick Tandy, Alexander Sims.  260 laps. 

The Corvette No.64 was doing well when we got up on Sunday morning but by 11am it had been taken out of the race accidentally by one of the LMP2 cars.

DNF.  No.63.  Chevrolet Corvette C8.R.  Antonio Garcia, Jordan Taylor, Nick Catsburg. 214 laps.

The No.63 Corvette was leading after four hours when this photo was taken at the Dunlop Chicane. However, it later had a rear suspension failure and knock-on issues..

How the race for the LMGTE Pro class unfolded:

Hyperpole for the LMGTE pro cars was won by Nick Tandy in the No.64 Corvette.

 

At the start the two Corvette led from the two Porsches and the three Ferraris.  This is lap 1 at the Dunlop Bridge.  The cars were pretty much in the same order after the first hour.  Car No.64 is leading here.

For the first quarter of the race the lead was mainly held by Corvette No.63.

As night fell the No.92 Porsche was in second place but by 11pm it was in the lead and was in the lead most of the night.

By 7am on Sunday morning the No.64 had retaken the lead and control of the GTE Pro class.  This lead would last until, cruelly, a three abreast incident with some LMP2 cars put the No.64 Corvette into the barrier and out of the race.  This was shortly after the other Corvette had also retired.

With the Corvettes both out, the Ferrari No.51 now had the lead.

A close battle between the No.51 Ferrari and the No.91 Porsche ensued but the Ferrari had a puncture which didn't help its cause and in any case the Porsche looked a little faster.  Thus the Porsche ended up the winner.   Here it is at the entry to the Esses and about to be pounced upon by the Hypercar winning Toyota.

John Etherton asserts his copyright to all of the photos on this blogpost.  However, you may post the photos elsewhere on the web as long as you credit the photographer, John Etherton, and this blog post, Rouenlesafx@blogspot.com and provide a link to this page.

John Etherton affirme son droit d'auteur à l'ensemble des photos sur ce billet de blog. Cependant, vous pouvez poster des photos ailleurs sur le web aussi longtemps que vous créditez le photographe, John Etherton, et ce blog, Rouenlesafx@blogspot.com et fournissez un lien vers cette page.

The No.52 Ferrari in the Dunlop Chicane.

It is early on Sunday morning and we follow the Ferrari and Covette into the Motul Chicane.

On Saturday evening there was  a good battle going on for second place in GTE Pro between the No.64 Corvette and the No.92 Porsche.  Here there are at the Esses.