The three Toyota TS050 Hybrids were expected to play a key role in the race, but the Japanese team once again fell foul of the cruelty of competition. In the lead from the start, the #7 Toyota (Conway/Kobayashi/Sarrazin) and the #9 (Lapierre/Kunimoto/Lopez) retired before the halfway stage due to a mechanical issue for the #7 and a race incident for the #9. Porsche were ready to pounce and the #1 Jani/Lotterer/Tandy took control in the ninth hour. Heading towards victory with less than four hours to go, the crowd gasped as the car ground to a halt in the Mulsanne Straight and announced its retirement a few minutes later. It was down to the #2 Porsche 919 Hybrid (Bernhard/Bamber/Hartley) to defend the manufacturer’s chances. The crew fought back magnificently from 55th place and accomplished their mission. A third victory in a row earns the German marque the right to keep the 24 Hours of Le Mans trophy. The remaining Toyota, the #8, finished second in class but in 9th place overall.



In LMP2, the #13 and #31 soon dominated the class, swapping from first to second depending on pit-stops. However, the reliability of the #38 Oreca 07-Gibson (Tung/Laurent/Jarvis) was a force to be reckoned with. The #38 overtook the #13 in the 16th hour and with the LMP1s in trouble, it was leading the race with 3 hours to go. It finished the race in second place overall, just ahead of the #13 Oreca 07 - Gibson (Piquet/Heinemeier Hansson/Beche). For the first time ever, there are two LMP2s on the podium of the 24 Hours of Le Mans.



LMGTE Pro promised fireworks and did not disappoint. The sparks certainly flew between Aston Martin, Corvette, Ferrari, Ford and Porsche. For several hours, the #97 and #95 Aston Martins were in first and second place, staving off attacks from Corvette, Ferrari, Ford and Porsche. The closing stages were enthralling - the #63 Chevrolet Corvette C7R (Magnussen/Garcia/Taylor) finally succumbing to the #97 Aston Martin (Turner/Adam/Serra).



LMGTE Am was well-balanced in the early stages, with a tussle between Ferrari 488 GTE, Aston Martin and Porsche 911 RSR. However, in the end the Italian flexed its muscles and the class was won by the #84 Ferrari 488 GTE (Smith/Stevens/Vanthoor), followed by two other Ferraris.



The 85th running of the 24 Hours of Le Mans was fraught with emotion with 258,500 spectators witnessing a record 19th victory for Porsche in this legendary race.</s>LE MANS: Check out all the highlights from the first 16 hours of the 2017 24 Hours of Le Mans.</s>Updates from the 85th running of the 24 Hours of Le Mans will follow throughout the day in this post.

HOURS 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22 (2 hours to go, back to Tony)

7 a.m. ET – After a sleep and a long stint by Kyle, picking this back up… and there’s no good idea where to start.

So Porsche looked set to win Le Mans overall, and they may still do so, but with a different car.

The No. 1 Porsche 919 Hybrid of Andre Lotterer, Nick Tandy and Neel Jani had the lead, but lost oil pressure with a lead of more than 13 laps on track in Hour 21.

So that brought the No. 2 Porsche into contention, with the sister car of Brendon Hartley, Timo Bernhard and Earl Bamber, despite having lost more than an hour earlier in the race with its front axle issue.

With under two hours to go, that car was less than a lap behind the new overall leader – the No. 38 Jackie Chan DC Racing Oreca 07 Gibson LMP2 car with Oliver Jarvis, Thomas Laurent and Ho-Pin Tung.

The LMP2 fight sees the Nos. 38, 35, 13 and 37 Orecas (35 being an Alpine A470) all in the overall top five before sixth-place United Autosports with the first of the Ligier JS P217s.

Five manufacturers run in the top five spots in GTE-Pro with the No. 63 Corvette, No. 97 Aston Martin, No. 91 Porsche, No. 67 Ford and No. 71 Ferrari.

In GTE-Am, the Nos. 84, 55, 62 and 61 Ferraris run in the top four positions in class.

Elsewhere, more cars beyond the remaining LMP1 entries have had further issues.
• Richie Stanaway crashed out the No. 95 Aston Martin Vantage V8, one of the GTE-Pro contenders.
• Radiator damage has taken the No. 51 AF Corse Ferrari 488 GTE out of the race.
• Both Vaillante Rebellion Orecas have had issues, a starter motor issue affecting the No. 13 car and a gearbox issue affecting the No. 31 car.
• A crash for the No. 28 TDS Racing Oreca at the Porsche Curves took that car out of the race.

The race will now be a crazy fight to the finish, with no idea who will win overall.

11 p.m. ET – Sunrise on Sunday morning closes in at the 85th running of the 24 Hours of Le Mans. The class leaders are as follows:

The No. 1 Porsche 919 Hybrid continues its lead overall and in LMP1, with three-time Le Mans winner André Lotterer at the helm now. The No. 2 Porsche continues its charge forward, with Brendon Hartley now sitting second in class and 13th overall. The No. 8 Toyota TS050 is also still in the fight, with Kazuki Nakajima now running 30th overall, but still third in class.

Oliver Jarvis has moved to the lead in the LMP2 class and sits second in the overall running order in the No. 38 Jackie Chan DC Racing Oreca 07 Gibson. Nelson Piquet Jr. runs second in the No. 13 Vaillante Rebellion Oreca 07 Gibson, while the No. 31 entry experienced brief problems at the beginning of Hour 13 and spent a couple laps in the garage area. It quickly rejoined the fight, and sits third in class, with Julien Canal now at the wheel, albeit a lap down to class-leader Jarvis.

Aston Martin Racing continues to head GTE Pro, with Nicki Thiim leading the way in the No. 95 Vantage V8 and teammate Darren Turner running second in the No. 97. However, with eight cars on the same lap in GTE Pro, their lead is far from comfortable. The GTE Pro field did see another retirement in the form of the No. 92 Porsche GT Team 911 RSR, with driver Michael Christensen spinning and crashing at the beginning of Hour 14.

In GTE Am, the No. 84 JMW Motorsport Ferrari 488 GTE continues to pace the class, with Will Stevens now its pilot.

9 p.m. ET – Following a chaotic four-hour stretch, Hours 11 and 12 during the 2017 24 Hours of Le Mans were remarkably calm. The leaders are as follows:

Nick Tandy assumed the lead following the troubles of Toyota Gazoo Racing and continues to lead overall and in the LMP1 class, now ten laps ahead of the second-place David Heinemeier Hansson in the Rebellion Racing No. 13 Oreca 07 Gibson. Teammate Nico Prost had been leading, but was forced to pit after reporting on the radio that something on the car had broken, possibly involving the gearbox. The team rolled it back into the garage immediately to begin repairs. Their problems also moved Ho-pin Tung, in the No. 38 Jackie Chan DC Racing Oreca 07 Gibson, to second in the LMP2 class.

The GTE Pro class remains wide open, with the top six cars all on the same lap. As of writing, Richie Stanaway leads in the No. 95 Aston Martin Racing Vantage V8, ahead of teammate Johnny Adam in the No. 97 entry.

In GTE Am, Dries Vanthoor maintains his lead in the No. 84. JMW Motorsport Ferrari 488 GTE, with Euan Hankey running second in the No. 90 TF Sport Aston Martin Vantage V8.

Of note: the No. 2. Porsche 919 has been steadily working its way back forward following front axle problems early on. With Brendon Hartley now its pilot, the No. 2 entry sits 16th overall at the moment (second in the LMP1 class), and is on pace to reach second in the overall running order prior the race’s end.

7 p.m. ET – Huge drama has it the 24 Hours of Le Mans as Hour 10 concludes. The class leaders are below:

Most notably, the No. 7 Toyota TS050, in the hands of Kamui Kobayashi and the dominant overall leader through the first 10 hours, slowed dramatically on course following a safety car period near the end of Hour 10. Kobayashi was reportedly unable to accelerate when racing resumed and was coasting slowly around the track on its way back to the pits. As of writing, it is unknown what the exact problem is, but the team indicated it may be a clutch problem. Kobayashi ground to a halt before the Porsche curves.

The troubles for Toyota have moved the No. 1 Porsche to the overall lead, with Nick Tandy at the helm. This comes after a clumsy moment for the No. 1 machine, as driver Neel Jani spun under the safety car while entering the pits for a driver change. However, he quickly recovered and the car suffered no damage.

The aforementioned safety car was for a spin involving the No. 66 Ford GT of Oliver Pla, who subsequently dropped gravel onto parts of the circuit. The long cleanup necessitated a safety car.

Meanwhile, the No. 9 Toyota TS050 encountered problems of its own that forced it to retire. Following contact with another car, the No. 9 machine suffered a left-rear puncture and incurred irreparable damage, highlighted by a small fire at the rear of the machine, while driver Nicolas Lapierre tried to nurse it back to the pits. Shortly after arriving, the car was retired and garage doors shut.

The No. 31 Rebellion moves back into the lead of LMP2, with Nico Prost behind the wheel now, while Dirk Werner has cycled to the front in GTE Pro in the No. 92 Porsche GT Team Porsche 911 RSR. Dries Vanthoor continues to lead GTE Am in the No. 84 Ferrari 488 GTE.

5 p.m. ET – Just over a fourth of the way into the 2017 24 Hours of Le Mans, the leaders at the end of Hour 8 look like this:

Several frontrunners across all classes have encountered problems, however. While the No. 7 Toyota TS050 continues to lead, the sister No. 8 entry, with Sébastien Buemi at the wheel, suffered mechanical problems, with smoke coming from the right-front brake. Buemi drove the car into the pits, where it was promptly wheeled into the garage for repairs, and it remains there as of writing.

In GTE Am, the No. 98 Aston Martin Vantage V8, in the hands of Pedro Lamy, suffered a major right-front tire failure that ripped the right front corner off of the car. Somehow, Lamy managed to keep control of the car and navigated it back into the pits. However, the car lost four laps as the team made repairs and allowed Will Stevens in the JMW Motorsport Ferrari 488 GTE into the class lead.

Also, the No. 64 Corvette, in the hands of Tommy Milner, suffered a huge crash in the Porsche curves when the left-rear wheel and tire fell off, causing him to spin and back into the barrier. Despite also spinning at the pit entry, Milner returned the No. 64 to the pits, where the team made quick repairs and the car has returned to the race, albeit four laps off the class lead.

Up front, the No. 7 Toyota TS050 remains in the lead, with Mike Conway now at the helm, despite incurring a black and white flag for abusing the track limits. In LMP2, the No. 13 Vaillante Rebellion Oreca 07 Gibson, in the hands of Nelson Piquet Jr., moves to the lead following a drive through penalty on the No. 31 of teammate Bruno Senna for overtaking in a slow zone.

3 p.m. ET – This year’s Le Mans has reached the one-quarter distance mark, and completed the length of a standard FIA World Endurance Championship race (six hours). Here’s your Hour 6 leaders:

Further updates are below. The No. 2 Porsche has returned to the track but has lost 19 laps, and will now have a fight the rest of the race to make its way up the order. At current lap projections, the LMP2 leaders might be 24 to 25 laps off the overall pace, so there’s an outside shot at an overall podium for this car if there’s no further issues.

The concern over increased speeds in LMP2 bore fruit when Mathieu Vaxviere attempted to pass two GT cars while using the runoff area on the Mulsanne Straight going into the first chicane. Vaxviere thought he’d cleared both of them but instead came up and crashed into Pierre Kaffer’s No. 82 Risi Competizione Ferrari 488 GTE, destroying the team’s brand new chassis on entry into the chicane. Kaffer was OK but the car was not, which ends the car’s race.

That brought out a couple slow zones for barrier repairs and slowed the overall pace of the race.

David Cheng had a spin in his No. 37 Jackie Chan DC Racing Oreca 07, exiting the Porsche Curves, near the end of the sixth hour.

In the fifth hour, the third Toyota had an issue when the passenger’s side door of Yuji Kunimoto’s No. 9 Toyota TS050 Hybrid came open.

1 p.m. ET – The race is through the four-hour mark, with 20 to go at 7 p.m. local time. Here’s your Hour 4 leaders:

A handful of updates to note. First off, the No. 2 Porsche 919 Hybrid has stopped and gone into the garage, with Earl Bamber driving, courtesy of what Bamber called a front axle issue to Radio Le Mans. That’s cost the car several laps and has taken it out, in all likelihood, of any sort of win contention.

A tattered left rear tire has also slowed, but not completely stalled out, prior GTE-Pro class leader Marco Sorensen in the No. 95 Aston Martin Vantage V8. Sorensen limped the car into the pits and lost a couple minutes, but have recovered.

The sister No. 97 Aston, in the hands of Daniel Serra, fought off a hard-charging Harry Tincknell in this stint. Tincknell was in the No. 67 Ford Chip Ganassi Team UK Ford GT, with Tincknell handing the car off to Pipo Derani at the most recent pit stop.

IndyCar star Tony Kanaan is into the No. 68 Ford, meanwhile, for his first race stint at Le Mans. Ryan Briscoe was currently in the No. 69 Ford and due to hand off to Scott Dixon shortly thereafter. Like Kanaan, fellow Brazilian rookie Rubens Barrichello has made his Le Mans race debut in the No. 29 Racing Team Nederland Dallara P217 Gibson, and told Radio Le Mans his first stint was “wonderful.”

Ben Keating also had a moment at the start of the fourth hour. In his No. 43 Keating Motorsports Riley Mk. 30 Gibson, Keating and a GTE-Pro Porsche 911 RSR collided at the Dunlop Chicane, with Keating then losing control of his car and crashing into a couple signs. Both he and the car were OK and resumed after the incident.

Up front, while the No. 7 Toyota in Kamui Kobayashi’s hands pulled away, Nick Tandy ran a stronger stint to get ahead of Anthony Davidson by a significant margin for second in his No. 1 Porsche vs. Davidson’s No. 8 Toyota.

11 a.m. ET – Here’s your leaders at the end of the second hour:

Of those four leaders though, the No. 69 Ford – a car driven by Westbrook, Ryan Briscoe and Scott Dixon – has had a long stop for a rear decklid change with a lighting issue. That adds to the car having lost its in-car camera earlier in the race, and it will drop back a bit as a result.

Meanwhile, three retirements have already popped up into the second hour.

Two cars have collided at the Porsche Curves, and both are out following that collision. Roman Rusinov’s No. 26 G-Drive Racing Oreca 07 contacted Khaled Al Qubaisi’s No. 88 Proton Porsche 911 RSR, with Al Qubaisi’s car suffering significant rear end and front end damage. Al Qubaisi, who was due to share the car with Klaus Bachler and Stephane Lemeret in an under-the-radar GTE-Am class lineup, only ran 18 laps.

Al Qubaisi told Radio Le Mans’ Nick Daman, “I was always contemplating something (bad) like this before the race. There’s only one line. You can’t open it up. He was too far away to make a proper dive.”

The No. 26 car’s race went from bad to worse after Rusinov was called to the stewards’ office for driving conduct, and then its chassis manufacturer, Oreca, confirmed the car’s retirement. This means polesitter Alex Lynn won’t be able to race in his Le Mans debut. The car completed only 20 laps.

ByKolles’ car is also out of the race, Oliver Webb confirming the car’s retirement after just 7 completed laps.

10 a.m. ET – The race is underway with all 60 cars. First hour leaders are below:

A spirit of unity was on the grid for the 2017 24 Hours of Le Mans between the Formula 1 and FIA World Endurance Championship, as evidenced by FIA President Jean Todt below. Chase Carey then waved the tricolore to get the race underway.

The first issue struck on the opening lap with an apparent left rear puncture for Oliver Webb in the No. 4 ByKolles ENSO CLM P1/01 NISMO, as he limped the car back to the pits. He then hit a cone, which required a nose change.

Quite a number of LMP2 cars have had issues in the first hour. To wit:
• Gustavo Menezes, defending LMP2 class winner and WEC class champion, made a rare mistake running long in the Mulsanne Corner in the No. 36 Signatech Alpine A470 Gibson. He got out of the gravel and returned to the pits, but this brought out the first Slow Zone of the race.
• The No. 22 G-Drive Oreca 07 (run by DragonSpeed) went behind the wall with an alternator belt issue, per FOX Sports’ Andrew Marriott. Ryo Hirakawa was driving.
• The polesitting No. 26 G-Drive Oreca (run by TDS) required a change of nose after a spin at Ford Chicanes. Roman Rusinov was driving.
• Graff’s No. 39 Oreca, driven by Eric Trouillet, limped back with a left front puncture.
• A starter issue occurred to the No. 38 Jackie Chan DC Racing Oreca on its first pit stop with Oliver Jarvis driving, per Radio Le Mans.

Those issues came among a run of early pit stops for the LMP2 contingent, all pitting around or shortly after the 30-minute mark.

At 46 minutes into the race, Sebastien Buemi got his No. 8 Toyota ahead of Mike Conway in the No. 7 Toyota, following an arguably way too intense scrap for the first hour!

The GTE-Pro and Am races were pretty close through the opening hour and the field is through its first round of pit stops.

Weather looks good, but warm, the rest of the race!

8:30 a.m. ET – The cars are on the grid with the final preparations being made before the rolloff at 9 a.m. ET, 3 p.m. local time in France.

High temperatures are set to throw an added degree of unpredictability into this year’s race. You can view our preview here.

This photo from ACO President Pierre Fillon on the starting grid showcases the anticipation.

Here’s the final starting grid. TV coverage is split between FS1 and FS2 with full streaming via FOX Sports Go; Radio Le Mans also has full radio coverage on its website as well.</s>They have done it again! Porsche has won the 24 Hours of Le Mans 2017, their 19th Le Mans win in history and more than any other manufacturer. A last minute problem forced the leading #1 Porsche of Lotterer to retire leaving only the #2 car in the field. Unlike Toyota who had three cars, Porsche had only two cars in LMP1.

The #38 Jackie Chan DC Racing LMP2 car thus assumed the lead as it was the nearest rival to the #1 Porsche, and by rival…some 9 laps behind. The nearest LMP1 car was the #2 car albeit a couple of laps down on the leading LMP2 cars. The with less than 1 hour left in the race, the remaining #2 Porsche had managed to close in on the leaders before taking P1 eventually. Timo Bernhard crossed the finish line first 1 lap ahead of the best LMP2 car.

All was not lost for Jackie Chan’s DC Racing team, they won LMP2 but more importantly, 2nd place overall at the 24 Hours of Le Mans 2017. Third place overall also went to an LMP2 car, the #13 Vaillante Rebellion. This year’s race has seen the largest success ever for the LMP2 cars. Positions 4 to 8 overall was also filled by LMP2 cars, the remaining #8 Toyota crossed the finish line in 9th place to claim P2 in LMP1 class.

But the real action came down to the GT classes where Aston Martin and Corvette staged one of the most epic battles at Le Mans. Jordan Taylor was leading in the #63 Corvette C7.R followed closely by Jonathan Adam in the #97 Aston Martin. The Aston was lapping quicker than the Corvette but Taylor was running beyond his limits. The chase got ruthless in the final minutes, and the Corvette ran off at one time but recovered while still in the lead. A puncture slowed him down and the Aston grabbed the lead almost immediately. Taylor limped to the finish line to claim third place behind the #67 Ford GT.

The AM class was dominated by Ferrari who managed to stage a clean podium sweep. The #84 JMW Motorsport Ferrari 488 GTE won the race in this class, sharing the podium with the #55 Spirit of Race Ferrari 488 GTE and the #62 Scuderia Corsa Ferrari in 2nd and 3rd places respectively.</s>There are no guarantees when it comes to racing at Le Mans. Despite starting on pole, setting the fastest lap, and leading nearly half the race, Toyota’s hopes of victory had evaporated by hour 10. The two leading Toyota TS050 LMP1 cars retired in rapid succession due to mechanical failures, leaving Porsche with a clear shot at its third Le Mans win.

With Audi’s exit last year, the LMP1 class was a two-team race and Toyota’s best chance at finally bringing home a win at Le Mans. Last year, the automaker suffered a heartbreaking failure on the final lap. Sadly, Toyota’s hybrid prototypes again couldn’t go the distance in 2017. The race-leading No. 7 TS050 Hybrid experienced a clutch problem at hour 10 right after it passed the star-finish line and was unable to limp all the way around the 8.5-mile track to get back to the pits. Not long after, the No. 9 Toyota was hit from behind, resulting in a fire. It, too, could not return to the pits under its own power. The No. 8 car came in at hour 8 for a front motor issue, and was eventually able to return to the race to finish in eighth place.

Porsche’s No. 1 919 Hybrid takes the lead after Toyota’s late-night misfortune, but it too suffers problems shortly after 11 am. The No. 2 Porsche is still in the race, but is a few laps down. For a short time, an LMP2 car, the No. 38 Jackie Chan DC Racing Oreca 07, leads the race. That team is co-owned by action star Jackie Chan and David Cheng. The No. 2 Porsche does eventually pass the much less powerful LMP2 for the win, but the No. 38 finishes second overall and just a lap down from the leader, making for a surprising podium. Timo Bernhard, Brendon Hartley, and Earl Bamber occupy the top step, marking the first overall win for Hartley and the second overall win for Bernhard and Bamber. Oliver Jarvis, Ho-Pin Tung, and Thomas Laurent win second overall and first in the LMP2 class in the No. 38 Jackie Chan DC Racing Oreca. It’s the first time a Chinese-owned team has placed on the podium at Le Mans. In third place overall and second in LMP2 is the No. 13 Rebellion Racing Oreca 07 of Nelson Piquet Jr., David Heinemeier Hansson, and Mathias Beche. Rebellion used to race in the top-tier LMP1 class before switching to LMP2 for the 2017 season. Ironically, the team’s first overall podium was achieved in a lower-class car.

The finishing order in the GTE-Pro class was just as surprising. Despite taking home first and third in GTE-Pro last year, the Ford GT couldn’t pull off a win to commemorate the 50th anniversary of Dan Gurney and A.J. Foyt’s 1967 Le Mans victory. The No. 67 Ford GT of Pipo Derani, Harry Tincknell, and Andy Priaulx did place second, however. The class winner was the No. 97 Aston Martin V8 Vantage GTE of Darren Turner, Jonathan Adam, and Daniel Serra. That car pulled off a dramatic last-lap pass on the No. 63 Corvette Racing C7.R to bring home Aston’s first class win in a decade. The No. 63 Corvette suffered front end damage and a tire puncture after running wide trying to defend against the Aston, allowing the Ford to slip by and place ‘Vette pilots Jordan Taylor, Jan Magnussen, and Antonio Garcia on the third tier of the GTE-Pro podium.

The 2017 edition of the 24 Hours of Le Mans proves it’s the toughest road race on the planet. Even if you’re the favorite to win, there are many, many obstacles between you and the finish line.</s>The No. 88 Proton Racing Porsche 911 RSR just became the first retirement from this year's 24 Hours of Le Mans.

Start the conversation, or Read more at Jalopnik.</s>Toyota Gazoo Racing is looking for redemption at this year’s 24 Hours of Le Mans, and it looks to be in the perfect position to get it.

The No. 7 Toyota Gazoo TS050 Hybrid LMP1 will start the 85th running of the historic race from pole following Kamui Kobayashi’s blistering qualifying lap. The Japanese driver pieced together a seemingly faultless lap of the 8.469-mile Circuit de la Sarthe to set a new lap record of 3:14.791.

However, Toyota knows all to well that where you start at Le Mans means almost nothing. The No. 5 Toyota was leading last year’s race after more than 23 hours only to suffer a mechanical failure on the last lap.

Here’s how to watch the 2017 running of the 24 Hours of Le mans online:

When: Saturday, June 17, at 9 a.m. ET until Saturday, June 18, at 9 a.m.

 Live Stream: FOX Sports Go</s>The 85th edition of the 24 Hours of Le Mans certainly provided some edge of the seat action as Porsche made a grand comeback to take home the victory. The team scored its 19th Le Mans 24 Hours after a gruelling race, beating the LMP2 cars that posed some stiff competition as Porsche managed to secure its third consecutive win. Following the no. 2 Porsche was Jackie Chan DC Racing's no. 38 car that won in the LMP2 category and finished second overall, but not before taking the lead briefly at the start of the 21st hour.

Out of the total five LMP1 cars on the grid fielded by Toyota and Porsche, three cars retired early in the race with one each from either teams was still in contention. The no. 2 car Porsche 919 Hybrid was being driven by Timo Bernhard, Brendon Hartley and Earl Bamber that came through to the chequered flag first, despite having to enter the pits to replace a front axle motor.

It seemed that an LMP2 car, which are about 10 laps slower than LMP1 cars might just win the 85th edition of the 24 Hours of Le Mans. The no. 38 DC Racing Oreca took the lead when the no. 1 Porsche came to a sudden stop at the 21st hour due to an oil pressure issue.

However, after spending about 65 minutes in the garage, the no. 2 Porsche was back in the race and posted a strong run catching up on lost time. The car made it back to the lead lap with just two hours remaining and Bernhard behind the wheel. From there on, Bernhard showed some incredible pace going 13 seconds a lap faster and brought the no. 2 home securing his second Le Mans win.

Finishing on the podium was a second LMP2 car - the no. 13 Rebellion Oreca driven by Nelson Piquet Jr, David Heinemeier Hansson and Mathias Beche. With the no. 35 Signatech Alpine driven by Andre Negrao went off track with 40 minutes to go, the Rebellion Oreca comfortably finished third overall in the race. Negrao had to pit for repairs and rejoined in fifth place, behind the second DC Racing car - no. 37.

Finishing sixth was the no. 32 United Autosports car, while the no. 40 Graff cara and no. 24 Manor, finished seventh and eighth respectively.

The sole surviving LMP1 Toyota no. 8 finished ninth overall with Kazuki Nakajima, Sebastien Buemi and Anthony Davidson behind the wheel. The car had lost nearly two hours in the 8th hour, due to a front motor battery replacement. However, the team did finish second in the LMP1 points class.</s>Alex Kapadia celebrated success in France at the weekend when he stood on the third step of the podium at the Circuit de la Sarthe during the build-up to 85th edition of the 24 Hours of Le Mans race.

Driving for RLR MSport, Kapadia and team-mate Martin Rich were always in contention for honours throughout the 55-minute race on Thursday afternoon once the former had made a strong start.

Taking the wheel of the number 14 Ligier JSP3-Nissan for the opening stint, Kapadia, who competed in the Le Mans 24 Hours in a Porsche two years ago, settled into third position before handing over to Rich in the mandatory driver change at the halfway stage.

Rich, another former Le Mans 24 Hour race competitor, made no mistake to bring the car home third, just nine seconds behind the race-winning Ligier-Nissan of John Falb and Sean Rayhall.

After standing on the podium, Kapadia said: “This was a great result for the team. Everyone worked so hard to make this happen. We had a trouble free run and to stand on the podium here at Le Mans is something I will cherish.”

Following this success, Kapadia had high hopes for the second Road To Le Mans race on Saturday morning, just a couple of hours before the start of the weekend’s big race.

This time it was Rich’s turn to start, and he handed the V8-powered car to Kapadia in a good position as the duo chased another podium finish, but ill-fortune was just a couple of corners away.

Kapadia’s Ligier was tagged from behind by a rival, causing a puncture to one of the rear tyres. Such is the length of the Le Mans track, and with the car travelling slowly to avoid further damage, Kapadia made the decision to pull off the track and into retirement.

He added: “It was a disappointing end to the week. We had the joys of a podium, but then a puncture cost us a result in what was probably the feature race of the year for us.

“The Le Mans track is very long and it wasn’t worth continuing around and causing further issues to the car that would have been unfortunate and also costly.

“I would like to thank everyone at RLR MSport for making this weekend possible. It is such a great feeling to drive at Le Mans and I hope next time I race here I will be back in the full 24 Hours.”

After his on-track activities, Kapadia joined the crew of Radio Le Mans to carry out broadcasting duties for the English language station.

He explained: “Radio Le Mans is such a valuable resource to any British fan visiting the track, I was pleased to be asked to participate in the broadcast and pass on my experience of racing here.”

Tom Onslow-Cole was another Vale racer in action in the Road To Le Mans event, driving a Mercedes AMG in the GT3 class. Sharing duties with Dutch racer Remon Vos, Onslow-Cole just missed out on his own chance to stand on the Le Mans podium, with the Mercedes classified fourth in class in both races.

Twenty-fourth in the opening race, Onslow-Cole and Vos improved to 19th in the second, strong performances on a circuit where GT3 cars have little experience.

Onslow-Cole said: “I enjoyed every minute of racing at Le Mans. Remon had a great time driving at this famous circuit, and Ram Racing did another great job with the car and the team does have some experience of the Circuit de la Sarthe having contested the 24 Hours previously.”

The GT3 class was won by the Oman Racing Aston Martin Vantage V8 of Ahmad Al Harthy and Tom Jackson.</s>The 24 Hours of Le Mans is one of the toughest tests in motor sports, and this year’s race proved it. After 24 hours of drama, those with a reason to celebrate were teams from Porsche, Aston Martin … and Jackie Chan.

Like 2016, the 2017 race was a heartbreaker for Toyota, which came in with high hopes of achieving its first Le Mans victory, but went away disappointed. Porsche scored its 19th win in the legendary endurance race while, due to high attrition in the top LMP1 class, one of Jackie Chan DC Racing’s lower-level LMP2 cars scored a podium. Aston Martin took the win in the GTE class, the top class for production-based cars.

With Audi out of top-level endurance racing, Le Mans was set to be a straight duel between Porsche and Toyota. The Japanese automaker came into the race strong, setting a lap record in qualifying. But the No. 7 TS050 Hybrid that set that record developed clutch problems about 10 hours into the race, and later dropped out. Shortly after, a second Toyota, No. 9, retired. That left just car No. 8, which was taken out of the running due to a long pit stop.

In a testament to the difficulty of just completing Le Mans, the No. 8 Toyota and the winning No. 2 Porsche 919 Hybrid were the only two of the five LMP1 cars to finish. The No. 1 Porsche developed an enormous lead, but conked out with only three hours to go. The No. 2 Porsche pulled into the lead, giving drivers Timo Bernhard, Earl Bamber, and Brendon Hartley the win.

The LMP1 attrition created spots for the slower LMP2 cars on the podium, something that doesn’t normally happen. The No. 38 Jackie Chan DC Racing Oreca 07 of Oliver Jarvis, Ho-Pin Tung, and Thomas Laurent came home second overall, and won its class.

While purpose-built LMP prototypes vied for the overall win, the GTE Pro class for production-based cars featured fierce battles as well. The big question was whether Ford could pull off a second class win with its GT to follow up last year’s victory. Rule changes ultimately put Ford at a disadvantage, and the win went to the No. 97 Aston Martin Vantage of Jonny Adam, Darren Turner, and Daniel Serra. The best Ford could muster was second in class.

The end of the race turned into a straight fight between the No. 97 Aston and the No. 63 Chevrolet Corvette C7.R, which went off the track and gave Aston the win. Finally, GTE Am, the lower class for production-based cars, was a Ferrari 1-2-3. British outfit JMW Motorsport scored the class win, with drivers Rob Smith, Dries Vanthoor, and Will Stevens in the No. 84 Ferrari 488.
Porsche wins the 2017 24 Hours of Le Mans, the team's third consecutive Le Mans victory. Aston Martin wins in LMGTE Pro, their first in the category.