Rearview Mirror: IMSA at 24 Hours of Le Mans

By IMSA Wire Service

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. – This past weekend’s 24 Hours of Le Mans featured a host of IMSA competitors, including a few that stood on the podium Sunday afternoon. Here’s a look back at how the IMSA regulars fared:

Laurens Vanthoor
No. 92 Porsche GT Team Porsche 911 RSR
Class: GTE Pro
Result: 1st

Vanthoor joined co-drivers Michael Christensen and Kevin Estre in winning the GTE Pro class for the Germany-based No. 92 Porsche team. It was the first Le Mans victory for all three drivers and came in a thoroughly dominating performance. The car led almost the entire race and won by more than a lap over its sister car, the No. 91 Porsche with co-drivers Richard Lietz, Gimmi Bruni and Frederic Makowiecki.

Joey Hand/Dirk Mueller
No. 68 Ford Chip Ganassi Racing Team USA Ford GT
Class: GTE Pro
Result: 3rd

Hand and Mueller were reunited with their longtime endurance racing teammate, Sebastien Bourdais – with whom they’ve won both the Rolex 24 At Daytona and the 24 Hours of Le Mans – and the trio of drivers gave the front-running Porsches all they could handle throughout the race in GTE Pro. They wound up with their second podium in the last three years with a third-place showing.

Ben Keating/Jeroen Bleekemolen
No. 85 Keating Motorsports Ferrari 488 GTE
Class: GTE Am
Result: 3rd

Longtime WeatherTech Championship co-drivers Keating and Bleekemolen were joined again by their endurance racing teammate, Luca Stolz, at Le Mans. The trio currently leads the Tequila Patrón North American Endurance Cup standings in the GTD class heading into the Sahlen’s Six Hours of The Glen on July 1. At Le Mans, the team – which was operated alongside Texas-based Risi Competizione – was a consistent front-runner in GTE Am despite an early race spin by Bleekemolen and a trip into the gravel trap by Keating. Ultimately, they came home with a rewarding third-place trophy.

Juan Pablo Montoya
No. 32 United Autosports Ligier-Gibson
Class: LMP2
Result: 3rd

It was an eventful Le Mans debut for Montoya – who shared the No. 32 United Autosports entry with a pair of 2018 Rolex 24 At Daytona competitors in Will Owen and Hugo De Sadeleer. The two-time Indy 500 winner and past Grand Prix of Monaco winner was looking to complete his own triple crown and originally came home fifth despite a trip into the gravel trap and barriers at the Indianapolis corner. However, a post-race penalty issued to the first- and fourth-place finishing cars in LMP2 moved the No. 32 onto the podium in third.

Renger van der Zande
No. 10 Dragonspeed BR Engineering-Gibson
Class: LMP1
Result: Retired

Van der Zande’s 24 Hours of Le Mans run got off to a shaky start when co-driver Ben Hanley was involved in an opening-lap incident with one of the Rebellion LMP1 cars. The team eventually ran as high as fifth in class, but electrical problems followed by a subsequent on-track incident forced the car’s retirement.

Filipe Albuquerque
No. 22 United Autosports Ligier-Gibson
Class: LMP2
Result: Retired

Albuquerque, the current WeatherTech Championship Prototype points co-leader joined forces with a team and co-drivers – Phil Hanson and Paul Di Resta – who also are competing in the Tequila Patrón North American Endurance Cup events. The car ran as high as fifth in class before Di Resta was involved in an incident in the Porsche Curves that ended the team’s run.

Ricky Taylor/David Heinemeier-Hansson
No. 34 Jackie Chan DC Racing Ligier-Gibson
Class: LMP2
Result: Retired

The pair of WeatherTech Championship regulars teamed up with Come Ledogar. Taylor put together a strong charge early in the race, improving from a 15th-place starting spot to seventh in the early going. However, an engine failure brought the team’s run to an early end.

Felipe Nasr
No. 47 Cetilar Villorba Corse Dallara-Gibson
Class: LMP2
Result: 11th

Nasr joined the Italian team for his first Le Mans appearance, which started behind the 8-ball when co-driver Giorgio Sernagiotto was involved in an incident during qualifying due to a mechanical failure. The race was a battle also, with setbacks including a punctured tire, headlight problems, other mechanical problems and an off-course excursion, but they persevered to finish 13th in class.

Pipo Derani
No. 52 AF Corse Ferrari 488 GTE
Class: GTE Pro
Result: 5th

Derani joined IMSA veteran Toni Vilander and Italian racer Antonio Giovinazzi in a Ferrari for his fourth appearance in the 24 Hours of Le Mans. The trio of drivers were the highest-finishing Ferrari in the field, taking fifth place in class.

Jan Magnussen/Antonio Garcia
No. 63 Corvette Racing Chevrolet Corvette C7.R
Class: GTE Pro
Result: 4th

Magnussen and Garcia, the defending WeatherTech Championship GT Le Mans (GTLM) champions, were joined by their endurance racing teammate, Mike Rockenfeller, at Le Mans. The team and car improved throughout race week and came home fourth in the GTE Pro class after a ninth-place qualifying run by Garcia. Magnussen also turned the class’ fastest lap in the race.

Tommy Milner/Oliver Gavin
No. 64 Corvette Racing Chevrolet Corvette C7.R
Class: GTE Pro
Result: Retired

It was a difficult year at Le Mans for Milner and Gavin, who shared the No. 64 Corvette with their endurance teammate, Marcel Fassler. After Gavin started 15th, he encountered a suspension problem early in the race that brought the car into the garage for lengthy repairs. Overheating issues later forced the car’s retirement.

Ryan Briscoe/Richard Westbrook
No. 69 Ford Chip Ganassi Racing Team USA Ford GT
Class: GTE Pro
Result: 14th

The reigning Rolex 24 At Daytona GTLM champions – complete with endurance racing teammate Scott Dixon – also were among the top contenders at Le Mans in the GTE Pro race until gearbox problems brought the car into the garage with two hours remaining. Nevertheless, the team made repairs, enabling the No. 69 machine to finish 14th.

Alexander Sims
No. 82 BMW Team MTEK BMW M8 GTE
Class: GTE Pro
Result: Retired

Sims returned to Le Mans for the first time since racing an LMP2 car in 2012, sharing the No. 82 BMW with Augusto Farfus and Antonio Felix da Costa. Sims charged from the back half of the GTE Pro grid to run as high as third in his opening stint, but a broken damper brought the car in for an unscheduled stop, drop the No. 82 down the order and an incident at the Porsche Curves overnight forced its retirement.

Patrick Pilet/Nick Tandy/Earl Bamber
No. 93 Porsche GT Team Porsche 911 RSR
Class: GTE Pro
Result: 10th

Pilet and Tandy, who share the No. 911 Porsche in the WeatherTech Championship, were joined at Le Mans by two-time overall winner Bamber, who normally co-drives the No. 912 Porsche with Vanthoor in IMSA. Though not racing at the front of the GTE Pro class like the two Germany-based entries, the U.S.-based team wasn’t far off until technical problems brought the No. 93 into the garage for a long repair. They returned to the race to finish 10th in class. The other U.S.-based entry – the No. 94 Porsche shared by Romain Dumas, Timo Bernhard and Sven Muller – retired due to suspension problems.

Christina Nielsen
No. 80 Ebimotors Porsche 911 RSR
Class: GTE Am
Result: 6th

Nielsen, the two-time and defending WeatherTech Championship GT Daytona (GTD) champion, was the only woman in the 180-driver field. She ran as high as fifth in class and came home sixth from her third 24 Hours of Le Mans appearance, this time alongside co-drivers Fabio Babini and Erik Maris.

Cooper MacNeil
No. 84 WeatherTech/JMW Motorsport Ferrari 488 GTE
Class: GTE Am
Result: Fifth

A year after scoring his first podium at Le Mans, MacNeil was in contention for another one alongside co-drivers Jeff Segal and Liam Griffin. The No. 84 Ferrari led three laps and was in contention for the podium well into the night before an off-course excursion dropped the car down the running order. The team battled back to finish fifth in class.

Patrick Long/Spencer Pumpelly
No. 99 Proton Competition Porsche 911 RSR
Class: GTE Am
Result: 4th

A pair of IMSA regulars, Long, who shares the No. 58 Porsche in the WeatherTech Championship GTD class with Nielsen, and Pumpelly, an IMSA Continental Tire SportsCar Challenge champion and current Grand Sport (GS) class points leader with the RS1 team and co-driver Dillon Machavern, teamed with IMSA endurance race competitor Tim Pappas in the No. 99 Porsche at Le Mans. The trio battled valiantly forward throughout the race and were rewarded with a fourth-place result, despite two punctured tires and unfortunate safety car timing.

Next up for the WeatherTech Championship is the Sahlen’s Six Hours of The Glen on July 1. The race also marks the third round of the four-race Tequila Patrón North American Endurance Cup. Tickets are on sale now at TheGlen.com.

The Sahlen’s Six Hours of The Glen will be televised live in its entirety on FS1 beginning at 9:30 a.m. ET, with live IMSA Radio coverage available on IMSA.com, RadioLeMans.com and SiriusXM Radio.