24 Heures du Mans 2017 - LMP1

A Toyota leads a group in safety car formation just after dawn on Sunday morning.

The LMP1 car class is the fastest class at the Le Mans Grand Prix of Endurance and they are expected to dominate the podium.  In 2017, however, only 2 of the LMP1 cars finished and only one was in the top six.  The Toyotas were fast but two of them retired during the night. We will have to wait at least another year before Toyota's first win.  One of the Porsches also retired but the other survived after falling to the back of the field and then climbing back up to first position to beat the two LMP2 cars also on the podium.  There are only 2 major manufacturers in LMP1 following the withdrawal of Audi and thus they are vulnerable in such a long race and none of the LMP1 cars had a trouble free race.   I am sure lots of fans were hoping the LMP2 cars would win but not this year.. These are the six LMP1 cars that started.

1st Overall and in class - Porsche LMP Team - Porsche 919 Hybrid - Earl Bamber, Timo Bernhard, Brendon Hartley. No.2. 367 laps.

The winning LMP2 Porsche overtaking a GT Porsche as it comes up through the field.

The winning Porsche speeds out of the esses early on Sunday morning whilst in second place in class.

The winning Porsche in Tertre Rouge on Saturday afternoon.

2nd in class / 9th overall - Toyota Gazoo Racing - Toyota TS050 Hybrid - Sébastien Buemi, Anthony Davidson, Kazuki Nakajima. No.8. 358 laps.

After nightfall the second placed Toyota heads down from the Esses towards Tertre Rouge.

The early part of the race saw a good battle between the two fastest Toyotas for the lead.  

The No.8 Toyota leads an LMP2 car out of the esses.

The usual Le Mans Ferris wheel.

DNF - Porsche LMP Team - Porsche 919 Hybrid - Neel Jani, André Lotterer, Nick Tandy.  No.1. 318 laps.

The No.1 Porsche at Tertre Rouge on Sunday mrning.  It retired shortly before the end.

DNF - Toyota Gazoo Racing - Toyota TS050 Hybrid - Yuji Kunimoto, Nicolas Lapierre, José Maria Lopez.  No.9.  160 laps.

The No.9 Toyota leads the No.7 Toyota out of the Esses.

The No.9 Toyota exiting the Esses.  It retired during the night.

DNF - Toyota Gazoo Racing - Toyota TS050 Hybrid - Mike Conway, Kamui Kobayashi, Stéphane Sarrazin.  No.7.  154 laps.  Pole position.

The No.7 car at the start of the night in which it was destined to etire.

Mike Conway leads the field in the No.7 Toyota on the first lap.

Brake lights into Tertre Rouge on Sunday morning at dawn.

DNF - ByKolles Racing Team - Enso CLM P1/01-Nissan V6 Twin turbo - Dominik Kraihamer, Marco Bonanomi, Oliver Webb. No.4.  7 laps.

The ByKolles car exits the Tertre Rouge Esses during the warm up.  It qualified ahead of all of the LMP2 cars in sixth place but only lasted 7 laps before retiring.

For action shots at dawn and dusk of the amazing LMGTE Pro battle, click here.

For dusk, dawn, night and day shots of the LMGTE Am class, click here.

Action from the LMP2, class at Le Mans 2017 if you click here.

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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.

Flypast immediately before the start.