Dempsey Del Piero-Proton, Corvette Racing Nearly Nab Class PodiumsThe 24 Hours of Le Mans proved to be a troubling twice-around-the-clock experience for the majority of competitors from GRAND-AM and the American Le Mans Series (ALMS) presented by Tequila Patrn.An exception: Stphane Sarrazin, a former ALMS driver now running full-time in GRAND-AM.Sarrazin is with 8Star Motorsports Daytona Prototype team this year in GRAND-AM. He also has seven career ALMS wins. Over the last two days, hes been part of a spirited challenge to Audis long-running Le Mans dominance, as co-driver of the No. 8 Toyota Hybrid, part of a two-car Toyota Racing effort in the headlining LMP1 class.That effort came up one lap short, as Audi won for the 13th time since 2000, and Tom Kristensen extended his all-time Le Mans record to nine championships. Kristensen, Allan McNishnow a three-time championand Loic Duval co-drove their No. 2 Audi R-18 e-tron quattro for 348 laps on the 8.469-mile course. Kristensen from Denmark, dedicated the triumph to his fellow Dane, Allan Simonsen, who died Saturday after an early-race accident in his Aston Martin.
Sarrazin, a test driver for Toyota when the manufacturer joined Formula One in 2002, was joined by Anthony Davidson and Sebastien Buemi in the Hybrid. Prior to coming to GRAND-AM this season he had made 19 ALMS starts. In the 24 Hours of Le Mans, he previously had three podium finishes as a factory Peugeot driver in LMP1 (2007, 2009, 2011). He also had three consecutive overall poles at Le Mans between 2007-2009.We made all the right changes during the race, said Sarrazin. And we made no mistakes on the track. But, we need a little luck, as well.This was a great result for Toyota and already, we are very encouraged for next year at Le Mans. We need to find a little more speed but now, we have very good base to work from.While Audis victory was more-or-less expected, in the production-based LM GTE Am class, a surprise courtesy of the ALMS brewed during most of the race. Both the racing and entertainment worlds were poised for axis tilts, with the looming possibility of a podium finish for actor/driver Patrick Dempsey, who led GTE Am twice in the early Sunday morning hours. Dempsey, Joe Foster and Patrick Longthe sole all-American driver lineup at Le Mans this yearteamed for an impressive fourth-place class finish, driving the No. 77 Porsche 911 GT3.We were competitive the entire race, said Dempsey. This is really what you want to be. Patrick did a great job on his opening stint, Joe was incredible in what seemed like every session of his in the rain, and our Porsche from Proton Competition was perfectly prepared. It was just a great race, we came up just a little short on the podium, but we will reach that goal soon enough.Corvette Racing and the SRT Motorsports Vipers came to Le Mans gunning for a LM GTE Pro class showdown, not to mention a championship or podium finish. None of that materialized, with both teams hampered by abbreviated practice and qualifying sessions due to rain, accidents and safety barrier repairs. That combination continued into the event itself, making the always-tough puzzle presented by Le Mans a bit unsolvable. Adding to SRTs challenges was the fact that this year was a Le Mans return after a 12-year hiatus.Collectively, the two organizations driver lineup had an ALMS/GRAND-AM all-star feel. For Corvette: Antonio Garcia, Oliver Gavin, Jan Magnussen and Tommy Milner from the ALMS; and Jordan Taylor and Richard Westbrook from GRAND-AM. For SRT: Jonathan Bomarito, Marc Goossens, Dominik Farnbacher, Tommy Kendall and Kuno Wittmer of the ALMS; and one of GRAND-AMs premier wheel men, Ryan Dalziel.Which made Sundays results even harder to discern, challenges notwithstanding. Corvettes finished fourth and seventh in LM GTE Pro while the Vipers finished fifth and sixth in class.Its definitely not been a typical Le Mans, said Westbrook. And sure, its frustrating, but its the same for everyone.Added Wittmer: When we come back here again its going to be a different story, a totally different circus. It is so valuable to run here previously. You learn so much: temperature change, rain, everything. Everything plays into the effect of a car.(NOTE: Following are complete results from the 24 Hours of Le Mans1. #2 Kristensen/Duval/McNish Audi Sport Team Joest Audi R18 e-tron quattro LMP1 348 laps2. #8 Davidson/Buemi/Sarrazin Toyota Racing Toyota TS030 hybrid LMP1 347 laps
3. #3 Gene/Di Grassi/Jarvis Audi Sport Team Joest Audi R18 e-tron quattro LMP1 347 laps
4. #7 Wurz/Lapierre/Nakajima Toyota Racing Toyota TS030 hybrid LMP1 341 laps
5. #1 Lotterer/Fassler/Treluyer Audi Sport Team Joest Audi R18 e-tron quattro LMP1 338 laps6. #21 Leventis/Watts/Kane Strakka Racing HPD ARX-03c LMP1 332 laps
7. #35 Baguette/Gonzalez/Plowman OAK Racing Morgan-Nissan LMP2 329 laps8. #24 Pla/Heinemeier Hansson/Brundle OAK Racing Morgan-Nissan LMP2 328 laps9. #26 Rusinov/Martin/Conway G-Drive Racing Oreca 03-Nissan LMP2 327 laps10. #42 Mardenborough/Ordonez/Krumm Greaves Motorsport Zytek-Nissan LMP2 327 laps
11. #49 Companc/Kaffer/Minassian Pecom Racing Oreca 03-Nissan LMP2 325 laps12. #43 Gachnang/Mailleux/Lombard Morand Racing Morgan-Judd LMP2 320 laps
13. #48 Hartley/Patterson/Chandhock Murphy Prototypes Oreca 03-Nissan LMP2 319 laps
14. #38 Dolan/Turvey/Luhr Jota Sport Zytek-Nissan LMP2 319 laps15. #36 Paniatici/Ragues/Gommendy Signatech Alpine Alpine-Nissan LMP2 317 laps16. #92 Lieb/Lietz/Dumas Porsche AG Team Manthey Porsche 911 RSR GTE-Pro 315 laps
17. #91 Bernhard/Pilet/Bergmeister Porsche AG Team Manthey Porsche 911 RSR GTE-Pro 315 laps18. #97 Turner/Mucke/Dumbreck Aston Martin Racing Aston Martin Vantage V8 GTE-Pro 314 laps
19. #34 Frey/Niederhauser/Bleekemolen Race Performance Oreca 03-Judd LMP2 314 laps
20. #73 Garcia/Taylor/Magnussen Corvette Racing Corvette C6 ZR-1 GTE-Pro 312 laps
21. #71 Beretta/Kobayashi/Vilander AF Corse Ferrari 458 Italia GTE-Pro 311 laps
22. #51 Bruni/Fisichella/Malucelli AF Corse Ferrari 458 Italia GTE-Pro 311 laps
23. #74 Gavin/Milner/Westbrook Corvette Racing Corvette C6 ZR-1 GTE-Pro 309 laps 24. #41 Kimber-Smith/Lux/Rossi Greaves Motorsport Zytek Nissan LMP2 307 laps
25. #53 Farnbacher/Dalziel/Goossens SRT Motorsports Viper GTS-R GTE-Pro 306 laps 26. #76 Narac/Bourret/Vernay IMSA Performance MATMUT Porsche 911 GT3 RSR GTE-Am 306 laps27. #55 Perazzini/Case/O'Young AF Corse Ferrari 458 Italia GTE-Am 305 laps28. #61 Gerber/Griffin/Cioci AF Corse Ferrari 458 Italia GTE-Am 305 laps29. #77 Dempsey/Foster/Long Dempsey Del Piero-Proton Porsche 911 GT3 RSR GTE-Am 305 laps30. #50 Bornhauser/Canal/Taylor Larbre Competition Corvette C6 ZR-1 GTE-Am 302 laps31. #96 Goethe/Hall/Campbell-Walter Aston Martin Racing Aston Martin Vantage V8 GTE-Am 301 laps32. #93 Bomarito/Kendall/Wittmer SRT Motorsport Viper GTS-R GTE-Pro 301 laps33. #40 Downs/Dagonneau/Younessi Boutsen Ginion Racing Oreca 03-Nissan LMP2 300 laps34. #67 Gibon/Milesi/Henzler IMSA Performance MATMUT Porsche 911 GT3 RSR GTE-Am 300 laps35. #66 Bertolini/Alfaisal/Qubaisi JMW Motorsport Ferrari 458 Italia GTE-Pro 300 laps
36. #88 Ried/Roda/Ruberti Proton Competition Porsche 911 GT3 RSR GTE-Am 300 laps
37. #75 Collard/Crubile/Perrodo Prospeed Racing Porsche 911 GT3 RSR GTE-Am 298 laps
38. #81 Potolicchio/Aguas/Bright 8 Star Motorsport Ferrari 458 Italia GTE-Am 294 laps
39. #39 Porta/Raffin/Brandela DKR Engineering Lola B11/40-Judd LMP2 280 laps40. #12 Prost/Jani/Heidfeld Rebellion Racing Lola B12/60-Toyota LMP1 275 laps
41. #13 Belicchi/Beche/Cheng Rebellion Racing Lola B12/60-Toyota LMP1 275 laps
42. #70 MacNeil/Rodrigues/Dumas Larbre Competition Corvette C6 ZR-1 GTE-Am 268 laps
43. #33 Tucker/Franchitti/Briscoe Level 5 Motorsports HPD ARX-03b LMP2 242 laps 44. #46 Thiriet/Badey/Martin Thiriet by TDS Oreca 03-Nissan LMP2 310 laps
45. #99 Bell/Makowiecki/Senna Aston Martin Racing Aston Martin Vantage V8 GTE-Pro 248 laps
46. #45 Nicolet/Merlin/Mondolot OAK Racing Morgan-Nissan LMP2 246 laps
47. #47 Imperatori/Tung/Howson KCMG Morgan-Nissan LMP2 241 laps
48. #98 Auberlen/Dalla Lana/Lamy Aston Martin Racing Aston Martin Vantage V8 GTE-Pro 221 laps49. #32 Holzer/Kraihamer/Charouz Lotus Lotus T128 LMP2 219 laps50. #30 Mowlem/Hirschi/Burgess HVM Status GP Lola B12/80 Coupe-Judd LMP2 153 laps51. #54 Mallegol/Bachelier/Blank AF Corse Ferrari 458 Italia GTE-Am 147 laps
52. #57 Krohn/Jonsson/Mediani Krohn Racing Ferrari 458 Italia GTE-Am 111 laps
53. #25 Graves/Nakano/Hamilton Delta-ADR Oreca 03-Nissan LMP2 101 laps
54. #28 Giroix/ Haezebrouck/Ihara Gulf Racing Middle East Lola B12/80 Coupe-Nissan LMP2 22 laps55. #31 Weeda/Rossiter/Bouchut Lotus Lotus T128 LMP2 17 laps
56. #95 Simonsen/Poulsen/Nygaard Aston Martin Racing Aston Martin Vantage V8 GTE-Am 2 laps
