24h Le Mans: Seven Swiss on the grid

60 cars from the four categories LMP1, LMP2, LM GTE-Pro and LM GTE-Am unite 180 drivers. Seven start under the Swiss flag, all with their own ambitions. First and foremost Sébastien Buemi with Toyota.

The day after the Zurich E-Prix, the driver from Vaud, like the other drivers involved in Formula E, had to report to Le Mans for administrative scrutineering. As the only factory team with a hybrid sports prototype in LMP1, Toyota is obliged to win. Anything else would be an embarrassment.

Swiss victories in even years
After winning the 6 Hours of Spa in May, together with GP driver Fernando Alonso and Japan's Kazuki Nakajima, Buemi starts the race as WRC leader and top favorite. He was already in this situation in 2014 and 2017.

But Buemi has never won this race, unlike Marcel Fässler (2011, 2012 and 2014 with Audi) and Neel Jani (2016 with Porsche). Since Le Mans became part of the World Endurance Championship (2012), a Swiss has always been in the winning car in the even years...

However, his misfortune at Le Mans taught Sébastien Buemi not to have any more expectations despite the best conditions.

Sébastien Buemi: "I'm taking this race as it comes, it's one like any other. I'm not worrying anymore because I've already experienced so many disappointments here. If it works out, it's good, if not, then maybe next year..."

Neel Jani cannot win under his own steam
His compatriot Neel Jani knows only too well how close luck and misfortune are at Le Mans. In 2016, he took an unexpected but not undeserved victory after Buemi's leading Toyota retired five minutes before the end.

A year ago, his Porsche 919 Hybrid fell victim to an engine failure without notice after 20 hours and with 13 laps to go.

This year, the two private Rebellion R-13s are the Toyota hunters. By regulation, the LMP1 private teams have been brought closer to the only remaining factory team. In the pre-test, the best Toyota was only half a second faster.

However, the rebels must not be faster than the Toyota TS050 Hybrid over a lap, otherwise there's a time penalty. Sounds stupid, but that's how it is.

So the Swiss-flagged team or one of the six other private LMP1 prototypes cannot win under their own steam and at most benefit from problems experienced by the two Toyotas.

Neel Jani: "Never before has a private team been so fast at Le Mans. But Toyota's lead of a few tenths per lap is easily enough. That's why third place on the podium has to be our realistic goal."

As in 2017, Jani has the honor of wearing the starting number #1 on the car. He shares this with André Lotterer and Bruno Senna. The Rebellion #3 is driven by Mathias Beche from Geneva, Thomas Laurent from France and the American Gustavo Menezes.

Big fight among 17 GT factory cars
The LMP2 class with the somewhat smaller and less powerful sports cars with standard Gibson V8 engines will be more hotly contested. The two Rebellion R13s also have such an engine with a bit more power in the rear. With Jonathan Hirschi on an Oreca and Hugo de Sadeleer on a Ligier, there are two Swiss drivers in this class, the latter of whom has been competing under license from Monaco since 2018.

The biggest battle will be in the GT professional class, which has 17 cars. Porsche, like Ford, is fielding four cars for the first time, AF Corse/Ferrari three, Aston Martin, BMW and Chevrolet one each. Marcel Fässler's chance of taking his first GT class win at Le Mans is therefore 1:16...

The only Swiss competitor in the 13-car Am class, in which only one of the three drivers may have gold or platinum status, is Thomas Flohr in a Ferrari 488 GTE.

The starting grid will be determined on the two evenings of Wednesday and Thursday. The start of the race will be on Saturday at 3 pm.

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