Le Mans: Three Swiss on the LMP2 podium
WINNERS DISQUALIFIED The winners of the LMP2 class were disqualified retrospectively at Le Mans. As a result, two "real" Swiss (Hirschi and De Sadeleer) and a dual national (Lapierre) move up to the top three places. Victory now goes provisionally to Alpine. On Monday after the 24 Hours of Le Mans, the FIA stewards decided that in the LMP2 class [...]
On Monday after the 24 Hours of Le Mans, the FIA stewards disqualified the LMP2 class-winning team G-Drive Racing. The fourth-placed sister team TDS was also disqualified for the same reason.
Both teams are accused of manipulating the refueling nozzle. This allowed them to speed up refueling, giving them a clear competitive advantage.
The two teams are officially appealing and want to explain themselves to the FIA Court of Appeal. But the facts are against them, so the chance of a return to the original classification is slim.
Victory for Alpine in anniversary year
The new provisional classification for the smaller sports prototypes, whose standard Gibson V8 engines deliver around 600 hp, therefore sees three Swiss in the top three places at once!
The first place and the full points (with factor 1,5) for the world championship go to the team Signatech Alpine Matmut with Nicolas Lapierre, André Negrão and Pierre Thiriet.
In 2016, the French team had already helped the revitalized Alpine brand to triumph at Le Mans. In addition, 40 years ago, a factory Renault Alpine A442 took the overall victory. This latest success therefore fits in wonderfully with the market launch of the new Alpine A110.
Although Lapierre is French by birth, he also has a red passport through his Swiss mother and has lived in Geneva for a long time. As a racing driver, however, he always represents the colors of France.
The biggest success for Jonathan Hirschi
For Jonathan Hirschi, even third place overall was an unexpected, dreamlike result. After things had never really gone well for him and his Graff Racing team in the European Le Mans Series, almost everything went right at Le Mans.
Starting from 8th on the grid, Hirsch and his French teammates Vincent Capillaire and Tristan Gommendy kept up with the front runners in their Oreca 07-Gibson. With the exception of two penalty stops (which affected many competitors throughout the field), they never lost any unforeseen time.
So they moved up to third place in the 21st hour, also benefiting from dropouts. They held this position until the finish.
While third place on the podium at Le Mans was the 32-year-old from Neuchâtel's greatest success on the endurance track to date, it was subsequently followed by second place.
Jonathan Hirschi: "It's incredible! When I started at Le Mans for the first time, just crossing the finish line was a success. After that, you want a podium. I've won many a race, but if you want to be on the podium anywhere, it's at Le Mans. I hope things go so well now in my other VLN races with the BMW M6 GT3 from Walkenhorst and with Graff Racing in the ELMS."
The thwarted happiness for Hugo de Sadeleer
Hugo de Sadeleer's most prominent team partner at United Autosports was former GP winner and Indy 500 winner Juan Pablo Montoya. Together with Briton Will Owen, who also had Formula 1 experience, the Lausanne driver formed a strong team on a Ligier-Gibson that saw the chequered flag in fifth position, not without minor problems (a slip into the gravel trap, a puncture).
Last year, the Vaudois (who currently lives in a property owned by his father in Monaco), who competes with a Monaco license, moved up to fourth place due to a subsequent disqualification, but the two disqualifications have now pushed him up to third.
Nice for the palmarès - but the overwhelming feeling of being allowed to cheer from the podium high above the frenetic crowd with the laurel wreath around his neck eluded him. See Jonathan Hirschi.
This could only be made up for by a new attempt in a year's time, when the 24 Hours of Le Mans will mark the end of the 2018/19 super season.
