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The 2005 24 Hours of Le Mans (French: 73e 24 Heures du Mans) was a non-championship 24-hour automobile endurance race held from 18 to 19 June 2005, at the Circuit de la Sarthe near Le Mans, France, for teams of three drivers each entering Le Mans Prototype and Grand Touring cars. It was the 73rd running of the event, as organised by the automotive group, the Automobile Club de l'Ouest (ACO) since 1923. A test day was held two weeks prior to the race on 5 June. Approximately 230,000 people attended the race.
Jean-Christophe Boullion, Emmanuel Collard and Érik Comas began from pole position in a Pescarolo Sport C60 car after Boullion set the overall fastest lap time in the fourth qualifying session. The car led for the first two hours before a gearbox problem forced it into the garage for repairs, allowing Emanuele Pirro's Champion Racing Audi R8 to take the lead until Pirro crashed after a safety car intervention. JJ Lehto, Tom Kristensen and Marco Werner drove the sister Champion car to victory. It was Werner's first Le Mans victory, Lehto's second, and Kristensen's seventh. Kristensen surpassed Jacky Ickx to become the all-time leader in overall Le Mans victories and Audi claimed its fifth victory since the 2000 race. Pescarolo finished second, two laps behind, and the sister Champion Audi car of Frank Biela, Allan McNish and Pirro finished third.
The Ray Mallock Racing MG-Lola EX264 car of Thomas Erdos, Mike Newton and Warren Hughes won the Le Mans Prototype 2 (LMP2) category after taking the class lead in the race's final hour. Karim Ojjeh, Claude-Yves Gosselin and Adam Sharpe in a Paul Belmondo Racing Courage C65 finished second, five laps behind the MG-Lola, while Didier André, Paul Belmondo and Rick Sutherland's sister No. 37 car was third. Corvette Racing won their fourth class victory since their debut in the 2001 race. Olivier Beretta, Oliver Gavin and Jan Magnussen's No. 64 Chevrolet Corvette C6.R held a two-lap advantage over the No. 63 of Ron Fellows, Max Papis and Johnny O'Connell in the Le Mans Grand Touring 1 (LMGT1) category. Porsches led the Le Mans Grand Touring 2 (LMGT2) class with the No. 71 Alex Job Racing 911 GT3-RSR of Leo Hindery, Marc Lieb and Mike Rockenfeller ahead of the No. 90 White Lighting Racing car of Jörg Bergmeister, Patrick Long and Timo Bernhard.
Background
In September 2004, the dates for the 2005 24 Hours of Le Mans were announced.[1] It was the 73rd edition of the race and took place at the 8.482 mi (13.650 km) Circuit de la Sarthe road racing circuit close by Le Mans, France, from 18 to 19 June.[2][3] The race was first held in 1923 after the automotive journalist Charles Faroux, the Automobile Club de l'Ouest (ACO) general secretary Georges Durand and the industrialist Emile Coquile agreed to hold a test of vehicle reliability and durability. The 24 Hours of Le Mans is considered one of the world's most prestigious motor races and is part of the Triple Crown of Motorsport.[4]
Regulation and track changes
The Le Mans regulations for the two Grand Touring (GT) categories underwent significant changes for the event. Le Mans Grand Touring Sport became Le Mans Grand Touring 1 (LMGT1), while Le Mans Grand Touring became Le Mans Grand Touring 2 (LMGT2). Both the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile, the world governing body of motor racing, and the ACO required new vehicles in both classes to be homologated.[5] In 2005, cars built to comply with the Le Mans Prototype 900 (LMP900) regulations could compete alongside newer "hybrid" cars built to comply with the updated aerodynamic regulations in the Le Mans Prototype 1 (LMP1) category for the last time. LMP900 cars had to run with a smaller air restrictor to reduce engine performance and they had to weigh more than "hybrid" cars.[6]
The ACO recommended that LMGT1 cars lap the Circuit de la Sarthe in no more than 3 minutes, 55 seconds, and LMGT2 cars in no more than 4 minutes, 8 seconds. Had these rules not been met, the automotive group would immediately intervene to lower the performance of individual cars by altering their aerodynamic efficiency, reducing the size of the air restrictor and the fuel tank for future editions of the Le Mans race.[7][8] GT2-specification vehicles could compete if at least 100 road-going cars were built by "the big manufacturers" and 25 by "the small manufacturers." The ACO would otherwise suspend homologation for the 2006 race.[8]
The circuit was resurfaced from Mulsanne to Arnage corners from late 2004 to early 2005, and a section of road at the circuit's 89th post was levelled.[2]
Entries
By the deadline for entries on 19 January 2005, the ACO had received 78 applications (37 for the Le Mans Prototype (LMP) classes and 41 for the GT categories). It granted 50 invitations to the race, with entries divided between the LMP1, LMP2, LMGT1, and LMGT2 categories.[9]
Automatic entries
Teams that won their category in the 2004 24 Hours of Le Mans earned automatic entries. Teams that won Le Mans-related series and events such as the 2004 Petit Le Mans, the 2004 Le Mans Endurance Series and the 2004 American Le Mans Series were also invited. Some second-place finishers were also granted automatic entries in certain series, though none were given to the winners and runners-up of the 2004 FIA GT Championship's GT and N-GT categories, as was the case the previous year.[10] Because entries were pre-selected to teams, they were limited to a maximum of two cars and were not permitted to change their vehicles from year to year. Entries were allowed to switch categories as long as they did not change the make of their car and the ACO granted official permission for the switch.[11]
The ACO published its final list of automatic invitations on 18 January 2005.[12] Audi Sport Japan Team Goh, the 2004 winners, and the runners-up Audi Sport UK Team Veloqx were among the teams to decline their automatic entries. Dyson Racing, Prodrive Racing, Barron Connor Racing, ChoroQ Racing Team, JMB Racing and Alex Job Racing also declined their automatic entries. No replacements were found.[12]
| Reason Entered | LMP1 | LMP2 | LMGT1 | LMGT2 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1st in the 24 Hours of Le Mans |  Audi Sport Japan Team Goh1
|
 Intersport Racing
|
Corvette Racing
|
White Lighting Racing
|
| 2nd in the 24 Hours of Le Mans |  Audi Sport UK Team Veloqx1
|
 Rachel Welter
|
Prodrive Racing1
|
ChoroQ Racing Team1
|
| 1st in the 2004 Le Mans Endurance Series | Audi Sport UK Team Veloqx1
|
Courage Compétition
|
Larbre Compétition
|
Sebah Automotive
|
| 2nd in the 2004 Le Mans Endurance Series | Team Goh1
|
PiR Compétition
|
 Barron Connor Racing1
|
 JMB Racing1
|
| 1st in the 2004 Petit Le Mans | Champion Racing
|
Intersport Racing
|
Corvette Racing
|
Alex Job Racing1
|
| 1st in the 2004 American Le Mans Series | Dyson Racing1
|
Miracle Motorsports
|
Corvette Racing
|
Flying Lizard Motorsports
|
Entry list and reserves
The ACO announced the complete 50-car entry list for Le Mans, plus eight reserves, on 24 March 2005.[13] Several teams withdrew their entries after they were published. Team Nasamax withdrew its two-year-old bio-ethanol-powered DM139-Judd car, citing financial difficulties causing the team to reduce its schedule for the 2005 racing season. This promoted the No. 91 T2M Motorsport Porsche 911-GT3 RSR LMGT2-class car to the race entry.[14] Four days later, ACEMCO Motorsports withdrew its No. 63 Saleen S7-R due to aerodynamic deficiencies caused by a modification of the height of the car's rear wing at the 2004 Petit Le Mans to comply with ACO regulations. This promoted the reserve No. 76 IMSA Performance LMGT2-class Porsche to the race.[15]
A revised entry list released by the ACO on 27 April confirmed the withdrawal of the Team Nasamax and ACEMCO Motorsports entries as well as the dropping of the Graham Nash Motorsport Saleen S7-R, Thierry Perrier's Porsche 911-GT3 RSR, a second Racing for Holland Dome S101-Judd car, a Ferrari 360 Modena GTC fielded by G.P.C. Sport and a second Ferrari 550-GTS Maranello purchased by Larbre Compétition from the reserve list.[16] Four days before the start of scrutineering, Lucchini Engineering were unable to rectify a gearbox ratio problem in its LMP2/04 and were forced to withdraw the car, reducing the number of entries to 49.[17]
Testing
On June 5, a mandatory two-session pre-Le Mans test day lasting eight hours was held at the circuit, with 50 entries, to work on car setup and driver orientation. Rainfall before the end of the afternoon session made it impossible for teams to lap faster.[11][18] Emmanuel Collard in the No. 16 C60 Hybrid Judd car set the day's pace for Pescarolo Sport with a 3 minutes, 32.468 seconds lap. [19] The No. 17 Pescarolo of Soheil Ayari was second, and Jonathan Cochet's No. 13 Courage Compétition car came in third. JJ Lehto's No. 3 Champion Racing Audi R8 was fourth with Seiji Ara's No. 5 Jim Gainer International Dome S101 fifth. João Barbosa's lap put the No. 18 Rollcentre Racing Dallara SP1 car in sixth place, while Franck Montagny's Team Oreca Audi was seventh.[20] Sam Hancock led the LMP2 class in the No. 32 Intersport Racing Lola B05/40 vehicle with a time of 3 minutes, 44.426 seconds ahead of Ray Mallock's No. 32 MG-Lola EX264 of Thomas Erdos, the No. 30 Kruse Motorsport Courage C65 of Phil Bennett and Didier André's No. 37 Paul Belmondo Racing cars.[20] Aston Martin, in its first Le Mans works entry since the 1989 event,[21] led the LMGT1 category with a 3 minutes, 50.033 seconds lap from Tomáš Enge's No. 58 DBR9, with David Brabham's No. 59 car second. Christophe Bouchut's No. 61 Cirtek Motorsport Ferrari and Oliver Gavin and Johnny O'Connell's Nos. 64 and 63 Chevrolet Corvette C6.R finished third and fifth in class, respectively.[20] Timo Bernhard's No. 90 White Lighting Racing car helped Porsche lead the LMGT2 category, followed by Robin Liddell's No. 77 Panoz Esperante GT-LM and Romain Dumas' No. 76 IMSA Performance car.[20]
Qualifying
All entrants had eight hours of qualifying, divided into four two-hour sessions on 15 and 16 June. To qualify for the race, all entrants were required to set a time within 115% of the fastest lap set by the fastest vehicle in each of the four categories during the sessions.[11] Rain fell during the first session's start, making the track slippery and decreasing visibility.[22] Some drivers met the required minimum distance to drive in the race.[23] Collard took the lead late in the session with a lap of 4 minutes, 13.526 seconds. Tom Kristensen's lap put Champion's lead Audi in second and Ryo Michigami's Jim Gainer Dome car was third.[24] Andy Wallace was fourth in Creation Autosportif's No. 7 DBA 03S-Judd car, and Michael Krumm was fifth in his Rollcentre Dallara. Ayari's Pescarolo was provisionally sixth and Allan McNish's No. 2 Champion car was seventh.[22] Bouchut drove the Cirtek Ferrari to provisional pole in LMGT1 with a 4 minutes, 23.885 seconds lap, more than 12 seconds ahead of the two Aston Martin cars.[24] Andre's Paul Belmondo Courage took the LMP2 lead with a lap of 4 minutes, 24.832 seconds, and Hancock's Intersport Lola was second.[24] Earlier, Peter Owen's No. 39 Chamberlain-Synergy Motorsport Lola caused the session to be stopped due to a loss of control at the rear while changing gears. Owen was unhurt after crashing at the exit of the second Mulsanne chicane.[22] Mike Rockenfeller's Alex Job Porsche was fastest in LMGT2 with a 4 minutes, 37.574 seconds lap, followed by Jörg Bergmeister's No. 90 White Lighting and Dumas' No. 76 IMSA Performance entries.[22][24]
When the track dried near the end of the second qualifying session, lap times decreased.[23] Ayari in Pescarolo's No. 17 car improved provisional pole position by more than 12 seconds with a 4 minutes, 1.197 seconds lap just before the session ended, followed by McNish's improved No. 2 Champion Audi and Nicolas Minassian in Creation Autosportif's No. 7 DBA 03S entry.[25] Montagny put the Oreca Audi on provisional pole with half an hour remaining before falling to fourth. Lehto in the second Champion car fell to fifth. Michigami was sixth and Jota's Zytek 04S car of Sam Hignett seventh.[26] A seal on a fuel rig braking during a pit stop caused a flash fire that damaged the Rollcentre Dallara's bodywork. The car's damage forced it to stop running early.[27] Hancock gave the Intersport team provisional pole in the LMP2 class after displacing Andre's Paul Belmondo car, setting a time of 4 minutes, 11.719 seconds, a second faster than Ian James' second-placed No. 34 Miracle Motorsports Courage. In LMGT1, Vincent Vosse led the session with a lap of 4 minutes, 20.688 seconds, displacing the Cirtek Ferrari at the top of the time sheets. Similarly, Dumas set a lap of 4 minutes, 25.598 seconds in the IMSA Performance Porsche to lead the LMGT2 category with 35 minutes remaining.[26]
The weather for the two qualifying sessions on 16 June was humid and dry.[28] For the second consecutive session, Ayari's No. 17 Pescarolo vehicle improved provisional pole position to a 3 minutes, 35.555 seconds lap. Team Oreca's Audi of Montagny was second and McNish was the fastest Champion car in third. Cochet improved the No. 13 Pescarolo's time in the session's final minutes to go into fourth as Minassian's DBA 03S fell to fifth. Michigami's Jim Gainer Dome remained sixth and Barbosa's Rollcentre Dallara was seventh.[29] The No. 16 Pescarolo C60 had its times deleted for Collard touching the car after relieving Jean-Christophe Boullion though the penalty was rescinded 40 minutes later.[30] In LMP2, Warren Hughes' first lap of 3 minutes, 49.845 seconds in the No. 25 Ray Mallock MG-Lola was bettered by James' 3 minutes, 48.819 seconds time in the No. 34 Miracle Courage C65 to lead the category.[28] A crash at the exit to Indianapolis corner by Jean-Bernard Bouvet's No. 23 Gerard Welter WR LMP04 car halted the session after 90 minutes.[28][31] Pedro Lamy helped Aston Martin to lead in LMGT1 with a 3-minute, 50.311-second lap, followed by Brabham's No. 59 car and Gavin and O'Connell's Corvettes.[29] Rockenfeller greatly improved Alex Job's Porsche lap to maintain the lead in LMGT2 with a time of 4 minutes, 5.326 seconds. Johannes van Overbeek's No. 80 Flying Lizard Motorsports and Bill Auberlen's No. 77 Panoz were second and third in class.[29] Tom Coronel's throttle stuck in the No. 85 Spyker C8 Spyder GT2-R and he crashed in the Porsche Curves.[32] Andrew Kirkcaldy's No. 93 Scuderia Ecosse Ferrari struck a barrier at the Ford Chicane.[28]
As temperatures cooled in the final qualifying session, three-quarters of the field improved their fastest laps,[33] including Collard's No. 16 Pescarolo car, which set a lap of 3 minutes, 34.715 seconds on his first lap and held the place to secure pole position. Ayari was 0.840 seconds slower and joined Collard on the grid's front row. McNish's Champion car was third, Katsumoto Kaneishi improved on the Jim Gainer Dome's lap to start fourth and Montagny's Team Oreca Audi qualified fifth.[31] Shinji Nakano's No. 13 Courage C60 and Minassian's No. 7 DBA 03 vehicles were sixth and seventh.[33] The No. 34 Miracle Courage C65 car of Andy Lally, Hancock, Erdos and Andre shared the lead of the LMP2 category early in the session until Andre's lap of 3 minutes, 42.301 seconds secured pole position for the Paul Belmondo team.[31] In LMGT1 Aston Martin maintained the first two positions as Brabham led until Enge took pole position with ten minutes left with a lap of 3 minutes, 48.576 seconds.[33] Corvette Racing were third with Gavin's No. 64 car, ahead of Alexei Vasiliev's Cirtek Ferrari. Alex Job Racing's Rockenfeller retained first place in LMGT2 ahead of the No. 80 Flying Lizard and No. 77 Panoz cars.[33][34] A crash for Bergmeister into Tetre Rouge corner ended Flying Lizard's session early.[31][34]
Post-qualifying
Despite qualifying more than 115 per cent slower than the fastest LMP2 car, the stewards declared force majeure after the team's No. 35 Courage C65 vehicle was heavily damaged in the first qualifying session. The team was granted dispensation to start at the back of the grid.[35]
Qualifying results
Pole position winners in each class are indicated in bold. The fastest time set by each entry is denoted in gray.
| Pos | Class | No. | Team | Car | Day 1 | Day 2 | Gap | Grid |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | LMP1 | 16 | Pescarolo Sport | Pescarolo C60 Hybrid-Judd | 4:13.526 | 3:34.715 | — | 1 |
| 2 | LMP1 | 17 | Pescarolo Sport | Pescarolo C60 Hybrid-Judd | 4:01.197 | 3:35.555 | +0.840 | 2 |
| 3 | LMP1 | 2 | ADT Champion Racing | Audi R8 | 4:02.027 | 3:37.795 | +3.080 | 3 |
| 4 | LMP1 | 5 | Jim Gainer International | Dome S101Hb-Mugen | 4:08.745 | 3:38.094 | +3.379 | 4 |
| 5 | LMP1 | 4 | Audi PlayStation Team Oreca | Audi R8 | 4:05.770 | 3:38.281 | +3.566 | 5 |
| 6 | LMP1 | 13 | Courage Compétition | Courage C60H-Judd | 4:26.247 | 3:38.785 | +4.070 | 6 |
| 7 | LMP1 | 7 | Creation Autosportif | DBA 03S-Judd | 4:02.992 | 3:38.929 | +4.214 | 7 |
| 8 | LMP1 | 3 | ADT Champion Racing | Audi R8 | 4:07.643 | 3:38.988 | +4.273 | 8 |
| 9 | LMP1 | 18 | Rollcentre Racing | Dallara SP1-Judd | 4:28.852 | 3:39.643 | +4.928 | 9 |
| 10 | LMP1 | 9 | Team Jota | Zytek 04S | 4:09.578 | 3:41.177 | +6.462 | 10 |
| 11 | LMP1 | 10 | Racing for Holland | Dome S101-Judd | 4:15.816 | 3:41.930 | +7.265 | 11 |
| 12 | LMP2 | 37 | Paul Belmondo Racing | Courage C65-Ford AER | 4:14.406 | 3:42.301 | +7.526 | 12 |
| 13 | LMP1 | 12 | Courage Compétition | Courage C60H-Judd | 4:45.084 | 3:42.859 | +8.144 | 13 |
| 14 | LMP1 | 8 | Rollcentre Racing | Dallara SP1-Nissan | 4:20.862 | 3:43.377 | +8.662 | 14 |
| 15 | LMP2 | 32 | Intersport Racing | Lola B05/40-AER | 4:11.719 | 3:44.752 | +10.040 | 15 |
| 16 | LMP2 | 25 | Ray Mallock Ltd. | MG-Lola EX264-Judd | 4:28.869 | 3:46.205 | +11.490 | 16 |
| 17 | GT1 | 58 | Aston Martin Racing | Aston Martin DBR9 | 4:31.022 | 3:48.576 | +13.861 | 17 |
| 18 | LMP2 | 34 | Miracle Motorsports | Courage C65-AER | 4:12.754 | 3:48.819 | +14.104 | 18 |
| 19 | LMP2 | 30 | Kruse Motorsport | Courage C65-Judd | 4:31.127 | 3:49.267 | +14.552 | 19 |
| 20 | GT1 | 59 | Aston Martin Racing | Aston Martin DBR9 | 4:22.600 | 3:49.739 | +15.024 | 20 |
| 21 | LMP2 | 33 | Cirtek Motorsport | Courage C65-AER | 4:29.217 | 3:51.844 | +17.129 | 21 |
| 22 | GT1 | 64 | Corvette Racing | Chevrolet Corvette C6.R | 4:36.209 | 3:52.426 | +17.711 | 22 |
| 23 | LMP2 | 31 | Noël del Bello Racing | Courage C65-CG-Mecachrome | 4:21.562 | 3:53.051 | +18.336 | 23 |
| 24 | LMP2 | 36 | Paul Belmondo Racing | Courage C65-Ford AER | 4:27.268 | Zdroj:https://en.wikipedia.org?pojem=2005_24_Hours_of_Le_Mans