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2020 24 Hours of Le Mans
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2020 24 Hours of Le Mans
The 88th 24 Hours of Le Mans (French: 88e 24 Heures du Mans) was a 24-hour automobile endurance race for Le Mans Prototype (LMP) and Le Mans Grand Touring Endurance (LMGTE) cars fielded by teams of three drivers each held from 19 to 20 September 2020 at the Circuit de la Sarthe, close to Le Mans, France. It was the 88th running of the event, as organised by the automotive group, the Automobile Club de l'Ouest (ACO) since 1923. The race, held behind closed doors, was the seventh in the 2019–20 FIA World Endurance Championship, having been postponed from June to September as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic in France.
A Toyota TS050 Hybrid shared by Mike Conway, Kamui Kobayashi and José María López started from pole position after Kobayashi set the overall fastest lap time in the Hyperpole session. The trio led most of the race's first half until Kobayashi was required to drive their car into the garage with mechanical issues dropping them to fourth in the LMP1 class. Their teammates Sébastien Buemi, Brendon Hartley and Kazuki Nakajima took over the lead, which they maintained until the finish. It was Buemi and Nakajima's third Le Mans victory, Hartley's second and Toyota's third in succession. A Rebellion R13 driven by Gustavo Menezes, Norman Nato and Bruno Senna was the highest-placed non-hybrid LMP1 car in second and Conway, Kobayashi and López finished third.
The United Autosports team of Filipe Albuquerque, Phil Hanson and Paul di Resta won the Le Mans Prototype 2 (LMP2) category with Jota Sport's António Félix da Costa, Anthony Davidson and Roberto González finishing almost 33 seconds later in second place. Panis Racing's Julien Canal, Nico Jamin, and Matthieu Vaxivière completed the category podium in third. Aston Martin won the Le Mans Grand Touring Endurance Professional (LMGTE Pro) category with an Aston Martin Racing-run Vantage GTE shared by Alex Lynn, Maxime Martin and Harry Tincknell finishing ahead of AF Corse's James Calado, Alessandro Pier Guidi and Daniel Serra. The British marque also won the Le Mans Grand Touring Endurance Amateur (LMGTE Am) class with the TF Sport team of Jonathan Adam, Charlie Eastwood and Salih Yoluç beating the Dempsey-Proton Racing squad of Matt Campbell, Riccardo Pera and Christian Ried by 49 seconds.
The result moved Buemi, Hartley and Nakajima to the lead of the LMP Drivers' Championship by seven points over Conway, Kobayashi and López whose third-place finish demoted them to second. Menezes, Nato and Senna remained in third position while Albuquerue and Hanson remained in fourth, having won the LMP2 Endurance Trophy for Drivers because of their class victory with their co-driver Di Resta fifth. In the GTE Drivers' Championship Lynn and Martin moved to within 15 points of their teammates Marco Sørensen and Nicki Thiim. Toyota and Aston Martin left Le Mans as the respective LMP1 Teams' and GTE Manufacturers' champions with one race left in the season.
After winning the preceding 6 Hours of Spa-Francorchamps, Toyota's Mike Conway, Kamui Kobayashi and José María López led the LMP Drivers' Championship with 137 points, with their teammates Sébastien Buemi, Brendon Hartley and Kazuki Nakajima in second. Rebellion's Gustavo Menezes, Norman Nato and Bruno Senna were third with 109 points, with Filipe Albuquerque and Phil Hanson of United Autosports fourth with 54 points and Paul di Resta in fifth with 46 points. In the GTE Drivers' Championship, Marco Sørensen and Nicki Thiim led for Aston Martin with 127 points over Michael Christensen and Kévin Estre of Porsche in second, and AF Corse's James Calado and Alessandro Pier Guidi in third. Toyota led the LMP1 Teams' Championship over Rebellion, while Aston Martin was ahead of Porsche in the GTE Manufacturers' Championship.
The 2020 race, the 88th edition of the event, was to be held at the Circuit de la Sarthe close to Le Mans, France, from 13 to 14 June; because of the COVID-19 pandemic leading France to impose a national lockdown to slow the spread of the virus, the ACO and the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA) rescheduled it to 19 and 20 September. The ACO wanted to establish new dates for the race as soon as French officials imposed the lockdown; they wanted to avoid the shorter daylight hours and poor weather late in the year, and had to take global travel limitations into account. It was also made the seventh and penultimate round of the 2019–20 FIA World Endurance Championship instead of ending the season as originally planned. Pierre Fillon, the ACO president, said that the race was not cancelled since many teams built their economic models around it.
Although there were plans to admit a limited number of ticket holders to Le Mans in ten social bubbles dubbed "fan villages" of 5,000 people each, it was held behind closed doors following discussions with the local Sarthe Prefecture because of an increase of COVID-19 cases in France in the preceding month. All teams were mandated to remain in bubbles and not communicate with other squads. Only 5,000 individuals could be admitted to the track, and all had to test negative for the virus and wear a face mask for safety reasons.
Modifications were made to the circuit at the exit of Mulsanne Corner. The gravel traps at the corner were extended. Updated safety fencing enabled the fence line to be moved back at different points in the turn. A larger, wider and thicker layer of asphalt was laid at both sides of the turn at the FIA's request to decrease the amount of disruption caused by a car going off. Work began in March 2020 and ended three months later in June.
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2020 24 Hours of Le Mans
The 88th 24 Hours of Le Mans (French: 88e 24 Heures du Mans) was a 24-hour automobile endurance race for Le Mans Prototype (LMP) and Le Mans Grand Touring Endurance (LMGTE) cars fielded by teams of three drivers each held from 19 to 20 September 2020 at the Circuit de la Sarthe, close to Le Mans, France. It was the 88th running of the event, as organised by the automotive group, the Automobile Club de l'Ouest (ACO) since 1923. The race, held behind closed doors, was the seventh in the 2019–20 FIA World Endurance Championship, having been postponed from June to September as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic in France.
A Toyota TS050 Hybrid shared by Mike Conway, Kamui Kobayashi and José María López started from pole position after Kobayashi set the overall fastest lap time in the Hyperpole session. The trio led most of the race's first half until Kobayashi was required to drive their car into the garage with mechanical issues dropping them to fourth in the LMP1 class. Their teammates Sébastien Buemi, Brendon Hartley and Kazuki Nakajima took over the lead, which they maintained until the finish. It was Buemi and Nakajima's third Le Mans victory, Hartley's second and Toyota's third in succession. A Rebellion R13 driven by Gustavo Menezes, Norman Nato and Bruno Senna was the highest-placed non-hybrid LMP1 car in second and Conway, Kobayashi and López finished third.
The United Autosports team of Filipe Albuquerque, Phil Hanson and Paul di Resta won the Le Mans Prototype 2 (LMP2) category with Jota Sport's António Félix da Costa, Anthony Davidson and Roberto González finishing almost 33 seconds later in second place. Panis Racing's Julien Canal, Nico Jamin, and Matthieu Vaxivière completed the category podium in third. Aston Martin won the Le Mans Grand Touring Endurance Professional (LMGTE Pro) category with an Aston Martin Racing-run Vantage GTE shared by Alex Lynn, Maxime Martin and Harry Tincknell finishing ahead of AF Corse's James Calado, Alessandro Pier Guidi and Daniel Serra. The British marque also won the Le Mans Grand Touring Endurance Amateur (LMGTE Am) class with the TF Sport team of Jonathan Adam, Charlie Eastwood and Salih Yoluç beating the Dempsey-Proton Racing squad of Matt Campbell, Riccardo Pera and Christian Ried by 49 seconds.
The result moved Buemi, Hartley and Nakajima to the lead of the LMP Drivers' Championship by seven points over Conway, Kobayashi and López whose third-place finish demoted them to second. Menezes, Nato and Senna remained in third position while Albuquerue and Hanson remained in fourth, having won the LMP2 Endurance Trophy for Drivers because of their class victory with their co-driver Di Resta fifth. In the GTE Drivers' Championship Lynn and Martin moved to within 15 points of their teammates Marco Sørensen and Nicki Thiim. Toyota and Aston Martin left Le Mans as the respective LMP1 Teams' and GTE Manufacturers' champions with one race left in the season.
After winning the preceding 6 Hours of Spa-Francorchamps, Toyota's Mike Conway, Kamui Kobayashi and José María López led the LMP Drivers' Championship with 137 points, with their teammates Sébastien Buemi, Brendon Hartley and Kazuki Nakajima in second. Rebellion's Gustavo Menezes, Norman Nato and Bruno Senna were third with 109 points, with Filipe Albuquerque and Phil Hanson of United Autosports fourth with 54 points and Paul di Resta in fifth with 46 points. In the GTE Drivers' Championship, Marco Sørensen and Nicki Thiim led for Aston Martin with 127 points over Michael Christensen and Kévin Estre of Porsche in second, and AF Corse's James Calado and Alessandro Pier Guidi in third. Toyota led the LMP1 Teams' Championship over Rebellion, while Aston Martin was ahead of Porsche in the GTE Manufacturers' Championship.
The 2020 race, the 88th edition of the event, was to be held at the Circuit de la Sarthe close to Le Mans, France, from 13 to 14 June; because of the COVID-19 pandemic leading France to impose a national lockdown to slow the spread of the virus, the ACO and the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA) rescheduled it to 19 and 20 September. The ACO wanted to establish new dates for the race as soon as French officials imposed the lockdown; they wanted to avoid the shorter daylight hours and poor weather late in the year, and had to take global travel limitations into account. It was also made the seventh and penultimate round of the 2019–20 FIA World Endurance Championship instead of ending the season as originally planned. Pierre Fillon, the ACO president, said that the race was not cancelled since many teams built their economic models around it.
Although there were plans to admit a limited number of ticket holders to Le Mans in ten social bubbles dubbed "fan villages" of 5,000 people each, it was held behind closed doors following discussions with the local Sarthe Prefecture because of an increase of COVID-19 cases in France in the preceding month. All teams were mandated to remain in bubbles and not communicate with other squads. Only 5,000 individuals could be admitted to the track, and all had to test negative for the virus and wear a face mask for safety reasons.
Modifications were made to the circuit at the exit of Mulsanne Corner. The gravel traps at the corner were extended. Updated safety fencing enabled the fence line to be moved back at different points in the turn. A larger, wider and thicker layer of asphalt was laid at both sides of the turn at the FIA's request to decrease the amount of disruption caused by a car going off. Work began in March 2020 and ended three months later in June.
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