When the win hasn’t sunk in
Back

When the win hasn’t sunk in

The #2 Porsche 919 Hybrid crew composed of Romain Dumas, Neel Jani and Marc Lieb has won the 24 Hours of Le Mans. This is a record eighteenth win for the German manufacturer.

Neel Jani (at the wheel for the finish): “I was told over the radio that the Toyota had stopped and that I was in with a chance of catching it if I stepped up the pace. As I went past, I saw it wasn’t moving. The last lap was surreal. I felt numb because I couldn’t believe it. When was the last time there was a breakdown in the last lap? I had to do a last minute stop at the end of the race with a tyre problem. We didn’t know whether it was a puncture or not and we chose to play it safe because we didn’t think we could win. From the start we knew the Toyota was going to stop every 14 laps but we couldn’t do the same. Our only hope was to make up the lost time on track. We didn’t manage it during the day but at night we were faster. I kept the pressure on right to the end, almost the same as in the  qualifiers, because you never know."

Marc Lieb: “We knew that Toyota could last 14 laps between stops and that we’ve never been able to match that. It was a difficult race because we had to keep pressing at all times. It’s sad because Toyota should have won. I’ve been in their shoes before at the 24 Hours of Nürburgring. Our car broke a minute from the finish line. We wanted to beat them on track. It was the only way. We were faster during the night but the slow zones didn’t help. I only slept for a few minutes. I’m exhausted."

Romain Dumas (winner for the second time): “The regulations were changed to slow down the cars and it worked because last year we were on 3:17 and this year we couldn’t better 3:21. The whole LM P1 class was slower. We didn’t beat the distance record [set in 2010, ed.] because of the safety car at the start and the many slow zones. But, who cares whether you do 300 or 315 laps? The main thing is to win. It hasn’t sunk in yet and we feel sorry for Toyota. But after a while only the result will count. We were offered a victory; we weren’t going to say no."

Go the extra mile and get exclusive content with our online community myaco. It's free to join!

Major Partner

PREMIUM partners

OFFICIAL partners

All partners