2015 24 hours of Le Mans: Porsche halts Audi blitzkrieg

  • Jun 15, 2015
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Porsche emerged victorious in the 2015 edition of the prestigious 24 hours of Le Mans race with a 1-2 finish to end Audi’s five year dominance at Sarthe

2015 24 hours of Le Mans start

That this year’s 24 hours of Le Mans race would be an interesting affair was a given. The revised regulations had attracted many new manufacturers and also made the competition level difficult. Reigning champions Audi were the title favourites given their recent form but it wasn’t going to be an easy task as it faced stiff competition from Porsche, Toyota and Nissan. There was drama prior to the start itself as Porsche pulled a rabbit out of the hat as the German giant qualified on top three positions with the 919 Hybrid while Audi R18 e-tron quattro drivers started from fourth, fifth and sixth position on the grid. Such was the pace of the Porsche cars that they set a new lap record for the redesigned track thereby showcasing their intentions.

2015 24 hours of Le Mans action

It was a tough fight between the German carmakers both of whom are under the same parent company Volkswagen. In the early stages of the race it was the number 17 Porsche that was in the race lead. But a stop-and-go penalty meant that it slid down to the third place thereby handing over the race lead to the Audi drivers. There was more trouble for Porsche as number 19 car that started third dropped down to eighth position. But soon the Audi cars were plagued with reliability issues which meant they had to head towards the pits. This worked into favour of Porsche drivers as they rose up the grid and soon car number 19 took the race lead. Porsche car number 17 also made swift progress and was in second position while the Audi car number 7 kept alive the hopes of Audi fans. 

2015 24 hours of Le Mans chequered flag

Despite the mild showers in the final 15 minutes of the race it was clear that Porsche was about to end Audi’s domination at the 24 hours of Le Mans. Porsche car number 17 piloted by German Formula 1 driver Nico Hulkenberg, New Zealander Earl Bamber and Englishman Nick Tandy took the chequered flag to register a famous victory for the Stuttgart based car manufacturer. Second place went to Porsche car number 19 while the Audi car number 7 managed to grab a podium for the Ingolstadt manufacturer.

2015 24 hours of Le Mans winners
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What makes the win for Porsche car number 17 special is the fact that for Nico Hulkenberg and Earl Bamber it was their debut outing at Sarthe while Nick Tandy was participating for the second occasion. With this victory, Porsche ended Audi’s five year winning streak at Le Mans. Such has been Audi’s domination at the endurance race that it has won 13 of the last 15 races. As for Porsche, it registered a record 17th Le Mans title with this victory and its first since 1998. The Porsche pit crew also played a vital role as they clocked 90 pit stops in total and were significantly faster than the competition.

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