Inter Europol Competition clinches decisive win in the Race of the Century!
After taking the lead in the LMP2 class in the seventh hour, Inter Europol Competition kept a tight grip on the reins all the way to the finish line. Six weeks after its first FIA WEC podium at Spa, the Polish team has secured a first class win in the championship, and at the 24 Hours of Le Mans Centenary no less!
This historic running of the race delivered 24 hours of relentless drama! Almost no competitor was spared, including the winning #34 ORECA 07 fielded by Inter Europol Competition. But, in the end, drivers Jakub Smiechowski, Fabio Scherer and Albert Costa only had to wait a little more than a month between their first podium and first victory in the FIA WEC.
Team WRT’s #41 ORECA 07 finished second after drivers Louis Delétraz, Robert Kubica and Rui Andrade barely fell short of dethroning Inter Europol Competition. The LMP2 top 3 was rounded out by Duqueine Team’s #30 in good form since the beginning of the season.
Inter Europol Competition
Fifteenth on the starting grid, Inter Europol Competition needed to take advantage of every opportunity to earn a good result at the 2023 24 Hours of Le Mans. Unlike the majority of their opponents, the #34 ORECA 07’s crew successfully avoided all pitfalls to score a very memorable win at Le Mans.
Jakub Smiechowski, Fabio Scherer and Albert Costa managed to top the timesheet in the seventh hour. Pressured by Team WRT’s #41, the drivers never flinched and went on to win what will surely remain the greatest victory of their careers.
Louis Delétraz, Robert Kubica and Rui Andrade sharing Team WRT’s #41 ORECA 07 finished second, slightly more than 20 seconds from the winners possibly due to a mistake early in the race that cost the team precious time.
The Belgian outfit led the class for quite some time, hoping to place two cars on the podium, but the #31 ended up fifth.
Duqueine Team
Duqueine Team’s #30 ORECA 07 driven by Neel Jani, René Binder and Nicolas Pino reached the third step on the podium after starting from 35th position. Their hard work paid off and culminated in another impressive result.
Alpine Elf Team
On the heels of a relatively disappointing qualifying session, Alpine Elf Team’s #35 and #36 Alpine A470s rose steadily in the standings during the race. The #36 shared by Charles Milesi, Julien Canal and Matthieu Vaxivière finished fourth, but the #35 sister car experienced more troubles and ended the race in ninth.
IDEC SPORT Racing
Pole-sitter for the first time since 2018, French team IDEC SPORT Racing was seeking a podium finish if not the class win. Third just two hours from the chequered flag, the #48 ORECA 07 shared by Paul-Loup Chatin, Paul Lafargue and Laurents Hörr suffered a flat tyre that robbed the outfit of any chance of making it into the top 3.
Top 15
Vector Sport’s #10 ORECA 07 driven by Ryan Cullen, Gabriel Aubry and Matthias Kaiser crossed the finish line at the 2023 24 Hours of Le Mans in seventh place. The often unlucky #23 ORECA 07 fielded by United Autosports secured the eighth spot, three ahead of its neighbor in the garage, the #22.
Highly awaited by spectators, JOTA needed to repeat its outstanding free practice performance. During the night, the driver line-up of Pietro Fittipaldi, Oliver Rasmussen and David Heinemeier Hansson made a mistake that pushed it further down the standings. The #28 ORECA 07 passed under the chequered flag in 13th place. Slowed by an electrical problem in the final hour of the race, Panis Racing’s #65 ORECA 07 finished 14th.
Pro/Am
Algarve Pro Racing has won the Pro/Am class two years in a row. George Kurtz, James Allen and Colin Braun managed a flawless race at the wheel of the Portuguese team’s #45 ORECA 07.
COOL Racing’s #37 ORECA 07 snatched second place in the class ahead of DKR Engineering’s #15 ORECA 07. Despite a few problems, Graff Racing’s #39 finished fourth.
Retirements
Victims of changing weather and tricky track conditions, seven 24 ORECA 07s were forced to retire: Nielsen Racing’s #14, Tower Motorsports’ #13, Racing Team Turkey’s #923, Prema Racing’s #63, Inter Europol Competition #32, COOL Racing’s #47 and AF Corse’s #80 experienced an unfortunate end to this historic race!
