2001 24 Hours of Le Mans

[1][2] 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.

It is considered the world's most prestigious sports car race and is part of the Triple Crown of Motorsport.

[3] After the 2000 race, the ACO and the French government modified the Route nationale 138 which forms the Mulsanne Straight, by decreasing the height of a hill by 7.9 ft (2.4 m) on the approach to the Mulsanne Corner where Mark Webber had an airborne accident in a Mercedes-Benz CLR during a warm-up session for the 1999 edition.

[6][7] Other changes included a widening of the run-off area to the outside on the approach to the right-hand Indianapolis corner and a gravel trap and spectator section was moved further back in an attempt to enhance safety.

[8] The ACO allowed cars in the Le Mans Prototype 675 (LMP675) category to be installed with a V6 turbocharged engine with a maximum capacity of 2,000 cc (120 cu in) up from a V4 power unit in the 2000 event.

The governing body also revoked a regulation for a car's headlights to be switched on in daylight hours and the FIA would supervise laboratory crash tests conducted on all vehicles.

[10][11] The ACO received 80 "good quality" inquires for applications by the deadline for entries at midnight, 28 February 2001.

[12][13] The ACO's eight-person selection committee granted 48 invitations to the 24 Hours of Le Mans in-late March.

[15][16] As entries were pre-selected to teams, they were restricted to a maximum of two cars and were not allowed to change their vehicles nor their competitors' licence from the previous year to the next.

The Ascari, Audi, Bentley, Cadillac, Courage, Chrysler, Dome and Panoz brands were accepted into the two Prototype classes, which featured a mixture of works teams and privateers.

[18] A mandatory pre-Le Mans test day split into two daytime sessions of four hours each was held at the circuit on 6 May,[13] involving all 48 cars and four reserve entries.

Emanuele Pirro of Team Joest, Johnny Herbert for Champion Racing and Yannick Dalmas in a Chrysler LMP occupied fourth to sixth positions.

[20] A broken exhaust header caused the carbon fibre chassis on David Brabham's Panoz LMP07 to catch fire in the final moments of the morning session.

[20][21] Eric van de Poele for Dick Barbour set the fastest lap in the LMP675 category,[22] while the Larbre Compétition team led both GT classes with the No.

This was followed by an improved time for the Champion Racing car of Ralf Kelleners in second and Martin Brundle in Bentley's No.

Racing for Holland was fourth courtesy of a lap from Jan Lammers and the second Joest Audi of Frank Biela rounded out the top five.

[25] The Dick Barbour team continued to lead the LMP675 category with an improved lap of 3 minutes, 44.272 seconds,[26] ahead of the trio of drivers of the second-placed No.

35 Rowan Racing Pilbeam MP84-Nissan made contact at the Ford Chicane late in the session and the former was unable to continue driving.

[30] Audi, the pre-race favourites,[31] led early on with a flying lap from Kristensen before his teammate Capello followed with a 3 minutes, 34.880 seconds time to go fastest overall.

34 MG-Lola EX257-Lola to provisional pole position in the LMP675 category with a time of 3 minutes, 42.065 seconds ahead of the ROC Auto Reynard and No.

[32][33] The day's fastest laps were predicted to possibly be set within the opening fifteen minutes of the second session due to lowering ambient temperatures and light levels.

[36] The sole non-Porsche car in LMGT of the Aspen Knolls MCR-entered Callaway C12 of Cort Wagner moved to the front in class with Patrice Goueslard's No.

[39] Jordi Gené set the fastest time in the LMP675 in the ROC Auto Reynard yet he was almost four seconds behind the class pole-sitting No.

74 Luc Alphand Adventure car leaked oil at the entry to the Michelin chicane due to a hose problem and marshals quickly cleaned the track.

[43] As temperatures cooled in the final qualifying session due to fading light,[44] Capello waited in his garage before he negotiated slower traffic to set a 3 minutes, 32.249 seconds lap in the No.

[46][47] Kevin McGarrity in the sister MG was second in class after an oil leak caused the team to change engines.

[48] Pole position winners in each class are indicated in bold and by a ‡ The fastest time set by each entry is denoted in gray.

[13] It was held on a damp track after overnight rain;[50] teams focused on systems checks, setting up their cars against the weather of the time, tried several tyre compounds and ensuring their drivers had some driving experience.

11 Panoz had a tyre issue and went into the gravel trap at the exit to Indianapolis corner from which marshals extricated him.

It was the last time a Porsche team would finish in front of the GTS class until they had the class-consolidating 4.0 liter 997 GT3 RSR in their possession, in 2010.