2004 24 Hours of Le Mans
The Le Mans Grand Touring Sport (LMGTS) class was won by a Chevrolet Corvette C5-R driven by Olivier Beretta, Oliver Gavin and Jan Magnussen, with the sister car of Ron Fellows, Max Papis and Johnny O'Connell finishing eleven laps behind in second place.
[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.
[4] Following a series of airborne accidents in sports car racing, such as those involving a Porsche 911 GT1 at the 1998 Petit Le Mans and a Mercedes-Benz CLR at the 1999 Le Mans race, the ACO altered the bottom of the new LMP1 and LMP2 cars to reduce the amount of downforce produced outside of their wheelbase and a reduction in rear overhang coupled with an increase in front overhang for less pitch sensitivity to reduce the possibility of such a crash occurring.
A 20 mm (2.0 cm) plank was added to the underside of all new LMP1 and converted "hybrid" cars to force a ride height increase and reduce the effectiveness of underfloor aerodynamics.
[7] By the deadline for entries on 11 February 2004, the ACO had received 77 applications (40 for the LMP classes and 37 for the Grand Touring (GT) categories).
[15] Thierry Perrier's Porsche 911 GT3-RS was allowed to race after one of pre-selected BMS Scuderia Italia Ferrari 550-GTS Maranello's was withdrawn,[15] because the team did not have enough time to make the car compliant with ACO regulations and it wanted to focus on the 2004 FIA GT Championship.
67 Ferrari 550 was withdrawn due to financial problems from a lack of sponsorship and its place in the LMGT category was taken by a second Chamberlain-Synergy Motorsport-entered TVR Tuscan 400R.
[19] On April 25, the circuit hosted a mandatory pre-Le Mans test day split into two daytime sessions of four hours each,[11] involving all 50 entries and two of the six reserve cars.
87 Orbit Racing car,[21] which was sidelined for 2+1⁄2 hours with a broken steering rack after hitting the guardrail at Tertre Rouge corner.
[25] Teams used the opening minutes of the second session to fine tune their cars and record their fastest laps in lower ambient and track temperatures.
[28] After a collision with a Chevrolet Corvette C5-R at Arnage corner damaged Kristensen's Team Goh car's front splitter,[31] Werner moved Champion's entry to fourth and completed an Audi sweep of the first four positions.
8 Audi's time to join Herbert on the front row after missing much of the session due to a lack of power caused by a failed fuel injector, necessitating an engine change.
[35][36] White Lightning's third session lap secured the LMGT category pole position, with Jaime Melo's JMB Ferrari and Rockenfeller's Orbit Porsche second and third in class, respectively.
[42] Although the session passed without major incident, Bourdais' engine cover came off his Pescarolo C60 car, and several drivers ran into the trackside gravel traps.
The other two Audis of Lehto and Capello, as well as Lammers' Racing for Holland Dome entry, passed Andy Wallace's Zytek car, demoting it from third to sixth.
[45] The top five LMGTS cars were nose-to-tail, with Kox leading and Lammers had a throttle sensor problem on the Mulsanne, falling to 24th.
Enge set the fastest LMGTS lap time of 3 minutes, 53.327 seconds, trailing the class-leading Jan Magnussen's No.
66 Prodrive Ferrari was second in LMGTS until he spun at the Mulsanne Chicane after moving onto a dirty section of track to let a faster LMP car past.
After that, his clutch began to slip, and Prodrive replaced it; the resulting pit stop dropped McRae eight laps behind Gavin's LMGTS-leading Corvette.
88 Audi received a stop-and-go penalty for passing under yellow flag conditions, he and Magnussen collided at the Ford Chicane, sending the No.
66 Prodrive Ferrari was later forced to enter the pit lane with a suspected misfire though it was later discovered that a section of rubber was lodged inside an air restrictor.
[60][63] During the safety car period, Kristensen brought the Team Goh Audi into the pit lane to correct a two-hour misfire and the Barron Connor No.
65 Prodrive Ferrari experienced gear selection issues, and the car spent the majority of the past hour in the garage, falling to fifth in LMGTS.
The safety cars separated the field at the front, with Herbert's Audi Sport UK R8 one lap ahead of Ara's Team Goh R8.
88 Audi Sport UK R8 returned to the garage for seven minutes to correct a handling imbalance caused by a seized rear suspension pushrod bearing,[69] promoting Capello's Team Goh car to the lead.
He drove the Team Goh Audi into the pit lane due to a heavily flat spotted tyre disintegrating and Kristensen took over the No.
17 Pescarolo 60 car launched over a kerb at a Mulsanne Chicane, and a subsequent crash into the barrier dropped him to third behind Lehto's Champion Audi R8.
66 Prodrive Ferrari was leading the LMGTS category by five laps when its front-left wheel bearing seized in the Dunlop Chicane, damaging the front splitter.
Enge replaced Menu and damaged the front of the Ferrari during his first lap out of the pit lane when he collided with a wall at Indianapolis corner.
ChoroQ Racing Team moved to second in LMGT after Freisinger's Porsche of Ortelli developed a misfire and fell to third in class.
