2011 24 Hours of Le Mans

It was the third round of the 2011 Intercontinental Le Mans Cup and the race's 79th edition as organised by the automotive group the Automobile Club de l'Ouest (ACO) since 1923.

An Audi R18 TDI—driven by Marcel Fässler, André Lotterer, and Benoît Tréluyer—started from the pole position after Tréluyer set the fastest lap in the third qualifying session.

The Greaves Motorsport team of Tom Kimber-Smith, Olivier Lombard, and Karim Ojjeh won the Le Mans Prototype 2 (LMP2) category after leading for the race's final 137 laps in a Zytek Z11SN-Nissan car.

Larbre Compétition took the first two positions in the new Le Mans Grand Touring Endurance Amateur (LMGTE Am) class with their Chevrolet Corvette C6.R—driven by Patrick Bornhauser, Julien Canal, and Gabriele Gardel—ahead of the sister Porsche 997 GT3-RSR—driven by Jean-Philippe Belloc, Christophe Bourret, and Pascal Gibon.

The 24 Hours of Le Mans began in 1923 when 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] The ACO authored the 2011 regulations to respect the environment and support sustainable development by encouraging the use of new technologies and techniques that reduce carbon emissions and fuel consumption.

[18] The Highcroft Racing team withdrew its LMP1 ARX-01e-Honda car on 16 May, citing a lack of financial support as the reason, while also announcing the end of their partnership with Honda and HPD, due to the 2011 Tōhoku earthquake and tsunami.

[25][26] The United States-based Flying Lizard Motorsports, Highcroft Racing, and Krohn teams did not participate in the test due to cost and logistics.

89 Hankook Team Farnbacher Ferrari 458 Italia, was the only driver to go below the 4-minute mark in LMGTE Pro, with a 3 minute, 59.966 second lap to top the class.

[35][36] The first of three, two-hour qualifying sessions to determine the race's starting order through the quickest lap times set by each team's fastest driver began late on a cool and dry 8 June night.

[38][39] At approximately 195 km/h (121 mph) and 9.4 G, Nick Leventis crashed the Strakka car backwards into the tyre barrier just before the Dunlop Bridge,[38][41] scattering debris on the track and concluding the session with 30 seconds left.

Jean-Philippe Belloc helped Porsche top LMGTE Am, ahead of Spencer Pumpelly's Flying Lizard and Giroix's Gulf AMR Middle East's Aston Martin entries.

In LMGTE Pro, AF Corse led the session and claimed provisional pole position with Bruni's quickest class lap, demoting Jörg Müller's No.

61 Ferrari of Marco Cioci improved the LMGTE Am pole position lap, with Horst Felbermayer Jr moving the Felbermayr-Proton Porsche to second in class.

[58][59] The race began with a rolling start at 15:00 local time,[60] with FIA President Jean Todt waving the French Tricolour from the starter's gantry in front of 249,500 spectators.

8 Peugeot into the garage earlier than scheduled to rectify a stuck vehicle brake-balance distribution unit in the rearmost area, and it rejoined the race in eighth with Sarrazin driving.

55 BMW's lost third in LMGTE Pro, due to a right-rear puncture that required it to enter the garage,[78] dropping him two laps behind the class leader.

[59][81] Due to the length of the track, the distance between the LMGTE Am class leader and sixth in category became just over a minute, involving the Flying Lizard, Krohn, AF Corse, and Larbre teams.

9 Peugeot for third place after Lamy had been affected by a door repeatedly flapping open, as Lotterer and Gené continued to duel for the race lead.

[87] The safety cars were deployed for the second time, for 2 hours, 22 minutes, to allow marshals to repair the damaged Armco barrier and remove debris.

The resulting damage included bodywork jamming the right-rear wheel against the fuel cell, causing an oil leak that Lynn repaired before the car's clutch burned out.

[59][96] Beretta, who was combating carbon monoxide poisoning from inhaling fumes during previous safety car periods,[97] missed his braking point for Arnage corner and damaged the No.

81 Flying Lizard Porsche ran wide into the gravel at Mulsanne, requiring him to temporarily relinquish the LMGTE Am lead to Gabriele Gardel's No.

[100] Pagenaud took the race lead from Tréluyer before the latter was able to reclaim the position on the outside, entering the second Mulsanne chicane and pulling away with a series of fastest laps.

8 Peugeot received a one-minute stop-and-go penalty because the team member holding the refuelling hose had an incorrectly placed visor when adding fuel to the car.,[102] losing a lap to the race leader.

[59] In the 19th hour, Wurz missed the apex for Indianapolis corner and went straight on and minor contact with the tyre barrier exiting the turn damaged the No.

[107] Kimber-Smith lost control of the Greaves Zytek car at the Dunlop S and was temporarily stuck in the gravel before recovering with assistance and maintaining his LMP2 lead.

[111] Lotterer was forced to make an extra pit stop to receive four new tyres, and fuel, with fewer than 40 minutes remaining, after Audi noticed the No.

[113] Corvette Racing held their lead in LMGTE Pro, earning the team their seventh category win, Milner's maiden class victory, García's fourth, and Beretta's sixth.

[125] Beretta stated that he became ill inhaling exhaust gas during a safety car period and that Corvette faced a challenge: "We had a lot of pressure and we just pushed as hard as we could.