The countdown to the 2013 24 Hours of Le Mans officially begins at 15:00h on Sunday, 16th June when the first 23 of the 56 entries for the 90th anniversary edition of the world’s most famous sports car race pass through their administrative and scrutineering checks.
Held in Place de la République in the centre of Le Mans, all cars and drivers entered for the race must present themselves, their official licences and racing equipment such as helmets and suits to the officials tasked with ensuring that they fully comply with the regulations.
The first of the FIA World Endurance Championship cars to go through will be LMGTE Am’s No.76 IMSA Performance Matmut Porsche 911 GT3 RSR at 15:15h, followed by the two Lotus T128 LMP2 cars and the OAK Racing entries, the first of which is due to begin the process at 16:10h. Further LMP2 challengers from the Gulf Racing Middle East, Delta-ADR and G-Drive Racing teams will be under the scrutiny of the officials from 16:40h before one of the day’s highlights begins.
The many thousands of fans who will have assembled in the town will, at 17:10, enjoy their first close up look at the two LMP1 Toyota Racing TS030-HYBRIDS and the all-star driver line up who will be challenging for overall honours in this third round of the 2013 FIA World Endurance Championship.
The final two FIA WEC cars to go through scrutineering on Sunday are the No.88 Proton Competition Porsche 911 GT3 RSR (LMGTEAm) at 18:10h and 30 minutes later the first of the LMP1 Privateer entries to be rolled in front of the public – the No.21 Strakka Racing HPD ARX 03c Honda.
After each team has completed all its technical and administrative checks, the team members assemble with their car and drivers for a group photograph. That is when everyone knows that their week at the 24 Hours of Le Mans has officially begun!
Sunday, June 16
15:15 No.76 IMSA Performance Matmut Porsche 911 GT3 RSR LMGTE Am
15:30 No.32 Lotus T128 LMP2
15:45 No.31 Lotus T128 LMP2
16:10 No.24 OAK Racing Morgan-Nissan LMP2
16:20 No.35 OAK Racing Morgan-Nissan LMP2
16:40 No.28 Gulf Racing Middle East Lola B12/80 Coupe-Nissan LMP2
16:50 No.25 Delta-ADR ORECA 03 Nissan LMP2
17:00 No.26 G-Drive Racing ORECA 03 Nissan LMP2
17:10 No.7 Toyota Racing Toyota TS030 Hybrid LMP1
17:20 No.8 Toyota Racing Toyota TS030 Hybrid LMP1
18:10 No.88 Proton Competition Porsche 911 GT3 RSR LMGTE Am
18:40 No.21 Strakka Racing HPD ARX 03c-Honda LMP1
Details of all the cars due to go through Scrutineering on Monday, June 17 will be released tomorrow.
For the full list and timings, click HERE
Fiona Miller
Photo: (credit ACO) PLACE DE LA REPUBLIQUE (LE MANS, FRANCE), VENUE FOR SCRUTINEERING AND ADMINISTRATIVE CHECKS FOR 24 HOURS OF LE MANS. Scrutineering begins at 14:30h Sunday and from 10:00h Monday.
