Good morning from Place de la République for day two of Scrutineering for the third round of the FIA World Endurance Championship, the 24 Hours of Le Mans.
There is a full day of Administrative and Technical Checks today, beginning with SMP Racing’s two ORECA 03R Nissans at 10h00 and ending at 17h00 – 33 cars in total, of which 17 are from the WEC. With today being a public holiday, many thousands of fans are expected in the centre of the city.
Amato Ferrari’s AF Corse operation in fact fills the first ten places today, as the Italian team not only presents its own AF Corse Ferrari entries in LMGTE Pro and Am, but also manages the SMP Racing and 8Star Motorsport entries. World GTE Champion Gianmaria Bruni and his team mates Toni Vilander and Giancarlo Fisichella will be present in the square to meet their fans from 11h20.
Hong Kong’s KCMG team will be putting forward its LMP2 ORECA 03R Nissan at 12h20, and will immediately be followed by the very popular Swiss team from the LMP1-L category, Rebellion Racing. The team’s two Rebellion R-One Toyotas and star line up will no doubt attract a big crowd.
Aston Martin Racing is always a fan favourite at Le Mans and this year will be no exception as the British team presents its four Vantage V8s together, beginning at 14h20. The team welcomes back Bruno Senna in the top LMGTE Pro entry, alongside full season entrants Darren Turner and Stefan Mücke.
The über-successful Audi Sport Team Joest takes centre stage at 15h40, with Mr Le Mans himself, Tom Kristensen, bidding for a record 10th victory in the 24 Hours of Le Mans. Lucas di Grassi is the new face to the No.1 Audi R18 e-tron quattro for 2014, although not to the team or indeed to Le Mans. With the addition of the No.3 Audi, there will be an all-star cast of drivers for fans to see and photograph.
The final WEC entrant through ‘Pesage’ today will be the No.75 Prospeed LMGTE Am entry and among its drivers is Emmanuel Collard who this year becomes the driver with the most participations in the race. He begins his 20th 24 Hours of Le Mans. Prospeed’s Porsche 911 GT3 RSR begins its journey with the officials at 16h10.
The full schedule for today can be found HERE.
Fiona Miller
