2006 24 Hours of Le Mans

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2006 24 Hours of Le Mans
Previous: 2005 Next: 2007
Index: Races | Winners

The 2006 24 Hours of Le Mans was the 74th Grand Prix of Endurance, and took place over 17–18 June 2006. It saw for the first time in Le Mans history the victory of a diesel-powered car (the Audi R10 TDI).

Pre-race

Prior to this race the ACO redeveloped the area around the Dunlop Curve and Dunlop Chicane, moving the Dunlop Curve in tighter to create more run-off area, while also turning the Dunlop Chicane into a larger set of turns. As part of the development, a new extended pit lane exit was created for motorcycles running the Bugatti Circuit. This second pit exit re-enters the track just beyond the Dunlop Chicane and before the Dunlop Bridge.

Before the official test days, the FIA requested that the sportscars should also use this new pit lane, and mandate a 60 km/h speed limit for the entire 450m length, instead of using the normal pit exit in the Dunlop Curve as planned. This was originally used for the Le Mans test days, but due to complaints from the teams the ACO decided to return to the old pit lane exit for the race.

Qualifying

The tension between the new Audi R10 TDIs and Pescarolo C60's in LMP1 started even before the race began. In Wednesday's qualifying, Pescarolo swept the top spots. However, the sessions were wet, and therefore it was impossible to get an idea of what the race would hold. For the Thursday qualifying session conditions were dry, and Audi swept the front row, while the Pescarolo's started behind them. In LMP2, the Ray Mallock Ltd. Lola ran a full two seconds quicker than the new Intersport Lola. In LMGT1, the Aston Martin factory squad swept the front row, with the #64 Corvette right behind them. Finally, in GT2, the French IMSA Performance Matmut Porsche took the quickest time; however, Luca Riccitelli took the car off at Nord du Karting at the end of the session, injuring his ankle and badly damaging the chassis of the car. In a unique move, the ACO went against its own rules and granted permission for the team to replace the chassis with a brand new car. Even with this aid, the car was still forced to start at the back of the grid. The Scuderia Ecosse Ferrari 430 thus started at the front for the GT2 class.

Qualifying times

Class leaders and the fastest lap time on each day are in bold.

Pos No. Team Car Class Day 1 Day 2 Behind
1 7 Germany Audi Sport Team Joest Audi R10 TDI LMP1 4:17.189 3:30.466 Leader
2 8 Germany Audi Sport Team Joest Audi R10 TDI LMP1 4:17.676 3:30.584 +0.118
3 16 France Pescarolo Sport Pescarolo C60 Hybrid-Judd LMP1 4:13.832 3:32.584 +2.118
4 17 France Pescarolo Sport Pescarolo C60 Hybrid-Judd LMP1 4:14.447 3:32.990 +2.524
5 13 France Courage Compétition Courage LC70-Mugen LMP1 4:25.582 3:34.120 +3.654
6 14 Netherlands Racing for Holland Dome S101Hb-Judd LMP1 4:22.873 3:34.864 +4.398
7 9 United Kingdom Creation Autosportif Creation CA06/H-Judd LMP1 4:22.021 3:36.459 +5.993
8 2 United Kingdom Zytek Engineering Zytek 06S LMP1 4:27.754 3:39.252 +8.786
9 5 Switzerland Swiss Spirit Courage LC70-Judd LMP1 4:23.727 3:40.182 +9.716
10 19 United Kingdom Chamberlain-Synergy Motorsport Lola B06/10-AER LMP1 4:37.362 3:40.467 +10.001
11 12 France Courage Compétition Courage LC70-Mugen LMP1 4:35.943 3:40.722 +10.256
12 25 United Kingdom Ray Mallock Ltd. MG-Lola EX264-AER LMP2 4:34.940 3:41.555 +11.089
13 33 United States Intersport Racing Lola B05/40-AER LMP2 4:34.160 3:43.869 +13.403
14 22 United Kingdom Rollcentre Racing Radical SR9-Judd LMP2 4:43.803 3:44.324 +13.858
15 39 United Kingdom Chamberlain-Synergy Motorsport Lola B05/40-AER LMP2 4:37.362 3:45.732 +15.068
16 32 France Barazi-Epsilon Courage C65-AER LMP2 4:27.357 3:47.467 +17.001
17 37 France Paul Belmondo Racing Courage C65-Mecachrome LMP2 4:45.086 3:48.846 +18.380
18 27 United States Miracle Motorsports Courage C65-AER LMP2 4:56.168 3:50.826 +20.360
19 6 United Kingdom Lister Storm Racing Lister Storm LMP Hybrid-Chevrolet LMP1 4:31.565 3:50.940 +20.476
20 007 United Kingdom Aston Martin Racing Aston Martin DBR9 GT1 4:31.179 3:52.015 +21.559
21 009 United Kingdom Aston Martin Racing Aston Martin DBR9 GT1 4:32.053 3:52.561 +22.095
22 64 United States Corvette Racing Chevrolet Corvette C6.R GT1 4:51.557 3:53.100 +22.534
23 20 France Pir Competition Pilbeam MP93-Judd LMP2 4:25.398 3:53.285 +22.819
24 69 Italy BMS Scuderia Italia Aston Martin DBR9 GT1 4:35.531 3:53.611 +23.145
25 67 Russia Convers MenX Team Ferrari 550-GTS Maranello GT1 4:33.561 3:53.781 +23.315
26 63 United States Corvette Racing Chevrolet Corvette C6.R GT1 4:54.941 3:53.993 +23.327
27 66 United States ACEMCO Motorsports Saleen S7-R GT1 4:35.016 3:54.476 +24.010
28 72 France Luc Alphand Aventures Chevrolet Corvette C5-R GT1 4:42.545 3:55.629 +25.163
29 24 United States Binnie Motorsports Lola B05/42-Zytek LMP2 4:51.872 3:56.123 +25.657
30 35 Belgium G-Force Racing Courage C65-Judd LMP2 4:48.714 3:56.452 +25.986
31 36 France Paul Belmondo Racing Courage C65-Mecachrome LMP2 4:50.408 3:56.460 +25.994
32 62 United Kingdom Team Modena Aston Martin DBR9 GT1 4:35.789 3:57.776 +27.310
33 61 United Kingdom Cirtek Motorsport Ferrari 550-GTS Maranello GT1 4:40.097 3:59.822 +29.356
34 53 Japan JLOC Isao Noritake Lamborghini Murcielago R-GT GT1 4:58.656 4:00.287 +29.821
35 30 France Gerald Welter WR LMP04-Peugeot LMP2 5:15.480 4:00.775 +30.309
36 50 France Larbre Compétition Ferrari 550-GTS Maranello GT1 4:47.924 4:01.920 +31.454
37 76 France IMSA Performance Matmut Porsche 911 GT3-RSR GT2 4:41.623 4:03.438 +32.972
38 87 United Kingdom Scuderia Ecosse Ferrari F430 GT2 GT2 4:52.423 4:04.596 +34.130
39 83 Germany Seikel Motorsport Porsche 911 GT3-RSR GT2 4:53.695 4:04.897 +34.431
40 80 United States Flying Lizard Motorsports Porsche 911 GT3-RSR GT2 4:46.888 4:05.266 +34.800
41 90 United States Krohn Racing Porsche 911 GT3-RSR GT2 4:39.912 4:05.700 +35.234
42 85 Netherlands Spyker Squadron BV Spyker C8 Spyder GT2-R-Audi GT2 4:48.691 4:06.299 +35.833
43 77 Canada Multimatic Team Panoz Panoz Esperante GT-LM-Ford GT2 4:55.638 4:06.642 +36.176
44 86 Netherlands Spyker Squadron BV Spyker C8 Spyder GT2-R-Audi GT2 4:45.916 4:07.939 +37.473
45 89 United Kingdom Sebah Automotive Ltd. Porsche 911 GT3-RSR GT2 4:54.946 4:08.688 +38.222
46 81 United Kingdom Team LNT Panoz Esperante GT-LM-Ford GT2 4:50.424 4:12.043 +41.577
47 93 Japan Team Taisan Advan Porsche 911 GT3-RSR GT2 5:05.305 4:14.477 +44.011
48 73 Belgium Ice Pol Racing Team Porsche 911 GT3-RSR GT2 4:57.096 4:16.246 +45.780
49 91 Japan T2M Motorsport Porsche 911 GT3-RSR GT2 5:06.716 4:17.342 +46.876
50 98 France Noël del Bello Racing Porsche 911 GT3-RSR GT2 5:07.105 4:23.547 +53.081

Race

File:2008 Audi R10 TDI - Flickr - exfordy.jpg
The No. 8 Audi R10 TDI at Goodwood Festival of Speed

This race marked the first Le Mans win for a diesel engined sports car, the Audi R10 TDI, and the second time that a diesel-powered sports car won a major international motorsports event, following the Audi R10 TDI's win at the 2006 12 Hours of Sebring. However, in touring car racing, a diesel BMW 320d had won the 24 Hours Nürburgring in 1998.

Tom Kristensen could not extend his streak of 6 wins in a row, as his #7 car was less reliable than the winning #8 sister car, even though it had been fastest in practice and race. World Rally champion Sébastien Loeb scored a remarkable second place with the Pescarolo Sport team.

This race also marked the first time since the 1991 24 Hours of Le Mans that Porsche (or a Porsche-powered prototype) did not win at least one class. A Panoz Esperante was successful in upsetting the contingent of Porsches in the GT2 class.

Corvette Racing's 355 lap pace in their GT1 class win is the record for a homologated GT vehicle. Aston Martin Racing's entry was also on a record-breaking pace, finishing five laps behind.

Official results

Class winners are marked in bold. Cars not completing 70% of the winner's distance are listed as Not Classified (NC).

Pos Class
Pos.
Class No Team Drivers Chassis Tyre Laps
Engine
1 1 LMP1 8 Germany Audi Sport Team Joest Germany Frank Biela
Germany Marco Werner
Italy Emanuele Pirro
Audi R10 TDI M 380
Audi TDI 5.5L Turbo V12
(Diesel)
2 2 LMP1 17 France Pescarolo Sport France Sébastien Loeb
France Eric Hélary
France Franck Montagny
Pescarolo C60 Hybrid M 376
Judd GV5 S2 5.0L V10
3 3 LMP1 7 Germany Audi Sport Team Joest Italy Rinaldo Capello
Denmark Tom Kristensen
United Kingdom Allan McNish
Audi R10 TDI M 367
Audi TDI 5.5L Turbo V12
(Diesel)
4 1 GT1 64 United States Corvette Racing United Kingdom Oliver Gavin
Monaco Olivier Beretta
Denmark Jan Magnussen
Chevrolet Corvette C6.R M 355
Chevrolet LS7R 7.0L V8
5 4 LMP1 16 France Pescarolo Sport France Emmanuel Collard
France Érik Comas
France Nicolas Minassian
Pescarolo C60 Hybrid M 352
Judd GV5 S2 5.0L V10
6 2 GT1 007 United Kingdom Aston Martin Racing Czech Republic Tomáš Enge
United Kingdom Darren Turner
Italy Andrea Piccini
Aston Martin DBR9 M 350
Aston Martin 6.0L V12
7 3 GT1 72 France Luc Alphand Aventures France Luc Alphand
France Patrice Goueslard
France Jérôme Policand
Chevrolet Corvette C5-R M 346
Chevrolet LS7R 7.0L V8
8 1 LMP2 25 United Kingdom Ray Mallock Ltd. (RML) United Kingdom Mike Newton
Brazil Thomas Erdos
United Kingdom Andy Wallace
MG-Lola EX264 M 343
AER P07 2.0L Turbo I4
9 4 GT1 62 Russia Russian Age Racing
United Kingdom Team Modena
Spain Antonio García
Australia David Brabham
Brazil Nelson Piquet, Jr.
Aston Martin DBR9 M 343
Aston Martin 6.0L V12
10 5 GT1 009 United Kingdom Aston Martin Racing Portugal Pedro Lamy
France Stéphane Sarrazin
Monaco Stéphane Ortelli
Aston Martin DBR9 M 342
Aston Martin 6.0L V12
11 6 GT1 66 United States ACEMCO Motorsports United Kingdom Johnny Mowlem
United States Terry Borcheller
Brazil Christian Fittipaldi
Saleen S7-R M 337
Ford 7.0L V8
12 7 GT1 63 United States Corvette Racing Canada Ron Fellows
United States Johnny O'Connell
Italy Max Papis
Chevrolet Corvette C6.R M 327
Chevrolet LS7R 7.0L V8
13 2 LMP2 24 United States Binnie Motorsports United States William Binnie
Japan Yojiro Terada
United Kingdom Allen Timpany
Lola B05/42 M 326
Zytek ZG348 3.4L V8
14 3 LMP2 27 United States Miracle Motorsports United States Andy Lally
United States John Macaluso
United Kingdom Ian James
Courage C65 K 324
AER P07 2.0L Turbo I4
15 1 GT2 81 United Kingdom Team LNT United Kingdom Lawrence Tomlinson
United Kingdom Tom Kimber-Smith
United Kingdom Richard Dean
Panoz Esperante GT-LM P 321
Ford (Élan) 5.0L V8
16 2 GT2 83 Germany Seikel Motorsport
Germany Farnbacher Racing
Denmark Lars-Erik Nielsen
Germany Pierre Ehret
Germany Dominik Farnbacher
Porsche 911 GT3-RS Y 320
Porsche 3.6L Flat-6
17 3 GT2 87 United Kingdom Scuderia Ecosse United Kingdom Andrew Kirkaldy
Canada Chris Niarchos
United Kingdom Tim Mullen
Ferrari F430GT M 311
Ferrari F136 4.0L V8
18 4 GT2 80 United States Flying Lizard Motorsports United States Johannes van Overbeek
United States Patrick Long
United States Seth Neiman
Porsche 911 GT3-RSR M 309
Porsche 3.6L Flat-6
19 4 LMP2 33 United States Intersport Racing United States Clint Field
United States Liz Halliday
United States Duncan Dayton
Lola B05/40 G 297
AER P07 2.0L Turbo I4
20 5 LMP2 22 United Kingdom Rollcentre Racing United Kingdom Martin Short
Portugal João Barbosa
United Kingdom Stuart Moseley
Radical SR9 D 294
Judd XV675 3.4L V8
21 6 LMP2 32 France Barazi-Epsilon Denmark Juan Barazi
Netherlands Michael Vergers
New Zealand Neil Cunningham
Courage C65 M 294
AER P07 2.0L Turbo I4
22 5 GT2 93 Japan Team Taisan Advan Japan Kazuyuki Nishizawa
Japan Shinichi Yamaji
United States Philip Collin
Porsche 911 GT3-RS Y 291
Porsche 3.6L Flat-6
23 6 GT2 73 Belgium Gordon Racing Team
Belgium Ice Pol Racing Team
Belgium Yves-Emmanuel Lambert
Belgium Christian Lefort
France Romain Iannetta
Porsche 911 GT3-RSR D 282
Porsche 3.8L Flat-6
24 5 LMP1 2 United Kingdom Zytek Engineering
Denmark Team Essex Invest
Denmark John Nielsen
Denmark Casper Elgaard
Denmark Philip Andersen
Zytek 06S M 269
Zytek ZB408 4.0L V8
25 6 LMP1 19 United Kingdom Chamberlain-Synergy Motorsport United Kingdom Bob Berridge
United Kingdom Gareth Evans
United Kingdom Peter Owen
Lola B06/10 D 267
AER P32T 3.6L Turbo V8
26
NC
7 LMP2 20 France Pir Competition France Marc Rostan
United Kingdom Simon Pullan
United States Chris MacAllister
Pilbeam MP93 M 244
Judd XV675 3.4L V8
27
NC
[1]
8 GT1 53 Japan JLOC Isao Noritake Italy Marco Apicella
Japan Koji Yamanishi
Japan Yasutaka Hinoi
Lamborghini Murcielago R-GT P 283
Lamborghini L535 6.0L V12
28
DNF
7 GT2 89 United Kingdom Sebah Automotive Ltd. Germany Christian Ried
France Xavier Pompidou
Denmark Thorkild Thyrring
Porsche 911 GT3-RSR D 256
Porsche 3.6L Flat-6
29
DNF
7 LMP1 9 United Kingdom Creation Autosportif Ltd. Switzerland Felipe Ortiz
Italy Giuseppe Gabbiani
United Kingdom Jamie Campbell-Walter
Creation CA06/H M 240
Judd GV5 S2 5.0L V10
30
DNF
9 GT1 50 France Larbre Compétition France Patrick Bornhauser
France Jean-Luc Blanchemain
Switzerland Gabriele Gardel
Ferrari 550-GTS Maranello M 222
Ferrari F133 5.9L V12
31
DNF
8 GT2 76 France IMSA Performance Matmut France Raymond Narac
Italy Luca Riccitelli
France Romain Dumas
Porsche 911 GT3-RSR M 211
Porsche 3.8L Flat-6
32
DNF
9 GT2 86 Netherlands Spyker Squadron b.v. Netherlands Jeroen Bleekemolen
Netherlands Mike Hezemans
United Kingdom Jonny Kane
Spyker C8 Spyder GT2-R M 202
Audi 3.8L V8
33
DNF
10 GT1 67 Russia Convers MenX Team Russia Alexey Vasilyev
Czech Republic Robert Pergl
Netherlands Peter Kox
Ferrari 550-GTS Maranello M 196
Ferrari F133 5.9L V12
34
DNF
10 GT2 91 Japan T2M Motorsport Japan Yutaka Yamagishi
France Jean-René de Fournoux
Slovakia Miro Konopka
Porsche 911 GT3-RS D 196
Porsche 3.6L Flat-6
35
DNF
8 LMP2 39 United Kingdom Chamberlain-Synergy Motorsport
Portugal ASM Team Racing for Portugal
Portugal Miguel Amaral
United Kingdom Warren Hughes
Spain Miguel Ángel de Castro
Lola B05/40 D 196
AER P07 2.0L Turbo I4
36
DNF
8 LMP1 6 United Kingdom Lister Storm Racing United Kingdom Gavin Pickering
Denmark Nicolas Kiesa
Denmark Jens Møller
Lister Storm LMP Hybrid D 192
Chevrolet LS1 6.0L V8
37
DNF
9 LMP1 14 Netherlands Racing for Holland Netherlands Jan Lammers
Malaysia Alex Yoong
Sweden Stefan Johansson
Dome S101Hb D 182
Judd GV5 5.0L V10
38
DNF
10 LMP1 12 France Courage Compétition United Kingdom Sam Hancock
Switzerland Alexander Frei
United Kingdom Gregor Fisken
Courage LC70 Y 171
Mugen MF458S 4.5L V8
39
DNF
11 GT2 90 United States White Lightning Racing
United States Krohn Racing
Germany Jörg Bergmeister
Sweden Niclas Jönsson
United States Tracy Krohn
Porsche 911 GT3-RSR M 148
Porsche 3.6L Flat-6
40
DNF
9 LMP2 30 France Gerard Welter France Patrice Roussel
France Frédéric Hauchard
France Julien Briché
WR LMP04 P 134
Peugeot 2.0L Turbo I4
41
DNF
11 LMP1 5 Switzerland Swiss Spirit Switzerland Harold Primat
Switzerland Marcel Fässler
Austria Philipp Peter
Courage LC70 M 132
Judd GV5 S2 5.0L V10
42
DNF
11 GT1 61 Russia Russian Age Racing
United Kingdom Cirtek Motorsport
United Kingdom Tim Sugden
United Kingdom Nigel Smith
United Kingdom Christian Vann
Ferrari 550-GTS Maranello M 124
Ferrari F133 5.9L V12
43
DNF
12 GT2 98 France Noël del Bello Racing United Kingdom Adam Sharpe
France Patrick Bourdais
Belgium Tom Cloet
Porsche 911 GT3-RSR M 115
Porsche 3.6L Flat-6
44
DNF
10 LMP2 36 France Paul Belmondo Racing France Claude-Yves Gosselin
Saudi Arabia Karim A. Ojjeh
France Pierre Ragues
Courage C65 M 84
Ford (Mecachrome) 3.4L V8
45
DNF
11 LMP2 37 France Paul Belmondo Racing France Patrice Roussel
France Didier André
France Yann Clairay
Courage C65 M 48
Ford (Mecachrome) 3.4L V8
46
DNF
12 LMP2 35 Belgium G-Force Racing Belgium Franck Hahn
France Jean-François Leroch
United Kingdom Ed Morris
Courage C65 D 47
Judd XV675 3.4L V8
47
DNF
13 GT2 85 Netherlands Spyker Squadron b.v. Netherlands Donny Crevels
United Kingdom Peter Dumbreck
Netherlands Tom Coronel
Spyker C8 Spyder GT2-R M 40
Audi 3.8L V8
48
DNF
12 LMP1 13 France Courage Compétition Japan Shinji Nakano
France Jean-Marc Gounon
Japan Haruki Kurosawa
Courage LC70 Y 35
Mugen MF458S 4.5L V8
49
DNF
14 GT2 77 Canada Multimatic Motorsport Team Panoz United States Gunnar Jeannette
Canada Scott Maxwell
United States Tom Milner
Panoz Esperante GT-LM P 34
Ford (Élan) 5.0L V8
50
DNF
12 GT1 69 Italy BMS Scuderia Italia Italy Fabrizio Gollin
Italy Fabio Babini
Italy Christian Pescatori
Aston Martin DBR9 P 3
Aston Martin 6.0L V12
  1. The #53 JLOC Isao Noritake entry failed to complete the last lap of the race and thus was penalized to the end of the list of finishers.

Statistics

  • Pole Position - #7 Audi Sport Team Joest - 3:30.466
  • Fastest Lap - #7 Audi Sport Team Joest - 3:31.211
  • Distance - 5187.0 km
  • Average Speed - 215.409 km/h
  • Highest trap speed - #14 Racing for Holland - 331 km/h (warm-up), #9 Creation Autosportif - 332 km/h (qualifying)