2006 24 Hours of Le Mans

The 2006 24 Hours of Le Mans was the 74th Grand Prix of Endurance, and took place over 17–18 June 2006. The winners of the race were Frank Biela, Marco Werner, and Emanuele Pirro, driving the Audi R10 TDI. For the first time in the history of the race, the winner was a diesel-powered car.

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

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 mandated 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

In the LMP1 category, during Wednesday's wet-weather qualifying Pescarolo C60 took the top two spots. Then, a day later, during dry weather conditions the new Audi R10 TDIs overtook the Pescarolos to claim the top two positions.

In LMP2, the Ray Mallock Ltd. Lola ran 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.

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. 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 Audi Sport Team Joest Audi R10 TDI LMP1 4:17.189 3:30.466 Leader
2 8 Audi Sport Team Joest Audi R10 TDI LMP1 4:17.676 3:30.584 +0.118
3 16 Pescarolo Sport Pescarolo C60 Hybrid-Judd LMP1 4:13.832 3:32.584 +2.118
4 17 Pescarolo Sport Pescarolo C60 Hybrid-Judd LMP1 4:14.447 3:32.990 +2.524
5 13 Courage Compétition Courage LC70-Mugen LMP1 4:25.582 3:34.120 +3.654
6 14 Racing for Holland Dome S101Hb-Judd LMP1 4:22.873 3:34.864 +4.398
7 9 Creation Autosportif Creation CA06/H-Judd LMP1 4:22.021 3:36.459 +5.993
8 2 Zytek Engineering Zytek 06S LMP1 4:27.754 3:39.252 +8.786
9 5 Swiss Spirit Courage LC70-Judd LMP1 4:23.727 3:40.182 +9.716
10 19 Chamberlain-Synergy Motorsport Lola B06/10-AER LMP1 4:37.362 3:40.467 +10.001
11 12 Courage Compétition Courage LC70-Mugen LMP1 4:35.943 3:40.722 +10.256
12 25 Ray Mallock Ltd. MG-Lola EX264-AER LMP2 4:34.940 3:41.555 +11.089
13 33 Intersport Racing Lola B05/40-AER LMP2 4:34.160 3:43.869 +13.403
14 22 Rollcentre Racing Radical SR9-Judd LMP2 4:43.803 3:44.324 +13.858
15 39 Chamberlain-Synergy Motorsport Lola B05/40-AER LMP2 4:37.362 3:45.732 +15.068
16 32 Barazi-Epsilon Courage C65-AER LMP2 4:27.357 3:47.467 +17.001
17 37 Paul Belmondo Racing Courage C65-Mecachrome LMP2 4:45.086 3:48.846 +18.380
18 27 Miracle Motorsports Courage C65-AER LMP2 4:56.168 3:50.826 +20.360
19 6 Lister Storm Racing Lister Storm LMP Hybrid-Chevrolet LMP1 4:31.565 3:50.940 +20.476
20 007 Aston Martin Racing Aston Martin DBR9 GT1 4:31.179 3:52.015 +21.559
21 009 Aston Martin Racing Aston Martin DBR9 GT1 4:32.053 3:52.561 +22.095
22 64 Corvette Racing Chevrolet Corvette C6.R GT1 4:51.557 3:53.100 +22.534
23 20 Pir Competition Pilbeam MP93-Judd LMP2 4:25.398 3:53.285 +22.819
24 69 BMS Scuderia Italia Aston Martin DBR9 GT1 4:35.531 3:53.611 +23.145
25 67 Convers MenX Team Ferrari 550-GTS Maranello GT1 4:33.561 3:53.781 +23.315
26 63 Corvette Racing Chevrolet Corvette C6.R GT1 4:54.941 3:53.993 +23.327
27 66 ACEMCO Motorsports Saleen S7-R GT1 4:35.016 3:54.476 +24.010
28 72 Luc Alphand Aventures Chevrolet Corvette C5-R GT1 4:42.545 3:55.629 +25.163
29 24 Binnie Motorsports Lola B05/42-Zytek LMP2 4:51.872 3:56.123 +25.657
30 35 G-Force Racing Courage C65-Judd LMP2 4:48.714 3:56.452 +25.986
31 36 Paul Belmondo Racing Courage C65-Mecachrome LMP2 4:50.408 3:56.460 +25.994
32 62 Team Modena Aston Martin DBR9 GT1 4:35.789 3:57.776 +27.310
33 61 Cirtek Motorsport Ferrari 550-GTS Maranello GT1 4:40.097 3:59.822 +29.356
34 53 JLOC Isao Noritake Lamborghini Murcielago R-GT GT1 4:58.656 4:00.287 +29.821
35 30 Gerald Welter WR LMP04-Peugeot LMP2 5:15.480 4:00.775 +30.309
36 50 Larbre Compétition Ferrari 550-GTS Maranello GT1 4:47.924 4:01.920 +31.454
37 76 IMSA Performance Matmut Porsche 911 GT3-RSR GT2 4:41.623 4:03.438 +32.972
38 87 Scuderia Ecosse Ferrari F430 GT2 GT2 4:52.423 4:04.596 +34.130
39 83 Seikel Motorsport Porsche 911 GT3-RSR GT2 4:53.695 4:04.897 +34.431
40 80 Flying Lizard Motorsports Porsche 911 GT3-RSR GT2 4:46.888 4:05.266 +34.800
41 90 Krohn Racing Porsche 911 GT3-RSR GT2 4:39.912 4:05.700 +35.234
42 85 Spyker Squadron BV Spyker C8 Spyder GT2-R-Audi GT2 4:48.691 4:06.299 +35.833
43 77 Multimatic Team Panoz Panoz Esperante GT-LM-Ford GT2 4:55.638 4:06.642 +36.176
44 86 Spyker Squadron BV Spyker C8 Spyder GT2-R-Audi GT2 4:45.916 4:07.939 +37.473
45 89 Sebah Automotive Ltd. Porsche 911 GT3-RSR GT2 4:54.946 4:08.688 +38.222
46 81 Team LNT Panoz Esperante GT-LM-Ford GT2 4:50.424 4:12.043 +41.577
47 93 Team Taisan Advan Porsche 911 GT3-RSR GT2 5:05.305 4:14.477 +44.011
48 73 Ice Pol Racing Team Porsche 911 GT3-RSR GT2 4:57.096 4:16.246 +45.780
49 91 T2M Motorsport Porsche 911 GT3-RSR GT2 5:06.716 4:17.342 +46.876
50 98 Noël del Bello Racing Porsche 911 GT3-RSR GT2 5:07.105 4:23.547 +53.081

Race

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.

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 became the record for a homologated GT vehicle.

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 Audi Sport Team Joest Frank Biela
Marco Werner
Emanuele Pirro
Audi R10 TDI M 380
Audi TDI 5.5L Turbo V12
(Diesel)
2 2 LMP1 17 Pescarolo Sport Sébastien Loeb
Éric Hélary
Franck Montagny
Pescarolo C60 Hybrid M 376
Judd GV5 S2 5.0L V10
3 3 LMP1 7 Audi Sport Team Joest Rinaldo Capello
Tom Kristensen
Allan McNish
Audi R10 TDI M 367
Audi TDI 5.5L Turbo V12
(Diesel)
4 1 GT1 64 Corvette Racing Oliver Gavin
Olivier Beretta
Jan Magnussen
Chevrolet Corvette C6.R M 355
Chevrolet LS7R 7.0L V8
5 4 LMP1 16 Pescarolo Sport Emmanuel Collard
Érik Comas
Nicolas Minassian
Pescarolo C60 Hybrid M 352
Judd GV5 S2 5.0L V10
6 2 GT1 007 Aston Martin Racing Tomáš Enge
Darren Turner
Andrea Piccini
Aston Martin DBR9 M 350
Aston Martin 6.0L V12
7 3 GT1 72 Luc Alphand Aventures Luc Alphand
Patrice Goueslard
Jérôme Policand
Chevrolet Corvette C5-R M 346
Chevrolet LS7R 7.0L V8
8 1 LMP2 25 Ray Mallock Ltd. (RML) Mike Newton
Thomas Erdos
Andy Wallace
MG-Lola EX264 M 343
AER P07 2.0L Turbo I4
9 4 GT1 62 Russian Age Racing
Team Modena
Antonio García
David Brabham
Nelson Piquet Jr.
Aston Martin DBR9 M 343
Aston Martin 6.0L V12
10 5 GT1 009 Aston Martin Racing Pedro Lamy
Stéphane Sarrazin
Stéphane Ortelli
Aston Martin DBR9 M 342
Aston Martin 6.0L V12
11 6 GT1 66 ACEMCO Motorsports Johnny Mowlem
Terry Borcheller
Christian Fittipaldi
Saleen S7-R M 337
Ford 7.0L V8
12 7 GT1 63 Corvette Racing Ron Fellows
Johnny O'Connell
Max Papis
Chevrolet Corvette C6.R M 327
Chevrolet LS7R 7.0L V8
13 2 LMP2 24 Binnie Motorsports William Binnie
Yojiro Terada
Allen Timpany
Lola B05/42 M 326
Zytek ZG348 3.4L V8
14 3 LMP2 27 Miracle Motorsports Andy Lally
John Macaluso
Ian James
Courage C65 K 324
AER P07 2.0L Turbo I4
15 1 GT2 81 Team LNT Lawrence Tomlinson
Tom Kimber-Smith
Richard Dean
Panoz Esperante GT-LM P 321
Ford (Élan) 5.0L V8
16 2 GT2 83 Seikel Motorsport
Farnbacher Racing
Lars-Erik Nielsen
Pierre Ehret
Dominik Farnbacher
Porsche 911 GT3-RS Y 320
Porsche 3.6L Flat-6
17 3 GT2 87 Scuderia Ecosse Andrew Kirkaldy
Chris Niarchos
Tim Mullen
Ferrari F430GT M 311
Ferrari F136 4.0L V8
18 4 GT2 80 Flying Lizard Motorsports Johannes van Overbeek
Patrick Long
Seth Neiman
Porsche 911 GT3-RSR M 309
Porsche 3.6L Flat-6
19 4 LMP2 33 Intersport Racing Clint Field
Liz Halliday
Duncan Dayton
Lola B05/40 G 297
AER P07 2.0L Turbo I4
20 5 LMP2 22 Rollcentre Racing Martin Short
João Barbosa
Stuart Moseley
Radical SR9 D 294
Judd XV675 3.4L V8
21 6 LMP2 32 Barazi-Epsilon Juan Barazi
Michael Vergers
Neil Cunningham
Courage C65 M 294
AER P07 2.0L Turbo I4
22 5 GT2 93 Team Taisan Advan Kazuyuki Nishizawa
Shinichi Yamaji
Philip Collin
Porsche 911 GT3-RS Y 291
Porsche 3.6L Flat-6
23 6 GT2 73 Gordon Racing Team
Ice Pol Racing Team
Yves-Emmanuel Lambert
Christian Lefort
Romain Iannetta
Porsche 911 GT3-RSR D 282
Porsche 3.8L Flat-6
24 5 LMP1 2 Zytek Engineering
Team Essex Invest
John Nielsen
Casper Elgaard
Philip Andersen
Zytek 06S M 269
Zytek ZB408 4.0L V8
25 6 LMP1 19 Chamberlain-Synergy Motorsport Bob Berridge
Gareth Evans
Peter Owen
Lola B06/10 D 267
AER P32T 3.6L Turbo V8
26
NC
7 LMP2 20 Pir Competition Marc Rostan
Simon Pullan
Chris MacAllister
Pilbeam MP93 M 244
Judd XV675 3.4L V8
27
NC
[1]
8 GT1 53 JLOC Isao Noritake Marco Apicella
Koji Yamanishi
Yasutaka Hinoi
Lamborghini Murcielago R-GT P 283
Lamborghini L535 6.0L V12
28
DNF
7 GT2 89 Sebah Automotive Ltd. Christian Ried
Xavier Pompidou
Thorkild Thyrring
Porsche 911 GT3-RSR D 256
Porsche 3.6L Flat-6
29
DNF
7 LMP1 9 Creation Autosportif Ltd. Felipe Ortiz
Giuseppe Gabbiani
Jamie Campbell-Walter
Creation CA06/H M 240
Judd GV5 S2 5.0L V10
30
DNF
9 GT1 50 Larbre Compétition Patrick Bornhauser
Jean-Luc Blanchemain
Gabriele Gardel
Ferrari 550-GTS Maranello M 222
Ferrari F133 5.9L V12
31
DNF
8 GT2 76 IMSA Performance Matmut Raymond Narac
Luca Riccitelli
Romain Dumas
Porsche 911 GT3-RSR M 211
Porsche 3.8L Flat-6
32
DNF
9 GT2 86 Spyker Squadron b.v. Jeroen Bleekemolen
Mike Hezemans
Jonny Kane
Spyker C8 Spyder GT2-R M 202
Audi 3.8L V8
33
DNF
10 GT1 67 Convers MenX Team Alexey Vasilyev
Robert Pergl
Peter Kox
Ferrari 550-GTS Maranello M 196
Ferrari F133 5.9L V12
34
DNF
10 GT2 91 T2M Motorsport Yutaka Yamagishi
Jean-René de Fournoux
Miro Konopka
Porsche 911 GT3-RS D 196
Porsche 3.6L Flat-6
35
DNF
8 LMP2 39 Chamberlain-Synergy Motorsport
ASM Team Racing for Portugal
Miguel Amaral
Warren Hughes
Miguel Ángel de Castro
Lola B05/40 D 196
AER P07 2.0L Turbo I4
36
DNF
8 LMP1 6 Lister Storm Racing Gavin Pickering
Nicolas Kiesa
Jens Møller
Lister Storm LMP Hybrid D 192
Chevrolet LS1 6.0L V8
37
DNF
9 LMP1 14 Racing for Holland Jan Lammers
Alex Yoong
Stefan Johansson
Dome S101Hb D 182
Judd GV5 5.0L V10
38
DNF
10 LMP1 12 Courage Compétition Sam Hancock
Alexander Frei
Gregor Fisken
Courage LC70 Y 171
Mugen MF458S 4.5L V8
39
DNF
11 GT2 90 White Lightning Racing
Krohn Racing
Jörg Bergmeister
Niclas Jönsson
Tracy Krohn
Porsche 911 GT3-RSR M 148
Porsche 3.6L Flat-6
40
DNF
9 LMP2 30 Gerard Welter Patrice Roussel
Frédéric Hauchard
Julien Briché
WR LMP04 P 134
Peugeot 2.0L Turbo I4
41
DNF
11 LMP1 5 Swiss Spirit Harold Primat
Marcel Fässler
Philipp Peter
Courage LC70 M 132
Judd GV5 S2 5.0L V10
42
DNF
11 GT1 61 Russian Age Racing
Cirtek Motorsport
Tim Sugden
Nigel Smith
Christian Vann
Ferrari 550-GTS Maranello M 124
Ferrari F133 5.9L V12
43
DNF
12 GT2 98 Noël del Bello Racing Adam Sharpe
Patrick Bourdais
Tom Cloet
Porsche 911 GT3-RSR M 115
Porsche 3.6L Flat-6
44
DNF
10 LMP2 36 Paul Belmondo Racing Claude-Yves Gosselin
Karim A. Ojjeh
Pierre Ragues
Courage C65 M 84
Ford (Mecachrome) 3.4L V8
45
DNF
11 LMP2 37 Paul Belmondo Racing Jean-Bernard Bouvet
Didier André
Yann Clairay
Courage C65 M 48
Ford (Mecachrome) 3.4L V8
46
DNF
12 LMP2 35 G-Force Racing Franck Hahn
Jean-François Leroch
Ed Morris
Courage C65 D 47
Judd XV675 3.4L V8
47
DNF
13 GT2 85 Spyker Squadron b.v. Donny Crevels
Peter Dumbreck
Tom Coronel
Spyker C8 Spyder GT2-R M 40
Audi 3.8L V8
48
DNF
12 LMP1 13 Courage Compétition Shinji Nakano
Jean-Marc Gounon
Haruki Kurosawa
Courage LC70 Y 35
Mugen MF458S 4.5L V8
49
DNF
14 GT2 77 Multimatic Motorsport Team Panoz Gunnar Jeannette
Scott Maxwell
Tom Milner
Panoz Esperante GT-LM P 34
Ford (Élan) 5.0L V8
50
DNF
12 GT1 69 BMS Scuderia Italia Fabrizio Gollin
Fabio Babini
Christian Pescatori
Aston Martin DBR9 P 3
Aston Martin 6.0L V12

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)

References

  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.
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