2010 24 Hours of Le Mans

Automatic entries to the 2010 24 Hours of Le Mans were granted to teams that performed well in the previous year's 24 Hours of Le Mans, as well as the 2009 seasons of the American Le Mans Series, Le Mans Series, Asian Le Mans Series, FIA GT Championship, and the Petit Le Mans. An automatic invitation was also awarded to the team which accumulated the most points in the Michelin Green X Challenge as part of the Le Mans Series. The award was based on fuel economy of competitors during each event.[2] On 19 November 2009 the ACO published their automatic invitations to 29 teams.[3]

Of the 29 automatic entries awarded, 21 were accepted by their respective teams in February. Teams which did not accept their automatic invitation are denoted in blue.[4]

Reason entered	LMP1	LMP2	LMGT1	LMGT2
1st in the 24 Hours of Le Mans	Peugeot Sport Total	Team Essex	Corvette Racing	Risi Competizione
2nd in the 24 Hours of Le Mans	Team Peugeot Total	Speedy Racing Team Sebah	Luc Alphand Aventures	BMS Scuderia Italia
1st in the Le Mans Series	Aston Martin Racing	Quifel ASM Team	Luc Alphand Aventures	Team Felbermayr-Proton
2nd in the Le Mans Series	Pescarolo Sport1	Speedy Racing Team Sebah	No Recipient2	JMW Motorsport
1st in the Petit Le Mans	Peugeot Sport Total	No Recipient3		Risi Competizione
1st in the American Le Mans Series	Patrón Highcroft Racing	Lowe's Fernández Racing		Flying Lizard Motorsports
1st in the Asian Le Mans Series	Sora Racing1	OAK Racing	JLOC	Hankook Team Farnbacher
1st in the FIA GT Championship			Vitaphone Racing Team	AF Corse
2nd in the FIA GT Championship			Peka Racing1	Prospeed Competition
1st in the LMS Green X Challenge		Speedy Racing Team Sebah

On 4 February 2010, the ACO released their first official entry list of 55 cars plus ten reserves. A total of 85 entries had been submitted to the ACO.[4] For the first time, all 65 entries (55 entries and 10 reserves) were required to nominate one driver who would be required to participate in the race, although several teams took the opportunity to name their second and third drivers. Teams had until 12 May to complete their full lineup of drivers.[6] A new element to the reserves list for 2010 was that the ten were divided evenly with five LMPs and five GTs. Rather than the first reserve replacing a car of any class, a withdrawing LMP could only be replaced by another LMP and the same applied to GTs.

The first entry to be withdrawn from the list was the Dome LMP1, allowing Pegasus Racing's Norma MP200P-Judd to be promoted.[7] On 6 May, the Team Modena Ferrari entry was withdrawn allowing the No. 88 Felbermayr-Proton Porsche into the race.[8] In a press announcement at the 1000 km of Spa the ACO confirmed the withdrawal of the PK Carsport entry after the car was damaged by a fire at the FIA GT1 RAC Tourist Trophy as well as the dropping of both Pescarolo Sport entries, one under the Sora Racing title. The KSM LMP2, the second Matech Competition Ford, and the second AF Corse Ferrari were all allowed into the entry.[9] On 28 May, the ACO confirmed the completion of an additional pit garage in time for the race. A reserve entry for Race Performance was initially granted before the team was promoted on 2 June to the full entry, increasing the starters to 56.[10][11]

The 56 field entry included many of the manufacturer teams, most notably in the LMP1 category. Both Peugeot and Audi entered three factory cars, while Peugeot also included a 908 HDi FAP run privately by the Oreca squad. Marc Gené and Alexander Wurz returned in the No. 1 Peugeot as the defending race winners, this time joined by Anthony Davidson. Audi, in an attempt to not repeat from their loss the previous year, heavily modified their Audi R15 TDIs to a plus specification to better combat Peugeot. Aston Martin's entry was downsized from the previous year with just two factory entries, while a third car was privately entered by the Signature-Plus squad. Other major entries in the LMP1 category included a duo of Kolles Audi R10s once again, while Rebellion Racing featured two of the latest Lola coupes. Team Oreca, despite running a Peugeot, also entered one of their 01 chassis with the AIM engine. Former Formula One World Champion Nigel Mansell also brought his own team with a Ginetta-Zytek and partnered with his two sons, Leo and Greg.

The LMP2 category featured the return of Honda to Le Mans for the first time since 1996, with Honda Performance Development's (HPD) ARX-01 chassis being entered by Strakka Racing and Highcroft Racing. Highcroft also made their debut at Le Mans, coming off winning the LMP1 championship in the American Le Mans Series and enlisting 2009 race winner David Brabham as part of their squad. HPD also supplied a RML with their engine, although this was used in the team's Lola chassis instead. OAK Racing provided the only two car team in the category, leading development of the Pescarolo 01 chassis and switching from Mazda to Judd engines. Defending Le Mans Series champions Quifel ASM Team were among two entries utilizing the Ginetta-Zytek chassis.

A mixture of two types of car was entered in the GT1 category, coming either from the new sprint format of the FIA GT1 World Championship or from endurance racing in the Le Mans Series. Young Driver AMR represented the FIA GT1 Aston Martin, while two entries from Matech Competition and a single Marc VDS Racing Team entry brought the new Ford GT to Le Mans for the first time. One of Matech's entries featured a line-up of all Swiss women, the latest in a line of all-female crews at Le Mans. On the endurance side of the card, Larbre Compétition entered their Le Mans Series Saleen while Luc Alphand once again entered two Corvettes. The 2010 race was the final year for the GT1 class at Le Mans.[12]

The GT2 category for 2010 was represented by no less than six different automobile manufacturers. Corvette Racing, multiple champion of the GT1 category, moved to the GT2 category with a new version of the Corvette, while BMW Motorsport returned for the first time since their 1999 victory by entering their M3 model. The two-car entry included the latest in a line of BMW Art Cars at Le Mans with artist Jeff Koons designing the graphics for the No. 79 car. Porsche remained well supported in the category with six cars amongst five teams, while Ferrari had five cars including two-time defending class winner Risi Competizione and AF Corse's No. 95 car which featured former Formula One drivers Jean Alesi and Giancarlo Fisichella. Jaguar also returned to Le Mans in the hands of RSR, while Aston Martin and Spyker were represented by single-car entries.

Class leaders are in bold, the fastest lap for each car is in gray.

^  – The No. 82 Risi Competizione Ferrari had its qualifying times disallowed following an infringement discovered in post-qualifying technical inspection.[15]

The podium was held by Audi's No. 9, 8, and 7 LMP1 cars.

Although the ACO tried to chop off power from the diesels by reducing the restrictor size and turbo boost, cars managed to run faster than they did in 2009. They were consistent in running much faster than the target 3:30 that ACO had hoped for. The race was won by the #9 Audi R15 TDI plus driven by Mike Rockenfeller, Timo Bernhard, and Romain Dumas as Audi swept the overall race podium to earn their ninth overall victory; it was the fourth time that Audi swept the podium, with the factory Joest team sweeping in 2000 and 2002, as well as three different customer teams for Audi in 2004 (Japanese Team Goh, British Team Veloqx and American Champion Racing). A new overall distance record was also set with the winning car completing 397 laps and covering 5,410.713 km (3,362.061 mi), bettering the distance set in 1971. Two other R15s (all three ran by Joest Racing) also ran longer than the distance set in 1971 (the second place #8 ran one lap behind, 396 laps and 5,397.084 km (3,353.593 mi); the third place #7 ran 394 laps and 5,369.826 km (3,336.655 mi); the 1971 record was 397 laps and 5,335.313 km (3,315.210 mi) over the chicaneless 13.469 km (8.369 mi) configuration, while the current configuration (ran since 2007) is 13.629 km (8.469 mi)).

Timo Bernhard became the first driver since 2005 to complete the Triple Crown of endurance racing (winning the 2003 24 Hours of Daytona and the 2008 12 Hours of Sebring); Marco Werner (ran aboard a Highcroft Racing LMP2 car this year) was the last one to do such feat (won the 1995 24 Hours of Daytona and completed in 2005 with wins in both Sebring and Le Mans). In addition, Rockenfeller became the first driver since 1988 to win both the 24 Hours of Daytona (race report) and the 24 Hours of Le Mans in the same year; Jan Lammers and Andy Wallace of Tom Walkinshaw Racing were the last two drivers to do the same feat.

None of the Peugeots finished the race, despite Peugeot being favourite to win the race. The #3 car retired just two hours into the race with a suspension failure, resulting in a broken chassis tub with Pedro Lamy behind the wheel. Sébastien Bourdais the pole-setter did not even get to drive the car. The #2 Peugeot retired with engine problems in the early morning and an exploding turbocharger while leading the race. This left the sole remaining #1 Peugeot to defend the marque's title. By that time, the #1 Peugeot was running 6th, after dropping 3 laps to replace its alternator. In the closing hour, The #1 Peugeot ran at extremely fast qualifying pace to chase the Audis and eventually overtook the #8 Audi for second position and was on the pace of catching the leading #9 Audi. Unfortunately, the #1 Peugeot also suffered an engine failure, almost identical to its sister car. In a post-race analysis by Peugeot, the #3 damage was the suspension mounting point separating from the carbon fiber tub, causing an undetected structural problem that forced the #3 to retire. The #2 and #1 car, as well as the #4 Oreca that suffered the same engine failure as the other two about slightly over an hour left in the race, was caused by the increased stress of the engines (particularly the connecting rod) that caused the engine failures, partially because of the pace the Audis were going at. In particular this race had perfectly dry weather and therefore no rain would slow the pace of these LMP1, which might have also put too much stress to the Peugeot engines as well as the reason for the distance record.[16][17]

Two of the Lola-Aston Martin B09/60s also failed to finish the race, while having very little evolutions to the car. #009 succumbed to mechanical failures near the end of the race but still completed more laps than the sixth place #007. The Oreca-01 AIM ranks as the highest petrol-fuelled finisher, in fourth position. The Autocon Motorsports LMP1 entry was the first to exit out of Le Mans after mechanical issues in the first lap of the race; shortly after, Nigel Mansell crashed out his Ginetta-Zytek car after suffering a tire puncture.[18]

Honda, under the guise of HPD, won on their debut in the LMP2 category at Le Mans in the hands of Strakka Racing, and at fifth overall was in fact the best ever result achieved by an LMP2 car at the time (since surpassed by Jackie Chan DC Racing in 2017). Strakka Racing's strategy was to go completely flat out, while the Patron Highcroft team opted to run at a slightly more conservative pace for the unproven reliability. Ironically it was the Highcroft car that faced reliability issues, and, once running as high as second in class, dropped to the third last classified finisher because of water leak. Strakka had no such issues and they were in fact the 2nd highest overall petrol-fuelled finisher. Second in LMP2, the Pescarolo, was a distant seven laps behind.

Larbre Compétition earned Saleen their first LMGT1 category victory at Le Mans since the car first appeared in 2001, finishing five laps ahead of the Alphand Corvette after having a trouble-free run, and was in fact the only car in the class to come from an endurance-based series. Aston Martin was leading the class but 2 gearbox replacements put them out of contention for the win, came in third in class and the last GT1 to finish. All three Ford GT1s dropped out in the night after mechanical problems. This is the second time that a GT1 winner stayed behind the GT2 field – this also occurred in 2001 under the GTS/GT classes, respectively – while the Saleen completing at a comparatively low 331 laps for this decade.

In GT2 the Flying Lizard Porsche was the first to drop out after a tire puncture before the start. The #82 Risi Competizione Ferrari was quickly recovering from its penalty and at just over two hours was right behind the class leading Corvettes. The class lead was swapped several times until the #82 Ferrari suffered a gearbox failure and would not emerge again. The #63 Corvette suffered reliability issues at night, while the #64 Corvette was in the GT2 lead, running a full two laps ahead of the Felbermayr-Proton Porsche. With less than seven hours to go the #64 lost grip and spun in the Porsche Curves as the #1 Peugeot with Anthony Davidson at the wheel was lapping the Corvette. Emmanuel Collard managed to bring the car back to the pits but subsequent repairs cost them ten laps and soon engine failure followed on the Corvette. Team Felbermayr-Proton took the GT2 lead and a very consistent run saw the team holding onto the lead until the finish. They won the LMGT2 category for Porsche, their first since their 2007 win. The drivers had claimed that their car was about half a second off the Ferrari and Corvette's pace.

At the end of the 24 hours, just 28 cars were able to complete the full race.[19]

Class winners are marked in bold. Cars failing to complete 70% of winner's distance or finish the race (Did Not Finish/DNF) are marked as Not Classified (NC).[20] (Cars marked as NC are moved to the back of the field, regardless of number of laps completed.)

Pos.	Class pos.	Class	No.	Team	Drivers	Chassis	Tyre	Laps
						Engine
1	1	LMP1	9	Audi Sport North America	Mike Rockenfeller Timo Bernhard Romain Dumas	Audi R15 TDI plus	M	397
						Audi TDI 5.5 L Turbo V10 (Diesel)
2	2	LMP1	8	Audi Sport Team Joest	André Lotterer Marcel Fässler Benoît Tréluyer	Audi R15 TDI plus	M	396
						Audi TDI 5.5 L Turbo V10 (Diesel)
3	3	LMP1	7	Audi Sport Team Joest	Tom Kristensen Allan McNish Rinaldo Capello	Audi R15 TDI plus	M	394
						Audi TDI 5.5 L Turbo V10 (Diesel)
4	4	LMP1	6	AIM Team Oreca Matmut	Soheil Ayari Didier André Andy Meyrick	Oreca 01	D	369
						AIM YS5.5 5.5 L V10
5	1	LMP2	42	Strakka Racing	Nick Leventis Danny Watts Jonny Kane	HPD ARX-01C	M	367
						HPD AL7R 3.4 L V8
6	5	LMP1	007	Aston Martin Racing	Harold Primat Stefan Mücke Adrián Fernández	Lola-Aston Martin B09/60	M	365
						Aston Martin 6.0 L V12
7	2	LMP2	35	OAK Racing	Matthieu Lahaye Guillaume Moreau Jan Charouz	Pescarolo 01	D	361
						Judd DB 3.4 L V8
8	3	LMP2	25	RML	Mike Newton Thomas Erdos Andy Wallace	Lola B08/80	D	358
						HPD AL7R 3.4 L V8
9	4	LMP2	24	OAK Racing	Jacques Nicolet Richard Hein Jean-François Yvon	Pescarolo 01	D	341
						Judd DB 3.4 L V8
10	5	LMP2	41	Team Bruichladdich	Tim Greaves Karim Ojjeh Gary Chalandon	Ginetta-Zytek GZ09S/2	D	341
						Zytek ZG348 3.4 L V8
11	1	LMGT2	77	Team Felbermayr-Proton	Marc Lieb Richard Lietz Wolf Henzler	Porsche 997 GT3-RSR	M	338
						Porsche 4.0 L Flat-6
12	2	LMGT2	89	Hankook Team Farnbacher	Dominik Farnbacher Allan Simonsen Leh Keen	Ferrari F430 GT2	H	336
						Ferrari 4.0 L V8
13	1	LMGT1	50	Larbre Compétition	Roland Berville Julien Canal Gabriele Gardel	Saleen S7-R	M	331
						Ford 7.0 L V8
14	3	LMGT2	97	BMS Scuderia Italia SpA	Marco Holzer Richard Westbrook Timo Scheider	Porsche 997 GT3-RSR	M	327
						Porsche 4.0 L Flat-6
15	2	LMGT1	72	Luc Alphand Aventures	Stéphane Grégoire Jérôme Policand David Hart	Chevrolet Corvette C6.R	D	327
						Corvette LS7.R 7.0 L V8
16	4	LMGT2	95	AF Corse SRL	Giancarlo Fisichella Jean Alesi Toni Vilander	Ferrari F430 GT2	M	323
						Ferrari 4.0 L V8
17	5	LMGT2	76	IMSA Performance Matmut	Raymond Narac Patrick Pilet Patrick Long	Porsche 997 GT3-RSR	M	321
						Porsche 4.0 L Flat-6
18	6	LMP2	28	Race Performance AG	Pierre Bruneau Marc Rostan Ralph Meichtry	Radical SR9	D	321
						Judd DB 3.4 L V8
19	6	LMGT2	78	BMW Motorsport	Jörg Müller Augusto Farfus Uwe Alzen	BMW M3 GT2	D	320
						BMW 4.0 L V8
20	7	LMP2	40	Quifel ASM Team	Miguel Amaral Olivier Pla Warren Hughes	Ginetta-Zytek GZ09S/2	M	318
						Zytek ZG348 3.4 L V8
21	7	LMGT2	75	Prospeed Competition	Paul van Splunteren Niek Hommerson Louis Machiels	Porsche 997 GT3-RSR	M	317
						Porsche 4.0 L Flat-6
22	3	LMGT1	52	Young Driver AMR	Tomáš Enge Christoffer Nygaard Peter Kox	Aston Martin DBR9	M	311
						Aston Martin 6.0 L V12
23	8	LMP2	37	Gerard Welter	Philippe Salini Stéphane Salini Tristan Gommendy	WR LMP2008	D	308
						Zytek ZG348 3.4 L V8
24	8	LMGT2	88	Team Felbermayr-Proton	Horst Felbermayr Horst Felbermayr, Jr. Miro Konopka	Porsche 997 GT3-RSR	M	304
						Porsche 4.0 L Flat-6
25	9	LMP2	26	Highcroft Racing	David Brabham Marino Franchitti Marco Werner	HPD ARX-01C	M	296
						HPD AL7R 3.4 L V8
26	10	LMP2	39	KSM	Jean de Pourtales Hideki Noda Jonathan Kennard	Lola B07/40	D	291
						Judd DB 3.4 L V8
27	9	LMGT2	85	Spyker Squadron	Tom Coronel Peter Dumbreck Jeroen Bleekemolen	Spyker C8 Laviolette GT2-R	M	280
						Audi 4.0 L V8
Not Classified (NC) – Less Than 70% (277 laps)
28	6	LMP1	11	Drayson Racing	Paul Drayson Jonny Cocker Emanuele Pirro	Lola B09/60	M	254
						Judd GV5.5 S2 5.5 L V10
Did Not Finish (DNF)
29	7	LMP1	4	Team Oreca Matmut	Olivier Panis Nicolas Lapierre Loïc Duval	Peugeot 908 HDi FAP	M	373
						Peugeot HDi 5.5 L Turbo V12 (Diesel)
30	8	LMP1	009	Aston Martin Racing	Darren Turner Juan Barazi Sam Hancock	Lola-Aston Martin B09/60	M	368
						Aston Martin 6.0 L V12
31	9	LMP1	1	Team Peugeot Total	Alexander Wurz Marc Gené Anthony Davidson	Peugeot 908 HDi FAP	M	360
						Peugeot HDi 5.5 L Turbo V12 (Diesel)
32	10	LMP1	15	Kolles	Christian Bakkerud Oliver Jarvis Christijan Albers	Audi R10 TDI	M	331
						Audi TDI 5.5 L Turbo V12 (Diesel)
33	11	LMP1	008	Signature-Plus	Pierre Ragues Franck Mailleux Vanina Ickx	Lola-Aston Martin B09/60	D	302
						Aston Martin 6.0 L V12
34	12	LMP1	2	Team Peugeot Total	Nicolas Minassian Stéphane Sarrazin Franck Montagny	Peugeot 908 HDi FAP	M	264
						Peugeot HDi 5.5 L Turbo V12 (Diesel)
35	10	LMGT2	64	Corvette Racing	Oliver Gavin Olivier Beretta Emmanuel Collard	Chevrolet Corvette C6.R	M	255
						Corvette 5.5 L V8
36	4	LMGT1	73	Luc Alphand Aventures	Julien Jousse Xavier Maassen Patrice Goueslard	Chevrolet Corvette C6.R	D	238
						Corvette LS7.R 7.0 L V8
37	11	LMGT2	63	Corvette Racing	Johnny O'Connell Jan Magnussen Antonio García	Chevrolet Corvette C6.R	M	225
						Corvette 5.5 L V8
38	12	LMGT2	83	Risi Competizione	Tracy Krohn Niclas Jönsson Eric van de Poele	Ferrari F430 GT2	M	197
						Ferrari 4.0 L V8
39	13	LMP1	14	Kolles	Scott Tucker Manuel Rodrigues Christophe Bouchut	Audi R10 TDI	M	182
						Audi TDI 5.5 L Turbo V12 (Diesel)
40	14	LMP1	12	Rebellion Racing	Nicolas Prost Neel Jani Marco Andretti	Lola B10/60	M	175
						Rebellion 5.5 L V10
41	5	LMGT1	60	Matech Competition	Thomas Mutsch Romain Grosjean Jonathan Hirschi	Ford GT1	M	171
						Ford 5.3 L V8
42	15	LMP1	13	Rebellion Racing	Jean-Christophe Boullion Andrea Belicchi Guy Smith	Lola B10/60	M	143
						Rebellion 5.5 L V10
43	6	LMGT1	69	JLOC	Atsushi Yogo Koji Yamanishi Hiroyuki Iiri	Lamborghini Murciélago LP670 R-SV	Y	138
						Lamborghini 6.5 L V12
44	13	LMGT2	82	Risi Competizione	Jaime Melo Gianmaria Bruni Pierre Kaffer	Ferrari F430 GT2	M	116
						Ferrari 4.0 L V8
45	14	LMGT2	92	JMW Motorsport	Rob Bell Tim Sugden Bryce Miller	Aston Martin V8 Vantage GT2	D	71
						Aston Martin 4.5 L V8
46	15	LMGT2	80	Flying Lizard Motorsports	Seth Neiman Darren Law Jörg Bergmeister	Porsche 997 GT3-RSR	M	61
						Porsche 4.0 L Flat-6
47	7	LMGT1	61	Matech Competition	Natacha Gachnang Cyndie Allemann Rahel Frey	Ford GT1	M	59
						Ford 5.3 L V8
48	11	LMP2	29	Racing Box SRL	Luca Pirri Marco Cioci Piergiuseppe Perazzini	Lola B08/80	D	57
						Judd DB 3.4 L V8
49	16	LMGT2	79	BMW Motorsport	Andy Priaulx Dirk Müller Dirk Werner	BMW M3 GT2	D	53
						BMW 4.0 L V8
50	12	LMP2	38	Pegasus Racing	Julien Schell Frédéric da Rocha David Zollinger	Norma M200P	D	40
						Judd DB 3.4 L V8
51	16	LMP1	3	Peugeot Sport Total	Sébastien Bourdais Pedro Lamy Simon Pagenaud	Peugeot 908 HDi FAP	M	38
						Peugeot HDi 5.5 L Turbo V12 (Diesel)
52	8	LMGT1	70	Marc VDS Racing Team	Eric De Doncker Bas Leinders Markus Palttala	Ford GT1	M	26
						Ford 5.0 L V8
53	17	LMP1	5	Beechdean Mansell	Nigel Mansell Greg Mansell Leo Mansell	Ginetta-Zytek GZ09S	D	4
						Zytek ZJ458 4.5 L V8
54	17	LMGT2	81	Jaguar RSR	Paul Gentilozzi Ryan Dalziel Marc Goossens	Jaguar XKR GT2	Y	4
						Jaguar 5.0 L V8
55	18	LMP1	19	Michael Lewis/Autocon	Michael Lewis Bryan Willman Tony Burgess	Lola B06/10	D	1
						AER P32T 4.0 L Turbo V8
Did Not Start (DNS)
DNS	–	LMGT2	96	AF Corse SRL	Luís Pérez Companc Matías Russo Mika Salo	Ferrari F430 GT2	M	–
						Ferrari 4.0 L V8

Sim racing game developer, Studio 397, who took over development work to rFactor 2 in 2016, took its name from the record lap.[21]