LE MANS, France (AP) — Veteran German driver Timo Bernhard led Porsche to a dramatic third straight win at the 24 Hours Le Mans race to prevent a huge upset win for the lesser category Oreca team on Sunday.
After a series of mishaps to pre-race favorites Porsche and Toyota, the LMP2 category Oreca suddenly found itself in the lead with 19-year-old Frenchman Thomas Laurent behind the wheel three hours from the end of the grueling endurance race.
But the 36-year-old Bernhard, racing in the faster and more powerful LMP1 category Porsche 919 Hybrid, overtook the Oreca with about 1 hour remaining.
As the Porsche No. 2 crossed the finish line, there were scenes of relief in the Porsche garage as team members danced around holding up t-shirts with ”Hat trick 2015, 2016, 2017” written on them.
Teammate Brendon Hartley, who had done much of the hard work to drag Porsche back into the race, was in tears.
Bernhard finished about one minute ahead of the Jackie Chan DC Racing team car, owned by the famed action movie star.
Bernhard also won the race in 2010 when driving for the dominant Audi team.
It was a fantastic comeback win considering that the Porsche No. 2 was held up for more than one hour due to technical problems earlier in the race.
Source: Porsche leaves it late to win 24 Hours Le Mans for 3rd year
In the wake of the Grenfell Tower tragedy earlier this week, Prime Minister Theresa May has pledged a £5 million fund to help the victims. Hundreds of Grenfell residents were forced to flee their homes leaving everything behind when a fire ripped through their building in the early hours of the morning. Police have confirmed that 58 people are presumed dead in the disaster. That number is likely to rise.
