Paul Jeffrey
Premium
Porsche rise like a phoenix from the flames, LMP 2 causes quite a stir and Aston Martin snatch it at the death - Le Mans 2017 was quite a race and full of action throughout.
With the chequer having waived, the champagne flowed and the celebratory slaps on the back or consolatory hugs and handshakes now over it feels like the perfect time to digest the action from Le Mans and share our opinions on the best, and worst, of the 85th running of the Le Mans 24 Hours.
With only six LMP 1 cars taking the start in France following the withdrawal of Audi at the end of 2016 it was always going to be a pretty open affair right from the get go. Toyota would be entering the race looking to make up for last years heartbreak with a three car strong assault, Porsche would be entering the race looking to make it three Le Mans victories on the bounce and the small privateer ByKolles team would be hoping to stick around and about the lead pack in the hope of picking up a surprise result.
Meanwhile in the incredibly tight 25 car strong LMP2 category the teams would be looking to not only secure victory in their own class but also to keep an eye out on the biggest prize in endurance racing, ready to keep up the pressure and see if the mighty Porsche and Toyota teams would allow some meaningful scraps from the table to drop the way of the second tier of Le Mans Prototype racers.
Prior to the event much confusion lay with the genuine form book for the GT teams, with many rumours flying around that big hitters Ford and Ferrari had been sandbagging heavily in the build up to the race in an effort to avoid substantial BOP restrictions and leave their cars too far away from the competitive baseline to cruise away from the field as in 2016.
Once the green flag dropped at 3pm local time in the village of Le Mans in France many of the above questions would be answered over the course of the 24 hours of racing, however with so much excitement on track and behind the scenes, what was your highlight from the 2017 running of the greatest motor race on earth?
Let us know in the comments section below!
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