Le Mans results confirmed following six-car technical investigation

A bulletin has been issued by the technical delegates from WEC organisers the FIA and the Automobile Club de l’Ouest confirming the compliance of the six cars from which components were taken at post-race scrutineering after the centenary running of Le Mans on 10-11 June.

They were the Hypercar contenders that finished in the top three, the #51 Ferrari 499P, the #8 Toyota GR010 HYBRID and the #2 Cadillac V-Series.R; the best-placed car from the remaining two major manufacturers in the top class, the #93 Peugeot 9X8 and the #5 Porsche 963; and the #34 Inter Europol ORECA-Gibson 07 that triumphed in LMP2.

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The bulletin issued on Friday shortly before the final result was published read: “Further checks on parts collected at the event on cars #2, #5, #8, #51, #93 and #34 have been performed.

“After deep analysis, all cars were found in compliance with their respective regulations.”

It is understood that the delay in finalising the results resulted from the investigation into the Inter Europol ORECA.

The Hypercar teams revealed at the first post-Le Mans WEC round at Monza earlier this month that the parts taken from them had already been returned and their cars given a clean bill of health.

The Polish team also confirmed that the spec ECU (engine control unit), the steering wheel and IPS (intelligent power switch) had been returned to the team pre-Monza and ran on the car at the Italian event.

The part that had not been returned at that stage was the complete wiring loom of the car.

#34 Inter Europol Competition Oreca 07 - Gibson of Jakub Smiechowski, Albert Costa, Fabio Scherer

Photo by: JEP / Motorsport Images

The performance of the Inter Europol ORECA driven by Albert Costa, Fabio Scherer and Jakub Smiechowski was questioned both privately and publicly by some P2 teams and drivers.

The focus was on the acceleration of the car in key segments of the track.

Inter Europol’s winning ORECA raced with a gearbox option available to P2 teams that allowed it to run lower fourth, fifth and sixth gears.

The two ORECAs entered by Prema also raced with this option, but GPS data available to the teams showed that the winning car outperformed them on acceleration out of the two chicanes on the Mulsanne Straight and on the exit of Mulsanne Corner.

Inter Europol denied all allegations of wrongdoing and pointed out that the the #34 car was not the fastest car in class.

In a statement, the team said: "All at Inter Europol Competition welcome today’s confirmation from the FIA that all scrutineering and technical checks relating to the 24 Hours of Le Mans have been passed and the race results have now been confirmed as official, and our hard-earned victory has been ratified.

"Since taking the chequered flag at the legendary race in June, there has been relentless speculation and innuendo that our victory was somehow achieved by foul means.

"It was never in our doubt that the victory was achieved through the hard work, endeavour and skills of our drivers, engineers, management team, owners and crew to embark on a strategy and performance that was not only innovative but brave and daring and executed to perfection.

"It was disappointing in the light of the accusations of some rival competitors and certain aspects of the media that we were not fully able to enjoy and celebrate our achievements.

"But now, with today’s confirmation from the FIA that our victory was legitimate, we intend to celebrate to the fullest and push on in our attempts to deliver the FIA World Endurance Championship for our team."