Heartbreak at Le Mans

The 24 Hour of Le Mans lived up to its reputation this weekend. A true feat of endurance, dedication and teamwork. Devastatingly for the LMGT3 crew, it was double heartbreak with the #95 retiring in the sixth hour and, perhaps even more cruelly, the #59 suffering an electrical fault at the 23-hour mark.

The #59 McLaren LMGT3 of James Cottingham, Gregoire Saucy and Sebastien Baud suffered the wrath of Le Mans. By the second half of the race, the drivers had firmly established their place in the top 10, running P8 for seven hours until an alternator failure brought the car into the box for emergency repairs at 11:30AM. Twenty minutes later, the car was back on track – eight laps down on the LMGT3 leader, but with the finish line coming into view. With just one hour five minutes and thirty seconds to go - after 23 hours of might, passion and unwavering focus - the #59 McLaren had an electrical issue which brought Saucy to a halt. Together, Gregoire and the team did everything they could to restart the car and cross the finish line, with the Swiss driver relaying key information back to the garage ... but it couldn’t be solved and tragically, with just seven minutes to go, the #59 McLaren retired from the race.

Charlie Kemp, WEC LMGT3 Team Manager, United Autosports: “This time last year was hard, but this is so much harder. The work that’s been put in by everybody – the United Autosports team, McLaren Automotive and the drivers - to make sure this didn’t happen again has been absolutely monumental. We gave it everything … but we didn’t see the finish line, and that is honestly devastating. The result does not reflect the desire, passion and drive of this team, and I am truly proud of every single person.”

Ian James, Director of Motorsport, McLaren Automotive: “It’s devastating that the number 95 McLaren LMGT3 retired early, and the 59 came to a stop so close to taking the chequered flag on the 93rd running of the 24 Hours of Le Mans. I know the United Autosports team worked tirelessly, together with McLaren Motorsport and the drivers performed brilliantly, but this year it was not meant to be. The challenge remains however, and we’re already working on how we can come back stronger next year. Le Mans, we’re not done with you yet!”