Allen’s dream back-to-back Le Mans victory
James Allen has given some insight into his Centennial 24 Hours Le Mans LMP2 Pro Am class victory, with the Aussie helping secure a dominant back-to-back win.
Racing for Portuguese team, Algarve Pro Racing (APR), James Allen took on the challenge of going back-to-back with new American teammates George Kurtz and Colin Braun.
The dominant 5 lap victory over its Pro Am class rivals COOL Racing, saw the team take its fifth ever WEC win, giving it the best current LMP2 Pro Am class record.
Starting from P2 in the class, the team survived a myriad of battles including a slight late scare with their #45 ORECA going off track but pulling up short of the wall to rejoin, still holding a comfortable lead.
Along with American teammates Kurtz and Braun, Allen helped guide the APR team to a huge 5 Lap victory at Le Mans. Images: LAT
For the Aussie LMP2 regular, that makes it two-from-two in the worlds biggest 24 Hour races in 2023 after his incredible photo finish win at Daytona earlier in the year, where he ironically beat an APR ORECA to the line by 0.016s driving for Proton Competition.
Allen spoke about the team environment, and the feeling of winning Le Mans with it being the 100th anniversary of the race at Circuit de la Sarthe.
“The 24 Hours of Le Mans is always a pretty special event, but particularly this year with it being the centenary,” Allen said.
“This is the third time I’ve been on the podium and the second time I’ve won, and it’s always amazing to see the entire pit straight full of people from the top step. It’s really impressive.
“This is the first time I’ve ever worked with George (Kurtz) and Colin (Braun), but I was really impressed with both of them when we first tested together at Monza.
the 2023 24 Hours of Le Mans was a true battle of attrition, with Allen guiding the #45 LMP2 ORECA through the treacherous first stint
“They adapted well to the new aero kit and tyres on the LMP2 car. As a result, we hit the ground running and got everything sorted out quickly here at Le Mans, and it soon felt like our race to throw away.”
Allen took the treacherous first stint in the #45 APR, choosing to stay out as long as possible before pitting, leaving the team with a solid starting position.
Allen then put the car into a class P2 over his next stint, and was consistently matching lap times with the LMP2 leader into the night time hours.
The teams hot pursuit of P1 was put on hold when it was forced to replace an Accident Data Recorder at around midnight
The #45 APR team soak up their victory on motorsports most famous podium
They then assumed P1 after surviving the night unscathed, when the #80 AF Corse car took terminal damage in a high-speed collision with the barrier at the Porsche Curves – Allen would take over with the car in a comfortable P1 with nine hours to run.
They were never headed after that, and after 322 laps an historic victory was recorded. In the scope of the 13 WEC LMP2 Pro Am races to date, this was comfortably the biggest ever winning margin, as APR solidified its spot as the sub-categories most winningest team.
Team Principal Stewart Cox described some ins-and-outs of the incredible achievement, describing APR’s well prepared approach as its key to victory.
“It’s a remarkable achievement to take the 24 Hours of Le Mans LMP2 Pro-Am two years on the trot, and the way the race was managed by the team and drivers was critical to our success,” Cox said.
After inheriting the class lead in the early hours of Sunday, the #45 APR team sustained a large gap to the chequered flag
“I can’t fault our attention-to-detail this week; we worked hard to prepare George for his Le Mans debut, with thorough track walks, incident and data analysis, and by showing him how the car feels at every stage of the day and night, in all conditions.
“Our pace and overtakes were managed, our guys were kept fully informed of incidents and other drivers’ mistakes, we had people on pushbikes reporting the weather in various locations, because the strategy was to simply keep the car on the track.
“Thanks to everyone involved for doing their jobs so brilliantly. I’m keen to enjoy this result and really let it sink in.”
Allen and APR will return to the European Le Mans Series full of confidence after a disappointing first round in Barcelona, where they hope to turn it around at Paul Ricard on July 16.
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