Shahin ‘over the moon’ with special Le Mans success

Australia’s Yasser Shahin took LMGT3 victory on his very first attempt at the iconic Le Mans 24 Hours despite the Circuit de la Sarthe throwing all elements at him.

Shahin, plus Austrian Richard Lietz and Dutchman Morris Schuring kept their The Bend Motorsport backed Manthey EMA Porsche 911 GT3 R out of trouble in a crazy race characterised by torrential rain.

The Manthey EMA machine completed 281 laps in 24 hours, which was one more than the Team WRT BMW of Augusto Farfus, Darren Leung and Sean Gelael and ensure a comfortable and famous win.

It has been a massive rise for Shahin, who has paused a successful domestic GT racing career in Australia to take on the FIA World Endurance Championship for the first time in 2024.

He had already achieved LMGT3 success at the recent Spa 6 Hours and now he is sitting on top of the WEC class standings with back to back wins.

The Le Mans success will stay with Shahin forever and immediately after the victory he was delighted to complete a dramatic race.

“Emotional. Over the moon. It’s incredible,” said Shahin on the world feed.

“What a feeling to do this on your first time. You (Le Mans) gave us everything – rain, sun, night, but all good.”

Before his historic journey to Le Mans, Shahin spoke with AUTO ACTION’s Paul Gover about his emotions ahead of taking on the arguably the most famous race in the world.

“Somewhere between anxious and excited,” he said at the time.

considering the size of the Le Mans challenge, Shahin had a very simple view of success and winning was far from his mind.

“Finishing,” he said.

“It took four attempts to win the Bathurst 12-Hour and this is the most contested race in the world. I have no expectations of finishing at the front.

“If we can feel competitive, not make any silly mistakes with ‘own goals’, and finish, it will have been a success.”

Photo by JEP/Motorsport Images

READ THE FULL SHAHIN INTERVIEW IN LATEST ISSUE OF AUTO ACTION DIGITAL HERE

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