After 24 hours of racing and three races for each of the six grids, we know the winners of this 2023 edition of Le Mans Classic. More than 800 racing cars competed. As spectacular on the track as in the Village, Le Mans Classic attracted more than 235,000 spectators (200,850 in 2022).

The 235,000 spectators witnessed a legendary event, with 24 races on the program and 900 drivers ready to do battle on the Le Mans circuit. After this celebration of the centenary of the 24 Hours of Le Mans, the date is set for 26-30 June 2025 for the 12th edition.

 

Endurance Racing Legends

The 40-minute Endurance Racing Legends race was the very first to be held on Saturday. To open the race, the competitors were greeted by unpredictable weather, with rain pouring down for the first few laps. Emmanuel Collard (Pescarolo C60 2006 #23) retained his pole position ahead of François Perrodo (Toyota GT-One 1999 #1). The two drivers know each other well, having competed in several editions of the Le Mans 24 Hours together (from 2013 to 2017 and again in 2020). Never very far from one another, the two drivers never exchanged positions.

 

The same story occured again  for the very last 30-minute sprint race on Sunday. In the Pescarolo prototype, Emmanuel Collard once again managed to keep François Perrodo within a hair’s breadth. In the two races on this grid dedicated to GTs and prototypes from the 90s and 2000s, it was the Dutch duo of Olivier and David Hart in the #34 2005 Courage C60 that finished third.

 

Group C Racing

The Group C Racing cars once again provided a spectacular show on track. Emblematic of the endurance racing of the 80s and early 90s, the prototypes raced through the Mulsanne straight at more than 300 kph (the #16 1989 Porsche 962 C even clocked a top speed of 330.1 kph). For the first time at Le Mans Classic, two races were held. The longer, a 40-minute race, was won by Erik Maris in the 1992 Peugeot 905 Evo 1 Bis #3. He was ahead of David and Olivier Hart’s 1992 Lola T92/10 #4. This car was noticed for the sound of its highly recognizable Judd V10 taken from Formula 1.

 

In Sunday’s sprint race, it was a Porsche that came out on top. The #7 1990 962 C of Ivan Vercoutere and Ralf Kelleners in its Joest livery outclassed the #31 1990 Mercedes-Benz C11 of Kriton Lendoudis.

 

 

Here is our selection of pictures from the event.

 

Pictures by Erwan Séité

 

 
 

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