De Vries and different Dutchmen have a much-hyped Le Mans alternative: the ’24-hour Dash race’

• Pepijn Schoemans

  motorsport editor NOS Sport

Three weeks after the Monaco Grand Prix and the Indianapolis 500, it is time for the following traditional on the motorsport calendar. Yearly in June, the largest automobile manufacturers come to France’s Circuit de la Sarthe for the last word endurance check for drivers, mechanics and naturally the vehicles themselves: the 24 hours of Le Mans.

“Some say: you are as loopy as hell, others assume it is essentially the most lovely factor,” says Nicky Catsburg, one of many eight Dutch individuals.

What’s a 24-hour race value? “It is a battle for man and machine. As drivers we’ve got to be centered for nearly 24 hours, sleep continues to be troublesome due to the adrenaline. It takes even longer for the mechanics , as a result of they’ve to organize the automobile upfront.” , stated the 36-year-old driver.

Jeroen Bleekemolen has ridden the race sixteen occasions and is aware of how massive the occasion is. “Even in America they observe it. There may be a lot historical past and the enclosure is cool. Lots has modified by way of security, but it surely’s nonetheless true. It is sort of a 24-hour dash race, you need to go flat out. out on a regular basis.”

Le Mans in numbers:

Catsburg says: “Le Mans is particular as a result of it is totally on public roads, and there are lengthy straights. You get excessive pace. If issues go flawed, issues go flawed.”

“This race is way more well-known world wide than different 24-hour races. There may be quite a lot of status, there’s all the time quite a lot of stress, and Spa-Francorchamps is bodily tougher.”

Within the quickest class, as it’s known as hypercars, this yr may have the biggest variety of individuals of this century in the beginning. Toyota, Ferrari, Peugeot, Porsche, Cadillac, Alpine, BMW and Lamborghini all go into vehicles.

“It is particular that you’ve got so many manufacturing unit groups, in addition to the privateer groups. There are quite a lot of high groups and high drivers, we have not seen a lot of this in historical past. Solely within the Nineteen Nineties, however then he died. this may be appreciated,” says Bleekmolen.

Nyck de Vries is among the three drivers within the Toyota with beginning quantity 7. The Japanese model gained Le Mans 5 years in a row between 2018 and 2022.

“They need to be one of many favorites. Toyota all the time does properly. You by no means know the way these vehicles examine to one another, however Nyck has usually been in a position to get extra out of his teammates within the first video games of this season,” stated Bleekemolen.

“Typically the Toyota is nice within the rain. Through the race weekend it all the time rains in Le Mans, so that may be a bonus.” Earlier this yr, de Vries and Toyota gained the moist 6 Hours of Imola.

The Toyota recorded good occasions on the check day final Sunday, however the first qualification was not so profitable. De Vries’ automobile was initially positioned among the many quickest eight, however the workforce was despatched again after a crash with Kamui Kobayashi, who shares the automobile with De Vries. Porsche gave the impression to be the largest contender, partly based mostly on this season’s type, however the Germans did not qualify properly both.

Different Dutchmen within the high class are Robin Frijns (BMW) and Renger van der Zande (Cadillac). In accordance with Bleekemolen, these vehicles appear to have rather less likelihood of success within the race, though the Dutchman’s Cadillac was among the many eight quickest to qualify for the second time.