Callum Ilott delighted to come eighth in Le Mans 24 Hours after Porsche rebuilt in record time following crash in practice
Callum Ilott was delighted to come eighth in the Le Mans 24 Hours after his car was rebuilt in record time following a crash in practice.
The former Bishop’s Stortford College student fortunately walked away uninjured from the incident in FP2 - after he had secured hyperpole - but the Hertz Team JOTA #12 Porsche 963 hypercar suffered significant damage.
But the team produced a heroic effort to change the car’s chassis - a job that normally takes three weeks - and get it ready for the legendary race.
And Ilott, whose family live in the Hadhams, managed to secure an eighth-place finish in the rain-affected race alongside team-mates Will Stevens and Norman Nato.
They were the first privateer team entry home in the FIA World Endurance Championship event to increase their lead at the top of the hypercar teams standings to 57 points. Ilott is now fourth in the drivers’ standings.
“To finish eighth was an incredible recovery after what had happened,” said Ilott, 25. “The team worked super hard to not only get the car ready for the race, but to give us a competitive car.
“We had shown great pace in practice and qualifying, but, after the hectic rebuild of our Porsche, completed in record time, unsurprisingly we struggled a little compared to what we would have liked.
“But our reliability was incredible and, combined with the three of us making no mistakes, it was pretty impressive to achieve this result in such a long race run in many different weather and track conditions.
“More than anything, I’m delighted for the entire team after their amazing hard work.”
The championship heads to Brazil next for the 6 Hours of Sao Paulo on July 14.
Ilott added: “We’re still very well-placed in the driver’s championship heading to Brazil next month and the Le Mans result increased our lead in the World Cup for Hypercar Teams, which is a good and just reward to Hertz Team JOTA who did a magnificent job last week.”
