Le Mans | Porsche-Jota rebuilt, Shakedown performed

Team Jota did it! The #12 Porsche has been rebuilt and performed the Shakedown at the mini-airport adjacent to the Le Mans circuit on Friday evening.

The 963 #12 was completely destroyed in Free Practice 2 on Wednesday evening due to Callum Ilott going off the track in the ‘Esses’ downhill after the Dunlop bridge, when there were only a few minutes left until the end.

The Briton admitted that he was momentarily distracted by looking at a warning message that appeared on the dashboard while tackling the chicane and, losing control of his car, he ended up disastrously into the barriers, also causing the red flag.

While Ilott emerged unscathed from the big crash, the same thing could not be said for his LMDh, which once returned to the British team’s pits required the replacement of the Multimatic chassis.

Thanks to the support of Porsche Penske Motorsport, who have a spare pair available in Europe, this arrived at lunchtime on Thursday and the mechanics rolled up their sleeves to completely rebuild the prototype, failing to take part in the sessions planned including the Hyperpole.

However, the idea was to proceed calmly and be present in the race, and on Friday afternoon, the day on which there were no activities planned on the track, the engine was started for the so-called ‘fire-up’, checking that everything was in order. order.

At 8pm the car was authorized to carry out 30 minutes of tests to check that everything was working properly, with Ilott – who had just returned from the parade in the center of Le Mans – who drove on the asphalt wet from the afternoon rain along the take-off and landing runways a few hundred meters from the route.

“It’s a good feeling to be back in the car, even if the asphalt was a bit wet and obviously we had to take things slowly,” admitted the Englishman.

“Even though the shakedown was short, it was nice to get some miles in the car and check the systems. It’s incredible that everything is working and I’m very grateful and proud of the team for the heroic work that has allowed us to get this far.”

At this point, Ilott and his teammates Will Stevens and Norman Nato will be able to be in action in the 15′ Warm-Up scheduled for 12.00, and then line up at the start of the race which is set for 16.00 this afternoon, thus launching the assault on the Hypercar Class for private teams.

“Everything looks good and I think we are ready to go. Will will take the wheel in the warm-up and make sure the sensations on the track are good, then we’ll see.”

“A huge thank you to the team for their determination and spirit, it makes me extremely proud to be part of this family.”