Chopard Porsche Motorsport 24 Hours Le Mans 2015

MTF's photographic journey through the 2015 24 Hours of Le Mans, featuring Chopard and Porsche Motorsport, offers a unique blend of high-octane racing and luxury watch culture. This report captures the synergy between these two iconic brands, providing an insider's view of the event and the special edition timepieces associated with it. It's a valuable resource for enthusiasts of both motorsport and horology.

13 - 14 June 2015, Circuit de la Sarthe, Le Mans, France.

This is a photographic review of the 83rd 24 Hours of Le Mans (French: 83e 24 Heures du Mans) organised by the Automobile Club de l'Ouest as well as the third round of the 2015 FIA World Endurance Championship. The forecast for Saturday was sunny and we had our sunscreen lotions ready upon arrival at the newly built permanent Porsche Experience Centre at the race track.

Our congenial host, Mr Karl-Friedrich Scheufele (KFS) greeted us and we had a chance to see the 2015 version of the Porsche 919 Hybrid car.

The first order of the day was to see an informal Executive Briefing with Jacky Ickx, Porsche Director, Porsche Chairman Wolfgang Porsche and Mr KFS. Wolfgang Porsche is Chairman of the Supervisory Board of Porsche Automobil Holding SE as well as of Porsche AG. He is the youngest son of Ferdinand (Ferry) Porsche.

I made special note of the Official Timing Clock that was originally meant to be in the Porsche Pit Garage but was installed in the Porsche Theatre instead.

Jacky Ickx was interviewed by Porsche TV and was still wearing his Chopard Mille Miglia 2014 Race Edition because the 'special Jacky Ickx watch' had not yet been revealed at this time.

Monsieur Le Mans gave a smooth presentation on-screen and I suspect that he has done this one or two times before!

There were race simulators to try out the 38 turns of the 13.629 kilometres (8.47 mi) long track; one of the longest circuits in the world. Le Mans is a race where up to 85% of the time is spent on full throttle and with 38 turns, the engine, transmission and brakes get an unbelievable pounding. No wonder that teams are joyful just to survive 24 hours before celebrating their actual finishing positions.

I tried the detuned simulator and must draw a discrete veil over the proceedings. Let's just say that if it were for real, I died 27 times.

The huge poster at the rear of the grandstand was a portent of the winning car No. 19. For the Le Mans race, Porsche had prepared three different coloured cars instead of their usual all-white for all cars. I must confess to wishing red car No. 17 had won mainly because my favourite colour is red and the colour of dial on my new Chopard Mille MIglia 2015 race Edition watch.

Privately, the Porsche PR and Marketing people seemed to be rooting for the white car because any other colour winning would have messed up their advertising and graphics already meticulously prepared.

The cars were pushed into starting positions and the crowd entertained themselves with wine, women and song...or in this case, with beer, smoke and a trumpet!

The Grid Walk was a chaotic and fun thing to do. I'm sure it irritates the race teams that thousands of strangers are allowed to wander and touch their precious racing machines just minutes before the start of the race. This is a tradition at Le Mans for the ordinary fan so I hope it continues.  You meet and see all sorts of racing personalities on the Grid.

I don't know who these two ex-Formula 1 drivers were but the massed media and fans went wild with their cameras!

A tubby French bloke pushed in for a photo opportunity with one of the personalities.

I even saw Jean Todt waving to the crowd; now that is scary.

At this point, I'm very in love with l'Ouest of France and it was time to take our grandstand seats at the start line.

The Porsche 919 cars broke the current track configuration record set in 2008 a few times during qualification runs. Since Audi has been winning here since Porsche pulled out in 1998, they had the prime monitoring shacks on the pit wall. It was a tad embarassing for them because the Porsche team had qualified P1-2-3 at the front of the Grid and the Audi logos.

The race started at 15:00 with No. 18 Porsche 919 (Jani) in the lead. Timo Bernhard (No. 17 Porsche 919) overtook Jani on the first lap while the trio of Audis passed the No. 19 Porsche 919 at the end of the second lap. The top six cars remained within a few seconds of each other as the group pulled away from the Toyotas.

As dusk fell, the No. 18 Porsche 919 (Dumas) went straight on at Mulsanne Corner and hit a tire barrier. The car was able to return to the pits for new front bodywork but had fallen to 5th position. It happened again to the No. 18 Porsche 919 with Jani at the wheel a few hours later.

In the night, when racing resumed after a safety car, No. 19 Porsche 919 (Hülkenberg) was able to attack the leaders, first overtaking Webber's No. 17 Porsche 919 on the opening lap then passing Rast (Audi) when he made a scheduled pit stop. Webber was later given a one minute stop and go penalty for passing in a yellow flag zone, dropping him to 4th place.

Night racing made for some spectacular images of brake discs glowing red hot and some LGMTE cars rear-shunting despite changing their brake discs.

The cool of the night suited the turbocharged Porsches on their Michelin tyres and they capitalised with minimal tyre changes and double stints for the drivers. The No. 19 Porsche 919 streaked through the night into the lead with the No. 17 Porsche 919 clawing back to 2nd position.

After Sunday breakfast, we amused ourselves with an educational tour of the Porsche garage and pits.

Only these photographs of non-critical areas were allowed although we could witness everything in-person.

Preparation at Porsche Team facilities was exemplary and one could even micturate and not lose sight of the track with these dedicated eye-level monitors!

Light rain fell in some sections of the track in the final hour but did not affect the final positions. Nico Hülkenberg took the chequered flag for the No. 19 Porsche 919, a lap ahead of Hartley in No. 17 Porsche 919. In only their third defeat since 2000, Audi was P3 and a further lap behind. After two accidents, the final Porsche 919 was gaining but finished fifth overall.

Just after 15:00 on Sunday and the long 17-year wait was over - Porsche are Overall Winners at Le Mans for the 17th time - and break their own record.

The Mission: Future Sportscar.  Challenge Accepted!

What followed was an orgy of handshakes, hugs, kisses, Champagne, trophy lifting, German speeches and all-round jubilation.

Wolfgang Porsche (Chairman) looked happy.

Matthias Müller (CEO Porsche AG) got very wet.

I got wet taking photos of Hülkenberg spraying champagne on Müller.

The extended Porsche family helped to lift the Le Mans trophy but they already had practice of that with 5-time winner Bell and 6-time winner Ickx.

The girls in the helicopter were happy.

Nearly everybody in the active Porsche Motorsport Team wore Chopard watches.

I was happy.

C'est fini.............

Dr M.Teillol-Foo, 2015