page_title: 2013 24 Hours of Le Mans
section_title: Start
hierarchical_section_title: 2013 24 Hours of Le Mans / Race / Start
caption_attribution_description: English: Audi R18 e-tron quattro followed closely through the Mulsanne corner by the Toyota TS030 at 2013 24 Hours of Le Mans
context_page_description: The 81st 24 Hours of Le Mans was an automobile endurance racing event for Le Mans Prototype and Le Mans Grand Touring Endurance cars held from 19 to 23 June 2013 at the Circuit de la Sarthe at Le Mans, France. It was the 81st running of the event, as organised by the Automobile Club de l'Ouest since 1923. The race was the third and the premier round of the 2013 FIA World Endurance Championship, with 32 of the race's 56 entries contesting the championship. A test day was held two weeks prior to the race on 9 June. Approximately 245,000 spectators attended the event.
  The race was won by the No. 2 Audi R18 e-tron quattro driven by Dane Tom Kristensen, Brit Allan McNish and Frenchman Loïc Duval after it led the last 248 laps, taking the manufacturers' twelfth victory at Le Mans since its first in the 2000 edition. It was Kristensen's ninth victory, McNish's third and Duval's first. The car started from pole position but lost the lead at the start to the sister No. 1 Audi of André Lotterer, Marcel Fässler and Benoît Tréluyer who traded the position with the No.
context_section_description: Approximately 245,000 spectators attended the event on race day. The weather at the start was damp and overcast. The air temperature throughout ranged from 12.8 to 18.3 °C (55.0 to 64.9 °F) and the track temperature was between 15.5 to 21.8 °C (59.9 to 71.2 °F). The race began at 15:00 Central European Summer Time (UTC+02:00), with Grand-Am Road Racing founder and NASCAR vice-chairman Jim France waving the French tricolour to signal the start the race. Lotterer moved past McNish for the lead and then Lapierre overtook McNish for second place at the second Mulsanne chicane but he lost the position at the exit of the corner. Lapierre then reclaimed second from McNish on the approach to Mulsanne turn. Davidson overtook di Grassi for second through the Ford chicane as Darren Turner's No. 97 Aston Martin took the lead of LMGTE Pro from his Aston Martin teammate Bell in the No. 95 car. Lapierre was closing on Lotterer when the safety cars were deployed for an accident at Tetre Rouge corner. LMGTE Am leader Allan Simonsen had pulled clear of the class field when nine minutes into the race the rear-left corner of his car lost traction on a kerb leaving Tetre Rouge corner. When he attempted to correct, his car veered left and he collided heavily with a left-hand armco barrier at a near head-on trajectory. The impact crushed the roof of the car and its supporting roll cage; its force launched it slowly back onto the circuit with a wheel and its doors detached.
  Medical personnel were swift to tend to Simonsen, who was reported to be conscious and talking to officials before going into unconsciousness. He was extricated from the car and transported to the infield medical centre after about 20 minutes. Simonsen was later declared dead from his injuries at the infield medical centre. His partner Catrina requested that Aston Martin Racing continue racing. The safety cars remained on track for 58 minutes in which the LMGTE Pro order was divided into two halves. When racing resumed, Davidson and the Audi duo of McNish of di Grassi overtook Lapierre to demote him to fifth. Davidson took the overall lead for the first time on pit stop cycle rotation due to Toyota's better fuel economy over the Audis and kept it until the end of lap fifteen. Lieb moved to the front of LMGTE Pro by passing the Aston Martins of Rob Bell and Turner but the No. 91 Porsche lost the first position to Turner halfway through the second hour. At the start of the third hour, Lotterer was demoted to second when Lapierre moved past him on the exit to Mulsanne corner but he was not recorded as the leader because he entered the pit lane at the end of lap twenty-seven. Rain returned to the track at this time as Turvey and Maxime Martin moved in front of Pierre Kaffer's No. 49 Pecom Racing Oreca for second and third in LMP2.
  Lapierre stopped at the side of the Mulsanne Straight with a fuel pressure fault for half a minute before resuming in fifth. At the close of hour three, Gibon's No. 67 IMSA Performance Matmut car blew its left-rear tyre and lost the lead of LMGTE Am. The rain later eased and Audi re-established its advantage in the top three overall while Brundle extended the No. 24 OAK Racing car's gap in LMP2 over Mike Conway after he went into the gravel trap at Mulsanne corner while lapping Hall's No. 99 Aston Martin and Matt Griffin assumed the lead in LMGTE Am. The main on-track action involved Lucas Luhr who ran wide in the Porsche Curves and glanced an inside barrier alongside the track but he continued without significant damage to the No. 38 Jota Sport Zytek. Makowiecki moved past his Aston Martin teammate Mücke for the LMGTE Pro lead and Oliver Jarvis was delayed by the No. 39 DKR Engineering Lola through the Porsche Curves and lost third to Buemi. He retook the position from Buemi on the next lap. Later, Bill Auberlen relieved Mücke in the No. 97 Aston Martin and he was overtaken by Patrick Pilet's No. 92 Porsche for second in LMGTE Pro. Seven minutes into the sixth hour, the left-rear tyre of Gommendy's No. 36 Signatech Alpine blew and disintegrated enteri
caption: The No. 2 Audi R18 e-tron quattro followed closely by the No. 8 Toyota TS030 Hybrid at Mulsanne corner
exif: {"Image ImageDescription": "SONY DSC", "Image Make": "SONY", "Image Model": "SLT-A55V", "Image XResolution": "240", "Image YResolution": "240", "Image ResolutionUnit": "Pixels/Inch", "Image Software": "Adobe Photoshop Lightroom 3.4.1", "Image DateTime": "2014:05:04 13:57:34", "Image ExifOffset": "228", "GPS GPSVersionID": "[2, 3, 0, 0]", "GPS GPSLatitudeRef": "N", "GPS GPSLatitude": "[47, 54, 46631/1000]", "GPS GPSLongitudeRef": "E", "GPS GPSLongitude": "[0, 14, 33761/1000]", "GPS GPSAltitudeRef": "0", "GPS GPSAltitude": "131/2", "GPS GPSTimeStamp": "[12, 34, 11809/500]", "GPS GPSStatus": "V", "GPS GPSMeasureMode": "3", "GPS GPSSpeedRef": "K", "GPS GPSSpeed": "1/10", "GPS GPSTrackRef": "T", "GPS GPSTrack": "0", "GPS GPSMapDatum": "WGS-84", "GPS GPSDate": "2013:06:23", "GPS GPSDifferential": "0", "Image GPSInfo": "748", "Thumbnail Compression": "JPEG (old-style)", "Thumbnail XResolution": "72", "Thumbnail YResolution": "72", "Thumbnail ResolutionUnit": "Pixels/Inch", "Thumbnail JPEGInterchangeFormat": "1168", "Thumbnail JPEGInterchangeFormatLength": "11894", "EXIF ExposureTime": "1/2000", "EXIF FNumber": "28/5", "EXIF ExposureProgram": "Program Action", "EXIF ISOSpeedRatings": "320", "EXIF SensitivityType": "Recommended Exposure Index", "EXIF RecommendedExposureIndex": "320", "EXIF ExifVersion": "0230", "EXIF DateTimeOriginal": "2013:06:23 13:34:37", "EXIF DateTimeDigitized": "2013:06:23 13:34:37", "EXIF ShutterSpeedValue": "1370723/125000", "EXIF ApertureValue": "2485427/500000", "EXIF BrightnessValue": "228/25", "EXIF ExposureBiasValue": "0", "EXIF MaxApertureValue": "497/100", "EXIF MeteringMode": "Pattern", "EXIF LightSource": "Unknown", "EXIF Flash": "Flash did not fire, compulsory flash mode", "EXIF FocalLength": "150", "EXIF FileSource": "Digital Camera", "EXIF SceneType": "Directly Photographed", "EXIF CustomRendered": "Normal", "EXIF ExposureMode": "Auto Exposure", "EXIF WhiteBalance": "Auto", "EXIF FocalLengthIn35mmFilm": "225", "EXIF SceneCaptureType": "Standard", "EXIF Contrast": "Normal", "EXIF Saturation": "Normal", "EXIF Sharpness": "Normal", "EXIF LensSpecification": "[75, 300, 9/2, 28/5]", "EXIF LensModel": "75-300mm F4.5-5.6"}