Flawless Le Mans premiere rewarded with top 10 finish
After 330 laps and around 4,500 kilometres covered, it was done: For Herberth Motorsport, the first 24-hour race at Le Mans came to an end. With a tenth place in the most difficult conditions, the team set an exclamation point at their premiere.
The competition in the LMGTE Am class was strong, but so was the fighting spirit of Ralf Bohn, Rolf Ineichen and Robert Renauer. Although the trio still lacked pace in the previous practice sessions, the performance curve pointed upwards over the course of the race weekend. Especially in the race, the three Herberth Motorsport drivers knew how to convince with fast lap times and consistency.
One of the biggest challenges was the initial phase, when a rain shower created difficult conditions at the Circuit de la Sarthe. For starting driver Robert Renauer, this first test in the race was no problem. While numerous competitors came off the track, the 36-year-old made it through the first laps flawlessly and thus made up valuable positions. "The many 24-hour races we have contested so far have been a great help," he explained. "But the track was new, as was the Porsche 911 RSR. So the whole team was in a learning process."
His team-mates felt the same way: "In the race it was wet for the first time. So you had no experience of how the car behaves in the rain. On such a special track, of course, this has an enormous effect," says Rolf Ineichen, who then took the wheel. "Our strategy was therefore to find our rhythm, to learn with each lap and to remain flawless. That worked really well!" By nightfall, the team managed to make up eight positions in this way.
The fact that the trio was able to celebrate tenth place at the end was not least due to the flawless drive through the night. Despite numerous accidents on the track, the team continued to catch up and thus paved the way to top-10 success. "We have never lost sight of our goal," said Ralf Bohn visibly proud. "After winning the Asian Le Mans Series in the winter, participating in this 24-hour race was associated with a particularly steep learning curve. The fact that we made it to the finish is a great performance by the whole team."