The 2021 edition of the 24 Hours of Le Mans has been run and won with Mike Conway, Kamui Kobayashi and Jose Maria Lopez securing a solid victory in trying conditions. 
  
The trio proved too good for the rest of the field as they led a Toyota Gazoo Racing one-two and were the only ones to complete more than 270 laps. 
  
Out of the 61 cars and 171 drivers contesting the famous endurance race, five Australians earned themselves a seat across three of the classes with each experiencing mixed results – however most made up positions throughout the 24 hours. 
  
Finishing highest was US based Ryan Briscoe, who was behind the wheel of one of the five Hypercars alongside French driver Romain Dumas and Brit Richard Westbrook. 


A tough qualifying saw the Glickenhaus Racing trio end the session in seventh outright and three seconds off the pace, but they worked hard during the race and to end up fifth outright and seven laps down on the victorious Toyota GR010 Hybrid. 
  
While Briscoe may have finished highest of the Aussies outright, arguably the best local result for the event came through West Australian James Allen, who secured a LMP2 class podium. 
  
Starting fourth in class, Allen and his teammates Julien Canal and William Stevens were highly consistent as they ran in the same position for much of the race until they eventually gained that ever important place during the final third of the race. 
  
Once they got into third, the Panis Racing trio held off any late challengers before steering the Oreca 07 to an impressive class podium and eighth outright, one and half minutes ahead of the next car. 

  
Allen wasn’t the only Australian in the LMP2 class to finish the race with John Corbett, alongside Brit James Winslow and Belgian Tom Cloet, reaching the chequered flag inside the top 30. 
  
Despite another tough qualifying where they placed P31, Corbett and his teammates managed to gradually move through the field and finish with 338 completed laps in 16th out of 25 in class. 
  
Just a few places behind on the outright standings was Queenslander Matt Campbell who made it three top five class finishes. 
  
Behind the wheel of the Dempsey-Proton Racing prepared Porsche 911 RSR with 2018 Porsche Paynter Dixon Carrera Cup winner Jaxon Evans and regular German teammate Christian Reid, Campbell led somewhat of a resurgence for the team’s race. 

It seemed like it was going to be a long outing for the trio when they qualified in 12th out of 23, however some good strategy and class driving from all three saw them push through the field. Eventually they end up comfortably fifth in class – completing 335 laps all up and just 30 seconds off fourth place - wrapping up what was an impressive event for them. 


The final Australian in Scott Andrews didn’t get to enjoy the race as much as the others, with the Miami-based driver and his Kessel Racing teammates Mikkel Jensen and Takeshi Kamura forced to retire their Ferrari. 
  
It was a bitter pill to swallow for Andrews and his team as they were fighting it out for a class podium in the first stint, having continued the trend of Australians gaining places during the race, but a clutch slipping issue forced a premature finish after just 128 laps. 

“We leave Le Mans with our heads held high but in disappointment,” Andrews wrote via social media post-race. 
  
“We had to retire the car due to a clutch slipping issue we had on and off all race until it finally gave up in the early morning while in the top 3. 
  
“Kimura San, Mikkel and the whole Kessel Racing team did an amazing job and we were really fighting for a podium barring any major problems. Hopefully this is one of many for me, and I am back for more.” 

Click here to view the full results of the 24 Hour of Le Mans.