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No. 71 Inception Ferrari, No. 92 Porsche revived ahead of LM24

Rainier Ehrhardt/Motorsport Images
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emailBy Stephen Kilbey | August 21, 2021 7:32 AM ET

Both the No. 92 factory GTE Pro Porsche and Inception Racing Ferrari are ready to take the start of the Le Mans 24 Hours after long shifts by both sets of mechanics since Thursday night.

The two cars are brand-new chassis, after hefty shunts during Hyperpole and Free Practice 4 respectively, both teams scrambling to build up new cars for today’s race.

For Porsche, the No. 92 has been rebuilt around a spare chassis following Kevin Estre’s off at Indianapolis, and was short, 20-minute shakedown on the runway of the airfield at the circuit last night. Inception Racing, meanwhile, had to source a spare chassis from Rinaldi Racing. The Kessel Racing crew running the Inception entry worked until late last night and managed to fire the engine around 10:00 p.m. local time.

“We will be on the grid for the 24 Hours of Le Mans,” Inception Racing driver Ollie Millroy said. “Amazing work from every member of this Optimum – Kessel team. Thank you for the support from everyone in the paddock. The motorsport community becomes one big family in situations like this. Let’s go!”

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No. 71 Inception Racing Ferrari 488 GTE EVO LMGTE Am of Brendan Iribe, Ollie Millroy and Ben Barnicoat, JEP/Motorsport Images

With both GTE cars now ready, 61 cars are due to take the start, the only car unable to race being the No. 17 IDEC Sport ORECA which suffered terminal damage in an accident on the run up to the Dunlop bridge during Free Practice 3.

Both cars then took part in the short morning warm-up after being scrutineered pre-race and set the fastest time in their respective classes. Kevin Estre bedded in the No. 92 and set a 3m49.956s. The Inception 488 turned the quickest time in Am, Ben Barnicoat setting a 3m52.076s.

Up front it was Toyota that set the fastest time, a 3m28.529s from Sebastien Buemi in the No. 8, the benchmark time.

A Balance of Performance change has also been made ahead of the race. The factory Corvettes have been dealt a 7-kilo weight break, meaning the No. 63 and No. 64 C8.Rs will race at 1,269 kilos. That followed a Thursday change for the GTE Pro and Am Ferraris with significant boost level reductions.

Both the Ferraris and Corvettes will also race with a liter less fuel capacity than their Test Day levels.