Official scrutineering launches Le Mans week
Team WRT photo The group shouts en masse: We'vce been Scrutineered!"
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Stephen Kilbey | June 7, 2024 3:00 PM ET
The build-up toward the Le Mans 24 Hours got underway today in the city center, with just over half of the field passing through the traditional scrutineering route in front of the public. Held in bright sunshine and in front of a sizeable crowd, day one of scrutineering saw many key teams and drivers get a first taste of the pre-race atmosphere.
Team WRT attracted the most attention in the opening hours, as its quartet of BMWs paraded through town, three of them in new-for-Le Mans liveries, including the No. 20 M Hybrid V8 “art car.”
In the Hypercar ranks, just three of the team’s full-season WEC drivers were present — Rafaelle Marciello, Robin Frijns and Dries Vanthoor — due to the clash with the DTM round at Zandvoort this weekend.
That scheduling conflict will be tricky to manage, with Marco Wittmann, Sheldon van der Linde and Rene Rast set to make the 435-mile journey to Le Mans on Sunday directly after the second race of the weekend which is due to finish at 2:30pm.
Nevertheless, all three here in France were keen to speak ahead of what is a hugely significant week for the Bavarian brand at La Sarthe, which is celebrating 25 years since it took its famous win in 1999 with the V12 LMR.
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For Marciello, the initial goal is to finish well and get points on the board for the first time this season. The former Mercedes-AMG factory driver, who made a high-profile move to BMW in the off-season, is yet to hit his stride in Hypercar since his debut at the start of the season in Qatar, and is hopeful that things will turn around soon.
“We are going to try to ensure the car can handle 24 hours,” he told RACER. “It’s difficult to predict the level of performance because Ferrari, Porsche, Toyota and Cadillac are very strong. But we have a new (two-stage) BoP here (which provides the rule-makers with two levels of power control, below and above 250 kph) so you never know what will happen.”