Oracle Red Bull Racing

A Tough 24 Hours for the Bulls

An early penalty and disconnect issues dampened strong performances from all eight Bulls, particularly the GTE team, in the 24 Hours of Le Mans Virtual.

LMP

Car number: 11

Car: Oreca 07 LMPS

Drivers: Frede Rasmussen, Cooper Webster, Norbert Kiss, Alex Siebel

Laps: 384

The Bulls Gave It Their All In A Tough 24 Hours

The LMP team qualified in 10th place for the 24 Hours of Le Mans Virtual, and pro driver Norbert Kiss started in car number 11 for the race. It was an incident-free start, and by the end of the first pit stop on lap 38 the Oreca sat in P12. Alex Siebel was next up in the hot seat, and charged up the order. A great battle with the Jota (car number 38) saw the team get up to P9. Before pitting again, Siebel managed to get the car up to P7 to top off a fantastic stint. Frede Rasmussen took over from Siebel, and had an interesting battle with the Alpha (car number 444) which saw the team take P5. Siebel was next up and was sitting in P4 as Cooper Webster took over. Just as the clock hit 16 hours, and sitting in P5, disaster struck. A disconnection with Webster at the wheel put the team’s race in the balance, and they weren’t sure whether they’d be able to get going again.

An Unlucky 24 Hours For Our LMP Team

Thankfully, the issue was fixed and the car was back out in P13, but the five minutes spent in the pits had ruined the great work they’d done so far. A heart-breaking moment for the team after they had climbed so well through the order, and looked to potentially challenge for a podium place. The last few hours were spent like the first couple - battling around between P10 and P12 before another issue meant the team had to head into the pits with 25 minutes to go. The team couldn’t get the car out of the pits, and it finished not classified in P34 overall and P19 in class. An unlucky 24 hours for the LMP team, but a strong effort from all the drivers involved.

Dennis Jordan reflected on the outcome: “Despite a number of obstacles during preparation, we got did a off to a great start, doing our job collectively as a team, running our planned strategy, building up pace and keeping out of trouble. This meant we found ourselves in the fight for a podium position as the sun started to rise, feeling confidence about what we had left in the tank.

“Unfortunately, a disconnection took us out of the front running and we then committed a few mistakes trying to make up the lost time, ultimately ending in a retirement with one hour to go.

Dennis Jordan on the season: “As a team, we are all very disappointed with how the season went. Whilst there is a multitude of reasons outside of our control for that, we also did not do the job required and now need to start looking at ways to improve on those mistakes in the future. We have a great team and I have no doubt that we will only get stronger from this huge let-down.”

Disappointed But Not Defeated - The Bulls Are Determied To Come Back Strong

GTE

Car number: 111

Car: Corvette C8.R

Drivers: Sebastian Job, Nestor Garcia, Yuri Kasdorp, Dennis Lind

Laps: 365

Lost six minutes early on for not having 2 professional drivers in the team. 1:09 Job sets fastest lap for a GTE car in the entire race.

Sebastian Job qualified the Corvette on pole for the 24 Hours of Le Mans virtual, with a fantastic lap that was just 0.09s faster than the Porsche behind. Dennis Lind started the race, and unfortunately lost pole off the line to the Porsche, with PESC rival Mitchell DeJong taking the lead of the race. The car struggled to keep up with the pace of the BMW out in front, and found itself dropping down the order. A great tussle with the Ferrari (car number 51) followed but eventually the place was given up. The team had to pit early on to serve a six-minute penalty for not having two professional racers in the line-up following the late cancellation of a driver. This meant coming out all the way down in last place in the GTE class. With the help of strong stints from every driver, and avoiding any trouble, the team managed to climb into the top 10.

Despite An Early Penalty, The Bulls Grabbed A Top 10 Finish

With 1 hour and 20 minutes remaining, the car made its last stop, and came out in P7 looking to make one last push before the end. Despite Yuri Kasdorp racing hard to catch the BMW ahead, the team finished in P7 – a very strong performance considering the early penalty that put the car in last place. In his final stint, Sebastian Job managed to set the fastest lap of any car in the GTE class – a great personal achievement and a reflection of the team’s pace and talent.

Nestor Garcia on the race: “I think that as a team we should be happy with the last 24 hours. First of all, we have completed the race without major errors, something that is essential in endurance races. In addition, we have done it with a pace that probably allowed us to fight for the podium. Unfortunately, we had a six-minute penalty before the start of the race, but although there are always details to improve, I think we can be happy with our teamwork over the last 24 hours.”

Nestor Garcia on the season: “I think this season has been difficult, we have been close to achieving important results, but at these levels being close is not enough, you have to achieve it. Personally, I always try to look back and see where I can continue to improve as a driver, despite the fact that I have been sim racing for a number of years.”

Sebastian Job on the 24 Hours: “Overall I think we can be reasonably happy with the performance. The six-minute penalty was simply too much to make up for but we did a good job nonetheless. From a personal view I was very happy with my own pace, picking up the fastest lap near the end and I felt that my pace through the stints was solid.

“It's awesome to be involved with all these real-life pros and share the track with all of them, however at the end of the day they are still a competitor to us so we have to treat them like anyone else! Hopefully next year can be even bigger, I think this was a big success so hopefully we will do it again!

Yuri Kasdorp reflected on the race: “Our setback came before the race when our planned pro driver had to cancel. That meant a six-minute penalty which in a field of this strength means it was always going to be a difficult race. We had some small issues throughout but nothing major, in the end we lost about ¾ of a lap to the leaders but with our penalty that meant P7 over 2 laps down.

Yuri Kasdorp on the event: “The 24 Hours of Le Mans Virtual is my favourite event every year. Last year it felt like a placeholder for the cancelled 24 Hours of Le Mans which meant it got a lot of attention. This year it was completely standalone and for the first edition it was huge. I think it will only continue to grow in the next years.

A Tough Race For The Bulls, But Still One To Be Proud Of