Here's Some Americans to Cheer for in the 24 Hours of Le Mans
This weekend’s 88th 24 Hours of Le Mans is a bit short on well-known American drivers, especially given the absence of the Chevrolet Corvette C8.R racing team, which elected to stay home in this coronavirus pandemic.
There are 177 drivers entered in 59 cars, down from 62 last year—there would have been 60 but the Ginetta co-driven by American Chris Dyson was pulled at the last minute from the LMP1 grid. Of those 177 drivers, only nine are listed as American, and even then, some—like 68 year-old Mark Patterson, aren’t U.S. residents—he was born in South Africa, and lists Mexico as his home.
Probably the best-known driver to U.S. fans is Juan Pablo Montoya, who has driven in F1, NASCAR, IndyCar and the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship, with Team Penske’s Acura. He was a last-minute addition to Dragonspeed USA’s LMP2 entry, car No. 21, co-driving with Memo Rojas, late of the U.S. Grand Am series, and replacing IMSA regular Pipo Derani.
In another Dragonspeed USA LMP2 entry, No. 27, is Renger van der Zande, driver of the No. 10 Konica Minolta Cadillac in DPi in the IMSA WeatherTech series. Longtime Corvette racer Jan Magnussen is racing the No. 66 JMW Motorsport Ferrari 488 GTE Evo in GTE Am with two Americans, Richard Heistand and World Challenge racer Max Root.
Gustavo Menzes, born in California, is the only American in the LMP1 class, in the No. 1 Rebellion entry, co-driving with Bruno Senna. They have a true shot at winning should something happen to the dominant pair of Toyota Gazoo TS050 Hybrids, which are going for a hat trick this year.
If you need some true, live-in-America-type Americans to cheer for, here are a couple of suggestions.
COOPER MacNEIL
MacNeil has been driving GT cars with his family’s brand on the side, WeatherTech, for more than 10 years. At 28, MacNeil has matured into a solid, careful driver, who may not be as fast as his pro co-drivers, but the goal of an amateur, or gentleman driver, is to bring the car in without damage, and on the lead lap. MacNeil does that, whether it is at Le Mans, in IMSA competition, or in the Ferrari Challenge.
Speaking of which, right after Le Mans ends on Sunday, MacNeil will jet back to the U.S. In the next week he will have two Ferrari Challenge races—he figures on making the second one, at least—and then on to the IMSA WeatherTech race at Mid-Ohio next weekend, where he will race the WeatherTech Scuderia Corsa Ferrari 488 GT3 in the GT Daytona class. He and co-driver Toni Vilander are in ninth place in the standings here, with four more races left after Mid-Ohio.
MacNeil and Vilander are teamed up at Le Mans, with Jeff Segal, a Ferrari specialist – they will be driving the No. 63 GTE Pro Ferrari 488 GTE Evo entry. Yes, despite MacNeil’s presence, they are racing in the all-pro class, where all-professional drivers is allowed, but not mandated. MacNeil is the only one of the 24 drivers in the class with a “Silver” amateur rating—Segal is a Gold, the legendary Vilander is a Platinum. Bronze, the lowest rating, applies to several of the other, lesser-known but deep-pocketed Americans in the race.
You should know that the stakes may be higher in France than just the race. Said a CNN story posted Tuesday: “After young French people took advantage of the lifting of lockdown and summer months to socialize freely, COVID-19 hospitalizations have risen in large cities like Paris, Bordeaux and Marseille on the Mediterranean coast. French hospitals are now preparing for the long slog.” The country just set a record with 10,000 new cases in one day.
MacNeil, who is taking the proper precautions, shrugs this off. “I’m tired of living in a bubble,” he told Autoweek. “If I get it, I get it, and I’ll have to fight it off.” The Illinois resident said there is no quarantine coming or going right now. But the reason they are running in the tougher, but much smaller, Pro class is that his Bronze driver, necessary to race in the Am class, couldn’t make it to the track in time because of coronavirus restrictions, so they opted for Segal and to run as Pros.
And don’t be surprised if they finish on the podium – “We should have the speed,” MacNeil said. “We just have to execute, make no mistakes, and hope for some good luck.”
BEN KEATING
Keating, 49, is a Texas auto dealer with 19 stores, as far north as Dallas-Fort Worth, as far south as Port Lavaca (and, incidentally, he said his business is having a record year, both despite and because of the pandemic, which has lowered inventory and raised demand).
Keating, who remains the world’s largest Dodge Viper dealer even years after the car was discontinued, got into racing because of his love for driving Vipers, and he dominated a Viper-only series. That led to IMSA WeatherTech racing, and he has won the IMSA Endurance Cup three straight times. Even though he is racing full time in the Europe-based World Endurance Championship, he was going for a fourth Endurance Cup, based on finishes in the four longest IMSA races.
Traditionally the WEC begins racing late in one year, then winds up the next year, with Le Mans being the season-ender. But the WEC has moved Bahrain to November 12, and the season ends there, and that is in conflict with the Mobil 1 Twelve Hours of Sebring, which is now IMSA’s season-ender. So Keating, with points races in the WEC remaining, will miss Sebring, and give up a shot at four straight Endurance Cup championships.
He is third in standings in the WEC. But Le Mans is a double-points race, and Bahrain offer 1.5 points for every point, so a lot can happen, and he believes he has a shot at winning the title in WEC.
So what is next year’s WEC schedule? No one knows. But Keating expects to be back. “I love racing in the WEC,” he said, although every race takes him out of the U.S. except for Circuit of the Americas in Texas and the Sebring companion race with IMSA, which IMSA President John Doonan said is on for next March.
Anyway, this weekend Keating teams up with longtime Gold-rated co-driver Jeroen Bleekemolen, and Silver-rated Felipe Fraga. Keating is a Bronze, though technically he won this class last year—racing the only privateer Ford GT, he crossed the finish line first, but after 30 hours of post-race scrutiny, it was declared that his fuel tank held more than it should, “About a Coke can’s worth,” Keating said. But he knows he can win, and he has a strategy to come out on top again. “We’ll see if it works.
Keating, Bleekemolen and Franga are taking on the 8.5-mile, 38-turn track in the No. 57 Team Project 1 Porsche 911 RSR.
