Yahoo Autos Hertz Team JOTA preparing new chassis for Le Mans after Ilott crash
Hertz Team JOTA has been forced to source and build up a replacement chassis for its No. 12 Porsche 963 entry after Callum Ilott’s crash at the end of Free Practice 2 on Wednesday night.
The new chassis is believed to have come from Porsche Penske, and was being prepped on when RACER visited the garage first thing this morning.
Ilott’s incident occurred on the right-hander before Tertre Rouge with under a minute to go in the session; the Briton losing control of the car and veering off nose-first into the barriers on driver’s right.
The impact was heavy, destroying the front-right corner of the car and damaging the tub beyond repair.
After a long night, JOTA’s mechanics will continue to work on prepping the car throughout the day. The expectation at this stage is that the No. 12 crew will be forced to skip the Hyperpole shootout as a result.
In this case, the Hypercar Hyperpole field will be reduced to seven cars and JOTA will start the race eighth.
The No. 12 sneaked into Hyperpole as the eighth-fastest car on Wednesday after the No. 7 Toyota’s qualifying lap times were all deleted for causing a red flag.
Hertz Team JOTA sourced a new chassis from Porsche Penske Motorsport. Image by Stephen Kilbey
“After the accident late last night in Le Mans with Callum Ilott and the No. 12 Porsche 963 Hypercar, we have been carefully assessing the situation to understand our options for the remainder of the weekend,” Dieter Gass, team principal, Hertz Team JOTA said.
“Most importantly, Callum is unharmed and we’re very grateful for the speedy assistance of the race marshals and medical team. Unfortunately, the monocoque sustained damage so it needs to be replaced. This is now our number one priority and the team is working incredibly hard to get the car built up.
“In parallel, we are in constant communication with the ACO and the FIA to make sure that we fulfill all regulatory obligations before being able to communicate our next steps.”
On Thursday afternoon, the team received permission to shake the car down on Friday night ahead of the race.
“As part of the process of preparing the No.12 car for the race, we have now been granted permission to shakedown on the nearby airfield on Friday evening,” said Dieter Gass, team principal, Hertz Team JOTA.
“The replacement nmonocoque has arrived, so we have just over 24 hours to build our car – a job, which normally takes three weeks. Another big challenge for everybody, particularly our incredible mechanics, but we have full confidence that they will pull off yet another miracle.”
This story was updated after its original publication to include the team’s dispensation to shake the car down ahead of the race.
