Yahoo Autos Le Mans LMP2 winners respond to “relentless innuendo” after victory confirmed
The FIA World Endurance Championship confirmed on Friday that there will be no changes to the finishing order from the 2023 24 Hours of Le Mans after technical checks on parts removed from a number of cars post-race were given the all-clear, prompting one winning team to punch back at paddock and media speculation.
Polish squad Inter Europol Competition scored a class win in LMP2 against strong opposition despite a significant foot injury to Pro driver Fabio Scherer and the squad being completed by 2023 LMP2 and Le Mans rookie Albert Costa and Silver-ranked team director Cuba Schmiechowski.
Post-race, there were paddock rumblings about the relative pace of the No.34 Oreca, and after significant post-event checks in the scrutineering bay, several key parts of the car, including both mechanical and electronic components, were retained by race organizers for further examination.
Whilst the LMP2 winning car was the only car in its class so treated, there were also component checks on a number of the Hypercars – the best-finishing examples from Cadillac, Toyota, Porsche and Peugeot, along with the winning Ferrari, also had parts examined.
A technical bulletin posted on Friday by the FIA WEC confirmed that post-race technical checks are now complete.
“Further checks on parts collected at the event on cars 2, 5, 8, 51, 93 and 34 have been performed,” the bulletin reads.
“After deep analysis, all cars were found in compliance with their respective regulations.”
Inter Europol had made it clear publicly, in the face of some background finger-pointing from competitors that had been picked up by some specialist media outlets, that they had done nothing outside the rules and were confident that the process would find them entirely in the clear. Their statement after the results were finalized lays bare their irritation”
“All at Inter Europol Competition welcome today’s confirmation from the FIA that all scrutineering and technical checks relating to the 24 Hours of Le Mans have been passed and the race results have now been confirmed as official, and our hard-earned victory has been ratified,” read the team’s statement.
“Since taking the checkered flag at the legendary race in June, there has been relentless speculation and innuendo that our victory was somehow achieved by foul means.
“It was never in our doubt that the victory was achieved through the hard work, endeavor and skills of our drivers, engineers, management team, owners and crew to embark on a strategy and performance that was not only innovative but brave and daring and executed to perfection.
“It was disappointing in the light of the accusations of some rival competitors and certain aspects of the media that we were not fully able to enjoy and celebrate our achievements.
“But now, with today’s confirmation from the FIA that our victory was legitimate, we intend to celebrate to the fullest and push on in our attempts to deliver the FIA World Endurance Championship for our team.”
The team is well in the hunt for the WEC Championship with two rounds to go this season, and is set to add a program in the IMSA WeatherTech Sportscar Championship in 2024 after the LMP2 class bows out of the WEC at the end of 2023.
