It’s official: British racing drivers have won the most at the Le Mans 24 Hours over the past century.
Since the first race 101 years ago, a total of 34 Brits have been part of the winning crew at the world’s greatest endurance race, racking up 45 victories between them. The next closest is the French: 28 drivers for a tally of 42 home wins.
But look down the list since 1923, and from the 1960s onwards British winners become an elite club – especially when you break it down further to those with multiple wins. There aren’t many. So who are the most likely contenders to wave the Union flag once more come Sunday afternoon?
Jenson Button, Will Stevens, Callum Ilott, Phil Hanson
A quartet grouped together because they all have two things in common: one, none of them has an overall Le Mans win to their name; and two, they all drive for British privateer Jota.
The Kent-based team runs a pair of Porsche 963s in a striking Hertz livery and is absolutely in with a shot of scoring the manufacturer’s record-extending 20th Le Mans win.
Proof of that was thrown up at the previous World Endurance Championship round, the Spa 6 Hours, when Stevens and Ilott delivered Jota its first overall win at this level - also a first for any customer team in this era.
Yes, a dose of luck was involved, but in such a competitive Hypercar field opportunism is the name of the game.
Stevens is an ex-Formula 1 driver now established as one of the finest endurance racers on the planet, and Ilott is juggling Indycar with a transition to the long game. They share the #12 entry with Frenchman Norman Nato.
In the #38 963, Hanson is the prime example of an increasingly common breed: a young driver who has focused on sports cars since his teens.
Button needs little introduction: can the 2009 F1 world champion echo Fernando Alonso and add a Le Mans win to his glittering career? Hanson and Button share with fast Dane Oliver Rasmussen.
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