Le Mans Stat Attack!

Le Mans 2022 falls on the weekend of 11-12th June for the 5th time in history (1955, 1977, 1988), and the first since 2011. Audi’s Lotterer, Fassler and Treluyer won the race on that weekend, later going on to win the inaugural WEC World Championship in 2012, which included a defence of their Le Mans crown.

Le Mans 2022 is the 75th WEC race – occurring 10 years and 86 days, or 3,738 total days, after the series’ first race at Sebring in 2012.

June hosts Le Mans again for the first time since 2019, with the previous two editions occurring in September and August.

Le Mans 2020 was the last WEC race at which a car other than AF Corse #51 or Porsche #92 won GTE Pro, with Aston Martin winning in the class for the 19th and final time.

Charles Milesi became the first driver born in the 2000s to win a WEC race, taking victory at home in Le Mans 2021. Milesi became the then-8th youngest WEC winner, and of the 10 youngest winners, joined Julien Andlauer and Dries Vanthoor as drivers to take their first win in Le Mans.

Le Mans 2021 produced the first repeat Hypercar podium, with the Toyota – Toyota – Alpine order matching the rostrum of two rounds prior in #8hPortimao.

Kamui Kobayashi’s second consecutive Le Mans pole position in 2021 was Toyota’s fifth in a row at La Sarthe. It marked just the second time in the race’s history that one prototype marque has scored five straight poles, after Porsche.

Le Mans 2021 was the second in the WEC era to see all four class winners lead the most laps – the victors leading a combined 1,112 laps. The first such race was 2020, when the winners led for 784 laps.

If all 62 cars start Le Mans 2022, it will be a race record, exceeding the 61 competitors from 2019 and 2021.

5 cars feature in Hypercar, for the 2nd year in a row, and the 3rd year in a row for the top WEC class. The fewest in the current era.

23 cars in GTE Am is a race record, matching the total Am participants from 2021.

27 LMP2 starters is a new record for the class, two more than the previous most starters of 25 in 2017. That race saw two LMP2 cars reach the overall podium, for the first and only time to date in WEC history.

In potentially its last Le Mans, GTE Pro features only seven cars, which is the lowest in the WEC era – one fewer than 2015, 2020 and 2021’s eight.

52 drivers are making their Le Mans debut in 2022 – they include eight-time WRC champion Sebastien Ogier, two-time IMSA champion Dane Cameron, Asian Le Mans Series champion Matt Bell, Sebring 12 Hours winner Tristan Vautier, FIA F2 race-winner Jack Aitken, two-time Supercars champion Shane van Gisbergen and actor Michael Fassbender.

With 40 drivers entered, France is the most represented nation at Le Mans 2022. This is the eighth time in the WEC era that French drivers have dominated the entry list.

25 French drivers in LMP2 is the most from one nation in a single class, with USA’s 12 drivers in GTE Am 2nd, and 11 British drivers in LMP2 the 3rd most.

27 nations are represented at Le Mans 2022, or six continents – Asia, Africa, Europe, North America, Oceania and South America.

Most WEC-era wins at Le Mans across all classes combined
4 wins – Nico Lapierre
3 wins – Sebastien Buemi, Kazuki Nakajima
2 wins – Andre Lotterer, Marcel Fassler, Benoit Treluyer, Gianmaria Bruni, Giancarlo Fisichella, Toni Vilander, Romain Dumas, Marc Lieb, Earl Bamber, Fernando Alonso, Andre Negrao, Pierre Thiriet, Daniel Serra, Harry Tincknell, Jonny Adam, Brendon Hartley, James Calado, Alessandro Pier Guidi

Most wins by class
Overall/LMP1/Hypercar – Sebastien Buemi, Kazuki Nakajima, 3 wins
LMP2 – Nico Lapierre, 4 wins
GTE Pro – Gianmaria Bruni, Giancarlo Fisichella, Toni Vilander, Daniel Serra, James Calado, Alessandro Pier Guidi, 2 wins
GTE Am – All 30 drivers have 1 win each, nobody has won GTE Am at Le Mans twice

Most wins by team, across all classes combined
5 wins – AF Corse
4 wins – Toyota
3 wins – Audi Sport, Porsche LMP1 Team, Signatech Alpine, Aston Martin Racing

Driver stats
Most appearances in the series:
74 races – Christian Ried
72 races – Richard Lietz
67 races – Sebastien Buemi
64 races – Gianmaria Bruni
63 races – Paul Dalla Lana

Five most successful drivers in each WEC class
Overall wins:
20 wins – Sebastien Buemi
17 wins – Kazuki Nakajima, Brendon Hartley
12 wins – Timo Bernhard, Mike Conway

LMP2 wins:
17 wins – Roman Rusinov
12 wins – Julien Canal
9 wins – Nico Lapierre
8 wins – Filipe Albuquerque
7 wins – John Martin

GTE Pro wins:
15 wins – Gianmaria Bruni
11 wins – James Calado
10 wins – Alessandro Pier Guidi
9 wins – Toni Vilander, Richard Lietz

GTE Am wins:
19 wins – Pedro Lamy
17 wins – Paul Dalla Lana
13 wins – Mathias Lauda
11 wins – Christian Ried
8 wins – Francois Perrodo

Most WEC wins across all classes combined:
20 wins – Sebastien Buemi (all outright)
19 wins – Pedro Lamy (all GTE Am)
17 wins – Roman Rusinov (all LMP2), Brendon Hartley (all outright), Kazuki Nakajima (all outright), Paul Dalla Lana (all GTE Am)
16 wins – Nico Lapierre (outright and LMP2), Mike Conway (LMP2 and outright)
15 wins – Julien Canal (GTE Am and LMP2), Gianmaria Bruni (all GTE Pro)

Record number of WEC podiums by a driver:
42 – Nico Lapierre

Teams/manufacturer stats

Most WEC pole positions by manufacturer (all):
Overall:
31 poles – Toyota
20 poles – Porsche
16 poles – Audi
4 poles – Rebellion
2 poles – Alpine
1 pole – Glickenhaus

LMP2:
45 poles - Oreca
12 poles - Ligier
7 poles - Alpine (Oreca)
4 poles - Morgan
3 poles - HPD
1 pole – Zytek, Lola, Aurus (Oreca)

GTE Pro:
27 poles – Aston Martin
21 poles - Porsche
18 poles - Ferrari
8 poles - Ford

GTE Am:
36 poles - Aston Martin
21 poles - Porsche 
15 poles - Ferrari
2 poles - Corvette

Most WEC pole positions by team:
Overall: same as above.

LMP2 (Top 5):
23 poles – G-Drive
7 poles – Signatech Alpine
6 poles – United Autosport
5 poles – Jackie Chan DC Racing 
3 poles – KCMG, ADR Delta, OAK Racing, Starworks, Jota Sport

GTE Pro (Top 3):
27 poles – Aston Martin Racing
17 poles – Porsche GT Team
16 poles – AF Corse

GTE Am (Top 3):
29 poles – Aston Martin Racing
9 poles – Dempsey-Proton Racing
7 poles – TF Sport

Most WEC wins by manufacturer (all):
Overall:
36 wins – Toyota
17 wins – Audi, Porsche
3 wins – Rebellion Racing
1 win - Alpine

LMP2:
48 wins - Oreca
8 wins - Alpine (Oreca), Ligier
4 wins - Morgan
3 wins - HPD
2 wins - Zytek
1 win - Gibson

GTE Pro:
29 wins – Ferrari
19 wins – Aston Martin
19 wins – Porsche
6 wins – Ford
1 win – Corvette

GTE Am:
31 wins – Aston Martin
20 wins – Ferrari
20 wins – Porsche
3 wins - Corvette
 

Most WEC wins by team:
Overall: same as above.

LMP2 (Top 5):
17 wins – G-Drive Racing
8 wins – Signatech Alpine, Jackie Chan DC Racing
7 wins – United Autosport
5 wins – KCMG, Jota Sport
4 wins – ADR Delta, Rebellion Racing, Team WRT

GTE Pro (Top 3):
29 wins – AF Corse
19 wins – Aston Martin Racing
10 wins – Porsche GT Team

GTE Am (Top 3):
26 wins – Aston Martin Racing (+ Northwest AMR)
9 wins – AF Corse, Dempsey-Proton Racing 

With thanks to 'Magic Alex' @wecdata