It’s been a long time since an American team had a good shot at overall victory in the 24 Hours of Le Mans. Glickenhaus teased with a podium last year, but otherwise Americas best hope for victory in recent years has come in the GTE classes. Corvette Racing and Chip Ganassi Racing with its Ford GTs have had to slake the patriotic thirst for endur ance racing glory.
One has to look back to 2005 to find Champion Racing’s victory with the mighty Audi R8 for an overall win by an American team. It was a few years before that that saw Cadillac Racing attempting to win Le Mans with various versions of the Northstar LMP. And the last time an American team won with an American manufacturer (not to mention a pair of American drivers)? 1967, when Shelby American claimed victory with the Ford GT driven by A.J. Foyt and Dan Gurney.
In 2023, not only does Corvette once again have a shot at a class victory; American teams Heart of Racing (through an entry with Northwest AMR) and AO Racing (partnering with Project 1) are having a go at it, and Cadillac Racing through its two American teams, Chip Ganassi Racing and Action Express, is once again seeking an overall victory. Then there’s Porsche Penske Motorsports – the car may be German, but few are as synonymous with American success in racing as Roger Penske.
CGR has had its Le Mans moments, but for Action Express Racing it will be all new. And for Felipe Luis ‘Pipo’ Derani, it will be his first go at Le Mans with the team with which he has had so much success, including the 2021 IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship DPi title and victory in this year’s Mobil 1 Twelve Hours of Sebring with Alexander Sims and Jack Aitken, the same drivers he will partner with at Le Mans.
“I’m used to jumping ship to another team and joining other drivers and and having that feeling of, ‘OK, now we start from scratch and how does this team work? How do we get things going?’” says Derani. “So for sure, it’s going to be more of a plug-and-play in that sense. But again, also having Action Express be there for the very first time, I suppose there’ll be so many other things that I will try and guide them as well on how to approach the weekend, because they haven’t been there. Same for Alex as well, with being there so many times and having done so well at Le Mans.”