Track: Le Mans
Race: 24 Hours of Le Mans
Date: June 11-12, 2022
No. 5 Penske Logistics ORECA-07/Gibson LMP2 – Felipe Nasr, Dane Cameron, Emmanuel Collard
Start: 9th in class / 13th overall
Finish: 5th in class / 9th overall
Laps Completed: 368/380
Race Rundown: Team Penske returned to the prestigious 24 Hours of Le Mans for the first time since 1971, and came away with an impressive fifth place in class and ninth-place finish overall in the historic endurance sports car event. After qualifying ninth in class, opening driver Felipe Nasr made a spirited charge through the opening laps, charging from ninth to fifth to set the pace early on. Through Nasr's stint and the first stint of Dane Cameron, the No. 5 Penske Logistics ORECA-07/Gibson LMP2 settled into second-place in class, where it would run for the first several hours of the event. Trouble struck just before the five-hour mark when the left front tire started to come apart, knocking off the brake hose and resulting in a lengthy pit stop. Coupled with some unfortunate “slow zone" opportunities, the Team Penske LMP2 car slipped to the back half of the top-10 until near the race's halfway point, when Nasr brought the team back into the top-three. Throughout the overnight and early morning hours, the team would move from the top five to the top-10. As the race wound to a close, Nasr, Cameron and Emmanuel Collard each spent some time behind the wheel, keeping the nose of the Penske Logistics car clean while others fell victim to mechanical problems or accidents. As the 24-hour race came to a close, the team improved from ninth to finish fifth in its class to complete a very successful return to Le Mans.
Cameron's Thoughts: "It was a lot of fun to compete in my first 24 Hours of Le Mans, and the entire Penske Logistics team did a great job. A lot of things can happen over the course of 24 hours, but thankfully we didn't really have any major issues other than a tire coming apart and knocking off a brake duct early on, which cost us a little bit of time. Felipe drove some awesome stints and helped us get in a position to be in the top-five early in the race, and after that we just wanted to stay in contention, which we did. It was a learning experience for all of us for sure, and we will be able to use a lot of this when we come back next year with the LMDh car."