Saturday’s 27th edition of Petit Le Mans, the 10-hour brainchild of the late Dr. Don Panoz, was truly a classic. It had everything: a record-sized field (and crowd), intense competition, excitement aplenty, precious few yellow-flag interruptions, and a thrilling climax as Renger van der Zande performed a spectacular pass on Nick Tandy’s Penske Porsche in Turn 1 with 15 minutes remaining to secure an incredible come-from-behind victory for Chip Ganassi’s Cadillac Racing team.
There was plenty of trepidation as a total of 53 cars lined up on a gorgeous autumn morning, especially given the context of last year’s race which ended behind the Safety Car after a record 12 cautions. But after a trio of relatively minor interruptions during the first 100 minutes, there was only one more until just inside the final hour.
