24 Hours of Le Mans: Moving apologies from François Perrodo after his collision with the #64 Corvette

It will undoubtedly remain one of the highlights of this 90th edition of the 24 Hours of Le Mans. On Sunday morning, the No. 64 Corvette ended its race in the safety rail after being accidentally hit by the No. 83 AF Corse of François Perrodo. A clash which involved two cars entered in different categories (GTE Pro for the first, LMP2 for the second) and heavy consequences for Corvette, which was then more than ever in the game for victory and had already lost its number 63 on abandonment a little earlier.

In the American team’s stand, the disarray and emotion were clearly palpable. The dreams of coronation, for the last appearance of the GTE Pro category, had just taken flight in a cruel way. But Perrodo wasn’t leading off either. Aware of his mistake, the French driver seemed consumed by remorse after leaving the wheel to one of his teammates.

So much so that the 45-year-old walked to the Corvette pits to make an act of contrition. “I’m sorry, guys. There are no words”, we could hear. Far from throwing stones at him, the representatives of the Chevrolet manufacturer seemed to appreciate the approach of Perrodo, who had no difficulty in recognizing his faults. His car was penalized with a three-minute forced stop. But the main thing was elsewhere.