Official LeMans thread (spoilers)

Finally got to see some LeMans action now that I'm not asleep and I'm watching it live. (still pissed that I missed the start)

Audi #2 overall leader
Risi #97 up by two laps on the Porsche for the lead in GT2
007 and 009 AM's are in the lead for GT1 over the corvettes.

The lights on the cars are ridiculously bright, but I guess they have to be when you're going 180 at night time.

 

Ferrari still leading GT2 class with 13.5hours left. Speed just cut to NASCAR and should be back in about an hour to cover the transition from night racing to day racing.

 

Bourdais almost had an off at the Dunlop chicane at the start so Dindo (iirc) took the lead.

The timing for the Oreca Saleen S7Rs can't be right as the young guns are _really_ in the # 55 car while Ortelli is in the # 54 car.

http://www.lemans.org/24heuresdumans/pages/chronos_gb.html

I wish Terry Borcheller was in the # 54 car with Ortelli and Soheil Ayari.

http://www.tborcheller.com/

 

Man I wish I could see this. I really need the Speed channel or something...

 

Flying Lizard Porsche is done. They can't fix the car so it's parked.

 

Did anyone catch the interview with that 18 year old driver? Chris Braun, I think. Driving a 430 GT...Incredible.

 

I saw that and was pretty impressed as well. Villeneuve has fallen even further back from the Audi's but that could just be because the Audi's are unstoppable. Risi is still leading GT2 by about two laps but the IMSA Porsche is catching up.

 

Colin Braun sells out for nascar $$$.

http://www.speedtv.com/articles/auto/oval/37858/

 

Caught the tail of it. He'll be very busy in the ALMS series I think he said. I'm not jealous!

 

Peugeot first tested the 908 on December 31, 2006.

 

I think the Peugeots are doing very well, all things considered....but I agree the Audis will win. If the LMP2 Porsches and Acuras were there, the race would be a lot more interesting. The Risi Ferrari might actually beat all the LMP2 cars that are there!

 

P2 is intended for privateers. Some just don't prepare enough or have enough time.

T2M Motorsport first tested their Dome S101.5 in early May as that was when they received the car.

The best P2 battle I've seen since the start of the 2005 ALMS season was at Laguna Seca last year when Ben Devlin made Penske and Porsche wear it.

Ben Devlin led the P2 class in his # 19 Radical SR9 AER in the four hour race at Laguna Seca on October 21, 2006 for 18 mintues. He held off Romain Dumas in his factory-supported # 7 Porsche RS Spyder for around five minutes.

http://www.radicalextremesportscars.com/news_folder/sr9_pre_laguna/index4.php

 

They're already ahead of a few GT1's with just one last P2 car to pass which I believe is 6 laps ahead at the moment with a P1 car only 3 laps ahead.

Agreed on Audi having the time advantage and everything else. I think they'll dominate this year and next at the least until Purgot gets a few more miles under their belts and more teams step up into the diesel class. (which looks to be a separate class from P1)

 

damn...i wished they aired Le Mans here...

 

Your'e not missing much. All their showing is footage of cars pitting, drivers switching, mechanics working on cars and lots and lots of interviews. I haven't seen any onboard footage, no overtaking, certianly no sustained footage of the cars running. All there is, is the occasional shot of the cars taking off after pitting and on the long straight.

 

that sucks, how many hours left?

 

I've lost count, but around 6-7 hours left, I think. It's a repeating process, 10 seconds of cars running, then cut to them working on cars, then the interviews, the occasional short documentary/ historical piece, then commercial! I swear they're showing more footage of team/driver interviews alone, than the cars running.

 

Scuderia Ecosse is leading GT2. I hope the Scots can go all the way.

 

Rah roh, Audi!

 

that can be really irratating. do they show onboard footage?

 

They just showed a bit, and then the overall leader by 3 laps plants it into the barrier!

 

The F430 leading the LMGT2 class is going very slowly on the side of the track...not sure what's up with it right now, but the Porsche 997 is catching up quickly. Could be a suspension failure or maybe even ran out of fuel...

Edit: The F430 has now stopped on the side of the track and the #76 Porsche has taken the lead. The 2nd place car in GT2 is another Porsche, but it's a team from ITALY. wow

Edit #2: The Ferrari team says a half shaft is broke or something. The diff still allows the car to move, but they're worried about overheating since they have to rev it so high to move. I guess they're letting it sit to cool off for a bit.

 

Wow I go away for a while and everything goes to ****. The #2 goes into the wall and the Risi 97 drops eighteen laps. Fortunately the #1 Audi is still in the lead, and there's a Ferrari in the lead for GT2.

 

The 911 has been leading in GT2 for an hour now so I don't know what you're talking about. Maybe you confused it when the Ferrari passed the other Porsche, Autorlando, for second place in GT2. The F430 is still 6 laps behind the GT2 leader.

 

I did - it was bizarre - they talked about great his NASCAR drive was going to be!