Official 24 hrs of Le Mans thread (warning spoilers for everything)

Obviously they changed the regulations again.

 

The Audis were given extra weight and smaller restrictors for this year.

BHW

 

Can you say "Endurance Racing"?

 

Endurance racing is a misnomer. Its just a 24 hr sprint race.

 

Top times:

1. Collard/Boullion/Comas Pescarolo-Judd 3min 34.715secs
2. Ayari/Helary/Loeb Pescarolo-Judd 3min 35.555secs
3. Biela/Pirro/McNish Audi R83min 37.795secs
4. Michigami/Ara/Kaneishi Dome-Mugen 3min 38.094secs
5. Gounon/Ortelli/Montagny Audi R8 3min 38.281secs
6. Cochet/Jouanny/Nakano Courage-Judd 3min 38.735secs
7. Minassian/Campbell-Walter/Wallace DBA-Judd 3min 38.929secs
8. Lehto/Werner/Kristensen Audi R8 3min 38.988secs
9. Short/Barbosa/Ickx Dallara-Judd 3min 39.643secs
10. Hignett/Stack/Kurosawa Zytek 3min 41.177secs

Link to all times

 

Perfect!

 

I'm a bit surprised no one has made mention of the 24 Hours of Le Mans, which starts in about 2-1/2 hours as I write this.

There are 7 Ferraris among the 49 starters: four 550s and a 575 in GT1 and two 360s in GT2.

The GT1 cars are off the pace of the Aston Martins but seem to be competitive with the Corvettes; the lead 550 split the Corvettes in qualifying.

Race coverage in the U.S. begins at 9:30 EDT on SpeedChannel with the race beginning at 10:00.

 

Yeah it seems the Aston martins will do well this year. The main problem with Le mans i find is its not a level playing field. It seems to have been put to the back burner by the FIA and just ignored. Even scumacher was quoted this week saying that he would question weather the le mans series would be in existence in a few years. The rules need to be thought throw properley and a level playing field made. The maserati MC12 didnt make it to Le mans as it didnt comply to the rules which was a shame. Anyway i hope the ferraris do well this year althought i think they are run by private teams and not ferrari themselves. I want ferrari one day to enter there own factory race car but i think they will wait till big names such as porsche and BMW come back into Le mans

 

A 550 GT Maranello actually was fastest in Wednesday practice in the wet, some 2 seconds ahead of the Astons which (as we've seen at Sebring and in testing like to sandbag) until Thursday qualifying in the dry where the Prodrive built DBR9s asserted their dominance.

For sure, a shame the MC-12s are not allowed to take part. But, as we've seen in ALMS, the cars are handicapped with extra ballast and reduced aerodynamics so they would be hard pressed to be competitive.

Should be an interesting race as they are saying on Radio Le Mans, the conditions are hot and dry with no sign of rain in the forecast.

They're rolling off on the first reconnasiance lap as I write this, waiting for Speed coverage to begin.

Cheering for a Ferrari victory in GT-1 and GT-2 and for Tom Kristensen to break the record of Jacky Ickx to become the all time leading driver at Le Mans. History is at hand.

BHW

 

Man you guys must be blind... we have a thread about Le Mans. Its only like 6 threads down and in the main page.

 

Green flag in 7 hrs.

 

Radio Le Mans keeps cutting in and out on me. I've given up on it.

 

<sigh>
It happens every race weekend that overly enthusiastic race fans start new threads about the same race there are already threads open.

I guess they do it to keep us mods on our toes.

PS: As soon as I'm on a PC that allows me to use my mod powers (tataa! x-ray vision!) I'll clean up the duplicate threads.

 

Updates:

LM1: Champion Racing Audi 1-2 with the Dome Mugen in 3.
LM2: Lola, Courage, Courage

GT1: Corvette, Aston Martin, Corvette
GT2: Porsche top 3

More updates at: http://www.lemans.org/24heuresdumans/live/pages/chronos_gb.html

 

Top 3 in each class.

LM1:

Audi

LEHTO JJ
WERNER M
KRISTENSEN T

Audi

BIELA F
PIRRO E
Mc NISH A

Pescarolo

COLLARD E
BOULLION JC
COMAS E

LM2:

Courage

GOSSELIN CY
OJJEH K
SHARPE A

Lola MG

ERDOS T
NEWTON M
HUGHES W

Courage

BELMONDO P
ANDRE D
SUTHERLAND R

GT1:

Aston Martin

ENGE T
KOX P
LAMY P

Corvette

GAVIN O
BERETTA O
MAGNUSSEN J

Corvette

FELLOWS R
O'CONNEL J
PAPIS M

GT2:

Porsche

HINDERY L
ROCKENFELLER M
LIEB

Porsche

BERGMEISTER J
LONG P
BERNHARD T

Porsche

DUMAS R
DUMEZ S
NARAC R

 

CURRENT STADNINGS

1 3 Champion Racing LEHTO JJ
WERNER M
KRISTENSEN T Audi R8 LM1 ==320==

2 16 Pescarolo Sport COLLARD E
BOULLION JC
COMAS E Pescarolo Judd LM1 ==318==

3 2 Champion Racing BIELA F
PIRRO E
Mc NISH A Audi R8 LM1 ==314==

4 4 Audi Playstation Oreca MONTAGNY F
GOUNON JM
ORTELLI S Audi R8 LM1 ==312==

5 9 Team Jota - Zytek HIGNETT S
STACK J
KUROSAWA H Zytek 04S LM1 ==303==

6 64 Corvette Racing GAVIN O
BERETTA O
MAGNUSSEN J Corvette C6-R GT1 ==302==

7 59 Aston Martin Racing BRABHAM D
SARRAZIN S
TURNER D Aston Martin D GT1 (+52.320)

8 58 Aston Martin Racing ENGE T
KOX P
LAMY P Aston Martin D GT1 (+1:29.390)

9 63 Corvette Racing FELLOWS R
O'CONNEL J
PAPIS M Corvette C6-R GT1 ==301==

10 10 Racing For Holland LAMMERS J
JULIAN E
BOSCH J Dome Judd LM1 ==299==

11 12 Courage Competition SCHWAGER D
FREI A
VANN C Courage Judd LM1 ==291==

12 71 Alex Job Racing HINDERY L
ROCKENFELLER M
LIEB M Porsche 911 GT3 RSR GT2 ==286==

13 90 White Lightning Racing BERGMEISTER J
LONG P
BERNHARD T Porsche 911 GT GT2 (+2:40.133)

14 50 Larbre Competition GOUESLARD P
DUPARD O
VOSSE V Ferrari 550Mar GT1 ==284==

15 18 Rollcentre Racing SHORT M
BARBOSA J
ICKX V Dallara Judd LM1 ==280==

16 61 Cirtek Motorsport FOMENKO N
VASILIEV A
BOUCHUT CH Ferrari 550Mar GT1 (+1:13.602)

17 80 Flying Lizard Motorsports VAN OVERBEEK J
PECHNIK L
NEIMAN S Porsche 911 GT GT2 ==279==

18 76 Raymon Narrac DUMAS R
DUMEZ S
NARAC R Porsche 911 GT GT2 ==278==

19 7 Creation Autosportif MINASSIAN N
CAMPBELLWALTER
WALLACE A DBA Judd LM1 ==274==

20 72 Luc Alphand Aventures POLICAND J
CAMPBELL CH
ALPHAND L Porsche 911 GT GT2 ==272==

21 37 Paul Belmondo Racing BELMONDO P
ANDRE D
SUTHERLAND R Courage C65 Fo LM2 ==271==

22 89 Sebah Automotive NIELSEN L E
THYRRING T
EHRET P Porsche 911 GT GT2 ==267==

23 25 RML ERDOS T
NEWTON M
HUGHES W Lola MG LM2 ==266==

24 36 Paul Belmondo Racing GOSSELIN CY
OJJEH K
SHARPE A Courage C65 Fo LM2 ==264==

25 30 Kruse Motorsport BENNETT P
MITCHELL I
MULLEN T Courage Judd LM2 ==254==

26 83 Seikel Motorsport COLLIN P
FELBERMAYR H
SHEP D Porsche 911 GT GT2 ==235==

27 95 RaceSport Peninsula TVR HARTSHORNE J
STANTON R
JOHNSON P TVR Tuscan T40 GT2 ==217==

28 24 Rachel Welter TERADA Y
ROUSSEL P
BINNIE W WR Peugeot LM2 ==214==

 

History made!!!

First American team to win overall since 1967!!!

LEHTO JJ, WERNER M, KRISTENSEN T do it for Champion Audi. Woot!!! Tom Kristensen becomes the most winningest Le Man driver ever beating Jacky Icyx. Just amazing.

 

Great race indeed.

 

Final resuts:

LM1:

Audi

LEHTO JJ
WERNER M
KRISTENSEN T


Pescarolo

COLLARD E
BOULLION JC
COMAS E

Audi

BIELA F
PIRRO E
Mc NISH A

LM2:

LM2:

Lola MG

ERDOS T
NEWTON M
HUGHES W

Courage

GOSSELIN CY
OJJEH K
SHARPE A

Courage

BELMONDO P
ANDRE D
SUTHERLAND R

GT1:

GAVIN O
BERETTA O
MAGNUSSEN J

Corvette

FELLOWS R
O'CONNEL J
PAPIS M

Aston Martin

BRABHAM D
SARRAZIN S
TURNER D

GT2:

Porsche

HINDERY L
ROCKENFELLER M
LIEB M

Porsche

BERGMEISTER J
LONG P
BERNHARD T

Porsche

VAN OVERBEEK J
PECHNIK L
NEIMAN S

 

It is difficult to state what Tom Kristensen's accomplishment today
at Le Mans means.

To say it is surprising that he has surpassed Jacky Ickx's seemingly
unattainable six victories, Tom (who will be a contributing writer for
FORMULA Magazine) won the most important motor race in the world
for the seventh time with his team mates J.J. Lehto and Marco Werner
is hardly a surprise.

From his first victory in 1997 in a car he had never driven on the
course which he had never seen before to come through with the three
fastest laps and named "Man of the Race" by Le Mans media, Tom has
won Le Mans seven times in nine attempts (remembering his DNF in
1999 when the BMW LMR V12 let the team down with a four lap lead
and four hours remaining in the race).

Tom's record at Le Mans is unparralled in the history of motorsport.
To put into perspective his accomplishment today, it took Jacky Ickx
the span of three decades (60s, 70s and 80s) to earn his six incredible
victories.

Furthermore, Champion's victory is the first for an American team
since Ford's historic victory with A.J. Foyt and Dan Gurney driving
the GT40 in 1967.

1997: Joest/TWR Porsche Kristensen-Alboreto-Johansson
2000: Team Joest Audi Sport Audi R8 Kristensen-Biela-Pirro
2001: Team Joest Audi Sport Audi R8 Kristensen-Biela-Pirro
2002: Team Joest Audi Sport Audi R8 Kristensen-Biela-Pirro
2003: Team Bentley Speed 8 Kristensen-Capello-Smith
2004: Team Goh Audi Sport Audi R8 Kristensen-Capello-Ara
2005: Champion Racing Audi R8 Kristensen-Lehto-Werner

http://www.tomkristensen.com

PS, Tom was the first driver on Jean Todt's list to step in for Schumacher when he broke his leg at Silverstone. Thanks ever so much to Eddie Irvine for
putting the brakes on that and asking for Mike Salo instead.

BHW

 

Leo Hindery, one of the drivers for the winning GT2 class, drove in the Ferrari Challenge series for Ferrari of Atlanta. Congratulations.

 

Oh. So what happened to the Ferraris?

 

It was finally something more than the boring VW/Audi/Bentley lap parade of the past five years thanks to some rules tweaking. I am never one for tweaking rules to even competition but when one team gets factory support and spends more on food catering the next closest competitor spends on their entire LeMans budget something needs to be done.

No doubt Tom ran a great race and has accomplished a record many thought would never be broken.

However, the question still remains .......... who did he beat and who did Audi/Bentley beat during their great run.

The Audi R8 and it's drivers keep getting mentioned with the great cars of LeMans like the GT40's and the 956/962's but to me that is a complete joke. Both those great cars and faced huge opposition from other equally funded factory teams like Mercedes, Nissan, Toyota, BMW, Peugot, and Jaguar.

Who has Audi faced of any note..............the list is pathetic in terms of funding and development. Pesacarollo, a fan favorite and a great grassroots team is the equivelent of Jordan in F1 or Minardi. The other threats are not even on the map. Courage is the equivent of Arrows of past F1.

And remember Ickx raced at a time when competition from factory funded teams and privateers (many of whom spent just as much) was quite fierce and engines were being pushed to the limit with huge turbos and ancient engine management technology. Some of the Porsche's he drove made upwards of 700-800 hp in race trim.

I am not trying to take anything away from Tom, but it's the old Fangio vs. Schumacher arguement. Fangio raced at a time when you were lucky to live to see retirement and also a time of some other awesome drivers (Moss). The rap on Schumacher is that he had no opposition (not a view I share but one others bring up).

In the case of Tom, he has had teammates that were head and shoulders above the rest and equipment and R&D that is ten times what the other teams spend. He competed in a car that is backed by a major auto manufacturer that has nearly unlimited budget for the LeMans race. He faced no other car builder that had any auto manufacturer backed efforts.

It's not Tom's fault, but I don't see the comparison between his seven wins and Jacky's six. The comparison is even more relavant than the Fangio/Schumacher one.

In regards to Audi's R8. It has beaten no one or any particualr note. It never faced the awesome Toyota GT1, the BMW LMV12, the great TWR Jaguars, the Sauber Mercedes C12 or CLK, the Porsche factory GT1's, the factory Ferraris of the 60's, the Ford GT40's, the Peugot cars which hit 249 mph down the Mulsane and the most dominant endurance car of the century in the 956/962 which won the LeMans race nearly 12 year after it's introduction.

It's simply and unfair comparison for driver or car.

Regards,

Jon P. Kofod
www.flatoutracing.net

 

I can not disagree with your opinion from a drivers stand point. However, the R8 can be called legendary for more reasons than just it's performance (which has been breathtaking at times). I think the car should be remembered for its toughness, fuel economy, and modular ability. The car has been an engineering miracle. When you can change a rear end in less than 8 minutes, that's flat out amazing. When the car can basically finish the race after having one foot in the grave, that's amazing. Finally, although the car eventually ran out of gas on the last lap a couple years ago (I believe at Road Atlanta) they were that close to doing that race on one stop. To me that is why the car will and should go down in history as one of the greatest race cars to ever hit the track.

Also, are you sure the Audi did not face the BMW LMR12 during one of it's early years???

EDIT: In 2000 they won in Sebring, Sears Point, Mosport, Texas, Portland, Petit, Laguna, and Vegas. All over the BMW.