Back to racing - LMS Portugal this weekend

Too bad it doesn't look like any TV coverage in the US. Hope we get some coverage by means of the other internet resources. Nice to see the S7 in the line up, and I'm sure #84 will have another great showing.

 

#84 3rd in class, 27th over all in qualifying. Go Modena!
A front row start for the 007 Lola AM. Nicholas Lapierre on pole in the Oreca #11.
Radio lemans saves the day once again.
Someone has to tell this series about modern coverage. Spa24 was a total joke with only 5 hours actually covered by three TV cameras.

 

Yes I wish there was some sort of video feed on the web for this. LMS really needs to start providing some sort of video coverage in situations like this. Glad Radio Le Mans is there to fill the void. I listened to their coverage this afternoon for the qualifying and thoroughly enjoyed it!

Gary

 

I could really do with a pic of the back wall of the cockpit in any of the GT2 430s if anyone gets a chance for a CGI model I'm making.
Amongst hundreds of pics theres almost none of this area and I'd like to get the firewall as accurate as possible.
Seem to be in the wrong continent for taking my own reference pics.

Race starts around 4am my time. I might put a speaker by my bed. lol

 

I'll try to help!

 

Thanks very much!

 

What's likely to happen about the porsche cylinder liners?
Common sense says its politicly too much to declare them all illegal, BUT when a non-performance issue arose over the Ferrari mud guards at Le Man Porsche were quite happy to stick to the letter of the law what ever the ramifications for Ferrari.
Certainly whether an engine keeps running is performance related and Ferrari would be within their rights to be very annoyed if the FIA sweep this under the mat or try to.
What do you think?

 

I got in a little late for the race. Mostly listening on radiolemans, found this link for live http://www.justin.tv/gio46_7/old, but it's not English. Hope you are enjoying it there, Carol!

 

Above link turned into boxing...http://www.justin.tv/athe5/old should work but not very good quality.

 

And the above link is now steeplechase. Pescarolo Judd leading LMP1, Ginetta Zytek leading LMP2, Vette leading GT1, IMSA Porsche leading GT2. #84 running third!

 

Very cool, Carol! I wish we could get a good feed of the race. I'm only able to listen on and off today and will miss the end tonight. Anyway, enjoy yourself out there!

 

Gary Watkins reports on Autosports -

Pescarolo Sport claimed its first Le Mans Series victory in three years at the Autodromo Internacional do Algarve in Portugal in the early hours of Sunday morning.

Jean-Christophe Boullion and Christophe Tinseau claimed a narrow victory over the best of Aston Martin Racing's LMP1 coupes after nearly six hours of racing through dusk on Saturday evening and into the small hours. The solo Pescarolo-Judd 01 crossed the line 85 seconds ahead of the Aston-engined Lola driven by Stefan Mucke, Jan Charouz and Tomas Enge.

The Pescarolo, which had qualified only seventh, came through to second behind the AMR car in little more than 24 laps with Boullion at the wheel. The Frenchman then battled with Mucke through the second hour, before the Aston driver locked up as he came upon a slower car and spun. The Aston subsequently remained in contact through the race, despite a gearbox problem in the latter stages, but the win belonged to Pescarolo.

"Seventh place in qualifying was not where we wanted to be, but the team did a great job in the warm-up and the car was fantastic to drive," said Boullion.

The second AIM-engined ORECA 01 driven by Bruno Senna and Tiago Monteiro ended up third after a conservative run. The French team's lead entry led the early laps in the hands of pole winner Nicolas Lapierre before an unscheduled stop to fix a fuel leak robbed him and team-mate Olivier Panis of any chance of victory. A high attrition rate allowed them to come back to fourth by the finish.

LMP2 honours went to the local ASM squad, whose Ginetta-Zytek dominated the secondary prototype division with Olivier Pla and Miguel Amaral driving. Pla finished his stint a minute up on his nearest opponent and then problems for their rivals allowed the Frenchman and his team-mate to ease to a two-lap victory.

The Luc Alphand Chevrolet team won the two-car GT1 class. Patrice Goueslard, Yann Clairay and Julien Jousse easily had the legs of the Larbre Saleen, which eventually finished 18 laps behind after suffering myriad problems.

The British JMW Ferrari drivers Rob Bell and Gianmaria Bruni came from behind to take GT2 honours ahead of the Imsa Performance Porsche raced by early leader Patrick Pilet and team boss Raymond Narac.

http://www.autosport.com/news/report.php/id/77509

Congratulations to Team Modena for another solid performance in making the podium and third place.
When did the roof change colour on the #84 car?
Is it paint or a wrap?


As Carol said, the support races are very strong.
Derek Johnston and Stuart Moseley took the victory once again in the Radical European Masters for the first race of the day. In the Formula Renault 3.5, two different drivers climbed on the first step of the podium: Jon Lancaster won the first race and Jaime Alguersuari showed in the second race that it is not by chance that he will soon race in Formula 1. The Seat Super Copa Leon offered two very exciting races with Eoin Murray finishing first in Race 1 and Massimiliano Pedala winning Race 2. In Classic Endurance Racing, Jean-Marc Luco is once again the winner. Lastly, for the second weekend of the Formula Le Mans, Samuele Buttarelli and Jérôme D'Ambrosio took the victory and in Race 1 of Superstars, ex-Formula 1 driver Gianni Morbidelli shined.

 

"Can I hear you Dr. U". Wasn't that a song. He will be there. They are stretching the drama with the Peugeots to the limit. Can't let that new car sit and they are not upside down GM wise. Besides, Andy needs his job. And yes, Latsyrc needs to come east for the premier sports car event in the US. We will give you the tour.

 

Did you ever hear the story of Bruno's drive in Oz during the '06 Aust.GP supports?

Europe to Oz is a reall grind with refueling stops in both the mid east and asia en route.
Someone had got his flights wrong so he only arrived in Oz on the Thursday, so late that he had to change into his race suit in the taxi on the way from the airport to the circuit. Jet lag? What's that? Then it was a quick sign-on, a sort of seat fit and straight into a 20-minute practice session in a car he'd never seen before that was different from the ones he was racing in the UK. He was 3rd fastest in that session and again in the qualifying session a couple of hours later. The first race was later still that day and he was 3rd in that, too, but was by now up to speed as he broke the lap record.

After a night's sleep, he won race 2 on Friday, ditto race 3 on Saturday and again race 4 on Sunday, all with with fastest lap for good measure. It was, as they say, a Senna-esque performance and the Aussies took him to their hearts.

With sportscar racing offering many young up and coming driver like Bruno S, as well as the McNish and Brabhams of our sport, constant development and plenty of passing its really only the limited TV exposure that stops it being followed by more fans than it currently has.

At least our threads are spared the more juvenile posturing so prevalent in the F1 section. So its not totally a bad thing that everyone hasn't realised how good the racing is.

 

Wow, you guys have me seriously considering going. I have some friends that moved to GA, but I'm not sure exactly where. They've already offered to let me stay there, and I love road trips. I'll find out more from there and discuss it with my wife. Money is the main issue right now. Thanks for the invitations, it would be great to meet you guys!