Contour Enthusiasts Group Archives Forums General Common Interests 24 Hours of Le Mans!

awesome! thanks for the coverage. a big help for all of us wihtout SpeedVision.

GO MG XPOWER!!!

Thanks for the props guys! I'll try to keep up with the 8 hour lapse in Speedvision coverage .

Even though it is Audi 1-3 they're only leading by a few laps and blown tire here or there can drastically change this race.

Hour 8: Full dark at Le Mans and Safety Car! This isn't like NADSCAR where they through a caution when someone spills a soda. The reason for this one was a fully involved fire on a prototype. Unfortunately it is the American run KnightHawk MG, somehow the lead Audi might have been involved. This after it suffered a puncture of the right rear, but had a lap on 2nd place number 2 Audi and remains 1st.

...and the weekend keeps getting worse for the 11 Panoz. Still struggling with overheating and now the 12 has power steering problems.

Not too much mention as of yet of the Team Playstation Oreca Dallara which is the leading privateer team. BOTH cars were in the top ten (till a gearbox change for the lead car), which is more than can be said for MG, Cadillac, and Panoz. Still a great run for those guys.

The 2nd place GTS Corvette blew a right right rear and dropped another lap (-2).

The previously leading PK Sport Porsche GT3-RS lost of all things the radiator cap which caused the oil and water temps to spike. A couple of blown head gaskets later and the team are doing some engine work. Morgan continues to plug along at a reasonable pace, team says at that rate it should go all night.

This safety car session will defnitely throw a monkey wrench in the pit sequences.

Hour 9: It was confirmed that flaming protoype was the 30 KnightHawk Lola. The resulting safety car period packed everyone together. Saftey car at Le Mans means two cars actually one dispatched from the end of pit road while the other catches cars at the Mulsanne straight. Overall it is still Audi 1-3, but the number 2 and 2nd place Audi has come in with another puncture. Reports that the lead MG is out on the course and might not be coming back! Not quite diagnosed as of yet.

prodrive still maintains a 2 lap lead on the 63 Corvette and the Larbre Viper, another Viper a lap down.

Freisinger Porsche lead still but over the Racer's Group with Seikel in third.

Hour 10: Big news this hour confirming the suspicions from hour 9. The 26 and previously leading MG is out with gearbox failure. Seems as if the car packed up just past the end of the Safety car period with the driver unable to find a gear. Pity as this was THE car threatening to disrupt the Audi 1-3, speaking of Audi the 2 car suffered another puncture and is back to third. As of now Bentley moves to fourth and Caddy to fifth. Oreca are 6th and 9th, with the Racing for Holland Dome in 7th, and the Riley & Scott in 8th. The 11 Panoz is dead last of the cars running but is back running after a repairing a blown head gasket. This team spent all Thursday night rebuilding this car and don't seem ready to quit just yet...

GTS continues to be a Ferrari show but the 64 Corvette has moved into third after the gear selector problems earlier in the day.

More big news, this time in GT. The Freisinger Porsche has relenquished the lead to the pole sitting Racers Group Porsche. The PK Sport Porsche has been retired after the head gasket issue.

Just an FYI for those without Speedvision, like me (darn Canadian Supreme Court outlawing pirate satellite ). You can go to http://www.lemans.org for live timing and updates like BigMoneyRacing is giving us about every 10 minutes.

Hopefully the Cadillac's can keep up this pace. Only six laps down almost halfway through the race is excellent. (Yes I've got a thing for the Caddie's.)

Thanks for the updates BigMoneyRacing.

Bob

Hour 11: Some interesting data on how much time the remaining cars have spent in the pits/garage.

- #7 Cadillac (17th) - 1 hour 9 mins.
- #9 Dome (26th) - 1 hour 9 minutes.
- #11 Panoz (42nd) - 4 hours 45 mins.
- #13 Courage (31st) - 1 hour 45 mins.
- #17 Courage (19th) - 1 hour 14 minutes.
- #19 Panoz (39th) - 2 hours 42 mins.
- #28 Reynard (32nd) - 1 hour 6 mins.
- #51 Viper (35th) - 1 hour 33 mins.
- #71 Ferrari (43rd) - 3 hours 34 mins.
- #73 Morgan (38th) - 1 hour 51 mins.
- #85 Spyker (36th) - 1 hour 30 mins.
- #74 Ferrari (37th) - 1 hour 5 mins. and counting

A safety car period for an oiled track was also hampered by light rain. The oil down was caused by the 18 Pescarolo Courage/Peugeot who has since found the garage to deposit the petroleum. The 1 Audi has one lap on the 2 Audi who has a lap on the 3 Audi in 3rd. Bentley is 4th, five laps down. Caddy is 5th, six laps down. Oreca are 6th (-7L) and 8th (-8L). 12 Panoz is up to 10th but being caught by the 5 Goh Audi. The 11 Panoz is back again for more service. 166 laps completed.

Nothing new in GTS other than the smoking Andy Pilgrim in the 64 Corvette, they just set their fastest lap of the race. Ferrari has completed 152 laps.

Feisinger is back in the GT lead by ~2 min over the Racer's Group. All Japanese Team Taisan is third. Spyker is 6th and Morgan 7th but separated by 4 laps. Curiously these cars share the same BMW lump.

The 22 "Leader" movie car Panoz is broken on course with a driveshaft, will they be allowed to tow back to the pits?

I've had Radio Lemans on for the last four hours.. www.speedtv.com has the link

or you can just go to http://www.radiolemans.com

FWIW, SpeedTV has done nothing but rebadge other people's sites. In addition to Radio Le Mans, they're yanking stuff from lemans.org. Very juvenile webmastering

Hour 12: Half way there! Here is the complete running order at the halfway point.

Pos N° Participants Drivers Laps Gap Best lap Last lap
1 1 AUDI SPORT TEAM JOEST (DEU)
AUDI 3596T (PROTO LMP 900) Biela F. (DEU)
Kristensen T. (DNK)
Pirro E. (ITA)
184 3:34.464 3:39.695
2 2 AUDI SPORT NORTH AMERICA (DEU)
AUDI 3596T (PROTO LMP 900) Capello R. (ITA)
Herbert J. (GBR)
Pescatori Ch. (ITA)
182 2 L 3:34.626 3:39.749
3 3 AUDI SPORT TEAM JOEST (DEU)
AUDI 3596T (PROTO LMP 900) Krumm M. (DEU)
Peter Ph. (AUT)
Werner M. (DEU)
181 3 L 3:35.953 3:38.948
4 8 TEAM BENTLEY (GBR)
BENTLEY 3995T (LM GTP) Wallace A. (GBR)
Leitzinger B. (USA)
Van De Poele E. (BEL)
178 6 L 3:39.484 3:41.670
5 6 TEAM CADILLAC (USA)
CADILLAC 4000T (PROTO LMP 900) Taylor W. (USA)
Angelelli M. (ITA)
Tinseau CH. (FRA)
177 7 L 3:41.488 3:43.630
6 15 PLAYSTATION TEAM ORECA (FRA)
ORECA DALLARA JUDD 3994A (PROTO LMP 900) Beretta O. (MCO)
Lamy P. (PRT)
Comas E. (FRA)
176 8 L 3:40.268 3:49.869
7 16 RACING FOR HOLLAND B.V. (NLD)
DOME JUDD 3994A (PROTO LMP 900) Lammers J. (NLD)
Hillebrand V. (NLD)
Coronel T. (NLD)
175 9 L 3:40.141 3:46.511
8 14 PLAYSTATION TEAM ORECA (FRA)
ORECA DALLARA JUDD 3994A (PROTO LMP 900) Sarrazin S. (FRA)
Montagny F. (FRA)
Minassian N. (FRA)
175 01:11.531 3:40.571 3:41.771
9 4 RILEY & SCOTT RACING (USA)
RILEY & SCOTT ELAN 5980A (PROTO LMP 900) Goossens M. (BEL)
Matthews J. (USA)
Theys D. (BEL)
174 10 L 3:40.648 3:50.705
10 5 AUDI SPORT JAPAN TEAM GOH (JPN)
AUDI 3596T (PROTO LMP 900) Ara S. (JPN)
Dalmas Y. (FRA)
Katoh H. (JPN)
171 13 L 3:39.722 3:53.990
11 27 MG SPORT & RACING LTD (GBR)
MG 1995T (PROTO LMP 675) Blundell M. (GBR)
Bailey J. (GBR)
Mc Garrity K. (GBR)
170 14 L 3:37.221 3:48.034
12 12 PANOZ MOTOR SPORTS (USA)
PANOZ ELAN 5983A (PROTO LMP 900) Jeannette G. (USA)
Donohue D. (USA)
Auberlen B. (USA)
167 17 L 3:44.721 5:20.939
13 58 PRODRIVE (GBR)
FERRARI MARANELLO 5983A (LM GTS) Enge T. (CZE)
Rydell R. (SWE)
Menu A. (CHE)
167 14:49.490 3:57.158 4:00.498
14 7 TEAM CADILLAC (USA)
CADILLAC 4000T (PROTO LMP 900) Bernard E. (FRA)
Collard E. (FRA)
Lehto J.J. (FIN)
166 18 L 3:40.618 3:54.025
15 63 CORVETTE RACING (USA)
CORVETTE 6991A (LM GTS) Fellows R. (CAN)
O'Connell J. (USA)
Gavin O. (GBR)
165 19 L 4:00.293 4:00.728
16 64 CORVETTE RACING (USA)
CORVETTE 6991A (LM GTS) Pilgrim A. (USA)
Collins K. (USA)
Freon F. (FRA)
164 20 L 4:01.980 4:06.920
17 17 PESCAROLO SPORT (FRA)
COURAGE-PEUGEOT 3199T (PROTO LMP 900) Boullion J.CH. (FRA)
Lagorce F. (FRA)
Bourdais S. (FRA)
162 22 L 3:43.292 3:50.605
18 52 EQUIPE DE FRANCE FFSA (FRA)
CHRYSLER VIPER 7986A (LM GTS) Belloc J.P. (FRA)
Cochet J. (FRA)
Treluyer B. (FRA)
162 01:39.829 4:02.410 4:06.025
19 66 KONRAD MOTORSPORT (DEU)
SALEEN S7R 6886A (LM GTS) Konrad F. (AUT)
Borcheller T. (USA)
Seiler T. (CHE)
160 24 L 4:05.306 4:16.620
20 68 RML (GBR)
SALEEN S7R 6886A (LM GTS) Pickering G. (GBR)
Ramos M. (PRT)
Chaves P. (PRT)
158 26 L 4:06.209 5:05.289
21 9 KONDO RACING (JPN)
DOME JUDD 3994A (PROTO LMP 900) Kondo M. (JPN)
Mc Kellar Jnr I. (GBR)
Migault F. (FRA)
158 01:31.748 3:47.834 3:50.789
22 25 WELTER GERARD (FRA)
WR PEUGEOT 1999T (PROTO LMP 675) Daoudi St. (FRA)
De Fournoux J.R. (FRA)
Bouvet J.B. (FRA)
158 01:54.613 3:57.450 4:04.780
23 80 FREISINGER MOTORSPORT (DEU)
PORSCHE GT3 3598A (LM GT) Dumas R. (FRA)
Maassen S. (DEU)
Bergmeister J. (DEU)
158 03:44.012 4:14.919 4:16.882
24 29 DEL BELLO NOEL (FRA)
REYNARD LEHMANN 1998T (PROTO LMP 675) Deletraz J.D. (CHE)
Lechner JR W. (AUT)
Pillon Ch. (CHE)
157 27 L 3:54.675 4:43.142
25 81 THE RACERS GROUP - KEVIN A. BUCKLER (USA)
PORSCHE GT3 3598A (LM GT) Buckler K. (USA)
Luhr L. (DEU)
Bernhard T. (DEU)
157 01:58.923 4:11.431 4:20.981
26 50 LARBRE COMPETITION - CHEREAU (FRA)
CHRYSLER VIPER 7986A (LM GTS) Bouchut C. (FRA)
Goueslard P. (FRA)
Vosse V. (BEL)
156 28 L 4:01.163 4:06.879
27 77 TEAM TAISAN ADVAN (JPN)
PORSCHE GT3 3598A (LM GT) Iida A. (JPN)
Yogo A. (JPN)
Nishizawa K. (JPN)
154 30 L 4:20.041 4:25.151
28 82 SEIKEL MOTORSPORT (DEU)
PORSCHE GT3 3598A (LM GT) Rosa F. (ITA)
Drudi L. (ITA)
Riccitelli L. (ITA)
154 01:24.600 4:16.575 4:22.109
29 13 COURAGE COMPETITION (FRA)
COURAGE JUDD 3994A (PROTO LMP 900) Cottaz D. (FRA)
Derichebourg B. (FRA)
Bjork T. (SWE)
153 31 L 3:42.670 3:44.702
30 75 ORBIT (USA)
PORSCHE GT3 3598A (LM GT) Hindery L. (USA)
Baron P. (USA)
Kester T. (USA)
145 39 L 4:19.852 4:26.152
31 72 LUC ALPHAND AVENTURES (FRA)
PORSCHE GT3 3598A (LM GT) Alphand L. (FRA)
Lavieille Ch. (FRA)
Thevenin O. (FRA)
143 41 L 4:21.298 4:27.006
32 51 LARBRE COMPETITION - CHEREAU (FRA)
CHRYSLER VIPER 7986A (LM GTS) Chereau J.L. (FRA)
Lagniez J.C. (FRA)
Rosenblad C. (SWE)
140 44 L 4:08.910 8:25.134
33 85 SPYKER AUTOMOBIELEN BV (NLD)
SPYKER C8 DOUBLE 12R 3999A (LM GT) Kox P. (NLD)
Hugenholtz H. (NLD)
Simon N. (DEU)
134 50 L 4:24.991 4:27.206
34 19 MBD SPORTSCAR TEAM (USA)
PANOZ-MUGEN 3996A (PROTO LMP 900) Duno M. (VEN)
De Radigues D. (MCO)
Graham J. (CAN)
131 53 L 3:52.595 4:13.728
35 73 DEWALT-RACESPORTS SALISBURY (GBR)
MORGAN AERO 8 3999A (LM GT) Stanton R. (GBR)
Hyde S. (GBR)
Hay R. (GBR)
130 54 L 4:28.026 9:03.598
36 74 AUTO PALACE (FRA)
FERRARI MODENA 3586A (LM GT) Gomez G. (FRA)
Fukuda R. (JPN)
118 66 L 4:23.041 4:49.775
37 10 DAMS (FRA)
VAILLANTE 3994A (PROTO LMP 900) Neugarten M. (BEL)
Gache PH. (FRA)
Clerico E. (FRA)
115 69 L 3:49.787 3:53.814
38 11 PANOZ MOTOR SPORTS (USA)
PANOZ ELAN 5983A (PROTO LMP 900) Brabham D. (AUS)
Magnussen J. (DNK)
Herta B. (USA)
90 94 L 3:41.074 3:58.272



Not too many developments this hour. The 12 Panoz came in "dead" Gunnar Jeanette pushed it into the pits for the required service of a new rearend and driveshaft.