View Full Version : Le-Mans 2012
Free practice kicks off today then quali is tomorrow night. So, thought start thread for all these sessions and then for the race at weekend. The 80th Edition of the great race, going to be good 1.
dscracelive @dscracelive
Corvette 1,2 in GT Pro - Wurz goes 2nd fastest time in #7 TS030 (3:32) Lombard now fastest in P2 - 3:47 - Wurz Treluyer on fliers
http://youtu.be/WgmuknJuwgk
Former winners and destinies
13/06/20129:41 - Auto News - LE MANS 24 HOURS 2012
Among the former winners of Le Mans 24 Hours which take the track on Wednesday for free practice and qualifying, some have won together in Sarthe.
Fifteen former winners are originally from the 80th edition of the 24 Hours of Le Mans: Tom Kristensen (eight wins), Dindo Capello (three wins), Allan McNish, Alexander Wurz (two wins each), Marcel Fässler, André Lotterer, Benoit Treluyer, Romain Dumas, Marc Gene, Mike Rockenfeller, Seiji Ara, David Brabham, Stefan Johansson, Christophe Bouchut and Martin Brundle (one win each).
Marcel Fässler, André Lotterer and Benoit Treluyer, the winning crew of the 2011, was renewed in 2012 and will carry the No. 1 Audi R18 on his e-tron quattro.
Romain Dumas (Audi R18 ultra No. 3) and Mike Rockenfeller (Audi R18 ultra No. 4) jointly established the record for the distance of the 24 Hours of Le Mans in 2010 alongside Timo Bernhard: 5405 kilometers in 397 laps, 225 km / h average.
Dindo Capello, Tom Kristensen and Allan McNish won a trio in 2008. The first two were already taxed together in 2003 and 2004. This past year, they were associated with Seiji Ara.
The winning crew in 2009 is now in 2012 on three different cars: the Honda HPD ARX-03a # 22 David Brabham, the Audi R18 ultra No. 3 for Marc Gene and Hybrid Toyota TS030 # 7 Alexander Wurz .
Stefan Johansson was one of the teammates Tom Kristensen in his first Le Mans victory in 1997
ACO @24hoursoflemans
Fastest in GTE PRO now No 59 Ferrrari with 4:01.041 #24LM
The support races are races that take place before the race the 24 Hours of Le Mans. This year we will find especially the Aston Martin Le Mans Challenge Festival.
http://i45.tinypic.com/15ay3c.jpg
Saturday, June 16th at 11:15, an event will be organized for owners of Aston Martin as a curtain raiser for the 24 Hours of Le Mans. A selection of all models and all categories will be seen racing on the track such as DBR9, Vantage GT2, DBRS9, Vantage GT3, etc ...
The administrative and technical checks are conducted from 9am this morning for the 31 cars entered. As a reminder, free practice will be held tonight from 20:30 to 21:30 while qualifying will take place Thursday from 17:30 to 18:30. The race, she will be held Saturday from 11:15 am to 12pm.
Loïc Duval and Romain Dumas: the best possible stroke
13/06/20123:57 p.m. - Auto News - LE MANS 24 HOURS 2012
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While the free practice session begins shortly, Romain Dumas and Loïc Duval, the French duo of the Audi R18 ultra, addressing the 80th edition of Le Mans 24 Hours as leaders of the World Endurance Championship of the FIA .
As part of the double scoring 24 Hours devoted to a possible victory Sarthe (which would be the first to Duval and the second for Dumas) would offer them a comfortable lead.
Loïc Duval: "Le Mans is Le Mans, and I think just to make the best race possible. My primary objective is to win here. "
Romain Dumas: "For me, this is primarily an attempt to win the race the biggest and most publicized of the year. I would not say I'm surprised to be leading the World Championship because we have always been at the forefront at Sebring and Spa-Francorchamps. Since the beginning of the season, we take the races one after another trying to do our best. In any case, if we were still leading the World Championship after 24 hours, that would mean we had a great weekend! "
Audi Sport @Audi__Sport
#WEC #LeMans No.1 Tréluyer now in P1 (3m 29.635s), first lap under 3m 30s
dscracelive @dscracelive
#8 suffered a minor fire - Capello now fastest 3:28.7 - Now Audi 1,2,3 and Oreca Nissan 1,2,3,4 in P2.
ALMS Racing @almsnotes
No. 8 Toyota stopped on Mulsanne straight followed by a minor fire. This after turning fastest lap at the time with @antdavidson
ACO @24hoursoflemans
Fastest in LM P1 now Audi e-tron No 2 with 3:28.787 #24LM
Audi Sport @Audi__Sport
#WEC #LeMans No.1 Tréluyer finds another second: 3m 28.901s
dscracelive @dscracelive
Now Audi 1,2,3,4 - Hancock npw second in P2 for Jota, Sean Edwards grabs 1st in GTE AM (4:02.6) - Ferrari 1,2 in GTE Pro
Audi Sport @Audi__Sport
#WEC #LeMans No.3 Duval takes over P1 (3m 27.833s), first time under 3m 28s
#8 Toyota has had a fire while on Mulsanne straight, Ant Davidson on board atmo.
Audi Sport @Audi__Sport
#WEC #LeMans After 1h: 1 Audi No.3 3m 27.833s 2 Toyota No.7 3m 28.459s 3 Audi No.2 3m 28.787s 4 Audi No.1 3m 28.901s 5 Audi No.4 3m 30.123s
Ferraris looking good already, but it only practice times atmo.
ACO @24hoursoflemans
In GTE Am No 99 Aston Martin now fastest with 3:58.753 #24LM
ACO @24hoursoflemans
No 8 Toyota returns to its pit after fire #24LM
Italiaracing.net @Italiaracing
Bruni è Leader nella GTPro col crono di 3'58"136
getting quicker for the #51 AF Corse Ferrari :clap
dscracelive @dscracelive
And #8 looked rather oily at other side too! Car #29 looks to be in gearbox problems. Gonzalez stops at second chicane in #41 Greaves
dscracelive @dscracelive
Bruni improves in #51 - 3:57.7, :thumb:-D
#26 Signatech in the gravel at 1st chicane as is Tracy Krohn in #57 ferrari :-s
http://youtu.be/FGtuMjuIr-s
Audi Sport @Audi__Sport
#WEC #LeMans New benchmark from No.3 Duval: 3m 27.671s
Sianellen
13th June 2012, 16:37
Have you ever been to see Le-Mans Rob? :-)
Have you ever been to see Le-Mans Rob? :-)
No i havent :-s I was hoping to go this year, but with money and how things are atmo and to put it off. I will plan to go next year, it 1 thing i got to do.
Q & A with Pascal Vasselon
By Stuart Codling Wednesday, June 13th 2012, 15:43 GMT
After over a decade away Toyota returns to Le Mans in 2012 with a fresh bid for the outright victory that has eluded them at all previous attempts.
Ex-Formula 1 engineer Pascal Vasselon's team have taken a very different approach to Audi in shaping a car to the ACO's hybrid regulations, and the TS030 has shown considerable promise in testing.
While clearly very quick, the TS030 Hybrid has yet to prove itself in competition after the first chassis was damaged in a crash during testing, forcing Toyota to pull out of the Spa 6-hour enduro last month.
Q. You haven't had a great deal of testing with this car. What programme will you be working through during the practice sessions?
Pascal Vasselon: Our plan is nothing unusual, I would say. There are the normal things we have to work through, like qualifying all the drivers, making sure they have all done enough laps at night. We have to install a few spare parts and make sure everything will work fine in case we have to change any pieces of bodywork during the race. One of the main targets is to develop our set-up, because we had a day of testing a few days ago and although we did well, we found a few things that needed to be corrected. We have quite a lot of set-up activity ongoing.
The weather will dictate when we go for the qualifying runs. We want to show that we are there even though qualifying has little importance at Le Mans.
We also have a lot of tyres to evaluate, thanks to the weather. This will be a big job: we have several tyre specs, and we have to find the temperature limits of the slicks as well as the transition between wets, intermediates and slicks. We have plenty of work to do, especially with the conditions predicted to be changeable.
Q. How much development have you done on the hybrid system in terms of wet- weather performance?
PV: Fortunately - or unfortunately – we've done quite a lot of work in the wet. At Le Castellet we had several days of rain. So we have some experience in terms of reliability as well as performance.
The hybrid system works better in the wet than it does in the dry. Why? Because in the dry the braking events are shorter. In some places we don't recover the full 500 kilojoules [permitted by the regulations]. In the wet the braking events are longer because of the lower grip, so we can recover more energy and boost more within the restrictions of the rules.
Q. Can you release the energy at the same time as you would in the dry, though?
PV: By the regulations, yes, but technically you can only transmit what the tyres can take, so for sure with less grip you stay tyre-limited longer. You have to wait, maybe 50 metres later. But the impact on performance is minimal because you are releasing the energy of the combustion engine first and then the electric power. It's based on what the tyres can take.
Q. Unlike Audi you've chosen to do the energy recovery and redeployment through the rear wheels. Did you do that for reliability or weight distribution reasons?
PV: We are using only one set of driveshafts which do everything – combustion engine, energy recovery, energy deployment. We did test with a system at the front of the monocoque. We made the decision because of packaging – it was easier to package the engine and the gearbox. Globally it was a lighter solution, so even with the weight at the rear it freed up the possibility of putting some ballast at the front. Also there is less friction and rolling resistance when you have fewer driveshafts. For all these reasons the decision was clear for us to make the installation in this way.
Q. What made you choose super-capacitors rather than a flywheel system or batteries?
PV: It's power density. For this kind of system it was important to be able to charge and discharge quickly. We were not looking for storage – it's not like an EV car where you're relying on the power for 100 kilometres or more. You're charging under braking, waiting a few seconds and then releasing it again. So you need a storage system with the best power but low weight, and that is the power density. We did many studies and found that a capacitor was the best device – but we expect that soon the battery will become the best option. At the moment you need more battery weight for the same power.
Q. How reliable are the capacitors?
PV: We will not have to change them – hopefully!
Q. The Audi drivers say their system is quite subtle and it can be hard to know whether it's working or not. What do your drivers say?
PV: Our hybrid system is more powerful. Our drivers – you cannot not notice it, there is a really big boost. But they complain that when they are out of the boost, there is nothing left!
Q. Is it possible to run purely on the electric system, say if you wanted to save fuel while running behind the safety car?
PV: We can do what we want with it. In testing we have brought the car back to the pits on electric power after running out of fuel. Obviously here it would depend on where it happened! We have options to use it for pure performance, or to drive to a certain laptime, or to save fuel. It depends what scenarios we encounter during the race.
Q. With having the hybrid system working through the rear, are there any implications for tyre wear?
PV: It was one of the difficulties of the packaging we chose, but we are very good at managing the tyres. We were quite surprised at Le Castellet about how long we were able to run on one set of tyres. It's a strong point.
Q. Why did you choose petrol for the combustion engine rather than diesel?
PV: That's a good question! Historically, Toyota hybrids for the road car market are gasoline hybrids. The decision was made to be in relation to the road car concept.
Q. The Audi diesels have had a reduction in on-board fuel capacity for this year. Was that the result of some negotiations behind the scenes with the ACO about performance balancing?
PV: I would not talk in terms of negotiations – we are engineers. The intention of the ACO and the FIA is very clear, they want different technologies at Le Mans but they want them to be balanced. Not in terms of lap time – that's where the confusion comes from. If you talk about lap time you never reach a conclusion because lap time is about many things – aero, braking tyres – as well as the engine. The debate had to be reset. To move forward we had to engineer it better – if we want to balance the performance of the engines we had to look at acceleration. That's the process that's in place, it began last year, adjustments have been made and the process is still going on. For me it's not a negotiation, the intention is clear: the two technologies should offer the same power, let's measure it and adjust it if necessary. There is no place for lobbying.
Q. Is it your intention to go for pole position?
PV: We will try to do well – we want to show that we are here. Pole position would be nice. We are going to do our best, so long as it doesn't detract from the other work we need to do. It will be a nice game. We have so many choices because all our drivers are able to qualify the car, and we haven't made the decision yet.
Q. At this stage in the car's development, what can you realistically expect to achieve in the race? How long can you run for?
PV: We have had issues in the test sessions and we've been working hard to fix them. We've fixed the known issues but we have not done the 24 Hours of Le Mans, and that's the next step. You can do endurance sessions anywhere in the world but Le Mans is very specific.
Q. You've got some operational support from ORECA. Who will actually be making decisions on the pit wall?
PV: The race operation is heavily supported by ORECA and we're very happy with that. You will find a mixture of people but the spine of the race engineering is ORECA. You have different decisions to make during the race and there is a process for each of them. If an immediate decision has to be made, that is the responsibility of the car's race engineer. For strategic decisions where we have more time available, for instance which tyres to fit for the next stint, I will be involved in that. Higher level decisions will go through the team management. We have a great level of integration – car seven's race engineer is from ORECA, car eight's is from Toyota Motorsport. The number one mechanics are the other way around. We are one team rather than two.
http://www.autosport.com/news/report.php/id/100341
Toyota not ruling out Le Mans 24 Hours pole position
By Stuart Codling Wednesday, June 13th 2012, 15:37 GMT
Toyota's technical director Pascal Vasselon says pole position at Le Mans is not out of the question, despite the TS030 Hybrid being yet to complete a 24-hour test.
Although Toyota is behind schedule with its TS030 Hybrid programme after a major crash in testing at Paul Ricard damaged the first chassis, it is still determined to show the car has the pace to challenge Audi's dominant R18s.
Vasselon told AUTOSPORT the Japanese manufacturer has its sights set on pole position.
"We will try to do well," he said. "We want to show that we are here. Pole position would be nice. We are going to do our best, so long as it doesn't detract from the other work we need to do. It will be a nice game."
In Nicolas Lapierre, Alexander Wurz, Anthony Davidson and Stephane Sarrazin, Toyota has two drivers in each car with proven pace at Le Mans. Sarrazin was on pole for Peugeot for three consecutive years between 2007 and 2009.
"We have so many choices because all our drivers are able to qualify the car," said Vasselon, "and we haven't made the decision yet. We will decide after the first practice session."
http://www.autosport.com/news/report.php/id/100340
Sianellen
13th June 2012, 20:02
No i havent :-s I was hoping to go this year, but with money and how things are atmo and to put it off. I will plan to go next year, it 1 thing i got to do.
When I have watched it, I keep thinking it would be great to go to. I'd love to go one day and see what it's like as it's basically a whole new experience with it getting dark and seeing the lights whizzing past. I bet it would be quite surreal. :-)
Tobes
13th June 2012, 20:20
Practice has just started on Eurosport2 UK... :-)
No i havent :-s I was hoping to go this year, but with money and how things are atmo and to put it off. I will plan to go next year, it 1 thing i got to do.
It's good fun, been a few times, nothing quite like those cars screaming round and round all through the night, and is better now since they built the train service, can now get into town and back no probs...
Rob, we're (Nug, Ojay, Petal etc) going again next year, booking it up now to get best campsite spots, give me a shout if you fancy it, probably taking both Skylines down if you want to jump in with Nug... :-D
Tifoso
13th June 2012, 20:40
OT
How is Nug, amico mio?
/OT
Tobes
13th June 2012, 21:45
OT
How is Nug, amico mio?
/OT
Little bit mingy and 'orrible, but ok, you know... :-D
Tifoso
13th June 2012, 22:37
Little bit mingy and 'orrible, but ok, you know... :-D
Mingy? :Hmm :oops
Practice has just started on Eurosport2 UK... :-)
It's good fun, been a few times, nothing quite like those cars screaming round and round all through the night, and is better now since they built the train service, can now get into town and back no probs...
Rob, we're (Nug, Ojay, Petal etc) going again next year, booking it up now to get best campsite spots, give me a shout if you fancy it, probably taking both Skylines down if you want to jump in with Nug... :-D
:thumb:thumb Really? thanks Tobes, iam well up for that mate. I give you a buzz later.
The LM P1 Prototype Regulations 2014 unveiled
14/06/201212:02 - Auto News - LE MANS 24 HOURS 2012
The technical regulations on the cars of the class Le Mans Prototype 1 (LMP1) was presented today at the press conference of the Automobile Club de l'Ouest, which was held at the 24 Hours Museum.
The Technical Regulations 24 Hours of Le Mans will also be the Le Mans Series LM P1 class from 1 January 2014 is in the World Endurance Championship FIA and American Le Mans Series.
As of Friday, June 15 at the end of the afternoon, once approved by the FIA World Council, the technical regulation of the 24 Hours of Le Mans in 2014 for the LM P1 class, will be available online.
6 THE POINTS TO REMEMBER
• A technological freedom will be granted to the powertrain (ie, the set consisting of the engine and hybrid system) in accordance with the development of road vehicles.
• The engines are free. The limitations of capacity, flanges and air pressure turbo is removed.
• Significant reduction - up to 30%! - The use of fossil fuels, that is to say, the fuel used.
• Hybrid systems are free but limited amount of energy and number.
• The private teams are protected.
• Cars must be closed so to improve safety.
• Weight and width are reduced.
STATEMENTS
Pierre Fillon, President of the Automobile Club de l'Ouest: "The philosophy of this regulation has been particularly innovative imagined by the Automobile Club de l'Ouest in 2009 and then discussed with the manufacturers. They all adhered to this concept. This text was written in close partnership between the ACO and the FIA and in an ongoing dialogue with the manufacturers. I want to emphasize the excellent cooperation between our two entities both in the working groups, technical, sports and endurance Committee. I also want to highlight the excellent spirit that exists between our different teams ACO and FIA. And I thank Lindsay Owen Jones, Chairman of the Endurance to be the guarantor of that mindset. "
Lindsay Owen-Jones, Chairman of the Commission of the FIA Endurance: "Through in-depth work and excellent cooperation, the ACO and FIA technical regulations are now LM P1 2014 single, highly innovative and phase with the times. It should encourage the development of powerful cars and spectacular as the development of technologies that have real meaning for the everyday motorist. Private teams are not forgotten, with simple but competitive alternatives. I hope that the technical regulations LM P1 2014 will thrill you as it has fascinated all who have participated in its elaboration. "
The latest weather forecast is good ...
14/06/201212:53 - Auto News - LE MANS 24 HOURS 2012
http://i46.tinypic.com/5nkbk9.jpg
Good news comes to clarify this weekend: the race would take place in good weather, the rain is not advertised.
Today, Thursday, the weather is clear and the sun illuminates the circuit. The last two timed sessions should therefore be conducted on a dry track tonight which will promote the fight for pole position.
Tomorrow will be too lenient time despite the few showers that are announced at 11am. The discovery of the stands and the drivers parade will take place in all logic, without too much rain.
For the weekend, after rain set in on Friday night to Saturday, weather forecasts are good. All day is announced under a bright sun, with some clouds, however, with temperatures up to 20 ° announced.
Sunday, it was the same with only a beautiful day when the sun will be present. Temperatures up to 23 ° are provided.
Last-gasp Lotterer heads Audi 1-2-3 in first qualifying at Le Mans
By Stuart Codling Wednesday, June 13th 2012, 22:24 GMT
Andre Lotterer set the pace again in the first night qualifying session at Le Mans with a spectacular 3m25.453s lap in the #1 Audi R18 e-tron quattro, 1.083 seconds ahead of traffic-baulked team-mate Tom Kristensen.
Lotterer nailed his lap after the clock ran down, with an eyeballs-on-stalks effort that could have been even quicker had he not encountered the double-whammy of two squabbling prototypes at the end of the Mulsanne Straight and a Porsche at Arnage.
The majority of Audi's drivers filed their fast laps early in the session before settling down to a programme of long runs. Kristensen found a clear lap to go round in 3m26.536s for the early benchmark time in the #2 R18 e-tron quattro, in which Allan McNish then completed a full race stint.
The only apparent departure from the plan came when Marcel Fassler had a brief off in the #1 car, incurring minor bodywork damage. Lotterer resumed normal service however by putting the car top with his late flyer.
With 20 minutes to run Loic Duval went out on a mission in the #3 Audi, setting a purple first sector before ending the lap in 3m26.694s, which would stand as second quickest until the closing moments. Traffic on subsequent laps precluded him from improving.
Kristensen returned to the cockpit of #2 with 10 minutes to go but the circuit was busy with other cars attempting final glory runs and he could not find a clear lap.
Nicolas Lapierre was the early pacesetter for Toyota, posting a 3m27.191s in the #7 before handing over to Kazuki Nakajima for the Le Mans rookie to complete his night qualifying run. That time stood as the car's quickest until the end of the session, making it fourth overall ahead of the #4 Audi of Rockenfeller/Jarvis/Bonanomi.
Following its engine change the #8 TS030 Hybrid returned to the circuit with Stephane Sarrazin at the wheel 40 minutes into the session, setting a 3m30.183s before Sarrazin handed over to Anthony Davidson. With 25 minutes of the session to run Davidson went for a fast run and improved the car's fastest time to 3m28.295s, before Sebastien Buemi closed out the session.
Sixth fastest and best-of the-rest was the #21 Strakka HPD shared by Jonny Kane, Danny Watts and Nick Leventis, 7.297s off Lotterer's benchmark.
LMP2 was hotly contested again, with just two seconds covering the top six. Le Mans veteran Christophe Tinseau's 3m39.252s in the #46 TDS Racing ORECA-Nissan stood as the quickest for the majority of the session, with the #48 Murphy ORECA-Nissan next fastest on 3m39.877s.
Chevrolet spent most of the session on top in GTE Pro, with the #74 Gavin/Westbrook/Milner car holding court by less than two tenths of a second from the #59 Luxury Racing Melo/Makowiecki/Farnbacher Ferrari - both banking quick laps in the first hour. The other factory Corvette of Garcia/Magnussen/Taylor was a second further adrift and Stefan Mucke stepped up the pace in the final hour with a 3m57.466s to go fourth for Aston Martin with 30 minutes remaining.
Once again the #79 Flying Lizard Porsche set the pace in GTE Am with a fastest lap of 3m57.594s. American Le Mans Series veteran Spencer Pumpelly spent much of the session at the wheel, consistently lapping comfortably faster than the other class entries as the gentleman drivers essayed their mandatory night qualifying laps.
Michael Krumm achieved his ambition of breaking into the 3m42s with the DeltaWing Nissan, setting a time of 3m42.612s before riding a kerb too aggressively. This dislodged the car's fire extinguisher, which disrupted the DeltaWing's electrics and brought it to an immediate halt.
Neither the #16 Pescarolo LMP1 nor the #51 AF Corse Ferrari GTE Pro entry took part in the session. Both were undergoing repairs after incidents during practice.
Pos Cl Drivers Team/Car Time
1. P1 Fassler/Lotterer/Treluyer Audi e-tron 3m25.453s
2. P1 Capello/Kristensen/McNish Audi e-tron 3m26.536s
3. P1 Dumas/Duval/Gene Audi Ultra 3m26.694s
4. P1 Wurz/Lapierre/Nakajima Toyota 3m27.191s
5. P1 Bonanomi/Jarvis/Rockenfeller Audi Ultra 3m27.554s
6. P1 Davidson/Buemi/Sarrazin Toyota 3m28.295s
7. P1 Leventis/Watts/Kane Strakka HPD 3m32.750s
8. P1 Belicchi/Primat/Bleekemolen Rebellion Lola-Toyota 3m33.140s
9. P1 Prost/Jani/Heidfeld Rebellion Lola-Toyota 3m33.211s
10. P1 Ara/Minassian/Bourdais Pescarolo Dome-Judd 3m34.716s
11. P1 Brabham/Chandhok/Dumbreck JRM HPD 3m37.088s
12. P1 Montagny/Baguette/Kraihamer OAK Pescarolo-Judd 3m38.414s
13. P2 Beche/Thiriet/Tinseau TDS ORECA-Nissan 3m39.252s
14. P2 Firth/Hughes/Hartley Murphy ORECA-Nissan 3m39.877s
15. P2 Potolicchio/Dalziel/Kimber-Smith Starworks HPD-Honda 3m40.639s
16. P2 Briere/Petersen/Nakano Boutsen ORECA-Nissan 3m40.727s
17. P2 Nicolet/Lahaye/Pla OAK Morgan-Judd 3m40.902s
18. P2 Dolan/Hancock/Kurosawa Jota Zytek-Nissan 3m41.287s
19. P2 Sims/Buurman/Iannetta Status Lola-Judd 3m41.451s
20. P2 Heinemeier Hansson/Leinders/Martin OAK Morgan-Nissan 3m41.721s
21. P2 Martin/Charouz/Graves ADR ORECA-Nissan 3m41.791s
22. P2 Perez-Companc/Ayari/Kaffer Pecom ORECA-Nissan 3m41.916s
23. P2 Ordonez/Brundle/Brundle Greaves Zytek-Nissan 3m42.125s
24. P2 Panciatici/Ragues/Rusinov Signatech ORECA-Nissan 3m42.157s
25. P2 Tucker/Bouchut/Diaz Level 5 HPD-Honda 3m42.224s
26. CDNT Franchitti/Krumm/Motoyama Highcroft Delta Wing Nissan 3m42.612s
27. P2 Mailleux/Lombard/Tresson Signatech ORECA-Nissan 3m44.495s
28. P2 Zugel/Gonzalez/Julian Greaves Zytek-Nissan 3m47.408s
29. P2 Holzer/Schultis/Moro Kodewa Lola-Lotus 3m48.067s
30. P2 Frey/Hirschi/Meichtry Race Performance ORECA-Judd 3m48.124s
31. P2 Giroix/Johansson/Badey Gulf Lola-Nissan 3m50.526s
32. P2 Haezebrouck/Thirion/Papin Extreme Limite Norma-Judd 3m51.012s
33. GTE P Gavin/Milner/Westbrook Corvette 3m55.910s
34. GTE P Makowiecki/Melo/Farnbacher Luxury Ferrari 3m56.076s
35. GTE P Taylor/Garcia/Magnussen Corvette 3m57.181s
36. GTE P Fernandez/Mucke/Turner Aston Martin 3m57.466s
37. GTE P Bertolini/Beretta/Cioci AF Corse Ferrari 3m57.509s
38. GTE A Neiman/Pilet/Pumpelly Flying Lizard Porsche 3m57.594s
39. GTE P Lieb/Lietz/Henzler Felbermayr-Proton Porsche 3m57.648s
40. GTE P Alfaisal/Curtis/Edwards IMSA Porsche 3m58.035s
41. GTE P Bergmeister/Long/Holzer Flying Lizard Porsche 3m58.717s
42. GTE A Simonsen/Nygaard/Poulsen Aston Martin 3m58.725s
43. GTE A Bornhauser/Canal/Lamy Larbre Corvette 3m59.192s
44. GTE A Ried/Roda/Ruberti Felbermayr-Proton Porsche 3m59.529s
45. GTE A Armindo/Narac/Pons IMSA Porsche 4m00.332s
46. GTE A Ehret/Montecalvo/Jeannette Luxury Ferrari 4m00.849s
47. GTE P Walker/Cocker/Wills JMW Ferrari 4m00.883s
48. GTE A Bourret/Gibon/Belloc Larbre Corvette 4m03.021s
49. GTE A Rodrigues/Ferte/Illiano JMB Ferrari 4m04.416s
50. GTE A Perazzini/Cadei/Griffin AF Corse Ferrari 4m04.493s
51. GTE A Krohn/Jonsson/Rugolo Krohn Ferrari 4m04.698s
52. GTE A Kauffman/Aguas/Vickers AF-Waltrip Ferrari 4m04.861s
53. GTE A Camathias/Daniels/Palttala JWA Porsche 4m08.170s
54. P2 Deletraz/Ihara/Rostan Gulf Lola-Nissan 4m14.086s
55. P1 Collard/Boullion/Hall Pescarolo-Judd
56. GTE P Fisichella/Bruni/Vilander AF Corse Ferrari
http://www.autosport.com/news/report.php/id/100346
Closing the runway or the creation of the circuit of Le Mans 24 Hours
14/06/20122:00 p.m. - Auto News - LE MANS 24 HOURS 2012
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During the week of the 24 Hours of Le Mans, during each day of testing, it is a real transformation operation that takes place in Le Mans and its surroundings. If the circuit which hosts one of the most mythical races there, it's because many technical teams are working more hours before the start of runs.
First, at the request of the ACO, it is men that change the General Council of signs to prohibit traffic in accordance with the prefectural.
The police carry out the implementation and enforcement of the temporary signage.
In parallel, technical teams begin at work to organize all the elements that guarantee the safety of the circuit. They are also providers of technical staff of the COA. These pose particular safety rails, new protection modules, signal lights, equipment positions commissioners, etc..
When the phases are completed, the ACO shall make the "Delivery of the Circuit." A letter is sent to the Prefecture, ensuring the conformity of the approval system and prefectural ordinances.
At this point, the road to Tours became the Mulsanne Straight.
The race director then takes possession of the track. It makes driving a lap, accompanied by Colonel of the gendarmerie, the state representative.
Karine Avon
http://youtu.be/WJCNQpkG2Hs
The ACO’s new president Pierre Fillon set the tone from the outset: “The regulations covering LMP1 cars from 2014 were devised in 2009 and are very innovative…”
The basic concept is that each car will be allocated a given quantity of ‘energy’, and the winner will be the one which uses the least amount of that allocation.
Energy efficiency and sustainable development are the priorities and they will see a 30 percent reduction in fuel consumption combined with the possibility to recover four times as much deceleration energy as is currently the case.
This shouldn’t detract from either performance or from the quality of the show for spectators, since the drivers will no long have to worry about fuel consumption. The amount of energy they use will be monitored by a flow-meter. There will no longer be an upper limit on engine size for cars entered by manufacturers (privateers restricted to a maximum capacity of 5.5 litres), nor will there be a maximum fuel injection pressure. The cars will not be forced to run intake air restrictors and the maximum turbo pressure will be raised to four bar.
It will be possible to homologate five different hybrid systems (not necessarily electric) and the extra power provided by them will be increased to 8 MegaJoules per lap (at Le Mans). Each type of car will be able to run with one of two systems. The ACO will also encourage the use of biofuels, along with petrol, diesel and… hydrogen. All-electric cars will be permitted if the technology they use is judged to be perfectly ready.
From 2014, all the LMP1 prototypes will have to have a closed cockpit, while their minimum weight will come down (hybrids: 850kg / non-hybrids: 830kg) and they will be 10cm less wide. The use of Zylon will be mandatory for the lateral protection panels, and the fitment of a rear ‘crash box’ will remain obligatory. A certain number of ‘adjustable’ aerodynamic appendixes will also be authorised and the driver’s seating position will be higher up and further forward to improve visibility.
Meanwhile, LMP2 cars will be able to run diesel engines for the first time, while a new Asian Le Mans Series will be created in 2013 based on six three-hour races (four in China and two in Japan).
Jonny Cocker @jonny_cocker
Le Mans pit lane at night has to be one of the coolest things I've seen!
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Tifoso
14th June 2012, 16:26
2 questions:
1. which team/driver(s) do I support?
2. On US TV?
Tobes
14th June 2012, 18:06
2 questions:
1. which team/driver(s) do I support?
2. On US TV?
1 - Depends on who you like in the LMP classes (link to entries below) always been an Audi fan but can't help but want the Toyota's to do well...
In the GTE Pro class there are four 458's, most notably the. AF Corse driven (in part) by Fisi, bit of an accident yesterday, but seems all is ok, there are a few 458's in the GTE AM class too...
Obviously i'm a bit of a Nissan fan, so keep an eye on the new DeltaWing, if you've not seen a pic of it yet Google it now..!
2 - No idea, but can't believe it's not being shown live in US, would imagine it'll be on Speeed...
Can you get RadioLeMans..?
http://www.planetlemans.com/2012/02/02/le-mans-24-hours-the-2012-entries/
http://www.lemans.org/en/races/24h/update.html
:-)
Tifoso
14th June 2012, 18:26
1 - Depends on who you like in the LMP classes (link to entries below) always been an Audi fan but can't help but want the Toyota's to do well...
In the GTE Pro class there are four 458's, most notably the. AF Corse driven (in part) by Fisi, bit of an accident yesterday, but seems all is ok, there are a few 458's in the GTE AM class too...
Obviously i'm a bit of a Nissan fan, so keep an eye on the new DeltaWing, if you've not seen a pic of it yet Google it now..!
2 - No idea, but can't believe it's not being shown live in US, would imagine it'll be on Speeed...
Can you get RadioLeMans..?
http://www.planetlemans.com/2012/02/02/le-mans-24-hours-the-2012-entries/
http://www.lemans.org/en/races/24h/update.html
:-)
Grazie fratello :-)
When does it start :oops
Tifoso
14th June 2012, 18:29
5:30AM on Saturday on SPEED :-)
Tobes
14th June 2012, 18:34
Grazie fratello :-)
When does it start :oops
This weekend...
Go here... http://www.lemans.org/en/races/24h/update.html and look to the right, there's a countdown clock...
Tifoso
14th June 2012, 18:35
Grazie!
5:30AM on Saturday on SPEED :-)
could try this tomorrow...
http://stream.speedtv.com/corvette
the start is on at 08.30 ET on Speed.
Tifoso
14th June 2012, 18:48
Thanks mate :cheers
this link aswell for commentry...
http://radiolemans.com/
and go to listen live.
Tifoso
14th June 2012, 18:50
this link aswell for commentry...
http://radiolemans.com/
and go to listen live.
Thanks (again) :cheers
Lou, just reading what team too support, have to agree with Tobes, i too have always liked Audis in LMP1 but have liked Pescarolos too, just for the history of the great man himself and before the diesels. Pescas were the only team to try to challenge Audi. The 458s are strong, they are class favs, but, dont coulnt out the Vettes. They have good record around the track. The #51 AF Corse driven by Fisi, Bruni&Vilander are 1 of the strongest GTE driver line up. Bruni always push hard and great to watch him.
Thanks (again) :cheers
di niente amico mio :thumb
Tifoso
14th June 2012, 18:56
Lou, just reading what team too support, have to agree with Tobes, i have always liked Audis in LMP1 but have liked Pescarolos too, just for the history of the great man himself and before the diesels. Pescas were the only team to try to challenge Audi. The 458s are strong, they are class favs, but, dont coulnt out the Vettes. They have good record around the track. The #51 AF Corse driven by Fisi, Bruni&Vilander are 1 of the strongest GTE driver line up. Bruni always push hard and great to watch him.
Thanks mate. I really only "watch" the 458's :-)
Qualifications LM GTE Pro: Luxury Racing confirms
15/06/20120:33 - Auto News - LE MANS 24 HOURS 2012
After the fastest time of the LM GTE Pro during the Test Day June 3, Frederic Makowiecki confirms this performance to the end of qualifying.
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Frederic Makowiecki (Ferrari 458 Italia 59, Luxury Racing, LM GTE Pro): "We have not made specific adjustments to get the fastest time, but I'm very happy with this pole position, which means a point more for the Endurance World Championship by the FIA. The race will be very tight, because the differences are very small in our category. "
Pescarolo disappointed by Boullion's withdrawal from Le Mans 24 Hours
By Sam Tremayne Friday, June 15th 2012, 13:31 GMT
Henri Pescarolo says he is disappointed by Jean-Christophe Boullion's withdrawal from this year's Le Mans 24 Hours, but has backed his #16 squad to cope in the Frenchman's absence.
Boullion crashed heavily on Wednesday at the La Sarthe circuit, damaging his ribs in what he described as a 'very violent accident'.
The team was able to repair the 03-Judd in time for the second qualifying session, and eventually captured 13th on the grid. Boullion did not get back in the car however, and officially withdrew from the race on Thursday.
"Of course I am disappointed because I like him and I think it is better to have three drivers," team owner Pescarolo told AUTOSPORT.
"It is too late now, but anyway I was at Le Mans myself sharing with just one other driver, so I'm not worried on that front.
"He didn't mention anything about safety [concerns] to me, he just said he lost the car and that we had to find the reason. We found it in the telemetry, and then Collard and Hall drove for a long time with no problem, but he had some pain in his side and thought he was not able to drive.
"His injuries were not too bad, but he didn't want to drive the car at all."
Boullion said he withdrew out of a sense of fairness to the team, knowing that he would not be able to keep a competitive pace.
"It was a very violent accident. The wheels locked and the car instantly spun. It hit the guard rail ahead of me hard, then took off across the track to hit head on the barriers on the other side of the track," he explained.
"The team did an incredible job to get the car back together for Thursday evening, congratulations to all. I drove again yesterday evening but quickly realised that I had pain in my ribs which was stopping me from breathing properly.
"I said to Henri that it wasn't fair on the team for me to run 10 seconds off the pace because I wasn't fully fit. Because of that, I didn't run yesterday evening and I didn't qualify."
Briton Stuart Hall and France's Emmanuel Collard, who captured pole position in the Pescarolo C60 Hybrid in 2005, will therefore be left without a third team-mate for this year's race.
http://www.autosport.com/news/report.php/id/100384
Another slice of history was made at Le Mans, with a hybrid car claiming pole position for the first time. 2011 winners André Lotterer, Marcel Fässler and Benoit Treluyer (nr1 Audi R18 e-tron Quattro) will start the defence of their Le Mans crown from pole at 3pm on Saturday, lining up on the front row of the grid with the nr3 Audi R18 Ultra of Marc Gené, Romain Dumas and Loic Duval. Toyota Racing had a good qualifying and will start 3rd and 5th, with the nr8 TS030 Hybrid of Anthony Davidson, Sebastien Buemi and Stephane Sarrazin heading the second row alongside the nr2 Audi R18 e-tron Quattro of Allan McNish, Dindo Capello and Tom Kristensen.
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Andre Lotterer’s lap of 3:23.787 was just under two seconds quicker than last year’s pole lap set by Benoit Treluyer, with the top 5 cars covered by 1.7 seconds.
The nr21 Strakka Racing HPD-Honda continued to be the fastest LMP1 privately entered car, with Danny Watts posting a 3:29.622 lap, and will start in P7 ahead of the two Rebellion Racing Lola-Toyotas, with the nr 12 Lola just ahead of the sister car.
The nr25 ADR-Delta Oreca-Nissan of Jan Charouz, John Martin and Tor Graves claimed another LMP2 pole to add to the one the team claimed at Spa last month. John Martin posted a 3m28.181 to head the P2 class with the nr24 Oak Racing Morgan Judd of Jacques Nicolet, Matthieu Lahaye and Olivier Pla just 0.4 seconds behind.
The LMGTE Pro pole position was claimed by the nr59 Luxury Racing Ferrari 458 with Frederic Makowiecki posting a 3:55.393 lap to be the fastest GT car at Le Mans. Makowiecki was 0.4 seconds ahead of the nr97 Aston Martin Racing Vantage of Darren Turner. The fastest FIA WEC car in the LMGTE Am class was the nr99 Aston Martin Racing Vantage of Allan Simonsen but the Dane was only third fastest in the class after the nr79 Flying Lizards Porsche and the Nr75 Prospeed Competition Porsche were quicker.
Toyota: "a better car for the race"
15/06/20121:30 p.m. - Auto News - LE MANS 24 HOURS 2012
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By failing to 1.055 seconds from pole position, the Toyota team confirms the audience that they can count on two TS030 Hybrid to make life miserable for four Audi. Anthony Davidson announced that his car will be even more comfortable in race conditions.
Yoshiaki Kinoshita, President of the team: "I am truly proud of the whole group, be it Toyota Motorsport GmbH in Cologne (Germany), the Department of Motor Sport Higashifuji (Japan), or department" Hybrid " Toyota Motor Corporation. Everyone worked so hard to get here. The effort was worth it. Have two cars in the top five is a huge accomplishment for the first race of the team and after only three days of track at Le Mans. We approach the race forward. The challenge will be difficult but exciting. Kudos to Audi for this hard-fought pole which shows how they will be hard to beat in the race. "
Kazuki Nakajima, driver of the No. 7 Toyota, qualified fifth: "Having the chance to attack with new tires was a fantastic experience for me. I felt good and I really enjoyed it, except in traffic. We knew it would be lower end of the session because the others began to stop in the pits. Our strategy was good: I only had to manage the overflow of a car in the last sector and I lost some time. It's great to see Anthony in the top 3 point and have both TS030 Hybrid in the Top 5 for our first race. I think we can have a good race on Saturday and I hope we will be able to finish without any problems. A big thank you to the team because we have faced some difficulties to be here. We had a problem between sessions, but we came back on track and we were able to fight with Audi. This was a great, great effort on the part of the team. "
Anthony Davidson, driver of the Toyota 8, qualified third : "After this qualification, I think we have learned almost everything we could to the car. I did a good lap and I think we have much to be happy with what we achieved. That does not make much longer I drive the Hybrid TS030 and I go faster and faster: the car is well balanced and I feel at ease. I am excited to be racing to see what we can do. I hope we have a reliable car. I think we surprised a lot of people being so close to the pole position ... and I think we have a better car for the race than in qualifying. Le Mans is a very difficult race, but if we do not have a problem, hopefully, we can afford to be on the podium. "
The start of the 24 Hours of Le Mans will be given tomorrow at 15 am by Takeshi Uchiyamada, executive vice president of Toyota.
Andre Lotterer makes Le Mans history as first hybrid claims pole
By Simon Strang Thursday, June 14th 2012, 22:41 GMT
Last year's Le Mans 24 Hours winner Andre Lotterer made Le Mans history on Thursday night when he secured the first pole position for a hybrid car on the 80th running of the race at La Sarthe.
The German's #1 Audi R18 e-tron quattro set a blistering 3m23.787s lap early in the final qualifying session, ensuring the 2011 event winning crew of Lotterer, Marcel Fassler and Benoit Treluyer will pick up where it left off a year ago.
Toyota's challenge for pole on its return to frontline endurance competition fizzled out at the flag, with Anthony Davidson setting a nevertheless impressive third fastest time overall.
Lotterer set his time early in the final two-hour session as dusk fell, bumping the #3 R18 ultra of Romain Dumas, Loic Duval and Marc Gene to second. The hybrid machine was never headed again.
"It was not a perfect lap," said Lotterer afterwards. "I did not get all the perfect sectors together, but I think we can still be happy."
The expected final dash for pole came when Davidson brought the #8 Toyota TS030 into the pits with 15 minutes to go and bolted on a fresh set of slicks. The time that resulted from that - a 3m24.842s - was good enough to put the brand new car third on the grid, behind the #3 Audi, whose best time had been set by Dumas during in Thursday's first session.
Davidson did attempt a second lap, but came upon Tom Kristensen in the #2 R18 e-tron on an out-lap as the cars headed back through the chicanes towards the pits. The Englishman's lap was unlikely to have got him pole even before the delay however.
Kristensen had taken over from Allan McNish for a couple of laps at the end of the session but it was near the start of it that he set the time that secured the #2 car fourth on the grid.
Kazuki Nakajima set a late flyer in the #7 Toyota, pushing the #4 Audi driven by Le Mans rookies Marco Bonanomi and Oliver Jarvis (joined by former winner Mike Rockenfeller) back to sixth.
Danny Watts's time before the break was enough to give Strakka Racing seventh on the grid - and best of the non-hybrid petrol cars as he broke the 3m30s barrier with the HPD - ahead the two Rebellion Lolas.
"I really enjoyed my fastest lap," said Watts. "I was thoroughly in the zone, focused and concentrated. It was one of those balls-on-the-line laps which came off."
The Pescarolo Dome completed the top 10, but also ended its evening in the barriers at the exit of the Porsche Curves having made contact with a Zytek, and that incident briefly brought out the red flag.
John Martin gave ADR-Delta pole in the LMP2 battle as he moved ahead of Olivier Pla's Morgan-Judd, which had a spin early in the session. The #26 Signatech Nissan will start third. The Brundles' Greaves Zytek will start the race 11th in class and 24th overall.
Frederic Makowiecki took his second pole position in as many weeks as he set the pace for Luxury Racing Ferrari in GTE Pro (the Frenchman was also fastest in the FIA GT1 event for Hexis McLaren at the Slovakia Ring last weekend).
The factory Aston Martin was an impressive second in class thanks to Darren Turner's efforts before the break while Oliver Gavin's time from yesterday was good enough to secure third position in class for Corvette.
AF Corse performed miracles with the #51 Ferrari F458, which had been effectively written off and required a new chassis after Giancarlo Fisichella's shunt at the Porsche Curves on Wednesday, to get it back on track with 30 minutes to go. That allowed Toni Vilander to qualify the car 49th overall and last of the GTE Pro runners.
The #79 Flying Lizard Porsche driven by Patrick Pilet, Seth Neiman and Spencer Pumpelly took pole position in the GTE Am class.
Pos Cl Drivers Team/Car Time
1. P1 Fassler/Lotterer/Treluyer Audi e-tron 3m23.787s
2. P1 Dumas/Duval/Gene Audi Ultra 3m24.078s
3. P1 Davidson/Buemi/Sarrazin Toyota 3m24.842s
4. P1 Capello/Kristensen/McNish Audi e-tron 3m25.433s
5. P1 Wurz/Lapierre/Nakajima Toyota 3m25.488s
6. P1 Bonanomi/Jarvis/Rockenfeller Audi Ultra 3m26.420s
7. P1 Leventis/Watts/Kane Strakka HPD 3m29.622s
8. P1 Prost/Jani/Heidfeld Rebellion Lola-Toyota 3m29.837s
9. P1 Belicchi/Primat/Bleekemolen Rebellion Lola-Toyota 3m31.866s
10. P1 Ara/Minassian/Bourdais Pescarolo Dome-Judd 3m33.066s
11. P1 Brabham/Chandhok/Dumbreck JRM HPD 3m35.421s
12. P1 Montagny/Baguette/Kraihamer OAK Pescarolo-Judd 3m35.584s
13. P1 Collard/Boullion/Hall Pescarolo-Judd 3m37.485s
14. P2 Martin/Charouz/Graves ADR ORECA-Nissan 3m38.181s
15. P2 Nicolet/Lahaye/Pla OAK Morgan-Judd 3m38.598s
16. P2 Panciatici/Ragues/Rusinov Signatech ORECA-Nissan 3m39.152s
17. P2 Beche/Thiriet/Tinseau TDS ORECA-Nissan 3m39.252s
18. P2 Perez-Companc/Ayari/Kaffer Pecom ORECA-Nissan 3m39.711s
19. P2 Firth/Hughes/Hartley Murphy ORECA-Nissan 3m39.877s
20. P2 Heinemeier Hansson/Leinders/Martin OAK Morgan-Nissan 3m39.899s
21. P2 Sims/Buurman/Iannetta Status Lola-Judd 3m40.280s
22. P2 Potolicchio/Dalziel/Kimber-Smith Starworks HPD-Honda 3m40.471s
23. P2 Briere/Petersen/Nakano Boutsen ORECA-Nissan 3m40.727s
24. P2 Ordonez/Brundle/Brundle Greaves Zytek-Nissan 3m40.738s
25. P2 Dolan/Hancock/Kurosawa Jota Zytek-Nissan 3m41.287s
26. P2 Mailleux/Lombard/Tresson Signatech ORECA-Nissan 3m41.982s
27. P2 Tucker/Bouchut/Diaz Level 5 HPD-Honda 3m42.224s
28. P2 Zugel/Gonzalez/Julian Greaves Zytek-Nissan 3m42.292s
29. CDNT Franchitti/Krumm/Motoyama Highcroft Delta Wing Nissan 3m42.612s
30. P2 Frey/Hirschi/Meichtry Race Performance ORECA-Judd 3m43.619s
31. P2 Holzer/Schultis/Moro Kodewa Lola-Lotus 3m45.664s
32. P2 Giroix/Johansson/Badey Gulf Lola-Nissan 3m47.244s
33. P2 Haezebrouck/Thirion/Rosier Extreme Limite Norma-Judd 3m48.025s
34. GTE P Makowiecki/Melo/Farnbacher Luxury Ferrari 3m55.393s
35. GTE P Fernandez/Mucke/Turner Aston Martin 3m55.870s
36. GTE P Gavin/Milner/Westbrook Corvette 3m55.910s
37. GTE P Bertolini/Beretta/Cioci AF Corse Ferrari 3m56.484s
38. GTE P Taylor/Garcia/Magnussen Corvette 3m57.181s
39. GTE A Neiman/Pilet/Pumpelly Flying Lizard Porsche 3m57.594s
40. GTE P Lieb/Lietz/Henzler Felbermayr-Proton Porsche 3m57.606s
41. GTE P Alfaisal/Curtis/Edwards IMSA Porsche 3m58.035s
42. GTE P Bergmeister/Long/Holzer Flying Lizard Porsche 3m58.717s
43. GTE A Simonsen/Nygaard/Poulsen Aston Martin 3m58.725s
44. GTE A Ehret/Montecalvo/Jeannette Luxury Ferrari 3m58.800s
45. P2 Rostan/Ihara/Deletraz Gulf Lola-Nissan 3m58.895s
46. GTE A Ried/Roda/Ruberti Felbermayr-Proton Porsche 3m59.181s
47. GTE A Bornhauser/Canal/Lamy Larbre Corvette 3m59.192s
48. GTE P Walker/Cocker/Wills JMW Ferrari 3m59.638s
49. GTE P Fisichella/Bruni/Vilander AF Corse Ferrari 4m00.025s
50. GTE A Perazzini/Cadei/Griffin AF Corse Ferrari 4m00.288s
51. GTE A Armindo/Narac/Pons IMSA Porsche 4m00.332s
52. GTE A Kauffman/Aguas/Vickers AF-Waltrip Ferrari 4m00.691s
53. GTE A Krohn/Jonsson/Rugolo Krohn Ferrari 4m02.323s
54. GTE A Rodrigues/Ferte/Illiano JMB Ferrari 4m02.461s
55. GTE A Bourret/Gibon/Belloc Larbre Corvette 4m02.969s
56. GTE A Camathias/Daniels/Palttala JWA Porsche 4m03.661
http://www.autosport.com/news/report.php/id/100369
Nova
16th June 2012, 04:09
Great news n pix as always Rob..Go Ferrari...I think this is
one of the greatest races..it should be on live all day...for 24 hours!!
Wow, eTron on pole..
Great news n pix as always Rob..Go Ferrari...I think this is
one of the greatest races..it should be on live all day...for 24 hours!!
Wow, eTron on pole..
No props mate :thumb
Eurosport is showing non stop coverage again this year. Always great coverage. Warm up finished little while ago, very wet. The first wet weather running they have had so far. Meant be wet all day today. Be fun to watch #51 458 come through the GTE class. The team done amazing job to rebuild that car after Fisi had big shunt Wednesday night. The Delta wing looks good. They good job to get that car here.
This is the greatest race in the world. Love it :clap
Corvette drivers reckon AF Corse can still win Le Mans GTE Pro despite qualifying crash
By Sam Tremayne Friday, June 15th 2012, 15:37 GMT
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Corvette's Richard Westbrook and Oliver Gavin believe the #51 AF Corse Ferrari is still a major threat in the GTE Pro class at this year's Le Mans 24 Hours despite the car missing most of qualifying and having to start from the back of the field.
Gavin insists the Ferrari's lack of running - the result of Giancarlo Fisichella's Wednesday crash at the Porsche curves – will not count against it during the race, and fully expects it to be a contender for victory.
"You often sit there and try and study what other drivers and cars are doing, but the one car that hasn't really been there in the whole of qualifying is the #51 AF Corse Ferrari," he explained.
"It's quite a blow for them what happened on Wednesday, having to go back and re-shell that car and effectively use a new chassis, but I think they'll bounce back. If I had to put my money on any car going for the pole, that is the car I would have selected.
"I would still say they are the strongest in our class, and they're going to be fighting extremely hard. We know that we are going to see that car at some point and go up against it."
Westbrook, who alongside Gavin and Jan Magnussen was fighting with AF Corse for victory in last year's race, said starting from the back would not prove a massive hindrance for the #51 machine.
"We won't do anything different, and they won't do anything, given their starting position," he said. "OK they had the accident, but it was just a blip and I'm sure they will come back even stronger."
Asked whether Corvette could match Ferrari, he said: "We are definitely not as fast over one lap as the Aston Martin and the Ferrari, but we are getting more and more confident with our race pace.
"Our confidence is definitely going up as the week has progressed though - we have certainly made more of a step than anyone else."
http://www.autosport.com/news/report.php/id/100394
Henzler doubts Porsche chances in the Le Mans 24 Hours
By Sam Tremayne Friday, June 15th 2012, 15:12 GMT
Wolf Henzler has played down the chances of winning the GTE Pro class after labelling his Felbermayr-Proton Porsche's qualifying deficit as 'too much'.
The #77 911 Henzler shares with Marc Lieb and Richard Lietz was the fastest Porsche in the GTE Pro class, but ended qualifying in sixth, more than 2.2s down on the pacesetting #59 Luxury Racing Ferrari.
Henzler believes that gap leaves Porsche incredibly vulnerable to any misfortune during the 24 Hours, and insists that his team therefore needs a perfect race to stand any chance of victory.
"We already knew we are not at the same speed as the others, but two seconds is more than expected," Henzler told AUTOSPORT.
"Are we too far off? We will see, but if you are already so far behind in lap time it means you have no room for error. If something goes wrong you are done.
"If you are the same speed maybe you can gain in the pit stop or whatever. For us, we need the perfect race, we need everything to go for us, in order to stand a chance.
"If everything is fine and perfect maybe we can get the podium, but honestly I think we are too slow to win."
GTE Pro polesitter Frederic Makowiecki says any of the class runners can win Le Mans
By Sam Tremayne Friday, June 15th 2012, 10:50 GMT
Le Mans 24 Hours GTE Pro class polesitter Frederic Makowiecki believes the division is wide open, and that any of the nine entrants can win.
On the back of the opening two sessions at the Circuit de la Sarthe, the Frenchman says the class still has no clear favourite and insists every single outfit will be in contention for victory.
"In GTE Pro we have nine cars, and every car can win," Makowiecki said. "Every team seems to have a strong team of drivers, they're all very professionally run and they all have close support from the factories - or are actual factory teams. That means that while we may have just nine cars, we still have nine potential victors."
In light of the apparent competitiveness of the field, Makowiecki said strategy – and trying to run as long as possible between stops – would be crucial.
"For the race it will be important not to make mistakes, but also to have the right strategy," he said. "I think [running longer in each stint] will be very important.
"Normally Porsche is very strong in fuel consumption, but we have done a lot of work this year to really close the gap and we're very confident.
"We have an amazing chassis, especially on braking and turn-in, and if you have that great chassis you can try and be a bit safer on the fuel. We will be trying to run one lap longer, and that can make all the difference."
http://www.autosport.com/news/report.php/id/100378
Anyone with i-phone...
The update of the iPhone application "lemans.org" is available on the Apple Store. It's free!
The iPhone application "lemans.org" provides access to all the news of the 24 Hours of Le Mans, rankings and photos ... This is the essential tool to follow the race in real time.
http://itunes.apple.com/fr/app/lemans.org/id441201611?mt=8
The race jus started, Allan Mcnish made brilliant move on the #7 Toyota coming out of the Dunlop chicane. Atmo Audi 1,2,3 the Toyotas hanging on to the top 3.
Audi Motorsport Blog @Audi_MS_Blog
Hard fight on track for third overall: @AllanMcNish #2 @Audi R18 e-tron quattro and Stephane Sarrazin #8 @Toyota_Hybrid #24LM
ACO @24heuresdumans
LM P1 : Lotterer (Audi) ; LM P2 : Martin (Oreca) ; GTE Pro : Mücke (Aston Martin) ; GTE Am : Edwards (Porsche). #24LM
#51 AF Corse is upto 5th in class already :clap
#51 now upto 4th and losing down the leaders
Aston Martin Racing @AMR_Official
The fight at the front of the GTE Pro class is heating up. Stefan is leading and defending the position from the #74 car in his slipstream.
Brundle is leading LMP2 class.
team radio for Flying Lizards..
http://events.powerstream.net/002/00324/2011_Flying_Lizard_Player/start.asp?ueid=C0B5E2B8A1824A9194F3B3B349FC0B4D
Still Aston and Vettes leading GTE, Vilander in the #51 is now 3rd and closing them down. Forza Ferrari
#97 Aston leader of GTE pits, Vilander now 2nd
Ferraris able to do a lap more than the Vetts and 2 more than Aston.
scuderiafan
16th June 2012, 13:57
Difficult to understand this, but are our guys leading now? Have the 74 Corvettes pitted or are they out of the race?
http://en.lemanslive.com/Lemanslive/Evenements/2012-Le-Mans-24-Hours/Live
they have pitted, #51 still leading GTE class.
Bruni now on board #51 Ferrari
AF Corse @AFCorse
Bruni is now in second position. Go Ferrari
AF Corse @AFCorse
Corvette out for pit stop: Bruni is leader
#51 has only made 2 stops so far :clap
http://i47.tinypic.com/wahcms.jpg
AF Corse @AFCorse
Now is driving Giancarlo Fisichella
Corvette Racing @CorvetteRacing
3-way fight sees @TommyMilner in #74 Corvette leading, #97 Aston Martin 2nd, and #51 Ferrari 3rd. @jordan_taylor88 5th in #73 Corvette.
Toyota really looking alot stronger atmo than i thought they would. Are bringing the fight too Audi.
http://youtu.be/acFzaGA3R_Q
AF Corse @AFCorse
Now Fisichella is second
Tifoso
16th June 2012, 16:48
Any free/legal direct links (ie, without downloading something)?
Tifoso
16th June 2012, 17:08
:-s
Any free/legal direct links (ie, without downloading something)?
http://live.fiawec.com/
and then
http://radiolemans.0157.org/nplayer.php
for the commentry
or try this on...
http://stream.speedtv.com/corvette
l'endurance magazine @lendurancelive
Ant Davidson reportedly sitting outside vehicle, undergoing medical inspection
Tobes
16th June 2012, 18:09
That was a bit nasty, Ant must have been travelling at something close to 200mph, scary...
Ferrari was absolutely at fault...! :-s
http://i48.tinypic.com/2d0nypz.jpg
That was a bit nasty, Ant must have been travelling at something close to 200mph, scary...
Ferrari was absolutely at fault...! :-s
yeah, he is at fault. Just turned in. Should of been looking and the team should of been telling him that a faster LMP1 is closing at a rate of knots. Be easy near 200mph.
Just hope Ant is ok
good work by the Audi team, that is cracking work to get that car back out again in this short time. Big respect for Romain for ripping off the front body work before heading to pits.
http://youtu.be/Fzw5i14ewXY
dscracelive @dscracelive
Perrazzini confirmed to Eurosport that he saw the Toyota but misjudged the distance
ACO @24hoursoflemans
Both drivers involved in crash checked over in Medical Centre, Toyota confirm Davidson is fully conscious
BBC 5Live F1 Team @5LiveF1
So @antdavidson is walking and talking, he has a sore back so going to get it checked out at hospital later. Look forward to seeing him soon
458 Italia
16th June 2012, 19:05
http://live.lemans-tv.com/en another link for anyone that wants it.
What a brilliant race we have on our hands! I won't be leaving the tv tonight! Forza Ferrari!
458 Italia
16th June 2012, 19:14
Safety Car in this lap, let's go!
oh no Delta Wing gone :-s
458 Italia
16th June 2012, 19:17
Yep literally shoved off the track. I think any other car would've been able to carry on.
458 Italia
16th June 2012, 19:18
#51 is in the lead as Vette #74 pits.
oooppps my mistake, it isn't.
Yep literally shoved off the track. I think any other car would've been able to carry on.
Dont like the safety car rules at Le-Mans, i know big track and alot of cars, but should try n get the leaders together ahead of the slower cars.
We have better fuel mileage than the Vettes and the Aston. Could be looking good come tomorrow afternoon.
Come on Mcnish, he is closing the leaders. Like to see McNish win in the e-tron
458 Italia
16th June 2012, 19:30
They should let cars unlap themselves I think or let the highest placed car go to the front of the safety car train.
From what I've seen we can do 15-16 laps before fuel and the others are doing 11-12. I'd like to see Bruni back in the car, he's been getting the best out of it I think.
Yeah I'd like to see McNish win it too.
458 Italia
16th June 2012, 19:31
I don't know why they keep saying 14 laps in commentary.
They should let cars unlap themselves I think or let the highest placed car go to the front of the safety car train.
From what I've seen we can do 15-16 laps before fuel and the others are doing 11-12. I'd like to see Bruni back in the car, he's been getting the best out of it I think.
Yeah I'd like to see McNish win it too.
Bruni just hussle that 458 around. Great driver. Vilander is up there with him aswell. Fisi is getting better. I know, think it was when Fisi was in, here he was pushing bit harder too try and make bit more of a gap before the pits.
458 Italia
16th June 2012, 19:43
You have to be happy with how it's going, I can't fault anyone who's been in the car. The Aston has been dropped for now, a lap down I think, the economy of that car is rubbish we have a pit stop over them now too. Toni lapping well half a lap down on the vette, will be great if we can get a pit stop on them.
458 Italia
16th June 2012, 19:45
In some ways it's not the same without peuglol blowing up, but you can only beat what's confront of you
Tifoso
16th June 2012, 19:52
or try this on...
http://stream.speedtv.com/corvette
You, sir, rock :wine
Tifoso
16th June 2012, 19:56
What a beautiful corner :love
You, sir, rock :wine
:oops
;-) non c'è problema
What a beautiful corner :love
what corner is that Lou amico mio?
Tifoso
16th June 2012, 19:59
How do these guys keep hydrated racing 8 hour stints?
Tifoso
16th June 2012, 20:01
what corner is that Lou amico mio?
I don't know the name. :oops I will try and post when I see it again
458 Italia
16th June 2012, 20:03
On of the drivers said the teams make them drink disgusting sports drinks with salts and stuff to keep them hydrated, you often see them swapping out the bottles during stops.
How do these guys keep hydrated racing 8 hour stints?
they dont do 8 hours stints due too safety, a normal stint is 45 minutes. No 1 driver is allowed to drive for 4 hours consecutively, so you get drivers doing 2-3 stints. Sometimes push it right up to the 4 hour mark.
Tifoso
16th June 2012, 20:04
The poor blonde babe looks like she's completely clueless :-D
Tifoso
16th June 2012, 20:04
they dont do 8 hours stints due too safety, a normal stint is 45 minutes. No 1 driver is allowed to drive for 4 hours consecutively, so you get drivers doing 2-3 stints. Sometimes push it right up to the 4 hour mark.
Ahhh, makes sense. Thanks for being kind to a Le Newbie. :oops
Tifoso
16th June 2012, 20:06
Wonder how those two handle? :-D
(j/kw, obviously)
458 Italia
16th June 2012, 20:08
Any news on Twitter about the Delta Wing?
Ahhh, makes sense. Thanks for being kind to a Le Newbie. :oops
;-) The Porsche curves are my fav section of the track.
dscracelive @dscracelive
The damaged #99 GTE AM Aston is a confirmed withdrawal
458 Italia
16th June 2012, 20:11
Those Audis lights are bright!
Any news on Twitter about the Delta Wing?
not yet, last news was it was still behind the wall at the corner it hit, that was an hour ago.
458 Italia
16th June 2012, 20:12
;-) The Porsche curves are my fav section of the track.
#1 is so quick through there.
think Delta Wing is out..
http://i48.tinypic.com/mayof7.jpg
#1 is so quick through there.
yeah terte rouge is quick, got carry good speed through there to carry down to the first chicane.
Tifoso
16th June 2012, 20:31
That corner!
458 Italia
16th June 2012, 20:38
Audi #3 making good progress after the shunt.
458 Italia
16th June 2012, 20:45
Toyota #7 back out, well not quite.
458 Italia
16th June 2012, 20:48
I'm not certain but I think Toni is in fuel save mode, he's lapping a bit slower now.
I'm not certain but I think Toni is in fuel save mode, he's lapping a bit slower now.
Come night time, they tend too ease off abit, not too much.
Or, just checked the times, he may got caught in some traffic.
458 Italia
16th June 2012, 21:12
Could well be. In the pits now so is the #74, got a stop over the Vette now.
Bruni back in the car.
458 Italia
16th June 2012, 21:20
The Le Mans live timing page sucks. We could really do with a F1.com style page.
Anthony Davidson was taken to the circuit medical centre following his accident during the Le Mans 24 Hours. Doctors at the circuit have confirmed that Anthony is suffering from shock and back pain, however there are no signs of any injuries and he is walking and talking with no problems. He will be taken to a local hospital for precautionary checks but the team is relieved and happy to hear he is okay. Further updates will follow in due course.
Statement issued by Toyota Racing at 2115 hours.
Tobes
16th June 2012, 21:29
Really disappointed the Delta Wing is out, especially through no fault of it's own, Nakajima is still a liability every time he gets behind the wheel...!
Brundle demonstrating he doesn't just talk about it, he's still got it in him, and Lucas still doing it for all of us GT5 wannabe racers... :thumb
Brundle doing well, that team is. Have to try too improve my time in GT Academy, last 1 is round Motegi.
Got agree with Nakajima. He is an accident waiting to happen. Hope the Delta Wing races again this year. Think there was talk about an ALMS race later this year. Then next year have 1 car in each category in the ALMS.
458 Italia
16th June 2012, 21:36
#59 Luxury Racing Ferrari coming in soon from a battle for 3rd, getting ready for a driver change.
458 Italia
16th June 2012, 21:42
I like that blonde reporter on the Euro 2012 on Eurosport advert.
Tobes
16th June 2012, 21:43
Brundle doing well, that team is. Have to try too improve my time in GT Academy, last 1 is round Motegi.
Got agree with Nakajima. He is an accident waiting to happen. Hope the Delta Wing races again this year. Think there was talk about an ALMS race later this year. Then next year have 1 car in each category in the ALMS.
Yeah you should, you're quicker than me, give it a proper go, didn't realise Motegi was last round, will have a go...
Definately, would be a real shame if the Delta Wing just became a museum piece, really want to see what the 'car' is actually capable of...
Yeah you should, you're quicker than me, give it a proper go, didn't realise Motegi was last round, will have a go...
Definately, would be a real shame if the Delta Wing just became a museum piece, really want to see what the 'car' is actually capable of...
:oops The times from last round will count to who goes through, fingers crossed.
It has alot of more work to be done, they want too race it more. In the ALMS they are allowed to race for points.
Bruni set fastest lap now, come on #51
458 Italia
16th June 2012, 21:57
Bruni just set the cars fastest lap, can't see it on the timing page because it froze again.
458 Italia
16th June 2012, 22:02
207.1 Kph average speed for the #51 car.
458 Italia
16th June 2012, 22:13
On the Ferrari Davidson incident I think Ant was at fault as much as the other guy, the GT cars don't have to get out of the way for prototypes, it's up to the faster car to go the long way around or wait until the corner has been navigated.
Maybe also a bit of karma here to, I remember last year when Ant was trying to drive the single surviving Audi off the road last year.
If you remember he done the same to a Vette of other year entering the Porsche curves. Didnt end the same why, but the Vette was out on the spot. Ant went down the inside as the Vette was turning in. It was 50/50, today. I have changed my view on it after watching the replays.
On about the fins too stop LMPs fyling, looking at it, looks like the fin actually helped it getting airborne.
458 Italia
16th June 2012, 22:19
On about the fins too stop LMPs fyling, looking at it, looks like the fin actually helped it getting airborne.
I agree! :roll
458 Italia
16th June 2012, 22:20
#51 did a 3:56.2 apparently, very quick!
Johnny Mowlem just answered my tweet about Brunis fastest lap 3.562 or 563
458 Italia
16th June 2012, 22:24
Wow you're famous!
Tobes
16th June 2012, 22:28
On the Ferrari Davidson incident I think Ant was at fault as much as the other guy, the GT cars don't have to get out of the way for prototypes, it's up to the faster car to go the long way around or wait until the corner has been navigated.
Maybe also a bit of karma here to, I remember last year when Ant was trying to drive the single surviving Audi off the road last year.
Can't see that, Ant was more than half way past, the Ferrari turned in on the rear half of the Toyota which caused the spin, no way was that Ant's fault, the Ferrari should have the spacial awareness not to have turned into the corner...
Of course it's down to the lapped cars to get out the way, if it's not down to the slower cars to get out the way then why do they get blue flags..?
458 Italia
16th June 2012, 22:32
Of course they have the flags to let cars know they are being lapped but it's always been the way for GT cars to stick to their racing line when prototypes make a pass.
just checking up the regs, and couldnt find ACO regs, but found for GT racing on line based on the real rules from the FIA and ACO...
- 'BLUE FLAG RULE' - Extra care should be taken when lapping another car of a lower class (GT1 overtaking a GT2) in this case the GT2 driver should not move off line but allow the faster to go around when safe! Its the responsibility of the faster driver to pass safely. This is part of multi-class racing!
458 Italia
16th June 2012, 22:43
Lol, they just mentioned how lazy Kimi is out of the car. :-D
Lol, they just mentioned how lazy Kimi is out of the car. :-D
yeah we all knew that anyway
interesting team radio...
http://events.powerstream.net/002/00324/2011_Flying_Lizard_Player/start.asp?ueid=75E2C10D395B43AA8D77AD5EB56A6664
458 Italia
16th June 2012, 22:45
Yay #51 in the lead!
Well they said it was.
8 pit stops for the #51, amazing
458 Italia
16th June 2012, 22:49
8 pit stops for the #51, amazing
Superb.
Are you going through the night?
Superb.
Are you going through the night?
not sure, my go for another hour then get 4 hours sleep. Need feel awake as my little girl be up at 6. Or may just have couple hours on sofa. You?
Aston Martin Racing @AMR_Official
Darren has passed the #77 car to climb to fifth in GTE Pro.
458 Italia
16th June 2012, 22:56
I'd like to go the distance, but knowing me I'll make it until about 5 and then fall asleep!
I love endurance racing, more so than F1 these days, what with the tyre lottery, DRS making it too easy and stupid rule changes every year, but still when ever there's a Ferrari racing I'll be supporting it!
I'd like to go the distance, but knowing me I'll make it until about 5 and then fall asleep!
I love endurance racing, more so than F1 these days, what with the tyre lottery, DRS making it too easy and stupid rule changes every year, but still when ever there's a Ferrari racing I'll be supporting it!
yeah same here.
i do love F1 alot, but feel same as you about how it has gone recently.
AF Corse @AFCorse
GTE Am Car 61 is fourth
458 Italia
16th June 2012, 23:05
Ferrari 2 and 3 in GTE atm.
458 Italia
16th June 2012, 23:06
ooooo #74 pits 10 stops I make that.
#51 makes it's 9th. 15 laps a stint.
fingers crossed it was #74 with smoke
458 Italia
16th June 2012, 23:09
fingers crossed it was #74 with smoke
:-D
ooooo #74 pits 10 stops I make that.
#51 makes it's 9th. 15 laps a stint.
it has got bit colder, so engines will not be using as much fuel as in day time. That is good mileage still Forza Ferrari
ACO @24hoursoflemans
Puncture for No 74 Corvette - going slowly at Tertre Rouge
458 Italia
16th June 2012, 23:12
Get in!
be a long slow lap for the #74, we could put them a lap down
458 Italia
16th June 2012, 23:12
Hunt it down Freddie!
458 Italia
16th June 2012, 23:13
Ferrari 1/2 now!
lapped them already, come Ferrari, bring it home 1-2
458 Italia
16th June 2012, 23:15
Corvette only just in now :D
458 Italia
16th June 2012, 23:16
Back it goes! :-D
Aston Martin Racing @AMR_Official
Darren Turner pits from fifth position in GTE Pro for a splash of fuel while the #74 car is wheeled into its garage.
458 Italia
16th June 2012, 23:21
#74 is tumbling down hehe.
458 Italia
16th June 2012, 23:26
It's now back out a few laps down.
ACO @24hoursoflemans
Temperatures falling: Track 17.8 C Air 13.5 C
AF Corse @AFCorse
GTE Pro Fisichella leader
458 Italia
16th June 2012, 23:29
A clear night so should drop more.
yeah it will, think as it stands be clear night and looking like clear day tomorrow, but that could change.
458 Italia
16th June 2012, 23:33
A bit of rain never hurts.
go sign off now, go for lay down on sofa while watching the race. Will get back on in few hours.
458 Italia
16th June 2012, 23:36
Don't fall asleep! You might miss something.
458 Italia
16th June 2012, 23:39
Toyota #7 is out of the race.
458 Italia
17th June 2012, 00:04
Things are very quiet out on track. There will be a safety car soon.
458 Italia
17th June 2012, 00:14
Haha Corvette #74 in the garage again.
458 Italia
17th June 2012, 00:17
Ferrari still 1/2 with #51 and #59
458 Italia
17th June 2012, 00:22
Ferrari #58 in GT AM has had to retire.
458 Italia
17th June 2012, 00:23
Down and down the order goes the #74 :-D it's 10 laps down.
458 Italia
17th June 2012, 00:37
#74 Corvette back out 12 laps behind #51
458 Italia
17th June 2012, 00:38
Audi #3 stuck in the gravel after being tapped from behind, losing a lot more time now.
458 Italia
17th June 2012, 00:40
The #1 Audi is still running like clockwork.
458 Italia
17th June 2012, 00:41
#3 Audi underway and in to the pits for a clean up
458 Italia
17th June 2012, 01:00
12 hours to go!
458 Italia
17th June 2012, 01:01
Bummer #59 Ferrari has got beached in the gravel, just being towed out now.
458 Italia
17th June 2012, 01:02
#59 now pits for a driver and tyre change.
458 Italia
17th June 2012, 01:12
#51 comes in for a stop from the lead. Driver change, Vilander is now in the car.
458 Italia
17th June 2012, 01:25
It's going wrong for Corvette, problems for #73 now.
458 Italia
17th June 2012, 01:31
Aston Martin back up to 3rd now behind the 2 Ferraris
458 Italia
17th June 2012, 01:32
#74 back in the garage :lol
458 Italia
17th June 2012, 01:48
It's still in there. Ferrari are 1,2,5 and 6 in GTE
458 Italia
17th June 2012, 01:50
The #5 Audi is lapping much faster than the cars in front but is 3 laps back, calculations say it would take it 60 laps to catch up.
458 Italia
17th June 2012, 01:59
The Aston is catching the #59 Ferrari.
458 Italia
17th June 2012, 02:08
The #74 Corvette is back out :lol
458 Italia
17th June 2012, 02:14
:lol #74 back in again! :lol
458 Italia
17th June 2012, 02:18
Car #23 takes a trip in to the tyre wall, seems to be ok as it trundles back to the pits.
458 Italia
17th June 2012, 02:18
Audi #5 is still making good progress, we could actually see an Audi 1,2,3,4
458 Italia
17th June 2012, 02:24
Audi #1 has had a spin and now McNish in #2 is in the lead of the race.
458 Italia
17th June 2012, 02:28
Audi #1 has recovered, I think, just saw an on board shot.
458 Italia
17th June 2012, 02:30
A car has spun at the entrance to pit road.
458 Italia
17th June 2012, 02:35
Out goes the #74 Vette. Again.
458 Italia
17th June 2012, 02:48
Audi #1 back in the lead.
458 Italia
17th June 2012, 02:50
The Eurosport commentators are longing for the Aston Martin to catch the #59 Ferrari for 2nd.
458 Italia
17th June 2012, 02:51
Safety Car out.
458 Italia
17th June 2012, 02:54
YES! The #97 Aston which they wanted to be 2nd has caused the safety car and is stationary on track :lol
FORZA FERRARI!
458 Italia
17th June 2012, 03:06
Ant Davidson has cracked vertebrae
morning, Ferrari 1,2. #51 AF Corse out in front in GTE Pro and #59 Luxury Racing Ferrari 2nd.
its an Audi 1,2,3,4. Close racing between the #1 amd #2of Fassler and TK. Now TK out in front. #1 car and some damage to rear after hitting tyre wall to miss a spun Vette.
With it being Dindos last Le-Mans, think #2 car be pushing for win. That would make TK 9 time winner and McNish 3 times winner. Way looking. #71 Ferrari of Bertolini is on same lap as the #97 Aston and better fuel mileage, so could make Ferrari 1,2,3. Forza Ferrari
l'endurance magazine @lendurancelive
Hour18 order - GTE-PRO: AF-Corse, Luxury, AMR, AF-Corse, Corvette(73,74), JMW, Felbermayr.
dscracelive @dscracelive
Treluyer is reported as being unwell, it seems from contracting a chest complaint after getting spoaking wet on the drivers parade!
Audi Motorsport Blog @Audi_MS_Blog
53.193 gap between the two @Audi R18 e-tron quattro. Dindo Capello leads Marcel Fassler
Ferrari Races @FerrariRaces
No 59 Ferrari lying 2nd in GTE Pro goes into pit box for rear brake repair
Audi Motorsport Blog @Audi_MS_Blog
Interesting to note the #1 @Audi R18 e-tron quattro spent only 31 minutes pitting. Very quick pit stops from the #1 crew
458 Italia
17th June 2012, 10:12
The wheels are falling off for Audi!
458 Italia
17th June 2012, 10:14
McNish has lost it in the Porsche curves and ended up in the wall! He makes it back to pit road. The #3 Audi is still limping back too!
458 Italia
17th June 2012, 10:16
Both are back in the garages being rebuilt now.
458 Italia
17th June 2012, 10:24
Oh and the Safety Car is out.
458 Italia
17th June 2012, 10:26
Wow! #3 Audi and #2 are back out!
458 Italia
17th June 2012, 10:33
SC in in 7 minutes.
458 Italia
17th June 2012, 10:36
SC in nowl
scuderiafan
17th June 2012, 10:41
What is it with the Ferrari and LMP1 cars?
458 Italia
17th June 2012, 10:42
Green flag!
458 Italia
17th June 2012, 10:43
What is it with the Ferrari and LMP1 cars?
They love to get involved don't they!
Sianellen
17th June 2012, 10:57
:-) enjoying the race so far. Glad Ant Davidson is relatively alright after the shunt yesterday.
scuderiafan
17th June 2012, 11:06
:-) enjoying the race so far. Glad Ant Davidson is relatively alright after the shunt yesterday.
Didn't he break his back? :-E
It was a shame with the toyotas, the new blue livery looks very nice.
Tobes
17th June 2012, 11:31
Fastest lap of the race for the class with an hour and half left... :-E
Come on Lucas... :clap
Sianellen
17th June 2012, 11:32
Didn't he break his back? :-E
It was a shame with the toyotas, the new blue livery looks very nice.
ooo :-s
Tobes
17th June 2012, 11:36
Didn't he break his back? :-E
It was a shame with the toyotas, the new blue livery looks very nice.
Technically he's 'broken' his back, but it's actually a couple of fractured vertibrae, not really too bad... :-)
458 Italia
17th June 2012, 13:02
Brilliant race!
458 Italia
17th June 2012, 13:03
Audi 1/2/3 and 5th
Ferrari win in GTE Pro! :ferrarifl
scuderiafan
17th June 2012, 13:04
1-2 class win!!!!
Forza Ferrari!!
Sianellen
17th June 2012, 13:06
Thrilled for Af Corse :-) great comeback after the car being written off.
458 Italia
17th June 2012, 13:11
Superb race, can we have another one now? I don't want to wait a year!
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