Le-Mans 2012

[Rob]

[458 Italia]

Keep them coming Rob.

[Nova]

I am so Happy...Ferrari wins Lemans...this is historic!!! Fisi and the guys...wins Lemans!!!!
This is great...Ferrari wins Lemans!!!!!!!

[Rob]

Starting from pole position the nr1 Audi R18 e-tron quattro made Le Mans history by becoming the first hybrid car to win the 24 Heures du Mans. Andre Lotterer took the chequered flag after 378 laps to retain the title he won with Benoit Treluyer and Marcel Fassler last year and also secured maximum points for both the manufacturers and drivers titles in the FIA World Endurance Championship.

240,000 people travelled for the 80th edition of the world’s greatest endurance race and were treated to a classic race that was action packed from start to finish. The main challenge to the nr1 Audi came from the second hybrid Audi driven by Tom Kristensen, Allan McNish and Dindo Capello but also from the two Toyota TS030 hybrids, which ran comfortably in the top three and led for some of the race. However a big accident destroyed the nr8 Toyota driven by Anthony Davidson and the second Toyota eventually retired with engine failure in the 11th hour.

With the Toyotas out of the frame it was a straight fight between the four Audis but which Audi would be on the top step of the podium? The nr3 Audi Ultra had problems when Romain Dumas went off at the first chicane and destroyed the front of the car. The Frenchman managed to get the car back to the pit for repairs. Then Marc Gene did exactly the same thing at the same corner on Sunday morning and this effectively dropped them out of contention.

The two hybrid Audis were evenly matched and the result was certainly not clear cut until McNish in the nr2 car went off at Porsche Curves and had to spend six minutes in the pits while the damaged parts were replaced. However a safety car was deployed so he only lost 1 lap to the nr1 car. This was how the result looked at the end of 24 hours, with the nr4 Audi R18 Ultra in 3rd place, which isn’t entered for the FIA World Endurance Championship.

The private team’s LMP1 battle was dominated by the Rebellion Racing Lola-Toyotas with the nr12 Lola of Nicolas Prost, Neel Jani and Nick Heidfeld triumphing at the end of the grueling race and finishing 4th overall at the flag. The nr 13 Rebellion Lola of Harold Primat, Jeroen Bleekemolen and Andrea Belicchi ran a close second to the sister car until a problem forced the car into the garage dropping it back to 3rd. The nr22 JRM HPD-Honda was a distance 2nd and the Strakka Racing HPD came back out at the end after also spending a lot of time in the garage.

The LMP2 class was won by the nr44 Starworks Motorsport HPD-Honda with Enzo Potolicchio and Ryan Dalziel adding a second class victory to the one they scored in Sebring and give the team a strong advantage in the LMP2 FIA Endurance Trophy. Tom Kimber-Smith, who replaced Stephane Sarrazin in the team for this race, scored his second Le Mans victory in consecutive seasons. The nr49 Pecom Racing Oreca Nissan of Pierre Kaffer, Soheil Ayari and Luis Perez-Companc were the second WEC car in LMP2, while the nr 41 Greaves Motorsport Zytek-Nissan scored a bumper 30 championship points for third for the British team.

The LMGTE Pro category turned into a classic Ferrari versus Aston Martin battle with the nr51 AF Corse Ferrari 458 Italia of Giancarlo Fisichella, Gianmaria Bruni and Toni Vilander holding off the challenge of the nr59 Luxury Racing Ferrari of Frederic Makowiecki, Jaime Melo and Dominik Farnbacher and the nr97 Aston Martin Racing Vantage V8 of Darren Turner, Stefan Mucke and Adrian Fernandez. The Luxury Racing Ferrari had a long pitstop towards the end of the race, dropping the car down two laps but still 1 lap ahead of the Aston Martin.

The LMGTE Am class was equally close with the nr50 Larbre Competition Chevrolet Corvette of Pedro Lamy, Julien Canal and Patrick Bornhauser have a very close battle with the nr67 IMSA Performance Matmut Porsche. This battle continued for a couple of hours before the Corvette got the upper hand. The second WEC car in the LMGTE Am class to cross the line was the nr57 Krohn Racing Ferrari of Tracey Krohn, Niclas Jonsson and Michele Rugolo.

The next round of the FIA World Endurance Championship is the 6 Hours of Silverstone on the 26th August before the championship heads to South America for the 6 Hours of Sao Paulo three weeks later.

[Rob]

Q & A: Davidson on Le Mans crash
Sunday, June 17th 2012, 15:55 GMT

Conducted and provided by Toyota Racing press office

Anthony Davidson suffered two broken vertebrae in an accident during the 2012 Le Mans 24 Hours. The Briton was taken to hospital where he will remain until Wednesday.

Here he tells the story of his terrifying crash in full and explains the circumstances prior to and after it...

Q. How do you feel?

Anthony Davidson: "I have felt better, that's for sure. I am in a bit of pain, in my lumber area, the middle area of my back. That's the only thing that hurts really so I've been lucky."

Q. What's the diagnosis and when will you be back?

AD: "Basically I have two broken vertebrae; T11 and T12. The doctors say the average recovery time is three months, but that's an average person not a professional sportsman or athlete. That estimate is to get back to an absolutely healed bone; as strong as it was before. It's more like three weeks until the pain subsides and I get my mobility back fully."

Q. Can you describe what happened to cause the accident?

AD: "I was almost completely past the car after the apex of the kink. I passed a Corvette and a Ferrari with the pro driver sticker on. They were fighting each other and I just assumed the Ferrari ahead was part of their group and therefore another pro. The car was all the way to the left as you would expect a pro driver to do. It was only when I got right up to the back that I realised it was one of the amateur-stickered cars.

"But I still wasn't alarmed, I still felt it was a completely legitimate move and thought he would stay to the left, which it looked like he was doing. I made the apex of the corner, started to brake and I was almost out of the corner when I felt contact on the left rear."

Q. Can you describe what happened then?

AD: "Instantly it spun the car, pivoted round to the left, then took off and turned upside down. At that point I felt I was in an aeroplane out of control. I knew how close the barriers were, and travelling at that speed I was going to be there in no time. That part of the crash was pretty petrifying. It crashed back down to the ground, I felt an almighty punch up my spine when the car hit back down on four wheels. I still had my eyes closed and my hands off the wheels, in the brace position. Half a second after that I had the forward impact into the barrier.

Q. What happened when the car came to a stop?

AD: "I reopened my eyes and realised I was still here, albeit in a bit of pain. I had feeling and could move my feet; everything was working. I know I should stay in the car, especially with back pain, but initially I felt full of panic and claustrophobia, I just had to get out of the car. It was really odd. I banged the door open and clambered out carefully because I knew I was in pain. I had to stretch out and the closest point was the side of the car, then the medics came over."

Q. Has the team visited you already?

AD: "All the drivers have been. Stephane and Sebastien turned up last night, the #7 guys this morning and it was a nice touch that my team-mate last year Sebastien Bourdais came to the medical centre. It was nice to see a familiar, friendly face at that moment. All the team came over this morning to check how I was. "

Q. What is your feeling about the TS030 Hybrid's race debut?

AD: "When the team visited we all gave each other a pat on the back for our performance. More than anything, we wanted to show the speed of the car. When we look back, even from my hospital bed, there were a lot of positives. We needed to tick many boxes this weekend and being fast was one of them. We had a great qualifying session, splitting the Audis, and showed great pace in the race to take the lead through Nico in the #7. I think that was really good for the fans."

http://www.autosport.com/news/report.php/id/100473

[Tifoso]

Anyone have video of the last few Ferrari laps?

Attaboys Fisi & Co

[458 Italia]

Bruni was the stand out star of the team for me.

[Rob]

I do like Gianmaria Bruni, he amazing GT driver. Always push hard.

[Rob]

Anyone have video of the last few Ferrari laps?

Attaboys Fisi & Co

See what i can find amico mio......

[Tifoso]

Grazie, amico mio

[Rob]

This for me was just brilliant. Crashing his car and just ripping off the broken bits to get it back to the pits. With no help from the marshalls...

[458 Italia]

Such quick thinking, it tells you all you need to know about Audi and their will to win.

[F1NAC]

look at this .. This is real racer !!!

[Nova]

Il magico trio
Ferrari wins Lemans!

[Tifoso]

No video of Fisi's final lap?

[scuderiafan]

I can't wait for Audis video of the 2012 race. This the one for 2011.



I had to lol at some of the Audi fans' comments about Ferrari. I would love for Ferrari to pop in a factory car, or let AF Corse run a beast LMP in 2015 on the 50th anniversary of its last win and show these guys how it is done.
But then Jaguar is entering, can't wait for that

[Tifoso]

I can't wait for Audis video of the 2012 race. This the one for 2011.



I had to lol at some of the Audi fans' comments about Ferrari. I would love for Ferrari to pop in a factory car, or let AF Corse run a beast LMP in 2015 on the 50th anniversary of its last win and show these guys how it is done.
But then Jaguar is entering, can't wait for that

OK, Steve McQueen on the left I understand, but why is McEnroe there on the left with him?

[Rob]

No video of Fisi's final lap?

not yet, im looking

[Rob]

I can't wait for Audis video of the 2012 race. This the one for 2011.



I had to lol at some of the Audi fans' comments about Ferrari. I would love for Ferrari to pop in a factory car, or let AF Corse run a beast LMP in 2015 on the 50th anniversary of its last win and show these guys how it is done.
But then Jaguar is entering, can't wait for that

Leena Gade

What have some Audi fans been saying??

[Tifoso]

not yet, im looking

Thanks mate

[scuderiafan]

Leena Gade

What have some Audi fans been saying??

Not much really, thinking they will beat Ferrari in F1, just some banter.

@Tifoso, where do those 2 appear?

[Tifoso]

Not much really, thinking they will beat Ferrari in F1, just some banter.

@Tifoso, where do those 2 appear?

In the preview shot above

Dopplegangers

And call me Lou

[scuderiafan]

In the preview shot above

Dopplegangers

And call me Lou

Oh right, I didn't notice them. And cool, Lou

[Rob]

Not much really, thinking they will beat Ferrari in F1, just some banter.

@Tifoso, where do those 2 appear?

Audi would never enter F1, they have said that sportscars is the best arena to show case their technology for road car use.

[Rob]

[Tifoso]

---

Thanks mate!

[Rob]

Thanks mate!

thats ok Lou

[Tifoso]

Fisi and Bruni(?) singing the anthem at the end. Just brilliant

[Rob]

Fisi and Bruni(?) singing the anthem at the end. Just brilliant

yeah that was very nice moment. Gianmaria Bruni.

[sav_pap]

Awesome video guys. Thanks for posting.