Le-Mans 24hr 2011 news

[Tommy_F]

Rain is starting to fall, a few cars slipping and sliding into the gravel. The Audi is still leading, on slicks.

[RED]

Looking good for Audi. It's amazing that they've been racing for nearly 24 hours and the gap is 7 seconds.

Not looking good for Ferrari though.....

[Tommy_F]

2nd place is a great achievement for the Ferrari 458, given that is was introduced only a few months back at Sebring IIRC. It will do one better next year!

[Tommy_F]

Audi wins the 79th running of the LeMans 24hr race!

Closest finish ever, about 15sec after 24hrs!!

AF Corse finishes 2nd with the 458 in the GTE Pro class.

[Nova]

Yes, good finish for 458...I am a bit disappointed..Would really like to see
Fisi on the top podium in a Ferrari.
I thought for sure the 430 would take their class also, but 24 hours..
man what a race and what a finish.
Congrats to Audi, that is some cool looking race car.

[epiclyaddicted]

Epic epic race! Loved it! I managed to watch the final 7 hours of the race live, non-stop!

Great win by Audi. Peugeot's tactics were disgusting, particularly with their lapped cars, but Audi had the pace to win it anyway. Shame to think, that without McNish and Rocky's crash, it could've been a repeat of last year's results!

Also good first outing at Le Mans by the fantastic looking 458 Italia. Led in class for long periods in the race, but just fell back a little bit to the factory Corvettes towards the end. But good performance still for such a new car, we'll go one better next year!

[RED]

Great race! Congrats to Audi!

Yes, 458 did well, being new to the scene.

[Rob]

That was one hell of a race!!! had couple hours sleep, was up at 03.30 as couldnt sleep thinking about the race.Thats the best race i have seen at Le-Mans for a while, loved it.

Pugs tactics were disgusting. I like Ant Davidson, until today, 4 laps down and blocking the Audi. Wasnt on at all. Im sure if that were of been Audi doing to Pugs, the French race director would of acted straight away with penalty. But never mind they won and well deserved win it was too. Gutted for Henri Pescarolo

#51 AF Corse 458 had great race, until the clutch and misfire gremlins crept in, in the morning. That was looking for a win. I felt exhausted after watching the race, so much action, emotion and tension, wow. Start looking at getting my butt there next year asap

[Rob]

Audi triumphs in Le Mans classic http://www.autosport.com/news/report.php/id/92269

Sunday, June 12th 2011, 13:02 GMT

Andre Lotterer handed Audi victory in a classic Le Mans 24 Hours, taking the chequered flag less than 10s ahead of Simon Pagenaud in the nearest #9 Peugeot.

The final 30 minutes were a fitting end to what has been a spectacular race, with the #2 Audi proving equal to everything Peugeot could throw at it - and even coming close to lap record pace in the final 20 minutes.

With both cars needing to pit one final time, Pagenaud in the Peugeot upped his pace and regularly dipped under the 3m30s bracket, only to see Lotterer in the Audi respond by going even faster.

The #2 Audi made its final stop on lap 343, and it was immediately followed in by Pagenaud in the Peugeot, just 24s down the road. The German marque then rolled the dice by electing to change tyres, while the #9 908 opted just for fuel and consequently came out just seven seconds behind.

Lotterer quickly extended that advantage to more than 10s, which gave him a small but precious comfort barrier as traffic and spots of rain in the final 20 minutes threatened to add more drama to an already enthralling Le Mans.

Pagenaud was relentless in his pursuit of the Audi, however, keeping the gap below 20s to ensure the Audi could not afford even the slightest mistake.

Under such scrutiny Lotterer proved faultless, claiming an incredible and richly deserved victory in a classic edition of the Le Mans 24 Hours.

Nicolas Minassian ensured Peugeot took the bottom two steps of the podium, finishing third in the #8, while Marc Gene finished fourth in the sister #7 car.

Nicolas Lapierre finished fifth in the #10 Matmut Peugeot, ahead of Neel Jani in the sole surviving petrol LMP1 car, the #12 Rebellion Lola.

Olivier Lombard took an emphatic victory in LMP2 for the #41 Greaves Motorsport Zytek-Nissan, which finished with a lead of more than seven laps.

Soheil Ayari in the #26 Signatech Nissan took the flag in second in LMP2, less than one lap clear of the #33 Level 5 Motorsports Lola-HPD in third.

Antonio Garcia continued to stretch the lead of the #73 Corvette at the head of the GTE Pro field, finishing more than one lap clear of the #51 AF Corse Ferrari. Third went to the #56 BMW M3 GT.

The #50 Larbre Competition Corvette meanwhile took victory by just over one lap in the GTE Am class.

NOTES:

- Jan Magnussen lost control of the GTE Pro-leading #74 Chevrolet Corvette and crashed into the #63 Proton Porsche during the 17th hour, putting both cars out.

- Jean-Christophe Boullion crashed the Rebellion Lola-Toyota in the 14th hour at the Porsche Curves. He had been running eighth at the time of the shunt.

- Mike Rockenfeller was taken to hospital following a frightening accident that totally destroyed the #1 Audi in the seventh hour of the race. The German had been running third when he made contact with a GTE Ferrari at kink after Mulsanne. Audi later confirmed that the German would be kept in overnight for observation but that he was okay.

- The #3 Audi of Allan McNish crashed out of the race in the first hour having just taken second position. The Scot collected the #58 Luxury Racing Ferrari in the right-hander after the Dunlop Bridge. The heavy impact destroyed the car and McNish was taken to hospital for precautionary checks, but was later released with an all-clear.

- Both Aston Martin AMR Ones ran into trouble on the first lap of the race. Darren Turner spinning with mechanical trouble and Adrian Fernandez stopping out on the Mulsanne. The #007 car of Turner was recovered to the pits where it was discovered an alternator belt tensioner was to blame.

POSITIONS AFTER 24 HOURS

Pos Car Team Class Gap
1. #2 Audi Audi Sport Team Joest (LMP1)
2. #9 Peugeot Team Peugeot Total (LMP1) + 13.854
3. #8 Peugeot Peugeot Sport Total (LMP1) + 2 Laps
4. #7 Peugeot Peugeot Sport Total (LMP1) + 4 Laps
5. #10 Peugeot Team Oreca-Matmut (LMP1) + 16 Laps
6. #12 Lola Rebellion Racing (LMP1) + 17 Laps
7. #22 Lola Kronos Racing (LMP1) + 27 Laps
8. #41 Zytek Greaves Motorsport (LMP2) + 29 Laps
9. #26 Oreca Signatech Nissan (LMP2) + 35 Laps
10. #33 Lola Level 5 Motorsports (LMP2) + 36 Laps
11. #73 Corvette Corvette Racing (GTEP) + 41 Laps
12. #36 HPD RML (LMP2) + 41 Laps
13. #51 Ferrari AF Corse (GTEP) + 41 Laps
14. #49 OAK OAK Racing (LMP2) + 42 Laps
15. #56 BMW BMW Motorsport (GTEP) + 42 Laps
16. #77 Porsche Team Felbermayr-Proton (GTEP) + 43 Laps
17. #76 Porsche IMSA Performance Matmut (GTEP) + 44 Laps
18. #80 Porsche Flying Lizard Motorsports (GTEP) + 45 Laps
19. #40 Oreca Race Performance (LMP2) + 51 Laps
20. #50 Corvette Larbre Competition (GTEA) + 53 Laps
21. #70 Porsche Larbre Competition (GTEA) + 54 Laps
22. #65 Lotus Lotus Jetalliance (GTEP) + 60 Laps
23. #75 Porsche Prospeed Competition (GTEP) + 62 Laps
24. #66 Ferrari JMW Motorsport (GTEP) + 65 Laps
25. #35 OAK OAK Racing (LMP2) + 67 Laps
26. #68 Ford Robertson Racing (GTEA) + 70 Laps
27. #83 Ferrari JMB Racing (GTEA) + 83 Laps
28. #44 Norma Extr (LMP2) + 108 Laps
29. #16 Pescarolo Pescarolo Team (LMP1) Retired
30. #55 BMW BMW Motorsport (GTEP) Retired
31. #74 Corvette Corvette Racing (GTEP) Retired
32. #81 Porsche Flying Lizard Motorsports (GTEA) Retired
33. #48 Oreca Team Oreca-Matmut (LMP2) Retired
34. #63 Porsche Proton Competition (GTEA) Retired
35. #13 Lola Rebellion Racing (LMP1) Retired
36. #61 Ferrari AF Corse (GTEA) Retired
37. #59 Ferrari Luxury Racing (GTEP) Retired
38. #71 Ferrari AF Corse (GTEP) Retired
39. #88 Porsche Team Felbermayr-Proton (GTEP) Retired
40. #42 HPD Strakka Racing (LMP2) Retired
41. #60 Aston Gulf AMR Middle East (GTEA) Retired
42. #39 Lola PeCom Racing (LMP2) Retired
43. #89 Ferrari Hankook Team Farnbacher (GTEP) Retired
44. #58 Ferrari Luxury Racing (GTEP) Retired
45. #64 Lotus Lotus Jetalliance (GTEP) Retired
46. #57 Ferrari Krohn Racing (GTEA) Retired
47. #24 OAK OAK Racing (LMP1) Retired
48. #1 Audi Audi Sport Team Joest (LMP1) Retired
49. #5 Oreca Hope Racing (LMP1) Retired
50. #62 Ferrari CRS Racing (GTEA) Retired
51. #15 OAK OAK Racing (LMP1) Retired
52. #79 Aston Jota (GTEP) Retired
53. #20 Zytek Quifel-ASM Team (LMP1) Retired
54. #3 Audi Audi Sport North America (LMP1) Retired
55. #007 AMR-One Aston Martin Racing (LMP1) Retired
56. #009 AMR-One Aston Martin Racing (LMP1) Retired

[Rob]

LE MANS, June 12th – Giancarlo Fisichella, Gianmaria Bruni and Toni Vilander finished GTE Pro category of 24 Hour of Le Mans at the second place of category with Ferrari F458 GTE Pro.

They did not complete the fastest lap for pole position but, from the very beginning of the endurance race, Bruni gained the leadership. During lap 15, an Audi had a serious accident and Bruni lost the leadership of the race for the safety car.

So, the AF Corse drivers started to overtake other cars till the first position from 17th to 22nd hours. At 22nd hour the Ferrari F458 suffered a little tecnical problem and they lost some second and arrived in 2nd position. The result is very prestigious because 24 Hours of Le Mans is the most important endurance race in the world.

www.afcorse.it

[Rob]

Victory in the legendary Le Mans 24 Hours eludes Ferrari at the end of a race run from the front

Le Mans, 12 June – The famous Le Mans 24 Hours race, third round of the Intercontinental Le Mans Cup, ended this afternoon with a sense of disappointment in the AF Corse garage: Ferrari number 51 driven by Giancarlo Fisichella, Gimmi Bruni and Toni Vilander came home second in the LMGTE PRO category behind the Corvette of Olivier Beretta, Tommy Milner and Antonio Garcia, which went into the lead two hours from the flag, when a technical problem began slowing the Ferrari more and more, after it had been a front runner for most of the race.

At the start at 15h00 on Saturday, Gimmi Bruni immediately went into the class lead, lapping in quick times. His lead was then wiped out after the accident between McNish’s Audi and the Luxury Racing 458 Italia with Anthony Beltoise at the wheel, as this brought out the Safety Car for over an hour. After eight hours, another Audi, driven by Rockenfeller, collided with the AF Corse Number 71 Ferrari driven by Robert Kauffman and hit the guard rail at around 320 km/h, fortunately without injury. Once again the Safety Car came out, closing up the field yet again. As the race progressed, the hard charging trio of Fisichella-Bruni-Vilander retook the lead after 17 hours, until the car had to make a long stop in the pits because of the technical problem that saw the Corvette move into the lead. The other Ferraris did not fare much better in the marathon event: the JMW Motorsport car crossed the line in ninth place, while the two Luxury Racing cars, the Team Farnbacher entry and the the other AF Corse 458 Italia failed to finish, despite performing strongly, especially in the night time. Some consolation then that the 458 Italia GT3 Number 51 entered by AF Corse, won the Michelin Green X classification for GT cars, proving that the Maranello marque is paying close attention to reducing fuel consumption and CO2 emissions.

“We can take some satisfaction from this result, the team and Ferrari,” commented Giancarlo Fisichella after the race. “Second place is always a good result, even if naturally there is some disappointment given that we looked set to take the win. Unfortunately, some problems on the car in the closing stages of the race meant the top spot was out of our reach.”

In the LMGTE AM class, best result was a fourth place in the category for the JMB Racing F430 GTC. Competitors in the Intercontinental Le Mans Cup will be back in action at Imola over the weekend of 3 July for the fourth round of the season, which is also round three of the Le Mans Series.

[Nova]

Dont these same cars compete in the Lemans series/FIA races all season?
Id really like to follow those..They tend to not show those in the US.

[Rob]

yeah they all do mate. Not sure if they do show in U.S, have to check.

[Rob]

Panis retires from Le Mans racing

By Simon Strang Tuesday, June 14th 2011, 16:33 GMT


Olivier Panis has called time on his Le Mans racing career, stating that his fifth position in last weekend's event will be the last result he will post at La Sarthe.

The 44-year-old former Monaco Grand Prix winner has competed in four Le Mans for ORECA since 2008, and this year shared the team's privately-entered year-old Peugeot 908 HDi FAP with Nicolas Lapierre and Loic Duval.

But the Frenchman is quitting Le Mans because he thinks his chances of securing a drive that will put him in contention to win the race are low.

"I have been very pleased to do this with ORECA for four years, but for me this is my last year," Panis told AUTOSPORT. "For Le Mans yes. I will do some races in GT and the Trophee Andros on the ice but for me Le Mans is finished.

"I think it is my time, and I don't think I will have the opportunity to race with a nice car like we have had for the last two years, and doing Le Mans for the sake of doing Le Mans - I am not interested."

Panis added that fifth place - which equalled his best result in the race – was the best he could have hoped for in the race, given that Peugeot and Audi both brought three-car factory teams.

"We knew before we came here that it would be difficult to fight with the factory cars," he said. "The result was exactly what we expected to be honest, it was just we went about it the hard way!

"Audi and Peugeot did a very good job and finished very close at the end of the race. It was really tough with a lot of accidents. But no injuries for anybody is the best thing so well done to Audi."

www.autosport.com

[Nova]

They really dont show those in the US..Of course, Im moving to Florida,
thats another country, so mabey theyll show them there!!

[Rob]

Facts about Audi’s tenth Le Mans victory

Audi recorded its tenth victory in the 24 Hours of Le Mans with ultra lightweight technology, an innovative V6 TDI engine and the first ever use of full LED headlights. The most important facts of a memorable race:

After 24 hours the Audi R18 TDI with start number “2″ had a winning margin of exactly 13.854 seconds over the second placed Peugeot. This equates to 763 meters. The victorious Audi R18 TDI covered 4,838.295 kilometers. The average speed was 201.266 km/h.

The race was neutralized five times, four hours 46 minutes (44 laps) were spent behind the two safety cars. The longest full-course yellow lasted 2 hours 20 minutes.

249,500 spectators witnessed Audi’s tenth victory at the 24 Hours of Le Mans. As a result, the brand with the Four Rings now holds second place alone in the all time winners list of the world’s most important endurance race. Only sister company Porsche has more wins (16 from 61 races). Audi’s winning ratio is an impressive 76.9 per cent.

Audi scored a podium result in all 13 Le Mans events – ten of these factory efforts. In 42 starts since 1999 Audi recorded 32 finishes (76.2 per cent), ten of these wins, five second places and nine third places. Audi achieved 24 of a possible 39 podium positions (61.5 per cent) in the process.

For Reinhold Joest’s team it was the twelfth victory in the 24 Hours of Le Mans, the eighth with Audi. If you include the wins scored by Dauer Racing (1994) and Bentley (2003), in which the team was also involved, Joest Racing is credited with 14 Le Mans wins.

Audi recorded a rare Le Mans hat-trick with pole position, fastest race lap and victory.

The fastest lap set by an Audi R18 TDI in the race (3m 25.289s) was more than a second faster than the best from Peugeot (3m 26.298s). André Lotterer even undercut Benoît Tréluyer’s pole position time from qualifying in the process.

The Audi R18 TDI was superior to its rivals at Le Mans and specifically in the fast corners. In the final sector of the circuit, to which the famous “Porsche Curves” belong, the Audi was eight tenths of a second faster than the best Peugeot.

The highest speed recorded by an Audi R18 TDI in the race along the Hunaudières straight was 336.4 km/h.

Following the Audi R8 (2000) and the Audi R10 TDI (2006) the Audi R18 TDI is the brand’s third LMP1 sportscar to win the 24 Hours of Le Mans at the first attempt.

The lead changed hands a total of 46 times during the race. Four different cars led the race. Audi topped the leader board for 261 of the 355 laps. The winning car was credited with the most laps (246) in the lead.

The victorious Audi R18 TDI visited the pits 31 times. Start number “2″ spent 33 minutes 56 seconds in pit lane (“pit in” / “pit out”). The car was stationary for only 21m 03s.

The triumphant trio completed the entire race distance with only nine sets of Michelin tires. The eighth and final tire change was only required because the left rear tire lost air. Benoît Tréluyer completed the longest stint on the same set of tires – 54 laps (five stints).

The 3.7 liter V6 TDI in the Audi R18 TDI consumed an average of only 37.08 liters of diesel per 100 kilometers and therefore less than 40 liters for the first time since Audi competes at Le Mans – helped in part by the long safety car phases.

The chassis number of the victorious Audi R18 TDI is R18-106. The Audi Sport Team Joest mechanics gave the car the nickname “Red Sonja”.

Marcel Fässler is the first Swiss driver in history to win the race.

The three victorious Audi drivers Marcel Fässler, André Lotterer and Benoît Tréluyer can boast an impressive record: up to now they started twice for the factory Audi team at Le Mans, mounting the podium on both occasions. The first Le Mans victory for all three follows last year’s second place.

All nine Audi drivers who started in 2011 have now at least one Le Mans victory to their name. A total of 14 drivers have won Le Mans with Audi to date: Seiji Ara (1), Timo Bernhard (1), Frank Biela (5), Dindo Capello (2), Romain Dumas (1), Marcel Fässler (1), Tom Kristensen (6), JJ Lehto (1), André Lotterer (1), Allan McNish (1), Emanuele Pirro (5), Mike Rockenfeller (1), Benoît Tréluyer (1) and Marco Werner (3).

Benoît Tréluyer was only the fifth driver in Le Mans history to have won the race from pole position (awarded since 1963) and the Audi R18 TDI only the seventh car to win from the pole. A car with the start number “2″ won for the sixth time since 1923.

It was the eleventh victory at Le Mans for Head of Audi Motorsport Dr. Wolfgang Ullrich. The Austrian was also significantly involved in Bentley’s win at the 24 hours in 2003.

It was the 28th Le Mans victory for a German automobile manufacturer and also the 28th for a closed car. A diesel powered car won for the sixth time, Audi TDI technology lays claim to five of these.

It was the 20th Le Mans victory for Audi tire partner Michelin, the 14th in succession and the 10th with Audi.

The number of retirements in the 79th running of the 24 Hours of Le Mans was particularly high: only 28 of the 56 cars that started reached the finish.