Le Mans fever...

Please discuss here all your remarks and pose your questions about all racing series, except Formula One. Both technical and other questions about GP2, Touring cars, IRL, LMS, ...
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Tom
0
Joined: 13 Jan 2006, 00:24
Location: Bicester

Le Mans fever...

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...have you caught it?

Local boy McNish took pole with the new Audi R10 diesel and the beautiful Pescarolos not far behind. Huge names like 2xWRC Seb Loeb and P Lamy will be in it, I can't wait! Tommorrow 16:00!

http://www.lemans.org/24heuresdumans/li ... il_gb.html
Over to you...
Murphy's 9th Law of Technology:
Tell a man there are 300 million stars in the universe and he'll believe you. Tell him a bench has wet paint on it and he'll have to touch to be sure.

mcdenife
mcdenife
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Joined: 05 Nov 2004, 13:21
Location: Timbuck2

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Is there tv coverage?
Long experience has taught me this about the status of mankind with regards to matters requiring thought. The less people know and understand about them, the more positively they attempt to argue concerning them; while on the other hand, to know and understand a multitude of things renders men cautious in passing judgement upon anything new. - Galileo..

The noblest of dogs is the hot dog. It feeds the hand that bites it.

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Scuderia_Russ
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Joined: 17 Jan 2004, 22:24
Location: Motorsport Valley, England.

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Current leaderboard after 18 hrs.

1) Biela / Pirro / Werner AUDI R10 TDI LMP1
2)Helary / Montagny / Loeb Pescarolo Judd LMP1
3)Capello / Kristensen / McNish AUDI R10 TDI LMP1
4)Lamy / Sarrazin / Ortelli Aston Martin DBR9 GT1
5)Gavin / Beretta / Magnusson Corvette C6-R GT1

*Safety car was out on lap 17 because of spilt oil.
"Whether you think you can or can't, either way you are right."
-Henry Ford-

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Steven
Owner
Joined: 19 Aug 2002, 18:32
Location: Belgium

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Well the Audi R10 nr.7 of Kristensen had to come into the pitlane overnight to have the right injector line of their TDI engine changed. In total that cost them 21 minutes.

As for the second Pescarolo: the engine was in trouble too and the team changed the electrics. In total that took an hour and a bit, not sure how much precisely.

This explains a bit the standings after 18hrs posted by Scuderia_russ. Also, on place 4 and 5 are the leading GT1 cars with only one single lap apart ;)

JimmyK
JimmyK
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Joined: 18 Jan 2006, 18:46

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Is there tv coverage?
In England, you can see it on Motors TV.
I don't know about elsewhere.

dumrick
dumrick
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Joined: 19 Jan 2004, 13:36
Location: Portugal

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After almost 24h looking at the race non-stop (fell asleep a couple of hours...) I've witnessed history being made and the luxury/sports car market being changed for good with the first Diesel victory...

I'm not an Audi fan, but it's incredible what they have achieved... looking forward for a great battle next year with Peugeot!

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Tom
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Joined: 13 Jan 2006, 00:24
Location: Bicester

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Congrats to motors TV for full 24h coverage. Unfortunetly I missed most of it working but I switched on at the right times. What happened to the Aston that was in p4? Huge crash for the gulf-corage car, hope the driver was OK.
Murphy's 9th Law of Technology:
Tell a man there are 300 million stars in the universe and he'll believe you. Tell him a bench has wet paint on it and he'll have to touch to be sure.

dumrick
dumrick
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Joined: 19 Jan 2004, 13:36
Location: Portugal

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The Aston #009 that was putting a fantastic battle with the #64 Corvette had clutch trouble in the morning.
No problem for the Belmondo-Courage's driver, whose wheel exploded.

manchild
manchild
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Joined: 03 Jun 2005, 10:54

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OMG, tractor has won LeMans, where is this world going :(

West
West
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Joined: 07 Jan 2004, 00:42
Location: San Diego, CA

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Woke up to see the pre-testing and qualifying (1 hour before Le Mans programming), then got to see the start. Fell asleep after 10 minutes because of lack of sleep, but saw the rest of it till they cut programming to NASCAR. Then watched maybe 4 more hours of it; missed the end.

Good show this year; Pescarolo was fighting all odds and Corvette won. Go America woooo
Bring back wider rear wings, V10s, and tobacco advertisements

dumrick
dumrick
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Joined: 19 Jan 2004, 13:36
Location: Portugal

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One question remains: the Audis were keeping such a steady, programmed pace, that it really looked like they have pace to spare... were they preserving themselves from problems or hiding their hand for the assault of the Peugeot 908 HDI next year?

Manchild, I really had the same feeling towards Diesels one year ago, but I saw the light and converted, in the meantime :wink:
Bottom line is: it's difficult, under these rules, to see a non-Diesel be faster than the R10. Really impressive pace and fuel efficiency...

tomazy
tomazy
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Joined: 10 Jan 2006, 13:01

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audi R10 TDI (TDI=Total DominatIon )

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vyselegend
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Joined: 20 Feb 2006, 17:05
Location: Paris, France

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Could only see the last 4 hours of the race... I'm not really surprised by Audi's win, since they allready showed their power in Sebring 12 hours, but I was stunt by their pace! I expected them to win with less pit stops due to less fuel consumption, but not to be so dominant on the track! The gap with Pescarolo was the same as last year, but on the other side, around 2 / 3 seconds a lap for the Audis. How did they achieved such a powerfull diesel engine?!

One thing I noticed is that the Audis seemed quite more comfortable with the track bumps than the Pescas, which were looking very nervous on the front end. Their suspentions probably were a little too stiff because of a lower ride height, that's the impression I've got.

Bravo for the Corvette! The new chevy is taking revenge for the years of Viper dominance, very interesting. I can't wait to see Dodge's counter measure.

RacingManiac
RacingManiac
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Joined: 22 Nov 2004, 02:29

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Interesting lap time analysis for the R10, and exactly how fast it was...

http://www.mulsannescorner.com/news.html

Audi wouldn't have gone TDI if there was no market for it, the fact is that 1/2 of the cars they sell are diesel powered...

dumrick
dumrick
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Joined: 19 Jan 2004, 13:36
Location: Portugal

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tomazy wrote:audi R10 TDI (TDI=Total DominatIon )
I heard a better one: Total Domination Inglostadt (that's where Audi is from...)

Of course, we have to bear in mind that the Pescarolos are updated versions of a 2000 chassis, whose big evolution dates from 2002 and they have a small budget...