2008 24 Hours of Le Mans

[Metar]

McLaren - in the late stages, on slicks, the #7 Peugeot made up a second or two every lap on the Audi - it wasn't that bad, just very slippery into the PS chicanes. As for the stops, they couldn't have done less - it's not choice.

And the second-home team creams the 'Vettes. (Yes, yes, I know they finished on the same lap... so?)

They finished on the same lap only very late in the race, after the Aston slowed down. By the same token, the #7 Peugeot managed to finish on the same lap... Aston won, and that's good.

Tokai University,Epsilon Euskadi and Bruichladdich Radical, a huge letdown.

These three were absolute rubbish. The Euskadi, I don't see what people see in them - they may be beautiful, but they're bricks compared to the top cars. As for the Tokai, it's a disgrace - their qualifying lap was slower than LMGT1 cars, and their race-pace was worse than what the LMGT2 cars managed.

What a load of rubbish. Admittedly, Kristensen, McNish & Capello are the "dream team", but Audi won by making fewer stops, and by having a better car for the rain.

And by not spending four minutes in the gravel waiting for a tow... Or by having absolutely zero problems during a whole race. For this, I give the three drivers of the #2 Audi incredible respect - they managed to drive without a single real error, and the car had zero mechanical problems.

 

[Danny]

Make a new thread Danny, and share the love!

They're too big! They're all about 3500x2400. Making them smaller will remove a busload of detail!

 

[McLaren]

McLaren - in the late stages, on slicks, the #7 Peugeot made up a second or two every lap on the Audi - it wasn't that bad, just very slippery into the PS chicanes. As for the stops, they couldn't have done less - it's not choice.

True, it did, but I would not doubt that the #7 would have performed even better had it made the tire change. Even Jacques did not agree with the decision.

 

[CSS]

Yes because it's no longer surprising that they win. Their whole driver line-up includes like most drivers that has won Le Mans overall in the last like 8-10 years or so and as a overall team they are most likely spending considerably more money than Peugeot anyway. The Audi #2 car didn't go into the garage a single time and didn't really make any spinning mistakes because their drivers are too good for that kind of stuff, which means that the only way Peugeot are ever going to win it is by either hiring Audi's drivers or by being really lucky. For once I wanted to see the Audi have a problem while in the overall lead with like 4-2 hours to go to see how they react to it. The other main reason they won this year is because their drivers are clearly a lot better in the rain. /end rant

 

[GilesGuthrie]

Yes because it's no longer surprising that they win. Their whole driver line-up includes like most drivers that has won Le Mans overall in the last like 8-10 years or so and as a overall team they are most likely spending considerably more money than Peugeot anyway. The Audi #2 car didn't go into the garage a single time and didn't really make any spinning mistakes because their drivers are too good for that kind of stuff, which means that the only way Peugeot are ever going to win it is by either hiring Audi's drivers or by being really lucky. For once I wanted to see the Audi have a problem while in the overall lead with like 4-2 hours to go to see how they react to it. The other main reason they won this year is because their drivers are clearly a lot better in the rain. /end rant

I think that you're conveniently forgetting the qualifying times. The fact is that Peugeot doubled France's national debt building an Audi-beater. Six seconds in qualifying looked like money well spent, but when it came down to it, Peugeot did not have a driver line-up to match that of the #2 Audi, good though the #7 crew was.

I'm really pleased Audi won. And I'm really pleased that that Audi won. And I'm such a bad husband/father I watched around 12hrs of the race!

 

[Hun200kmh]

I think that you're conveniently forgetting the qualifying times. The fact is that Peugeot doubled France's national debt building an Audi-beater. Six seconds in qualifying looked like money well spent, but when it came down to it, Peugeot did not have a driver line-up to match that of the #2 Audi, good though the #7 crew was.

I'm really pleased Audi won. And I'm really pleased that that Audi won. And I'm such a bad husband/father I watched around 12hrs of the race!

The best Peugeot crew was in the #8 car. Sadly, they were also the unluckiest of them all.

 

[CAMikaze]

I have hi-res shots if anyone would like them.

MSN me for them. 👍

Make a new thread Danny, and share the love!

:idear you could put them in a image archive like Photobucket and link the thumbnails to the images on here.

 

[ACE_N_RANDIE]

...So fell asleep during the last two and a half hours of the race....I am not very pleased. I would love to go to Le Mans someday. I can't even imagine how intense night racing like that at those speeds has got to be!
Peace

 

[Loon]

Credit to Danny.​

 

[prisonermonkeys]

Credit to Danny.​

I guess all that practice on Photomode finally paid off.

 

[JohnBM01]

It's time now for my full report. And it is a FULL one! Have a look.



For the first time being a sportscar racing fan, I got a chance to see the end of the 24 Hours of Le Mans. What I ended up doing is turn off the TV and simply connecting these cables from my Dish receive to my stereo while listening to my headphones. I'm kind of a mama's boy, so I had to make sure that I was in bed and not awake



John's Notebook: Le Mans (Post-Race)
--- LMP1 --- What more can I say? This race was crazy. Nothing was sweeter than knowing that Audi and Peugeot could have been a closer fight than it ended up being. I think Peugeot had themselves mental lapses in trying to decide what tires to use. I have all the respect in the world for Tom Kristensen. Just that part of me says that I wanted Peugeot to win. Then again, I predicted an Audi win. Tom Kristensen may well move to Le Mans because he owns the place. Tom Kristensen won the race, but (to me) the real winner was Nicolas M. He had a wild ride trying to keep the car between the white lines without spinning out the car. He even inched closer and closer towards closing the gap. It wasn't easy to do, but he managed to keep the #7 Peugeot in its paces. Stellar drive. I wanted Peugeot to "upset" the Audis, but I also wanted Tom Kristensen to keep showing the pack how it's done. It was a love triangle for me which ultimately ended up going to Audi. The better team won, as it's tough for me to say.

(LMP1 Commentary) I think people tend to forget or disregard that the Audis (the R8, the Bentley, and the R10 TDI) is a stellar team. Audi to sportscar racing is like UCLA and Kentucky to college basketball. We just tend to hate Audi because they keep winning. Do we hate Audi because they keep winning, or do we love the opposition to thwart a powerhouse and prevent powerhouses from winning? I know that we have our favorite teams and drivers. But really, it's sort of bad taste and poor sportsmanship to hate sportscar racing or Audi because of excessive winning. It's like when Michael Schumacher was winning a huge number of races while Mika Hakkinen and Fernando Alonso were the key threats to Schumi. If Hakkinen kept winning and Schumi wasn't, we'd be hating Hakkinen for excessive winning. Then again, maybe teams dominate for a reason- because they are good and not many opponents are on the same level to pose a threat. There is no rule about excessive winning. It's almost as if you have to ban Audi from a race to beat Audi. It's tough to accept Audi's winning ways, but it's the truth. What are you going to do about it? They raced for 24 hours while changing drivers and trying to keep all fours between the white lines. Name me any sport in which performing tasks this extreme and acheiving victory ISN'T earned (unless there's cheating involved). Peugeot doesn't really have anything to be ashamed of. Nicolas M. kept Peugeot's asses in the race for as long as they could. Did Peugeot just say, "f:censored: it... we're done," as they were trailing the Audis? No. They did the only thing they could do- make a race out of it. Even still, the #2 Audi had to screw up and screw up bigtime for Peugeot to even remotely have a chance.

As for Tom Kristensen wanting this victory, that's just him. He wants to further cement his status in sportscar racing by getting more outright wins at the world's greatest race (to me). It's not like he's notching up Le Mans wins while stomping on and looking down on past multiple-time outright Le Mans winners. He is one of my heroes because he's been the one notching up victories and doing it with grit and determination. He has no reputation to rectify. He's just in it to win it. Kristensen's victory couldn't have been completed without the aid of his teammates as well as his pit crew. Kristensen eventually became Audi's closing pitcher to end any threat from other opposition. It's not really okay to hate on ANY aspect of Audi vs. Peugeot or the race itself. The race was worth staying up from dusk on Saturday to dawn on Sunday. I couldn't have been more pleased to see all the festivities and such live on my TV screen braving staying up all night and into sunrise. (-end LMP1 commentary)

--- LMP2 --- The Porsche RS Spyder got it done in P2. Imagine what kind of damage Penske would do if Penske brought their RS Spyders around Le Mans to maybe compete against these European Porsche RS Spyders. I'd just love to see Porsche vs. Acura on a stage greater than Sebring or Road Atlanta.

--- LMGT1 --- Not only was Aston Martin's win a great one, but just that the car was sponsored by Gulf in its 40th anniversary was truly special. Aston Martin took care of the Corvettes on their home continent.

--- LMGT2 --- Risi Competizione gets every amount of my applause and respect. Nothing like a Texas team represeting their home state and home town. I'm a proud native of Houston, Texas; and I'm plenty glad Risi Competizione pulled it out and stayed in the fight all race long to win in class.





John's Thoughts on the Race Itself
Wow. What a race! This will put to bed all the NASCAR-style bulls:censored: opinions about sportscar racing being about no passing and follow-the-leader. Peugeot made a race out of it on slick tires on a dry and wet track. I have always loved sportscar racing. EVERYTHING- the cars, the engines, seeing cars dance around the track, night racing with very bright lights and intense action, and all the heritage and pride it brings. It is the time of year that I'm proud to be a racing fan. I love this race. Even if the Audis won by five+ laps against everyone else, this is still a lovable race for the endless drama. You go to Hell for 24 Hours, Satan's pitchfork in you and all... and you acheive Heaven by finishing the race. The clean cars got plenty of dirt. I could barely make out the "XBOX 360" decals on the side of the Peugeot 908 HDI FAP. Seeing the nighttime excitement is truly fun. While listneing to this on my computer (after attaching some cables to my Line In port) from my satellite receiver, I was playing some electronica since Le Mans at night has that special feel to it. I had to suffer with NASCAR coverage on Speed. So "NASCAR Performance" is more important to show on TV than Le Mans? I know I may not be able to watch all the Le Mans coverage I can handle, but I only care about Le Mans when it's on.

It's the race I love whether my peers agree with me or disagree with me. An exciting finish was in store for this event. This was truly one of the better Le Mans races I've seen (and I've seen eight counting this race). Everyone racing this event are winners even if they didn't finish. I get exposed to some of the finest drivers in the world coming together to take on a grueling test that is a never-ending drama. I love the race with a passion. Even while having NASCAR thrown in my face, I still care for major league sportscar racing like in the ALMS, the LMS, and the 24 Hours of Le Mans. Nothing can be better than to enjoy this great race and to experience total euphoria with this race on TV. I actually couldn't sleep all of that Friday night, so I saw even the Test Day and Qualifying programs on Speed Channel before the 24 Hours of Le Mans. Just too bad the coverage started four minutes after 7:30 AM CDT (even getting sick of those male enhancement commercials). I slept after the Le Mans coverage was shut off as NASCAR prostituted themselves on Speed as usual. Then at 8:00 PM CDT, it was back meeting the motorsports love of my life in all her beauty. This was my first Le Mans that I seen in which I seen the live post-race festivities. And what can I say? It was BEAUTIFUL! You see the corner workers and such waving those flags as well as people leaving the stands to see the trophy presentation. It is beautiful each year to see such a lovely ending to an ugly test of 24 hours. This is a feeling that can't be described in any other race, even including the Daytona 500 and the Indy 500.

The biggest gripe for Le Mans for me is that this race doesn't get enough hype on TV to get people to watch. Speed counts down a meaningless All-Star Race in NASCAR, like this is the United States of North Carolina. I know sportscar racing fans are far and between, but at least we do have a prescence in motorsports as being fans. We know the motorsport. We love the motorsport. We love events like this... and the most we get is relegation? Maybe I get upset because I feel that this race could be marketed better on TV (especially on Speed) without having to resort of NASCAR-type explanations of this race. Not every race can be a NASCAR event. Then again, not many people care if it's like NASCAR. Speed needs to step up and market this race better and more efficiently so that this race can be better appreciated and regarded among race fans. No matter how much NASCAR we're forced to seeing, I still long for Le Mans. It's what I care about even if my peers don't care.






John's Debates! - Adding Appeal; What Did We Learn?; Test Drives; Crucial Corners?
You may respond to any or all of these. Le Mans brings a lot of talking points both in serious and casual points.

1.) The 24 Hours of Le Mans is the biggest race of the year for me. There's nothing like Le Mans. Speed Channel is the exclusive home for the 24 Hours of Le Mans. But to me, not enough is really done to get people excited and ready for Le Mans. What do you think can be done to help add more appeal to the 24 Hours of Le Mans without having to dumb it down to any ludicrous degree (for example: talking about Le Mans using NASCAR terminology (like "beatin' and bangin'")? What aspect(s) of the 24 Hours of Le Mans would you like to market to the general masses if you were trying to promote the race? Or is Le Mans too exclusive to be understood among casual fans?

2.) What did we learn as far as closed-top LMP1's vs. the open-top LMP1's? Does either kind of car have any sort of advantage over the other at Le Mans? Should all LMP1 cars be closed-top machines?

3.) What car(s) from this year's race would you most want to drive or race if you could race ANY of the cars in this year's race?

4.) I would say that D'Arnage is the toughest corner on the entire Le Mans course. What do you think is the toughest corner on the track? Or do you agree with me that Arnage is toughest?

5.) Tom Kristensen became the best-ever at Le Mans back in 2005. With this win this year, is it okay to say that Tom Kristensen is one of the best sportscar racers of our generation? What about best of all time? What about the best racer of any kind in any discipline of motorsport?




Le Mans Discussion
Here is some material for discussion. Respond to all of these or whichever ones you wish.

1.) How do you evaluate this year's event? Was it one of the better races? Where would you rate this as the best Le Mans races?

2.) What manufacturer(s) or race constructor(s) would you most want to see at Le Mans with either a factory car or a customer car?

3.) Describe Le Mans to those who may not be so educated or aware of this race.

4.) Peugeot posed a huge threat to the Audis until Peugeot has had troubles. Do you think anyone is to blame for Peugeot's performances? If so, who or what? If not, explain why they have no reason to be ashamed of anything.

5.) Name your big winners and most disappointing losers from this year's race.





What a great race! Now my life returns to normal after having anticipated this race. Up next for bigtime races (at least for us Americans)- Petit Le Mans in either September or October. Time to get Le Mans invites for next year's 24 Hours of Le Mans! And I quote:

"You'll need more than 24 hours to recover." -the introduction movie to the wonderful "Le Mans 24 Hours" game

 

[Earth]

1.) The 24 Hours of Le Mans is the biggest race of the year for me. There's nothing like Le Mans. Speed Channel is the exclusive home for the 24 Hours of Le Mans. But to me, not enough is really done to get people excited and ready for Le Mans. What do you think can be done to help add more appeal to the 24 Hours of Le Mans without having to dumb it down to any ludicrous degree (for example: talking about Le Mans using NASCAR terminology (like "beatin' and bangin'")? What aspect(s) of the 24 Hours of Le Mans would you like to market to the general masses if you were trying to promote the race? Or is Le Mans too exclusive to be understood among casual fans?

Show some qualifying or the test day. Don't expect big ratings for the race when you show no practice or qualifying.

I didn't remember them using "dumbed down" NASCAR terminology, in fact David Hobbs was very busy trashing NASCAR throughout his commentary.

If they did, which I'm sure they did if you heard them, then that's the commentator. I'm more upset when the commentators call Alan McNish "nishy", which to me is very unprofessional, then when they may use a NASCAR term like beating and banging.

2.) What did we learn as far as closed-top LMP1's vs. the open-top LMP1's? Does either kind of car have any sort of advantage over the other at Le Mans? Should all LMP1 cars be closed-top machines?

Closed top is faster because of the aero advantage

True, an open top car will have faster pitstops, but the speed of a closed coupe will overcome that.

3.) What car(s) from this year's race would you most want to drive or race if you could race ANY of the cars in this year's race?

The Peugeot 908. The sexiest, fastest looking car out there. The Dome S102 looks nice, but it also appears to have many blindspots.

4.) I would say that D'Arnage is the toughest corner on the entire Le Mans course. What do you think is the toughest corner on the track? Or do you agree with me that Arnage is toughest?

The entry to the first chicane is the toughest corner on the track. That's where I see the most spins

5.) Tom Kristensen became the best-ever at Le Mans back in 2005. With this win this year, is it okay to say that Tom Kristensen is one of the best sportscar racers of our generation? What about best of all time? What about the best racer of any kind in any discipline of motorsport?

It is OK to say he's one of the best of our generation and all time.

1.) How do you evaluate this year's event? Was it one of the better races? Where would you rate this as the best Le Mans races?

It was one of the better Le Mans races, but when the car you are pulling for doesn't win that takes away from the enjoyment.

2.) What manufacturer(s) or race constructor(s) would you most want to see at Le Mans with either a factory car or a customer car?

I want to see an American P1 car from Ford or Chevrolet. There is a chance Chevrolet will build a P1 car for next year.

In GT2 I would like to see the Ford GT stay around.

In LMP1 I would like Toyota and BMW to come back. Toyota seems to be on there way out of F1, but BMW seems to be hitting their stride so they won't come back. Ferrari in LMP1 is a dream.

3.) Describe Le Mans to those who may not be so educated or aware of this race.

Great race if you want to watch different types of cars race at the world's most unique track for 24 hours.

4.) Peugeot posed a huge threat to the Audis until Peugeot has had troubles. Do you think anyone is to blame for Peugeot's performances? If so, who or what? If not, explain why they have no reason to be ashamed of anything.

Christian Klein's spin into the sandtrap cost the #9 Peugeot dearly. The #9 Peugeot was leading at the time of the spin and it cost the car 4 minutes.

Overall, Peugeot's pit stops were slow. They need to step it up.

5.) Name your big winners and most disappointing losers from this year's race.

Biggest winner is Audi, most dissappointing loser is Peugeot. Peugeot was about to have a 1-2 finish until the rain came and it all went south.

 

[Muzaffar]

Make a new thread Danny, and share the love!

Yes, make a thread Danny.

They're too big! They're all about 3500x2400. Making them smaller will remove a busload of detail!

Just do it wuss! Use imageshack or....

:idear you could put them in a image archive like Photobucket and link the thumbnails to the images on here.

what he said and upload the image!!!!

*snip*

Thanks, your a life saver. 👍

Just want to add up some comments, I think the Peugeot did improved a lot this year compared to the last year. They made leap and bounds that many people were surprised of, but you can't blame them for not trying cause the Audi is just too good at Le Mans! I think they really are learning from this years race and improve further and have a Le Mans winning car by next year. 👍 I'm also intrigue by the amount of hype about more manufacturers entering Le Mans next year, with names like Toyota/Lexus, Acura and Jaguar entering next year and Aston Martin to have a more competitive works team for LMP1. Also, I'm just waiting to see what the ACO is gonna do with the rules and hopefully make an even playing field for LMP1.

 

[GilesGuthrie]

I wanted Peugeot to "upset" the Audis, but I also wanted Tom Kristensen to keep showing the pack how it's done. It was a love triangle for me which ultimately ended up going to Audi. The better team won, as it's tough for me to say.

How can a car that has dominated LMES, and which is 6 seconds faster per lap than the Audis "upset" them by winning it? Just because Audi have won 8 of the last 9 doesn't change the fact that the 908HDi was the much faster car.

John's Debates! - Adding Appeal; What Did We Learn?; Test Drives; Crucial Corners?
You may respond to any or all of these. Le Mans brings a lot of talking points both in serious and casual points.

1.) The 24 Hours of Le Mans is the biggest race of the year for me. There's nothing like Le Mans. Speed Channel is the exclusive home for the 24 Hours of Le Mans. But to me, not enough is really done to get people excited and ready for Le Mans. What do you think can be done to help add more appeal to the 24 Hours of Le Mans without having to dumb it down to any ludicrous degree (for example: talking about Le Mans using NASCAR terminology (like "beatin' and bangin'")? What aspect(s) of the 24 Hours of Le Mans would you like to market to the general masses if you were trying to promote the race? Or is Le Mans too exclusive to be understood among casual fans?

I don't think it's ever going to be a mass-market event. Even devoting the weekend to the race requires a significant effort, and given that today's society is obsessed with quick fix instant gratification, it's never going to get the sort of penetration it deserves. And even more so given that the distances between the cars can be quite large, so there's little close-quarter action for the casual fan to get excited about.

2.) What did we learn as far as closed-top LMP1's vs. the open-top LMP1's? Does either kind of car have any sort of advantage over the other at Le Mans? Should all LMP1 cars be closed-top machines?

I think the open top cars could use a small performance break. I'm happy for there to be diversity, but the closed cars do seem to be faster across the distance.

3.) What car(s) from this year's race would you most want to drive or race if you could race ANY of the cars in this year's race?

The Audi and the Peugeot are the most beautiful, and the fastest, but I think I'd like a run in one of the Astons.

4.) I would say that D'Arnage is the toughest corner on the entire Le Mans course. What do you think is the toughest corner on the track? Or do you agree with me that Arnage is toughest?

No, Indianapolis is harder in my view. Braking through the crest and an off-camber turn going right before a heavy left. I was surprised no-one seemed to go off there this year. By the time you get to Arnage, you've done all the hard work.

5.) Tom Kristensen became the best-ever at Le Mans back in 2005. With this win this year, is it okay to say that Tom Kristensen is one of the best sportscar racers of our generation? What about best of all time? What about the best racer of any kind in any discipline of motorsport?

Of course he's one of the best sportscar drivers of all time.

1.) How do you evaluate this year's event? Was it one of the better races? Where would you rate this as the best Le Mans races?

I thought it was a great race. It was good for Audi to have some credible opposition.

2.) What manufacturer(s) or race constructor(s) would you most want to see at Le Mans with either a factory car or a customer car?

It would be nice to have lots of manufacturers supplying customer cars. I wouldn't want too many though as it would just lead us back to the old days.

It would be nice to see Mercedes back though.

3.) Describe Le Mans to those who may not be so educated or aware of this race.

You sleep, but they don't. An entire season's worth of Formula 1 racing in one day. Anything can happen, so it doesn't matter that one car can build a big lead: they can lose it just as fast. Four classes of racing at the same time leads to mad traffic, and the quick cars are completing 8.3 miles in less than 3.5 minutes, hitting 200mph four times per lap in the process. It's Le Mans baby, and it's bonkers.

4.) Peugeot posed a huge threat to the Audis until Peugeot has had troubles. Do you think anyone is to blame for Peugeot's performances? If so, who or what? If not, explain why they have no reason to be ashamed of anything.

I think they just weren't quite there yet. I was surprised at their lack of pace in the wet, especially since rain at Le Mans is quite common.

5.) Name your big winners and most disappointing losers from this year's race.

Big winners: Audi, of course. Most disappointing losers: Flying Lizard. I was really hoping for good things from them, but their early accident seemed really trivial.

 

[JohnBM01]

John's Winners and Losers
Just like in my college football weekly reports, I'll share some of my winners and losers.



--- John's Winners ---
Nicolas Minassian is perhaps my biggest winner (other than Tom Kristensen, of course). It was great determination to close the gap between it and the leading #2 Audi. Slick parts of the track on dry weather tires. Having a flat tire. Yet, still managing to keep hope alive with solid driving. It takes a lot of determination to do what he did and for Peugeot to keep hope alive. That is even if Peugeot were pretty much dead weight at this point.

Even though they didn't finish, I actually had Tokai University as a winner. You take a team of mostly novices and progress far into the race as they have, I'd say they are "losing winners." I wonder what would happen if any other universities or colleges try to take on a challenge like Le Mans.

I'm from Houston. So I'm obviously proud of Risi Competizione. This win at Le Mans should help Risi's morale in the ALMS. This will now be a question of if Risi Competizione can keep up the good work coming back home to the States.

The Dome S102 is an awesome little race car. It did pretty well. And any time you can finish after having a rough race, that's saying something. That's showing some character. They got my full respect.

Cheng Kong Fu is a winner to me as well racing for Saulnier Racing. He's the first Chinese driver to compete at Le Mans, and he was part of a team that came home safely. The team finished 18th overall, but I'm sure a lot more determined Chinese racers will want to take their chances racing against an already stacked international field.

The Aston Martin-powered Lola B06/10 finished the race after having gone for a wild ride all race long. This is winner material. I wouldn't be surprised to see more efforts like this in not only future Le Mans races, but even for sprint races and also other endurances.



--- John's Losers ---
I love this car, but was disappointed that neither Epsilon Euskadi EE1 finished.

Porsche in LMGT2 just couldn't match pace with the Ferrais. Porsches are usually a dime a dozen in sportscar racing for their reliability and performance. However, it was an all-Italian car podium in GT2 as the top three were Ferraris. Is it okay to say "OWNED!/PWNED!" to Porsche for their GT2 performance?





FACT OR FICTION REVIEW
(all info based on: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2008_24_Hours_of_Le_Mans )



1.) Among LMP1 contenders, at least two Pescarolos will finish regardless of final classification.
FACT - only the #16 Pescarolo didn't manage to finish. The other Pescarolo 01's managed to finish.[/B]

2.) The highest-finishing Audi R10 TDi will be that of the Cabello/McNish/Kristensen Audi.
FACT - highest ranked, and won overall. Glad to see Tom Kristensen back where he belongs- top step of the podium spraying the bubbly.

3.) The Porsche RS Spyder of Neilsen/Elgaard/Masssen will win LMP2 honors.
FICTION - It was an all-Dutch effort to win LMP2 honors for the tandem of van Merksteijn/Bleekemolen/Verstappen. Pretty cool when you have a team encompassing a team based in one country with that country's finest drivers winning in class. Way to go to this team.

4.) Japanese power! Two Japanese entries are in LMP1- the Courage Mugen of Terada/Takahashi/Katohi and the Courage Oreca-YGK Suzuki/Kageyama/Kurosawa. Granted both finish, the Suzuki/Kageyama/Kurosawa entry will finish ahead of the Terada/Takahashi/Katohi entry.
FICTION - Neither finished the race. In the final order, the Tokai University/YGK Power team finished 42nd overall compared to the non-classified Terramos team.

5.) Creation Autosportif's lone entry will not finish.
FACT (regular team); FICTION (all-American team) - I only really focused on the full Creation Autosportif team and not really the Autocon Motorsports/Creation combo. The all-American team of Willman/Lewis/McMurry didn't finish.

6.) There are four Corvette C6.R's in the field. Both Corvette Racing entries will finish.
FACT - Both finished, but not where either would have liked.

7.) The highest-finishing Aston Martin DBR9 will be that of Menten/Fittipaldi/Borcheller (yes, an upset of the Aston Martin Racing entry!).
FICTION - You take a chance picking an upset. I selected this entry because of the combination of Fittipaldi and Borcheller. Team Modena was looking up at the #009 Aston Martin as a big brother. And this little brother ended up 30th, bringing up the rear as far as finished and classified Aston Martins go.

8.) If they don't win the race, then the Melo/Salo/Bruni Ferrari team (Risi Competizione) will be the highest-placed Ferrari.
FACT - I'm proud for Risi Competizione. It's a win like this that could boost more confidence to this veteran sportscar racing team.

9.) Of the Porsches in GT2, the highest-placed Porsche will be Flying Lizard (Bergmeister/van Overbeek/Neiman).
FICTION - The Felbermayr-Proton Porsche was the highest-ranked Porsche. Flying Lizard still hung in there, but didn't manage to make enough noise since taking that contact earlier in the race.

10.) There are seven Ferraris. Of these, at least five will finish.
FICTION - Four Ferraris finished.

11.) Both Spyker C8 GT2R's will finish.
FICTION Both Spyker C8 GT2R's failed to finish.

12.) The Radical SR9-AER will finish in the Top 5 in LMP2.
FACT - According to my studying of the final running order, the only Radical ended up 4th in LMP2. The team included Rostan/Jeanette/Devlin. Ben Devlin is one of my friends on Myspace, so I'm proud for the young man. Still can't get Gunnar Jeanette to be my friend on Myspace. ;_;

13.) At least one of the Charouz Racing System entries will finish.
FACT - The #10 Charouz Racing System Lola B06/60 managed to finish 9th overall. The team included Jan Charouz, Tomas Enge, and Stefan Mücke. The other car didn't finish, ended up 46th.

14.) The Epsilon Euskadi-Judd (which I thought was a fantasy car) will finish in the Top 10 overall.
FICTION - Neither car finished, which is a great shame. It was still nice to see the car that has some sportscar racing fans excited.

15.) No more than three safety car periods will take place during the race.
FACT - Only one caution occured, which is a bit of a surprise considering a lot of the attrition that took place.




And there you are. Great job to all teams. Getting here wasn't easy. Finishing was hard. Winning in class was even harder. Winning overall was hardest, but not impossible.

 

[Metar]

Even still, the #2 Audi had to screw up and screw up bigtime for Peugeot to even remotely have a chance.

Not really. All it had to do was one minor spin into the wrong trap (like the #9 Peugeot had), or one badly-timed shift to set the car for a few minutes in the pits. Or hours. A 2-minute gap after 24 hours is amazing, and could just as well have been the other way if we had one random rainshower less, or had Peugeot not had those 10 minutes that set them back so far.

4.) I would say that D'Arnage is the toughest corner on the entire Le Mans course. What do you think is the toughest corner on the track? Or do you agree with me that Arnage is toughest?

Porsche curves with a touch of rain, or Indianapolis.

4.) Peugeot posed a huge threat to the Audis until Peugeot has had troubles. Do you think anyone is to blame for Peugeot's performances? If so, who or what? If not, explain why they have no reason to be ashamed of anything.

Klien can be accused of spinning the #9 into the gravel, which cost them more than a lap. Other than that, none of the drivers did real mistakes.

5.) Name your big winners and most disappointing losers from this year's race.

Winners:

The #2 car, crew and drivers - perfectly consistent, fast, and without a single problem. McNish, Kristensen and even Capelli drove flawlessly.

The #8 car's drivers: Lamy, Wurz and Sarrazin were the fastest, and most consistent, of the Peugeot crews, and could very well have won if they had been in place of the #9 car. Other than that, Minassian did do a great job, but the other drivers deserve just as much respect.

Dome, for actually finishing, and surviving the whole race without doing a single race before. They had a problem or two, and a major crash, but they soldiered on in typical Japanese underdog style.

Losers:

Tokai University. What the hell are they doing in LMP1? They're slower than GT1, for christ's sake.

Epsilon Euskadi: They look fast, but really proved that even if it looks similar to the Peugeots, it's not really a Peugeot.

It would be nice to have lots of manufacturers supplying customer cars. I wouldn't want too many though as it would just lead us back to the old days.

It would be nice to see Mercedes back though.

It seems the ACO wants manufacturers to stay out of LMP2 at least - Audi mentioned running against Acura next year, so it looks as if they want to lock manufacturers in LMP1.

You sleep, but they don't. An entire season's worth of Formula 1 racing in one day. Anything can happen, so it doesn't matter that one car can build a big lead: they can lose it just as fast. Four classes of racing at the same time leads to mad traffic, and the quick cars are completing 8.3 miles in less than 3.5 minutes, hitting 200mph four times per lap in the process. It's Le Mans baby, and it's bonkers.

Say that in a Clarkson-type voice and accompany with video, and you've got the best commercial ever.

The Aston Martin-powered Lola B06/10 finished the race after having gone for a wild ride all race long. This is winner material. I wouldn't be surprised to see more efforts like this in not only future Le Mans races, but even for sprint races and also other endurances.

No, it's not winner material. A car with a perfect reliability record won't be able to match a set of six cars that are all 10 seconds faster, and proven to be capable of lasting the distance. The Charouz was fast, no doubt - but it's not winner material until it's faster than the Courage cars, and the ACO limits diesels. And now that Peugeot didn't win it, those rules will probably be delayed by another year.

Porsche in LMGT2 just couldn't match pace with the Ferrais. Porsches are usually a dime a dozen in sportscar racing for their reliability and performance. However, it was an all-Italian car podium in GT2 as the top three were Ferraris. Is it okay to say "OWNED!/PWNED!" to Porsche for their GT2 performance?

Their pace was there, the only reason Ferrari owned the top spots was because of a crash between the Porsches themselves. It's Porsche's own fault for taking itself out of the race, but it wasn't just the pace of the Ferraris, because the Porsches were up to speed to challenge.

 

[Danny]

I'm a proud native of Houston, Texas

I think you may have mentioned this once or twice. Or ninety times.

 

[RACECAR]

I think I may have foresaw the winner of this year's race as not only do I have an Avatar on my myspace page of the #2 car, but I also made a funny caption with Tom.

I think you may have mentioned this once or twice. Or ninety times.

Is it illegal for him to say it or what? So he's mentioned this many times, so what?

 

[MustangSVT]

The best Peugeot crew was in the #8 car. Sadly, they were also the unluckiest of them all.

Yes, I suppose that's why I am/was a bit upset about Audi winning. They only had issues and driver errors with their #3 and #1 car. I think if it had been the #8 Peugeot in the same position with 3 hours to go (unlapped itself, make up 3 minutes in 3 hours), it would have been able to do it, or at least come really close to it. Maybe next year..

Other than that, this was a really good race. I was glued to live timing and the video stream from hour 0 to hour 24, so that says something about the race. Last year, after Peugeot started failing early in the race and going into the garage often, I only had hopes for competitive racing from the Corvette boys (Fellows/Magnussen/O'connell) versus the #009 Aston Martin. I'm glad the #009 won again this year and if you followed live timing, for the longest time, it was a close battle between the #34 Team Essex and the #31 Van Merksteijn LMP2 cars, and also in GT1 (between both Corvettes and both Aston Martins). Thankfully I had a really good feed from Denmark sport channel (1000kbit/s+, full PAL resolution 720x576) for the time Speed didn't show anything.

It makes me mad at how Speed showed this race.

#1 -too many commercials. Like seriously, way too many. The sport channel in Denmark only showed commercials once every 2 hours. Why can't Speed do that too?

#2 - not showing a live stream on their website for the hours that it was off-air whilst maintaining "exclusive coverage". I'd rather just pay like $20 to see full 24 hours of Le Mans on pay per view with no commercials, rather than Speed showing it..

#3 - Speed commentator pronouncing Peugeot incorrectly. They even got reader e-mail saying it's not "Poo-joo", but he ignored it..

#4 - Speed showing a bunch of historical stuff during race coverage. Normally I wouldn't mind this, but they would have commercials every 4-5 minutes.

Overall, I'm really disappointed with Speed's coverage. Thankfully, between the time speed stopped showing (hour 3) to the end (hour 24), I had the denmark coverage (no commercials) on my laptop and live timing on my laptop so I didn't miss a single thing. If I were to watch it only what Speed showed, I would have missed out on the majority of what this race was all about. Seriously, way too many commercials on speed.

Watching speed report late at night was also hilarious. The guy pronounced Mulsanne as "Mool-sane" with the "sane" pronounced as you would say "insane". I still can't believe how little effort they put in showing and advertising this race compared as how someone else in this thread said, the NASCAR All-Star race. What the hell is an All-Star race anyway? Sounds stupid to me. No wonder there isn't a US Grand Prix anymore..

Porsche in LMGT2 just couldn't match pace with the Ferrais. Porsches are usually a dime a dozen in sportscar racing for their reliability and performance. However, it was an all-Italian car podium in GT2 as the top three were Ferraris. Is it okay to say "OWNED!/PWNED!" to Porsche for their GT2 performance?

Actually this is incorrect.. Porsche in GT2 (marmut and flying lizard) were able to do sub-4minute laptimes, whereas the Ferraris were not able to. So the pace was definetaly there. The porsches were faster than the ferraris. The Marmut porsche took out themselves and the Flying Lizard early in the race (the first few hours). That's why they didn't win.

 

[Danny]

Is it illegal for him to say it or what? So he's mentioned this many times, so what?

Actually, I didn't mention it as being anything negative. I was amused by it, so please think before becoming so defensive over your state.

Oh, and

 

[GilesGuthrie]

It makes me mad at how Speed showed this race.

#1 -too many commercials. Like seriously, way too many. The sport channel in Denmark only showed commercials once every 2 hours. Why can't Speed do that too?

#2 - not showing a live stream on their website for the hours that it was off-air whilst maintaining "exclusive coverage". I'd rather just pay like $20 to see full 24 hours of Le Mans on pay per view with no commercials, rather than Speed showing it..

#3 - Speed commentator pronouncing Peugeot incorrectly. They even got reader e-mail saying it's not "Poo-joo", but he ignored it..

#4 - Speed showing a bunch of historical stuff during race coverage. Normally I wouldn't mind this, but they would have commercials every 4-5 minutes.

Overall, I'm really disappointed with Speed's coverage. Thankfully, between the time speed stopped showing (hour 3) to the end (hour 24), I had the denmark coverage (no commercials) on my laptop and live timing on my laptop so I didn't miss a single thing. If I were to watch it only what Speed showed, I would have missed out on the majority of what this race was all about. Seriously, way too many commercials on speed.

Watching speed report late at night was also hilarious. The guy pronounced Mulsanne as "Mool-sane" with the "sane" pronounced as you would say "insane". I still can't believe how little effort they put in showing and advertising this race compared as how someone else in this thread said, the NASCAR All-Star race. What the hell is an All-Star race anyway? Sounds stupid to me. No wonder there isn't a US Grand Prix anymore..

I revelled in the coverage on Eurosport. I think they missed maybe 1hr in the whole race. Their commentators were knowledgeable enough, but a bit mad. Not too many commercial breaks (although I was effectively watching it on chasing playback anyway, so was winding through the breaks. Eurosport did a really good job.

 

[Metar]

I revelled in the coverage on Eurosport. I think they missed maybe 1hr in the whole race. Their commentators were knowledgeable enough, but a bit mad. Not too many commercial breaks (although I was effectively watching it on chasing playback anyway, so was winding through the breaks. Eurosport did a really good job.

"Look at that, the Peugeots are all doing 3'20 in these conditions! Wurz even did a 3'19! Amazing!"

"Err, it's the fastest laps"


Good coverage, though.

 

[Earth]

JohnBM01, I want to let you know I got 14 out of 15 correct on your original fact or fiction

Only one I didn't get right is the one I didn't try to answer:

4.) Japanese power! Two Japanese entries are in LMP1- the Courage Mugen of Terada/Takahashi/Katohi and the Courage Oreca-YGK Suzuki/Kageyama/Kurosawa. Granted both finish, the Suzuki/Kageyama/Kurosawa entry will finish ahead of the Terada/Takahashi/Katohi entry.

Here is my answers

https://www.gtplanet.net/forum/showpost.php?p=3053647&postcount=155

Here is what happened

https://www.gtplanet.net/forum/showpost.php?p=3056844&postcount=405

 

[Fyshokid]

Denmark got a podium position in all four classes!

 

[RACECAR]

Actually, I didn't mention it as being anything negative. I was amused by it, so please think before becoming so defensive over your state.

Oh, and

I wasn't being defensive over my state, I was under the impression that you had a post along the lines of "who cares" as you certainly didn't indicate any amusement in your post. If iI'd known that, I wouldn't have said what I said. Besides, it wasn't an attack as you make it out to be.

Denmark got a podium position in all four classes!

Good catch. I just noticed that myself. Well, they certainly can be happy to have had 2 class wins as well 👍

 

[Fyshokid]

Good catch. I just noticed that myself. Well, they certainly can be happy to have had 2 class wins as well 👍

2 class wins? They (We) had 1 class win... LMP1: 1st (Audi) - LMP2: 2nd (Team Essex) - LMGT1: 2nd (Corvette) - LMGT2: 3rd (In a Ferrari)

 

[RACECAR]

2 class wins? They (We) had 1 class win... LMP1: 1st (Audi) - LMP2: 2nd (Team Essex) - LMGT1: 2nd (Corvette) - LMGT2: 3rd (In a Ferrari)

Oh thats right, the winning car was the all Dutch effort. IN either case, congrats to you guys:tup:

 

[Fyshokid]

Oh thats right, the winning car was the all Dutch effort. IN either case, congrats to you guys:tup:

I think it was pretty funny that Tom Kristensen had his winning speech in Danish (10% of the crowd were Danish!)

 

[ROAD_DOGG33J]

I'm disappointed that the Corvettes and Porsche's lost. But the win by the #2 Audi was great.

A couple of things I noticed:
I didn't see the Spykers at all during the coverage. I don't see any Panoz's either in the GT2 class, probably because there were none this year. I hope next year there will be some better competition in this class.

The Essex car made the LMP1 cars work hard to pass it.

 

[JohnBM01]

I still think the Peugeots need to be even better engineered to actually be able to handle the 24 Hours of Le Mans. Weren't the Audi boys talking about how the 908 HDI FAP was designed for sprint races and not full-on endurances? Or maybe Peugeot just needs to have more efficient pit stops with this car. I don't know what exact changes because I'm not a race constructor or one who spends hours of his like making CAD models for a more effeciently-performing Peugeot. Here's a technical question for you all...

What changes to the Peugeot 908 HDI FAP do you think needs to be made for this car to perform more efficiently for next year's race (granted they are invited next year, which is likely)? How do you think this year's car compares to last year's 908?