24 Hours of LeMans

[Art Sandusky 0]

Coverage has been on the Speed channel, and while Audi is dominating the overall competition, the Corvette C5-R team might pull off another win in the GT-S class. Anyone else watching this? European posters? Someone?

[Guest JacK]

LeMan's is on now??!?!?!? Shit I'll have to go and check Foxtel to see if they're showing it . . . they better be . . . someone better be.

[Art Sandusky 0]

Yeah dude, only about four hours left. I only thought to create a thread when I realized that there were a lot of European/non-US posters who would care about this along with myself, since hardly anyone in America outside of the racing teams pays attention to these things.

 

The C5-R team is in 6th and 7th overall, I think they said. The GT-S cars are proving to be really quick in the straights (not getting totally blown past by the champ cars), and are much quicker than the Ferraris through the curves.

[Guest JacK]

Damn . . . not on PayTV. Oh well, the Corvette's seem to be in a pretty nice position though.

 

Probably best I stay away from the motorsport for awhile after today's efforts by the stewards in the V8's. Ingall parks in the MIDDLE OF THE PITLANE in front of Mark Skaife, so he can't get out, and SKAIFE is the one pinged for a 'pitlane infringement'.

[Art Sandusky 0]

I know nothing of the V8 Supercar racing, so yeah.

 

Go Corvette, show those Italianos that you can beat them with 33% less engine to work with.

 

Said the Audis at the front are hitting 250mph(!!) on the Musainne(sp) straight.

[Guest JacK]

250mph? Shit . . . that's 400 kilometres an hour . . . holy shit that's fast. Is the straight even that long at Le Mans?

 

Are the Le Mans cars still comparable in laptimes to the F1 cars? I remember reading some years back that at the Melbourne F1 GP track Mark Webber was lapping within a tenth of a second of the F1 guys in his Merc with journo's for passengers.

Edited June 13, 2004 by JacK

[Art Sandusky 0]

Those champ cars are REALLY fast, man. The straight is plenty long, but they're more worried about the Musainne chicane that follows the straight.

 

I'm pretty sure they've eclipsed F1 cars at this point (especially since F1 cars top out around 230 or so I think), but can't really say unless you put them side-by-side and let 'em run a few laps. Sadly, we'll never see that.

[Art Sandusky 0]

THE LEADING GT-S FERRARI GETS A FLAT IN THE DUNLOP CHICANE! It couldn't have been much further from the pits if it wanted to be, and he had to nurse that right front tire all the way back to pit row. It's being taken in for some extra suspension work and other checks to see what else might have been damaged. Go Corvette!

 

And I REALLY dig the wheels these cars ride on. Five-spoke may be the way of the American musclecar, but these 15-20 spoke BBS wheels rock it hardcore on sports cars.

[Art Sandusky 0]

And the same area claims the #2 overall number 88 Audi. Man that's a fast approach into that sharp S-curve. He got too risky on some worn rubber and beached himself in the gravel. He'll need new tires now for sure after getting as hard on the brakes as he did.

[Art Sandusky 0]

The Corvette left pit row just as the Ferrari was getting out of the garage, and the Corvette is about 10-20 seconds ahead of the Ferrari. In a race measured in laps between you and the next guy, this is extremely tight.

 

And Porsches are ruling the GT class, as expected. Both TVRs are in the garage.

 

I have no idea why I kept calling the LeMans cars champ cars. It's way too late/early.

[Guest JacK]

Yeah I was wondering about that, seemed a bit odd. Damn that sucks for the Ferrari though, with like 3 hours left and all.

 

I love 24 hour races . . . their so full of drama. Can't wait for the Bathurst 24 hour this year! The Holden's are going to make it three in a row, unless those overseas cars get their act together.

[Art Sandusky 0]

Bah, Ferrari deserves what it gets. Team Power Drive insists that their 550s are running quicker than the Corvettes, but even after they fixed everything back up with a second trip to the garage, the Corvettes are STILL pulling away, and the #66 Ferrari is in third in the GT-S class now. If they can't put their money where their mouth is, they need to backdafuckup and recognize the American skillz. I love how the American analyst/commentator on LeMans radio said about the Corvette leading "Oh, so one of ours is in charge." Then an American team car took over the LD-1(?) class (the Audis up in the lead are the 2's), and he said "Oh, so now we're leading two classes." The British dude got audibly irked and said "For now, yes. For now." The 3rd overall is an American team car as well, with the top two being British.

 

Since the GT-S class isn't interesting anymore with the, barring some kind of mechanical slipup or wreck, Corvette victory, the race at the top of the pack is extremely interesting now.

 

The announcers said Aston-Martin would be represented at LeMans next year.

 

And the #66 Ferrari went back into the garage AGAIN just now. Wow.

[Guest JacK]

Aston Martin? Very nice.

 

Hey Johnny Herbert's in second. I'm sure they can make up a minute in like 6 minutes.

[Guest JacK]

Wow I'm suprised Werner/Pirro/Lehto is that far back . . . they have a problem?

 

And is that Colin McCrae and Ryckard Rydell I see in tenth? They're in the Ferrari's? Wow, I'm suprised the Corvette's are in front of them, they're fuckin aces. I wish we got this race here damnit, so many great drivers

[Art Sandusky 0]

Speaking of Colin McCrae, they mentioned that the last time an AWD car was at LeMans was in 1985, a Porsche 959 that was in its own class as the only AWD car, and it finished 7th overall I think. Those 959s are tremendous vehicles.

[Art Sandusky 0]

The Corvette C5-R wins 1st AND 2nd in the GTS class, as well as 5th and 6th overall, the highest GTS finishes ever. All that after no less than THREE wrecks and almost running out of replacement parts. Show 'em how Americans do it, aw yeah. The burnout in front of the main grandstand rocked, shame the LeMans officials stopped a donut attempt.

 

Audis took overall for the fourth time in five years.

[Guest JacK]

Wow Audi's are gunning it, that's a pretty good streak for a race as prestigous as LeMans.

Still, pretty impressive for the Corvette's. But you *know* a properly spec-d Holden would beat them . Skaife/Murphy/Bright . . . then RKelly/TKelly/Richards.

 

Last time I saw any of the race Toyota with Martin Brundle, the mercs with Schnieder/Webber/Ludwig and the Porches were the frontrunners. Unfortunatly, the Mercs had huge problems . . . that was the year the car's aerodynamics made it fly up into the air and nearly hit a bridge.

But man that was a good pairing. Or trioing, as the case may be.

[Art Sandusky 0]

GM would never let a Holden beat a Corvette. Even if they modded the hell out of one (and it would take a LOT of modification and an act of God) to where it could beat a Corvette, GM would tell the Holdens to take a dive. No GM car is allowed to beat the Corvette.

[Guest JacK]

It wouldn't take that much modding . . . the Bathurst 24Hour spec Monaro's rule . . . and us Aussies, we'd rebel no doubt and pull a Montreal on the Corvette's. Or do what Rubino did to Michael one time as Didier Pironi did to Gilles Villeneuve and pretend to be all team orders, before overtaking and sprint away to victory.

 

It's all hypothetical though, the last time an Aussie team got anywhere near a front running car at LeMans to my recollection was Peter Brock and Larry Perkins running a car together back in the lmid to late 70's . . . and by 'my recollection' I mean tapes of stuff that happened before I was born.