If you recorded the 24 Hours of Le Mans to watch later, you can move on to the next post and come back here after you're all caught up. For those who just want the scoop on what happened in the big diesel battle of 2007 or the GT1 duel between Aston Martin and Corvette, continue reading after the jump to find out what happened.
[Sources: Audi, SpeedTV and Racing-Live]
click for a high-res image
After dominating the 24 hours of Le Mans since 1999 Audi was facing perhaps the most serious challenge to its crown yet. The assault came from the French with team Peugeot Total's 908 HDi FAP prototypes. The speed of the new Peugeot 908 was never in doubt after victories in the first two Le Mans endurance series races and the pole position it captured for this race. What was in doubt was whether the pair from Peugeot could go the distance against the well-proven Audis.
Whether the Pugs can last at full speed is still an open question thanks to the rain that forced the last hour to be run behind a safety car, but even with the reduced speeds only one of three Audis and one of two Peugeots finished, and in that order. The No. 7 Peugeot that had run second most of the race succumbed to low oil pressure at the 22 hours mark while the #3 Audi hit the barrier three laps in during changing weather conditions and the #2 car lost a wheel with Dindo Capello at the controls and crashed 16 hours into the race. The Capello crash came after a tense moment in the pits when techs had problems mounting the same wheel that flew free, causing the accident. (Neither Audi wreck resulted in injuries.) The remaining Audi, #1, ran 369 laps and had a ten lap cushion over the Peugeot at the end, giving Victory to Frank Biela, Marco Werner, and Emanuele Pirro.
Twenty-six laps back, the British racing green Aston Martins finally defeated the Corvettes that have dominated the GT1 class at Le Mans for the last several years. The #009 DBR9 of Brabham-Rydell-Turner came in fifth overall one lap up on the Oconnell-Magnussen-Fellows #63 Corvette with a second Aston one lap further back. The #64 vette went out earlier in the race.
24 Hours of Le Mans results:
Pos. # Class Drivers Team Car Laps
1. 1 LMP1 Biela, Pirro, Werner Audi Sport North America Audi R10 TDI 369
2. 8 LMP1 Sarrazin, Lamy, Bourdais Team Peugeot Total Peugeot 908 359
3. 16 LMP1 Collard, Boullion, Dumas Pescarolo Sport Pescarolo-Judd 01 357
4. 18 LMP1 Short, Barbosa, Hall Rollcentre Racing Pescarolo-Judd 01 347
5. 009 LMGT1 Turner, Brabham, Rydell Team Aston Martin Racing Aston Martin DBR9 342
6. 63 LMGT1 Fellows, O'Connell, Magnussen Team Corvette Racing Corvette C6-R 6:08.031
7. 008 LMGT1 Bouchut, Gollin, Elgaard AMR Larbre Competition Aston Martin DBR9 341
8. 15 LMP1 Charouz, Yoong, Mucke Charouz Racing System Lola-Judd B07-17 337
9. 007 LMGT1 Herbert, Enge, Kox Team Aston Martin Racing Aston Martin DBR9 1:46.406
10. 54 LMGT1 Prost, Groppi, Belloc Team Oreca Saleen S7R 336
11. 100 LMGT1 Babini, Davies, Malucelli Team Aston Martin BMS Aston Martin DBR9 1:26.391
12. 72 LMGT1 Alphand, Policano, Goueslard Team Luc Alphand Aventures Corvette C6-R 326
13. 17 LMP1 Primat, Tinseau, Treluyer Pescarolo Sport Pescarolo-Judd 01 324
14. 67 LMGT1 Pergl, Vasiliev, Kostka Convers Menx Team Ferrari 550 Maranello 322
15. 76 LMGT2 Narac, Lietz, Long Imsa Performancec Matmut Porsche 911 GT3 RSR 320
16. 55 LMGT1 Ortelli, Ayari, Lapierre Team Oreca Saleen S7R 318
17. 59 LMGT1 Garcia, Fittipaldi, Menten Team Modena Aston Martin DBR9 1:11.406
18. 31 LMP2 Binnie, Timpany, Buncombe Team Binnie Motorsports Lola-Zytek B05-40 5:04.070
19. 99 LMGT2 Jonsson, Krohn, Braun Risi Competizione Ferrari 430 GT 313
20. 19 LMP1 Berridge, Evans, Owen Team Chamberlain - Synergy Lola-AER B06-10 310
21. 93 LMGT2 Ehret, Erik Nielsen, Simonsen Team Autorlando Sport Porsche 911 GT3 RSR 309
22. 78 LMGT2 Macari, Aucott, Newey Team AF Corse Ferrari 430 GT 308
23. 82 LMGT2 Dean, Tomlinson, Bell Team LNT Panoz Esperante GTLM 307
24. 73 LMGT1 Vosse, Andre, Blanchemain Team Luc Alphand Aventures Corvette C5-R 306
25. 14 LMP1 Lammers, Bleekemolen, Hart Racing For Holland BV Dome-Judd S101 305
26. 12 LMP1 Frei, Cochet, Besson Courage Competition Courage-AER LC70 304
27. 33 LMP2 Kurosawa, Fernandez, Kerr Team Barazi Epsilon Zytek 07S/2 301
28. 70 LMGT1 Gosselin, Peter, Smet Team PSI Experience Corvette C6-R 288
29. 006 LMGT1 Fiskin, Bornhauser, Berville AMR Larbre Competition Aston Martin DBR9 271
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 2)
Viv @ Jun 17th 2007 2:08PM
Too bad the 'vettes lost to those brits.
VL @ Jun 18th 2007 10:17AM
The brits did have a few years to sort things out :)
The Astons ran a great race, no doubt about it.
Paul @ Jun 17th 2007 2:23PM
One photo? That's all?
K @ Jun 17th 2007 3:07PM
@Viv: It's because Prodrive now owns Aston. If I recall the vettes used to be the only factory team in GT1 before this year.
Alex Nunez @ Jun 17th 2007 3:17PM
Prodrive's run the Aston Martin Racing all along. They've always been competitive, and last year, they lead Le Mans at the halfway point, too.
zeos @ Jun 17th 2007 3:52PM
i was watching a little on speed last night and they never said anything about lmp2, where were prosche and acura?
nagmashot @ Jun 17th 2007 4:13PM
no Porsche or Accura in LMP2... if I remember correctly only 2 LMP2 car saw the finish..
Just to get it complet...
LMGT2 was won by Porsche GT3 RSR 997 ahead Ferrari F430
Za @ Jun 17th 2007 3:55PM
You've got a few of the numbers wrong in the synopsis - the winning car was 1, not 31, and Capello's was 2, not 32. It's a shame, as well. The Capello-McNish-Kristensen car had led literally almost the entire race [~16hrs after lap 1] and McNish was continually increasing his lead. He was breaking 3:29 with ease while the Peugeots generally had trouble getting under 3:30. McNish had the fastest lap as well, with a 3:27 effort. I guess Kristensen will have to wait for his 8th Le Mans crown, Capello will have to wait for his 4th, and McNish for his 2nd.
bperedo2 @ Jun 17th 2007 4:59PM
I think someone just forget to hit the "shift" key.
32....#2
31....#1
Alex Nunez @ Jun 17th 2007 9:29PM
Indeed, bpredo. It was a shift key screwup. This guy's shift key, in fact. Fixed.
Vasco da Gama @ Jun 17th 2007 4:21PM
Once again the diesel engine proves its' superiority. When will Americans finally see the potential of the diesel engine???
ruggels @ Jun 17th 2007 4:41PM
when will people stop pretending we don't? Now excuse me as i glance at my two TDIs circa 2002 and 2005. Just because GM or Ford aren't providing us with choices doesn't mean VW had any problems selling them pre-engine up date and I doubt they'll have any once BMW begins marketing their solutions and the new 2.0TDI comes over as well. Now if you'll excuse me, my plat gray unicorns need washing.
The Penguin @ Jun 17th 2007 6:16PM
The diesels were not completely dominant, third place was a nondiesel that had no factory support like the cars that took first and second. The diesels this year also had terrible reliability that is normal for racing diesels.
Tired Watcher @ Jun 17th 2007 7:06PM
Very true, but the diesels do have a very big advantage in terms of power and torque. Also, they were well ahead of the pace. The reliability of the diesels will only improve as time goes by.
Even though they have 81L instead of 90L, the diesels do have an advantage in the pits as they can refuel faster.
It makes sense for Peugeot and Audi to have diesels, but maybe Pescarolo can have a diesel Judd if they every do produce one. However, Pescarolo has always put a good fight for such a small, underfunded team.
However the diesels are not invincible as was shown in Utah.
Logik @ Jun 17th 2007 11:56PM
Yes, Pescarolo was the underdog to Peugeot and Audi. Even with the overwhelming diesel advantages, the Pescarolo team didn't give up. You could tell that Pescarolo was really pissed (because of the gas v. diesel) when he was interviewed regarding running a diesel, I think. This was the best Le Mans in the last 3 years.
nagmashot @ Jun 18th 2007 10:37AM
diesel terrible relibility? Two of the three Audi crashed that has nothing to do with reliabilty...
First crash in the second hour was a driver mistake losing controll as he drove over oil on the track...the marschals warned the driver with flags.. means 100% driver mistake.
second crash was most likely a pitcrew mistake with a not proper mounted rear wheel that the Audi lost at 270km/h ending in a crash barrier..
What in the name of god has that to do with terrible diesel reliabilty... diesel are much more reliable as any petrol engine...
chuck goolsbee @ Jun 17th 2007 7:21PM
I watched it all night long. =)
Audi's wheel problems were due to premature dejackulation.
Thanks... I'll be here all week... try the veal.
--chuck
Vasco da Gama @ Jun 17th 2007 8:21PM
Sorry Ruggels but I want more choice and reliability than a VW. I would like to purchase any vehicle and have the choice of engine options (diesel, gas, etc). I have no plans to purchase a VW because of the reliability issues.
ruggels @ Jun 18th 2007 12:49AM
man, i'm curious what recent models you've owned? I've put 200,000 miles on the 02 tdi, only issue was the break light switch recal. 70,000 miles on the 05 tdi, zero issues. 26,000 miles on the 06 jetta 2.0t, zero issues. 16,000 miles on the 07 GTI, zero issues.
I had 325,000 miles on the 4000s when i sold it ten years ago, it needed a new clutch.
I love hearing about how unreliable vw's are, then never hearing people back such assertions up with modern experiences with their lineup. Especially their bulletproof tdi line up.
Nick @ Jun 18th 2007 8:41AM
Just because you've had good luck with your VWs doesn't invalidate the fact that VW is selling crappity crap here in the United States. Both VW and Audi are terribly glitchy and unreliable, this has been well documented by multiple different sources.