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In the Books: 2008 24 Hours of Le Mans (Spoilers)
by Alex Nunez on Jun 15th 2008 at 11:01AM 
This year's exciting 24 Hours of Le Mans ended a short time ago. In deference to those of you who might have recorded the race, we'll do the rundown after the jump. So be advised: Spoilers follow.
[Source: LeMans.org]
click any image to enlarge
This year's running of the 24 Hours of Le Mans was an absolute classic, with intense battles fought between Audi and Peugeot and Aston Martin and Corvette. In the end, Tom Kristensen, Allan McNish, and Dindo Capello took the overall win in the #2 Audi R10. For Tom K., already the winningest driver in the history of the race, this is his 8th Le Mans win. Incredible. The Peugeots were very fast, but early in the morning, Audi turned the tables and held off the Peugeot 908 coupes in some pretty ugly weather conditions. As night turned back into day, TV viewers saw Kristensen driving like a man possessed. The #7 Peugeot driven by Marc Gene, Nicolas Minassian, and Jacques Villeneuve took second overall, and the #9 Peugeot of Franck Montagny, Ricardo Zonta, and Christian Klien took the final podium spot.
In GT1, the competition was equally fierce, with both the #009 Gulf Aston Martin DBR9 and the #63 Corvette C6.R occupying the leader's spot at times. In the end, Aston defended its title, with David Brabham, Darren Turner and Antonio Garcia in #009 beating the #63 Vette piloted by Johnny O'Connell, Jan Magnussen, and Ron Fellows, which finished on the same lap. What a great rivalry this has become. If you like racing, it is almost unfair that these two juggernauts have only met head-to-head twice in the last two years -- at Le Mans. At least they make it worth the wait. Third place in GT1 went to the other C6.R, #64, driven by Olivier Beretta, Oliver Gavin, and Max Papis.
The LMP2 class featured the Le Mans debut of the Porsche RS Spyder. Not a bad one, considering it took the top two podium positions. The purple-and-white #34 car of Van Merksteijn Motorsport, driven by Peter Van Merksteijn, Jos Verstappen, and Jeroen Bleekemolen and took the win. The #31 Team Essex Porsche, piloted by John Nielsen, Casper Elgaard, and Sascha Maassen took the number-two spot, and the #35 Pescarolo-Judd of Saulnier Racing took third in the P2 class. Pierre Rauges, Matthieu Lahaye, and Cong Fu Cheng sprayed the bubbly from that final podium spot.
Last, but not least: GT2. The first thing you'll notice is that a Porsche 911 did not make the podium. This year, both the GT2 field and the winners' platform were dominated by Ferrari F430 GTs, with Houston, TX-based Risi Competizione claiming victory behind the efforts of Mika Salo, Jaime Melo, and Gianmaria Bruni. Second place went to BMS Scuderia Italia and its drivers, Matteo Malucelli, Paolo Ruberti, and Fabio Babini. Third place was taken by Farnbacher Racing's Pierre Kaffer, Lars Erik Nielsen, and Pierre Ehret.
You can see the full race results here. In a nutshell, the racing was excellent, rivalries deepened, and Audi's unbelievable run at Le Mans continued. We're already looking forward to next year.
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 3)
Nobody 11:22AM (6/15/2008)
Peugeot forgot they were ENDURANCE racing and made the car to bas fast as possible over a single lap. They must have ignored the rain reports when they set up that car.
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zamafir 12:40PM (6/15/2008)
In regards to the fogging of the cockpit or tire choices? If you watched the race you would have seen all teams, save on vette, putting race slicks on. They didn't loose because of the rains specifically, their cars were much much harsher on their drivers and constantly required their radiators intakes to be cleaned out every fricken time they pulled into pit. As a die hard Audi @ LeMans fan I'm really impressed with how well peugeot did, two podium positions against audi is fantastic, and with relatively minor tweaks to their cars they have a very good chance of placing first next year.
Nobody 1:09PM (6/15/2008)
Actually I was talking about how they designed and set up the car. The small radiators and inlet ducts allow for lots of speed but are not ideal for endurance racing. The fact that they set the car up to be as fast as possible in the dry and didn't think about how it would handle in the rain, which, we all knew was coming, was a serious mistake.
But I agree completely, that 908 is an impressive car and it provided the best battle I've ever seen for that top step.
Za 1:08PM (6/15/2008)
If you had watched the race, you would know that Peugeot would have taken 1 and 2 if it hadn't rained. The 908s weren't nearly as balanced in the rain as the R10s - and the R10 drivers also did very, very well in bad weather.
Derek 10:04PM (6/15/2008)
They finish 2nd and 3rd on their first time to LeMans with the car and you criticize the performance? Incredible.
Nobody 11:11PM (6/15/2008)
Well Derek, that was not their first 24 Hours of Le Mans and they did not finish 2 & 3 last year, which, WAS their first. And Za? I did watch almost the entire Speed Broadcast of the race and in case you didn't realize (or know anything about racing)...Peugeot set up their car in a manner that made it unsuitable for wet weather. Yet everyone KNEW it was going to rain well before the race started. Peugeot just did not have the experience ENDURANCE racing and made a number of mistakes.
Please read and think about what was said in a comment before responding with inane remarks.
pmiddle5 11:32PM (6/15/2008)
If only Peugeot would have still had Jean Todt then I would have guaranteed success
Quattrofan 11:24AM (6/15/2008)
What a race! Congrats to my countrymen at Lola Charouz on 9th.
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Alex Nunez 4:56PM (6/15/2008)
That was a good-looking race car. As was the Dome Judd.
BigMcLargeHuge 11:29AM (6/15/2008)
Hurray for Prodrive!
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Franz 11:42AM (6/15/2008)
It was truly entertaining to watch... especially the last few hours. You really didn't know how it was gonna turn out. I think Peugeot shot themselves in the foot by opting to stay on slicks when they came in for their 2nd to last pitstop. You could clearly see Minassian struggling for grip as the rain continued to pour down. They might not have won, but I think intermediates would've been the better choice. The Audis were just better suited to the conditions. Great result from the Aston Martins as well. The Corvettes didn't make it an easy one at all. For me, those two battles were the main highlights of the race.
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Conor 11:43AM (6/15/2008)
I hate 2 things now.
Aston Martin and Comcast,
AM for beating my 'Vettes, and Comcast for not even offering SPEED.
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pmiddle5 12:13PM (6/15/2008)
I have Comcast and Speed. Not really any of the fancy channels either. Weirdness
zamafir 12:43PM (6/15/2008)
it coulda been worse, after watching dozens of cars from every class take to a very difficult track at speeds which eclipsed 200mph in the straight aways every minute or so, with insanely fast lefts then rights then lefts, you could have had your LeMans coverage interrupted for about half the time by NASCAR. That was awesome.
BigMcLargeHuge 12:52PM (6/15/2008)
Shouldn't you have started hating Aston Martin last year for beating Corvette?
Conor 1:53PM (6/15/2008)
@BigMc
I was holding out for a fluke. Hope is now lost. We need a better car...
Mobius_1 11:47PM (6/15/2008)
I love two things now, Aston Martin and Eurosport
Aston Martin for sending Gulf colours to the top step of the GT1 podium once again
Eurosport for their complete 24-hour coverage
That was an awesome race, the class leaders (save GT2 and P2) were still being chased down and 1 lap difference after 24 hours is not a lot
LMBVette 8:35AM (6/16/2008)
Isn't the Corvette saddled with extra weight in order to make the race more "fair" for Aston Martin?
I thought I read they added 500 lbs to the Corvette's last year....not sure about this year.
why not the LS2LS7? 9:08AM (6/16/2008)
I think the extra Vette weight is only in American Le Mans, where Corvette has no competition really. The Astons in ALMS are run on the cheap. The Astons at Le Mans are run by Prodrive and offer plenty of competition for Corvette Racing.
rsfourever 11:44AM (6/15/2008)
audi wins again! incredible dominance of lemans, as never before seen. to me, this deserves more respect than dominance over any other motorsport, including F1, because these cars require legitimate endurance as well as speed...
congrats to audi!
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