2009 24 Hours of Le Mans: Dusk descends
The air is thick and the sun is setting over the Circuit de la Sarthe as the competitors press on deep into their eighth hour of racing. By the time these words hit the screen, the No. 9 Peugeot will have done over 120 laps, with the No. 1 Audi R15 trailing by a full lap. The final five LMP1 slots are filled by the No. 8 Peugeot, No. 17 Peugeot and the 007 Lola Aston Martin. The No. 63 and 67 Corvettes have been running clean and strong all day, each putting down almost 110 laps and keeping a comfortable spread from the rest of the GT1 cars. Too bad this is the C6.R's last Le Mans, but we've been assured – despite GM's current troubles – that the team should be back next year.
Although Saturday's been hot and muggy, the most recent weather reports suggest rain is on the way, with a thunderstorm coming sometime Sunday – here's hoping. Despite being on the ground, we've been listening to the race unfold on Radio Le Mans, which has been broadcasting some stellar coverage of the event. Check it out here and expect more updates as the night wears on. With an espresso machine nearby and a comfortable floor to catch a few winks, we plan on enduring the enduro into the morning. Watch this space – Le Mans is at its best after the sun sets.
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
why not the LS2LS7? 6:46PM (6/13/2009)
radiolemans always has good coverage. Toby Moody was on for a bit earlier, you may remember him from back when Speed had good Dakar coverage.
When Speed took their coverage off TV for a while, they started streaming radiolemans plus course TV coverage, and the coverage was just so much better. I almost think I should just go back from watching Speed to just listening to radiolemans streamed instead.
Speed has put forth a lot of airtime this year which is nice, but sadly they were showing other things for Saturday evening (France) coverage, and now we just get lots of nighttime, which just isn't as good, you mostly just see the pits.
Reply
Aki 8:23PM (6/13/2009)
Hope the Peugeot breaks down.
Reply
Javanese 8:44PM (6/13/2009)
Very unlikely... they have learned they lesson this year and are following audi strategy from last year. Quadruple stint!!
Except for the stupid pitlane shunt, peugeot havent put a foot wrong. The #7 car is almost 2 laps ahead, the #8 car closing behind rapidly and even the last year 908 (with minor updates, not the same as factory peugeots) ran by pescarolo merely 20 seconds behind the #8 car, things are not looking good for the audi.
I think audi is paying a heavy priced for snubbing le mans series. Their cars is facing all sorts of problem mostly reliability issues. The #3 car is not even in the top 40!!! Maybe you should do the full race series instead of just one prior to the biggest race of year, eh audi. Oh what about #2 car? Crashed out....
Thank god finally after 10 years finally somebody other than audi will win le mans (dont even think about mentioning the bentley as thats basically an R8 coupe run by team joest). Hopefully it doesnt rain....
Aki 9:26PM (6/13/2009)
There's still car #1 with McNish and Kristensen, who are some of the best around. And yes, hope it rains for hours with Kristensen at the wheel, heheheh.