Le Mans 24 Hours 2011

InTheTrees

Agh! I went to bed as the sun was coming up (i'm in seattle)...and missed the end...

Sounds historic.

:mad:

GTE

It was a fantastic race. Really brilliant.

It was great to see that last Audi bring it home in the end. I do not feel Peugeot deserved a win considering how one of their cars was blocking Audi 2.
That really was disgraceful. I almost expected it from Davidson from last year when he was doing some aggressive driving but I didnt expect a second, more experienced driver to do the same. Pathetic on their part. What got me was how the Audi pulled away from the 908 once it did get past. It wasn't a situation where they would be swapping places.

Fantastic race though. The Eurosport commentators are great!

kierank01

bbk wrote: »

It was a fantastic race. Really brilliant.

It was great to see that last Audi bring it home in the end. I do not feel Peugeot deserved a win considering how one of their cars was blocking Audi 2.
That really was disgraceful. I almost expected it from Davidson from last year when he was doing some aggressive driving but I didnt expect a second, more experienced driver to do the same. Pathetic on their part. What got me was how the Audi pulled away from the 908 once it did get past. It wasn't a situation where they would be swapping places.

Fantastic race though.

Agreed

bbk wrote: »

The Eurosport commentators are great!

Apart from that guy on 24 Minutes, next to Johnny Herbert.

GTE

kierank01 wrote: »

Agreed

Apart from that guy on 24 Minutes, next to Johnny Herbert.

Yeah, he could be annoying but I don't mind that. The Eurosport coverage is full of people who don't have English as a first language having conversations with people who dont have English as a first language. It would be different if it was purely a British Eurosport production. Justine makes up for it haha

Dcully

Great race, well done Audi.

losthorizon

Brilliant race but my eyes are shot. I have always loved the eurosport motor racing commentators in all disciplines down through the years. I would love to go to Le mans sometime not that I know that much about endurance racing to be honest.

mini 1275 gt

Congrats to Audi, there was nothing in it , edge of the seat finish- Going for a nap.

Sheeps

Spent a lot of time watching this race on my phone in work. Nail biting finish. Great weekend for motor sport!

Malari

Never really had that much interest in Le Mans but watched a load of it this time, very exciting! Crap day yesterday so saw a lot of the last few hours while waiting for the Moto GP. Couldn't believe endurance racing could be that interesting.

Sterling Archer

Truly sickened I missed to end of this, stupid work, got to see a big chunk of it this year tho even if it was mainly the nite racing, altogether one hell of a race, well done to audi. Gonna try to go next year for the 80th running.

Grim.

i just gets better lol what a story

Martin Haven
On the Eurostar into London, after a remarkable #LeMans - just learning that the winning Audi punctured in the final hourthe resulting earlier than desirable pitstop meaning it could not have raced even one more lap! Hollywood would have been proud.

InTheTrees

I watched a clip of the chaos at the start with the pace car. Has there been any resolution to that?

Grim.

InTheTrees wrote: »

I watched a clip of the chaos at the start with the pace car. Has there been any resolution to that?

there was none?, are you thinking on the paul ricard start?

if so it was down to a lack of communication between the race director and the safety car driver

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Eh36CuoH3UM

lemans 24h 2011 start

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pR9LY48jM-A

InTheTrees

Grim. wrote: »

there was none?, are you thinking on the paul ricard start?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Eh36CuoH3UM

Thats really embarrassing... yes, of course you're right.

Its the problem with getting ones race coverage off youtube! (it did say 2011 leMans Series, but i didnt notice!)

dubtom

First time to ever watch Le Mans 24, blown away by it. I really can't believe that Petrol driven cars are nearly deemed the poor relation now compared to the diesels. I heard one of the commentators mention that the Diesels are allowed zero emissions ??? yet the big boys are traveling at over 200 mph on the straights, I'm amazed tbh.

amacachi

dubtom wrote: »

First time to ever watch Le Mans 24, blown away by it. I really can't believe that Petrol driven cars are nearly deemed the poor relation now compared to the diesels. I heard one of the commentators mention that the Diesels are allowed zero emissions ??? yet the big boys are traveling at over 200 mph on the straights, I'm amazed tbh.

The rules are massively biased towards the diesels though. Also I assume by "zero emissions" they mean particulates or something along those lines.

Killinator

Just back from my second consecutive year at the race,
Absolutely fantastic, the atmosphere was incredible, non stop action on and off track,
Was up for the full 24H moving around the track and never got bored,
Have lots of footage and photos so must post some,
Although I am a Peugeot fan I have to admit the Audi deserved it,
The crashes are the worst I've seen in a long time,
Its scary to look at the McNish crash and not think about the 1955 Le Mans accident that has the infamous title of worst motorsport accident in history!

Was gutted to see the Pesca crash out as Pescarolo is the team that got me interested in Le Mans in the first place, the sense of despair in the crowd was palpable as people gasped at the plucky petrol hitting the barriers,
At least the Oak Pescarolo managed to finish despite its engine starting to fall apart as it crossed the line to go on its final lap.

It was also the first time Ive genuinely felt like a car 'was' alive, was on trackside at 5am and spotted a yellow flag being waved, it took a minute to notice one of the Rebellion racers against the wall, because it was late, it was dead quite, so the car was just sitting there until the removal vehicle arrived, then there was the sound of it being dragged along the ground as bits of body worked came off,then silently driven away on a truck,a lasting memory.

I didnt think the ACO were overly biased for the Peugeot team with regard to blocking, if they were biased they wouldn't have given the Peugeot team a drive through + minute stop go because one of the mechanics wasn't wearing goggles during a pit stop, if thats biased for the team then I would hate to see them go against them.

Will plan on going for a 3rd consecutive year in 2012, because put simply, its the greatest car show on earth!

EDIT: Was also fantastic to see the Mazda 787B run around the track, an awesome sight and a true sensation for the ears!

GTE

amacachi wrote: »

The rules are massively biased towards the diesels though. Also I assume by "zero emissions" they mean particulates or something along those lines.

I keep hearing this but I have no idea how this is the case.

Were the petrols limited in some way and the diesels allowed to come in with crazy engines or something?

The emissions thing was said very early on. The commentators noticed black smoke from the diesels at certain points, such as going full on the accelerator at slow speeds and apparently there is meant to be no smoke whatsoever.

pdbhp

Killinator wrote: »

EDIT: Was also fantastic to see the Mazda 787B run around the track, an awesome sight and a true sensation for the ears!

Wow 787, amazing car, never seen one in real life would love to hear what it's like in the flesh.

Killinator

pdbhp wrote: »

Wow 787, amazing car, never seen one in real life would love to hear what it's like in the flesh.

Have footage of it, but I sincerely doubt it does it any justice, a ferocious machine!

amacachi

bbk wrote: »

I keep hearing this but I have no idea how this is the case.

Were the petrols limited in some way and the diesels allowed to come in with crazy engines or something?

The emissions thing was said very early on. The commentators noticed black smoke from the diesels at certain points, such as going full on the accelerator at slow speeds and apparently there is meant to be no smoke whatsoever.

From wikipedia:

(maximum engine sizes are: 3.4 L (3400 cc) for naturally-aspirated engines; 2.0 L (2000 cc) for turbocharged petrol engines; 3.7 L (3700 cc) for turbocharged diesel engines).

Pretty huge advantage for the diesels.

scoobyjack

dubtom wrote: »

yet the big boys are traveling at over 200 mph on the straights, I'm amazed tbh.

I think the average speed throughout the lap is even more impressive - 147 mph for qualifying!!

SniperSight

This is gonna be long , but I bring photos from Le Mans-The greatest show on earth.... a selection from the north of 1,200 photos taken.......





























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losthorizon

Great Pics - you are a car junkie arent you! I love the classic cars and the night pics

SniperSight

Not done yet:D....



























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Cookie_Monster

that orange M3

I want, I want