Le Mans 24 Hour Racing !!!!

Keep on Trekin

So who will win Le Mans, GT-One, GT-S , Gt-2... Le Mans the Ultimate Test for a Car , Driver and Pit Crew.


Audi, Ferrari, Porsche, Dodge Vipers, Bentley., MG..?

Frank Biela, Emanuele Pirro and Tom Kristensen could make Le Mans history at the 70th running of the 24-hour classic this weekend. If the trio's Audi R8 crosses the line first at the Circuit de la Sarthe on Sunday they will become the first team of drivers to win the world's greatest endurance race three times.
Biela and Pirro discuss their Le Mans chances



They will face stiff competition from three other Audis, a two-car Oreca challenge and Bentley, back again after their triumphant return to the podium last year. But such has been the dominance for the last two years of the R8 that it would be a major surprise if one of the three Audi factory cars did not win.

"Winning the Le Mans 24 Hours three times in a row would be a dream come true," said German Biela. "I would rather not talk or think about it but it crosses my mind time and time again."

Last year he and his team mates drove a virtually error-free race to lead home an Audi one-two ahead of the third-placed Bentley but the horrendously wet conditions proved once again that nothing can be taken for granted at Le Mans.



"Le Mans would not be Le Mans when nothing unexpected occurs," said Dane Kristensen, also a winner here with Porsche in 1997. "Last year, it was the torrential rain, let's wait and see what awaits us this year."



British former Formula One driver Johnny Herbert, a 1991 winner at Le Mans, leads the challenge in the number two Audi alongside Italians Rinaldo Capello and Christian Pescatori, who finished second last year. The strength of their challenge was emphasised when Capello topped the times at the official test day last month.



"During the pre-event test, we set the fastest time in the closing stages," said Herbert. "But this race is unique and we feel by no means safe. We will be facing strong opposition, not to mention our Audi team mates. Anything can happen during a race that lasts 24 hours."

MG, whom former F1 driver Martin Brundle got as high as third last year before technical problems ended their race early, are more confident that this year's challenge will last longer. Brundle will again be at the wheel of the lighter 675 class car, which managed to beat all but four of the bigger cars in the top 900 category, including Bentley, at the testing day.



"I'm expecting a good end result in qualifying along with a much stronger showing in the race than last year - I'd like to see us up amongst the 900 cars," said Brundle.



But, according to Brundle's compatriot and former rival in F1 Herbert, Audi are most likely to celebrate a hat-trick of wins this weekend and retain the trophy for the marque. "An Audi will win Le Mans again this year barring a major catastrophe," said Herbert. "It's the fastest, best handling and most reliable machine in the entire 50-car Le Mans field."

TetsuoHashimoto

German Audi will win again followed by MG or some of the American cars.

Ferrari will come last.

TetsuoHashimoto

Just had a read of Yahoo sports

.Corvette Racing
.Panoz Motorsports
.Audi Sport Japan
.Panoz Motorsports
.Team Cadillac



are all tipped to do well.
Panoz had a shamrock as an emblem, is there an Irish connection?

Keep on Trekin

18:09: - Four Audis running in the four top positions after two hours of the Le Mans 24h. The Audi number 2 from Capello, Herbert and Pescatori leads


I think that's another team that has a Shamrock as a symbol, I forgot the name. I'm almost sure it's an American team.

Keep on Trekin

Damn! It IS Panoz that have a Shamrock as their Badge.
http://www.maisonblanche.co.uk/na1103m2.html
.
www.pha.jhu.edu/~jdavies/sportscars/ sebring2k/paddock.html
.
http://home.t-online.de/home/bernd.abi/sit16usa.htm#Panoz

Groovy Car!

JarJar blinks

Nissan and Mazda had some great cars.the R34 GT-R V.spec (at 1,560kg) is 20kg heavier than the R33 V.spec. Probably made up from the extra stiffening active LSD and the underbody ground .Only 535 BHP.
Bore x Stroke (mm) 86.0 x 73.7
Max. Power (PS2 @ rpm) 328 @ 6,420 280 @ 6,700
Max. Torque (kgm @ rpm) 40.0 @ 4,400 37.5 @ 4,400
Compression Ratio 8.5:1


Another great Car


1999 Toyota GT-One Tuned Specifications
Engine: V8, twin turbocharged (Garrett)
Displacement: 3600 cc Horsepower: 800 bhp
Gearbox: TTE six-speed sequential Clutch: Sachs quad-plate carbon
Suspension: (f&r), Double wishbone, pushrod
Brakes: (f&r), Carbon ventilated discs, AP Racing six-pot calipers


. The Ford GT 500 was cool

featured a close-ratio gearbox used by Lotus (although originally a Ford effort) that was used in the Lotus Cortina and the twin-cam Escort. It used the following ratios: 1st 2.50 (GT 3.54), 2nd 1.64 (2.4), 3rd 1.23 (1.41), top 1:1, with the same 3.900:1 final drive ratio. All this improved the performance over the GT to 98 bhp at 6000 rpm, and a standing quarter of 18.2 seconds ('Wheels' Apr. '66).



One of these best Le Mans was last years.
The Low Powerd 500BHP GT3 4-Wheel Drive Porsches ended up passing out some of the high powered GT-S 800bhp Corvette and Cadillac Cars because of the Rain and Fog.

BJJ

Audi's domination of the 70th Le Mans 24-hour race continued throughout Sunday morning with their three factory cars enjoying a clear lead with four hours remaining

Kim Tae-Woo

Audi hat-Trick LeMans!!

Emanuele Pirro took the chequered flag at the end of the 70th edition of the Le Mans 24-hour race on Sunday to secure Audi's third straight victory and a unique hat-trick of wins for the Italian

1 1 LMP-900 F. Biela
T. Kristensen
E. Pirro Audi Sport Team 03:33.483

2 2 LMP-900 J. Herbert
C. Pescatori
R. Capello Audi Sport North 03:33.886

3 3 LMP-900 M. Krumm
P. Peter
M. Werner Audi Sport Team 03:34.603

4 8 LMP-GTP E. Van de poele
A. Wallace
B. Leitzinger Team Bentley 03:39.484

5 15 LMP-900 O. Beretta
N. Minassian
E. Comas Team Playstation 03:40.268

6 14 LMP-900 S. Sarrazin
S. Johansson
F. Montagny Team Playstation 03:40.474

7 5 LMP-900 S. Ara
Y. Dalmas
H. Katoh Audi Sport Japan 03:38.215

8 16 LMP-900 T. Coronel
V. Hillebrand
J. Lammers Racing for Holland 03:40.141

9 6 LMP-900 M. Angelelli
C. Tinseau
W. Taylor Team Cadillac 03:39.555

10 17 LMP-900 S. Bourdais
F. Lagorce
J. Boullion Pescarolo Sport 03:42.958

11 63 LM-GTS R. Fellows
J. O'connell
O. Gavin Corvette Racing 04:00.293

As expected Ferrari came Last what a crrap team.

JarJar blinks

cool