24 Heures du Mans |
| Review & Hour by Hour Recap |
| authored by Matthew W. Campbell |
| bigMoney Le Mans Index |
| bigMoneyracing.com |
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2007 Le Mans 2007
RACE BRIEFING
Hour 1: Le Mans, France (bM) The 75th running of the 24 Heures du Mans gets off to a dramatic start as the pole-sitting 8 Peugeot goes off at turn 1. Sebastian Bourdais, perhaps caught out by the misting rain, perhaps under orders to lead the all important first lap for the French manufacturer, missed the apex heading into the Dunlop Chicane then went wide left and into the gravel. Dindo Capello darts through and proceeds to pull away from everyone in convincing fashion. With 3 cars (compared to Peugeot's 2) and changeable weather conditions, could Audi being using the 2 car as the "hare"? Complete with a dry weather setup? It's a terrible start for the Chamberlain Synergy Lola as they suffer a left rear puncture on lap 1. This team is wonderful at getting results by playing the slow, but steady game with few delays. This isn't what they wanted. Sure enough, it's a lengthy-ish stop as Hugh Chamberlain's men give the car a proper once over. Not a great start for the 17 Pesca, 23 minutes into the race and they're in the pits for a fresh set of rubber. For those of you in the "it's a long race" over/under pool, let the record show that it was only twenty-five minutes in when Paul Trusswell reminded us that "it's a long race." One half hour in and some things never change, it is Audi, Audi, Audi at the front of the field. Only for a second though as the 1 car with Frank Biela is in pits at the finish of lap 9 to top up on diesel. Bill Binnie is magnificent in his role as a moving chicane as the leaders try to lap him. Next lap and the 8 Pug stops for fuel, the 7 and 2 the lap after. The 3 Audi stops at lap 12. No tires for any of these cars. Interestingly, most of the petrol-powered LMP cars are running 40+ minutes on a tank of fuel. The Barazi Zytek LMP2 favorite is in the garage at three-quarters into the hour and the rear deck is off as the crew addresses a gear selection problem. GT1 leaders pit about 45 minutes in, this class is all Astons and Vettes. The Saleens which were so impressive in qualifying are now buried down the GT1 order. Five minutes before the top of the hour the second placed GT2 Risi Competizioni Ferrari is back in the pits--for a new door. The passenger side window is askew and necessitates the change. At the end of the first hour, the skies go dark and windscreens get misty. Changeable... Class leaders with 23 hours to go (twenty-three!!!!) Hour 2: The start of the second hour sees the every car hit pit lane for rain or intermediate tires. The safety car is out. The Bruichladdich Radical is circulating but looking very second hand. The rear wing is gone, the front wheels pointed the wrong way, the front diffuser is wrecked. Tim Greaves at the wheel and gets the car back to the garage. He'll owe the crew a little of the sponsor's product for that one. Scratch that, he'll owe the crew a few liters of scotch because their race is done. The front suspension has holed the carbon monocoque tub. Frank Biela pits the 1 Audi for Emmanuele Pirro to take over; Pirro goes back out on slicks. As quickly as the rain appears it disappears. The safety car is pulled and the track goes green about 20 minutes into the hour. Mike Rockenfeller proceeds to set the fastest lap for the 3 Audi then on the next one destroys the R10 in Tertre Rouge. Backing the car into the barrier on drivers left, the rear wing is implanted into the Armco. An Audi retirement, when was the last time that happened? The drama continues! Ollie Gavin is stranded on course in the 64 Vette with supposedly a broken driveshaft. The marshals push the car behind the barrier and no sooner than they take their hands off the fenders Ollie gets a gear and starts to head back out. One of the marshals gives chase, opens the door, and gives Ollie a very animated command that needs no translation. The C6.R is again pushed behind the barrier. Two hours down and it's two Audi's v. two Peugeot's, two factory Aston's v. one factory Vette. What an hour. Class leaders with 22 to go: Hour 3: Mike Rockenfeller hasn't given up on the 3 Audi yet. Being the new guy, maybe he feels guilty for wadding up the favoured car in the race? Andy Wallace has the 25 RML MG Lola on the shoulder with a stopped engine (electrics according to the team principle) and is attempting a repair. Over a quarter hour is lost before he gets it going again, but as the race is still under the safety car it isn't as bad as it could've been. Back to the garage for this two time LMP2 winning car, this time AER powered. The delay for repairs pushes this car 3 laps behind the class leading Quifel-ASM Lola which is 10th overall. Second in LMP2 is the Binnie Motorsports entry in 19th overall which is trailed by the 33 Barazi Zytek in 20th OA. Sebastian Bourdais said he was surprised at Audi's straight line speed, he seemed dejected, in fact, in the radio interview. Traditional wisdom says a closed-top p-car is more slippery than an open-top one, and thus faster down the straights. However, previous LMS races have shown that the 908 produces shed loads of downforce. Is it too much for Le Mans? What does this mean if it rains? Hour 3 was dominated by an extended safety car period continued from the previous hour, the track goes green about 10 till. The lengthy delay was to repair the ARMCO where Rockenfeller impaled the 3 Audi. We're 1/8th of the way home, Class leaders with 21 to go: Hour 4: Lost in the shuffle from the first caution for the Radical was that the Creation Autosportif Judd also had an off. They haven't retired but have completed half the number of laps as the leaders. With the track back to green, the diesels have dispensed with the petrol-powered Pescarolo interloper. The 16 drops to 5th overall and in LMP1, a lap ahead of the similar Rollcentre car. Best lap of the race belongs to the leading 2 Audi with a 3:30.115, the fastest Peugeot is the 7 but is over 4 seconds adrift with a 3:34.013. Fastest of the petrols is the 16 Pescarolo Judd with a 3: The Chamberlain Lola has another stop for oil pump refit on it's AER engine. (Judd power!) And something has delayed the Audi-engined Lola from Swiss Spirit, need to follow up on that. The 3 Audi and 64 Vette are now listed as DNF's. An Audi *and* a Corvette retirement, crazy. AWOL, Andy Wallace and the 25 RML MG Lola are into the wall but after some fiddling he gets it back to the pits. As in years past the Aston Martin DBR9's are leading GT1, will they remain. The Autorlando Sport Porsche continues to impress in GT2. Some may have overlooked this entry but it has three quality drivers in Allen Simonsen, Pierre Ehret, and Lars Erik Nielsen. Class leaders with 20 to go: Hour 5: Andy Wallace hypothesizes that it was a front suspension failure the befell the 25 RML Lola, stating that it spun to the right then snapped to the left. The crew is working on it in hopes of returning the car to action. LMP2 has always been a "who is left standing" class, so you never know. The Swiss Spirit Audi is fighting fuel supply issues--not a problem on the Charouz Lola which has a fire while on pit lane. They're still going though and are only 2 laps down on the petrol-powered P1 leading Pescarolo. It's all come undone for the pole-sitting 8 Peugeot though. It suffers a failure (turbo, suspension?) just after the second Mulsanne Chicane with Stephane Sarrazin at the wheel. After limping back to the garage the car is whisked in for repairs. Certainly their chance for a win is over? It *is* a long race though. The 13 Courage gets stranded at the end of pit road for a brief period as the fuel line comes undone. The 14 Dome, damaged in an accident in hour 4, is running again after repairs. The dash, believe it or not, came undone and fell onto the steering wheel. Meanwhile the 2 Audi resets fastest lap (with Tom Kristensen or Allan McNish), down to a 3:29.219. That's 3 secs faster than the 7 Peugeot. No wonder the Audi personnel were smirking during qualifying after Sebastian Bourdais did a real flyer, upwards of 2 secs faster than Audi, to show the supposed superiority of the Peugeot. Hub bearing failure for the Pug. it returns but is 4 laps down. Class leaders with 19 to go: Hour 6: Scratch what I said about the previously well placed Autorlando Porsche. It has slipped down the order in the hands of Lars Erik Nielsen. The 97 Risi Competizioni Ferrari is beginning to slip away at the front. One wonders if this could be the point in the race where they simply run off and hide, building an insurmountable lead as the race continues on. Former F1 star, now part-time wannabe pop-star and full-time pansy Jacques Villenueve is making a stinker of his stint in the remaining competitive Peugeot. JV is turning laps in the region of the petrol power cars and loses third place overall to the 16 Pescarolo. Adrian Fernandez must be enjoying is Le Mans debut, he has brought the LMP2 leading 33 Zytek into the top ten overall. The Zyteks seem to be the class of the LMP2 field, and this entry in particular is quite well as it's best is 3 seconds faster than anything else in LMP2. The previously faultless Quifel-ASM Lola has slipped down the order to 13th overall. The Saleens are nowhere, 6th and 7th in class while the GT1 leading 009 Aston Martin has cracked the top ten overall. The Scottish-run Scuderia Ecosse Ferrari is up to 3rd in class, you may remember they would've won last year had they not lost 45 minutes in the garage with a faulty wheel nut. A quarter of the way already? Wow! Class leaders with 18 to go: Hour 7: Audi suits are emphatic that it was driver error which caused the accident involving the 3 car. Considering their outstanding finishing rate one is inclined to believe 'em; component failures just don't happen with this group. The 17 Pescarolo has been in the garage for nearly 10 laps with an oil leak. Current theory is that someone overfilled the Judd V10. The sister car is definitely in the fight for a podium so it's a shame this competitive package isn't going to have the result the could've had. Nishy lowered FTD (fast time/day) by another 1.5 secs to 3:27.684; that's five seconds in hand now over the Peugeot. Aston Martin Racing are incredibly relaxed; they're in control of GT1, 2 secs/lap faster and the better part of a lap advantage over the 63 Vette which was dumped in to the gravel by the 2nd placed 1 Audi. The Safety Car is despatched and the 1 Audi and 7 Pug immediately dive into the pits. The Audi, though, is wheeled into the garage to fix the minor bit of damage from the clash with the Vette. If diesels get their own class can Judd's get one as well? Overall running order is diesel, diesel, diesel, Judd, Judd, Judd. The 15 Charouz Lola/Judd and, somewhat surprisingly, the 18 Rollcentre Pescarolo/Judd both feature well inside the top ten. Class leaders with 17 to go: Hour 8: The previous current theory on the 17 Pesca being an overfilled engine causing the oil leak has been supplanted by a new current theory that the whatever *it* is, it's terminal. Jacques Villenueve is out of the 7 Pug, Nic Minassian is in...and he promptly lowers that cars FTD to a 3:31.330. Seriously, how does JV still get a gig (driving or singing)? Ollie Gavin, now with excess time on his hands due to the 64 Vette retirement, pops up to the Tribune to talk to Radio Le Mans. He confirms that it was the driveshaft that failed on the C6.R although the direct cause is fairly unique. GM uses a special engine map to conserve fuel when the car is circulating behind the safety car. It is accomplished by cutting the fire to a specified number of cylinders (Displacement on Demand, anyone?). Such a process caused a vibration that the driveshaft couldn't absorb and it broke. Hughes de Chaunac of Team Oreca indicates that they were extremely cautious in their strategy earlier in the race; this conservative approach is the cause of being so far behind. The Quifel-ASM Lola has retaken the lead in LMP2 as the Barazi Zytek has a master cylinder leak and needs a quarter hour for repair. Risi marches on in GT2; their lead increasing. Class leaders with 16 to go: Hour 9: God bless Henri Pescarolo. He isn't driving anymore or turning the wrenches but damn does his never-say-die attitude live in his team. The 17 car, previously described as having a *terminal* problem, is wheeled out of the garage and returns to the race. never mind where they place, they want to finish. Is there any doubt that Henri IS Le Mans? Unfortunately it's race over for the Felbermayr's Sr. and Jr. and Philip Colin in the 71 Seikel Porsche 911 GT3-RSR; engine. Shame, that was a good looking 997. The Quifel-ASM Lola is in trouble again. Warren Hughes loses the right rear wheel out on course. He uses the onboard toolkit to lock the rear differential in order to make the crawl back to the pits--in first gear. They drop upwards of ten laps to the new, old leader 33 Barazi Zytek. Class leaders with 15 to go: Hour 10: Halfway into the hour the 80 Flying Lizard Porsche pits and pulls straight into the garage with a noticeable oil leak and the loss of sixth gear. The mechanics set into action but as this car had already slipped to 5th in GT2, at this point a podium would be amazing. The 7 Pug is in for a refuel and a new set of rubber. Interestingly, a new set of sidepod vents are also fitted, these new ones with significantly more venting area. Now, it's just past midnight in Le Mans with temps in the teens--err low 60's, much cooler than earlier in the race. But it is just now that they need the additional cooling? Are they turning up the wick in the cool night air, or is there a problem with the 908? When the sister 8 car pits an entire new engine cover is fitted, but this one has the smaller sidepod vents instead of the larger ones as fitted to 7. LMP2. Poor, poor LMP2. The leader from last hour (which benefited from a competitor's malady to inherit the lead) 33 Barazi Zytek spent much of the hour in the garage. This eventually passed the lead to the 24 Noel del Bello Courage...until IT heads for the garage. Goodness. The 31 Binnie Lola will eventually lead this class. Class leaders with 14 to go: Hour 11: Interesting tidbit from the ACO on how Warren Hughes got the 40 Quifel-ASM Lola back to the pits after losing a wheel, "To get drive back, Warren jammed a socket extension from the tool kit provided to the driver into the brake disk to stop it spinning and transfer drive to the side with the tire." These cars have an open differential (think My Cousin Vinny and Pontiac Tempests) and several cars have retired in years past due to this problem, more recently was the retirement of the Miracle Courage in 2004 where the wheel departed the car just as it left pit lane. Faced with trying to make an 8 mile lap on three wheels or a few hundred feet backwards down pitlane, driver Ian James chose the latter. The marshals, however, were not impressed and disqualified the car for reversing on course. The Swiss Spirit Lola/Audi has retired due to electrics failure. The stunning 9 Creation/Judd with art-car bodywork has also retired. Apparently the team hasn't brought enough spares to rebuild the car after being wadded up three times. Overall positions 1 through 7 are LMP1 entries while the next 7 are all GT1's. With the trouble befalling the 80 Flying Lizard Porsche the door has reopened to the 76 Autorlando and 93 IMSA Porsches. Class leaders with 13 to go: Hour 12: Halfway home. Remember the larger vent panels fitted to the 7 Pug some hours ago? The finally fitted some to 8 car to help airflow through the radiators. This really is a learning process for the French team. And halfway is as far as the Flying Lizard Porsche will make it, cracked crankcase ends their race. It's early morning in Le Mans and the metronomic nature of a race like this has taken hold. Teams are just wanting to make it to morning; then they can think about making it to the afternoon. Leaderboard hasn't changed much in the last hour. Here's the complete listing halfway through the 75th 24 Heures du Mans, 12 hours to go. Cheers! Pos N° Team Cls Driver in Pit Laps Gap LastLap BestLap Hour 13: The 19 Chamberlain Lola has a spin on course and pits with oil smoke billowing. Hugh's guys are unconcerned though and send it back out. The 20 Pilbeam, not mentioned even once as of yet, is stranded at Arnage after a seemingly benign spin. The 72 Luc Alphand Corvette is being tended to by the loader after a spin from the team's namesake. As the race starts it's second half, lets see who will not be joining us: Leaderboard with 11 to go Hour 14: One of Peugeot's drivers confirm they're having cooling problems--not great when it's 13c. What will happen come Sunday afternoon when it's 20c? The Quifel-ASM Lola finally called it a day after never being able to get the chassis appropriately repaired after its many maladies. Ill handling, Le Mans, nighttime. Not the best of combinations. Shame, as this car was also a good looker--especially at night. Leaderboard with 10 (ten!) to go: Hour 15: Paul Trusswell, Radio Le Mans' endurance statistician, succinctly sums up LMP2, "the Binnie Motorsport entry has managed to do less badly than everyone else." The 55 Saleen S7R returns after a length stop, 27th overall and 20 laps down on the GT1 leader. The sister car, suffering no significant/notable delays is 4 laps down. The S7R, yet again a huge disappointment. The Charouz Lola had an off and spent some time in the garage getting new bodywork, rear wing, and other bits. They're second charge up the field starts in 14th overall and 19 laps down on the petrol-powered Pescarolo. Daybreak at the Circuit de la Sarthe as the 15th hour comes to a close. Leaderboard with 9 to go: Hour 16: It's an action-packed hour at Le Mans. As day and sunshine greet the competitors several find themselves in a bit of bother. Adrian Fernandez has an off in the 33 Zytek and Liz Halliday has an off in the 24 Noel del Bello Courage. From there, though, the spinners are far more instrumental in this race. Jaime Melo in the long-time GT2 leading Risi Ferrari spins in oil and takes out a radiator, undertray, and front splitter. They spend over half an hour in the pits and lose 9 laps to the now leading 87 Scuderia Ecosse Ferrari; as they were 2 laps up before the incident they now find themselves 7 laps down in the class they led for so many hours. A Ferrari has never won the GT2 class at Le Mans and this year certainly marks their best shot. The F430 GTC has pace over the 911 GT3-RSR and there are very few Porsche teams here. The 16 Pescarolo has a spin as well and slaps the ARMCO. It's only a brief stop for Emmanuele Collard but they lose 4th overall to the 8 Peugeot. The 1 Audi pits and has a rock the size of a man's fist removed from the front suspension. Three-quarters of the way into the hour, Nishy resets FTD in the 2 Audi just before popping out after a quadruple stint. And, finally, at the top of the hour the 007 is in the garage for a new front splitter. How many of those have been replaced on a DBR9 through the years? It's Audi, Audi, Peugeot, Peugeot, Pesca at the front. Class leaders with 8 to go: Hour 17: The witching hour for the race leader. Dindo Capello is at the wheel when the left-rear wheel departs the R10 at the very fast right-hand kink just before Indianapolis. Dindo, now only a passenger, crashes head first into the tire wall. He's unhurt yet in complete disbelief. He looks like he's just as likely to bend over the ARMCO and throw up as he is to walk away. The marshals pull the car out of harms way and Dindo hops back in, but it is for naught; there is significant damage to the venerable R10. For those of you scoring at home that's 1 Audi versus 2 Peugeot's and 7 hours left. There's also a shakeup in GT1 as the 007 falls to 4th in class after the splitter change. Risi is back within a lap of a podium finish in GT2; they're one lap behind the Autorlando Porsche. Class leaders with 7 to go: Hour 18: They're falling like flies, these leaders. This time it is the GT2 leading 87 Scuderia Ecosse Ferrari, it is stuck on course and has been passed for the lead by a, ta-da, Porsche! This class really is made for them isn't it? Peugeot is setting faster laps now, finally down into the region of Audi. Still, while there is but one remaining R10, it does have a sizeable 4 lap lead. Peugeot is going to need more than the pace in that 908 to catch up the Germans, they're going to need that final R10 to have it's own trouble. That's a big ask. One Audi retirement is unlikely. Two Audi retirements is unheard of. No way will they lose that third car. And the Peugeot mechanics continue to fiddle with those vent panels on the sidepods. They have to remove them to clean the rads, evidently. Not a wise design choice. As the hour closes so do the clouds. It is 9 a.m. in France and the rain is coming. Class leaders with 6 to go: Hour 19: If it wasn't for bad luck the Charouz Lola would have no luck. They've had a fire. They've had some spins. Now they've lost the right rear tire. It delaminates and tries to take off the rear bodywork. This car certainly bears the scars of 19 hours of racing; it's dirty and nasty, grey and dingy. The 97 Risi Ferrari is a retirement. That car just wasn't able to overcome it's earlier shunt. The now second placed RML MG Lola looks as if it is spraying for mosquitos; huge plumes of white smoke are belching from the exhaust of this car. It's retirement would mean both of the significantly delayed Barazi Zyteks would be on the podium and the winner would be the moving chicane otherwise known as the Binnie Motorsports Lola. The last time Audi had a retirement at Le Mans was in 2003 when poor Frank Biela ran the Audi Sport UK entry out of gas. Believe it or not, they have lost two cars before--in 1999 Audi entered two open-top prototypes (R8R) and two closed-top prototypes (R8C), both R8C's failed to finish. Class leaders with 5 to go: Hour 20: The 32 Barazi Zytek spins coming out of the Ford Chicane, *just* past the entrance to pit road. It hits the pit wall and loses the rear wing. It would have to go, literally, an entire lap around before getting service. Unfortunately it isn't going another inch under it's own power. The loader is out and another LMP2 entry is retired. Poor Karim Ojjeh, who was at the wheel, is sitting on the wall sobbing. 007 Aston has a left front puncture and a lurid spin; their race has come undone in the last few hours. There are only 2 cars still circulating in LMP2. The 33 Barazi Zytek looks fresh as a daisy in it's Lowe's colors but it is nearly 20 laps down to the class leader. The 35 Saulnier Courage looks like it's readying for a last lap photo-op only--but it could already be a retirement. Just when you think this is Ferrari's year in GT2. There are only 4 Porsches in the race this year and two of them could end up on the GT2 podium. No rain yet... Class leaders with 4 to go: Hour 21: For the main protagonists, it's a metronomic hour. "Come on baby, just keep going." Not going well is the 007 DBR9, the one time class leader is now 6 laps adrift of their leading teammate. You have to think that team boss George Howard-Chappell and constructor Prodrive boss David Richards are crossing everything they can to help the 009 make it home. They've been this far, in this position, two years in a row and had it all cruelly snatched away... The much talked about rain hasn't arrived yet. It is cloudy, it is windy but maybe the rain will stay away? Class leaders with 3 to go: Hour 22: The 7 Pug is in the garage. It has "a problem with the motor." Like you could see anything else with the rear deck propped up blocking the view then the crew lined up to fill in the gaps. This is the negative aspect of factories here, they're so secretive, like they're scared of looking bad in front of the world. Doesn't Peugeot know that they just got played by the modern masters of sportscar racing--and that whooping from Audi has done more damage to Peugeot's reputation than some mechanical niggle two hours from the finish of the race. The rain is here. What will be it's effect on the race? Class leaders with 2 to go: Hour 23: First victim of the rain is the 3rd placed GT2 93 Porsche. Allen Simonsen is at the wheel, the car is crunched at the front and missing a rear wing, both are victims of the tire wall at one of the Mulsanne Chicanes. A shot of pit road really emphasizes the toll this years event has had. The "row of woe" they're calling it on the radio. The 31 Binnie Lola is in the garage, with a 20 lap lead are they parking it until the finish? The 72 Luc Alphand Corvette has a spin just after the Dunlop Chicane and buries the car in the gravel. The 7 Pug returns to the race about 20 minutes into the hour, it's lost third place to the 16 Pesca, but it's going to lose more than that. After circulating for a lap or two it is wheeled into the garage and based on the hugs, backslaps, and long faces it looks like their day is done. It's between a steady and heavy rain, lap times for the lead LMP1 cars are typically 1.5 minutes slower than their best. Everyone is just trying to keep it on the black stuff. Class leaders with but 1 hour to go in the 75th 24 Heures du Mans: Hour 24: Rain, rain, rain. The track is pretty much under water but the Safety Car still comes in so the finish is under green. Peugeot parks the 908 to make sure they get it home for the last lap. A second-place finish is a good first time effort from this car; though with all the swagger they had earlier in the week it would've been nice if their race pace was closer to that of the R10. The big story, of course, is that Audi continues it's dominance of sportscar racing. It's two in a row for the diesel R10 but not without a very hard fight. They've lost two cars in the process but Audi has again proved the worth of their engineering. Pescarolo, close yet again. A podium is a fine reward for his team. LMP2 is a disgrace. The Binnie Motorsport Lola "wins" over the much delayed 33 Barazi Zytek. Nothing disgraceful in GT1! Aston Martin FINALLY gets that win over Corvette. They've twice won the 22 Heures du Mans. This time, though, they managed to see it through. All six Aston Martins DBR9's that were entered will finish. Incredible. Just as advertised this was a dogfight the whole way. Second place might not be the way Ron Fellows would like to go out but he has nothing to hang his head about. Poor Ferrari is still looking for that win in GT2. This year the Ferrari F430 had the pace on the 911 GT3-RSR and Ferrari had numbers over Porsche, but after 24 hours the podium is bookended by the German marque. After the heartache of losing their car in an accident last year, IMSA Performance returns to win. The 75th 24 Heures is in the books. Audi is again the victor.
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