Racing 101, Part 4: 24 Hours of Le Mans Primer

LMP1: Audi has everything to lose, having reigned supreme for the better part of a decade at Le Mans. Peugeot has been faster in practice and qualifying, with the cars starting one-two-three on the grid. The locals want to see their country’s cars best the German intruders (no history there, you think?). Reliability for the French machines hampered the effort last year, as speed is vital, but reliability is everything in the 24. Audi would have finished 1-2 had it not been for a wheel separating from one of the R10s, resulting in a crash and retirement. 

I’d really like to see Peugeot de-throne Audi, but in just their second year, it will take either a quantum leap in reliability or bad luck for Audi, for the Frenchies to win. Give the Audi R10 a third-straight win. 

LMP2: The Porsche Spyder RSs are phenomenal racing machines, but tend to have bugs that just kill the reliability over distance. Watch for Sachaa Massen, one of Penske’s pilots, in the blue Team Essex RS. The Judds, Radicals, and Zyteks will be playing chase, and if the Porsche can minimize time in the pits, I’d bank on Massen. 

LMGT1: Two words: Corvette Racing. 

Look for Canadian Ron Fellows to retire if he and co-drivers Johnny O’Connell (American) and Jan Magnussen (Denmark) can pull off the win. They’ll have to beat their team car with Olivier Beretta, Oliver Gavin, and “Mad” Max Papis, but if the drive shaft, which gave the team fits in 2007, has been improved, look for the photo op of the two Corvettes coming across the line in victory. 

Alas, don’t count out the Aston-Martins. They’ve shown some speed, and have worked diligently to catch the Americans. But unless the ‘Vettes break, I think the Brits are going to go home flustered once again by the Yanks. 

For the locals, Corvettes are popular, and Luc Alphand Aventures will field two French C6Rs. 

LMGT2: Wow… This is going to be a great race. The best competition comes across the pond from the American Le Mans Series, where the Flying Lizard Motorsports Porsches have gone toe-to-toe with the Rizi Competizione Ferraris, at times banging doors in brilliant finishes (2007 12 Hours of Sebring). The combination of Mika Salo and Jaime Melo were unstoppable last year in ALMS, but FLM have made huge strides to catch the Red Stallion. 

I wouldn’t be surprised if these two cars were to stay together for the duration, unless something extraordinary were to happen, which would blow up the rivalry, I’d like to see this come down to the last lap when the clock hits 24. 

I’m going to go with Jorg Bergmeister and the Flying Lizard Porsche in this fight. 

Conclusion:

Well race fans, I hope perhaps I’ve expanded your knowledge of arguably the greatest sports-car race on Planet Earth. If you’re a fan of endurance racing, or like to see cars turning right and left, or perhaps want to root on your countrymen or a team, then tune in to the 24 Hours of Le Mans on Speed Channel here in the U.S. or www.lemans.org for live timing and scoring as the race progresses. For more information on the race, its history, and the circuit, check out http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/24_Hours_of_Le_Mans. 

Enjoy the race.

Class dismissed!

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