Listen to the race here: http://rlm08.0157.org/# (Full coverage)
Race TV Feed:http://www.justin.tv/sportzonemotors/popout (More coverage than Speed)
http://www.channelsurfing.net/watch-24-hours-of-le-mans.html
http://www.justin.tv/live24live
http://www.justin.tv/tomcio6/popout
Watch the race here: http://stream.speedtv.com/24-hours-of-le-mans/ (Not full coverage)
Live Timing Only Works in French: http://www.lemans.org/24heuresdumans/pages/chronos_fr.html
Spotting Guide Part 1: http://www.spotterguides.com/images/stories/guides/lemans09_s1_v2.jpg
Spotting Guide Part 2: http://www.spotterguides.com/images/stories/guides/lemans09_s2_v2.jpg
Race Thread Here: http://radiolemans.mymotor.com/


EDIT: Hour 1

It has been DRAMA so far, about 55 minutes into the world's greatest race.

Audi is clearly still slower in the straights, but the #3 had an off on lap 3 at Indianapolis. Sorry, but not an Audi fan, so I cheered along with all the fans at Le Mans.

I think the best quote from John at Radio Le Mans so far is after the Peugeot gets waved out of the pits and runs into the side of the Pescarolo, bringing out the safety car, and John says: "And this is why Peugeot can't win Le Mans - because they are incompetent in the pits!" - Radio Le Mans

HAHAHA So true!!!

So the sun is just coming up over the Rockies, Le Mans is on, and the safety car just dodged back into the pits. We're back to full speed coming into hour 2.

EDIT: Hour 2

So, the damage to the Pescarolo Peugeot seems to be more substantial than first thought. Even though it was pretty low-speed, the location appears to have damages the floor, ride height is off, or something is wanked and they're off pace. Damn. I wanted Henri to FINALLY take down Audi. I hope they can pull it off still.

With ten minutes left in hour two, the performance of the 007 and 008 has been fantastic so far. I hope they can begin to challenge the diesels, but even if they can't, they're running a good, clean race, and having a damn good fight between them for 5th place.

At the end of the hour there was fantastic footage of the Peugeot forgetting to stop on its way into the pits and almost killing the lollipop man. Oh dear.

In the last second of the hour there was a big off for the #10! Tetre Rouge claims another one. But they are managing to limp it around the track without the rear wing.

Felbermayr lost one car.

EDIT: Hour 3

Damn it's a good race at the front this year!
2 Peugeot
2 Audi
2 Aston
Pescarolo
Audi R10
Pescarolo Peugeot
Audi R10

So at the mid-point in the hour, everybody came in for pits, and everybody went out. And Peugeot didn't spear anybody. Currently, Audi has 5 cars in the top ten, two generations worth.

The Japanese Lamborghini Owners Club Lambo has officially expired.

I'm off for a bit to head over to Gaspain's house and smoke cigars, have steak, and watch the race.

EDIT: Hour 4

So, we're all set up here and watching the race. Nothing much changed. Radio Le Mans guys are currently commentating on the Speed Chanel coverage, which just started.

The pace has slowed up a bit: over the last half hour, Audi has stayed at the same pace but Peugeot has slowed a couple of seconds.

Team Endurance Asia is having issues on Mulsannes Straight.

Pace is back up now. Last was a 3:29.

At the end of the 4th Hour, Audi has jumped back up to the #2 spot with Marco Werner.

EDIT: Hour 5

Heading into the Fifth I'm paying more attention to GT2 since the frontrunners seemed to have sorted themselves out a bit. Flying Lizard, from pole, is 18 seconds down off the IMSA Matmut. I'm happy with the performance of the GT2 Spyker Squadron - beautiful car, horrible paintjob - and the GT2 Aston Martin, both are running pretty clean and only 3-4 seconds off pace.

Capello just turned in Audi's fastest lap at 71 laps with a 3:28.520, then a 3:28.556! Dindo is FLYING!

Sun is starting to go down and Thunder & Lightning is forecast for the night.

Audi locked up and went off at the first chicane on Mulsannes.

Hankook lost a tyre.

009 just slammed the Radical #26 off at Ford Chicanes, hard hit, me and Gaspain were thinking it's out for the race, then they started it up again and drove it into the pits. AMAZING. The wheel was destroyed. Gaspain: "The wheel had a crumple zone." HAHA. Safety car is out and everybody jumped into the pits.

As the end of hour five, the safety cars dived into the pits and HOLY CRAP racing happened. That's why I watch Le Mans. Anyways, #3 Audi is having... issues. Lots of issues. In the garage as we go into...

EDIT: Hour 6

LMP2 Big battle for the front! Team Goh has taken the lead from Essex! They're going around nose-to-tail. As a fan, God I love safety cars.



The Pescarolo Peugeot (or Poogot, for those so inclined ) got up to 5th before diving in for a routine stop, dropping back to 7th but RIGHT on the tail of the 008 & 007 Aston Martins.

009 is back in the pits with electrical problems. Pushed out, tried, then sent back in.

Audi #3 is still in the garage, 15 laps down from where it was before. It's been there a LONG time.

007 has a flat on Mulsannes Straight.

The Poogot #8 is backed into the garage, from lead. Checked rear suspension, lost the lead, lost second, lost third, then took the rear suspension off and replaced it. Left the pits after 9:26 minutes later.

1/4 Into the Race (After 6 Hours): We've got our first real leader change: the #9 now leads, 45 seconds ahead of the two Audis. The #3 is tied up in the pits getting a very significant rebuild. The two Porsche RS Spyders are still battling it out for the lead of LMP2. GT1 is Corvette, Corvette, Corvette, Corvette, and Aston Martin WAY back there. GT2 is Risi's to win right now. Flying Lizard is 6th. Spyker has held on and is still in 7th.

EDIT: Hour 7

TK just made his first appearance! He steps into the second place car. The best driver ever.

Pescarolo has taken 4th. It is 2 laps off the lead lap, but closing down at 3 seconds a lap.

The #2, in third, just died in the Porsche curves. Lucas Luhr tried to get the marshals to let him drive back, they didn't.

Battle between 008 and 17 is awesome. 17 takes the place.

EDIT: Hour 8

As the sun sets, the 008 has started working its way back up the grid. Sebas is in, and ROCKING.

#3 is back out of the garage and in the race.

Only 4 cars have been retired. So far today. Quite safe race this year! Good to see that.

008 just went back into the pits.

#3 is back in.

Spyker steps up a place. Consistent today!

Kolles has gone up to 6th overall in the R10.

LMP2 leaders are still 6 seconds apart. The sun is down. We'll see if the lightning comes today.

And right at the end of the hour, Kristiansen gets wheeled back into the garage! Audi is hurting now. Short stop to blow crap out of the car. Audi's car is badly designed and picks shit up into the cockpit.

EDIT: Hour 9

TK sets Audi's fastest lap, of course, at 3:27.192. He's a god around here.

Top 7: Peugeot, Peugeot, TK, Pescarolo, Aston Martin, then the two Kolles R10s.

Spyker's consistent day just got less consistent with a stop-go penalty.

Goh racings LMP2 got pushed back into the pits.

Bruichladdich Radical got fixed up with duct tape and chicken wire.

The 92 car had a problem with the door, at second place in GT2. Then got back out.

The IMSA has retired with a clutch failure.

EDIT: Hour 10

Midnight in Le Mans. The race at the front is mellow now, but the race for 7th is awesome: 7th-10th are all on the same lap to begin this hour, with 7 & 8 less than 9 seconds apart.

Power outage on parts of the track causing increased darkness.

009 was asked to not race anymore after killing the Bruichladdich Radical. Just the driver, Hall, was asked to not compete any longer.

Audi just cleaned out their car again.

EDIT: Hour 11

Pescarolo just changed their tyre pressure.

Top 7 haven't changed. But the pace has increased a lot!

008 served a lengthy stop-n-go. 4 minutes lengthy, actually. For "Punting the 72 into the wall." - ArmdLbrl

The #8 Peugeot is close to the #1 Audi in second. The battle commences.

The #8, with Serrazin inside, just turned in a 3:24.844 - fastest of the race so far.

EDIT: Hour 12

The Audi #1, with McNish at the wheel, is back on the lead lap.

009 is wheeled back into the garage. Again.These guys can't catch a break today! The test car is worn out.

The #8 Peugeot, and #2 Audi are nose-to-tail.

At the end of the first 1/2, we've got a big off between the Signature Plus Oreca and the Team Modena #84 around the Dunlop bridge. The gravel trapped the Oreca.

1/2 Update - We're Halfway Through! In the last six hours we have seen a lot more retirements. We are down to 48 officially on the books now. Dear God this race never disappoints. Here's to continuing safety! *Cracks another beer*

EDIT: Hour 13

The #7 Peugeot had a bit of trouble with the nose, and had to replace it, which seems to take a bunch of time every time they do it.

McNish came into the pits from second and the rear bodywork came off. Replaced brake pads. 2:49. Holy Crap that's fast! They still lost a place though. 1:20 extra time for a full brake pad replacement.

#66 got stuck in some kitty litter.

Peugeot had to clean out their radiators again too. They have the coolest invention this year: a replaceable filter in front of the radiators - like in a heating unit or AC unit at home.

EDIT: Hour 14

The #17 Pescarolo Peugeot has gone off in a big way, the safety car is out, and the ambulances. The driver is not moving. The driver was placed in a vacuum splint and hauled off in the ambulance. The esses just after the Dunlop was the scene. He was conscious when extracted. Benoit Treluyer was the driver. He had just come out of the pits and changed his nose and engine cover. "May God be with him." - scootr29. Indeed. Safety car has been out for half an hour so far.

Safety car came off after about 45 or 50 minutes out on the track. Cars are back up and running full speed. Pit strategies were interesting. Some came in right away, and they're going to have to stop early. Corvette, on the other hand, pitted every time around filling up the fuel, and because of the safety car, didn't lose any place. Fantastic strategy. No wonder they're on top. 47 minutes.

EDIT: Hour 15

Another safety car is out for - it appears to be - fluid on the track. Dangerous stuff at night. Both Safety Box and Team Goh wheeled back into the garage with contact damage. #80 Flying Lizard was off with the oil. Update: initially for liquid on the track, then #80 crashed under safety and caused an extension.

#66 is hurting. Again. Still an awesome car though.

Safety car out a long time again.

EDIT: Hour 16

After a boring hour 15, we're back under green. Racing is racing and as the sun rises at Le Mans, under green, it's the best there is. After both the long Safety Cars, #9 Peugeot is in the lead, then #8 Peugeot, then #1 Audi, 007 Aston Martin, then Kolles' two R10s. Fantastic race for them so far.

#80, Flying Lizard retired.

TK is back in and lost a lap immediately coming out of the pits. So he's right up the tailpipe of the Peugeot.

Sun is up and bright in the eyes of the drivers.

EDIT: Hour 17

The top three cars - 9, 8, and 1 respectively - are separated by a lap each. 007 is up in 4th. The Kolles guys have dropped down. The top two cars in LMP2 are separated by 3 laps. And in GT2 we still have Risi on top, but the battle for 3rd is epic with a 1.9 second gap between the BMS and JMW Ferraris. Spyker is still running consistently at 7th.

Dr. Ulrich was just seen asleep!

Team Goh just pulled back a lap on Essex.

008 is in the pits and torn apart. Big fix. Could be preventative to see what might be happening on their 007 car.

Big plume of smoke from the #15 Audi R10 at the second chicane, may have just been a tyre lock-up.

#35 Mazda caught fire, again.

Montagy is back in the #8 at second position and only 1:28 down from their sister car. We could have a Peugeot battle coming.

EDIT: Hour 18

Such a fantastic battle coming as the cars tighten up. I forsee a #8 and #9 battle coming. Hopefully a battle for LMP2 lead as well. The 007 is performing well and if one of the three front-runners has a problem, 007 is only 6 laps back and could pick up a podium. The top two Corvettes in GT1 are separated by only 1:17. Battle on.

Team Seattle had an off at the second Mulsannes chicane.

The JMW had a big off/spin/stall at the entry to the Porsche curves.

The #14 Kolles went straight off at Arnage. Got running again just fine.

The last remaining Pescarolo just got wheeled back into the garage from 6th place.

008 is an engine problem, went back out, and came back into the pits.

#13 Lola Aston Martin had a big off just after the Dunlop bridge.

#13 is now battling for 6th place with the Kolles #14.

The 3/4 Update: Six hours left and the race is on. People are pushing to try and gain that last couple of places and the race is always exciting here at the end. The big news is that rain should not show up this year! "There's always rain at Le Mans." But not this year. Yet. 14 retirements so far. And 1 driver.

EDIT: Hour 19

The Oreca #11 is performing splendidly in 5th place.

ECU change in the Audi #1.

#82, putting together a damn good race, just put a big plume of smoke into the French air with brake lock up on his in-lap.

009 just went off into the tyre walls. Big hit at the first of the Porsche curves. Safety car out.

#11 just got wheeled out of the garage. Didn't see it go in, or hear why.

Under safety still, #9 has an engine bay cover change.

#15 has a spin on Mulsannes straight and crashes. Will need repairs, from 10th place.

As the safety car dives back into pit lane, the two Peugeots 1:44 apart. But with the #15 spin, one of the two safety cars stays out. Odd.

Safety car also brought #13 and #14 up close to battle again.

#3 has an off at Indianapolis, then gets back on quickly.

EDIT: Hour 20

At the start of the hour, the two Works Corvettes in GT1 are 3.232 second apart.

Rain is now forecast in the next hour! Looks like Jason Statham was actually right: "It always rains at Le Mans." - Truth in 24

#64 took the lead for the first time - for half a lap, then pitted.

Risi's Krohn car had a spin at Indianapolis.

The first glimpse of rain.

EDIT: Hour 21

Game on! 4 hours left.

#13 Lola Aston martin is in 6th. The #7 Peugeot is reeling him in. And the #14 Audi is just behind Peugeot.

Spyker is running 6th again.

Audi dropped to 7 laps back due to rear suspension issues. Dr. Ulrich says it's all fixed now. We'll see. 14 minutes of pit work doesn't help this late in the race.

Aston Martin 007 is now 1 lap back on Audi. They could end up with a podium.

Lots more GT1 passes. Beautiful racing in Corvette's last GT1 race for now.

EDIT: Hour 22

Going into 3 hours left, the LMP2 battle never happened and unless something goes wrong with Essex, it wont. There have now been 16 retirements.

Aston Martin is now 2 laps down on Audi.

Endurance Team Asia is still in it. The only other Porsche GT2 car still out there is the #76 IMSA.

After an Audi pit, Aston Martin is only down by 1 lap again.

#64 stopped on track just before pit entry. It has "lost drive."

Team Seattle just passed their $200,000 fund raising goal for Children's Hospital of Seattle. Being from those parts, that's good to hear.

LMP2 Goh Porsche had a spin at Playstation Chicane.

#76 car has stopped at second chicane. Then got back underway, but way under pace.

Aston Martin #87 GT2 is pulled off track by the driver.

#14 R10 has locked up and threaded it's way through the tyres at the Playstation chicane.

EDIT: Hour 23

Only two hours to go! Some interesting situations on track to open this hour: both the #64 and #87 are stranded. The #14 just made a mistake at the Playstation chicane. If the #64 is retired, then Luc Alphand is getting second and the GT1 DBR9 may get a podium.

The #13 is having trouble out on track. It's being pushed off. It has rejoined.


And the #24 has apparently caught flame, like it's sister car did way back in Hour 17.

The 007 spun and recovered under the Dunlop bridge.

008, putting out a bit of smoke, is in the pits.

#5's suspension popped under braking, slamming straight through the Playstation chicane's tyres after bouncing hard off the lefthand wall. That's a big off and the safety car is back out. Driver is back out and looks a bit shaken, but okay. That's the chassis that won last year and was flipped in practice last year.

Meanwhile, another Mazda, this time the KSM, dramatically bursts into flames in pit lane. They rolled it into the pit box.

EDIT: Hour 24

The last hour here! The sun is coming up over here in Idaho and I'm getting pretty tired, but the last hour always gets me fired up again!

We're still under safety from the Team Goh off while they try and clean up the oil as quickly as possible. God, those marshalls have been out there keeping everybody safe all day - they've got to be exhausted out there and they're really busting their asses trying to get that oil cleaned up.

Team Essex is in the pits. Unsure what they're doing, either checking their suspension or cleaning stuff off.

With the safety car, this means every car should be good to the end unless they have problems. As soon as the car comes off, the race goes to the end and everybody races it through.

When this safety car comes off, the Audi will be just ahead of the two Peugeot's on track. Safety car is off! It's the 7, then Audi #1, then 9 on lap behind one car, and the 8 and 3 together behind the other.

I guess the P1s didn't pit.

#1 - the leading Audi at P3 - is in the pits. It comes back out after a bit of extra attention and a REALLY close call with the hose getting hooked around the rear bodywork.\

Race leader into the pits and out normally.

In GT2, the Spyker is in 5th, the highest non-Ferrari out there.

We're up to 20 retirements, including all the Porsche GT2 cars besides Asia Endurance, but they're off the qualifying mark.

In LMP2 we've got Essex, Speedy, and OAK.

In GT1 we've got #63, Luc Alphand's #63, and the Aston DBR9.

LMP1 is Peugeot 1-2, Audi #1, 007, #11 Oreca, Peugeot, Kolles, Pescarolo, Kolles. 25 minutes to go.

Bourdais just slowed up to let the sister car catch up, but the sister car is a lap up.

All three Peugeots are now on the same stretch of race track in what I like to call "Sponsor Formation."

#63 has been pushed into the garage. They are polishing it. It will win its final race today. God it looks good all polished. Fantastic race today for them, as usual.

The two Aston Martins are formed up on track for their sponsorship formation.

The two Audis have prepared their sponsorship formation.

This is shaping up to be a very photogenic finish. After 24 hours, these last couple of laps are leisurely.

Teams are all on the pit wall.

The two remaining Corvettes are across the line in formation.

It's Official: Peugeot 1-2, Audi in Third

Thanks for sticking around for this thread. There will be a recap update later on - tracing some of my favorite cars and race stories. It won't be in this mammoth OP though. Glad to see a safe race and I hope Benoit Treluyer is ok

This thread rocks.

No, friend, this Race rocks.

I'm still confused why the live timing doesn't work on the English half of the ACO website. Damn french.

I went in 1983 I had a ton of fun

Camped in the infield I have a pile of pics , the lower division cars were more fun to watch several showed up on open trailers pulled by big Mercedes , I still have a program it is in French

Last year I also went to the 24 hours of Lemons in S.C. more fun and a hoot to watch

Tagging this one!

HAHAHA - Pedro Lamy is blaming photographers for running into the side of the Pescarolo. Damn French.

we'll see if Peugeot solved their reliability issues from last year...that and their tire strategy.  Just seeing the start, the Peugeot has a good bit more torque than the new R15 Audi. McNish has his work cut out for him.


GO AUDI!!!! DOWN WITH THE GREAT FRENCH CONSPIRACY


GT2 looks like its gonna be a fun race this year.  

I need to see if the flying lizard team is on the field

See personally, I am more a fan of the team/car rather than the driver.  Its nice to see that there are more than just the 2 compuware corvettes in the GT1 class

holy crap, they're running the R10 and the R15.  Wonder if the R15 is gonna make it to Petit this year.

Take this one to the bank; AUDI WINS LeMANS. German efficiency pips French passion ANY day; but especially at LeMans.

we'll see.  It was a hell of a race last year and came down to like the last 10 laps or so when the Peugeot broke.  The Audis are handling better in the turns so they are able to keep the pressure up.  Always remember tho, the french run faster when being chased by germans


btw I am loving the R8 commercial

Sage. But I would like to see something besides Audi - or their sister car the Bentley - win for once.

I have got to make it to one of the Lemons races and work corners one of these days.

I BADLY want to go to Le Mans and work corners.  So far, haven't had the time of the money.  At the age of 60, my chances are getting less, damnit.

They are.  Like you, I pull for for the cars than the drivers.  Kyle Petty made an astute observation several years ago (when he was driving a Porsche in the Rolex 24) when he said that NASCAR fans are all about the driver and sports car fans are all about the cars and the technology.

I think it would be a hoot if one of the R10s won.  I think they are being run by privateers.  Not sure, but that's what it appears to be.

oh crap, they have new tire changing rules....hope Audi practiced

Nah, they never practice anything.

They are, and running a clean race, just off the pace so far. THat would make me happy too! I have a soft spot for privateer teams.

Another race feed.  



http://www.justin.tv/sportzonemotors/popout

Thanks! Added up above.

Big crash!  Oreca car 10.  Damn, he was hauling ass.  BAM!

I love how they work corners over there.  Get out there and get the shit out of the way!

We used to do that stuff, but now we have the "pro" crews that go around in trucks and go full course caution for every stupid little thing.

Of course, it helps that over there, the rules for local yellow flags are enforced harshly, unlike here.

Sage. I need to get out and do some corner work, but the nearest track is in Portland, or a long-ass way away. The way they work is probably why they have the best race out there.

thanx for the links. I can't believe that I forgot Lemans was on this morning. I was going to go to the gym this morning, but screw that.

its race days like today that re-ignite my urge to get my own track car finished up and on the track.

today's task is to get some fittings for the new turbo oil supply braided line and a new clamp to hold the hot side to the cold side of the turbo

Great thread idea.

Tagged.

The Ginetta-Zytek just can't catch a break today! Damn. I like that car.

The sportszone link crashed.




Found a pretty good link here



http://www.channelsurfing.net/watch-24-hours-of-le-mans.html





 

I hope Peugeot pulls it out this year.

Is Sebastian Loeb running this year?  I'd love to see him get a LeMans win.

Thanks! Added it above.

Poogot????

I don't see Loeb on the drivers lists. I would like Pescarolo or Aston Martin personally, but after so many years of dominance, anything BUT Audi would be nice this year.

*Gulp.*

whispers: Go Peugeot

Waiting for it to come on at 1:30pm on Speed HD.  

My streaming audio keeps cutting out on my slow connection.  Who was it that hit the 26 Radical-AER and tore its wheel off?

009.

Again?  009 needs to be parked.  Something is seriously bent on that car, it is way way too slow.  Its the last car in LMP1.

Dindo just went 3:27:192 in the 2 Audi, fastest lap for a Audi so far, the 8 was 3:26:436.  The gap between the 908 and R15s is only a little more than half what it was last year in pure speed.

It was in the garage for 27 minutes after trying to get hit by the Pescarolo in the pits. It's not slow, fastest lap in the 3:33s, but it is having a tough race. So this car was the testbed for Aston's new Direct Injection engine all week and... had some issues. Aston Martin then dropped that engine into 007 and 008, and they're doing awesome. 009 just got taken out early and hasn't quite gotten back up to the quality of their sister cars.

Plus, it's pretty!

3 Audi is still showing in the pits. Went in on the last safety car lap and hasn't come back out.  Its lost 4 laps.  I thought from the audio broadcast that the incident between the 009 and the 26 happened behind it when it was lapping the 009.  Did it also make contact?

Not sure, I think it's the one that locked up and went off at the first Mulsanne's chicane. Then it came in and had a replacement for the nose, now this. Did you see that shot of the driver traipsing about on top of the #3 while it was, what, 3 feet up in the air and a couple of mechanics were under it? Scary stuff!

The 8 Pugeot just had a 9min 26sec pit stop.  9 now leads with 1 and 2 on same lap.  8 came out behind both Astons and the Pescorolo Pugeot

Anybody know what happened to the Flying Lizard? Did they lose out in the last safety period or are they just off pace?

2 Audi just went off backwards HARD at the entrance to the Porsche Curves.  Wing and one rear corner deranged.

Luhr has got it started again and is trying to convince the marshalls to let him leak oil all over the track back to the pits.

The fog has come out. The sun is just about down. Audi is down to one car still competitive. Peugeot, Pescarolo, and Aston Martin all have one competitive car left. Kolles is still hanging on in the top ten with their Audi R10. This is AWESOME.

TAG

Peugeot 8 is back into third only one lap down.  Speed is going back live 1/2 hour early due to early finish of the truck race.

Its actually 3 Peugeots vs 1 Audi now.  The 17 is also a Peugeot just entered by Pescorolo.  Hope the R10s can come on after dark and take care of the Astons.  The 007s flirtation with a podium position was brief.

streaming at SpeedTV will be back at 7pm PST, 10pm EST

I know, it is the 2008 Peugeot though, not the 2009 that the works teams are running. That makes it okay to root for? I am.

Justin.tv is back up and working for me.

And the #3 just came back out!