The 2006 24 Hours of Le Mans

  • Thread starter Thread starter JohnBM01
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No idea about the quality of the entries or who will do well but suspect the Audis will be strong (in a diesel!?) and I hope that Aston have a good one - The DBR9 looks too good not to win.

I'll be alternating between World Cup and Le Mans. Motors TV is showing full non stop coverage from Saturday morning until after the race finishes.
 
JohnBM01
* Porsche will not win in LMGT2.
FACT UPSET SPECIAL! I'm going to offer up a weird pick and say that either Ferrari or Panoz will shock Alex Job or somebody.
Click to expand...

Alex Job has no cars entered.
 
dkstz,

You have plenty of options to follow Le Mans if you have internet access.

First there is Radio Le Mans. You can stream it with a compatible media player (Windows Media Player). Just click on "Listen Live."

Radio Le Mans

You can also keep up on the Official Le Mans website with live timing.

Le Mans Live Timing

Then there's the-paddock.net. They usually have hourly updates, so you can read a more in-depth coverage of every hour.

The-Paddock.net Le Mans Coverage

You can also check out various forums discussions during the race.

:cheers:
 
Times for GT1 for the preliminary test

corvetteracing.com
Pos./Car No./Drivers/Car/Time
1. (007) Enge/Turner/Piccini, Aston Martin DBR9, 3:51.408
2. (009) Sarrazin/Lamy/Ortelli, Aston Martin DBR9, 3:52.664
3. (64) Gavin/Beretta/Magnussen, Corvette C6.R, 3:53.029
4. (63) Fellows/O'Connell/Papis, Corvette C6.R, 3:53.174
5. (72) Policand/Goueslard/Alphand, Corvette C5-R, 3:54.113
6. (69) Babini/Gollin/Pescatori, Aston Martin DBR9, 3:54.507
7. (67) Pergl/Kox/Vasiliev, Ferrari 550 Maranello, 3:55.316
8. (66) Mowlem/Borcheller/Fittipaldi, Saleen S7R, 3:56.695
9. (50) Gardel/Bornhauser/Blanchemain, Ferrari 550 Maranello, 3:58.563
10. (62) Piquet Jr./Garcia/Brabham, Aston Martin DBR9, 3:58.935
11. (53) Apicella/Hinoi/Yamanishi, Lamborghini Murcielago R-GT, 3:59.108
12. (61) Sugden/Vann/Smith, Ferrari 550 Maranello, 4:04.706
Click to expand...
 
Thank you dougiemeats for the links!:cheers: Bookmarks right away :dopey: Will be very useful!

I couldn't enter in the Paddock.. both in IE and Firefox, but maybe in the day of the race it'll work.

Thanks!!
 
Hmm... perhaps you can just go to the main page and click on the appropriate button in the top left.

👍👍

Edit: Looks like thunderstorms are predicted for wednesday's qualifying. Hope every car makes it through without any major incidents. It would be a shame if we don't have 50 cars in the starting grid on Saturday again.



Last year, wasn't it wet on the first day of qualifying also?

And it looks like the two hottest days of the week are on...

...Saturday and Sunday.
 
Just gotta make my pick for P1 clear. The Audi R10 will win. Period. If by chance something happens to the Audi's that make them unable to win, Zytek would be my first choice for the win, Swiss Spirit would be my second and Creation Autosportif would be my third.

As for who I'm cheering for in LM P1, and heck let's make it all four classes.

LM P1: Audi, Lister, Creation

LM P2: Intersport

LM GT1: Saleen, Corvette (the GM Compuware C6's #63 my first choice, #64 only if something happens to 63. I'd laugh myself to death if the C5-R won.)

LM GT2: Flying Lizard, Multimatic Motor Sports.

Who will win?

LM P1: #2 Audi R10

LM P2: #33 Intersport Lola

LM GT1: #64 GM Compuware Corvette C6.R

LM GT2: #80 Flying Lizard Porsche 911 GT3 RSR

m.piedgros

EDIT: Forgot to sign.
 
First part of session 1 is done. There were a few spins on the track and there was a red flag before the session ended.


Edit: The #64 Corvette is not listed in the time chart for some reason.

Corvette Racing not taking any risks and decided not to put the cars on the wet track for this part of session 1.
 
Before I begin, thank you Mr. Fogelhund. Long time no see, buddy.

I'm watching my first of two of my tapes of Le Mans 2005. One thing about the TV coverage is that the racing doesn't give you that sense of speed normally found at Le Mans. Seeing an Audi R8 or a Corvette C6R seems pretty slow compared to most regular races. The old "Le Mans 24 Hours" gives you that sense of speed around Circuit de la Sarthe as does GT4. Keep in mind that the prototypes do anywhere between 180 and 200 mph down the very long straights (I want to say Hunadieres, but are the long straights known as Mulsanne or Hunadieres?) and the GT cars can do somewhere between 150-180 and maybe even 190. Speaking of GT4's variant of Le Mans, I do kind of wish there could have been some better camera angles like Nürburgring Nordschleife's awesome angles (only thing I liked about the track in GT4).

This year will mark the fifth Le Mans I will see on television live on Speed. I could somewhat recall the ugly weather of 2001 (which is also featured on the "Speed Tribe" DVD music video). I somewhat remember how some of Audi's finest did at Le Mans in 2002. Audi didn't win in 2003, but VW/Audi family member Bentley finally won it all. Bentley has some hall of fame experience having won the event five times in the first ten years of the event starting with 1924. I even recall Speed announcer Leigh Diffey talking about the Corvette C5R's and had relayed a message from Dale Earnhardt Jr. talking about "win the race for us. I've already ordered the Budweisers." 2004 was another Audi win, but Pescarolo were sadly out of the race in the late stages. And of course, last year's event was probably the greatest Le Mans I've ever seen. Tom Kristensen surpasses the great Jacky Ickx in winning Le Mans over seven times. This guy ended up being 7 for 9 in outright Le Mans wins. And I doubt any newcomer is going to win Le Mans 8 times with a better winning percentage. Kristensen could have announced his retirement from racing and just sit back to see if anyone can beat his amazing career at Le Mans. Now this is going to be my fifth Le Mans and fifth-straight Le Mans race I will have seen. I'll be sure to sleep early when Le Mans comes and then get up and at 'em early to tape the event. I may have to go to the Barber Shop and maybe go out with my parents around Houston. So I'll be sure to tape the event with the timer feature. I may not tape qualifying results and stuff, because all I really care about is the big race.

Take a look at my thread in this forum about how I got into sportscar racing. Le Mans really reminds me of why I like sportscar racing more than any other. I owe it to Le Mans for getting me into racing for as long as I've been a fan. Just the cars and the track and the drivers really get me excited each year. I've gone from being relegated to FOX Sports Net's (then) Speedvision tape delays of Le Mans to watching the big event on Speed LIVE. This is the race I live for as a racing fan. I just appreciate all that they do in Northern France each year. I absolutely love this event and all the action which transpires. You have to beat the track, the competition, and time to win. I know someone said that the best race was the 24 Hours at the Nürburgring, but the reason why I'm doing this event is becuase this is the race I got into and like personally. You send a big message to bigtime car companies in some of their best muscle if you win. This is where you see a lot of world-class talent take on a rough and rugged track.

To close out, I'm watching a little of my second tape of last year's Le Mans. It included coverage of 91.2 Radio Le Mans. I remember it was 4AM CDT in which I turned on the Timer function of my VCR to tape Le Mans until the finish. And I did just that. One person who E-mailed Radio Le Mans asked about any NASCAR racers who did Le Mans. I think Eldora was mentioned. That was one of the times in which I've said "I don't care about Eldora. I want Le Mans." This is my paid vacation away from Americana racing. Why spoil a good thing? By the way, Radio Le Mans talked about how there used to be a special class for NASCAR stock cars back in 1976 and 1977. Drivers like "Fireball" Roberts, Benny Parsons, and Bobby Allison raced Le Mans. Allison or Parsons raced a Jagermeister-sponsored BMW around the track. Radio Le Mans probably joked that this was a down time for sportscar racing that time. Don't know if it's because of stock cars at the track or if sportscar racing wasn't all that exciting then. Reply on.
 
Looks like the Audis have topped the Pescarolos. should make things interesting.
 
Qualifying Session 1 is done.


#7 Audi R10 (Capello, Kristensen, McNish) - rear damage; stranded on the track

It will probably be dry for tomorrow's qualifying session so these times may not matter too much.
 
how weird. the 24 hours of le mans is this weekend and all of a sudden my PS2 works with GT4 finally. say, I noticed that the LMP1 times aren't in the 3'13s. is it the rain?
 
RACECAR
how weird. the 24 hours of le mans is this weekend and all of a sudden my PS2 works with GT4 finally. say, I noticed that the LMP1 times aren't in the 3'13s. is it the rain?
Click to expand...

Yeah both parts of today's session were pretty wet. Here's some pictures (low-quality, but better than nothing) of today's session.

Not willing to risk their cars, Corvette Racing stayed in the pits after the installation lap during the first part, and I believe they only did the bare minimum (3 laps per driver) in the second part.

I don't really know what's up with the #7 Audi. I see it in one of the pictures. Capello was in the car during the incident and the car wasn't pushed back on the track; it was just left stranded until the end of the session. Radio Le Mans reported on rear damage (wing?) but LeMans.org reports on front-axle damage. Perhaps both?
 
Wow... 50 invited teams to this year's event? That's the thing. You simply don't say "I want to enter Le Mans." Your team has to be invited. This is why I say that no matter what place you finish in, you're already a winner because you're competiting in one of the greatest races of the world. Some say THE greatest, some say one of. I'm just saying "one of" so that I don't get into any debates about what race is best.

I hope this year's event doesn't become that semi-washout of 2001's event. That picture that our Fightinig Illini, dougiemeats put up shows Pescarolo on top of Qualifying. I would likely imagine that while good qualifying is good, it's all about lasting the length of the event as opposed to getting a good qualifying spot. But there are those race tracks where starting position can play a key role. Faster teams mean you don't have to climb from the back risking damaging your car all the way up to P1 in class or overall. You get rolling starts here since I don't think the cars can start in an F1-style standing start while having their engines up to temperature. Now let me take a look at this list.

---LMP1---
Pescarolo on top. If they can keep this kind of run going, maybe they should bring a Pescarolo team to America to battle us ALMS types. Emmanuel Collard ripped a 4:13.832 in this deal to take P1 in LMP1 and overall. Some sports usually have teams that make their way into playoffs and fall flat against certain competitors at times. Just don't be afraid if that same team evenually wins a big one. That's the way it is for Pescarolo against the Audis. I also see Sebastien Loeb in the 2nd spot. I don't know if this was mentioned in my "Sebastien Bourdais vs. Sebastien Loeb" topic, but both drivers have at least one start at Le Mans now. Both drivers also ran for Pescarolo with at least one start between them. Not trying to be funny, but people hate Audi for a reason- they win all the damn time! The only matter is if you consider this dominance or a shame that no one else been able to stop them. I will definitely say that Pescarolo has the best chance to win. After all, they came back from three laps down on the 8+ mile course to get back on the lead lap to unfortunately have more troubles. I'm not going to count out the chances of some sort of heartbreak in the closing hours of Le Mans 2006. In ANY class. By the way, try running down the long straights in the rain. You'll REALLY need to be careful then because you have to deal with a loss of traction and all that.

---LMP2---
The Wikipedia entry on Le Mans 2006 shown me that Pierre Bruneau's car is a Pilbeam MP93 powered by a Judd XV675 4-liter V8. The only Radical in the race is 27th as British-based Rollcentre Racing has the tandem of M. Short/J. Barbosa/S. Mosley. But this is no ordinary Radical (since when were Radicals ordinary anyways?). No, my friend. It is the Radical SR9. I read this is the same engine in the Pierre Bruneau entry. Intersport is 16th as part of my "Fact or Fiction?" deal. Action is usually hectic in LMP2. Almost anyone can win. Intersport lines up with an American man, a British lady (that loves horses), and another American guy- C. Field/L. Halliday/D. Dayton.

---LMGT1---
How fitting... Aston Martin is on top with entry #007. I'm sure James Bond would be proud of seeing an Aston Martin be on top of LMGT1. But this DBR9 doesn't have machine guns under the headlights and rocket-propelled grenades behind the grill. It does have something a little more sane. Such as the tandem of T. Enge/D. Turner/A. Piccini. Let's see if Aston Martin can win it all with their 6.0L V12 Aston Martin engine. But hold the phone! Chevrolet wants to win again and spew American power all over the French race track and of the British Aston Martin crew. If yuo want to call the Corvette team the good guys, they have their 7-liter V8s and two potent machines. People hate yellow on most cars (I personally dislike yellow on the Corvettes. How come they couldn't go back to those beautiful black and silver colors when Corvette was starting out in the ALMS and Grand-Am?). But many will like the fact that this Aston Martin/Chevrolet rivalry is only going to heat up until one eventually falls. Another "Fact or Fiction?" topic was on if the Lamborghini entry in GT1 can finally win or finish at Le Mans. I believe a Japanese team hasn't won in class since Honda did it back in 1996, unless you count the GT1 entry of the Toyota GT-One back in 1999. That Lamborghini Murcielago GT-R is a beautiful machine. And according to the award-winning PC game GTR, a pretty nice machine with a sweet roar. That's not to mention they have their own 6-liter V12. Hah! Take that, Aston Martin! Two can play this game!

---LMGT2---
My "Fact or Fiction" on a non-Porsche victory would come down to some new crew as the new sheriff of GT2. You have only three choices for who else could win in GT2 besides a Porsche- the Panoz Esperante GT-LM, the beautiful Ferrari F430GT, or the Spyker C8 Spyder GT2-R. Ferrari would be the ultimate underdog in terms of cars entered. There are two Panoz, two Spykers, but only one Ferrari. I always wanted the 360 Modena to win the big sportscar races of the world in its class. Same goes for the F430GT. If Panoz wins, they would have established themselves with this baby Esperante. I'll still miss the big brutes Panoz brought in the late 1990s even with this Esperante in this race. Spyker will DEFINITELY be on the map if they win it all at Le Mans in class. According to GT4, that car is very quick and can reach 100 mph in a great time even if the car isn't as significant as a Ferrari or a Lamborghini. If Ferrari wins, it's going to be a sweet deal. A British entry powering a wonderful automobile that came, saw, and conquered Le Mans. But all three companies are going to have to deal with the White Lightniing Porsche to have ANY hope of winning. That is, by Qualifying Results 1.

Should be a great event. Set me straight on anything I may have messed up on.
 
JohnBM01
Wow... 50 invited teams to this year's event? That's the thing. You simply don't say "I want to enter Le Mans." Your team has to be invited. This is why I say that no matter what place you finish in, you're already a winner because you're competiting in one of the greatest races of the world. Some say THE greatest, some say one of. I'm just saying "one of" so that I don't get into any debates about what race is best.

I hope this year's event doesn't become that semi-washout of 2001's event. That picture that our Fightinig Illini, dougiemeats put up shows Pescarolo on top of Qualifying. I would likely imagine that while good qualifying is good, it's all about lasting the length of the event as opposed to getting a good qualifying spot. But there are those race tracks where starting position can play a key role. Faster teams mean you don't have to climb from the back risking damaging your car all the way up to P1 in class or overall. You get rolling starts here since I don't think the cars can start in an F1-style standing start while having their engines up to temperature. Now let me take a look at this list.

---LMP1---
Pescarolo on top. If they can keep this kind of run going, maybe they should bring a Pescarolo team to America to battle us ALMS types. Emmanuel Collard ripped a 4:13.832 in this deal to take P1 in LMP1 and overall. Some sports usually have teams that make their way into playoffs and fall flat against certain competitors at times. Just don't be afraid if that same team evenually wins a big one. That's the way it is for Pescarolo against the Audis. I also see Sebastien Loeb in the 2nd spot. I don't know if this was mentioned in my "Sebastien Bourdais vs. Sebastien Loeb" topic, but both drivers have at least one start at Le Mans now. Both drivers also ran for Pescarolo with at least one start between them. Not trying to be funny, but people hate Audi for a reason- they win all the damn time! The only matter is if you consider this dominance or a shame that no one else been able to stop them. I will definitely say that Pescarolo has the best chance to win. After all, they came back from three laps down on the 8+ mile course to get back on the lead lap to unfortunately have more troubles. I'm not going to count out the chances of some sort of heartbreak in the closing hours of Le Mans 2006. In ANY class. By the way, try running down the long straights in the rain. You'll REALLY need to be careful then because you have to deal with a loss of traction and all that.

---LMP2---
The Wikipedia entry on Le Mans 2006 shown me that Pierre Bruneau's car is a Pilbeam MP93 powered by a Judd XV675 4-liter V8. The only Radical in the race is 27th as British-based Rollcentre Racing has the tandem of M. Short/J. Barbosa/S. Mosley. But this is no ordinary Radical (since when were Radicals ordinary anyways?). No, my friend. It is the Radical SR9. I read this is the same engine in the Pierre Bruneau entry. Intersport is 16th as part of my "Fact or Fiction?" deal. Action is usually hectic in LMP2. Almost anyone can win. Intersport lines up with an American man, a British lady (that loves horses), and another American guy- C. Field/L. Halliday/D. Dayton.

---LMGT1---
How fitting... Aston Martin is on top with entry #007. I'm sure James Bond would be proud of seeing an Aston Martin be on top of LMGT1. But this DBR9 doesn't have machine guns under the headlights and rocket-propelled grenades behind the grill. It does have something a little more sane. Such as the tandem of T. Enge/D. Turner/A. Piccini. Let's see if Aston Martin can win it all with their 6.0L V12 Aston Martin engine. But hold the phone! Chevrolet wants to win again and spew American power all over the French race track and of the British Aston Martin crew. If yuo want to call the Corvette team the good guys, they have their 7-liter V8s and two potent machines. People hate yellow on most cars (I personally dislike yellow on the Corvettes. How come they couldn't go back to those beautiful black and silver colors when Corvette was starting out in the ALMS and Grand-Am?). But many will like the fact that this Aston Martin/Chevrolet rivalry is only going to heat up until one eventually falls. Another "Fact or Fiction?" topic was on if the Lamborghini entry in GT1 can finally win or finish at Le Mans. I believe a Japanese team hasn't won in class since Honda did it back in 1996, unless you count the GT1 entry of the Toyota GT-One back in 1999. That Lamborghini Murcielago GT-R is a beautiful machine. And according to the award-winning PC game GTR, a pretty nice machine with a sweet roar. That's not to mention they have their own 6-liter V12. Hah! Take that, Aston Martin! Two can play this game!

---LMGT2---
My "Fact or Fiction" on a non-Porsche victory would come down to some new crew as the new sheriff of GT2. You have only three choices for who else could win in GT2 besides a Porsche- the Panoz Esperante GT-LM, the beautiful Ferrari F430GT, or the Spyker C8 Spyder GT2-R. Ferrari would be the ultimate underdog in terms of cars entered. There are two Panoz, two Spykers, but only one Ferrari. I always wanted the 360 Modena to win the big sportscar races of the world in its class. Same goes for the F430GT. If Panoz wins, they would have established themselves with this baby Esperante. I'll still miss the big brutes Panoz brought in the late 1990s even with this Esperante in this race. Spyker will DEFINITELY be on the map if they win it all at Le Mans in class. According to GT4, that car is very quick and can reach 100 mph in a great time even if the car isn't as significant as a Ferrari or a Lamborghini. If Ferrari wins, it's going to be a sweet deal. A British entry powering a wonderful automobile that came, saw, and conquered Le Mans. But all three companies are going to have to deal with the White Lightniing Porsche to have ANY hope of winning. That is, by Qualifying Results 1.

Should be a great event. Set me straight on anything I may have messed up on.
Click to expand...
well, there are three esperantes, two from Multimatic and one from LNT. and the last time I heard (or read), Liz Halliday was born in america but livs in the UK.
 
Well John, I think it is the greatest race, but as you said, it can be debated later. For now, let's all enjoy the race, whether you think it's the greatest, or just one of the greatest.

Qualifying is officially done. Dry track this time and it is an Audi front row! Here is your starting grid:
 
No debate. The greatest. Daytona 24, 500, even Sebring isn't as great, Indy 500... not a chance, Monaco -- joke track, F1 is a circus anyway.

24 Heurs du Mans. Pure sports car racing. Exciting. Always the best-of-the-best. No debating it. Plain and simple, there is nothing like the REAL mid-summer classic (or early summer, you win baseball, you win. We'll just call ours the SUMMER classic, heck the YEAR-ROUND CLASSIC! Wait, sorry, I'm getting ahead of myself here.)


Don't they only run 3'30's? If they're running 3'13's now I'd be shocked.

I'm assuming todays qualifying was dry, explaining the 3'30's.

I love this stuff.

m.piedgros
 
Audi 1 and 2 on the grid. Who didn't see that coming? :) And just as I predicted, it's Audi, then Pescarolo, then everybody else. I'm certain the race will turn out like that as well. (I just re-read that. I'm not trying to sound like a smart ass.) :)

And just like in the past, LMP2 is going to be a survival run. RML has Andy Wallace, so that should boost their chances of having both a fast and reliable run.

In GT1, I'm not surprised Aston Martin are first and second on the grid. What I am surprised about is how close the No. 64 Corvette is to them. Last year, the Astons were WAY quicker in qualifying. I thought it couldn't get any better than it was last year, but this is shaping up to be even better.

In GT2, surprising the Ferrari didn't take the pole, since it was supposed to be faster than the Porsches. I still think it's going to be Flying Lizard's year. (fingers crossed)


2007 news:
* Lister is looking to develop a front-engined GT1 car from another manufacturer, powered by a four-liter turbo engine. (Good: Their LMP1, while one of the best looking cars out there is 20 seconds off the pace and 9 seconds slower than the closest LMP1.)

* Peugeot showed off the 5.5 liter diesel engine that will power two Peugeot 908 entries at Le Mans next year. No word on whether it will be a coupe or spyder, but a model should be unveiled in September. (Fingers crossed for a Sebring trip.)

* Paul Belmondo Racing will have two Courage LC75s next year powered by engines running on E85 bio ethanol. Cool stuff.

* And look for an annoucement Friday from the ACO about future LMP regulations. There are a number of theories running wild, with everything from mandating stock-block engines in LMP2 to eliminating LMP2 and having LMP1 be for closed-cockpit prototypes and LMP2 for open-top prototypes being discussed. (Doubt there will be massive changes, considering they are still in the transformation stages from LMP900/675 to LMP1 hybrids to full LMP1 cars.)
 
What determine's the invites?

As I have always understood it, it was:

Success in competitors series' (i.e. Panoz in ALMS or Pescarolo in LMS.)
Success at Sebring (good performance will earn you a pit stall.)
Success at the (I guess only since '98 or '99) Petit where we saw Zytek show up to get their invite last year. (And despite the accident early on that I missed [darn you sleeping in, you vile temptress!]They got it anyway...)

Does anyone know what the actual credentials are? I'm assuming if you throw enough money the ACO's way they'll let you in *cough*JLOC*cough*. If anyone could clear that up that'd be great.

m.piedgros
 
According to mariantic.co.uk/lmp (a great site):

The entry list for Le Mans is limited to 50 cars spread across the 4 categories. 24 entries are "pre-selected", that is to say if they enter, their entry will be accepted. This only applies if the entry is to the same category as it was pre-selected for. This privilege belongs to the team and is not related to car or engine make. The pre-selections in each category are:-

*1st and 2nd at 2005 Le Mans in each category
*1st and 2nd in 2005 LMES in each category
*1st at 2005 Petit Le Mans in each category
*1st in 2005 ALMS or 2nd in ALMS in each category if winner also won Petit Le Mans

The criteria for selection are deliberately vague, the following is a quote from the ACO regulations outlining the "rules":-

a. The following criteria are at the Selection Committee’s discretion.
b. The list is not exhaustive and with no priority classification.

*A maximum of two (2) cars per competitor
*Fame of the competitor (manufacturer, factory-backed team, well-known private team, private team)
*Previous "24 Hours of Le Mans" races
*Competitors' record
*Regular entries in "American Le Mans Series" and "Le Mans Endurance Series" events
*Recommended entry in a race prior to the Selection Committee meeting
*Quality of the cars
*Technical interest
*Relationship with the A.C.O. and its environment regarding legal and financial issues
*Maintaining the participation of "privateers"
*Etc.

Other than the automatic enties for results, it's "whatever the ACO wants." I wish they would go back to the Test Day being a Pre-Qualifying Day and allow anyone who wants to enter have a go at making the field in the Pre-Q session. It's ridiculous that the biggest race on the planet doesn't have open qualifying.
 
LMP1: looks like Diesel power dominates Qualifying as the R10s sweep the first two positions while the Pescarolos will have to settle for third and forth.
LMP2: RML was able to hold on for pole, while intersport will settle for second, and Rollcentre racing will start third.
GT1: The Astons take 1-2, while the no.64 manages third.
GT2: the Imsa performance team take pole.
 
BREAKING NEWS...

My chances of taping or recording this year's event may be in jeaprody. And I'm not talking about the game show hosted by the wonderful Canadian Alex Trebek. It seems like there's going to be some heavy storms coming Houston's way. Bad weather + satellite cable reception = f:censored: up signals = rougher chances of recording the entire event. Speed Channel may have to show highlights (like they should after the big endurances) in two-hour deals like the Speedvision of old. This may be an endurance I may have to pass on this year. I will still watch as much of the event as possible.

I'll likely be a spectator this year and not tape the thing.
 
At least you can watch it, I don't even think I have the channel. I need satellite right?
 
Naw, you can have cable to. I think that Speed came on my baisic digital cable package, and my T.V. upstairs is running regular cable and we have it. I could ask my dad but I think it just comes with cable.

m.piedgros

EDIT: You need to order it in a package, or if you have digital cable you can order it specifically.
 
It was pouring down on Wednesday, I'm surprised it dried so well.

CorvetteC6Rwax2.jpg


The Corvette team said that they were basicly looking for a race set-up. While Aston got their 8 hours worth of qualifying (around 80 laps). I was surprised at the pace of some of the privateers, especially the 550s. They could keep up with the Vettes.

From the looks of it, Audi were pretty relaxed and they should do well in the race. I wish the Panoz did better in qualifying, but the 24hr race is the major player in the outcome. The LMP2 class also has some great competition and it should be a very exciting race.
 
Gosh! I don't think I'm going to be able to sleep tonight. The anticipation mounts. I can't wait!!!

m.piedgros
 
Damn university exams getting in the way of ym motorsport fixation. And here I am, supposed to be doing the motorsport column for the college Steak Appreciation Club and I can't watch these beautiful machines and I really wanted to write a column on them!

Of course, it would help if we actually got the race broadcast down here, but I'm allowed to pick and choose which facts I rant about.




Other than that, anyone know where I can at least get some decent shots of these babies?
 
June 17th, 2006. It seems like a birthday or some sort of special day that brings joy. I still want to propose a motorsports holiday for the Le Mans endurance. It's a weekend-long holiday to show some love for the Le Mans endurance. It's the only race I care to see (though there is sort of a nice MotoGP event coming up on TV after the Le Mans enduro on Speed) over the weekend. This is also a great Father's Day gift. I simply can't wait. I ask myself if I should stay awake through the night and try to stay up to see Le Mans live without waking up mom and dad, or do I sleep early just to set myself up to check out Le Mans?

And for precautionary reasons, I won't tape this year's race. The precautions were for the threat of rainy and bad weather here in Houston.
 
MotorsTV.com
Audi #8 set the best time, while Audi#7 was slowest with a drive shaft problem in this morning’s warm-up.


Manu Pirro clocked a best time of 3:33.946 in the #7 Audi, while the pair of Pescarolo-Judds of Manu Collard and Franck Montagny encouraged the partisan French public finishing the final pre-race session 2nd and 3rd .


Allan McNish in car 7 was called back to the pits when the team’s telemetry showed a problem with the left side drive shaft, which was repaired but the problem persisted and in turn a quick time was not possible. “We found a problem in the drive shaft and after it was repaired we found another”, said seven time Le Mans champion, Tom Kristensen. “It’s normal and it will be fixed for the race.”


In LMP2 the No.25 RML Lola AER was eighth overall, Andy Wallace putting in a 3:45.924 after the chequered flag was out to put the car just 0.142s ahead of the No.22 Rollcentre Radical Judd – so the competition in both prototype classes could be intense.

As if that wasn’t enough to whet the appetite, GT1 also promises a titanic battle – this time between the ‘works’ Aston Martin and Corvette teams. The No.007 and No.009 Aston Martin DBR9 cars may have been quickest in qualifying, but Corvette always insist they concentrate on race pace, and don’t particularly care where they qualify. Preliminary confirmation of this was that the No.64 Corvette C6.R was quickest in the warm-up with a lap of 3:53.914, ahead of the 3:54.752 put in by the No.009 Aston Martin DBR9, with the sister No.63 Corvette 0.201s back in third.

The news in GT2 is that the car which claimed pole, the No.76 IMSA Performance Matmut Porsche 911 GT3 RSR, completed seven laps during the session; although the car was well off the pace of the quickest cars, getting out at all was an achievement after the car suffered a huge accident on Thursday, hitting the wall hard - ironically, in the Porsche curves.

The No.83 Seikel Porsche 911 was fastest in GT2 with a lap of 4:06.160 – a good performance from the team as they were a late entrant, promoted from the Reserve list when another team couldn’t take part. Second in class went to the No.80 Flying Lizard Porsche 911, just over a second slower, while the No.87 Scuderia Ecosse Ferrari F430 GT claimed third.

The teams now have just a few hours to resolve any issues the warm-up may have uncovered; Audi in particular will be working furiously to resolve what is being reported as a transmission problem on the No.7 Audi.
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Also, Flying Lizard Motorsports will be broadcasting their radio communications during the race.

http://www.lizardms.com/radio.htm
 
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