Hello everyone! I'm the author of this thread and had a little outing in addition to some sleep to avoid NASCAR. So I'm doing just fine. ^_^ Here are some notes so far as to what I think of this yera's event.
---Le Mans Prototype 1 (LMP1)---
* I never realized how quiet the Audi R10's motor is. That thing is what I'd like to call a "silent killer." And what a killer it is! It is a twin-turbo V12 diesel engine. The machine isn't much of a rumbler in terms of engine noise, but it is a good machine for what it is. That is a well put-together race car. I have seen that nice Audi commercial where the Audi boys and girls took apart an Audi street car and then preparing the Audi R10. * Pescarolo hasn't really been on pace as I would have liked to see. One was in 2nd while the other was in 10th (3rd in Class). * The Lister team is told to look into a diesel program as is Peugeot. * Sad thing is that my latest Motorsports here, Tom Kristensen, was two laps down when I rejoined coverage back around 8PM CDT. * The #8 Audi R10 had to go into the garage around 8:49 PM CDT, told to have some gremlins in the gearbox deal. * I never realized how lovely the Zytek models were. Many of today's prototype race cars are pretty nice-looking and cuts through the air nicely. * The Racing for Holland Dome was in the kitty litter past halfway. They have been able to return to the track.
---Le Mans Prototype 2 (LMP2)---
* It must suck to be Creation Autosportif. The beautiful, blue-colored had some ugly run-ins with gremlins and tough breaks. Question remains is if they can still get it done. * I was actually enthused about the progress Radical has made with their SR9. Radical produces street-legal (at least in England with some specific thing added to the car that I forgot) LMPs.
---Le Mans Grand Touring 1 (LMGT1)---
* Corvette vs. Aston Martin. One privateer AM (#69) had a HUGE off which brought out the Pace/Safety Car. The Corvettes have not been immune to rough luck as one of the 'Vettes lightly whacked the fence around the Porsche Curves. * The #007 Aston Martin (no, James Bond did not qualify for the race!) had some oil troubles and had to go into the garage. Unlike most American road courses, you have the garage right behind the pit crews. So you're free to bring her in whenever you need easy access to the garage. The two cars have been scrapping big time. * No disrespect, but I like the combo of British Racing Green/Yellow more than British Racing Green/Red.
---Le Mans Grand Touring 2 (LMGT2)---
* Many Porsches, some Spykers, some Panoz cars, and a lone Ferrari F430GT. * Petersen White Lightning's entry was no more at Le Mans 2006. That's sad news considering just how much I know they wanted to win their third straight. That was not to be this year. Remember something about Le Mans. It can be the land where dreams come true, but also where dreams can be broken. You certainly don't want the latter. No one does. * Past 12:30:00, and then there was one... one Panoz Esperante GTLM that is. * The RML #25 entry was 6th Overall and the LMP leader heading into 11:59:00 left.
Others/Miscelleaneous
* The COO of the ALMS and IMSA Tim M. (forgot his last name) said something completely true. Some people on another message board were complaining about how car counts in the ALMS were suffering compared to the high car counts in the Rolex Sports Car Series. He admits that the cars are tougher to maintain and race. * A Jaguar C-Type won one of the Le Mans Classics events at Le Mans. * I didn't know there were underground tanks to have fuel available to cars. My sincere thanks to the wonderful Australian Leigh Diffey for pointing this out (or as Bob Varsha jokingly called him, "the Thunder from Down Under"). * Check out what Petersen White Lightning has to pay in order to get their entry:
Man Hours = $3,475
Mechanical = $404,000
Labor basic = $145,000
Market/Public Relations = $74,500
Travel = $123,300
Food and Lodging $93,000
Miec. = $113,250
Total = $958,000
Damn! Talk about micro-management! * I'm sorry... the Racing for Holland machine looks incredibly tacky. At least it looks better than the checkered paintscheme it had in the past. The newer scheme is in honor of World Cup 2006 in Germany. * Speed's 10 best Moments of the past 10 years was Tom Kristensen and his seventh Le Mans win. He's my latest motorsports hero because not only has he won seven Le Mans, he also did it with an AMAZING win percentage. This guy should be in every international motorsports Hall of Fame. This guy is just too good. Let me throw you some baseball-style stats on three different members of the multiple-time Le Mans winners club:
Tom Kristensen - .778 (7 for 9)
Jacky Ickx - .448 (6 for 15)
Derek Bell - .192 (5 for 26)
You may have your domestic motorsports heroes, but there's only one Tom Kristensen. My next sportscar racing hero will have to one-up Kristensen and have a better winning percentage to be my new motorsports hero (can you imagine someone winning Le Mans 8 out of 8 times?)
AT THE HALF: "FACT OR FICTION?" CHECK
* Pescarolo will upset Audi at long last
The Pescarolos caught a break as the #8 Audi had to check into the pits. The lead was dwindled down from 4 to about 2, then one at around 12:56 left.
* Intersport will win in LMP2
Intersport's been into some trouble. Probably not as much as Creation, though.
* The Aston Martin crew will finally get revenge over Corvette
The Corvettes and Aston Martins are told to be "friendly rivals." I'm sure some Americans would rather "American power all the way! Sick 'em boys!" (by the way, you're a dope if you don't appreciate AM's racing history). The Astons are pretty sweet. The 009 entry was as high as 5th Overall around 12:49:00 left in the event.
* All three Japan-based teams will not finish
I have no real data to report here because I do not know the status of the Japan-based teams at this point (typed on 9:13 PM CDT; 12:47:00 left in the race).
* A car other than a Porsche will win in LMGT2
I'm not sure about this one either. I'm sure other three makes will have their say before this race is done.
The race still proceeds as I make this post to you all. I absolutely love Le Mans and enjoy sharing my love with a thread like this. Everything I said about just feeling like I'm in Heaven watching these cars zoom around this track couldn't be more true now that Le Mans is here. Regardless of where you place, I always say that you are a winner even if you don't win anything. Qualifying for Le Mans is the qualifying for March Madness in college basketball. You are a winner regardless of where you are in the final classification. Nothing can be sweeter than winning Le Mans. Winning there proves that you looked the Devil in the eyes and made him blink. EVERYONE has to win- the driver lineup, the teams, the endurance of the car, and all that. Surely next time I come to this thread, I will share my thoughts about the final results. Until then, it should be a sweet deal. See you then!
- but only around a lap ahead of the C6-R (and only 4 laps down on the #7 tractor).
