LeMans Hour 8: Audi still leads
McNish’s exit from the car completed the first full rotation for the Audi. During his stint, the Scot had turned more than a few laps in the 3:27 range. His best effort was 3:27.684 and nearly four seconds better than Tom Kristensen’s fast lap from 2006.
It was Capello who made a storming start to assume the lead on the opening lap. The Italian showed no sign of letting up as full darkness began to set in. The first and second place showings helped take away the sting of Mike Rockenfeller’s wreck that forced the retirement of the third Audi in the second hour.
“When Mike Rockenfeller made that mistake at the Tertre Rouge corner, I wasn’t happy at all," said Dr. Wolfgang Ullrich, Head of Audi Motorsport. “But this doesn’t disturb our plans too much, and remember this is a very long race. I am expecting a long fight. Our opponents are waiting for us, and we can’t afford to let this affect our strategy. The good thing is the excellent result so far for the 1 and 2 cars."
The American Le Mans Series also was being well-represented in the GT2 class as Risi Competizione’s Ferrari F430 GT and Jaime Melo led the way by two laps over the European Autorlando Sport Porsche. Risi is back at Le Mans for the first time since 2003 and is the current American Le Mans Series GT2 team championship leader.
There was a slight bit of drama early on when the right-side door of the Ferrari came loose. The crew made a quick repair, and the pit work and consistency allowed them to extend their lead into the night.
“The difficult bit was that in the first sector it was completely wet and then went to completely dry so we didn’t know how long the rain was going to be around," Melo said. “Anyway, I have a good engineer, and we have a great Michelin tire engineer too, so they helped me to make a decision and it was the right one. Then we had a safety car for a long time which helped us make up some places so that was all good."
The other Risi Ferrari, the No. 99 in partnership with Krohn Racing, was running fifth and was followed by the Flying Lizard Motorsports Porsche.
American Le Mans Series drivers and teams were in the thick of the hunt for class leads in GT1 and LMP2. The remaining Corvette C6.R from Corvette Racing was running third with Jan Magnussen was 2:45 behind the leading factory Aston Martin DBR9 of Peter Kox. Magnussen had a moment when he was bumped by Marco Werner’s Audi going up the hill toward the Dunlop Bridge and went through the gravel but rejoined the race with no apparent damage.
“No real dramas," teammate Johnny O’Connell confirmed. “The car is running well and hopefully it will be a good night. I feel good about our car. The gearbox is good, the brakes are good and the clutch is good."
The No. 63 Corvette was on its own following the retirement of the sister car of Olivier Beretta, Oliver Gavin and Max Papis. Gavin was at the wheel when the car’s propshaft failed nearly two hours in. Gavin tried to bring the car back using the starter motor but wasn’t allowed to by the course marshals.
In LMP2, the Barazi Epsilon works Zytek 07S/2 with Adrian Fernandez was running second in class and a lap behind the leading Lola-AER from Quifel-ASM. But the Lola stopped on course at the 8:15 mark with a broken driveshaft and was likely to be stranded.
Fernandez, who qualified and started on the P2 pole in his Le Mans debut, pitted near the 7:30 mark with a leak, fortunately during a safety car period.
“The car is working fantastically," he said. “My feet were starting to get brake fluid on them so I knew there was a leak. The yellow came at the right time because we would have lost a lot of time. The problem is fixed by the look of it."
Pos # Class Drivers Car Gap
1. 2 LMP1 Capello, McNish, Kristensen Audi R10 TDI -120
2. 1 LMP1 Biela, Pirro, Werner Audi R10 TDI -118
3. 7 LMP1 Minassian, Gene, Villeneuve Peugeot 908 -117
4. 16 LMP1 Collard, Boullion, Dumas Pescarolo-Judd 01 -116
5. 15 LMP1 Charouz, Yoong, Mucke Lola-Judd B07-17 -114
6. 18 LMP1 Short, Barbosa, Hall Pescarolo-Judd 01 2:39.102
7. 8 LMP1 Sarrazin, Lamy, Bourdais Peugeot 908 -113
8. 007 LMGT1 Herbert, Enge, Kox Aston Martin DBR9 -111
9. 40 LMP2 Amaral, Angel de Castro, Hughes Lola-AER B05-40 22.926
10. 009 LMGT1 Turner, Brabham, Rydell Aston Martin DBR9 39.584
11. 63 LMGT1 Fellows, O'Connell, Magnussen Corvette C6-R -110
12. 12 LMP1 Frei, Cochet, Besson Courage-AER LC70 1:24.666
13. 008 LMGT1 Bouchut, Gollin, Elgaard Aston Martin DBR9 2:07.691
14. 100 LMGT1 Babini, Davies, Malucelli Aston Martin DBR9 -109
15. 31 LMP2 Binnie, Timpany, Buncombe Lola-Zytek B05-40 11.525
16. 33 LMP2 Kurosawa, Fernandez, Kerr Zytek 07S/2 3:20.623
17. 54 LMGT1 Prost, Groppi, Belloc Saleen S7R -108
18. 55 LMGT1 Ortelli, Ayari, Lapierre Saleen S7R 10.416
19. 72 LMGT1 Alphand, Policano, Goueslard Corvette C6-R 2:33.284
20. 59 LMGT1 Garcia, Fittipaldi, Menten Aston Martin DBR9 -107
21. 24 LMP2 Petrov, Halliday, Iannetta Courage-AER LC75 -106
22. 97 LMGT2 Melo, Salo, Mowlem Ferrari 430 GT 3:05.418
23. 35 LMP2 Nicolet, Filhol, Jouanny Courage-AER LC75 -105
24. 73 LMGT1 Vosse, Andre, Blanchemain Corvette C5-R -104
25. 67 LMGT1 Pergl, Vasiliev, Kostka Ferrari 550 Maranello 6.418
26. 93 LMGT2 Ehret, Erik Nielsen, Simonsen Porsche 911 GT3 RSR 24.470
27. 87 LMGT2 Kirkaldy, Mullen, Niarchos Ferrari F430 GTC 28.255
28. 76 LMGT2 Narac, Lietz, Long Porsche 911 GT3 RSR -103
29. 70 LMGT1 Gosselin, Peter, Smet Corvette C6-R -102
30. 80 LMGT2 van Overbeek, Neiman, Bergmeister Porsche 911 GT3 RSR 5.278
31. 99 LMGT2 Jonsson, Krohn, Braun Ferrari 430 GT 33.278
32. 85 LMGT2 Chiesa, Caffi, Belicchi Spyker C8 Spyder GT2 2:55.848
33. 13 LMP1 Marc Gounon, Moreau, Johansson Courage-AER LC70 -100
34. 78 LMGT2 Macari, Aucott, Newey Ferrari 430 GT 22.963
35. 83 LMGT2 Marsh, Diez Villaroel, Rosenblad Ferrari F430 GT -99
36. 14 LMP1 Lammers, Bleekemolen, Hart Dome-Judd S101 -98
37. 82 LMGT2 Dean, Tomlinson, Bell Panoz Esperante GTLM -96
38. 006 LMGT1 Fiskin, Bornhauser, Berville Aston Martin DBR9 -95
39. 32 LMP2 Barazi, Vergers, Ojjeh Zytek 07S/2 1:28.559
40. 19 LMP1 Berridge, Evans, Owen Lola-AER B06-10 -94
41. 17 LMP1 Primat, Tinseau, Treluyer Pescarolo-Judd 01 -93
42. 25 LMP2 Newton, Erdos, Wallace Lola-AER B05-40 59:20.439
43. 44 LMP2 Burgess, Siedler, de Pourtales Pescarolo-Judd 01 -90
44. 20 LMP2 Rostan, Macallister, Pickering Pilbeam-Judd MP93 -76
45. 86 LMGT2 Kane, Janis, Hezemans Spyker C8 Spyder GT2 -70
46. 71 LMGT2 Felbermayr, Felbermayr Jr, Collin Porsche 911 GT3 RSR -68
47. 5 LMP1 Fassler, Deletraz, Alexander-David Lola-Audi B07-10 -56
48. 9 LMP1 Campbell-Walter, Ortiz, Nakano Creation-Judd CA07 -55