Gotta love this race, even without a heavy presence from BMW. I've been watching since the 10th hour, and I'm exhausted. Can't turn it off though, and definately can't imagine how the guys on the race teams feel. I think my favorite part is getting to see the teams actually working on the cars beyond tire and wing changes. I've seen fuel pumps, radiator screens, brake pads, and even light bulbs being changed. What other race gives you pit action like that???
I agree. Ive been watching since yesterday. Even followed it on Speetv.com when SpeedChannel broke off coverage. Im happy for the Pueguet team. GT1 sucks ever since the Vipers left. No one to really give Team Corvette any run so the class has been boring for years. Ferrari swept GT2 lol.....Love those F430's. Good race but not as exiting as the late 90's early 00's Le Mans.
I really miss Mercedes, BMW, Porsche and Ferrari in the LMP/LMGT1 class. Would love to see the Viper, Lamborghini, Ferrari, Aston Martin, Porsche etc in GT1 class to really spice things up for the Corvettes but I think this is the last year for the Corvette program in Le Mans At least they went out like the Oreca Vipers did.....On top.
Le Mans and Sebring have been races I've been watching since the late 70's when I was on the verge of getting my driver's license.
Being an Audi guy myself, I'm bummed that the R15 had so many teeting issues. I don't know why Wofgang Dietrich introduced it so late. Obviously he was under pressure by Audi Sport, but even if things were sorted out in time, the Peugeot still had a significant power advantage. I guess their sucess in F1 paid dividends, while Audi's limited experience in the 700hp arena showed.
I also agree w/ Snakebitten that its a shame that the Mercedes and Viper presence kept the competition limited.
The P1/P2 Mercedes cars on the 80's were pretty awesome as were the Nissans.
With the auto industry in the toilet, I think its going to stay this way.
Maybe MBZ and BMW will forget F1 and campaign towards the LeMans series.
A great Le Mans this year, managed to get most of the first 13hrs, good to wake up today to find the order of LMP1 was much the same, so hadn't missed much. Shame for Pescarolo I thought as they had their best chance of a podium in years.....maybe next year.
Regarding Audi, as I was watching the race I couldn't help but wonder why they're so short of pace. The R15 has had a bit of development since it's launch and yet it didn't lap much within 3sec's of the 908's.....3 seconds off in the most up to date car on the grid makes me wonder what's going on with them. I know development and testing will improve things, as it clearly has for Peugeot, but you'd think the R15 would of been as quick if not quicker than the 908 straight out of the box.
Maybe Ferrari, BMW, MB and Toyota will spend their F1 surplus on a sportscar program if they dont get their way on the budget cap situation with the F.I.A. Would be nice to see what they would produce, as their last efforts were bang on.
In addition to the 24hrs, it's been a great weekend for 2 wheel action in Europe with the TT climax this weekend - those guy's are nut's! has to be the most dangerous race in the world bar none! And, Moto GP from Barcelona, great race, last 3 laps were sensational right up to the last corner !!
Oh yeah, forget the Vipers, I seem to remember the Panoz made a bit of a noise!
Also a big fan of F1, GT racing and Lemans here. LeMans is on my list of must see races. Regarding Peugeot, the announcers today gave me the impression that they were and entirely separate company from Renault (Who I assumed they were affiliated with, and hence a tie to current F1). Did Peugot have a successful F1 team in the past, or are they really tied to the current Renault program? I've followed the series for years, but from an admittedly German skewed view... for obvious reasons... Go BMW!
A great Le Mans this year, managed to get most of the first 13hrs, good to wake up today to find the order of LMP1 was much the same, so hadn't missed much. Shame for Pescarolo I thought as they had their best chance of a podium in years.....maybe next year.
Regarding Audi, as I was watching the race I couldn't help but wonder why they're so short of pace. The R15 has had a bit of development since it's launch and yet it didn't lap much within 3sec's of the 908's.....3 seconds off in the most up to date car on the grid makes me wonder what's going on with them. I know development and testing will improve things, as it clearly has for Peugeot, but you'd think the R15 would of been as quick if not quicker than the 908 straight out of the box.
Maybe Ferrari, BMW, MB and Toyota will spend their F1 surplus on a sportscar program if they dont get their way on the budget cap situation with the F.I.A. Would be nice to see what they would produce, as their last efforts were bang on.
In addition to the 24hrs, it's been a great weekend for 2 wheel action in Europe with the TT climax this weekend - those guy's are nut's! has to be the most dangerous race in the world bar none! And, Moto GP from Barcelona, great race, last 3 laps were sensational right up to the last corner !!
Oh yeah, forget the Vipers, I seem to remember the Panoz made a bit of a noise!
Yeah I was shocked the Audi R15 werent the class of the field. The Peugoet's just were much faster in the straights and seemed to be the Audi's equal in the twisties. No way for the R15's to win overall. Gotta give the Peugoet team major kudos for defeating the Audi Le Mans dynasty well almost dynasty.
BTW how can you say forget the Vipers and mention the Panoz??The Vipers dominated Le Mans for 3 straight years with Team Corvette running at the time with the C5r's. The Vipers raped everyone for 3 straight Le Mans victories and ALMS crown. Only after the Oreca Vipers left Le Mans did Team Corvette start winning.
The Vipers were the first American GT1 car to win an endurance race as "overall" winners. Team Corvette became the second a year or two later. Beating even the prototype class at 24 hours of Daytona. Panoz didnt come close to either the Vipers or Vettes in the GT1 class. Only time, post-Oreca, Team Corvette got a semi serious challenged was briefly by Ferrari 575 LM Prodrive and the Aston Martin which won that year one race. Not fighting with ya bro but it seems like either you forgot about the Vipers history in Le Mans or maybe you just dont care much for Vipers lol. If its the latter then no prob as to each his own.
Le Mans and Sebring have been races I've been watching since the late 70's when I was on the verge of getting my driver's license.
Being an Audi guy myself, I'm bummed that the R15 had so many teeting issues. I don't know why Wofgang Dietrich introduced it so late. Obviously he was under pressure by Audi Sport, but even if things were sorted out in time, the Peugeot still had a significant power advantage. I guess their sucess in F1 paid dividends, while Audi's limited experience in the 700hp arena showed.
I also agree w/ Snakebitten that its a shame that the Mercedes and Viper presence kept the competition limited.
The P1/P2 Mercedes cars on the 80's were pretty awesome as were the Nissans.
With the auto industry in the toilet, I think its going to stay this way.
Maybe MBZ and BMW will forget F1 and campaign towards the LeMans series.
Yeah I loved Le Mans from back in the day. My first memory of watching was early 90's with the Sauber Mercedes vs one of my favorite LM prototypes of all time. Renown Mazda 787b. Only Japanese car to ever win Le Mans. I also loved some old Proto from the 90 like the old Silk Cut Jaguars, Nissan R390[Damn they were fast], Ferrari 333sp, Dauer Porsches[one of my favs], Mclaren F1 LM[all time favs], Merc CLK-GTRs, Porsche GT1's man I can go on and on. I miss those marques in the Le Mans. I really wish they would return....
BTW I read on one of the forums that Ferrari may focus totally on Le Mans series since they may pull out of F1 in protest of the new rules. Would hate to see them go from F1 but F1 is getting too political and away from real racing. Would love to see a Ferrari in every Le Mans class. Wouldnt mind seeing the return of BMW to GT2 with those new "legal" v8 M3's lol.
Last edited by SnakeBitten; 16th June 2009 at 02:09.
SB, I wasn't meaning the vipers or the corvettes results, I was talking about the sound the Panoz made - dont think they did much in terms of silencers / mufflers !! TBH I've never kept right up with the gt classes, suppose it's down to whats shown on TV mostly and with McNish being Scottish I've paid more attention to the Prototypes.
Russ, on the Renault / Peugeot thing. Citroen is the other french manufacturer that Peugeot has a tie up with, I think they have the same parent company (PSA). But, Peugeot did supply F1 engines in the mid 90's to Mclaren, Jordan and Prost, without any decent results, and poor reliability as far as I remember. I doubt that programe had anything to offer their diesel race engines, although the F1 engines may well have evolved from their LeMans programe in the early 90's.
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At least they went out like the Oreca Vipers did.....On top. 
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