Le Mans

[Forza Ferrari]

So guys, who will take top honours at La Sarthe this weekend, Audi or Peugeot, http://www.girlracer.co.uk/motorsport/james-foreman/10132-le-mans-24-hours-plus-electric-vehicle-ev-display.html

[Clarkfan]

I want Audi to win, but I don't know if they will.

[mwrmt]

I've gotta go with Audi. Team prep like no other and usually the cars are very reliable.

This year with the coupe should see them with similar speeds as the Pug's, but as I already mentioned, the nod for reliability usually goes to the team from Ingolstadt/Odenwald.

Here's to a new car on the top step:

http://www.joest-racing.de/web/img/upload/galerie/saison2011/le_mans_24h/audi_motorsport_110512_0102_3_motiv2.jpg

[Forza Ferrari]

Yeah, it's gonna be a close fight! Don't count out the privateer Team Oreca with their Peugeot 908, they won Sebring when the factory teams ran into trouble, could happen again, you never know...

[Clarkfan]

Audi sweep the front row!!!

Yahoo.

[beansport]

I got to go with Audi they know their way around that place

[ferrarif1]

#2 AUDI takes the pole , with other Audi and PUGs close by..

this is gonna be close!

[Clarkfan]

1 - 6 covered by .46 of a second.

After that it gap grows immensely. The Oreca Pug in 7th is 4.3 seconds off of the pole time.

The factory Audis and Pugs are in a league of their own.

[Au Rouge]

I have been watching the adds on speed for Le Mans, is there
any other cars in the race other than Corvettes?:confused::confused:

[Clarkfan]

Re McNish..............all I can say is...................HOLY S***

Thank god he is ok and apparently so too are all the photographers.

[f1fanatic 84]

the new style L m cars from audi and peugeot (correct spelling ?) are great lookers. the peugeot is imo the better looking of the two even if the audi s were slightly faster in quali:)

[RMR2]

Re McNish..............all I can say is...................HOLY S***

Thank god he is ok and apparently so too are all the photographers.

The Photographer right by the fence,wearing the blue bib seemed he wasn't aware of what was happening until the tire and wheel bounced off the ground next to her..Is she ever lucky :eek: As well,the guy carrying the monopod and camera closely followed by said tire and rim...

It's already posted on YT,

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4jnibRyrK-o

[beansport]

lucky indeed

http://www.blogcdn.com/www.autoblog.com/media/2011/06/mcnish-crash-lead.jpg

[race1010]

Happened to flip on the tube just after it happened and am amazed that:

(1) McNish took that big of a risk so early in the race....??? :confused:
(2) the people in that area seemed almost immune to what was happening right in front of them (especially the guy in blue....duh...:o
(3) nobody was injured by either the car or the debris...:eek:
(4) that Audi won't finish 1-2-3 this year....:o

Hell of a way to start the race tho'.....

[Clarkfan]

Being a semi-pro photographer I can say this...........you become so immersed in what you are looking at through the view finder that you often become totally oblivious to what is going on around you.

I have done it myself and often missed what was happening beside me.

Thankfully everyone is ok, and as the Speed guys said.............next year the photogs will not be there. That area will be completely redone.

[joem2728]

Just happened to see the replay on you tube as i was working this morning. Wow...that is a real testament to the structural integrity of the Audi. I'd have to say that McNish made a dumb mistake so early in the race, but thankfully he was unhurt. Anyone else gonna be up late tonight?

[Cosworth]

WOW!!

McNish, Rockenfeller, and those standing by are lucky to be alive!

What a black day for Audi.

Can't imagine what could have happened if these were still the roadsters. :eek:


RJ

[joem2728]

That 2nd crash must have been even more massive than the 1st. Wow, that really says something about the strength of these cars. Just unreal.

[Clarkfan]

Amazing, absolutely amazing that things turned out as well as they did.

Don't know if I would call it a "black day for Audi" as that term is usually indicative of deaths.

joem, you and I well remember incidents in the past wherein the driver definitely would have been killed, not to mention spectators and marshals.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FXtb5eDUuQw

Thankfully we have now moved well beyond those years.

[Ground Effect]

My favorite highlight......


Never mind thanks to SPEED we get to watch an ARCA race that is red flagged for Fog!
http://farm1.static.flickr.com/180/415694163_28e7f1486d_m.jpg

[beansport]

Amazing, absolutely amazing that things turned out as well as they did.

Don't know if I would call it a "black day for Audi" as that term is usually indicative of deaths.

joem, you and I well remember incidents in the past wherein the driver definitely would have been killed, not to mention spectators and marshals.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FXtb5eDUuQw

Thankfully we have now moved well beyond those years.

You only have to go back as far as 1986, Joe Gartner's Porsche suffered a mechanical failure, causing it to swerve and strike the barrier head-on.
Similar to Audi's 2nd crash but with a much different out come.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=abJhmUPyPl0
If I recall, didn't they have a run of 4-5 striaght years in the 80's with huge crashes, one of them I remember was so bad it cought the forest around it on fire

[Forza Ferrari]

Incredible! As all have been saying, McNish and the photograhers are all lucky to be alive. I thought at one point the car was going to flip over the barrier.

I do think though that McNish was maybe pushing too hard too early, also, the Ferrari driver clearly had no idea McNish was coming through, long been a problem in sportscar racing, prototypes getting taken out by slower cars either not looking in their mirrors or too involved in their own battles.

[Cosworth]

Don't know if I would call it a "black day for Audi" as that term is usually indicative of deaths.



Perhaps "black" was a poor choice, but crazy and scary incidents that could have had fatal consequences for Audi and innocent by-standers nonetheless. Just glad all parties are relatively ok.


RJ

[beansport]

Damn that #2 Audi is flying, half sec. faster then Quali.
It is a real shame they lost two cars

[Clarkfan]

Beans, yes there have been incidents through the years and the flying Mercs were truly scary.

I guess my point was the number of deaths in 1955. Thankfully that has never been repeated.

14 minutes to go and fingers crossed. Hopefully a triumphant day for Audi after so much heart ache.

[Clarkfan]

YES!!!!!

What a great team effort!!! And such raw emotion at the end. Lovely to see.

24 hours and a gap to 2nd place of only 13.8 seconds. A great event. There is another supposed race on this afternoon, it will be hard pressed to compete with this one.

And such friendship amongst the teams. Nice to see the Peugeot and Audi teams mingling harmoniously at the end.

Derrick, put me down for one Spark model please. :D

[beansport]

Now thats a race, I just might have to watch it again next weekend
Audi what can you say, after all that team went though they never lost focus

[joem2728]

YES!!!!!

What a great team effort!!! And such raw emotion at the end. Lovely to see.

24 hours and a gap to 2nd place of only 13.8 seconds. A great event. There is another supposed race on this afternoon, it will be hard pressed to compete with this one.

And such friendship amongst the teams. Nice to see the Peugeot and Audi teams mingling harmoniously at the end.

Derrick, put me down for one Spark model please. :D

Completely agree mate. And add a SPARK 2nd place Peugeot to the Audi for me please.

[Au Rouge]

If you look at the video closely there is a section of the barrier
that seems to protrude out for some reason from what would other
-wise have been a straight section. This is what causes the car to
flip quite violently even though it was airborne just before contact.
Once again we are reminded that isn't golf, a great testament to the
technology of the Audi that there was no serious injuries.

[Clarkfan]

Google earth to the rescue again.

It doesn't protrude as much as it overlaps. There are three exits from behind the barriers at that corner and McNish had the misfortune to hit the barriers shortly after the 2nd exit. At each exit, as the barriers open up they curve out/in slightly.

I think the camera angles exaggerated the angle of the opening, but Google earth shows it reasonably well.

The Ferrari lifted up the rear of the Audi and turned it around and hence McNish skated off the track and through the sand trap.

I do wonder though............had the "safety" fin not been in place what would have happened? The fin is there to help slow them down when they get sideways.

All in all, a lucky escape for all concerned. And I suspect changes will be made in that area for 2012. F1 has gotten rid of many sand traps, and I guess it is just a matter of time before Le Mans does as well.

[mwrmt]

Got back late last night but managed to sort through about 14 hours of it.

What can I say that you guys haven't already. That was one hellishly violent crash for McNish, but it could have been so much worse and I too am glad everyone is OK. Looked like one guy/girl might have toasted their really big lens...OUCH!!!:eek:

haven't heard much about Rocky yet, but will Google soon.

All I can say is WTG Audi and the newest batch of winners! :cool:

http://feedmesportscars.com/files/110613audi.jpg

[Clarkfan]

Spark model ORDERED!!!!!

[Clarkfan]

Has anyone heard any news re Rockenfeller????

[race1010]

Read a small piece that said he was relatively unhurt except for a small cut on one hand, Clarkie....pretty good considering how bad the wreck was.....

[Clarkfan]

Thank goodness for that.