Ready for Le Mans, June 14-15 2014

TornadoRed

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Loic Duval crashed the No.1 Audi during practice today. He is hospitalized, but his car is dead. No word on whether there's another ride for his teammates Tom Kristensen and Lucas di Grassi.

 

RedInk

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The pressrelease say: "At 17h05, today Wednesday 11 June, the No.1 Audi left the track at very high speed at the Porsche Curves, at Marshals Post No.131. The incident occurred during the free practice session for the 82nd edition of the 24 Hours of Le Mans."

At high speed? I wonder what went wrong or what caused this incident.
And Audi has one car less to compete with. :-(
 

MonsterTDI09

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Wow looks like he hit the end of the wall. They don't have a back up car?
 

TornadoRed

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Complete Qualifying Results

1.) LMP1 #7 Toyota Racing Toyota TS 040 Wurz/Sarrazin/Nakajima
2.) LMP1 #14 Porsche Team Porsche 919 Dumas/Jani/Lieb
3.) LMP1 #8 Toyota Racing Toyota TS 040 Davidson/Lapierre/Buemi
4.) LMP1 #3 Audi Sport Audi R18 Albuquerque/Bonanomi/Jarvis
5.) LMP1 #20 Porsche Team Porsche 919 Bernhard/Webber/Hartley
6.) LMP1 #2 Audi Sport Audi R18 Fassler/Lotterer/Treluyer
7.) LMP1 #1 Audi Sport Audi R18 Di Grassi/Gene/Kristensen
8.) LMP1 #12 Rebellion Racing R-One Prost/Heidfeld/Beche
9.) LMP1 #13 Rebellion Racing R-One Kraihamer/Belicchi/Leimer

Predictions: I don't think the Porsches are ready to go the full 24 hours. I think it will end up being a battle between the #7 Toyota and the #2 Audi.
 

RedInk

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1.)
Predictions: I don't think the Porsches are ready to go the full 24 hours. I think it will end up being a battle between the #7 Toyota and the #2 Audi.
Yes, but Audi starts in a bad position.
We all know the 24 hours are evolved from an "endurance race" into an "endurance sprint race". And Audi has not a good start position.
 

bhtooefr

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I think it's Toyota's race to lose, to be honest.

The Audis are gonna have to take some serious risks to make up for the lack of speed, which makes them more likely to crash out.

The Porsches are going to break.

That leaves, what, the Rebellions? Which are newer than the Porsches, but far simpler.
 

TornadoRed

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Audi #3 won't be coming back. Damage to #8 Toyota not so has, it appears.
 

RedInk

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Audi #3 won't be coming back. Damage to #8 Toyota not so has, it appears.
I believe it's - again? - Ferrari to blame?
16h54 : #81 Ferrari has been snatched, the #8 Toyota returned to pitlane and Audi #3 still against barrier on first section of Mulsanne straight

Sad, very sad. Someone from the Audi crew said he tried "not to swear on TV" but he asked loudly if the Ferrari driver even had brains...
 
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TornadoRed

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Okay, a bit more than eight hours into the race, and here is how it stands. Toyota #7 is running first, Audi #2 is second but still on the same lap, and Audi #1 is a lap behind. All three are even on pit stops. Much of the Toyota's lead resulted from a safety car incident, when the #2 got stuck at the end of pit lane waiting for the next safety car. (There are three of them, approximately equally spaced around the circuit.)

Toyota's second car, #8, was about eight laps behind the leader after the crash that knocked out the #3 Audi. Now it's spent quite a lot of time in the pit, in the garage, and though it's back on the track it's gone 11 laps down.

Porsches are now in 4th and 5th places; #20 is two laps down, #14 six laps down. One Rebellion Toyota is still running, in 6th place eight laps down.

So, two Audis still close to the one and only Toyota hybrid factory car, with nearly 16 hours left. IMO it looks pretty good for the Audi team, as Toyota will have to be very lucky to run trouble-free the rest of the way.
 

TornadoRed

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Slow lap for #1 Audi, then a fuel injector was replaced in the pit. #2 Audi is 1:32 behind #7 Toyota, #20 Porsche two laps down, #1 Audi now three laps down. More rain is expected before the end, 11+ hours from now.
 

TornadoRed

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#7 Toyota, driven by Nakajima, has stopped near Arnage, about 3/4 of the way around the track, and is being pushed behind the Armco barrier.

The #2 Audi, currently being driven by Treluyer, is now in the lead, with Porsche #20 soon to take over second and the #1 Audi shortly to take over third -- assuming Nakajima cannot get his Toyota restarted.

Edit: there seems to be an electrical problem, and the Radio LeMans announcers say they can see the Toyota's headlights coming on briefly but then going out again. It seems possible but unlikely that the Toyota will be able to make it back to the pits under its own power.
 
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1854sailor

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As of now, the #2 Audi is leading with the #20 Porsche in 2nd 3 laps down and the #1 Audi 1½ minutes behind. The #7 Toyota is stopped on the track 5 laps down.
 

terrydtdi

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1.) LMP1 #7 Toyota Racing Toyota TS 040 Wurz/Sarrazin/Nakajima
2.) LMP1 #14 Porsche Team Porsche 919 Dumas/Jani/Lieb
3.) LMP1 #8 Toyota Racing Toyota TS 040 Davidson/Lapierre/Buemi
4.) LMP1 #3 Audi Sport Audi R18 Albuquerque/Bonanomi/Jarvis
5.) LMP1 #20 Porsche Team Porsche 919 Bernhard/Webber/Hartley
6.) LMP1 #2 Audi Sport Audi R18 Fassler/Lotterer/Treluyer
7.) LMP1 #1 Audi Sport Audi R18 Di Grassi/Gene/Kristensen
8.) LMP1 #12 Rebellion Racing R-One Prost/Heidfeld/Beche
9.) LMP1 #13 Rebellion Racing R-One Kraihamer/Belicchi/Leimer
Predictions: I don't think the Porsches are ready to go the full 24 hours. I think it will end up being a battle between the #7 Toyota and the #2 Audi.
Prediction was true until about 1 hr ago. Audi has the reliability once again...so far.;)
 

TornadoRed

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#7 Toyota has officially retired with electrical problems, possibly associated with the hybrid system. The other Toyota, #8, is in fifth place 12 laps behind the lead Audi, but only about 20 seconds behind #14 Porsche.

It is daybreak in France, 9 1/2 hours to go.
 

TornadoRed

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Not much attention has been paid to the #42 Zytec-Nissan being campaigned by Caterham Racing. It is running 15th overall, in ninth place in LMP2, ten laps behind the lead LMP2.

The current driver is 16-year-old Matt McMurray, the youngest driver ever in the Le Mans 24 Hour.
http://www.autoweek.com/article/20140614/MOTORSPORTS/140619891
 

TornadoRed

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It's taking an awfully long time to change the turbo on the #2 Audi. It's been in the garage for 21 minutes already. It's already a lap behind the Porsche #20 and two laps behind Gene in the #1 Audi.

Edit: and it's away after 23+ minutes.
 

RedInk

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It's taking an awfully long time to change the turbo on the #2 Audi. It's been in the garage for 21 minutes already. It's already a lap behind the Porsche #20 and two laps behind Gene in the #1 Audi.

Edit: and it's away after 23+ minutes.
Replacing a fuel injector, replacing a turbo...
I believe it the first time in years that Audi suffers from such mechanical problems??
 

TornadoRed

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With just another 15+ minutes to go, the two Audis are orbiting the track in tandem, still separated by three laps, with the #8 Toyota another three laps back. Rebellion #12 is in fourth place, then the first of many LMP2 cars.

Both Porsches have been in the pits for quite a long time; maybe they'll come out right at the end, just to say that they finished.
 
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