Hour 15: Audis redefine dominant

With day firmly broken at Le Mans, the Audis are anything but that and continue to lap in first and second place with bullet proof resilience. The only foot the Joest team put wrong, which also happened to be the 15th hour's highpoint, was a wheel on the wrong side of a kerb for Christian Pescatori in the second-placed number two car.
A seamless pitstop for the lead number one R8 saw Frank Biela take over the driving duties from Emanuele Pirro 10 minutes before the end of the 15 hour mark. Christian Pescatori had a similarly efficient stop and despite a three-lap deficit, the Italian continues to match the lead car for pace.

Such is the strength of the Joest team's lead, that the Audi's are in fact further in front of their nearest rival after 15 hours, than they were at the same point in last year's race (11 laps compared to only seven in 2000).

The nearest rival is the number eight Bentley, which had a new driver in charge after a pitstop early in the hour. Butch Leitzinger made way for Andy Wallace at the controls after a double-stint from the American.

The EXP Speed 8 took on a fresh set of Dunlop slicks because along with daylight has come a dry track at La Sarthe. Gone are the gearbox problems that thwarted the Bentley team during the damp, dark hours of the night and Wallace is managing to put in ballpark 3m55s lap times along with the leaders.

"We topped up the oil, just to be safe," said team boss John Wickham of Bentley's stop. "We have finally got the radio going and put some slicks on. The track is now pretty much dry and Butch has been on slicks for the last two stints."

In fourth place the number 16 Chrysler-Mopar made full use of the kitty litter at the Ford chicane and Olivier Beretta decided to come in to the pits to allow the team to get the gravel out of the cars cooling ducts.


No change in LMP675. The ROC car remains fifth overall, but is now 17 laps behind the leader. The car pitted at 0620 for fuel and intermediate tyres plus more coolant again. Jordi Gene took the helm. The WR is still a distant second in class.

Johnny O'Connell remains in the number 63 Corvette in the GTS lead. He made a leisurely stop at 0620 for slicks. The sister car made a lengthy stop for new brake pads and then spun. The McKeller/Lambert/Mowlem Saleen S7 is now second in class, four laps behind.

The GT class lead is now in the hands of the Jeannette/Dumas/Hazebrouck Porsche 911 GT3, which is just 3m23.700s ahead of the Alphand Porsche lying second in class.


1 (900) F.Biela/T.Kristensen/E.Pirro, Audi R8, Joest Audi Sport, 198 laps
2 (900) R Capello/L Aiello/C Pescatori, Audi R8, Joest Audi Sport, + 3laps
8 (GTP) A.Wallace/B.Leitzinger/E.Vande Poele, Bentley EXP Speed 8, Team Bentley, +11 laps
16 (900) O.Beretta/K.Wendlinger/P.Lamy, Chrysler-Mopar LMP, Team Playstation, +16 laps
38 (675) J.D. Deletraz/P.Farbe/J.Gene Reynard-Lehmann 01Q ROC Competition, +18 laps
6 (900) W.Taylor/M.Angelelli/C.Tinseau, Cadillac Northstar LMP, DAMS, +19 laps
63 (GTS) R.Fellows/J.O'Connell/S.Pruett, Chevrolet Corvette C5-R, Corvette Racing, + 19 laps
17 (900) J C. Boullion/S.Bourdais/L.Redon, Courage-Peugeot C60, Pescarolo Sport. +20 laps
14 (900) S.Ara/N.Amorim/M.Kondo, Chrysler-Mopar LMP, ORECA Chrysler, +21 laps
62 (GTS) I.McKellar/B.Lambert/J.Mowlem, Saleen-Ford S7R, Ray Mallock Limited, +23 Laps

Aiello/Capello, Audi R8, Team Joest Audi Sport, 3m39.046s

38 (675) J.D. Deletraz/P.Farbe/J.Gene
Reynard-Lehmann 01Q ROC Competition, +17 laps
63 (GTS) R.Fellows/J.O'Connell/S.Pruett,
Chevrolet Corvette C5-R, Corvette Racing, +18 laps
77 (GT) G Jeannette/R Dumas/P Haezebrouck, Porsche 911
GT3-RS, Freisinger Motorsport, + 24 laps

J Lammers/V Hillebrand/D Crevils, Dome-Judd, Racing for Holland, electrics
(900) Y.Dalmas/F.Montagny/S.Sarrazin, Chrysler-Mopar LMP, ORECA Chrysler, engine
B Mazzuccola/V Rice/C Wagner, Callaway Corvette, Aspen Knolls, engine
(675) D.de Radigues/S.Maassen/H.Matsuda, Reynard-Judd 01Q, Dick Barbour Racing, unknown
c Hurtgen/R Fairbanks/C Gleason, Lola Nissan, Roock-Knighthawk Racing, engine
K McGarrity/M Blundell/J Bailey, MG, MG Sport, engine
(900) K.Graf/J.Davies/G.Formato, Panoz LMP 07, Panoz Motorsports, engine
(900) D.Brabham/J.Magnussen/F.Lagorce, Panoz LMP 07, Panoz Motorsports, unknown
(900) J.Herbert/R.Kelleners/D.Theys, Audi R8, Champion Racing, engine
(900) J.Nielsen/H.Katoh/C.Elgaard, Dome-Judd S101, Den Bla Avis, engine
(GTS) V.Vosse/C.Rosenblad/V.Ickx, Chrysler Viper GTS-R Paul Belmondo Racing, accident
(GTP) M.Brundle/S.Ortelli/G.Smith, Bentley EXP Speed 8, Team Bentley, gearbox
(900) E.Collard/M.Goossens/E.Bernard, Cadillac Northstar LMP, DAMS, stopped
(900) S.Johansson/T.Coronel/P.Lemarie, Audi R8, Johansson Motorsport, accident damage
GT R Donovan/T Lingner/C MacAllister, Porsche 911 GT3, Racing Engineering, unknown
(675) A.Reid/W.Hughes/J.Kane, MG-Lola EX257, MG Sport, engine
(675) M.Duno/J.Graham/D.Murry, Reynard-Judd 01Q, Dick Barbour Racing, accident
(GTS) T.Seiler/W.Brun/C.Slater, Saleen-Ford S7R, Konrad Motorsport, accident
(GTS) D.Terrien/J.Cochet/J.P. Dayraut, Chrysler Viper GTS-R, Equipe de France FFSA, accident
(675) W.Carway/M.O'Connell/F.Migault, Pilbeam-Nissan MP84 Rowan Racing, accident