Audi confirms ALMS domination but looses to Peugeot in LMS
Aug 26th, 2008
Peugeot managed once again to beat Audi in the European Le Mans Series, this time at Nurburgring. The 908 HDi FAP proved again superior to the R10s and since Peugeot didn't have any reliability problems the outcome was the obvious one.
The situation is completely different in the American Le Mans Series where Audi has one once again, this time at the Mosport International Raceway, making another step towards winning the 2008 series.
Audi dominates American Le Mans Series
Aug 14th, 2008
Audi managed to score another win in the American Le Mans Series with the R10s grabbing the first two places in the
Generac 500 race at Road America. Penske only managed to place the Porsche RS Spyders the fourth and sixth place.
Audi is making good progress towards securing an overall American Le Mans Series win this year by beating
Penske where the Spyders have been invincible last year: in city and other short 500 miles races.
Audi wins Mid Ohio
July 28nd, 2008
High on the heels on the of their Le Mans win, Audi placed the two R10s in the top two positions at the Acura Sports Car Challenge at Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course. This is a decisive win for Audi who takes strong option for an overall American Le Mans Series win this year.
Penske's Romains Dumas and Timo Bernhard placed their Porsche RS Spyder in third place. The second Posrche only arrived sixth.
Jaquar, Aston to run prototypes at Le Mans
July 3rd, 2008
The guys over at
Le Mans 2008 - why Audi rules
June 19th, 2008
The 24 Heure du Mans 2008 was one incredible race. After 24 hours of continuous racing, there was still only
one lap between the leading Audi no. 2 driven by Kristensen, McNish and Capello and the challenging
Peugeot no. 7 driven by Villeneuve, Sarazin and Minassian. Tom Kristensen's dream to win Le Mans for the
8th time became true. Jacques Villeneuve's dream to become the first man ever to be Formula 1
Champion, Indy 500 and 24 Hours of Le Mans winner fell apart once again. But he'll try again next time.
Read more...
Audi wins the 24 Hours of Le Mans 2008
June 15th, 2008
After a fierce fight the Audi R10 no. 2 driven by Tom Kristensen, Allan McNish and Dindo Capello has won the 24 Heures du Mans 2008.
This is Tom Kristensen's 8th victory here at Le Mans. The three Audi drivers did a great job in wining
this race with a slower car than the Peugeot 908. The Peugeot 908 HDi FAP no. 7 driven by Jacques Villeneuve,
Nicolas Minassian and Marc Gene arrived second and the no. 9 of Frank Montagny, Christian Klein and
Ricardo Zonta arrived third. Pescarolo Sport arrived first in the unofficial petrol LMP1 category.
LMP2 was won by Van Markensteijn followed by Team Essex, both running Porsche RS Spyders. GT1 was won by the Aston 009 followed by the two Corvettes and GT2 went to Risi Competizione.
24 Hours of Le Mans 2008: Two Hours To Go
June 14th, 2008
The Audi no. 2 driven by Kirstensen, McNish and Capello is leading the pack a couple of hours before the end followed closely by the Peugeot no. 7 of Marc Gene, Jacques Villeneuve and Nicolas Minassian. Following are the Peugeot no. 9, Audi no. 3 and Peugeot no. 8. The Pescarolo no. 17 is 7th and leading the pack of non-diesel LMP1 prototypes.
The Porsche RS Spyders are leading in LMP2 with Van Merksteijn Motorsport leading Team Essex by 9 laps. They're followed by Saulnier, Quifel and Barazi.
In GT1, the Aston 009 is leading the Corvette no. 63 by one lap, followed by the Corvette no. 64, the Aston 007 and the Corvettes no 72 and 73 of Luc Alphand Adventures.
In GT2 Risi Competizione's Ferrari F430 driven by Jaime Melo, Mika Salo and Gianmaria Bruni is leading Virgo Motorsport by three laps. BMS Scuderia Italia is in the third position three laps behind,
24 Hours of Le Mans 2008 Starting Grid
June 14th, 2008
There are only about two hours left to the start of the 76th edition of the 24 Heures du Mans. On the starting grid,
the Peugeot 908 HDi FAPs number 9, 8 and 7 have taken the top three positions, in this order. Next three positions
went to the three Audi R10s number 2, 1 and 3 followed by Dome Racing Team, Charouz Racing System and
Team Oreca Matmut. Read more...
24 Heures du Mans 2008 Drivers' Parade
June 13th, 2008
The Drivers' Parade is the 24 Hours of Le Mans event which you both love and hate. You love it for the super cars, for being able to get autographs from your favorite driver and for the Hawaiian Tropic Girls, but you hate it for the crappy organization. Read more and enjoy a few pictures.
24 Heures du Mans 2008 Qualifying Tests
June 12th, 2008
The 24 Heures du Mans 2008 qualifying tests revealed what was clear to everybody:
Peugeot has the fastest cars on the track, which is likely to secure them
the pole position. the Peugeot 908 HDi FAP number 9, however was seriously crashed
by Ricardo Zonta. Many other teams suffered serious crashes, including Pescarolo,
Courage-Oreca and Kruse. Audi played it safe and managed to place their cars right behind the
Peugeots. Read more...
24 Heures du Mans 2008 Scrutineering - Day 2
June 10th 2008
So, second day at the 24 Hours of Le Mans 2008 scrutineering session. The weather is great and there's a huge crowd, which is understandable because all french teams are to complete technical and administrative checking this second day: Pescarolo Sport, Courage Oreca and the latest and the greatest of them, the Audi challenger, Peugeot. Read more...
24 Heures du Mans 2008 Scrutineering - Day 1
June 9th, 2008
It was nice and sunny in Le Mans today as the 24 Hours of Le Mans racing week began with the first day of scrutineering. It was interesting as always with great cars to see and interesting things to hear as drivers got interviewed by Radio Le Mans. So, a few interesting facts...
Le Mans is going green. after Audi has announced the R10s will run on a bio-diesel mix,
we find out today the official Corvettes will run on bio-ethanol. This is good. By the
way the entire Corvette team is looking forward to give a serious beating to the Astons.
Oh my goodness, what did they do to the Astons? what's that pale blue color
on the Aston Martins? Really! In the years before the DBR9 used to be a angry, aggressive car.
One that imposed respect. The pale blue Gulf color totally ruins this gorgeous car. I
wouldn't be surprised to see James Bond drive a BMW again after this fiasco.
The Porsche RS Spyders look great. Especially the Van Merksteijn. Looking forward to
see how they will perform in the race. Stay tuned for tomorrow's report.
Audi R10 TDi to race on bio diesel mix at Le Mans
June 3rd, 2008
Audi keeps innovating and informs that its three Audi R10 TDis that will race the 24 Hours of Le Mans 2008 will run on a mix of traditional and bio diesel. The proportions of the mix, which is produced by Shell, was not disclosed. This is the first time bio diesel is used in racing. The mix will significantly reduce emissions.
Peugeot Leads the 24 Heures du Mans Test Days
June 1st, 2008
The test sessions today have been clearly dominated by Peugeot for whom Pedro Lamy and Franck
Montagny have scored the fastest laps with their two 908 HDi FAPs. Third fastest lap went
to Frank Biela for Audi Sport, followed by Marc Gene for Peugeot and Lucas Luhr for Audi Sport.
Harold Primat and Emmanuel Collard scored the fastest times among petrol cars
for Pescarolo Sport.
In LMP2 the two Porsche RS Spyders ran by Van Merksteijn Motorsport and Team Essex stood up to their reputation and scored the two fastest laps in the category but were far behind the top 10 LMP1 pack. Third in LMP2 was Barazi Epsilon's Zytec 07s followed by Embassy Racing's Embassy Zytec.
GT1 was dominated by Aston Martin Racing's DBR9 followed by Larbre Competition's
Saleen S7R and by Corvette Racing's Corvette C6.R, driven by Oliver Gavin.
Risi Compotizione's Ferrari F430 GT was the fastest car in GT2 followed by Flying Lizard's
Porsche 911 GT3 RSR and BMS Scuderia Italia's Ferrari F430 GT.
Tracy Krohn and Marc Gene Transported to Hospital
June 1st, 2008
Tracy Krohn and Marc Gene have been transported to the Le Mans hospital following
two separate accidents. First, Krohn lost control of Risi Competizione's Ferrari
F430 GT at the Ford chicane. The car was heavily damaged and Tracy Krohn seemed
fine. he was transported to the Le Mans Hospital for a full check-up.
Marc Gene crashed his #7 Peugeot 908 HDi FAP at the Porsche curve. The car was
heavily damaged and Marc was transported to the hospital with a broken toe.
24 Heures du Mans 2008 - a qiuck preview
May 30th, 2008
In the wake of the 24 Hours of Le Mans test days, let's have a look at the cars on the starting grid and speculate a little on what's going to happen.
It's no secret, this year is going to be Audi vs. Peugeot all over again. Confident of
the experience they've acquired last year at the 24 Hours of Le Mans and in the Le Mans Series,
Peugeot is throwing an extra 908 HDi into the game. And their confidence is well justified:
Peugeot have beaten Audi in every single Le Mans series race. Their last
victory was at the 1000 Km Spa where Jacques Villeneuve arrived first in his 908 HDi.
1000 Km, however, is not 24 Hours.
Audi didn't do so bad this season either. They managed to reverse the series of defeats
against Penske's RS Spyders in the American Le Mans Series and they were always second
right behind Peugeot in the Le Mans Series. Audi should not be underestimated and Peugeot
learned it the hard way last year: even though Peugeot had secured the pole position,
the Audi R10s passed them in the first lap before befor they could say oops.
Sebastien Bourdais can tell you something about it.
Pescarolo Sport has once again enhanced their presence in the race, by providing
prototype cars to both Rollcentre and Saulnier. Their partnership seems to work well.
The big premiere this year is the presence in the race of two LMP2 Porsche RS Spyders. Even though they are not being run by Penske or Porsche itself but by two smaller teams - Team Essex and VAN Merksteijn Motorsport - those are two exceptional cars and should be
Le Mans 2008 on Eurosport
May 25th, 2008
Eurosport will dedicate extensive air time to this year's 24 Heures du Mans. lemans.org, the 24 Heures du Mans official web site, has published a previsional broadcasting schedule.
Penske wins the ALMS Utah Grand Prix
May 20st, 2008
Audi has completely missed the Utah American Le Mans Series Grand Prix, which was dominated by Penske's Porsche RS Spyders. While the Porsches have captured the first two places on the overall results board, Audi only managed to put their cars in the 7th and 21st places, respectively.
1000 Km of Spa
May 13st, 2008
Peugeot scored another success last weekend in the Le Mans series by wining the 1000 Km of Spa, in Belgium. This was an important test for Peugeot because of two reasons.
First this was the third win with only two races left for the remainder of the season, which means that unless Peugeot really messes up the rest of the season, they have pretty much secured the first place in the manufacturers classification. Second, it was the final chance to compete against Audi before the 24 Hours of Le Mans in June.
This is even more important since the win was scored by Peugeot's top driver trio, the one Peugeot has hi hopes for at Le Mans 2008: Marc Gene, Nicolas Minassian and Jaques Villeneuve. It was Villeneuve's first success since his association with Peugeot for the 24 Heures du Mans 2007.
1000 Km of Monza and the Long Beach Grand Prix
May 6st, 2008
Pedro Lamy and Stephane Sarazin managed to put their Peugeot 908 HDi in the first place
at the 2008 1000 Km of Monza, handing Peugeot the second Le Mans Series win in a row.
Audi captured the second place and Pescarolo Sport the third. It's good to see privateers
like Henri Pescarolo getting close to the top and challenge giants Audi and Peugeot.
Small private teams have a hard time convincing sponsors they stand a chance against
such powerful players and therefore their resources are rather limited these days.
Audi is doing much better in the American Le Mans Series where they scored an important
win by taking the first two places of the Long Beach Grand Prix. Penske's Porsche RS Spyders
only arrived 4th and 5th, the 3rd place going to PATRîN HIGHCROFT RACING.
Tafel Racing declines 24 Hours of Le Mans invite, Saulnier Racing gets the place
April 13st, 2008
After a surprise win at the st. Petersburg Grand Prix in the American Le Mans Series Tafel Racing has decide to decline the invitation it was awarded by the ACO to race the 24 Hours of Le Mans 2008. The reason invoked by Jim Tafel is his desire to dedicate all this year's available resources to the to the American Le Mans Series.
In accordance with ACO regulations, Tafel's place was awarded to the first car on the waiting list, that is Saulnier Racing's Pascarolo Judd no. 4.
The starting grid of the 12 Hours of Sebring 2008 has been announced. Even though Peugeot have scored the fastest
lap time during the qualifying session, Audi has got the pole position thanks to an accident that
rendered the track unusable early in the process. Indeed, Ben Devlin crashed his car into the tire wall which
caused a high quantity of debris and stopped the session.
Because there was not enough time to clear the track and resume the qualifying session and because LMP1 cars
had less than 10 minutes of running time, the officials canceled the session and set the grid by practice time.