Anyone watching today?
Who are you pulling for? Toyota with its gasoline-hybrid or Audi with its turbo diesel-hybrid? What of Corvette v. Aston v. Porsche v. Ferrari v. Viper?
Cool and wet so it should prove brutal.
“One cannot awaken a man who pretends to be asleep.”
Forgot it was this weekend so I missed the start.
Very interesting in that Toyota has the pace and due to the fuel capacity rules (more fuel for the petrol Toyota) they can go two more laps between stops.
“One cannot awaken a man who pretends to be asleep.”
That’s a big advantage. That at least gives them half a lap further when their rivals pit. But the 24hrs is really about endurance.
Anyways, I am pulling for Aston.
Yep, and one of the Toyotas is already having problems.
The Audis seem to be a little off the pace in the wet conditions.
I’m surprised at the SPEED of the Toyotas.
However, the #2 poke sitting Audi I making progress.
Yep. one of the Toyotas is having electrical issues (I imagine).
I’m a Porsche (all German marques, actually) but I’ve tired of Audi not being contested and now that VW owns both Porsche and Audi I’d like to see something different.
That said I’d like to see the Porsche 991 RSR beat the Astons and I’d like to see the Vettes defeat the Ferraris.
So far it has been interesting.
“One cannot awaken a man who pretends to be asleep.”
The RSR has some really good pace. The slightly larger intake is serving them well.
Recall the V8 commercials where the person slaps their forehead and says, “I could have had a V8!”
Slap your forehead and say, “I could have had a R8!”
Allen Simenson, the Aston Martin driver who crashed… was killed in the accident.
“One cannot awaken a man who pretends to be asleep.”
Video of car going off track, but not the crash itself:
http://jalopnik.com/le-mans-driver-allan-simonsen-killed-in-horrific-crash-541288338
Edited to add: After the crash itself: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/motoring/motorsport/le-mans/10136796/Danish-racing-driver-Allen-Simonsen-dies-after-Le-Mans-crash.html
yeah, I have been following this.
From Aston’s Racing website.
http://www.astonmartin.com/racing
Looks like he hit a wet spot, or had too much braking and lost traction on the bumper. That spot on the track is pretty fast going into the straight.
Anyone care to share a good live web-feed?
I’m using this one ==> http://www.24h-lemans.com/live/en/
WEC feed with different cars to choose from.
Live timing and scoring: http://www.24h-lemans.com/live/en/
Current positions: Audi - Lead, 4 & 5 Toyoto - 2 & 3
Good to see the overall pace of Toyota.
Congratulations to Audi. Again. Looking forward to the now internecine rivalry within VW Gruppe…
Congratulations to Porsche with the 991 RSR!
Aston showed remarkable balance and power and I think it safe to say they had the better car throughout qualifying and the majority of the race.
Looking forward to the Corvette C7!
I don’t recall Viper’s final standing but this was a long shakedown run for that car and team. I’m confident it can develop into a worthy competitor in short time.
Man, Ferrari has taken notes from Porsche with 5,000 privateer cars running! Good to see, actually.
Outside of the death as previously noted this was one of the more exciting 24 Hour races.
“One cannot awaken a man who pretends to be asleep.”
Anyone else remember when 3 Ford GT 40’s crossed the finish line 1,2, and 3, crushing Ferrari at LeMans? 
Yes, I do.
I also remember the classic battles between the Porsche 917’s and the Ferrari 512’s.
http://skiddmark.com/2012/11/through-the-lens-steffen-jahn/
And kudos to Tom Kristensen on his 9th win, the most anybody has ever won. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tom_Kristensen
Tom Kristensen, Denmark 9 wins 1997, 2000-2005, 2008, 2013
Runner up Jacky Ickx, Belgium 6 wins 1969, 1975-1977, 1981-1982
Yes.
There was no way those cars could do anything with the 7.0L Ford GT40 coupes. They could reach 210 MPH whenever they needed to down the then 2.5 mike Mulsanne straight.
“One cannot awaken a man who pretends to be asleep.”
Exactly.
Same with Porsche and Renault later and finally Porsche and Jaguar.
Good times.
“One cannot awaken a man who pretends to be asleep.”