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00:00:00next saturday the rolex sports car series heads to mid ohio sports car course the field is packed
00:00:10with hungry drivers and the cars are tightly tuned for a race that never fails to bring the drama
00:00:15the rolex sports car series from mid ohio next saturday night 8 eastern only on speed
00:00:20welcome back everybody it's great to have you with us for speeds continuing live coverage of the 75th
00:00:30running of this legendary event the michelin 24 hours of le mans greg kramer and calvin fish
00:00:36up here in the booth pit side brian till and andrew marriott we are now just under nine hours
00:00:42remaining in this legendary race and just over 2 000 miles completed 236 laps officially in the books
00:00:50working 237 and alan mcnish while we were in break brought the leading number two audi r10 tdi diesel
00:00:58into the pits tires and fuel only and i believe that sets him up for his fourth consecutive stint
00:01:04running quads for the drivers doubles for the tires and mcnish back out with an area hiccup looking
00:01:10very strong indeed he really is and i think he's on a quadruple stint uh with this last one he's
00:01:15putting in he didn't take tires there wasn't around when he jumped in the car the beginning of the
00:01:19stint bar would assume just the way they've been doing their routine that allen is on the fourth
00:01:24run in the car and we'd expect him to jump out i think it'll be capello next up in the rotation so
00:01:30the number two car looking awfully strong we're looking at one of the pescarolos there's number 16
00:01:35currently driving by driven by manu collard he's had a second place finish here overall
00:01:40he's also one in the gt2 class before so he'd love to get that thing onto the podium but he's got
00:01:48three diesels ahead of him so it's going to be a tough road and to make that next step
00:01:55yeah the car is really run i mean pretty much faultlessly and very quickly just not on the face of
00:02:01those diesels and that of course is where mr pescarola's concerns are but they are giving that
00:02:06car a great ride they certainly are and i mean it's kind of difficult with the strategy you can
00:02:11normally go as fast physically as the car will go but how hard do you push do you try and get those
00:02:15last second or two hoping that maybe one of the cars in front of you has a delay in the pit lane and
00:02:20you're able to capitalize or do you just settle in and hope that it breaks so it's a really pretty much
00:02:25a cat and mouse game as we get to the point we're just under nine hours to go in this 24-hour event
00:02:31seventh overall at this point is the lead car in gt1 that is the aston martin tomas enga currently
00:02:38behind the wheel the 007 009 team car and the 63 of o'connell finds yourself third in the gt1 category
00:02:48lmp2 leader is 13th overall the number 31 binnie motorsports lola uh bill binnie behind the wheel right
00:02:54now and your gt2 leader resides in 16th overall number 97 it is uh jamie mellow right now in the
00:03:01rissi ferrari so they're your leaders in those four classes let's take you back and show you what's
00:03:06unfolded uh since the race started in the very first hour at the start on the right of your screen
00:03:12sebastian bordet in the peugeot dindo capello in the audi and bordet wanted to lead wanted to lead bad
00:03:19at the very start and uh wanted to lead a little too much he said he didn't realize capello was
00:03:25going to be that close he took a slightly narrow shallower entry to that first turn got wide gone
00:03:31the dirty part of the racetrack and did a good job actually saving it not getting into the gravel trap
00:03:35there we see him recovering coming back through the field then the number 32 at brazi epsilon zaytek
00:03:41had a quick loop and a little bit later on ended up in the garage for a repair they have been in and
00:03:46out the number 99 uh rissi crone racing ferrari locked up slid off course then the team car the
00:03:54number 97 the window popped out how do you fix that you just replace the door much quicker than
00:04:00anything else at this point that was all in the first hour then in the second hour we saw tom christensen
00:04:06have them all well it just started to get a little bit damp tom came into that first chicane and uh
00:04:12just trying to keep it together and just a few moments later a little bit further around the
00:04:15corner ted rouge mike rocket fell on the young guy huge crash in the audi and the number 64 corvette
00:04:22ollie gavin behind the wheel had a problem broken input shaft was able to get it moving on the starter
00:04:27motor but the race engine wasn't running that's not allowed then the rains came and they came in torrents
00:04:34and certainly caught out a few more cars that is the car that was on pole and p2 team card to the
00:04:41number 32 entry had a spin in the fourth hours things started to dry out a bit but the action was
00:04:46still pretty intense as the luke alfond adventures corvette getting into the converse men x ferrari 550
00:04:53then the cheroos racing systems number 15 a fire in the pits stefan muka got out of the car jumped right
00:04:59back in it and they just uh watered him down but they uh the official said now we want you to get
00:05:04out and get over to medical he has been back in the car then the peugeot first problem that we saw
00:05:10out there smoke from that right rear corner seems to be a bit of an achilles heel with this chassis
00:05:14right now something in the rear uprights is failing we saw in qualifying store again today
00:05:20in the seventh hour this was the moment that could have been that fortunately wasn't too bad as
00:05:25werner got into the side of the 63 corvette magnuson werner lost some body work but magnuson
00:05:33had just absolutely escaped through the gravel track hung on to it never really lifted no damage
00:05:39amazingly to the vet and uh not a lot of damage to werner's car the number two they had to go in
00:05:45change the rear deck otherwise those audi's pretty sturdy and it was able to continue and from that point
00:05:49on through the night fortunately because we i think primarily because we didn't have rain not a lot
00:05:55of major developments uh in in terms of incident it's been pretty routine since that time i mean
00:06:00that could have been a huge one i mean marco got away with just the body work being slightly dislodged
00:06:05if they're taking a bigger hit there as you're loaded and turning through that corner it's about 175
00:06:10miles an hour approach to that first chicane so that could have been very very nasty indeed and max got
00:06:15lucky as well quick trip through the gravel trap when he rejoined which we didn't see in that replay
00:06:21very close to actually collecting werner again and also the curia cost ferrari one of the leading
00:06:27cars in the gt2 category so they got away with one dodged a bullet there because that was just a short
00:06:32while after we saw ollie gavin and the other corvette go out so when you've only got one bullet left you don't
00:06:38want to use it up and magnuson was able to keep it together after that rodeo ride through the gravel
00:06:43trap just been watching the number 97 ferrari from rissi competizioni jamie mellow behind the wheel
00:06:48leading in the gt2 category 16th overall and three laps in hand over the uh ecurie ecoss scottish ferrari
00:06:58entered team and andrew kirkadi the young british gt champion who has made the step to fia gt and now
00:07:05to uh lemar for the second consecutive year showing tremendous speed sitting in the second spot in the gt2
00:07:11category we saw a very quick shot by the way of a red car behind a barrier that was the number 20
00:07:17pill beam from pierre bruno racing and that car looked like it is parked for a while and the
00:07:22double oh nine has made its way down on the pits darren turner brings it in second in the gt1 category
00:07:28eighth overall and once again looks like maybe just a drinks bottle change up tires fuel should be about
00:07:3828 to 30 seconds to get these 90 liters of fuel in just over 23 gallons being put in there is fed by a
00:07:45gravity fed tank which is two and a half meters off the ground here and there is routine you see
00:07:51the mechanic there gives a little signal right in front of the driver turner fires it up no wheel
00:07:56spin of course that is a penalty here we see our lmp2 leader in brian
00:08:00bill benny has stepped out of the lola zytec and right now alan tiffany will get in they ran together
00:08:08before they actually ran together last year this is a lola zytec as i said bill benny has won the p2
00:08:14championship back in 2004 with clint field who runs intersport racing in the alms series and also with
00:08:20rick southerland so right now they've got a great lead seven laps but as you guys know anything can
00:08:25happen we've still got a long way to go and calvin i heard you say it many hours ago p2 seems to be
00:08:31survival of the fittest right now these are not the fastest guys on track by any stretch of the
00:08:36imagination i've seen three cars that are several seconds a lap faster over the last half hour but
00:08:42what these guys keep doing is running they've not had any problems adrian fernandez one of the fastest
00:08:47cars on the racetrack just moments ago but they are well well back in the order so right now
00:08:53bill benny motorsports having a good day just out putting in laps trying to find their way towards
00:08:5824 hours but we just talked about survival of the fittest seems like alan tiffany having a hard time
00:09:04firing up this zytec power plant finally gets it up and going and they're going to have him be very
00:09:13careful with the clutch when they leave here once again no wheel spin men meet you got to drag these
00:09:18clutches and clutches can be an issue guys well very important brian as you well know that the cars
00:09:23have to fire up under their own power you can't push start or jump start here we see the 24 car
00:09:28liz halliday behind the wheel has had some kind of moment here she's signaling to the marshals she
00:09:34needs some assist she finished fourth here last year and she's very comfortable and these lmp2
00:09:42chassis had so much success with clint field over in the america lamar series recently made the move
00:09:47to the gt1 class the team moderner did a couple of events with them and then they had some politics
00:09:54within the team with les so she felt she had to move on and found this ride for lamar
00:10:02i wonder what happened there because obviously the engine is running perhaps it was just slick enough
00:10:06that she just needed some help getting pushed back but the car under its own power see if she's able to get
00:10:12it back up to speed
00:10:17sure whether this is this coming to our knowledge looks like yeah so it looks like she even had a
00:10:21quick spin coming out of indianapolis the previous corner just got onto the grass there and needed
00:10:27some assist so uh there's like she got away with one yeah the team obviously a bit concerned at this
00:10:33stage meanwhile let's get down to andrew marriott
00:10:35yes in the uk we have a series of teenagers who can race little saloon cars when they're 15 and
00:10:43one of the stars of that series about six years ago was a young man called stuart hall
00:10:49stuart this is a very long way from t cars and brand's hatch
00:10:53yes it's totally different but you know it's a realization of a dream
00:10:58now you've been racing in formula three last year now you've switched to sports car racing
00:11:02and this is your first lamonia having a ball yeah no it's been great so far we just we just hope we
00:11:07can keep it up you know it's my first one i haven't been to sleep yet so um you haven't been to sleep
00:11:12no no i'm feeling a bit tired so i might have a little bit of a kip now but um no i'm just really
00:11:16enjoying myself and the adrenaline keeps on pumping so that's why i haven't slept what about this pescarello
00:11:22it's a fine car isn't it yeah you know it's a um it's a fantastic bit of kit it's a bit different to
00:11:27what i've used to be driving but um you know the role center team helped me help me adapt really
00:11:33well and i'm really enjoying myself and of course you're with two very experienced men in joe barbosa
00:11:39and martin short and they must have taught you a lot of tricks about uh le mans yeah you know i
00:11:44couldn't really have two better teammates at le mans you know joe and martin you know give me
00:11:49lots and lots of advice you know and uh get me through the weekend really we're having a great
00:11:54weekend thanks very much for that and incidentally stewart's father peter is the old mate of mine
00:12:00owned a bit of team motors in its uh final day so there's a bit of formal one history here as well
00:12:06all right thanks very much andrew and uh yes indeed uh kip is napped kit his car and liz is in and
00:12:14she's made it around this is an interesting deal for this team because they've had a lot of success
00:12:18here lamont in gt2 porsches this is a big step running uh a p2 prototype and uh obviously nice
00:12:25to have liz on board with a fair amount of experience it really is i mean i think she brings a lot to the
00:12:30table with her experience in this category here we see one of the pescarolos in as well so looks like
00:12:36routine and i believe that's collard behind the wheel of the 16 machine indeed and is going to remain
00:12:44on board so we're going to take a break as well and we're going to take you through the top three
00:12:49in each of the four classes running here at the michelin 24 hours of le mans coming up on eight hours
00:12:5545 minutes remaining when we come back back at the circuit de la sarthe there has been a huge
00:13:13development in gt2 the leader at the time by three laps jamie mellow the rissi competizione ferrari
00:13:20is not only in pit lane they have wheeled it into the garage and they have it now well up in the
00:13:26air on the jacks brian what do you know jamie had a two-lap lead when this problem developed what i
00:13:33found out from the team was that he spun somewhere on the racetrack obviously made contact with
00:13:37something but he felt like he spun on someone else's oil but after that spin the radiator
00:13:42feels like he may uphold it the water temperature started going up so the team has brought the car into
00:13:46the garage you can see it's up on jack stands they've got a whole front clip here
00:13:50under tray and front bumper that they'll put on but they got to take a look at these radiators to
00:13:54make sure that there's not a problem there much like the porsches the 997 gt3 rsrs the radiators
00:14:01on this ferrari are out in front and they're very in a very precarious place as you see
00:14:06front bumper coming off and some rocks in there the radiators just on either side behind those
00:14:10screens so they're very vulnerable and susceptible i can see some damage on the left side
00:14:15some of the screens pushed in so once again these rocks if you get one in the radiator it'll hold
00:14:22it the other thing is if you hit it and you catch the front end of the car and it peels it down it'll
00:14:27bend some of those radiator fittings and all you have to do is crack one of the hose couplings and you've
00:14:32lost all that fluid you've overheated the motor then get this car back on track that will be good but
00:14:36the problem is how hot did it get we'll have to wait and find out andrew i'm hoping to get a quick
00:14:43word but liz halliday the car has just had a big spider check let's can you tell me quickly what
00:14:47what happened in that incident um well i went into the second chicane and i lost the car and i hung on
00:14:53to it but i thought maybe it was oil and then uh then it just snapped on me in indianapolis so we're just
00:14:58trying to figure out okay i'm being pushed away because the car is going to come out of the garage there
00:15:02you heard from this what happened there well interesting that both liz and jamie thinking
00:15:08there may have been some oil somewhere and uh obviously if they're getting the car back out
00:15:13that fast calvin you've got to believe they couldn't find anything with the car so maybe there is
00:15:17something out there that is causing some problems certainly looks that way mate and uh you know i think
00:15:22it's very smart by this team to do a quick check on the car maybe lose half a lap possibly a lap but just
00:15:27to make sure there's nothing that's going to cause further problems for liz when she gets back on course
00:15:32she was taken unaware by that situation and you know sometimes people think oh yeah i spun on oil
00:15:38that's an excuse but when you've got this many cars running on a racetrack um certainly things like
00:15:43this can happen so meanwhile we're hearing from brian till down in the ferrari pit those radiators are
00:15:48going to have to be replaced on that lead ferrari so their lead is going to be eroded pretty quickly here
00:15:55by the other ferrari the 87 machine that currently runs in second by andrew kokotti the courier cost machine
00:16:01they came so close to victory here last year had a little bit of drama late in the going that cost
00:16:06them a chance of victory that was eventually taken by that penos which is one of the cars you see
00:16:10there now going around liz as she gradually gets back up to speed and while we were following that
00:16:17the folks at interface who were providing the host coverage here gave us a quick shot it looked like
00:16:21the number 16 pescarolo which had been and we may have jinxed to talk about it it had a great run
00:16:26fairly trouble free it looked like it was going up on the jack and being spun into the garage so we'll
00:16:31try and follow up on that as well the car fourth overall the only one that's running in front of one
00:16:36of the diesels at this point and uh right now look at the you get that i mean mid-engine car because that
00:16:42guy is right in in the bay if you will working on that right now see those bins coming out i'd imagine
00:16:49they're going to be dumping some pretty hot water there on the deck in a short while you see the new
00:16:53radiators wrapped in the plastic there the protective covering so that's the key with these endurance
00:16:59events is to be prepared and as dr ulrich says expect the unexpected and this is unexpected the pescarola
00:17:06some kind of drama there at the back end of the car see the rear wing coming off probably going into
00:17:11the drive train or rear corner situation i would believe oh wow there's damage that they're going
00:17:20to be fixing on collard we'd seen him make a pit stop just a short while before that got loose got into
00:17:27the other car and then smacked the guardrail pretty good so that's damage they're fixing that's not a
00:17:32mechanical issue was that in the same area liz said that she thought there was oil and maybe he got
00:17:36into that that's quite possible we've heard three stories or heard two stories and uh seen another car
00:17:42have some problems there on the racetrack so there's something going on
00:17:49such a shame for this team because they had a great run here it's really been flawless
00:17:53they've made the same amount of pit stops as the leader so everything looked like they're on the same
00:17:57schedule and one thing that has been equalized with that 10 percent reduction in the diesel fuel for
00:18:04the audis and the peugeots is that they all stop about the same mark which is 12 13 labs whether it's
00:18:09diesel or gasoline andrew i'm down at the 16 car and there are now about eight pescarolo mechanics feverishly
00:18:20working on the rear end of this this job is going to take a little while i have to tell you that
00:18:30emmanuelle carlard continues to sit in the car and we may get a word with him later but we've been
00:18:36pushed around a little bit down here actually um because it's a very feverish activity indeed
00:18:42don't see any major components seem to be around the gearbox area they're working at the moment
00:18:48but uh when i've had a better look and haven't been shoved around too much by the pescarolo people
00:18:53um i'll give you another update all right and brian till i understand you found jamie mellow
00:18:59yeah greg jamie mellow just climbed out of the ferrari while they continue to work on it jamie
00:19:02we're getting reports from all up and down pit road a lot of oil on track is that what caught you out
00:19:07yeah unfortunately i got some uh oil on muslin muslin breaking point and uh i couldn't
00:19:14do anything you just break and went straight but anyway i think we can fix it all right the guys
00:19:22are talking about fixing it the car has been so good you lose a lap or two you feel like you're still
00:19:27in it for sure i think we can fix and then we can uh we can recover well jamie mellow mika cello
00:19:33they have been flying they're going to get to work on this car and get back on track guys
00:19:47the number one audi the uh pescarolo has been pulled back onto the pit road there wasn't any
00:19:53broken suspension they just want to check it all i think they've been a bit lucky here and a new set of
00:19:59tires going all very frenetic as i said before but emmanuel collard got a huge history and uh
00:20:05tremendously good at sports car racing has won a lot of races in the uh the more endurance series
00:20:11for uh pescarolo all right andrew the pescarolo away but the number one audi they pulled the
00:20:29nose off of that car and uh look at that is a foreign object i would leave it in
00:20:39i'm not sure what that was but uh required a nose change of some sort i don't know if it was a result
00:20:44of that or this was more aero work brian any ideas it was a huge chunk of concrete about the size of a
00:20:51softball that was up on the suspension no idea how it got there there are marks on this car showing the
00:20:56signs of battle that is done so far a new nose and he's down and away but bela obviously got together
00:21:02with something or got off the track a huge piece of concrete all right thanks brian and we have a
00:21:08look now at the number 12 courage competition aer lc70 that has had some problems at the left rear
00:21:15corner tire flailing away chewing away at the body work on that car right now it's down the order a bit
00:21:2125th overall alexander fry behind the wheel that car has had a a tough day already and certainly has
00:21:28now gone from bad to worse so adrian fernandez go around him there on the pit lane entry and there
00:21:35you see this massive piece of concrete can we go down to brian guys dr ulrich was just looking at it i was
00:21:43asking him if he felt like it came out of some of that apex curbing that track out curbing that they
00:21:47had put out there dr ulrich any idea where that piece of concrete came from no idea no idea but it's
00:21:55big as a fist and it crashed into the car and we we saw raising temperatures on the intercooler
00:22:04and then we checked from the front and then they could see it massive piece that like i said guys we
00:22:09don't know if it's from that new curbing or not but it doesn't really matter it was in there
00:22:13and it has had its damage done well dr ulrich said in the press conference expect the unexpected i
00:22:19don't think even audi can really plan for something like this that's a massive piece of rock there
00:22:24hopefully it hasn't damaged any suspension arms there or any electronic wires that really feed and make
00:22:31these high-tech machines work yeah projectiles that's massive that's unbelievable as is the damage to
00:22:39this tire and you can see the body work just absolutely chewed apart so the number 12 going
00:22:45to get spun around backed into the garage and they'll get after it and try and get that car back out
00:22:50yet again we'll take this opportunity to take a quick pause about eight and a half hours remaining here in
00:22:56le mans
00:23:10eight hours and 30 minutes remaining in this 75th running of the michelin 24 hours of le mans
00:23:15welcome back everybody greg creamer calvin fish brian till andrew marriott bringing the action to you
00:23:20from this legendary event and the sun slowly creeping into the sky fairly low though in the eyes of
00:23:26drivers and uh announcers alike at times here and we've had some problems for the number 99 rissi crone
00:23:34ferrari brian
00:23:36column brown behind the wheel right now greg and this is a problem that existed earlier one of the drivers
00:23:42took it off track no one will admit to who did it imagine that but obviously one of them took it off
00:23:46track the exhausts have been loose for quite a while but they finally got to the point where they're
00:23:50pulling down they're rubbing on that under tray the other thing that they'll do is they hang down like
00:23:54that they'll begin to exert pressure on the exhaust and on the header system that comes out of the
00:23:59engine you can't have that so they're going to have to fix those they're safety wiring them back up to
00:24:03the mounts they'll get colin back on track but this is going to be a lengthy repair nick johnson had
00:24:07been flying in this car before he brought it in several laps ago and changed with colin greg all right
00:24:13thanks very much brian and obviously a bit of work yet to be done on that car we'll hopefully see
00:24:18that back out and going fairly soon well that's one of the calls you have to make it's frustrating
00:24:22when you're making progress and working your way through the field to suddenly stop and effect repairs
00:24:27when you think well you could keep going but you know you may spend uh five minutes in the pits
00:24:32possibly fixing that right now and it could save you 30 minutes later on so that's where the experience
00:24:37really shows with the team as you can see the sun coming up and that means usually that those grand
00:24:47stands which are a bit empty at certain points here will start to fill up fairly soon yes we're closing
00:24:53in we're now 245 laps complete there's so much to see and do around this circuit i mean when we go
00:25:00backwards and forwards from the tv compound to the booth we actually have to go around a part of the
00:25:04racetrack and there's just thousands of people all over the map just trying to fight our way through
00:25:09to get to the tv booth and uh so many great corners to go and watch from you don't want to just be
00:25:13sitting in the grandstands all day but certainly at the finish those will be packed yeah they haven't
00:25:18left the track they've just left the grandstands and uh we've been documenting some of the problems
00:25:23that have been going on adrian fernandez everything looks so privacy when he first came here and
00:25:27super quick but problems andrew adrian fernandez you came here to learn adrian you must have learned
00:25:35all sorts of different things about le mans it's been a fantastic experience and you know the car
00:25:41has been running well unfortunately we have had some uh mechanical problems and uh we've been able to
00:25:46solve them as uh they have come and uh you know we keep running and uh we'll see i mean it's it's a
00:25:53long race i can see the last few hours is going to be a lot of attrition so you just have to keep going
00:26:00and sometimes you think your day is over and then suddenly you find yourself up again there so it's
00:26:05like everybody has no problems except maybe the audis and what about the circuit it's an awesome track
00:26:10isn't it unbelievable i mean i i uh i was uh had the opportunity to drive into the night and uh
00:26:17drive uh in the morning uh with the sunset and uh and the sun coming and it was uh beautiful this
00:26:22track is fantastic these conditions have stopped uh what is it uh six in the morning or five in the
00:26:28morning it's uh there's a lot of grip but it's quite tricky and they cut me out in one of the corners
00:26:32that's because michael burgess so uh you think there is grip and suddenly cuts you out it's so cold
00:26:38i can feel my feet so cold on the streets i have to ask you still talking to michael burgess after
00:26:44that incident early on yeah yeah i don't know what what was he doing he has to learn that he has to
00:26:50go behind he does what about the whole lamar experience the town square on friday night and
00:26:56everything the whole event is fantastic the whole week and we have learned a lot and uh you know i i i
00:27:03i'm going to try to come here for a long time i have to thank everybody at lowe's to give me the
00:27:08opportunity to come here and try our experience and hopefully we can give them the result they
00:27:13deserve and uh i want to say hi to my wife and my daughter valentina which is uh one month and a half
00:27:20now i spoke to robert clark at sebring and he says it is fully our intention to come to lamar
00:27:25in 2008 well that's what we're working and that's why we're coming here to learn and to see what it's
00:27:31all about the event it's logistics and everything and uh for me to get the experience driving and
00:27:37you know i pretty much i feel comfortable now obviously you learn you keep learning but uh
00:27:43the whole thing has been fantastic and i think next year if we come with agra and our team will
00:27:48be a lot better prepared you're going to be here we'll be here it's fantastic there you heard it we'll be
00:27:53here he said well i'll tell you this is very special adrian too because one of his heroes was pedro
00:28:00rodriguez uh and to be back at this tremendous venue uh uh with pedro has some success beats a lot
00:28:06yes it does uh pedro of course won here and the last uh mexican driver to run at this track was thomas
00:28:11lopez back in 91 and the 97 car hopefully he's getting a little bit closer to having that repair
00:28:17affected i believe brian may be down there
00:28:19bell guard climbed out of the double oh eight aston martin
00:28:26buchu has climbed in remember this is the aston that sat on pole it's only two laps down buchu back
00:28:31behind the wheel he stalls it leaving the pits he gets it refired he's rolling down pit lane he's back
00:28:36on track remember how fast they were this is your pole center both the car and the driver on track right
00:28:41now in the fastest time of the day all right very fast here greg they're currently in fourth in class
00:28:47but they've been in the 351 range so um you know it's a good car i mean this is essentially a third pro
00:28:53drive car run under the labra competition banner but some very good drivers in there they're not quite
00:28:59at the pace of the 009 and 007 but i believe it's an equally quick car and some good drivers down there
00:29:06and andrew uh any uh information on the liz halliday entry well the car did go out did one lap came
00:29:13back and has gone inside the garage area again where they're still working furiously so i think the team
00:29:20had thought that nothing had been bent in that incident but now they're working on the back end so
00:29:25more time being lost by uh liz halliday and the uh number 24 car so you know this class lmp2 it's the class
00:29:34that everyone tries to win but nobody ever manages it hardly well there it's i mean it's a small car
00:29:40it's a fragile car and we were talking about this if you run a normally aspirated engine in that class
00:29:45it's a 3.4 liter which means it's revving high and if you're running a turbo it's a two liter which means
00:29:50it's boosted through the road they just have their problems as the number 97 continues it has now dropped
00:29:56to fourth in class we'll keep you up to date on what's going on with risi competizioni when we come back
00:30:12monday night on speed go to inside nextel cup dave disfain host while waltrip schrader and biff will
00:30:18give you the real story about sunday's race inside nextel cup monday night 8 eastern only on speed
00:30:27you know we've talked about studies and perseverance but these three may be defining it
00:30:32they are parked and they are watching well i'm sure they're having a great time it's early hours
00:30:38here of course though so i'm sure those young lads are tired and they've probably been up partying and
00:30:42having a bit of fun around the racetrack and uh speaking of fun i think justin bell was out and
00:30:47about last night well he was indeed there are certainly adventures we've been documenting on
00:30:51the track but uh justin who won here in 98 in gt1 has uh discovered as our intrepid sleuth that
00:30:58there's fun and adventures to be had off track as well what we thought would be a good idea would be to
00:31:07take you away as the bureau at home from the corporate world of the paddock and the pits at
00:31:12le mans and come to what people really come to le mans for which is a bloody good time
00:31:21so we came up into what's called the village and i want to introduce you to some of the finest
00:31:25people from all over the world for example these guys over here
00:31:31this is my colleague
00:31:37anyone that's lovely okay now i'll ignore you for a while i'll come to you i'd ignore him what's
00:31:43your favorite car here who are you um perjo anyway ignore him and where you stay
00:31:51that's green that's green in french yes i know i know he's staying in a little tent yes little
00:31:56tent he is standing a very little tent on his own as you can tell it makes me very proud to be english
00:32:02are you english am i english all right we're leaving you lot we're going over here next lot
00:32:13well hello you're proud to be english you're embarrassed to be english well i know so where
00:32:18what are you supporting while you're here well we're actually supporting the champagne tent at the
00:32:22moment i've got a court just hit my microphone that was a very good shot a very good shot and where are
00:32:28you staying in a tent yeah very much in the tent everybody in a very very good school too frosty
00:32:32five because of my spring of mine nothing's going on and is it one of the ones with the water running
00:32:37through the mud and everything yeah there's water sweat and money yeah it's revolting and he caught the
00:32:43court well done so far i haven't seen anyone that can talk straight all right is anyone not english
00:33:02everybody's drunk in english i can't find anyone that isn't it's making me really proud
00:33:06it's not hitting here anyway that's a lovely interview and i think that we've done it here actually
00:33:17it's really good anyway he's going to be covered in welts that was hilarious oh they've given up
00:33:28there is oh they watched the piece and went all right that's where we need to be just definitely a
00:33:33chip out the outlaw oh isn't it oh it's unbelievable great fun and great to have him as uh as part of
00:33:39the team here this year and uh enjoying things as well so that was great well let's see here uh just a
00:33:48little bit of an update in terms of position the uh number 97 ferrari that car's still in the garage so
00:33:54that's taking a very long time to change and uh it is the uh number 87 a curie at cost the scottish team
00:34:02leading the class now 212 laps complete and the uh number 97 uh stuck at 207 laps so five laps uh
00:34:10they have fallen behind and as a matter of fact uh the number 99 uh brown driven ferrari is coming
00:34:17up on them let's take a look at our valvoline race recap at this point it's currently audi 1-2
00:34:22overall peugeot is 3-4 overall after the problems for the pescarolo 15 cars out of the race 39 remain
00:34:30now the record is 30 finishers so at this stage we're well ahead of that record but
00:34:34we also have uh over eight hours yet to go and uh you know cars getting more more more tired used
00:34:42pressured and the like so things are happening meanwhile let's get down to brian till
00:34:48lalik mcnish just climbed out of the number two the leading outing and alan you didn't play well as a
00:34:52child you didn't share toys did you you were in there what four stints it's my wife been telling you
00:34:57things yeah no um that was part of our strategy though was to try at specific times through the
00:35:03race just to stretch things partly to give the other guys a bit of a rest as well and uh it worked
00:35:08out pretty well the balance of the car was perfect it's not very often you get that but it was really
00:35:14really nice to drive and uh just allowed me to sort of get on there and push as well quite hard i was
00:35:19going to say the other thing was the lap times were spectacular once you're in the car and you get in a
00:35:23groove like that do you even want to get out if the car is that good you fall into a groove and you're
00:35:27just putting those lap times in being 100 honest with you just at the end of my second stint i was
00:35:34thinking what could be better than driving at night with this car in this condition leading them all 24
00:35:40hours and i i racked my brains for most of them all sign i couldn't think of anything well the pace
00:35:45between you and the peso are you are you a little bit surprised with that they were so quick and
00:35:48qualifying but you guys seem to have outpaced them considerably in race trim i don't know if i
00:35:54outpaced them considerably but if you look at our performance i would have said it's very very
00:35:59constant so far if you look at their performance it does fluctuate up and down by two three seconds
00:36:04i'm not really sure whether that's just them looking at the race pictured as a whole and playing
00:36:09their own game or what what the situation is but certainly i think they're closer than what maybe
00:36:15people imagine right now in terms of outright pace now calvin fish says that you won't pay for
00:36:20anything but what would you pay to keep it dry for the rest of the day can i just say one thing
00:36:25calvin fish has never paid for anything i don't know what he's talking about me for he comes from
00:36:30norfolk for goodness sakes you know what they say about those people they're worse than the scots
00:36:34at this moment in time i'm just thinking about getting the car watching every lap from now to whenever i
00:36:40have to get back in and uh not taking anything for granted it's been a good year for scotland dario
00:36:45won in indianapolis you could win here that'd make it even better that'd be a big party at christmas
00:36:50i want to go to that party guys you'd have to imagine that yeah louise got living in monaco
00:36:58so he doesn't have to pay any taxes gives me grief about norfolk
00:37:02well you know talking about the consistency i mean uh obviously he had turned a lap uh mcness
00:37:11did that 3271 which was a blinder but uh in throughout that stint uh the quad stints he's been
00:37:18throwing down mid 328s fairly regularly and uh so obviously he's absolutely right that car just cruising
00:37:25along and i loved his answer about what could be better i rack my brain for most of the malls on
00:37:30and nothing could be better than driving here at le mans in this car and leaving showing you the
00:37:35standings in our four classes here as we are closing in on eight hours remaining here at the 75th running
00:37:42of the michelin 24 hours of le mans
00:37:54wednesday on unique webs pam anderson is known for getting things fired up but now it's will's
00:37:58cruise turn to get pam's engine started with an all-star ride it's a huge episode of unique webs
00:38:04wednesday at 10 eastern and only on speed
00:38:10ah the fans starting to come back to the wall and uh get ready to watch some of the action on track
00:38:15here and we have certainly had some we've had action in the pits as well and uh most recently the
00:38:22car that had assumed the lead in the gt2 category the akira yucos ferrari is in oh but we get a report
00:38:29here it is the 007 johnny herbert and the aston martin has gone into the garage calvin wow this is a
00:38:36disaster for these boys i mean they've been having such a great run johnny herbert chasing down his other
00:38:42teammate darren turner and then 009 but so often at le mans we've seen these astons struggle to get through
00:38:48the final few hours is it hitting them early this year the number 35 saulnier racing entry also uh
00:38:55looks like a longish pit stop meanwhile let's get down to brian till with a very fast young brit
00:39:02greg andrew cocotte just stepped out of the number 87 and andrew you and i were just sitting here
00:39:06talking a lot of people thought that the pirellis would be fast and qualifying but come race time
00:39:10they would fall off the pace that is obviously not the case at all no the prize have done you know
00:39:16probably have done a really good job lately uh developing the tires and we've been pretty
00:39:19confident from the test day that we'd have the race pace maybe it wasn't the best at the start of
00:39:23the race but now we got onto the softer tire the grips come up in the circuit yeah we're there pretty
00:39:28happy the track i know several hours ago with a lot of oil on it we had several cars off in one lap
00:39:34in fact that's what took the leading gt2 car off any problems for you guys with track conditions
00:39:39yeah i had a bit of a skip across the gravel twice on the same lap everyone else seemed to crash but
00:39:43first thing i managed to avoid anything so i was quite lucky congratulations you're doing a great
00:39:48job hold on to it for 24 hours yeah he made his name really in the british gt series and uh was just
00:39:57virtually unstoppable there and obviously uh got recognized and was uh brought on by this team
00:40:03which had contested and started in the british gt series and they sort of moved up together
00:40:07into fiat gt and uh have continued obviously to be an extremely potent combination great young
00:40:14talent and we talked about the pace there with brian and the tires they've run a 4053 and the fastest
00:40:20lap that i can find on the screen in the race so far is a 4052 by the 97 cars so they're right on the
00:40:26money there pirelli's doing a tremendous job and we're very happy with the proceedings here here we're
00:40:31looking at the lead aston martin that's the 009 currently driven by darren turner the pressure
00:40:36is off him right now he had johnny herbert breathing down his neck a few moments ago but the 007 is in the
00:40:42garage area right now we'll try and get some kind of report on what is exactly wrong with one of the
00:40:47astons but these cars always so fast here and of course with the problems for herbert we should see
00:40:53the 63 machine the corvette the saw corvette factory corvette that is in the running assume second
00:40:59place in gt1 here shortly co-drivers uh this include david brabham and obviously we talked earlier about
00:41:08brabs wanting to uh put the uh lamont 24 hour into the accomplishment book as well let's get back down to
00:41:14andrew i'm in the uh 007 garage the james bond car has obviously had an office done a lot of grass
00:41:23tracking and you can probably see it there on our pictures they have changed the front splitter you
00:41:28see that there's a splitter that's just come off it does not appear to be damaged to me but i think this
00:41:34is possibly oh yes it is damaged at one end now i can see that so a new splitter going on here so that's
00:41:39the reason it's in the garage it's had a big moment and i think it was peter cox at the wheel and uh
00:41:45now it is uh going to go out again probably i'll tell you this will take another two or three minutes
00:41:50just while they fit this splitter all right uh our report from m and andrew says peter cox i think
00:41:57there's been a driver change andrew whilst the car was in the garage because when it came into pit lane
00:42:02it was johnny herper behind the wheel so peter cox who is always very fast but meanwhile the boys from
00:42:08corvette on the rebound here brian calvin how many times have we seen it they run second third maybe
00:42:16even fourth or fifth but they claw their way back up and that's exactly what's happening right now the
00:42:21problems for the 007 is going to move the 63 up they will be running in second place 007 still in the
00:42:27garage johnny o'connell has gotten out ronfellows has gotten in we've talked about will this be ronfellows
00:42:33last lamar no mystery and he's not particularly wild about the endurance events anymore and who
00:42:39can blame him staying up all night but goodness we looked at this corvette and who wouldn't want
00:42:43to drive it throughout most of the night fella what a storied career he has back on track here
00:42:48at lamar is it the last time we'll find out and if it is to win it how special would that be let's get
00:42:54back down to andrew yeah i just want to clear up that confusion totally of my own making actually i was
00:43:00unsighted to see the driver helmet but it is definitely johnny herbert that helmet that did so
00:43:05many different grand prix well over 100 it was 150 or so grand prix it's johnny herbert who sits at
00:43:11the wheel of the aston so he hasn't gone out of the car and this team ready to push the car back
00:43:17onto a pit lane now quick fix there obviously so that's the good news and johnny herb i'm now looking
00:43:23at the timing screen he had laid down at 3489 which is way faster than the pole time and about three
00:43:30quarters of a second faster than the 009 thomas engler i believe had set that time during the middle
00:43:35of the night so johnny herbert was really on a charge and it doesn't take johnny long to get up to
00:43:40speed in the car that he is relatively unfamiliar with they did a 30 hour test at ricard so all of the
00:43:45boys got some seat time there but there's nothing like race conditions at lamar to really find your feet and
00:43:50johnny is certainly up to speed and great to see him back in a race car really had a pretty quiet
00:43:55couple of years here so it's good to see him back well you talked about the fact that it's a it's a
00:44:00type of car that he's certainly unfamiliar with when we chatted with them at the aston martin press
00:44:04conference we were talking and i said i asked him i said i said what was the draw what was the
00:44:08connection he said well obviously he said aston martin you know to drive for that mark is very special
00:44:13but he said it's a challenge it's something i've never done is drive a very high horsepower front
00:44:17engine car uh at lamar something like this and he said it was all about the challenge and boy has
00:44:23he adapted it i mean no surprise just immensely talented especially if you watched him last year
00:44:27in the d-type jag in the vintage race just pitching it around spectacular stuff that was really great
00:44:33stuff double oh nine that is darren turner the lead car in gt1 rolls down pit lane brian
00:44:41darren turner rolling towards his pit stop right now ricard reddell will take over a lot of people
00:44:46thought ricard may be the weak link in this chain but he's done his part and he's done it well brabham
00:44:51out of the car riddell climbing in darren turner obviously very very quick brabham as well we know
00:44:59how quick david brabham is but ricard riddell as i said has done his part this car now leading
00:45:06will be tires fuel and a driver change i don't see a lot of marks on this car it means they've kept it
00:45:12clean they've kept their nose clean they've done their job and kept up the pace you're talking about
00:45:16how fast herbert was flying you've seen it before it doesn't really matter how fast you go during
00:45:22the le mans 24 hours it matters if you're there in the end right now the 009 is ricard riddell
00:45:28is stopped complete he's underway ricard a former british touring car champion a very accomplished
00:45:35driver but again this type of equipment a little bit unfamiliar to him perhaps when he got involved
00:45:41with it but when you're good you're good and it shows and uh speaking of which uh johnny herbert and
00:45:46the 007 being wheeled back out on the dollies it'll be dropped down they'll be removed and they'll complete
00:45:52the action yeah you can see a little bit of scrub there on the left rear corner yeah that one is
00:45:58definitely not unmarked and johnny herbert has such a stellar record here at lamar of course he got that
00:46:03unbelievable victory overall in 91 with the master team in the last three years he's finished second
00:46:09overall so great to see johnny back he'd love to get to that top step of the podium again
00:46:13andrew yeah just to catch up on riddell um he was one of the first people to drive the ferrari of
00:46:20course that pro drive ran and he was with the team for quite a while and then they dropped him and now
00:46:26they've picked him up again but i think uh riddell is a pretty fine racing driver still as the uh
00:46:33other aston just accelerates away and you saw there was damage to the rear as they changed the front
00:46:37splitter there was also some damage to the left rear which was pretty cosmetic
00:46:44thanks very much andrew and herbert blends it back on heading into the dunlop chicane
00:46:49as we are now inside eight hours remaining here in this 75th running of the michelin 24 hours of leman
00:46:59glad you're with us stay with us we'll be right back
00:47:19so
00:47:33Certainly incredible moments on the track, but I'll tell you what, on the Friday, when it has opened, the pit lane and the paddock has opened,
00:47:55there's no action on the track, the crowd immense, and that has become a huge draw as Mike West pulls out the guitar, cranks the amp up, and does the U.S. anthem,
00:48:06and just absolutely a stellar moment, really a gifted man on the guitar, as well as a tremendous mechanic,
00:48:12and it seemed fitting to show you that as the number 63 Corvette has now moved into second, and maybe marching its way back to the front once again.
00:48:19Some great images of Le Mans all week long, but I don't think he's got anything on you, Greg, when it comes to the air,
00:48:25guitar, no, no, but you can stand on the air amp, that is very impressive.
00:48:34So as you can see, we've got lots of activity unfolding here, as I said now, it is the Fellows now in the Corvette,
00:48:42just to clarify that, has split the two factory Aston Martins, at least for the time being, we'll see what happens,
00:48:47and sit second in GT1. Now let's take you back and show you some of the highlights from Hour 16,
00:48:52because after a very quiet night and morning, we actually had some things develop, and here we go.
00:48:59First of all, there's the number 24, Liz Halliday, having a problem in the car.
00:49:04Now remember, there were reports of oil all over the place.
00:49:07The 97 had a problem, contact and a radiator damage, spent a lot of time, took a long time to fix it.
00:49:13The number 16, Pescarolo, fourth overall at the time, the only car to be able to get up and mix it with the diesels.
00:49:19Contact, also concerns about oil on the track. There was damage there, that was Cobalt behind the wheel,
00:49:25and then the number 12 entry, one of the Courage Competition cars, Jonathan Cochet problems,
00:49:31and then the car that was second in the GT1 category, Johnny Herbert, problems as well with some contact,
00:49:38and a fix on that car, the under tray damaged, and they've taken care of it,
00:49:41and now Frank Bila has brought the number one Audi into the pits, and right now we're just refueling and waiting.
00:49:49Currently three laps down on the system machine, driven by Dindo Capello, the number two car.
00:49:54So I'm sure at some point, Dr. Ulrich will start to give some team orders, whether they just hold station.
00:50:02Meanwhile, the Peugeots are certainly up the pace.
00:50:04We talked about the fact that there's always some inter-team rivalry.
00:50:08We've seen Sarazan on some very fast laps during the early morning hours,
00:50:13but Bordet has really got the hammer down now.
00:50:16He's down in the mid-27s, so only half a second off of the fastest Audi time during this race,
00:50:22and once again, the mechanics checking out underneath that front there.
00:50:25Frankie may be feeling something.
00:50:26We had that huge rock recall when last time this car pitted,
00:50:31they found that massive rock underneath the nose there,
00:50:33so they're probably just checking everything out, make sure nothing is damaged.
00:50:36Better safe than sorry.
00:50:41Frankie's back underway, so fresh set of Michelins.
00:50:45So we can assume that Frank Bieler will now do another double stint,
00:50:49do a quadruple in total for this run, and Alan Manish talked about it.
00:50:53This was the strategy coming in by doing quadruples that gives the third guy a little bit longer break.
00:51:01Here we look at one of the Peugeots, currently driven by Nick Manassian, running in third spot.
00:51:06He's four laps down on Frank Bieler, and he is seven laps down on the leader right now.
00:51:11But the Peugeots have certainly shown some speed now in these early morning hours.
00:51:15And maybe it was a reversal of strategy.
00:51:17Everyone thought they'd go out, Greg, and run fast at the beginning and just see if they could hold on.
00:51:21Maybe they were trying to ease back in the early going, get towards those last few hours that we're now inside eight hours,
00:51:27and then show the speed of this car.
00:51:29And we're certainly seeing that in the hands of Bordet running mid-27s, 327s, that is.
00:51:33Well, as we've been watching the Peugeot, we have some viewer mail I'd like to get in.
00:51:37This is from Paul in Braden, Florida.
00:51:39He asked, will we ever see the Peugeot compete in the American Le Mans series,
00:51:43even if just as a one-off at Sebring, as Bentley did a few years back?
00:51:46What do you think?
00:51:47I think there's certainly potential.
00:51:49I mean, there's nothing like Sebring.
00:51:50It's so rough there.
00:51:51And if you want to really prove the durability and reliability of a race car, Sebring is the place to go.
00:51:57Peugeot wanted to go to Sebring and do some testing immediately after the 12 hours,
00:52:02but they had some delays in getting this car ready.
00:52:05So they boarded that plan and did more of their testing over in Europe.
00:52:08But it wouldn't surprise me to see them at least test at Sebring.
00:52:12And looking at one of the Audis here, not only did they win in the 12 hours of Sebring,
00:52:16they took a day off on Sunday, and then on Monday morning, as I was leaving in the racetrack,
00:52:20they were out there for a further 12 hours just putting the mileage on that car.
00:52:24So the Audis did a 12-hour race.
00:52:26They did another 12 hours.
00:52:27So effectively, they did 24 hours of Sebring this year.
00:52:30Well, we were off napping, and Lee Diffie was at the helm.
00:52:33They did an interview with Scott Atherton, and they chatted a little bit about that.
00:52:37And Atherton said they are working very hard to get Peugeot to make that commitment.
00:52:42And Andrew, you've got even more?
00:52:44I think the problem here is that Peugeot don't sell their cars anymore in the United States.
00:52:49I think they stopped selling the cars there some 20 years ago, I suppose.
00:52:54I mean, I remember seeing, particularly up in the New England area, lots of Peugeot 505 estate cars.
00:53:02I used to see quite a lot of them up there.
00:53:04And Peugeots were quite popular in America for a while.
00:53:07They are, of course, one of the biggest car manufacturers in Europe.
00:53:11And the majority of the cars they sell here in Europe are now diesel-powered,
00:53:16and those passenger cars were packed in 2006 for the first time ever.
00:53:21Talking all manufacturers, more diesel cars were sold than petrol cars or gasoline cars.
00:53:28And that's something to contemplate.
00:53:30So I think the problem is that Peugeot don't market in the U.S.
00:53:34And, of course, they are competing all the time in the European Le Mans series.
00:53:39And, obviously, that gives them some track time as well.
00:53:41So I think it's a little unlikely they'll come to see.
00:53:44We'd love to see it, of course.
00:53:46And Scott Atherton also is a very persuasive man, so maybe he can just twist their arm.
00:53:50Well, that would be absolutely great to have them over there.
00:53:53Let's move on with some other emails.
00:53:54John Taylor out of Indianapolis says, pardon me, but I'm new to the Le Mans race.
00:53:58Why is the Indianapolis corner named after Indianapolis?
00:54:01And it's because of the banking is the reason over there.
00:54:04It's one of the only corners here that has a distinct and significant banking to it.
00:54:09And it's to the left, as is the corners at Indianapolis, and it's 90 degrees.
00:54:13So when they started naming corners here at this track,
00:54:15they decided that they should honor that great race in the States.
00:54:19So there you have the answer there.
00:54:21Jeff from Okeechobee, Florida, says, I've heard about the carnival atmosphere at the race.
00:54:26And if you were just watching, you saw Justin Bell get pummeled in the carnival atmosphere.
00:54:31He asked, are there any good areas to view the race during the overnight hours?
00:54:34Indeed, there are plenty of them.
00:54:35I would think that my favorite is probably if you walk around the outside,
00:54:40turn one, turn two, just past the Dunlop Bridge.
00:54:43It's an elevation change.
00:54:44It falls away.
00:54:45You can see three, four corners all the way through the S's, almost to Terre de Rouge.
00:54:49And that's where the carnival used to be.
00:54:51It is now a very good view of the area.
00:54:52That's a great spot.
00:54:53Of course, we typically go over to Indianapolis.
00:54:56There's that fast right-hand corner right before Indy,
00:54:59where it really doesn't have a name, but one of the most spectacular corners on the racetrack.
00:55:03And it's such a great rhythm as the cars come through there.
00:55:05They run through there at tremendous speed.
00:55:07Just enough time to get over, transition over to the right,
00:55:10get on the brakes, and get it slowed down for Indy.
00:55:12Well, if you want to ask a question, log on to speedtv.com, keyword Le Mans.
00:55:16That'll take you to the Le Mans page, where you can click on a link to send your question,
00:55:20as well as links to all the feature stories and news from Le Mans.
00:55:23And we'll get to more viewer emails when we come back to Le Mans.
00:55:32Thursday, Payback has a whole new season of custom rides and superstars.
00:55:37Because when you make it to the top, you've got to say thank you in a big way.
00:55:41Payback, Thursday at 9 p.m. Eastern, exclusively on Speed.
00:55:49One of the legends here at Le Mans, certainly Jackie Ick.
00:55:52Six wins coming in 1969, and then you could see the run that he had.
00:55:57And it was absolutely tremendous.
00:55:58Jackie known as one of the bravest of the brave.
00:56:00In fact, quit racing Formula One because he said the cars were getting too easy to drive.
00:56:05He liked the challenge, but he felt there was acceptable risk, but he also felt there was foolish risk.
00:56:11And at his first visit to Le Mans in 1969, he made a very solid point.
00:56:17And Lee Diffie picks up the story.
00:56:18In 1969, Jackie Ick's raced in the 24 hours of Le Mans for the first time.
00:56:26Ick's was opposed to the traditional Le Mans start, which he considered to be dangerous.
00:56:31And he slowly walked across the track to his machine instead of running.
00:56:35He locked his safety belt carefully and thus was the last to start the race, chasing the field.
00:56:41On lap one, a tragic event proved Ick's right.
00:56:44Private driver John Wolfe crashed into a barrier just past White House Bend and was thrown from the car, suffering fatal injuries.
00:56:52He had not taken the time to belt himself in.
00:56:55The Ford GT40 that Ick's drove with Jackie Oliver appeared at the time to be an obsolete car,
00:57:01outperformed not only by the new Porsche 917, but also by the older Porsche 908 and others.
00:57:07The 917, however, proved unreliable.
00:57:11Not one finished.
00:57:12The last four hours of the race turned into an unforgettable duel between the Ick's Oliver GT40
00:57:18and the Porsche 908 driven by Hans Herrmann and Gerard LaRousse.
00:57:22In the last hour, they continuously leapfrogged each other.
00:57:25The Porsche faster on the straights due to less aerodynamic drag,
00:57:29but slower entering the turns due to worn brake pads.
00:57:32Ick's won the race by the smallest of margins ever,
00:57:35despite having started last.
00:57:38He also won his case for safety,
00:57:40as in 1970, all drivers could start the race sitting in their cars with the belts tightened properly.
00:57:49Well, as David Hobbs is not here,
00:57:51I suppose I'm the most senior member around these parts.
00:57:54And I actually saw all those races are mentioned in that piece.
00:57:58And particularly, Le Mans starts are very interesting.
00:58:01You may not believe this, but there was absolute hush.
00:58:05And when the people started running across the road,
00:58:08you could actually hear their feet going.
00:58:10And then, of course, as the cars roared away, there was a great cheer from the crowd.
00:58:14But the best story I have about it is not something I saw,
00:58:18because I was even too young for that,
00:58:20but it's something I read in a Mike Hawthorne book.
00:58:22I remember Mike Hawthorne, a great Ferrari driver.
00:58:25Apparently, at one Le Mans,
00:58:27Sterling Moss and Mike Hawthorne were both great friends,
00:58:30and they were standing next to each other on the line to run across the road.
00:58:33Sterling Moss literally jumped the start and started running.
00:58:36And apparently, Hawthorne shouted at him,
00:58:39you deletive, expletive, Moss.
00:58:42And apparently, Moss collapsed in laughter
00:58:44and couldn't get into the car quickly enough.
00:58:46And Mike Hawthorne in a D-Type roared away.
00:58:49So those Le Mans cars were absolutely wonderful,
00:58:52but I have to tell you, Jackie Eakes was definitely right.
00:58:56Well, certainly, in those days, they were mates,
00:59:00as well as fierce competitors.
00:59:02And I could just see that happening with Sterling.
00:59:07Ooh, we've got somebody who's,
00:59:09that looks like, is that Arnaje, the exit of Arnaje?
00:59:11Yes, is that the Fernandez cars?
00:59:14Looks like the color's tough to tell in this shadow.
00:59:18That is Arnaje.
00:59:18Possibly the 33 car.
00:59:22Of course, Marshall's out there.
00:59:24Kurosawa.
00:59:29I have to tell you, obviously, Pete,
00:59:31if people know my histories and my hobbies a little bit,
00:59:34they know I love corner working,
00:59:36or course marshalling, as it's called in Europe.
00:59:38And I'll tell you what,
00:59:40American corner workers absolutely love
00:59:42the idea of coming here and watching this
00:59:44because they're on the track,
00:59:46they're chasing race cars,
00:59:47and you don't get a chance to do that
00:59:49a lot in the United States anymore.
00:59:50Sometimes, to the point maybe of being
00:59:52a little questionable here,
00:59:53that is the 33, got it absolutely right.
00:59:56And they've got that car back and underway.
00:59:58Let's get back down to Andrew.
00:59:59Yeah, I just wanted to say about that,
01:00:02you know, there are a lot of British marshals here,
01:00:05and the ACO are very happy to accept foreign marshals.
01:00:08I'm not quite sure how it's all organized, Greg,
01:00:10but obviously you've done a lot of corner working yourself.
01:00:13But I think some really experienced American marshals,
01:00:15corner workers, call them what you will,
01:00:17if they came over here, could probably get the job.
01:00:19I did a piece many years ago down on the Mulsanne Strait
01:00:22with a guy that was a detective sergeant in the police
01:00:26when he wasn't marshalling,
01:00:27and he was a British guy that had come over here.
01:00:29So lots of international interest amongst the corner workers here.
01:00:33And there certainly are, as we watch the 33 heading back,
01:00:35with some substantial damage to the front of that car,
01:00:38Kurosawa behind the wheel.
01:00:39A number of friends of mine, American marshals,
01:00:42have come over here and done the work.
01:00:44And it's great because what they do is they put them on a station
01:00:48with a British, English-speaking chef de post, or corner captain,
01:00:53and so they get that, and the calls are French, French, French.
01:00:56When it gets to that corner, it's translated to English
01:00:58and then back to French.
01:01:00So a number of my friends have told me about it,
01:01:03and believe me, I will continue to come in this role as long as I can.
01:01:07But should I not have the opportunity to come in this role,
01:01:10I would love to come over here and work this event as a corner worker one day.
01:01:14It's pretty special.
01:01:15Kind of ironic.
01:01:16We talk about the safety and the changes that Jackie Ix was involved in with the starts.
01:01:20But, I mean, Greg, I mean, you've been out there on the corners.
01:01:23These guys over here just seem so brave.
01:01:25I mean, yesterday when we were off the air,
01:01:28we saw some oil drive being brushed into the racetrack
01:01:30in the middle of the straightaway,
01:01:32going down to the Porsche curves with a local yellow.
01:01:35And, you know, the drivers don't want to slow down much.
01:01:38They were flying by them at about 150 mile an hour,
01:01:40and there's a guy in the middle of the road with a broom.
01:01:42Well, and you get the one guy that goes out with the yellow right in front of the car,
01:01:45wherever it is.
01:01:46I mean, that's certainly,
01:01:48it's great for the oncoming traffic to see exactly where that car is,
01:01:51but it's a bit dicey.
01:01:53Meanwhile, Kurosawa has brought it in,
01:01:54and, Andrew, substantial damage to the front of that car.
01:01:57It looks like it might be going into the garage.
01:01:58Yes, I'm just looking at the front here.
01:02:02I'm looking at the front-air arms to see if they're bent.
01:02:05They're definitely not bent.
01:02:06It's bodywork damage on both sides.
01:02:09The fenders both come off separately.
01:02:12They're trying to get the one off the left-hand side.
01:02:14The one on the right-hand side,
01:02:15oh, yes, definitely suspension, broken suspension parts.
01:02:18The steering arm has gone,
01:02:21so this car is going to be pushed back in the garage in just a moment.
01:02:24This is going to take them another 15 or 20 minutes to fix this.
01:02:28So, Kurosawa, unfortunately, has thrown it off the track
01:02:31and yet more dramas for the 33 car.
01:02:35Thanks, Andrew.
01:02:35And the number seven, Peugeot Manassian,
01:02:38a very quick stop.
01:02:39Fuel and tires, it appeared, maybe just fuel,
01:02:42as you see that car heading back out on track.
01:02:44Certainly did not do a driver's change,
01:02:46and it wasn't stationary very long, Calvin.
01:02:48No, it wasn't.
01:02:49And those guys are down in the 27s as well.
01:02:52So all four diesel-powered cars have now run laps in the 327.
01:02:58I mean, it was McNissue who threw down the Gawler,
01:03:00a 327-1 just before he finished his stint this morning,
01:03:04which was very impressive, a quadruple stint.
01:03:07And meanwhile, Dindo Capello, his teammate,
01:03:10he's looking for his third victory here.
01:03:12Both his previous wins came with Tom Christensen,
01:03:15one with the Bentley,
01:03:16and one with the Japanese Team Go entry.
01:03:20And you can see that the Audi boys are just trying to make up
01:03:22tenths of a second anywhere they can,
01:03:24and that pit lane entry is certainly a spot they can do it.
01:03:30Capello brings it in, hits the marks exactly.
01:03:32They do have tires ready.
01:03:34He'll be staying on board.
01:03:36You've been talking, Cal, about they've been double-stinting tires
01:03:39and trying to keep the driver in the car for a double-double stint,
01:03:44if you will, on those tires.
01:03:45Looks like that's the plan again.
01:03:46This is the first stint that Dindo's been out there.
01:03:48As McNissue, he took over from, they're just waiting on the fuel.
01:03:5181 liters.
01:03:54It's his birthday today, 43 years old.
01:03:56And Brian asked him what sort of birthday gift would this be
01:03:59to win his third Le Mans.
01:04:00And he said, I don't even want to think about it.
01:04:02That'd be something special.
01:04:03But good job, Dindo.
01:04:04He's such a pleasant man and such a great driver and just a great fit.
01:04:08He and Alan McNiss just get along famously,
01:04:11and whenever you put Christensen in the car, as you've seen,
01:04:13he's had so many different teammates.
01:04:15He just kind of gels everything together.
01:04:18By the way, I think I said Manassian in the seven car.
01:04:21It's Mark Genet at this point.
01:04:22There was, in fact, a driver change.
01:04:24So we caught just part of it here.
01:04:26The number two car has won Le Mans four times.
01:04:28It's at 37 and 66, 78, 88.
01:04:32Will it be 07?
01:04:34We'll be back, taking you to the finish, and hopefully find out.
01:04:42Welcome back to Speed's live coverage of the Michelin 24 hours of Le Mans.
01:04:46You take a look at the clock, you see we're just a ticker,
01:04:48so over seven and a half hours remaining in this event.
01:04:51Want to update you on class leaders, top three in each of the four classes.
01:04:55In P1, the two Audis continue to reign supreme.
01:04:58The number two, three laps up on the teammates.
01:05:00And then another few laps in hand over the number seven,
01:05:03Manassian, Genet, Villeneuve, Peugeot, and P2.
01:05:06It is the Binney Motorsports entry continuing to lead that category
01:05:09with Binney, Timpani, and Buncombe.
01:05:11It is in front of the number 32, Barazzi Epsilon entry
01:05:14of Barazzi, Bergers, and Auger.
01:05:16And then, you can see the margin there, by the way, 10 laps.
01:05:18So Binney looking quite good here.
01:05:20Then the number 35, Saulnier Racing Courage AER
01:05:23of Nicolet Filo and Bruce Joani sitting third.
01:05:27Now, we move to the GT divisions.
01:05:28Leading in that is the 009, Aston Martin, Brabham, Rydell,
01:05:32Rydell, excuse me, and Turner.
01:05:3463, Magnuson, O'Connell Fellows, and Bouchoud, Elgard, Golan,
01:05:37and then GT2.
01:05:38It is now the Curia-Coss entry that's leading over the Porsche
01:05:41and the, actually, two Porsches, 76 and 83.
01:05:45And let's get down to Andrew Marriott.
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