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00:00:00a very very warm cloudy breezy sticky hot well day here at Le Mans we're gonna go
00:00:23racing and we're gonna go racing live around the planet welcome to Eurosport
00:00:27world your sport Asia your sport international your sport British everybody
00:00:31else as well you're very very welcome my name is Carlton Kirby I've got Mark Cole
00:00:35alongside me and Liz Halliday just to get you rolling then we'll be joined later
00:00:39by Jeremy Short, Simon Hill, Neville Hay, Chris Parsons we have a huge team for you
00:00:46and we are all so excited to be bringing this amazing event the 76th running of
00:00:52this phenomenal event Lamont the 24 hours live on Eurosport well the crowds are
00:01:01in the cars are ready we're about to go racing if qualifying was anything to go
00:01:05by you're gonna have 24 hours of thrills
00:01:12well we have a special surprise as well today here on this grid
00:01:22we're gonna get a ceremonial start for the International Space Station would you believe
00:01:28that and plenty more besides before we finally get rolling
00:01:32Pedro the car was really fast for qualification but the race is long are you still confident yes I mean I
00:01:44know that the car was very fast in qualify but this this morning how they show that they had a very good
00:01:51pace on the race speed so they didn't qualify actually we qualify so the race will be tough and
00:01:59there'll be a big I think a bit competition during the race the first hours hopefully we can go ahead
00:02:07a bit we will see we'll see the first steps are gonna be during the first steps you're gonna push really hard to
00:02:14get a little bit of time ahead or I'll try but the last year we we thought we could go away as
00:02:20well and and actually Aldi they passes and they go and they went away this year the car is much better
00:02:27Stefan did a great job Frank and and Nicolas so he qualified so for the race is a question mark we will see
00:02:35but seems that the car is fast and we'll try to do our best to to keep going and try to to bring the car
00:02:42until the end thank you better good luck thank you
00:02:47Pedro Alami there the man on pole and what a position he is in where it is mark that's the
00:02:53Peugeot's may well have run in this morning's warm-up with a qualifying setup as far as the little chip is
00:03:02concerned the master control unit the big questions are however just how long they can go out there it's
00:03:09going to be a question of fuel economy if Audi are going to have any chance out there Mark yes
00:03:14Audi have really really got the strategies sorted out here haven't they at Le Mans they can do it year
00:03:20after year even though they might be slightly slower they've got the strategy as you said quite rightly
00:03:24Carlton yes Peugeot running in there with their qualifying electronics Audi not Audi running in race
00:03:30trim and Alan McNish in the warm-up this morning is quicker than any of the Audis were in qualifying
00:03:36this was the driver's parade it's a huge festival almost like the Notting Hill carnival
00:03:41uh out there and uh well Olivier Panis and the rest of them enjoying life let's just hope that chair
00:03:47stays on board when it goes racing i don't think it's the real one and of course this year for the first
00:03:52time trams in Le Mans they opened in October and it's brought a whole new dimension to the city
00:03:57connecting the city centre with the circuit remember that if you're not here this year come next year
00:04:02well the dignitaries uh came the dignitaries have gone but this was their prime minister of
00:04:07France François Fillon himself a Le Mans racer and the Dutch prime minister i cannot believe they're
00:04:11still talking because Holland beat them 4-0 uh 4-1 last night in the football i know well it'll be
00:04:17interesting to see as well how uh the spikers go here they've got a big performance curve to try and get
00:04:23the better of they say Peter Dunbrecht was telling us that they have taken the step forward and so have
00:04:28everybody else and it's going to be a difficult job for them to move up the GT standings well we're
00:04:33just waiting to speak to seven times at Le Mans winner Tom Christensen he wants to win this race with
00:04:38his friends Alan McNish and Dindo Capello this year are they going to be able to do it well what a team
00:04:42they've got tom is a superstar and he has that automatic on off smile which he ever see it seems to be able
00:04:49to create even when he's in something of a bad mood he's ready to talk to us now what a name to have early on
00:04:55before we go racing Tom Christensen then you're on your sport here he comes the pijos are really
00:05:02really fast what are you what is your really strategy are you going to wait or push really hard
00:05:08no we are obviously we are we have to try to to stay as close as possible means we we know that they
00:05:15have the faster car we know we can rely very much on our car from the last two years it's the same
00:05:21car it will finish and we can race it very hard we have to be disciplined though and certainly in
00:05:26traffic maybe we have to take a little bit higher risk but we have to make sure that it's always is
00:05:31okay put so much pressure on them as we can and obviously they have a fantastic car but we will try
00:05:37try to stress them as much mentally as possible good pit stop we know we have very good boys there so
00:05:43um there's no secret very fast and consistent as as we can go are you gonna work all three cars
00:05:51together against peugeot or is it still a fight inside the team no we are we are team we are united but of
00:05:59course at the moment we are we will go as fast as possible but we will not disturb each other in that
00:06:06sense if a car is faster from the back they will they will get uh clear to go for sure but at the
00:06:12moment it's uh we are only looking forward all all of us and that is what gives the most honest uh
00:06:19motivation for any team is clear for everyone thanks tom good luck enjoy
00:06:25thank you tom really uh intending to push hard right from the off but wonder just how hard though
00:06:31um longevity is what it's all about fuel economy and uh the nerves starting to fray amongst everyone
00:06:37although i have to say tom looked incredibly cool it's got a lot behind him however a lot in front of
00:06:41him 24 hours live here on your sport welcome back you're live at lamont we have stefan sarzan waiting to
00:06:56have a brief word he did such a tremendous job when it came to qualification the man who went sub
00:07:02three minutes 20 and by a goodly margin as well nobody could catch him sarazan on board the eight
00:07:08car for team peugeot total and uh well the boys that start themselves on pole first three positions
00:07:15will be occupied by peugeot as far as the gts are concerned uh it is corvette all the way by the looks
00:07:22of things at least early on aston martin they said they've not been sandbagging they've just been
00:07:25concentrating on finding race trim so watch out for them to start leaping up the timing boards a
00:07:31little later on all cars uh on their position on the grid it's a fine sunny day but there is cloud
00:07:37around as well it's been hot and humid it's got a little bit breezy now so just about had all weather
00:07:41we could possibly hope for i think we may well get some rain it's uh it's that time when drivers just
00:07:47start to try and focus on the job at hand and keep the likes of us away but we managed to weedle our way
00:07:53in there and have a brief chat let's see if we can catch up with sarazan now stefan you are really
00:07:58quick this year the the year before always but uh that's a big deal to to start in pole yeah sure
00:08:07it's uh very good i'm just very lucky i did the pole last year it was the first year with the car and
00:08:12uh i did the second time this year much faster the team did a great job we improved a lot the car so
00:08:17we were quite confident for the race compared to audi it was uh very quick and we tried to prove it
00:08:23during the race there is a lot of peugeot fans here a lot of people is it a up pressure for you or is
00:08:30it okay yeah it's a bit pressure but it's good like that we give the maximum of uh of the car and uh we
00:08:37try to push at maximum all the time and uh we are in france so to be a driver for french manufacturer is
00:08:42just uh amazing it's a dream so i'm just happy thank you and good luck well alongside us we have
00:08:50also liz halliday is part of our team liz you know what it's like to be out there you also know what
00:08:55it's like to do the starting stint yes i mean this is a really exciting time for everybody that's on the
00:09:01grid and starting le mans i mean it is the biggest sports car race in the entire world i mean there's
00:09:05nothing better than being given the honor of starting the race at le mans um i've been lucky enough to start
00:09:10twice and you know it's a really stressful time because 24 hours of racing i mean you struggle
00:09:15to even get it down into your head really well qualifying uh also saw that there was a problem
00:09:20with uh matt but uh there incidentally was the international space station they're going to be
00:09:25giving us a ceremonial wave off here they're 440 kilometers high above le mans as we speak and um
00:09:34we've got astronauts down here as well yeah but it's a very good reason for all this because 100 years ago
00:09:38the first ever flight on the european soil took place here on the the honodier strait the moussin
00:09:45strait that was by a leon boulet and so today french astronaut jean lucretien american astronaut mark
00:09:51brown and russian cosmonaut vladimir titov will give the start they'll wave the french flag up in the sky
00:09:57push a button and the same thing will happen down here see this is really exciting this is something a bit
00:10:02it's not even just about the racing at le mans this time around it's about the rest of the history and you
00:10:06know this is what we talk about at le mans being such a big deal it's the history of le mans and i
00:10:10think this is what you know the drivers will experience as well as you know the first time
00:10:14anybody sets out onto the mulls on straight for the first time i think it's almost like you absorb
00:10:17the history of le mans and it's exciting to have you know this this extra bit in there as well well
00:10:21we're looking at a team that uh really are kind of out of the box i suppose save for the drivers who
00:10:26are excellent they've all come from toyota uh the dome doesn't have a sponsor just yet but you know where
00:10:31their mind lies mark you can see where they're thinking oh yes indeed yes uh and i think toyota
00:10:36will be looking very very carefully at what goes on here this weekend also looking very carefully
00:10:41at what others are doing in gt jaguar a lot of people from jaguar here big rumors they are looking
00:10:46at returning officially to international motor racing see this would be very exciting to have jaguar
00:10:51back in the mix of things because it's sort of lately you know we've got very few different gt
00:10:56cars out there it's sort of just porsche and ferrari and then it's wonderful to have the spikers here as
00:10:59well but it would be great to just have a bit more of a mix-up in gt again and you know back in
00:11:03the old days when the jaguar was so strong there's going to be an awful lot of changes will this be
00:11:07the last year that we see these audis well maybe it depends on results right now today back in a moment
00:11:19welcome back live to le mans just looking at uh nicholas minacian we've got uh capello about to speak to us
00:11:26as well in just a few moments time some news coming in the impsum and porsche uh insert performance
00:11:31matmus uh the car leading the gt2 class it's uh on pole has been sent to the back for a procedural
00:11:40irregularity we think they were too late coming out which is an absolute nightmare for them well this
00:11:45really isn't that big of a disaster i mean it seems that way and obviously you know being on pole you
00:11:49want to be there but you know it won't be that much of a disaster for a team like this in 24 hours
00:11:54we'll wait to see let's go downstairs for a chat
00:12:00dindo uh last year you missed the first place so i'm sure this year you're going to be fighting
00:12:05really hard yeah for sure what's happened uh what's happened last year it still hurts
00:12:10alan tom and myself because last year we did a perfect lemon a perfect pace a perfect pit stop
00:12:19was a great teamwork and at the end just a few hours to the end everybody remember what's happened
00:12:25this year we should try to repeat the same kind of phrase but for sure pegeot is very very fast and
00:12:32but i'm sure we are sure if we can repeat the 2007 race probably to a sunday at three o'clock the results
00:12:41can be very good for audi again thank you dindo and good luck thank you good luck ciao good luck to
00:12:46them as well alan mcnish in the cabana tom christensen it was a heartbreaker uh if you can't remember the
00:12:51wheel came off their challenge it was hardly a chance they were leading they were looking like they were
00:12:55going to bring it in and then it just all fell apart for them which was uh as far as their concern alan
00:13:00mcnish in particular was absolutely gutted mark yep absolutely five minute board's gone up then 55 cars on
00:13:08the grid and uh pedro larmi here on pole position he's driving the car sarazan put on pole frank montagne
00:13:14alongside him and as you just heard from carlton on the back row of the grid the imsa matmuk performance
00:13:19porsche the leading porsche in qualifying pat long sent to the back of the grid and so too
00:13:24has the tokai university yj key lmp2 car hiroki kurosawa they're starting from the back too they had to
00:13:31change um gearbox which is not allowed in the rules you can change engines but not gearboxes between
00:13:36qualifying and the race yeah but really in a 24-hour race this is not going to be a huge drama like i
00:13:42said earlier and it's disappointing but 24 hours of racing is a long way and you know i've had teams
00:13:47that have won a 12-hour race starting from the back of the grid and let alone 24 hours so you know it's
00:13:51a setback but i don't think this is going to be a huge disaster for either team you're listening to
00:13:56eurosport live throughout the world eurosport world eurosport asia also joining us it's an absolute pleasure to
00:14:01have your company my name is carlton kerby we have liz halliday and mark cole also in the booth to start
00:14:07us off it's a huge team it's a huge event and look at this track mark would you like to talk us through
00:14:11it yeah absolutely so here we are looking at the hill up to the dunlop curves and this is where
00:14:18the noda rolled the other night and then down the hill down to la chapelle and uh let's just talk
00:14:23us through the section from la chapelle to torture rouge you've done it at racing speeds yeah through the
00:14:27s's that's going to be flat out in a prototype very very quick corner um down to the next portion
00:14:33of the s's which is the left-hander and into tetrouge which of course was new from last year so you know
00:14:38that's gotten much much much quicker almost fifth gear in some turns and then on to molson straight
00:14:44now the molson straight seems like it goes on forever but obviously back in the old days
00:14:48it used to truly go on forever and ever and ever and now we have the two chicanes
00:14:53so on to molson straight carry on that and then you've got your first chicane which is the first real
00:14:57test of the brakes on this track so it's going to be hard on the brakes into the first chicane down
00:15:02to third gear for most cars actually and then i pop down a second yeah then we'll catch up on the
00:15:08rest of the lap as we see the cars going around in a minute but uh carlton just all the last minute
00:15:13preparations now teams really still working on strategy engineers on computers in the back of the
00:15:17garages they've got 24 hours of this to do it's a killer and look at the forecast cloud and that's a
00:15:23gray cloud great underbelly at least we expect there will be some rain but a track temperature
00:15:28of 20 odd celsius that's warm out there so even if it does rain it's not likely to hang around for long
00:15:35we're expecting showers at some point there is a breeze just getting up that's a that's a welcome one
00:15:39for just about everybody but it's a very very nervy time this is just a question of bedding the strategy
00:15:45down it's all gone basically there's nothing more that can be done it's a question of just trying to get
00:15:49calm and just relax into the moment so to the spectators 256 000 last year the aco is confidently
00:15:56expecting that to be exceeded this year because it's battle the battle of the titans audi and
00:16:01peugeot and audi defending their crown but liz my money's on persia well yeah you know pressure's had
00:16:07a year now they've done them already they've experienced it they've you know they've had the
00:16:11little problems they've had time to bed this car in and really get all the things sorted out that
00:16:16will give them the power to win a 24-hour race so you know definitely they're going to be fast but
00:16:20audi's done this a lot you know they have very reliable cars so i think it's going to be a
00:16:23proper fight to the end you just saw the space station hovering 440 kilometers above us right now
00:16:30they're going to be giving us a ceremonial get-go they won't of course be starting the race proper
00:16:35but they'll be waving a french flag just to say off you pop one minute to go then so we'll join the
00:16:41astronauts up above and then we'll be racing down here on planet earth they'll be helping it spin
00:16:46just a little bit faster as these tires grip on and dump down the massive torque as they fire it up and
00:16:53just about ready mark to start rolling yeah i mean that one minute is so significant most of these
00:16:59teams crews have been here for 10 days they were here for the test day last sunday it's all come down
00:17:04to this point right now listen to that sound
00:17:17this is the 76th running of Le Mans you're live over the world and in space here on Eurosport the
00:17:25astronauts are about to give us the flag and then we will be sending ourselves round there's the official
00:17:31green for go and they're going to have a look at this track and it's going to be your first chance
00:17:36to see it on race day race weekend indeed all 24 hours of course live here on Eurosport
00:17:43Liz Halliday what's going through the drivers minds their hands their feet right now well this is an
00:17:49incredible time at Le Mans i mean to do the start you're seeing all the spectators it's really coming
00:17:54down to reality in your own head 24 hours ahead of you of the biggest race in the world potentially so
00:18:01really it's just about keeping it cool i mean the start of a 24-hour race you've got to be cool
00:18:05you can't be trying to win the race on the first corner first unlock curves cause so much trouble
00:18:10early on you can get it wrong even there don't forget it's a hugely long race do not bin it in the
00:18:16first minute well right now they're going to be warming up tires warming up brakes you know this is
00:18:20where some of the cars might get a bit loose you know you fire it off the line the tires aren't warm
00:18:24yet you know everything's just bedding in a bit so you know it's got to be about being smart getting
00:18:29things ready for the whole 24 hours so uh trouble all ready for the 97 car haven't quite it got the
00:18:38get-go and we're going to be uh going upstairs the international space station they'll be talking
00:18:43russian and we'll be doing our little best to have a word with them uh where our translators are standing
00:18:49by here we are well there you are you can read it for yourself we are honored to take part in the
00:18:54start of lemon 2008 from the international space station this unique race brings together the spirit of
00:19:01pioneers and explorers that we all have a good race to all international space station expedition 17
00:19:11commander sergi volkov and flyer engineer olex kononenko
00:19:18thank you fellas was that fantastic one that was extremely cool i have to say
00:19:24how many races get started from a space station let's be honest wow so there you are not that many
00:19:30not that many so uh assurouts down on earth as well and they will be our official starters francois
00:19:36french prime minister up there with the tricola and they will wave that flag for the cars they
00:19:41come by liz you started us off on the lap this is the first chicane playstation chicane then down to
00:19:46the second one michelin yes we see the cars coming into the first chicane then you head down to the
00:19:50second chicane bit of a shorter straight than you had before but still very fast and quite long in
00:19:55comparison to most tracks you head on down to that equally very hard braking again but a much quicker sort of
00:20:00squirt out of this out of the exit of it because then you run down to moles on corner which is the
00:20:05first real you know it's the next real test of sort of the the car and the brakes and everything
00:20:10so the moles on corner is very very very tight corner so that's going to be their next one down
00:20:15to first gear for a lot of cars but probably in the race many will hold back on that liz the
00:20:18moulton kink was always a feature a feared feature for leman but they skim the top off it is it that much
00:20:23easier now yeah i mean i think yeah that's helped obviously but the actual corner itself is quite
00:20:28technical i mean the prototypes will be turning into it flat and then hitting the brakes very very
00:20:32hard and it's quite a polished surface for obvious reasons from years of racing so you know that's
00:20:36something to keep in mind and it also narrows a lot so if you've got traffic there you've really got
00:20:41to be using your head as to where you take them you know overtake them and not just years of racing of
00:20:44course this is a normal road exactly so we've got that to deal with as well which is what makes them all
00:20:50so special as well i think a lot of people think is that you know you've got some real road to deal with
00:20:55so even just crossing over bits or um yeah just crossing over the center there as you see that's
00:20:59that's quite a test for the cars and this is the kink we were just seeing yeah so they're back at audi
00:21:04and uh back in peugeot as well it's uh nothing that they can really do about it right now it's just a
00:21:10question of keeping fingers crossed and hoping that all the strategies have actually sorted themselves
00:21:13out incidentally in the warm-up today we're hearing uh from us from the drivers themselves and we're not
00:21:19going to tell you which one because we were sworn to secrecy but perjo were out there just uh running
00:21:24uh a little different mapping to audi they were still on qualification mapping in the warm-up we
00:21:30think that was that to be a heartbreaker and their warm-up times were impressive no audi uh was even
00:21:36quicker in qualifying and i think they were just trying to rub audi's uh nose in it to be honest uh they
00:21:41will have changed that engine mapping because it's going to be about consumption and just
00:21:45how much more efficient fuel efficient are the audis that could well be a secret well yeah of
00:21:51course it will be let's be honest they're not going to share that with everybody are they secret to
00:21:54success yeah but um liz uh fastest point of the circuit we're just seeing down to indianapolis the
00:22:01peugeot is 215 miles an hour there on wednesday night wow you know that's that's a spectacular speed
00:22:07it's such a fast corner in a brilliant corner to drive because it's got a bit of camber to it as well
00:22:11and i can only imagine what an awesome experience it must be to go through there in a car as quick
00:22:16as the purchase but then obviously very hard on the brakes there after that into indianapolis and
00:22:20very very slippery there as well you know we've seen a lot of accidents there late in the race as
00:22:24the debris comes up and you know as oil comes up on the surface so you know especially in a car that
00:22:29quick they're going to need to be careful about that this is an enormous circuit over 13 kilometers and when
00:22:34you imagine doing that in just three minutes and 18 seconds it gives you some kind of perspective as
00:22:40to the speeds that they've got huge crowd massive party and they are about to well they're about to
00:22:46party seriously now and get their usual motorsport fix at this time of year yeah well i think uh most
00:22:51of these fans have been partying for almost a week to be honest you know it's a it's a big special
00:22:55experience in the mall every year an excuse to get out there in the sunshine and enjoy some motorsport
00:23:00yeah the banking is always a favorite place uh all around the circuit barbecues have just been put
00:23:06out behind they've probably empty their beer cans upon them as we speak uh they are coming around
00:23:11then for the first run by and this is always a pleasure and well a pleasure it's um it's the raw as
00:23:20well as the engines uh of the engines apart from anything else that just makes the hair on the back of
00:23:24your next standout this is the run-up from our naged porsche curves and porsche curves claiming two
00:23:29perjots over the last uh six days uh huge accident for mark janet last sunday and then of course ricardo
00:23:36zonta on thursday night so two two uh perjots down already one of them had to be completely rebuilt how
00:23:43did they do that liz you're not officially supposed to change tubs well yes but i mean i think a team like
00:23:48perjot is very well prepared aren't they they're ready for any instance so you know they've been
00:23:53in there uh you know they must have a few out back surely very diplomatic the dutch have been setting
00:23:58off orange uh fire bombs uh smoke bombs i should say um they're not really quite sure what to think
00:24:04about that we've had clouds of the stuff uh drifting buyers here doesn't really help too much but they
00:24:10are in party mood the dutch having uh one of the football what can they do here the spikers well
00:24:15they're going to have trouble we'll see about the rest now liz as we go into the last part of
00:24:18porsche curves there's been some big changes here haven't they it's grass here but as you go into
00:24:22the final part a lot of runoff area yeah they have changed that now there's a lot of asphalt runoff um
00:24:27which i think is a great idea i mean it's just enhancing the safety of the circuit and giving
00:24:31people just a little bit more breathing room but just the same i mean the porsche curves are still a
00:24:35really daunting part of this circuit they're very very fast makes up for a lot of time lost or gained in the
00:24:40car but also you know it can end your race if you go off there it's just it's very very quick so
00:24:45you know people are still going to have to respect it so then this is the moment the lead car's
00:24:50slowing down they're just waiting for the safety car the pace car to leave us here and then we will
00:24:56be underway everyone getting into position for a nice clean start they'll approve this start and then
00:25:02wave them away and it'll be the first look across the start finish rate huge crowds there'll be at the
00:25:08the usual glitter of the cameras as they come by peugeot's one two and three and the roar is about
00:25:15to happen as we start this the 76th running of the lamont 24 hours live here across the planet on
00:25:23euro sports away we go then this is the big moments and the roar by the crowd are up everyone's up and
00:25:30persia immediately just throwing it down it's formation time for them and away they go up towards the
00:25:35the deadline curves it's a long long race to come and already a chance from ala witness she's having
00:25:40a look all over the back can he move up a position early on here that would be tremendous he's really
00:25:45trying his hardest to get by the seven car and he's just going to make it into the top of the bridge
00:25:50absolutely superb by mcnish what a driver coming into second place so mcnish moving up there great
00:25:58job there liz just got inside that uh peugeot and couldn't do it about it i think mcnish came out here
00:26:04and he said this is what this race is going to be about boys i'm not going to kick back and let you
00:26:08just crawl away from us so he just thought i'm going to stick it in there straight away and show
00:26:11him that audi is here to win we are here to win say the four rings forget about anything else they're
00:26:16going to challenge here and when it comes to the balance between fuel and longevity on their runs
00:26:21they could well have it just wait and see where the peugeots come in what sort of trim have they
00:26:26managed to put on these cars it's raced him they say and already but this should just be nice he was
00:26:30proving a point from the crowds and into a point well made mark he has tucked back inside but he just
00:26:36does he say showed showed his nose to mark janae janae uh couldn't do anything about it at that point
00:26:41of the circuit but it takes it back at the chicane so so much uh so much more uh talk to have than the
00:26:49oudis down here now that's one thing we're learning over this week wow well what a day what a start
00:26:55what a race and it's uh there's an awful long way to go naturally enough we know that but our
00:26:59these are just bedded back into position i that was such a gutsy move early on i was uh i just must
00:27:06myself well this is the thing about how i'm in this you know every time he gets on a track he's
00:27:11out there to have a crack it doesn't matter what it is he's an amazing driver so much skill and talent
00:27:16and he wants to win this race he's waited to win this race for years 10 years now so you know this
00:27:21is this is i think he feels this is his one they were do it last year now that horrible incident with
00:27:26the wheel coming off and he's out to win this year and i think he wants to show that to everybody
00:27:30including the crowd straight away off the bat yeah but look it's still in sixth place stefan mucker there
00:27:34in the uh aston martin powered cheruz lola what a great job they've done out qualifying frank beeler
00:27:39and they're holding that position that is a big surprise i'd expected to see the audis just go
00:27:43blasting past but no stefan is in control of that sixth place yeah it's quite an exciting thing for
00:27:49them to come out here you know this new combination of the lola and the engine and also the coupe i mean
00:27:53i think we're seeing how fast these really are going to be you know the aerodynamics are much better
00:27:57and you know they're really showing a lot of pace i was talking to peter ellery of embassy and he said
00:28:02they may have to go down the coupe route because they're just watching what everyone else is doing
00:28:06he said they are faster exactly i mean which is not really a big shock if you think about it i mean
00:28:11obviously having a person's head mixed with a few other things is not going to be as aerodynamically
00:28:17viable as having the you know the specially shaped scoop nose and straight over the top so it makes a
00:28:21lot of sense but i don't think anyone expected there to be that much of a speed difference well what
00:28:26a start lights are blazing light splashing as well they're trying their best to to thread the needle
00:28:31here and it's a very very narrow track on occasion this and when you've got the approach speeds that
00:28:36they're also got it kind of compresses everything if you meet a car from a lower class in those very
00:28:42very tight areas it can make for disaster can't it it can and i mean you really need to use your head
00:28:48in these situations and especially as it starts to get a bit darker as well it's very hard to tell what
00:28:52you're coming up on sometimes when you know when you're in the thick of it and also you know some
00:28:56of these prototypes will be a bit slower than people would expect them to be four seconds is
00:28:59the gap already they're putting over the rest of the field larmy montagne and janet then it's alan
00:29:04mcnish then it's lucas love and it's stephan muka and then frank beeler and daisuka ito he's there
00:29:10in eighth place in the dome what a great start for them stunning start for ito and the dome and uh well
00:29:16we're in our first minute of the 24 hours the first three minutes i should say three minutes 26 by Pedro
00:29:21Alami that is tremendous so the astronauts give us the wave by and what a beautiful view of that run
00:29:27up to dunlop here where alan mcnish made that very brave move phenomenal well this uh a replay of the
00:29:34start and uh well this will be entertaining you can be sure of that it certainly just shocked us right
00:29:40at the beginning this was the runway we thought uh yes nice information uh style from the persia all three
00:29:46of them in that uh ender on the wing as they came up to the top alan mcnish wasn't having any of it
00:29:52he said this formation stuff means absolutely nothing and he decided to spoil the party there he is with
00:29:57the yellow wing on board that number two arity and he closed them down stalked his man and just went
00:30:02by it was tremendous stuff what a start to this race and already we have the timing screens just telling
00:30:08their own story great story it is as well as you said mark that as the martin powered car but it's
00:30:14actually started just to uh upset the party that's being enjoyed only it seems by the diesel car and
00:30:20let's just look further down the standings peter van merkstein he has started apparently the uh the
00:30:25porsche the car that he actually owns although our we were told it was going to be off for stappen
00:30:30starting there may be some problems there but magnusson in the corvette the 63 corvette is leading gt1
00:30:36and alex davidson in port the porsche the 77 porsche of course that wasn't the pole car the
00:30:43pole car sent to the back of the grid that's the team felbermeyer proton yeah well that car was sent
00:30:47to the back of the grid but if we look at here he's already up to seventh in class just after what two
00:30:52laps so this is you know really quite impressive but patrick long an incredible driver been with
00:30:56porsche for years not going to surprise me at all if he moves up another few places in just another lap
00:31:00or two you're in bloca melon just confirmed now as the driver of that to van merkstein car we're quite
00:31:05sure that's what has happened and uh they're just getting all their timing sorted out here this
00:31:09afternoon but again a country mile lead already for the peugeot 3.9 seconds now over the audi's
00:31:16carlton yeah absolutely um audi they're going to run their own race here uh they're racing the track
00:31:21don't forget apart from racing their nemesis which happens to be the peugeot lion the peugeot are
00:31:27bound to look more comfortable here they've proven in qualification and of course all season long in the
00:31:32le mans series as well that they've got something very very special in terms of their package
00:31:37they did however also let's not forget do uh 36 hours they they did a sort of mock 36 hour race
00:31:44and actually came through it it's very very different when you've got opposition out there
00:31:48as well to contend with let's not forget that but they've proven that the car has now built itself
00:31:53the longevity that they've been craving for so long and it might well just be that mark's prediction that
00:31:58it will be a peugeot win this year comes true certainly for the time being it looks like they're
00:32:03all on their own here it will do for the first couple of laps end of lap two then still a peugeot
00:32:07one two three formation and we can see it like this at the end of the 24 hours and look alan mcnish
00:32:12being dropped now but but by the same token he's pulling ahead of lucas lure and stefan mucker has
00:32:18started to pull away from frank beeler that's very interesting what we're not seeing though this gt2
00:32:23fabulous battle less than a second covering davidson rob bell in the ferrari and jorg bergmeister
00:32:28yeah these are all top top drivers and they're all going to be pushing hard this is the thing you see
00:32:32in gt1 and gt2 is you know there's not so much of a time drop off in the race they really push hard
00:32:37the entire way a bit more reliable cars and really really strong strong drivers so they're going to be
00:32:43pushing hard right at the front all the way through the race just looking a little bit further down
00:32:48the classes as well there's uh some great battles to be had don't forget corvettes they didn't have
00:32:53things all their own way celine came through in qualification and started second in that class
00:32:58the gt1 and um just looking further through the standings here the lower last and martin has dropped
00:33:04out of the top six so clearly uh the talk that you were talking about mark has paid off early on for
00:33:10the diesel so i just wonder um what an impact the petrol cars will make it's surely going to be
00:33:15need mistakes from the uh the diesel cars ahead of the petrol cars involved in lmp1 if they are going
00:33:23to make any kind of impression on the top five well surely i mean we're looking at fuel economy here
00:33:27aren't we i mean this is going to be the biggest thing that's going to be an issue for them um but
00:33:31you know at the same time you know we've seen petrol cars you know on the podium each year i know
00:33:35there's more diesels this year but it's all going to come down to reliability and you know efficient pit
00:33:39stops and you know how often they can just keep it going around in the same time one after another
00:33:44if they have no problems in pit stops and everything's clean then you never know we might
00:33:48see petrol car still on the podium i think essentially what you're saying about fuel as
00:33:52well and just how much is being burnt we're talking about the mapping that peugeot had adopted in
00:33:57qualifying and the fact that audi well we're kind of trying to say that they had race mapping there
00:34:02but clearly now it's come to the race there is still a huge performance difference between them
00:34:07but when are the peugeos going to pit and how much longer can the avi stay out there yeah i think it's
00:34:12all going to come down to the first pit stops it's going to be very interesting to see the difference
00:34:16between when peugeot comes in and when the audi's come in so i think we'll know a lot more about
00:34:20sort of where this race is going to pan out throughout the throughout the night and tomorrow
00:34:24pedro larmi's lead is under threat frank montagne has just done the first and second best sectors of
00:34:29the race so far he's closing down on larmi and manassian's being dropped very slightly he's now second
00:34:35behind montagne and as you said those petrol cars muca and uh ito in the respectively in the
00:34:40the chiroos aston martin and in the dome they're dominating petrol then seven to eight but remember
00:34:46neither of those cars have ever done a 24-hour race and indeed the dome has never done any race yes
00:34:51absolutely and there's other cars out there as well which we'll get onto in a moment that
00:34:56have plenty of rookies on board and rookie teams as well to boot nothing rookie about these boys though
00:35:01however and um well it's going to be a fascinating one you have to say and what's also going to be
00:35:07fascinating is if they have a huge cushion if they have a huge cushion they may start racing
00:35:13themselves and that's a danger point for the team well if you look at it already they're already
00:35:17racing themselves to be honest and come on these are racing drivers they're they're very experienced
00:35:22racing drivers they're here to race it's very hard to to tame down the racing driver in them you know
00:35:27that much and they've got to have a go really don't they and i think they're very aware of what
00:35:31they're doing these cars aren't going as fast as they actually can as we all know so you know we'll just
00:35:36have to wait and see what happens the five car uh a yari on board the courage orica in the matmut
00:35:42team colors uh based on the piet mondrian uh colors uh famous painter from holland uh just chasing down
00:35:50the pescarola of bouillon the dome is in front of them and has dropped them by a decent margin as well
00:35:55a couple of seconds ahead and they're going around here in three and a half minutes that's the speed
00:35:59that the aso are trying to limit the main cars to the main prototypes uh it's being achieved by
00:36:06the petrol cars but um eight seconds quicker the pegeots are running at the moment the lead two and
00:36:12the interesting thing is the two front running petrol lmp1 cars are both coupes so this is showing
00:36:17some of their speed difference i think from the open or from the open cockpit cars yeah the coupe seems
00:36:23to be the way to go and a little unstable coming into that one the number 16 car that's the one that
00:36:28had its nose remodified during qualifying i've got into a load of oil unfortunately they've been dropped by the
00:36:34uh 59 modern a aston martin and they did a great rebuild job but whenever you do rebuild the car
00:36:40at the front and not least the uh mazda which we'll come on to a little later on um the car has to be
00:36:46re-found doesn't it it does yeah it's always that sort of nerve-wracking time when you go back out on
00:36:51the track with a rebuilt car and you're sort of thinking to yourself well is the handling going to be
00:36:55the same is there going to be any other issues that will come up from that but i mean a team like
00:36:59pescarolo you know very very experienced they've been in this sort of situation before so i'm
00:37:04willing to bet they've got that pretty much a hundred percent nailed back to where they want
00:37:07it to be well matt muck's starting to eat up the uh pescarolo livery machine and uh that uh the
00:37:15wonderful color that uh that blue that's been so familiarly associated for such a long time the
00:37:21matra blue when we just hope we never stop seeing it mark yeah only pescarolo adopted this green
00:37:26as his favorite color when he uh had his helmet like that in formula three went to matra took it
00:37:30with him one lemon in those colors in 72 73 and 74 kept it for his own team but what we're looking
00:37:37at here is the back of the french garagiste they're both both le mans based pescarolo and yves courage
00:37:44both teams significantly have been bought by bigger concerns this year the one by orica the other by uh
00:37:51jack nicolet and his uh monaco tv company so they've both been given much more financial
00:37:56strength these teams and unfortunately though at the end of the day they're only fighting each
00:38:00other they cannot take on the diesels there is a sub battle the petrols and the diesels the best
00:38:04petrol car will have a a little medal a quiet one all of their own not officially recognized one of
00:38:10course though it's all in the lmp1 class incidentally lmp2 uh the lead car blick and mollet on board
00:38:17one of the porsche rs uh spiders they're running in 15th place interesting one for you for you guys
00:38:23uh the epsilon uscode the car that got the very very late entry is uh leading its team car there
00:38:30but a very very late uh call did the 21 car and they stood up to the mark and mark gunon
00:38:37sat in the seat so did stephan johansson and shinji nakano it's a fantastic team uh considering
00:38:43their reserves yeah absolutely and i'm you know john mark very very experienced driver so he's going to be
00:38:47pushing that car hard i know they had a lot of issues with it when they first brought it out obviously the
00:38:51car is brand new and you know they'd had an aero package put on it for le mans that they'd never
00:38:56used before and he went out and he said the car was moving around on the straight it was all over
00:39:01the place and they had to take everything apart and play around with it and change springs and all
00:39:05sorts and he says he feels like now they've got a car pretty well dialed in it's a quick car but it's
00:39:10a big question because it is brand new and this is 24 hours yeah unfortunately that's uh also trickled
00:39:15down to all their preparation that you can't always rely on everything going right and the number 20 car
00:39:20this morning blew its judd v10 to pieces and that's a very very very rare judd failure they had to
00:39:26change an engine that was the moment that was the point just there where uh the number nine peugeot
00:39:30went off uh anything can happen and uh what what's going to fascinate me is who's going to be first
00:39:35to pit not just talking about the lead cars but everybody out there who's got troubles well we're
00:39:39about to find out and don't forget the message boards we'll be going over to those in a wee while just
00:39:44have a chat with you as well you're live at the mall here on eurosport
00:39:54warm welcome back here to the mall the clouds have come the breeze is still with us there's
00:39:59just a hint that there might be a little bit of a shower out there the racing has just kept us warm
00:40:04and entertained it's tremendous stuff not only out front but also through the field and we're
00:40:09staying with this little battle that's uh raging on here uh great great outfit and look at this
00:40:15peugeot already into traffic mark it's not taking them yeah they're lapping cars already pedro larmy
00:40:21fastest man on the circuit he's actually put a gap of a second at the start of this lap over frank
00:40:26montani and uh pedro has just done the fastest uh lap of the race at 3 22 4 49 uh he's still out the
00:40:34front of the lead there it gaps 1.5 now and 2.9 back to nick nassin so they're beginning to open that
00:40:40up how long are they going to go on fuel there uh it's a it's a big question mark uh lucas lure is
00:40:45really pushing as well uh they're just about across the start finish line but persia's really are well
00:40:50ahead here it's taken only four laps uh into the fifth lap now for them to actually find the back of
00:40:55the field get into the gt cars the frightening prospect as well for those boys uh who have the uh the
00:41:00the lights of the peugeos blazing away and you'll start to see the speed differentials when they
00:41:05just go by some of these vehicles and it must be heartbreaking for the for the drivers in the gt2
00:41:10class by the way thank you so much to those of you who are have come in on uh the forums we'll be
00:41:15having a chat with you later on thanks initially to uh airbus uh a346 uh hop not monster cad pig uh rich
00:41:22vms and the rest of you if you'd like to join them and have a chat get on to eurosport.yahoo.co.uk
00:41:29uh you will be able to click on the message boards go to motorsports go to le mans and you'll find
00:41:34the thread which is race weekend live and we'll be having a chat with you a little bit later on
00:41:39when things have calmed down but for now thanks for your company so far yeah and also thanks for
00:41:43dailysportscar.com all the information we get from them and they'll be doing it all throughout
00:41:47the race just have a look at that website you can register in it on it if you're not already there
00:41:52paul trusswell from daily sports car he's given us some sort of indication of the fuel car
00:41:57and he suggested to us that uh in given conservative conditions 13 laps on a full tank well now that
00:42:03was assuming three minute 32 these cars running at 3 22 so i think we're going to be looking at
00:42:09maybe 12 laps on a tank full of fuel for these uh diesel cars yeah it's very possible actually i mean
00:42:15they're moving at these kind of paces it's going to burn off more fuel so it's going to be really
00:42:19interesting to see because you know a diesel car you think it would go forever but really we're going
00:42:23to wait and see when they come in because 12 laps is very short it's not very long so that's what 40
00:42:2945 minutes at the most if that yeah yeah what is interesting is when we transition between day and
00:42:35night already in the deep shadow of the forest you can start to see that there is already smearing
00:42:41there's been there's been a lot of insects have come up over the last few days and cars really are
00:42:45getting spattered with them and when you go through the woods that's where the mosquitoes kind of hang up
00:42:49and you can see it there and when that sun gets a little bit lower and it starts to just flare on
00:42:54the screen it does get oh so difficult it is very difficult and it's difficult for the drivers in the
00:42:58open cockpit cars as well because you're getting that on your visor and you know as you go into
00:43:03you know the people that are doing dusk are going to really struggle because you can't go out there
00:43:06with a shaded visor you've got the sun in your face but because you're going into the dark you've got
00:43:11to just accept that and a lot of people will put tape over their visors to you know sort of block the sun a bit
00:43:16and the people with the windscreens are going to be struggling with the glare you know like you
00:43:19said against debris from the track oil perhaps on the windscreen you know insects all sorts it gets
00:43:25very tricky but one thing at the moment we may not have is a sunset here of course it's been very
00:43:29cloudy this afternoon the moves wind has moved around from the east to the west overnight and uh
00:43:34it's bringing a lot lot more cloud in from the atlantic and uh i just wonder is that going to bring some
00:43:39rain as well but it's definitely freshening up it feels fresher the flags have gone horizontal on the
00:43:45gland stands you won't see it now but uh watch this for an approach here uh another roar by it's
00:43:50frank montagna on board the number nine car currently in second place and uh has been dropped just a
00:43:56little bit by pedro larmi dropped a whole bunch on that lap i think it caught up in traffic he's now
00:44:013.7 seconds back from pedro so through they come again just uh trying to keep it sensible early on
00:44:08although their pace is tremendous 322.449 was the last time by by pedro larmi uh best audi well the
00:44:16best audi is in the hands of mcnish he's the only audi so far to go sub 326 to hop a second quicker
00:44:22than that lucas lure has just posted his best time so far well soon we'll see these cars starting to
00:44:29come up on the gt2 cars all the traffic is going to start to become an issue and this is when it all
00:44:34gets a bit more mixed up and we see what makes this sports car racing is the four different classes
00:44:38of racing huge speed differential especially now the pace of the peugeots mixed with the porsches
00:44:44and the ferraris and the spikers it's going to be just a tremendous difference for traffic incidentally
00:44:48it's uh corvette one and two honors have resumed then as the celine has just taken a little bit of a
00:44:55tumble down to the standings it's now in fifth place as the aston margins do exactly what they said
00:45:00and they've stepped up to the mark and they are matching the corvettes on pace here mark yeah they
00:45:04have they've i think the celine's probably had its best so far maybe they started a little bit light
00:45:10on fuel for some glory but it's uh jan magnus and the man from yardley hastings oliver gavin he's in
00:45:16second place good job ollie then brabham and wendlinger behind them in the two factory astons
00:45:21those golf colors a huge amount of debate going on at the moment most people saying we think it's too pale
00:45:26the blue on the goal the blue's not right it's not uh gluey enough i think is the expression uh cox is
00:45:32in the lamborghini he's in sixth place and uh then we get into the corvettes run by luke alfond and uh
00:45:39we're just having a look at peugeot sport here it's a it's a calm place a happy place for now that
00:45:44surely will change at least at some part throughout these 24 hours serge saulier the uh race chief of uh
00:45:51peugeot on the sitting on the pit wall there he'll stay there for the whole of the 24 hours i don't know how he
00:45:56does that probably uses a bottle but uh anyway uh serge also of course you'll see his name in the
00:46:01on the number four lmp1 car because he had a prototype team which he sold there are the standings
00:46:07corvette corvette ollie gavin in that second car for brit fans and for brit fans david brabham the
00:46:12honoree brit who lives in australia lives in wimbledon well if the if perhaps does start uh
00:46:18racing it'll be against vendinger for the time being for honours i think it was the nine car that
00:46:22actually won it for aston last time so it's 007 james bond in fourth place at the moment with
00:46:27009 his not nemesis but his partner uh ahead at the moment in third place the only car with uh three
00:46:34numbers aboard uh got special dispensation to do that makes them more more distinctive i suppose as
00:46:39if they could be any less so uh with that wonderful golf livery but we're looking at the corvettes one and
00:46:44two 63 car in the lead ahead of ollie gavin in the 64 for now just i were talking about gulf 40th
00:46:49anniversary this year of uh gulf's first win here at le mans that was in 1968 pedro rodriguez in the
00:46:57gulf gt40 he was carrying number nine when he got that win so aston martin deliberately chose 009
00:47:04we'll see if they can carry that through they're teasing us they're teasing us i hope i thought we
00:47:08were going to stay on and have a look at that livery and you can make your decision about uh how dark or
00:47:12light the blue is 33 cars come in they had a bit of a bumpy warm-up as well uh they had a bit of a bump
00:47:17uh earlier on in qualification two uh they've come in early just to settle things down and it's not
00:47:22that they're going to get themselves out of traffic there's traffic all around this track right now
00:47:27a quick wheel change it's a uh no change of driver and uh i believe we might be having a chat to
00:47:33somebody mark but not quite sure who just yet
00:47:39well it's with our team they say it's the 10th time that uh we've been starting here
00:47:49the question is what do you think of the race race so far is dr wolfgang ulrich and he's saying of course
00:47:54this year there's so much that we want to win our ambition isn't diminished at all he says
00:48:03uh it's one of the most difficult races to actually master here so focus is the main thing we have to
00:48:11maintain uh constant fast driving out there and uh we'll see what happened
00:48:19so what about setup and qualifying is the question for girl
00:48:24so did you have race setup when it came to uh qualification it looked like that to us yes he says
00:48:30but here is that's exactly it's evident that uh there was a difference between ourselves and the
00:48:36berger to qualify for sure we're always going to go ahead and lead in the early part of this afternoon
00:48:45but after three or four bit stops the picture is going to become an awful lot clearer and that gap
00:48:51surely will close audi believe will their dreams come true big problems big problems for pedro larmi frank
00:48:59montana has managed to get right onto his tail he's uh pedro has been held up terribly by gt traffic
00:49:04and montana is right with him now here we go as they go down the down through the
00:49:09corner there look the two peugeots the first and second are now running together larmi lost three
00:49:15seconds on that lap yeah this is the problem we're going to start to see now is as people come up on the
00:49:19back markers you know these drivers are going to be trying to be smart this is 24 hours to go
00:49:23they're not going to take any major risks as best as they can avoid anyway so sometimes you're going to have to
00:49:28give up a few seconds per lap just to make sure that you can safely pass the back markers and look
00:49:33at this that's the performance difference between an lp1 and a gt1 car great approach speeds and once
00:49:40they get into an area where it's safe to pass they will just scream away wonderful onboard pictures by
00:49:46the way they've made a look around the entire track to keep the microwave pictures coming back at us so very
00:49:53little breakup this year and you can see just how wonderful these pictures are and deep into the night
00:49:58most of the pictures will be on board as the camera positions close down for little kia
00:50:03you're in bloke molen and the uh lmp2 leader there the van mackstein porsche and he's now got casper
00:50:09elgaard in the sx racing porsche right on his tail casper had formed back a bit but he's come back up
00:50:14through the field so great battle between the porsche spiders and of course this year the first year that
00:50:19the porsche spiders have come to le mans so a huge showing for them straight out in front like a lot of
00:50:24people expected they would to be totally honest these cars are monstrously fast so this is very
00:50:29impressive for them straight out at le mans right in the front you know pushing up against the back
00:50:33of the lmp1 cars they've been embarrassing the lmp1s as well in the series both in the lms and uh over
00:50:39here they would just love to repeat the feat when it comes to le mans itself well the huge success of
00:50:43course sebring this year where uh petsky porsche won the race outright i mean how strong is that
00:50:49porsche was there too yeah yeah liz you you've won at sebring you won there two years ago with uh
00:50:54intersport uh you know how difficult it is to beat the big cars there but i mean that's a huge feat and
00:51:00especially sebring itself is such a punishing track i mean it just hammers the cars and hammers the drivers
00:51:06it's hard to keep a car going you know for 12 hours around that track a lot of people say the cars get
00:51:11as much of a beating as they would in 24 hours just in the 12 hours of sebring so that was a real
00:51:16feat for them early in the year i think and and now they're you know they're going to push through and
00:51:20i'm sure porsche would love to win in another class at limano famously of course porsche went there
00:51:25trying to test out their machine pitching against the very best at sebring and came a cropper oh and
00:51:31that is such a shame the 25 car is already looking just a little bit secondhand it's the mg lova
00:51:38aer turbo on board and uh tommy erdos it is that's going to be limping back here mark and that's a
00:51:44shame because uh we've got a look of a beautiful car early on and it was contact that did it oh it was
00:51:50contact that did it and it looked like it might have been one of the audis as well if that is one of the
00:51:55audis and their team to be at fault it was the red one the number one car i think that just helped
00:51:59it into the barriers here mark well we'll get more on that in a moment and we'll get more on that in a
00:52:03moment i think it's further back we haven't yet had the perjot's lapping uh the lmp2 runners yet
00:52:08i think this may have been a yeah just another one see but bad for tommy now this car we haven't
00:52:13realized until this morning this car was backed into the barriers on wednesday night they had a big
00:52:17repair job there's bill barker the ray malik team manager look he's uh not at all happy is he shoulders
00:52:23go down he knows that he's got some awful lot more work to do uh right now and we're only half uh
00:52:30well half an hour through just about into these 24 hours it did look as if tommy maybe just didn't
00:52:36see that car in his mirrors but the car was right alongside him as he was coming into i believe the
00:52:41chicane the first chicane and i think it's very difficult when you've got a car in your blind spot
00:52:45there and i think it looked like tommy was just moving across to take his line and just didn't see him at
00:52:49all that's what it looked like to me very easy to do uh preparing themselves for the first pit stop
00:52:55that's going to be interesting we're only nine laps in yeah it's coming very soon i mean we're only a
00:53:00half an hour into the race this is very early start that lap count now and see how longer audi can
00:53:05actually stay out because really that's the difference between them absolutely by the end of this one and
00:53:11if if there is a huge difference in that way it means pressure is going to have to push very very hard
00:53:15for the whole race to make up for that time with pace exactly the harder the harder you push the more fuel
00:53:19you drink absolutely the harder you push the more risk you take of not lasting for 24 hours what we
00:53:23don't know is how much fuel the purge has started with 81 litre tanks did they run brim full or did
00:53:29they just want to go out front for the glory of france to start with remember is they're performing
00:53:33in front of their prime minister well this is true yeah absolutely it's a very good point but i mean i
00:53:38would have thought you know in the interest of winning the 24 hours they would have started on a full
00:53:42tank that would have been my thought but you know you never know there's there's politics that we don't
00:53:46know about we just saw the uh lmp2s the borsche rs spiders locked together in positions 16 and 17
00:53:52they're are having their own little battle they're starting to get into what they would describe as
00:53:56traffic as well but i think that's rather ambitious just having a look further down the order as well
00:54:01and if we look in gt2 which we haven't mentioned much here porsche are still in the lead bergmeister has
00:54:06it but jaime mellow now has taken that uh second spot for ferrari so a battle royal it's porsche ferrari porsche
00:54:14ferrari porsche ferrari does that sound familiar it does indeed you can't see it at the moment
00:54:19looking down the pit lane the number 12 cruise schiller cars come in the purge is just coming
00:54:23behind it and we'll just see which purge it is so look further back behind that the one that stopped
00:54:28is the larvi car our race leader number eight is in the pits wow race leader already coming in uh just
00:54:35make a mental note lap nine and this does look like a routine stop yeah so very very quick very very short
00:54:42time to be in the car before a pit stop really i mean most of these cars you'll see go at least 45
00:54:47minutes before they'll come in are they report perhaps he's had a real a puncture warning a
00:54:51a deflation warning it could be they've had to bring him in for a non-routine i think you were
00:54:55right first time ever i think they went for glory and now they're coming it looks very calm that pit
00:54:59stop there was no major drama involved far as we could see so that is the cruise schiller mazda this is
00:55:04the car that was rolled into a ball by hadaki node at the other night it's back out and how good is that
00:55:09they've done nine laps now since that car appeared to have been totally destroyed total rebuild it was
00:55:16the thread you're looking for if you want to get on the internet and the message board is race weekend
00:55:21live we'll be taking a break having a look at uh a few of your comments any questions you have for
00:55:27this would be uh greatly accepted and we'll be back live here at le mans in just a few moments time
00:55:33peugeot's dominant so far audi's already in with frank beeler more on that in a moment
00:55:43welcome back uh the second of the peugeot's already coming in one of the andes has also been in
00:55:48and uh we've got a few other chops and changes something to report as well i'd like to phone uh
00:55:54aston martin in the hands of half and the 53 car got into one of the map machines so that's not this car
00:56:00uh one of the map books uh cars was out there i think that's one of the embassy boys uh coming in
00:56:05just getting on its marks uh so we've had a little bit of clashing going on out there lamborghini has
00:56:10been pushed into the garage you can only have four men working on the car outside if you push it in
00:56:15you get more they've been uh trailing if you like the leaders of their class by around about three
00:56:20seconds per lap the corvettes of madison and gavin are leading that class and uh lamborghini pitting off
00:56:26seventh place there so the seventh car gets its uh get-go over there hasn't been long
00:56:33creation is in as well yeah well i wonder whether audi were running light as well three car this is the uh
00:56:39lucas little car which you want to mark just uh just what the strategies are and just how what was
00:56:46that fuel load as you quite rightly said at the beginning both of them perhaps running light
00:56:49which suggests that they're pitting at the same time we'll have to wait till the second and third pit
00:56:53stops to find out exactly to what extent are you going to actually stop early at the end of the
00:57:00first and maybe second stints just to make sure that you've got all your fuel figures right um yeah
00:57:05i mean a lot of teams will stop just just slightly early obviously you're going to calculate as best
00:57:09as you can especially a team like crozier or any you're going to have it pretty much spelled on but
00:57:13you don't want to take any risks at the most it's a long long way around and to take a risk with fuel
00:57:18it's just not something you want to do you can run out it's all going to go downhill the celine is
00:57:23in as is the dome jed has just come into the pits as well so we've been seeing a lot of cars actually
00:57:28pitting very early so there's a whole raft of them coming in right now and it's looking extremely busy
00:57:36and the lola mazda has uh just been let go i'm just wondering uh just a little pause there uh as uh he
00:57:43just caught it thank goodness he's back underway and uh we've got another interview down i believe
00:57:49and lola let's have a brief word to see who we've got michelle the first half an hour of the race is
00:57:56going very well well uh we had a good start and uh as we uh forecast uh uh before uh so uh we have to
00:58:09take care uh and that's because that's the first time uh the first lap uh nicolas uh has been overtake
00:58:18by uh magnish but uh after all the things are good one one two and three we are just make the refueling
00:58:27now and uh we continue yeah you did a was a quick refueling and uh really uh really close to the
00:58:36beginning so uh how come do you stop that that early excuse me i don't hear why did you stop so
00:58:43early for the refueling but i think that uh we need to refuel and as uh you saw uh oh dear refuel also
00:58:53so i think uh in terms of strategy we will see thank you thank you very much thank you michelle barge at
00:59:01perjot uh revealing absolutely why did you stop so early said well how do you stop early as well
00:59:09just completely avoiding the why question the audi press conference yesterday i stood up and asked
00:59:13the first question being muggy we loved it you lost a wheel off the car last year uh you had to change
00:59:20discs at sebring for the first time ever in a long-distance race why ah yes we didn't it won't
00:59:27happen again thank you next question i think the avoidance mechanism built into any of these top
00:59:34teams pro show and audi especially is incredible i mean the ability to slowly just skip past the actual
00:59:40question and say enough to make it valid is fine trouble is it leaves us thinking there's conspiracy
00:59:45theories going on and carlton of course is the master of the conspiracy oh there's plenty of them
00:59:49plenty of them talking about mapping to the boys engine mapping that was a fascinating one
00:59:53but for the time being at least as we've got a slow car out there in comes the lead out
00:59:57deep but if she stops leave out he is in but uh is it are this our friends again here mark have
01:00:03they uh have we got more trouble no this is rml still working their way around i believe
01:00:07it's a long way around this track you have to remember moving slowly there's a big surprise to me
01:00:12is audi are changing tires and not double stinting their michelin this is a circuit that's already kind
01:00:17kind to tires isn't it yes but don't forget they've been qualifying they've had to start the race on
01:00:21their qualifying tires so it's very likely that they actually used a soft compound to do their
01:00:25qualifying on just to try and push the persias as much as they could and so now they need to be
01:00:30smart they need to switch to a tire that can go a bit longer but this is probably why they've swapped
01:00:34tires already as they're on a very soft compound just heading off out is the 32 car uh it's had a few
01:00:40scrapes out there particularly in qualifying thankfully uh reasonably clean so far the barazzi epsilon
01:00:46normally in blue but it's a tangerine and sort of silver gray out there and alan with niches off
01:00:51and away uh i'm in about a lap and a half's time we'll put a clock on him and just see what the pace
01:00:58is because it may well be dramatically different as you quite rightly said liz we suspect qualifying
01:01:03ties at the beginning so they could showboat just a little bit and stop that phalanx of uh three
01:01:08perjos just going under the dumb lock bridge all alone it wasn't going to happen he wasn't going to let
01:01:12it out now one thing that will be helpful is that it isn't that warm it's not as warm as we've had
01:01:17at some of the malls the circuit's not going to be as hot so they may be able to have a few more
01:01:20opportunities with tires and they would have done if the circuit was you know 10 20 degrees hotter
01:01:26uh one of the map cars just getting underway a little bit of a stagger there but um was it for safety
01:01:31reasons or did you just drop it oh he's away now thank goodness and finally makes it back wow that was a
01:01:38long time that's a long long lap yeah you ever have a problem at le mans and you sincerely hope
01:01:43that it's very close to the pits because it is a long way to get around and especially this is you
01:01:48know not normal for tommy tommy's a very clean driver very very experienced especially at le mans
01:01:53so you know i'm surprised to see him have a problem like that it makes you you know he must have just
01:01:57not seen the car next to him it doesn't look happy it's not settled at all despite the bodywork
01:02:01damage you just like to see the car running true and it's we just saw the our fan cover luke guselaard on
01:02:06board he undertook tommy in the pit lane is that going to be a penalty um i don't think so purely
01:02:11because tommy's moving so slowly it is possible if he was you know i think he'd already set off
01:02:15as well yeah exactly so but a lot of times you are allowed to pass a car if it's got a problem
01:02:20and it's moving quite slow both alfan corvettes being refettled at the same time that's not ideal of
01:02:25course you've got to scrub your cruise over two cars they're pushing the 73 back to try and give it
01:02:31some space to get away and uh that was a that was not good oh and almost almost there's a spare
01:02:37wheel just being dropped in front of the 73 car i think we might get it on a replay for you i hope so
01:02:41but that was a mess from alfond and lucho himself will be really upset do that's the way things you're
01:02:49going to get a drive-through aren't you yeah potentially yes yeah you're definitely not quite
01:02:53as strict on those uh things here this year but who knows maybe daniel posenosa i mean that sort of thing
01:02:58could have been a huge issue if he'd hit that tire i mean that could have been a big accident for
01:03:02them you know just about just about anywhere we're looking at the 14 car that's just come in the all
01:03:07gold creation aim uh the car in the hands of stewart hall they've as a confidence boost they've sent
01:03:13him back out to start the opening stint that's great to see uh mark because um his confidence will
01:03:18perhaps have taken something of a knock the man who finished fourth last year he was in a bit of a wreck
01:03:22in qualifying yeah what we're watching at the moment on the screens is the dome the number 11 car and how
01:03:27impressive that has been he's running in ninth at the moment daisuka ito on board i remember this
01:03:32car hadn't turned a racing wheel until what uh some 45 minutes ago liz straight out the box i mean
01:03:39that's so impressive very impressive i mean right up there really pushing right at the front of the of
01:03:44the petrol lmp1 cars so this is this is an awesome showing for them and you know the question is going
01:03:49to be for them and for anybody watching is are they going to last this is a new car not the way you
01:03:54want to be at le mans you don't want to be in a brand new car well i'm currently described by me
01:03:59head-on as a policeman's helmet on casters but it is really really rather pretty when it comes alongside
01:04:05right now it's coming alongside the 59 car which has caused havoc in qualifying dropped oil on the
01:04:10track caused damage after it picked up that oil one of the pescarello as the 16 car and also lost a
01:04:16wheel thankfully he's sort of settled down looking a bit more sensible a lot of new technology on this car
01:04:21they've got this little conventional extract gearbox but one thing that's they're using zytek is trying
01:04:25out their new electronic gear shift on this car and they've been uh been doing a lot of work with
01:04:30dome so have a lot of companies all over japan this has become a very much a national pride uh thing and
01:04:38uh as we said earlier having these closer factory drivers on board from super gt they are trying to
01:04:43attract the attention of the big manufacturer that's what we're saying is a lot of new things not just a new
01:04:48car but many many new you know parts of the car that have never been used before so you know a lot
01:04:53of times you'll see a new car but it's got it you know tried and trusted gearbox and many different
01:04:58things in comes the gulf 009 a reasonably long stint just further ahead as well uh the official corvette
01:05:06crew are doing it properly and giving a lesson to the luke alfon boys they've come in with a 64 car
01:05:12just the one and uh they'll be clear in a moment meanwhile back here tell us do you think that
01:05:19blue's too pale or do you think it's correct for the golf colors we think it looks gorgeous ourselves
01:05:23that's not the issue it's just whether it's true to the old colors
01:05:27so in just about a minute's time we're going to be uh just switching over a bit of cycling news
01:05:35uh i understand and uh then we will be back live straight away with more that's the uh flying lizards
01:05:42and uh boy oh boy they had a hiccup in second qualifying mark's just pointed the timing screens
01:05:47and giving it a thumbs up i think he quite fancies one of these machines uh they have done so well mark
01:05:52they've bounced back big time yeah this is a fight now between york burkmeister and yami mellow mellows
01:05:56on board the uh on board the rissy competition car that has come up from nowhere while we've been
01:06:02talking about the big cars look at that rissy competition have come up into second from fifth
01:06:07place and this is not the first time we've seen those two drivers have a battle at the front of a group
01:06:12many people remember from sea rate a couple years ago so this could be exciting right we've got a bit of
01:06:18cycling for you and then we'll be straight back with more live from le mans
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