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00:00:00The left rear corner, not Ulrich, you can see our...
00:00:03Well, hang on a minute, step forward, anybody who still wants to win this race, because Lady Luck is really playing fast and loose with everybody here.
00:00:11But we have seen cars, think of Alan McNish's crash there, we have seen cars, much worse damage than that, make it back to the Audi pits and into the race.
00:00:20But, it's unlikely now to finish on the podium, so we now have one Peugeot, one Audi, healthy, racing at the front of the field.
00:00:28Well, yeah, but then, not far behind, I mean, is the second of the Peugeot, Sebastian Bourdais, only one lap down to the lead, concerning a series of very fast laps.
00:00:38Then, still not far behind him, of course, is Anthony Davidson, they're not low last for the Martin.
00:00:42Now, let's take a look at that Audi, don't forget, as he started to turn into a right-hander, the car was sitting down and bouncing around, that suggests to me, left-hand rear problem.
00:00:51He's clearly, obviously, now got a right-hand rear problem as well, so, actually, he may have no driving wheels left.
00:00:59We might be seeing that car being towed into a time, and Lucas is not going to get out patently, until he knows there is absolutely nothing he can do.
00:01:07He will get out and have a look around and see what remains of that left rear.
00:01:10If it's still attached, and it was only, maybe, a puncture, there might be a chance, if they drag him onto some hard standing, but if they drag him onto some gravel, look, there's a bit of tarmac, that's all he needs.
00:01:22Get me on that tarmac, let me select first gear, turn me around, let me go.
00:01:28Also, you'd be lucky if you could drive that car, but also, where they are on the circuit, relative to the pit lane, it couldn't be better for them, really, they're relatively close to it now.
00:01:36Good point, will it drive, for starters, and even if it does drive, is it going to be, you know, in a situation where the marshals will allow the car to rejoin?
00:01:45I'll tell you what, if he gets it fired up, they won't have any chance of stopping him.
00:01:48He certainly had a huge wobble on there from that onboard camera.
00:01:50I would say, I would say it's most likely that something broke at the back of that car, there is Dr. Wolfgang Ulrich, you can see there, can't believe it, shake of the head now, either.
00:02:00And do you know what, down at Peugeot, they won't be able to believe it as well, because if that can happen to them, that can happen to us, and that's the problem, you see, we've still got 18 hours left, we've not even started to crack this thing at all, left side looks like, look at the intricacies of the bodywork on the side of the car.
00:02:16What's the left wheel doing? It is now turning, at least, so it's not jammed solid, which it looked like it might have been before.
00:02:22Now, he's found neutral. Has he got any power?
00:02:25I'll be impressed if he's got any drive to that wheel.
00:02:27Is the gearbox attached? Now, the problem there, of course, is with these cars, the gearbox is normally behind the engine, so that will have taken a lot of the impact.
00:02:35You can change anything inside the gearbox. You cannot change the gearbox casing.
00:02:41That rule was brought in to stop Audi with their entire quick-change rear ends, just unbulging everything behind the driver and rolling a new one on.
00:02:48So, you can't change the gearbox casing if that's cracked, then that's it, because they can't fix it.
00:02:55Significantly, also, if the gearbox casing is cracked, the suspension hangs off that part of the car, essentially, you've not only lost, potentially, the gearbox, but you've lost any kind of usable suspension.
00:03:05Now, clearly, this suspension is slightly worse for the wear, to say the least, but it looked to me like there was certainly a degree of angling that, like something like a tow link or a damper had broken, which is quite easily done.
00:03:16Now, we've already seen what happened to the eight car, wherein that had what appeared to be a relatively minor off, and had a fairly significant impact on the amount of damage it did to the car.
00:03:25Now, Lucas Stewart, as we've quite rightly said, he's clearly sitting in the car for a reason, on the radio, on the radio, they can see the pictures we can see back in the Audi garage, and his engineers are saying,
00:03:37we're trying to work it out, and we're trying to work out whether it's done or whether you can get out.
00:03:42Yeah, what does the telemetry tell you, what's it saying on the dashboard, flick through the pages, that could just be a bit of bodywork dragging on the back, a gearbox wouldn't still be attached by a few wires.
00:03:51There's a smoke there. That's right, that's a cracked gearbox case, and that is smoke coming out of the gearbox, as in oil smoke, that's what that looks like.
00:03:58I don't know, that could just be the radiators blowing out through the overflow, so I'm not entirely certain.
00:04:03It could just be, let's not forget, it is a diesel, lots of strange smokes come out of the back of it.
00:04:07It could be anything, but one thing is for sure, they will not give up until the coffin lid goes on it.
00:04:14But let's, for all those UK fans, all those Brits at home watching this, Aston Martin are on the podium at the moment, which is great news for those fans.
00:04:20See, Luca's still gesticulating, come on.
00:04:23Take me, take me, send me.
00:04:24Get me, get me, get me out of here, get me out of here.
00:04:26And he'll be on the radio to Dominic Zeitner, the engineer, the chief engineer of that number two car, working through his maps on his car, his data on his car, against what they've got, what he felt.
00:04:37Can you get it in gear? Can you get it fired up? Can you do this? Can you do that? Reset, replug, anything, anything to get it going.
00:04:44Because God knows what else could happen in this race. We've got 18 hours, there's absolutely no telling.
00:04:51As it is, the number eight car of Sebastian Bordet is now back up into third place.
00:04:56Anthony Davidson's Lola Aston Martin in fourth.
00:04:59Benoit Treluier in that 17 Pescarello Porsche that was also delayed and damaged by that first half pit lane shunt.
00:05:06That's in fifth. Lucas Leop, dropping to sixth position as both the GT1 leading Corvettes have been on pit road.
00:05:15The 63 car is here. 64 was in just a few minutes ago, so regular stuff for them.
00:05:21And you can see, yeah, exactly.
00:05:23Mike Wackenfeller explaining to Wolfgang Lorient what he saw.
00:05:27He saw exactly what we saw, didn't we? Absolutely.
00:05:30But I'm getting the impression, therefore, Lucas has got on the right and gone, I have no idea.
00:05:34I just suddenly turned in and the car went for me.
00:05:37Now, any racing driver of the standard of Lucas Leop will have a feeling if it's a progressive thing.
00:05:41Look at that. Here he's going, he's going, and they're saying, get out of the way, and he's going, no, get out of my way.
00:05:46That is amazing. I mean, that is amazing to me.
00:05:48Now, he is being forcibly retired from the race by the marshals, and I'm not actually certain that they've got the power to do that.
00:05:54But I wonder if the race director is making this call, if the race director is seeing this and saying,
00:05:58do not let that car out on the circuit for grounds of safety.
00:06:01The marshals, I'm sure, are acting on what they will be told.
00:06:04We have seen worse damaged cars driven back.
00:06:06Agreed. It's extraordinary.
00:06:07And if it was French, I'm not sure that would be a problem.
00:06:10We think of David Terrian who destroyed the front of the Viper and spent an hour and a half getting it back to the pits.
00:06:18I don't think that would be a problem if it was a Peugeot and it was still moving.
00:06:22Let's go down to the pits and listen to Dr. Ulrich.
00:06:29Dr. Ulrich, you've seen the pictures. What do you think happened?
00:06:35Said, well, Ivan, he's seen what you can see.
00:06:37Lucas is trying to get the car back to us.
00:06:47We're not giving up.
00:06:50What's up with car number three?
00:06:52We're trying to fix it.
00:06:55Hopefully it'll be ready to go in about 20 minutes.
00:06:59Things aren't looking very good.
00:07:03Only one car still going at the moment.
00:07:05If it's the right car, then it'll be enough.
00:07:09But it is looking very hard.
00:07:12So many things have happened already this year that nobody could have imagined.
00:07:19But until tomorrow at 15.00 at 3.00 p.m.
00:07:24Nobody will know what's going to happen.
00:07:26And guys, he is absolutely right.
00:07:28I mean, there have been so many twists and turns already.
00:07:31We were looking forward to an epic sprint race.
00:07:34What we weren't expecting was this ball of confusion.
00:07:37Yeah.
00:07:38Yeah, you're right there.
00:07:39But it's still a very fascinating race so far.
00:07:43But certainly we've had, I think, more problems than we would have anticipated.
00:07:47But, you know, there's still, what, not even six hours in, are we?
00:07:52This is, I mean, when you compare it to last year, it's as competitive, but a whole lot more chaotic.
00:07:58And even though last year we had this threat of rain, which ultimately did come and change the race quite dramatically,
00:08:03at the moment the forecast is the weather's going to be fairly consistent through the night.
00:08:07Until tomorrow, yeah.
00:08:08However, coming back to Dr Ulrich's point, if that rain comes at, for example, midday tomorrow,
00:08:15and grande casino, to quote our Italian friends.
00:08:18Yeah, no question.
00:08:19It is turning more into a lottery than a race at the moment, Jeremy.
00:08:23And, you know, every fresh minute really gives us some more dramas.
00:08:27Yeah.
00:08:28There's another massively fast lap there from Sebastian Bourdais, in third place, still one lap down,
00:08:33and three minutes 25.508.
00:08:36So, within four tenths of a second of the fastest lap of the race, which was set,
00:08:42well, actually, no, I lied, because the number seven car had gone a little bit quicker.
00:08:46It's done at 3.25.028.
00:08:48But on lap two of this race, Frank Montagne turned car number eight's fastest lap at a 3.25.106.
00:08:56And now Bourdais, I mean, it's almost perfect conditions right now.
00:08:59It's cooling down.
00:09:01The sun has gone down.
00:09:04The track is getting grippier.
00:09:06The temperature is coming out of it.
00:09:08It is getting quicker and quicker and quicker.
00:09:10And until one or two in the morning, it will continue to get quicker and quicker.
00:09:14And still, Lucas Lua is not giving this up.
00:09:16And I have to say, I do not know the rules on this, but it's not a public road.
00:09:22Yeah, you're absolutely right.
00:09:23There isn't any logical reason, other than somebody somewhere,
00:09:26whether it's the marshals, whether it's the race director, saying, no, you can't do it.
00:09:30Other than that, why not?
00:09:31I mean, he's driving along a safe bit of road.
00:09:33The car is behind the wall, isn't it?
00:09:35Yeah, but they've dragged him in.
00:09:36He's facing the wrong direction.
00:09:38So he wants to be facing the other direction to go out through the gap.
00:09:41And I would think three-point turning that car might be a little beyond him.
00:09:46Well, in certain forms of motorsport, there's an argument that once it's in the gravel,
00:09:50once it's been moved by a marshall, effectively, parked ferme conditions apply to that car.
00:09:55Now, obviously, different rules, different championships.
00:09:57However, you wonder, and going back to your point about if it were a Peugeot, for example, who could know?
00:10:05That shot there, he's behind the barriers.
00:10:08There is an opening at the other end.
00:10:09So, in fact, if he could get them to move that flipping crane out the way,
00:10:12he could get it in first gear and drive, yeah.
00:10:15And do you know what?
00:10:16If he starts moving, the people will have to get out the way.
00:10:18It's the crane I would think he'd have trouble getting round.
00:10:20But did you notice, on the entry there, just coming off, forking off to the right to avoid going down what was the old Maison Blanche,
00:10:28how much smoke from the barbecues on the campsites is billowing across the track.
00:10:32You know, we're almost in Sebring territory there.
00:10:35It's starting to get quite smoky.
00:10:37Yeah, I was just looking out there, out of our booth here, over to our right, down towards the Porsche goes,
00:10:43and it looks like there's a mist down there. It really is quite spooky.
00:10:47I think it is temperature inversion plus barbecue equals early afternoon or early evening mist, you're right.
00:10:53It is still very...
00:10:54Probably smells nice.
00:10:55It does. I just walked back into the commentary box a few minutes ago, and it is incredibly humid,
00:10:59and you can really feel it in the air. It's got that sense of, like, you could have a very misty night.
00:11:04Yeah, it is so humid, you're right.
00:11:06I've done a race myself in the past with this kind of weather conditions.
00:11:09You get to two, three in the morning, suddenly it's basically fog bound, so that could be significant.
00:11:13It will be, and, of course, the trees down all the straights here really hold the fog in as well.
00:11:17Listen, we had an email in from Fiona Leggett, who wants to know how some of the cars are going.
00:11:22Ah, right, so we're going to get down and have a quick word with Timo Bernhardt,
00:11:27to find out exactly what's the case with Audi number three,
00:11:30and then we'll try and run down some of how the other British cars are going.
00:11:34We're not broadcasting exclusively to the UK, as you probably understand,
00:11:37but we will try and run down some of the classes and pick up...
00:11:40Well, Fiona particularly wants to know how Team Stracca are doing.
00:11:43We will have a...
00:11:45I said Jeremy doesn't get a little list of things while we wait for Timo Bernhardt.
00:11:48Let's run down the order.
00:11:49Well, as far as British content is concerned, of course, Audi number one, Alan McNish,
00:11:53Tom Christensen driving it, that is still in second place.
00:11:56Aston Martins, fourth and sixth, 008 with Anthony Davidson up, 007 in sixth place with Jean Cherus.
00:12:03And let's get down to the pit lane and catch up with Timo Bernhardt.
00:12:10Of course, the Audi number three has been, as you see the mist hanging in the trees,
00:12:14mist smoked barbecue smoke there as well.
00:12:17Audi number three has lost the better part of an hour in the pit lane.
00:12:22Timo, first Le Mans with Audi, and it's been pretty difficult.
00:12:34Yeah, we were very well prepared, we thought.
00:12:37The car's been very good up until we had our problem.
00:12:42We're hoping to get on the podium.
00:12:45We're really motivated, the mechanics were as well.
00:12:50Unfortunately, it's a little bit out of our hands now.
00:12:53The car was quick.
00:12:55Lost a couple of laps at the beginning.
00:12:57We started to climb back up the order.
00:13:00And seventh or eighth before this latest problem.
00:13:04And what exactly is the problem with the car?
00:13:09Fuel pressure problem, which Dr. Ulrich told us about.
00:13:21I had to slow down a little.
00:13:26And then we discovered the problem quite quickly when we came into the garage,
00:13:31but it's taken a long time to repair it.
00:13:34And he's saying hopefully we will be back out in just a few minutes.
00:13:37Dr. Ulrich said to us maybe about another ten minutes.
00:13:40Jeremy, sure.
00:13:42Yeah, there's definitely a feeling of darkness in the air, the impending evening.
00:13:46It is pretty humid, and already it's not just barbecue smoke.
00:13:50We can see mist hanging in the trees on the Mulsanne Straits and on the other straits around.
00:13:54And indeed through the fast corners it's going to be just as interesting.
00:13:58And so of course with mist comes reduced visibility.
00:14:02With reduced visibility comes increased chance of contact and running over debris.
00:14:07So I think the twists in this tale are far from over.
00:14:10All doom and gloom it sounds like.
00:14:12Well no, not at all for us.
00:14:14No reason at all to leave our posts.
00:14:17No, no quite.
00:14:18I mean there comes Anthony Davidson now up into third place.
00:14:24Because Sebastian Bourdais has just made another pit stop in car number eight.
00:14:28So that elevates Anthony Davidson in double eight.
00:14:31Lola Aston Martin to third place.
00:14:33And there is Lucas Lure finally out of that number two Audi.
00:14:38So that car officially now is out of the race.
00:14:42But you know what?
00:14:43That marshal is a braver man than me.
00:14:44Yeah.
00:14:45I think basically Lucas has been prevented from trying to rejoin the track by the marshals.
00:14:49And obviously eventually in the end Dr Ulrich or Reinhold Joost or Ralf Juttner very probably
00:14:56has said okay if they really aren't going to let you then there's nothing we can do about it.
00:15:01And there's a fundamental difference between the rules in Europe and the rules in North America.
00:15:05Where in North America, and I'm not trying to say anything's better than the other,
00:15:08but in North America the organizers fall over themselves perhaps arguably unfairly to some other people
00:15:15or who knows, to keep the cars in the race.
00:15:17Why do they do that?
00:15:18Well it's not to please the teams, it's to please the fans.
00:15:21The fans came to see the cars and the drivers in the race, not out of the race.
00:15:25We've got a quarter of a million fans here and we've got a hundred million fans watching around the world on TV.
00:15:30And we have lost one of our potential front runners and with it just a little bit of the spice and the drama.
00:15:37Peugeot lead, Audi close. A minute and a half between first and second.
00:15:43Welcome back live to Le Mans 2009 where we have around a minute and a half in our lead battle.
00:15:53Alex Wurtz leads for Peugeot, Tom Christensen chases for Audi and not much between them at the moment.
00:16:00Anthony Davidson lies third in the Lola Aston Martin.
00:16:03And there is Lucas Lohr leaving his car at the side of the road and joining us as a guest in the Eurosport British booth at the moment.
00:16:15And just about to pick up a place because the retirement's number two Audi is Christian Cleon.
00:16:21Christian driving the number seven Peugeot.
00:16:23Obviously your race started fast and then a major drama.
00:16:28The car is okay now after that puncture of the rebuild.
00:16:32Yeah, the car is okay after the puncture but you know to repair the car it took us eight laps.
00:16:37And you know to start the 24-hour race after an hour with that you know such a big gap to the front guys.
00:16:44It's just not very motivated but you know we keep fighting.
00:16:49We are now on P13 and we just go one small attack to the front.
00:16:54Well there's nothing you can do now except drive as fast as you can.
00:16:58We are only one quarter of the way into the race already.
00:17:01We've seen so much drama.
00:17:03It's not going to be quiet between now and tomorrow afternoon that's for sure.
00:17:08That's true. So that's why it's very important for us just to push as hard as possible.
00:17:13As you can see the first couple of hours so many things happened already.
00:17:18And if we follow our strategy with the pace we're going now which is actually quite good.
00:17:23Then we still manage to go up to around P4 or 5.
00:17:27And you know some small problems of other cars and then you still have some small possibilities to be on the podium.
00:17:34The way this race has started I wouldn't count anything out Simon it's just a lottery already.
00:17:40It is. Now we've seen some changes with the Audi's.
00:17:42Earlier on in the race we saw them changing the nose sections of the car.
00:17:45It seemed from the interviews we heard with the drivers that they didn't have quite the balance of the car that they had.
00:17:49Now obviously the 908 is a far more developed car than that.
00:17:52As far as the balance of the car, the setup of the car even though the problems you've had.
00:17:57Are all the cars pretty much the same for Peugeot or have you gone different ways for different cars?
00:18:01No they're pretty much the same actually. We tried a lot of different setups in free practice.
00:18:08But in the end all three cars you know are now in the same configuration and the car is very balanced.
00:18:17It's quite easy to drive and that's what you're looking for for endurance racing.
00:18:23Yeah. We're going to get an interview with Dr. Wolfgang Ure.
00:18:26So let's hear his thoughts on how things are developing for Audi.
00:18:30Dr. Wolfgang Ure, is Lucas nur back or is the car retired?
00:18:36Yes, definitely. The car is officially retired.
00:18:40Yes, he can't get back. The race directors have decided that he's not allowed to drive.
00:18:45They want the car off the track. They think it's too dangerous.
00:18:49We have to accept it. So unfortunately we have no choice.
00:18:53So the number two car is an official abandon. You've already picked up the place while you've been here talking to our German colleagues next door.
00:19:02Christian, 12th place already. Now on pace, there is still a chance you could stand on the podium in Le Mans tomorrow afternoon.
00:19:10There is still a chance, yeah. We have to keep fighting. The pace of our car is really good. And you know, also what we know, probably there is some rain coming around lunchtime tomorrow.
00:19:23So anything can happen and we keep fighting for a good as possible position and maybe for a podium.
00:19:29The other thing significantly is your car has been the fastest of the three Persia's. Your car has set the fastest lap of the race.
00:19:35So presumably that pace is there if you need it. You can take the car and push that hard.
00:19:40As we get into the night, presumably the weather conditions stay the same. You've got a good chance of being able to do those times and maybe even better still.
00:19:47Yeah, I think the track will get faster definitely, especially in the morning when the sun comes up again. And our car, you know, we have nothing to lose.
00:19:57We can push as hard as possible, go to the limits and that's why we can do a very good left hand.
00:20:04Christian, just one last question because I know you need to get back because nothing is certain here.
00:20:10We've seen right from the beginning of the race, the Audi's working on their setup and changing, trying to get rid of some understeer, still working on getting a balance.
00:20:19But your cars look ready to go right from the beginning. Racing in the Le Mans series, has that helped you get the car as close as it is to the ultimate pace at Le Mans, do you think?
00:20:30Yeah, I think so. And the fact that we race the third year now with that car, we know quite well where we want to have the balance of the car.
00:20:40And it was easy actually for us to set up the car. And for my car, all three drivers are very happy with the balance and we can push quite hard.
00:20:49Okay, well listen, I know you've got an awful lot of fast driving to do. Thank you very much for coming up to join us.
00:20:54Hopefully we'll catch up with you later on. Christian Klien from the number seven Peugeot team. Thank you very much indeed.
00:20:59So that car, as Christian has been upstairs, has picked up a place as a result of the time into the number two Audi of Lucas Lure.
00:21:06So it's on its way back up. We're looking at our race leader, Alexander Vortz.
00:21:12And again, the one common factor when you watch these drivers in these prototype cars that's north of 200 miles an hour on the straights is they just look so relaxed.
00:21:22Evening is upon us. The sun is starting to set here in the centre of Departement de la Sarthe.
00:21:29But, of course, it's a reasonably short night. It won't be properly dark until very nearly midnight.
00:21:35And it'll start to become dawn again much before 4 a.m.
00:21:39So the night is short, but we already talked about the fact that the weather, well, it's very, very humid.
00:21:45There's a lot of rain on the ground. There's a lot of water on the ground. Today's been very hot.
00:21:50Gets the water up into the atmosphere, but it hasn't escaped because there's quite a lot of cloud cover.
00:21:55So as the temperature drops, the water comes back down as mist.
00:21:59And that is going to cause all sorts of problems for everybody out there. Visibility leads to all sorts of drivers on the track.
00:22:08It does indeed. And the other issue, therefore, you start to wonder, well, there's something that could play back into Audi's hand in a slight way.
00:22:14If you've got a windscreen, that could be an issue if you've got mist. If you've got an open-top car, of course, you've got a crash helmet as opposed to a windscreen doing your visual protection, as it were.
00:22:23But a very different set of circumstances.
00:22:26Now, actually, interesting you brought up the windscreen, something we talked about during qualifying that we've not touched on.
00:22:32We actually talked to Mike Newton about this at the RML team just after he got out of the car.
00:22:37He said, how close are you to the 32 degrees, which is the maximum temperature that's allowed inside the cockpit in the closed cars.
00:22:44The ACO have temperature sensors that send data back to the ACO every time the car comes past the pits.
00:22:50Measuring the cockpit temperature, the maximum allowable is 32 degrees.
00:22:54I said, how close are you to 32? He said, very.
00:22:5831 point something, something, something.
00:23:02So, these cars now, the closed cars running an air conditioning unit, whether you're in a GT car like a Porsche or a Corvette, or whether you're in a Peugeot or a Lola Coupe, one of those, as the Pescarello Peugeot, which is third, comes down pit road.
00:23:18We haven't seen anybody pulled into the pits yet.
00:23:20And as the temperature drops, the chances of that recedes.
00:23:23So it looks as though all the teams have done their homework well enough on that front for it not to be an issue.
00:23:29It is going to be potentially significant if you see these things happening as it starts to pan out.
00:23:34It'll be interesting. Now, Treloje has really impressed me.
00:23:37We knew this kid was going to be awesome. Everybody who's worked with him says this.
00:23:41I was talking to Oliver Jarvis earlier. He's raced in Japan and knows a lot about Bernard Treloje.
00:23:46We know our colleague, Mark. Oh, big lockup there on the way now. Is that purely a lockup?
00:23:51That's a lockup. No, that was a lockup. He just locked it up and then it went sideways.
00:23:55They're not looking at the tyres yet. There are no tyres out, so I don't think it was a puncture.
00:24:00No, but maybe a little bit. You don't want to be locking up the tyres like that too often.
00:24:04The track, you know, even in the pit road, it can be fairly abrasive.
00:24:08And you do not want to abuse these tyres.
00:24:11We've seen how hard these Peugeot drivers are driving these cars.
00:24:15I mean, often we see them just the rear end stepping out under acceleration and, you know, that tends to chew up the tyres.
00:24:21And they didn't change tyres that time.
00:24:23Well, the other thing, of course, is we've talked all the way through the race about how green the track is.
00:24:27It's still covered in dust and dirt and diesel from being public road.
00:24:30And although there's lots of rubber going down on the racing circuit, that doesn't have the same effect in the pit lane entry.
00:24:36That is still probably a lot more slippery than it normally would do in the race.
00:24:40Here's our chasing car Sebastian Baudet in fourth.
00:24:44Alex Wurtz still leads for Peugeot.
00:24:46Stay with us on Eurosport.
00:24:47Start your engines.
00:25:04Legendary adventure.
00:25:06A magnificent cast.
00:25:08In a 24 hour ordeal for man and machine.
00:25:15Le Mans 24 hours all weekend.
00:25:17Live on Eurosport and Eurosport 2.
00:25:20Mitchell, partner of endurance racing.
00:25:22Mitchell and Green X Challenge.
00:25:27Enjoy all the excitement of the Le Mans 24 hours with Peugeot.
00:25:32Mitchell, partner of endurance racing.
00:25:38Mitchell and Green X Challenge.
00:25:43Leader on pit road.
00:25:45That's Alex Wurtz.
00:25:46His number nine Peugeot.
00:25:47The race leader.
00:25:48He's on pit road.
00:25:49Suitor is Pedro Lamy in car number seven.
00:25:52The third of the Peugeot 908 HDI FAPs.
00:25:56And that car in 12th place.
00:25:58We were just talking to Christian Kleen a moment or two ago.
00:26:01Jeremy Shaw.
00:26:02And they're both in now for regular service.
00:26:05Yeah.
00:26:06Both of those two guys come in after 12 lap stints.
00:26:08Alex Wurtz.
00:26:09He's done a triple stint in that car.
00:26:13And he's handed over the car to...
00:26:17I didn't see who it was getting into it.
00:26:19I didn't either.
00:26:20Seven car.
00:26:21Looks like Pedro Lamy is staying in.
00:26:23Possibly.
00:26:24He is keeping tyres on.
00:26:26Now we have got a guest who's joined us in the studio.
00:26:29We're going to have to have a quick chat to Eurosport International for a moment or two.
00:26:33So I might just ask him to hold on.
00:26:35Jos Verstappen.
00:26:36So those of you hanging on for news of the Lola Aston Martins.
00:26:39Jos of course in the 008 car.
00:26:41Darren Turner is driving that car in fifth place.
00:26:43Oh wow.
00:26:44And that is a heavy frontal impact.
00:26:45Is that the first chicane on the Mulsanne straight?
00:26:46Looks like he's gone straight on there.
00:26:47I can't think where else it would be.
00:26:48Unless that again is the entry to the Porsche curves.
00:26:50We're going to rejoin Eurosport International in just a second.
00:26:51So we will welcome Jos Verstappen in a couple of minutes.
00:26:55Welcome to live pictures from Le Mans.
00:26:56To our viewers.
00:26:57Welcome to live pictures from Le Mans.
00:26:58To our viewers.
00:26:59We will welcome Jos Verstappen in a couple of minutes.
00:27:04Welcome to live pictures from Le Mans.
00:27:05To our viewers.
00:27:06Rejoining us for a moment on Eurosport International.
00:27:07We'll come back to you through the night.
00:27:08You're looking here at the freshly pit stopped lead Peugeot.
00:27:09Marc Genet.
00:27:10Marc Genet.
00:27:11Now just taking over the wheel.
00:27:12After Alexander Wurz.
00:27:13Held that car at the lead.
00:27:14Through three stints.
00:27:15And.
00:27:16And.
00:27:17Looks like that.
00:27:18We will.
00:27:19We have to go.
00:27:20Go to the next wheel.
00:27:21And.
00:27:22We've got to go.
00:27:23And.
00:27:24So we will.
00:27:25Welcome.
00:27:26Jos Verstappen.
00:27:27In a couple of minutes.
00:27:28So we will welcome Jos Verstappen.
00:27:29In a couple of minutes.
00:27:30Welcome to live pictures.
00:27:31From Le Mans.
00:27:32To our viewers.
00:27:33Rejoining us for a moment on Eurosport International.
00:27:34We'll come back to you through the night.
00:27:35You're looking at the freshly pit stopped lead Peugeot.
00:27:36Marc Genet.
00:27:37Now.
00:27:38through three stints and where have you been there has been so much drama here
00:27:43I'm not even going to get through it in the next two minutes our race leader
00:27:47Sebastian Bordet as it was lost a couple of laps in the pits dropped back down
00:27:52into fifth position he's now back up to third Audi number two that was third
00:27:56crashed out dramatically is out of the race looked like a left rear suspension
00:28:01failure or puncture for Lucas Law pitched him off at about 175 miles an
00:28:05hour at the entry as they go off the public road into the Porsche chicane that
00:28:10car the race director decided was not safe to go back onto the track to make it
00:28:14back to the pits so Audi are down to effectively one functioning car the number
00:28:18three car with turbo and fuel pressure problems this is the pictures Lucas Lure
00:28:23going off dramatic stuff and Dr Ulrich I'm afraid forced to accept the inevitable
00:28:29the ACO would not let Lucas who did get the car moving try and rejoin the race
00:28:34so at the moment we have a one-and-a-half minute gap between Marc
00:28:39Janais Peugeot in the lead and Tom Christensen in the number one Audi in
00:28:43second place third place is the recovering Bordet fourth place the
00:28:48recovering number 17 Pescarolo Peugeot as you see highlight pictures of Lucas Lure
00:28:53walking away from the car for the second time in three years that team has been
00:28:58very unlucky early retiree retirees
00:29:02fifth position and sixth place overall and the best petrol-powered cars
00:29:07Darren Turner and Jean Cherouz in 008 and 007 the Lola Aston Martins in seventh
00:29:14place is the first of the Audi R10 TDIs Charles Woltzman LMP2 category still a
00:29:21battle between the Porsche spiders Emmanuel Kullar leading for team go Corvette
00:29:26hold a stranglehold in GT1 and the Rissi competition Ferrari team leading in GT2
00:29:33we'll be back to join you later
00:29:34and so as we return to our audience on Eurosport 2 exclusively welcome to
00:29:43Jos Verstappen Jos thank you very much for staying with us Lola Aston Martin
00:29:4850 years since Aston Martin last won the race and I'm not going to say things are
00:29:53going really well because I don't want to watch the car retire right now are you
00:29:56enjoying your Le Mans so far yes very much so I must say we're very happy how
00:30:02things are going and how the car is running very well we have no issues at
00:30:06the moment so it's it's looking really strong and very good now what we've got
00:30:11somebody here who knows we have been asked a couple of times whether all of the
00:30:16cars are running direct injection engines they are all three of them running the
00:30:20direct injection engine okay that answers that one what about this new new
00:30:26project for Aston Martin racing obviously started in Barcelona with the first win
00:30:32and now coming to Le Mans with you know a lot of history behind it but really it's
00:30:36the first year of the Le Mans project I guess everybody at the moment must be
00:30:40pretty happy with with how things are shaping up yes absolutely we are fifth and
00:30:45sixth on the moment things are going well we're doing great stints as well lap
00:30:50time is it's definitely good so it's looking very challenging and we happy with
00:30:56the situation on the moment well before Jeremy jumps in what about being
00:31:00associated with golf of course lots of Le Mans history and Aston Martin as well
00:31:04when you're on the track are you starting to see flags and stuff waving as you come by
00:31:10are you getting that feeling yet yeah you see for sure you see flags waving
00:31:14with golf and Aston Martin for sure and definitely over there breaking in the
00:31:19fourth chicane so yes but when you're on the track you concentrate it go as quick
00:31:24as you can and and don't take any risk I think it's important that we finish the
00:31:29race I mean that's our goal absolutely and to try and avoid drama I mean you know as
00:31:34well as anybody else how tough this race can be but also the chance maybe
00:31:39even potentially to get on the podium that would just be a dream come true for
00:31:43everyone at Aston Martin racing yeah we're not thinking about yet but things are
00:31:48going good what I said before but it's a long way a very long way to go and the
00:31:54thing is that we that we have to stay on the track and hopefully we don't get too
00:31:59much problems yes are you surprised by how close to the overall pace you are I mean
00:32:04you're turning you know three minutes 30 not very many the quickest laps of the
00:32:10Audi's are not much quicker than you you within two or three seconds a lap of the
00:32:14Audi's in terms of lap time yeah but still I think what you have seen in
00:32:19qualifying it's still 4.8 seconds quicker than us and I think they're running a lot
00:32:24more downforce than we do and they they're pulling the same speed on the
00:32:28straight so for sure they still have an advantage on us Stefan Gregoire's Corvette
00:32:34driven by Patrice Goulart we just saw in the barriers any idea what happened so no
00:32:40we're not entirely sure I'm not sure Patrice hasn't told us very much yet it's a real
00:32:48shame for the team though and what you're keeping and we were really hoping to get
00:32:51onto the podium we were in a podium position chasing the factory cars
00:32:55and obviously I'm very disappointed we're all very disappointed
00:33:00any chance of getting back into the road well really depends how badly damaged the
00:33:05car is if we get it back to the pits we're not sure that we'll get onto the
00:33:10podium well Jos again we we've seen so much drama so many twists in this race can
00:33:17you remember a Le Mans like this it's just been mad I must be honest I mean I
00:33:21didn't watch it every time but I must say especially in the first couple of
00:33:25hours a lot was happening Audi was going off Peugeot's were taking each other off
00:33:29so it's a lot and still are I mean another Audi went off so it's very
00:33:35entertaining I must say if this was a Le Mans series race you'd say okay guys
00:33:39settle down it's only the first couple of hours but this is four Le Mans series
00:33:43races all together really everybody needs to just maybe the evening will help bring
00:33:48some of the temperature down and just chill everybody out a bit
00:33:52yeah who knows but I think there's also the challenge between all the teams I
00:33:55mean it will be hard on harder all time and that's what we see I mean everybody
00:33:59is going flat out it's it's not like it's not a 24-hour race anymore it's like
00:34:04Formula One and then for 24 hours and it's it's good I mean I like it this kind of
00:34:08race you're clearly enjoying yourself what are the track conditions like today I
00:34:12mean we've had the rain on on Wednesday conditions were fine for qualifying but
00:34:17yeah what what were the track conditions like right now the truck the track is
00:34:21definitely improving compared to the to the qualifying sessions that was a lot
00:34:26of dust and stones on the track but now the grip is coming has definitely make a
00:34:31balance change in the car I think it will help us because we had a bit of
00:34:35understeer in the practice and now the understeer is going away and that will
00:34:39help our speed do you think you need to adjust the car to that change of balance I
00:34:43don't think we have to adjust it because we had some understeer and I think the
00:34:47balance will be fine now obviously I haven't driven the last three hours but
00:34:51what I hear from Anthony as well he said the balance is coming better and better
00:34:55all the time what about tire life how long are you looking at running the
00:34:59tires particularly of course through the night where conditions are a little
00:35:02cooler and tire life is better yeah I think everybody is doing three stints now
00:35:07also we we do maybe there's a four stint in there in the night but we don't know all
00:35:13you go to a softer compound and you do another three stints but that's what we
00:35:17have to see now one of the other battles we've been looking at is this huge
00:35:20battle between the two Porsche spiders of course you're intimately aware of
00:35:25just how quick those cars and how good they are they are clearly a long way ahead of
00:35:32anything else in the field and they're very reliable what's going to be the
00:35:36secret what do you think is going to be the deciding factor in that battle also I
00:35:41think what they have to do stay in the track stay out of trouble for sure those
00:35:45cars those LMP2 Porsches they're very good machines I know because I've driven
00:35:51one last year but they unbelievable quick in the in the fast corners and for
00:35:57sure one of those who they will win if they if nothing happened to them okay well
00:36:01listen thank you so much for your time coming up to join us there millions of
00:36:04fans of Aston Martin and golf all over the world who wanted to hear from you guys
00:36:07say thank you for your time thank you to Jos Verstappen and his car we remind you
00:36:12is currently battling for fifth place with the sister 007 we'll be back live from
00:36:17Le Mans in just a second stay with us
00:36:26back live on Eurosport and there's a problem it would appear for the 008 Aston Martin
00:36:32it was in the pits only four laps ago and Jos Verstappen has just left us and
00:36:39it's as virtually moments after he did the car came into the pits they have the
00:36:42front they have the nose off that car as 007 car also into the pits and that they're
00:36:48gonna have to drag that cut was it gonna reach it maybe the fueler will just reach
00:36:51it Simon Hill it's a very it's a very difficult situation for the Aston guys you
00:36:56can see that doing the driver change at the same time it's certainly less than ideal but
00:37:00thinking on your feet is part of the challenge of Le Mans as we can see now in a moment we're
00:37:05going to be hearing from the pit lane I think we might have a chance to speak to
00:37:10Tiago Montero and the drivers of the Orica cars that's here from Tiago now your first ever
00:37:15real Le Mans stint how was it it was amazing really it's really impressive with those cars
00:37:21those speeds for two hours and a half it's a it's long it's the first time I was so long in
00:37:27the car the most difficult thing is the traffic you really have to be careful because you have
00:37:31so many different speeds of cars and it's quite crazy sometimes but that's really I was enjoying
00:37:38it and I had a lot of fun how do you see the situation for your car in the race now well you
00:37:43know we lost a lot of time at the beginning with a mistake for one of my teammates happens it's you
00:37:48know you're pushing still you know it's long but he's still pushing so we lost quite a lot of time
00:37:54like three four laps to the other car now we still have a long long long way to go it's such a long
00:38:01race look at what happened how many things happened already since the beginning of the race so we can't
00:38:06give up never we'll be we still focus on a percent we're going to be pushing on a percent so what are
00:38:13you going to do now now I'm going to eat I'm starving okay thank you but obviously getting his priorities
00:38:22right that's young I've got good racing drivers and talking of good racing drivers we're delighted
00:38:26to be joined in the commentary box by Pierre Kaffer Pierre allemand with the team won the event last
00:38:33year interesting battle we've been watching the battle between the Porsches and the Ferraris has
00:38:38been crazy throughout the race and how do you think it's going to start to turn as the night comes for
00:38:42it's quite hard this year in the GT2 class but we see it the whole way in in America in the ALMS
00:38:50championship it's always a great battle between Porsche and Ferrari and here I think it will be one of the
00:38:57toughest races here in Le Mans this year and in the moment everything is okay we are we are leading so
00:39:07I hope I cross my fingers for the night because you know in the moment the track starts to get a
00:39:13little bit damp and it gets a little bit slippery but I know that Jamie is a very experienced driver
00:39:21and he will have everything under control and to drive with such a nice guys with with Mika and Jamie
00:39:27together it's like a bank you know and I'm really I'm really glad to be a little part of this fantastic team
00:39:34this RISI competition team which make a very very very good job in preparation of the car and also
00:39:42here on the racetrack when you see when the car is coming into the pits how every mechanic is under
00:39:49pressure himself and in a good positive way and do everything for the car to get it done in a proper
00:39:58job and at a proper time and that's really nice you know it's just interrupt you one second and here
00:40:05is a picture of the number three car he brought out onto the racetrack Romain Dumas has been patiently
00:40:11waiting work an hour and a half probably so finally the work is completed on that car and Romain takes
00:40:17every opportunity to get out of the racetrack as quick as he can yeah that was a fabulous battle in the
00:40:23early stages of this race wasn't it with five or six cars are absolutely nose to tail and it was just a
00:40:29typical Le Mans man what is more important to get a massage on your right foot or your left foot
00:40:36well of course the right foot the right foot is for the accelerator and the brake but there are a lot
00:40:42of braking points especially in front of the chicanes and I feel the cushion underneath my feet
00:40:48and just had a little bit of cramp so she said I take care of it it's always very handy to have
00:40:53these people here they give very good massages and also good for the feet it's yep it's it's a need
00:41:00100% how's the situation for you guys in the race race going quite well the car is running really neat
00:41:07it's we're not fast but we're very consistent and the drivers are doing a great job the team is doing a
00:41:13good job so as long as you are consistent in the long long distance it will be all right car feels
00:41:19good car feels really like a like a Swiss watch no noises everything is fine so no I hope I hope to
00:41:27talk to you at three o'clock tomorrow because it seems better than we had we had expected okay thank
00:41:33you thank you very much interesting hearing from Tom Carlin up yeah do you have somebody rubbing your
00:41:39feet after each drive or is it only Tom Carlin has the special service no no no I think a Ferrari is
00:41:44much more comfortable to drive you know and so I don't need a massage of my right foot that's but
00:41:51I know Tom and I'm sure he really he really enjoyed the massage yeah fun guys you know I think you'd
00:41:59rather have the Ferrari because it's a better car than the Spiker it's a Spiker doing a great job
00:42:04yes you know we know everybody a different situation different budget interesting we had
00:42:08Johnny Molum here talking with us earlier of course has driven for EC and won at Sebring in the past
00:42:12made some interesting comments about the difference between Porsche and Ferrari this year that the Porsche
00:42:17seems to have a more maybe a slightly stronger engine but uses its tires a little harder the Ferrari
00:42:23seems maybe a slightly more kind of car on its tires is that how are you seeing it I have to say
00:42:28Porsche made a very very good job over the winter they they develop the car really nice and and really
00:42:34fast I have to say that they have a really really high top speed on the straight and they're getting
00:42:40better also on the tire wear but still the Ferrari is better in terms of tire wear so that is our
00:42:47advantage here in Le Mans right now if it works out with our triple stints which we don't know yet then
00:42:55we will have a great advantage but we hope and I cross my fingers now when are you back in the car
00:43:01Pierre when we can see driving again Jamie will do a double stint maybe a triple stint and after Jamie I will
00:43:08join the car again we asked this question of Jos Verstappen a few minutes ago how are the track conditions now yeah
00:43:17as I as I said before the track it's normal when when it starts to get dark that the track get more
00:43:25ambient and more damp and it gets more slippery and our the times I think it getting it was a little
00:43:32bit slower Jamie decides to go on on soft tires half an hour ago and the temperature for the soft tires
00:43:42uh was quite high but now the temperature dropped down so we will see quicker times now or maybe in
00:43:50fifteen twenty minutes and for the rest of the race the team for company can run at this pace now
00:43:56continue this price or do you have to maybe be conservative at all we will not conservative this
00:44:03year because as we said already it's a really tough race this year we have to fight like hell and when
00:44:11I see Patrick is in the car right now he he's really fast we want to have a little gap between between
00:44:19us and the Porsche guys and then we can step back in maybe tomorrow morning and maybe then you can have
00:44:25your foot massage if yes okay thank you yeah for your time enjoy the rest of the race we'll see you
00:44:33again see you tomorrow so Pierre Kaffer from the RISI competition I need to Jeremy's always fascinating
00:44:39we've had three fantastic racing drivers in five minutes aren't we lucky Christian clean and now
00:44:44Josh Verstappen and Pierre Kaffer and then us three hacks in here just jabbering away what did I say to
00:44:50yours I said I don't want to say how well everything's going I don't want you to be watching your car retiring as
00:44:55he's sitting here luckily he got out of the booth before they pushed 008 away but this car will not
00:45:01is Hugh Chamberlain running this car this is like one of his cars it will not leave the garage every
00:45:07time it comes past it keeps pulling in this thing is really having Pierre was saying the track conditions
00:45:12you know a bit slippery right now well how slippery are they not that slippery apparently because Nicola
00:45:16Manassia has just set the fastest lap of the race a three minutes 24.628 that car the number seven
00:45:24back up back up into 12th place overall still six laps behind the race leader but that is stunning
00:45:29face and what did Christian clean from the horse his mouth said we have nothing to lose excuse the
00:45:35accident but that was basically what he was saying and that's proving it Nick Manassia well quick Nick we
00:45:40call him and there's a reason for that the guy is absolutely mega and uh Sebastian Bourdain mean
00:45:45325.260 as well so the Peugeots are flying Audi number two uh Audi number three rather is just about
00:45:54the last car in the race now we've had four retirements and it's about 48th or 49th and still
00:46:00dropping the RML car goes out which is in fourth place Tommy Erdos now up in the LMP2 category the LMP2
00:46:08lead battle has just been on pit road Caspar Elgaard is ahead of Zascha Masson Essex ahead of team go in
00:46:16third place is the 33 speedy Lola coupe Savvy Pompidou at the wheel of that three minutes 47 his last lap
00:46:24Tommy Erdos did a four minute flat on his last lap and just to finish the Fiona Leggett thought the 23 car
00:46:33Peter Hardman is driving it is 28th at the moment so uh that's where the straker car is at the moment
00:46:40just a note on that LMP2 battle uh Sasha Masson still at the wheel of the team go car car number
00:46:46five Porsche RS Spyder but Caspar Elgaard now has taken over in the number 31 uh team from Emmanuel Collard so
00:46:55yes that's right they're out of sequence those two in terms of their driver changes they're running very
00:46:59similar lap times and the gap was uh somewhat over a minute before that driver change and they both
00:47:05just made a pit stop I believe so that will have that will have now see when the gap opened up didn't
00:47:10it because Masson made the driver change tire stop and everything so they will have gained 30 seconds
00:47:15pretty much just from that factor alone so they should be back within a nanosecond of each other
00:47:21by now probably they left the pits together now we're joined by a familiar voice in a familiar
00:47:26place but uh at the wrong time of year welcome back Toby Moody how's it's the right time of year
00:47:30Martin it's the right time of year come on get it right you should be painting your front door at this
00:47:35time of year not at all not at all well uh as as always as soon as I turn up there's going to be an
00:47:41interview I believe we're going to set up David Richards down there in the Aston Martin garage I've just
00:47:46bumped into fellow commentator of course Anthony Davidson who was just leaving the back of the garage
00:47:51as I was coming over to your commentary box Martin and Jeremy just a moment ago in the meantime here
00:47:57is David Richards who's uh rather fancy having a good run with the leading Aston in fifth position
00:48:04David Richards your 008 car was running in third and fourth position until a while ago but uh what
00:48:10happened I touched another car broke the wheel and then he would change that but he's come back in
00:48:17with a bad vibration something on the front hub maybe a wheel bearing or something to do with the
00:48:21steering rack so we're changing all that area now so when are the guys going to bring the car out
00:48:26again sorry when is the car going out again you think well I don't know as soon as they finish the
00:48:31wheel bearing okay thank you okay so that was the drama for Jos Verstappen uh car he was up here
00:48:40earlier Darren Turner at the wheel of that car and uh doing a a massive stinting session on that one
00:48:45wheel bearing the problem so little niggles but they're still not doing badly for a brand new team
00:48:51here at Le Mans no shame for Darren he'd only been in the car for three or four laps so he'll be uh
00:48:55really disappointed to have to bring that car in for a lengthy pit stop I have to say there's one
00:49:00luxury that I've afforded myself guys there's there's one disadvantage with commentary you're either
00:49:06upstairs in a commentary box or you're downstairs in the pits during a race or grand prix or whatever it may
00:49:11well be but I managed to get myself on the inside of the Porsche curves for the first three four laps
00:49:17or so as 55 and then very quickly on of course 54 cars came streaming past me I've been to NASCAR races
00:49:25I've been to rallies I've been to Formula One I've been to many other things it was the most amazing
00:49:31sight to see all those cars barreling through in a in the sunshine of a French afternoon at Le Mans
00:49:38the quietness before they came around the din the the barrage on the senses as they came past you
00:49:44and then the quietness again and then the din again and it was fantastic fantastic experience and
00:49:49then of course the the major dramas that we've seen you know the the Peugeot's touching themselves
00:49:54taking themselves out momentarily down there in the pits an unbelievable scenario and then this number
00:50:00two Audi going off I I don't know I wasn't listening to any commentary at that time I was busy doing
00:50:05other things Martin any explanation for why that Audi went off it looked to me like a rear left went
00:50:10absolutely and we haven't yet caught up with Lucas I'm sure he's back in the garage and uh debriefing
00:50:16with the crew at the moment but uh that's absolutely what it looked like from the on-board pictures
00:50:20Jeremy that the left rear sat down and he was a passenger into the tires but it was movable but
00:50:26the race director just to reinforce the race director Dr Wolfgang Goldrich told us said he may
00:50:31not take it back out onto the track he deemed it too dangerous and so the car was effectively
00:50:37abandoned by the race director uh to its fate 008 is in the garage and has dropped a few positions those
00:50:45cars were fourth and fifth earlier on uh Peugeot's Benoit Trollier in the Pescarella number 17 car up to
00:50:52fourth ahead of uh Stefan Mooker in the 007 car and while we've got Peugeot uh climbing back up the order
00:50:58after some earlier dramas we welcome a family member not an autos for a Eurosport family member
00:51:04but uh Christian Peugeot we're going to have a quick word with him uh just after we take another
00:51:12quick commercial break before we leave Eurosport 2 and head back over onto the big dog so we'll be
00:51:18back live with more action from Le Mans in a couple of seconds as Marc Genet continues to lead heading
00:51:25into the darkness hours
00:51:26lead this race but not in a way that you might have expected if you've watched the first 30 minutes
00:51:37this has been such a bizarre race and we're joined now by somebody who could not be more closely
00:51:42associated with Peugeot if he tried Christian Peugeot communications manager for Peugeot and team
00:51:49Peugeot total bienvenue Christian welcome to Eurosport what a race yes uh you're right this race is uh
00:51:58extraordinary uh every every hour there is something new uh unexpected so uh i think we will be a little
00:52:08bit tired after the the race maybe a little bit less tired if we win but anyway it will be a really
00:52:15extraordinary 24 hours i think so last year was a sensationally close race but this year is just a
00:52:24completely different story yes uh well you know every many things unexpected many things are happening so
00:52:35uh you know uh the days sort of uncertainty we don't know what will happen uh what i can say of course
00:52:43we feel not too bad with the present situation but i don't feel uh secure at all about about the
00:52:50results i don't think anybody feels secure at all about the about anything at the moment now your cars
00:52:58uh the number nine car the number eight car both in the top three at the moment Henri Pescarello's
00:53:03Peugeot 908 in fourth position yes now obviously you've got a strong team very well
00:53:09known car and a little quicker again than last year better prepared better rehearsed this is your best
00:53:17chance since the the 905 to to win here at Le Mans absolutely i think you said it we are well prepared
00:53:25our pilot are well prepared i saw them this morning they were in a nice nice shape mental shape
00:53:34uh so all the team is well prepared we last year we had a problem with the car that we had to rebuild
00:53:41this year it was not the case so everybody has slept the week the the week before normally uh so uh we
00:53:49we have no excuse if we don't win i have to say this year Peugeot looked calm and audi looked not quite
00:53:57ready now that must give the team a lot of confidence when they see what the main rival is looking like
00:54:04well audi has a new car so of course this new car is supposed to be better but a new car is a new car
00:54:11and there are some things that you can't master so well probably talk to us about the future obviously
00:54:19you've got an enormously successful high profile program win or lose will there be a Peugeot Le Mans car
00:54:28project next year and would you continue with the 908 or an evolution or maybe a new car well uh the
00:54:39decision is not taken we will we will take it in the next uh weeks or months uh but uh i hope we will go
00:54:47on because i i like personally those races i think there is uh also sebring maybe shanghai there are
00:54:54possibility to have such a type of race uh in in the rest of the world uh but we have to in in the
00:55:03present situation you know it is uh globally difficult uh we will we will uh decide uh if we if we if we
00:55:11if we go on i suppose that in 2010 uh we will keep uh 908 because the the rules will will not change too
00:55:20much but this is to be confirmed uh but anyway uh for us you know in the in the 80s with the 205 uh 2.7 16
00:55:30uh we won uh the the championship uh in the rallies and it was also a very difficult period for us
00:55:37and it helped us to to improve the image of the company so i think uh it's a good choice
00:55:45the only point i cannot give you a fixed answer today i think there are no fixed answers here this
00:55:51weekend three o'clock tomorrow afternoon 1500 if you're on the per on the podium as you say
00:55:58i'm sure everybody will be a lot less tired we wish you the very best of luck and we're looking
00:56:02forward to a fantastic thank you very much thank you christian purgeot thank you very much for joining
00:56:06us that's nice thank you very much so uh christian purgeot from the uh peugeot total sport team thank
00:56:12you very much indeed we're going to bring our broadcast uh to an end briefly here on eurosport
00:56:18two in just about another dozen minutes before we go over onto eurosport now until 11 o'clock tomorrow
00:56:24morning so toby fantastically exciting action so far and no matter how hot sweaty tired or perhaps
00:56:32drunk some of the fans are i don't think it's one that you can put down really it's a real page
00:56:36turner i thought you were going to say hot sweaty and tired the commentators are but of course that
00:56:41wouldn't involve alcohol quite yet just a review from the top of the timing sheets the number nine
00:56:47perjot mark janet david brabham alex verts leads this race by a minute and 52 seconds in second
00:56:55position is tom christensen and a moment ago christensen was managing to now do lap times quicker
00:57:02than the leading perjot on the last time around last but one time around so christensen really is only
00:57:09is the is the only audi in contention at the moment in third position is baudet's peugeot the number eight
00:57:17peugeot that was leading that's a lap down baudet with montagne and sarrazan that of course being the
00:57:24pole position car the double oh eight aston martin uh jeremy pointed out a moment ago has lost 16 minutes
00:57:31so far as i uh got that correct jeremy 16 minutes in the pits so that was the car with anthony davidson that
00:57:38was battling for fourth about half an hour ago it's unfortunately dropped to 13th position big shame
00:57:43big shame but uh interesting just interesting to hear a couple of things that some people were saying
00:57:49about lack of understeer you remember at the about when was it let's have a guess about two or three
00:57:54hours ago the audits were changing nose after nose after nose after nose on the nose capello said during
00:57:59a press conference on friday after the two days of qualifying he said it was the quote worst r15 he's ever
00:58:06driven it just wouldn't stick um they've they've got it all sorted but then of course the number two
00:58:12audi has gone into the tire wall at the porsche curve there's only one audi to battle against these
00:58:17peugeots and ironically one of them could well be in the mix a bit further up being last year's car
00:58:22the pescarolo car well and also let's not forget last year's audis the the two uh college cars sixth and
00:58:30seventh at the moment and those of course more diesel r10 tdi's the r15 tdi car number two is
00:58:38just being brought into the back of the paddock we can see it from upstairs on a flatbed truck that is
00:58:43a long since gone but the number three car is still rocking around however peugeot with a bit of a
00:58:48stranglehold at the moment first third and fourth and jeremy shaw their problems early on were not quite
00:58:54as dramatic as the problem for the number two or the number three audi so yes really although the
00:58:59three car is just about being persuaded to leave the garage it is david versus goliath if you like
00:59:04but audi is the previous goliath so it is still the defending champion that's clinging on in there as
00:59:10as you can see some of the mechanics are starting to feel a bit of a pace absolutely absolutely the case
00:59:16and uh you know the uh the race leader car number nine they're running uh the lap times are pretty uh
00:59:22up and down somewhat last summer i was a three minutes 27.2 just turned by mark janet i think
00:59:28that's the fastest lap he's done in that car it's just over a second away from the fastest car
00:59:33time the car has done at all in this battle race tom christensen uh uh chasing along in second place
00:59:39the gap has gone out a little bit it was um let's have a look how that gap has progressed in uh about an
00:59:45hour ago it was one minute 27 seconds between one minute and 27 seconds between those cars now
00:59:51around about two minutes let's get down to the pit lane see if we can catch up with lucas lure from the
00:59:58number two audi team lucas tell us what happens in the crash just turning in towards the porsche curves
01:00:10leaving the public road something broke at the back
01:00:18the move in the car was uh strange and
01:00:24my car moved and unfortunately there was nothing i could do
01:00:31try to get it around three times to try and wrestle it around the corner
01:00:35but unfortunately it went straight on into the tires that's pretty heavy impact
01:00:43unfortunately car was too badly damaged and that's it
01:00:48marshals wouldn't let me try and bring the car back to the pits
01:00:53for safety reasons i think i could have made it back to the pits
01:00:56i would like to have made it back but very disappointed for my teammates
01:01:03it's uh racing that happens sometimes especially saying you know what what was up with the understeer
01:01:13i think i lost the car on a bump on the track
01:01:16but to be honest i'm not entirely sure
01:01:25sometimes if you make a mistake you have to put your hand up and i think in this case it might be my
01:01:29mistake well jeremy that's incredibly honest certainly from the on-board footage we could see
01:01:34him wrestling with the car but it did look as though it is pitching down from the front right to the
01:01:39rear left we thought a suspension brake is possibly a puncture but possibly lucas is suggesting it might just
01:01:45have been driver error and that's unusual for lucas but mistakes happen yeah they do uh it certainly
01:01:52didn't look like it from from just from his actions on board the cars he was trying to save it didn't
01:01:57look like it but you know he's the guy who's driving the car so we're not going to argue with what he
01:02:00says well i tell you what if he made a mistake and he knew it was offline he'd be trying to save it
01:02:05just as if it went offline on him so we are within a minute of ending our broadcast for the moment
01:02:11here on eurosport 2 we're going to ask you now to join us over on eurosport international until 11
01:02:18o'clock tomorrow morning cet when we will stay through the night on the big dog they will be
01:02:25mixing eurosport 2 with main station eurosport coverage don't forget uh eurosport player can
01:02:31keep you going through the night as well live coverage with the commentary eurosport broadcasting in hd
01:02:37from le mans although the pictures aren't ours which is why they're 4.3 and not 16.9 wide screen for
01:02:43those of you that are asking join us one step up on the ladder on eurosport one in just a second as we
01:02:50as we take a brief pause here at the mall
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