Relive the 2010 24 Hours of Le Mans, a true endurance classic that tested every limit of man and machine. Audi and Peugeot went head-to-head in a relentless battle for supremacy, with strategy, reliability, and pure speed deciding the outcome. From breathtaking night stints to heart-pounding final hours, this race captured the raw essence of Le Mans and delivered moments that would define a new era of endurance racing.
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#LeMans2010
#24hLeMans
#EnduranceRacing
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#MotorsportHistory
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SportsTranscript
00:00GT1 leading Celine S7 and the GT2 leading Corvette C6 all making their way through the
00:08shot.
00:09So, after a number of hours trying to rebuild their Lola Judd, the crew have just sent it
00:18out only to find that the wretched thing has gone straight off on its first lap out and
00:24do you know what?
00:25It might possibly be the brawl that breaks the camels back at Drace and it would be if
00:32only I could even remotely pronounce it.
00:34So, that's really just rough.
00:37Now, okay, Johnny's going to have to bring the car back in again which is, well, not for
00:44another 25 laps, going to drop it behind the J-Lock Lamborghini but that Drace and Lola has
00:52really had a bit of a laugh at the expense of its mechanics. It's been in the garage for
00:58so long now. Total pit stop time of 59 minutes and 10 seconds. Gosh, it must seem like hours
01:06more than that. That's got to be wrong.
01:08Take it back and park it. It must be an hour and 50 hours. They can't have been in just
01:13half an hour more than the leaders. No, they certainly haven't because they came in somewhere
01:17around about one o'clock or something like that. Yeah. Just about right time when I sort
01:22of came on air. Well, our total pit stop thing only goes to minutes. Well, they've got it wrong, haven't they?
01:28Well, it doesn't have a column for hours. No, no. Hello. What have we done now? Oh, deary deary me, look. We have towed ourselves in but we've dumped ourselves in a position where we can't get it out without doing further damage to the car. You know when things aren't going your way, don't you? You really do.
01:50Meanwhile, here comes the DB, you know. Um, gets the brakes on. Thank you for the stairs' work.
02:08We're back on the farm. The Corvette.
02:12Still second in the GT1 class behind the Saline.
02:15And, uh, having completed
02:20213 laps to 215
02:22of the Saline. Sorry, I've got real sniffles
02:24now suddenly. Uh, that'll be
02:26Liz's perfume as she's come back
02:28in. Tindo Capello
02:29being shown in replay
02:32here as they made their stop.
02:35Well, if the Corvette
02:36was going slowly, the 63 or 64
02:38car, whichever it was that we couldn't identify,
02:40doesn't seem to have made much difference
02:41from Montani now, no longer
02:44limbering up, but at the wheel of car number two
02:46that Peugeot still leading as it was, went
02:48into darkness hours, so it is
02:50now being chased by the two Audis
02:52and
02:53get thee hither back to the pit
02:56lane, thou recalcitrant heap
02:58of. Unfortunately, this
03:00Lola Judd coupe, I'm not sure
03:02I've actually seen a car be
03:04more trouble for a team in a
03:06lot of years.
03:08And Dale White and his crew
03:10will just be so crestfallen
03:12and after all their hard work to
03:14force this car back on track,
03:16it completes one lap
03:18slowly before it heads
03:20back in.
03:25Good news, bad news time
03:26at Le Mans for Drayson Racing
03:28fans. There, Lola Judd is
03:30back out on the track, but as you
03:32can see, circulating very slowly.
03:35He's coming back into the
03:36pit to get
03:38rid of a ton of gravel.
03:39But also, I have to say, to try and
03:41inspire some confidence, the way the car
03:43just snapped round on him under
03:45braking at Indianapolis, I can't
03:47imagine that he'll be very keen on
03:49pushing it in any way, shape
03:51or form at the moment.
03:53This is like an installation lap for a
03:55brand new car now, almost. They've done
03:57so many different jobs on it.
03:59It comes back in
04:00and Dale White and his
04:03boys are waiting
04:04for it. Not with any
04:06great excitement, I don't think,
04:08but with a
04:09sense of resignation.
04:10Now, it is purely a battle
04:12of wills. It's them
04:13against the car
04:14and whether the car
04:16brakes or they
04:18brake
04:18is entirely a moot
04:20point, but
04:21if it doesn't get to the finish,
04:24it will not be for lack of
04:25trying.
04:26That's really what they've got to go for
04:28now. There is nothing really left
04:30else for them
04:31just to get this darn car to the
04:34finish. Final little top up with a
04:36couple of litres from that one
04:37lap. It's done, well, really,
04:40since before darkness almost.
04:42Tyres off to have a look at what's
04:44going on.
04:46I think they got so gritted up
04:48while he was in the gravel that
04:49he decided to change them now.
04:51Well, the problem then was, of
04:53course, that why was the car
04:54swapping ends quite so violently
04:56the moment he touched the brakes in
04:57Indianapolis, whether it was cold
04:59brakes or a lack of pressure in the
05:01line or a grabbing brake or
05:03something, and they're just having a
05:05look at it. I think you're going to
05:06have to accept the inevitable
05:07voice, inevitable, and possibly
05:10stick it back in the pit garage.
05:15Meanwhile, our race leader,
05:17Frank Montaigne, continues, and this
05:20car continues to rack up the laps in
05:23the 3 minutes 23-24 bracket, so still
05:27lapping as fast as the chasing pack.
05:303 minutes 23.5 last time round for
05:33Frank Montaigne, Timo Bernhardt 324.9,
05:37so 1.4 seconds slower on that last
05:39lap. Benoit Trilio 327.2, so 3.5
05:43seconds slower, but again, could easily
05:46have hit traffic. Mark Janais pretty much
05:49on the leader's pace, a little quicker in
05:50fact, 3.23.0, that's the number one
05:53Peugeot that's in fourth place, but
05:55catching half a second a lap only works
05:58if you start doing it at the beginning
05:59of the race and do it for every single
06:01lap till the end of the race.
06:04Fifth position, Dindo Capello in the
06:07number seven Audi, the delayed Audi,
06:09he's doing 3.24s, and in sixth position,
06:13car number four, they delayed the second of
06:15the delayed Peugeot's, and Nicola Lapierre
06:18is doing 3.22s, and Drayson Lola is
06:22doing its best, never to be seen again.
06:26If a car ever earned a good kicking,
06:28this one is certainly high up on the list
06:31of vehicles that need to be given the
06:34Basel 40 treatment with a big whippy
06:36stick. Probably hurt your foot as a
06:38result of it, actually, that's the
06:39problem.
06:42Yes, the way their luck's going, if they
06:43gave it a swift kick, they break their
06:45toes, absolutely right.
07:01Now, according to our German colleague
07:04Norbert Okenga, they reckon at this
07:06race pace, the number 11, Dresen Lola
07:09needs to cover ten more laps to complete
07:13a projected minimum, or maximum race
07:17distance, rather, or their percentage of it
07:19that they need to complete.
07:21So, they've got 8 hours and 23 minutes in
07:25which to do ten laps, and at the moment,
07:28that might not be an easy task.
07:30Car's been sent out again, so it has gone.
07:36Johnny Cocker having a second stab at getting
07:39a lap out of it, and by getting a lap
07:41out of it, I don't mean a really hot
07:44qualifier really getting a fast time out
07:46of it, I mean getting the damn thing to
07:47do a lap without falling over.
07:50Giancarlo Fisichella getting ready to take
07:52over his Ferrari from John Alizzi.
07:55As he comes down the pit road, who's he got
07:57behind him? It is the number six Orica AIM.
08:00That'll be coming in for a regular fuel
08:02stop. Sayeli Ari took the car over
08:06last time, as I recall, and should stay
08:08in it, and does. You can't see that, so
08:13just take my word for it, as the 95 Ferrari
08:15rolls to a halt. And that car now has
08:19slowly crept up to fifth place in GT2.
08:22And there has been no further sign of the
08:26crone racing Ferrari, the Risi competition
08:30green machine of Nick Johnson, which
08:33turned into a green machine with lots of
08:35smoke. So we are going to use the marker
08:38of doom, I think, possibly preemptively on
08:41that one. And I'm going to write Endure.
08:45Because I think that is very much the end of
08:49that. And if I had a moment, I would text
08:52Fiona just to find out exactly what they
08:55think it is, but I've got to say, it didn't
08:57look like a brake problem there to me.
08:59No, I don't think it was. I had that nasty feeling
09:01there was oil where oil shouldn't be and water
09:04where water shouldn't be.
09:06Well, there are a number of people staring at
09:08the car, and there's somebody staring at the
09:10engine bay, but it does seem to be rather
09:12terminal there. Oh, look, they're still awake
09:16in race control, which is always good.
09:19They've got more tellies than us to look at
09:21as well. And the Highcroft Acura is in as
09:25well. It's a long way down the pit road from
09:27where we are. It's only three or four
09:28carriages up from Peugeot pit in, so half a
09:32dozen, I suppose. So just around the corner
09:33of where we're looking. But again, this overhead
09:35camera view gives us a great shot of the fuel
09:38going in, perhaps stays in. And of course, he
09:42is the second placed car, that Highcroft car, not
09:47only in the Michelin Green X Challenge, but
09:49also in the LMP2 category, which is still
09:52being led by that car, Stracca Racing, that's
09:55just gone out of shot. Car still leading the
09:58pack as through hunts the Audi. Timo Bernhardt
10:04charging through traffic.
10:15Well, no doubt about Montani's position there
10:20as the only member of the Peugeot team that
10:26hasn't got himself a long stop. Strangely
10:31enough, he has actually been stationed, but it's
10:34probably just a little bit of a trick of the
10:36actual pit stops that have been made in the last
10:38few minutes. Hello!
10:39Hello!
10:40Morning, now. Carlton Kirby.
10:41Hello me, Carlton Kirby has arrived.
10:45Yes, and just in time to see the nine car in the
10:47hands of Timo Bernhardt, getting a little bit
10:49squirrelly, it's got to be said. Yes, slightly
10:52out of shape. I might have just taken himself a
10:54comfort break. I'm not actually due in here for
10:55another 20 minutes or so, so I think the coffee pot
10:57may well be calling.
10:58Won't do any harm at all.
11:00No, no, it's been an interesting one throughout
11:02the night, so I hear. And that 11 car, its travail
11:06seemed to continue on and on. Neat about another
11:09nine laps now, I understand.
11:11Yeah, well I think you'll probably get that done.
11:12Yeah, that's all based on the race pace of
11:15Fram Antony's lead car. But as you saw, Timo
11:18Bernhardt there, just getting it very, very out of
11:21shape. Yeah, we came in and thought, what on
11:24earth has happened to the four car? Nick Lapierre is,
11:29well, they've lost four laps, we understand, with
11:32left driveshaft issues.
11:33Yeah. A real shame.
11:35The 11 car had to change a fuel tank, incidentally,
11:38which is a long old circuitous job. It's not just
11:43being a fuel tank with that car. That was a long
11:45chapter of problems that saw it, frankly. I think it
11:52was actually out of the race in the garage when you
11:56went to go and have your sleep. Fancy coming all the
11:58way to Le Mans just to build a car from scratch, and
12:01that's just about what they seem to have done.
12:03Well, the first time it took them 12 days, so perhaps
12:05they're learning to get better. The only thing is, it's not
12:07working any better at the moment. That's the problem.
12:10The 9 car coming in. No change of driver, but a modicum out of
12:17shape just a few moments ago, but it just shows what sort of
12:20pace they're actually still on here. When you come back and
12:22you've had a little sleep, we're nice to get around about four
12:26hours through the night ourselves, which, believe me, is a
12:30luxury. This is our leader at the moment, and you can see that the
12:36pace is absolutely startling out there. And here's the trophy. This is a
12:42cabinet. This is what they're actually racing for here. This is what
12:45it's all about. I'm still not sure it's the most beautiful trophy on
12:48the planet. I've got to say, it looks like some kind of fountain feature
12:52you might find in a dodgy restaurant. But it's worth so much, that thing, to just
12:58about everybody. Yeah, we've heard from the beast, Carlton. We've now got Liz with us as
13:02well, so it's beauty and the beast. Oh, thanks very much, Neville. Oh, it's nice to
13:07come back in the morning to that. Those trophies, Liz, they are prized
13:12indeed throughout the world of motorsport. There's virtually no race more famous
13:17than this one. It's been going for such a long time. It's got an amazing history
13:20behind it. And they're all desperate to get their names upon it. It is truly one of the
13:25biggest things you could ever win. And frankly, I wouldn't care if it looked
13:29absolutely ridiculous and, you know, looked like a feature of some randomness. I would
13:34still love to win it myself. So it is one of the highest honors for any sports car
13:38racer. Our scroll feature on the camera, sadly, is full of the usual kind of debris
13:45that you get at this time of night. Extremely, they don't actually give that a scrubbing.
13:49And some deep conversation going on with Herr Doktor here.
13:54Yeah, well, I think probably, you know, at this stage, they are sort of wondering just
14:00what they have to do to just make that little bit of difference. The odd thing is, is that
14:06all of the Peugeots, with the exception of one, had a problem. And I think it was at the
14:13start that it was suggested that they would probably try to drive the race at the Audi
14:18pace. And if that is the case, then they've succeeded.
14:20This is one of the commissars that they're having a chat with here. And they all want
14:24to hear what's going on. But it looks good natured. It may well just be a calling card
14:28at Howdy Doody at this stage of the night. They didn't look like there was any kind of
14:33bogish appeals going on there. No, I don't think so. That's a mirror that, a lens on the camera
14:42that's rather not helping us very much. Final pep talk here to all and sundry about keeping
14:51focus, I should imagine this. Yeah, I think absolutely. I mean, this race is looking like
14:55it's slowly starting to come back to Audi a little bit. Nice to see that we've got two
15:00cars in the top three now, as opposed to when we left, you know, later on in the night,
15:04there was only the one. So I think possibly their plan of, you know, looking after this
15:09car for the race, you know, all the way through the week, they were saying, you know, our job
15:14starts at three o'clock on Saturday. And I think that's starting to show here now. And
15:17it's going to be interesting to see if Peugeot can hold together the number two car.
15:21Yes, it is. It's going to be interesting to see further down the order. So many other stories
15:25to be told here, whether the 11 car does in fact get the laps it needs at current race pace.
15:31It's all based on just how fast the lead Peugeot is going. If it has no troubles, our German
15:37colleague reckons, it probably needs now about nine laps to be completed, if it's not to
15:44be DQ'd because of the percentage rule. Yeah, that is going to be an issue for them. They've
15:48spent so much time in the garage since literally the first few laps of the race, I think, that,
15:54you know, they do run close to not being within that 75 percentage of the total race laps completed.
16:01So I really hope for them that they've worked so hard. I'd love, I'd just love it if the car
16:05could hold itself together now for those crucial nine laps. Another important thing to say is that
16:10in fourth position is still the Peugeot of Marc Chenet. We saw those incredible times from him
16:15last night. He's still nipping at the heels of the number eight Audi. So he'll be waiting in the
16:21wings for any slight little mistake that could happen, which would pull Peugeot back up into the
16:26one, two, three position for at least one and three.
16:28Lola Aston Martins, it looks like it's going to be mission accomplished. They
16:31determined to be the best of the petrol cars. It looks like they're going to get their wish.
16:35Peaceful time being, they're in positions seven, eight, and ten. And going very quickly,
16:41Darren Turner, he's just monstered that midsection. We'll take a break and we'll be back live at Le Mans after this.
16:48Welcome back as we give a nod to the efforts of Martin Haven overnight. He's had a bit of a long
17:00one, but if you feel sorry for him, how about the drivers? They've still got over eight hours of
17:07racing remaining. It's a stunning fact. We've only had two thirds of this. You've got to do it all over
17:12again. And if you spin it out that race distance that remains into other series, it's an impressive
17:18tally still to be done. It is. And I think that's the trouble here is that when you reach the daylight
17:23and it's, you know, it is properly light now, you sort of feel like, oh, we've made it through the
17:27night. Fantastic. And then you start to think about the fact that you still have so many hours to go
17:32because it is 3 p.m. This race is going to finish. And that's a daunting task. Yeah, it certainly is.
17:37And it's about keeping your focus, which is why Herr Doktor down at Audi gathered everyone
17:43together and said, listen, this is where you've got to keep your eye on the ball. You actually saw
17:48him pointing to his own eye. I think he touched his cheek at the time. Miraculous that we had a handle
17:53on where he was going. But that's the joy of having the likes of this holiday here.
17:58I think the problem is, the problem is, is that they have kept the pressure on. They've kept the
18:04pressure on all night. They've been lapping as near as quickly as they possibly can. I mean,
18:11they actually got down with one car to a 22, which is faster, I think, than any of the
18:17Audis have been around. Now, they're still struggling on. I'm hoping that something will
18:23come to them because they've had no reward for goodness whatsoever. Well, they've also got to
18:29deal with Mark Jenny, who's peddling absolutely brilliantly. Yeah. He's fought back from about
18:33six or possibly seventh position at one point. The Audis had the ill fortune, of course, of being
18:38picked up by the wrong safety car, in their opinion, during the five cars first, well, the only off,
18:45sadly that ended the Mansell challenge. A little bit of a brake issue here. I'm still dealing with pads.
18:50There's a lot of front end pressure on all parts, Liz, and it's clearly an area that needs attention.
18:59You've got to get that sorted out. It's your boots. Yeah, no, absolutely. And this time in the day,
19:05in a GT car, the brakes have been having a lot of wear on the circuit. We have such, such fast
19:10straights with, you know, relatively tight brake zones. And we're looking at sort of second gear,
19:14third gear into most of the braking areas here. So, certainly that's an area that you'd have to look
19:19after that. A little bit more in a GT car. Yeah, the new motor going on.
19:23Yeah. And, yep, they've got a very comfortable cushion just for the time being. And let's hope
19:31for their sake that this kind of lasts, although... They had been slowing, actually, for a bit.
19:36I'm going to say as well. And this is that the job's being done now.
19:39Johnny O'Connell is on the same lap as Wolf Hensler in the Porsche, which is chasing them down here.
19:46And they're not that... They're not a million miles apart.
19:50It's been a little bit of... The last couple of years, Porsche's had a bit of a beating, haven't they?
19:55I don't know what it is. They haven't actually lost their way.
19:58It's just that they just needed or need something to give them that little push,
20:04because they're finding, I think, life a lot harder.
20:07And the bad news here is for the J-Lock team. They've pushed that Lamborghini into the garage,
20:12and it looks like nothing's happening in a hurry. They're all sort of staring at the car and having
20:16a few discussions and not looking very pleased. That car has made it a really long way, actually,
20:21in my opinion. I have to admit that when we arrived back this morning, I thought, wow,
20:25it's still running, and that's brilliant, because their record here has not been spectacular
20:31over the last couple of years, especially last year. Did they even complete a race lap?
20:35Yeah, they did, but it was slap race time, because essentially the car just wasn't worthy of the
20:42event. And had they not won, I think it was a race in Yokohama, they probably wouldn't be here.
20:48That was the GT1 class at Yokohama, and that automatically qualified them for here. They
20:54haven't made any friends last year, a single lap, and as a result, I don't think they'd have got
20:59the invitation. But their performance this year, they clearly had to take a step forward.
21:03They won the race and got automatic entry here. It's a completely new vehicle. They've moved on,
21:08we've moved on, we'll probably forgive them in the long run. But the Japanese Lamborghini owner's club,
21:13which is what J-Lock means, they've actually obviously dug into their pockets and done a job
21:19here. Well, I have to say, they have been running virtually last for most of the race, but in saying
21:24that, they have been running. We've got 17 retirements, they haven't been one of them. They have reached
21:30the morning, which is far further than I think they've reached in a long time. So we have to give
21:34them some credit for that, and I have to say it's not looking very good at the moment. Well, it's not
21:38looking very good, but I think they've probably done it enough to get a finish here, and I think
21:43that's what they were after as a primary target. It's been the primary target of a lot of teams,
21:49including, of course, Nigel Mansell, who you aforementioned. Thankfully, Nigel's okay. The car
21:55very early on in this race, which was really our first incident, but essentially it has cast a long
22:01shadow upon the entire race, because Audi felt very, very aggrieved, Liz, that they've been constantly on the
22:08chase back ever since. They did. They were really messed about by those three pace cars,
22:13and Audi claiming that they got held up by a GT car initially, who, when seeing the safety car
22:20yellow flags came up, sort of lifted off the gas immediately and really slowed, and so they got
22:24picked up by the second safety car, which I think they're probably still feeling a little bit upset
22:29about, but would they have been able to take that very flawless Peugeot number two? I'm not sure.
22:36It's been very, very quick. I think they'd be nearer to it and probably could have maintained the
22:41pressure a little bit better, but if you look at everything else, I mean, here again, we've got
22:46the Audi sort of turning in some pretty quick times. I mean, 322s we thought were beyond it.
22:52Don't forget, we were getting 322s by one driver who was really trying everything he knew. Now we're
22:59actually holding on to it. The 28 Radical Judd incidentally, we just saw the road is being
23:03changed on the Corvette. Just hugely overshot his pit box. Now I'm not sure whether it's just a
23:09signing issue or whether it's a brakes issue. We'll see in a moment. They're doing a driver's change.
23:14We may well get back down there. They're just bedded in nicely behind the RML machine. Number 25,
23:21Lola HPD. The HPDs have been a revelation, the powerhouse. They've had their problems naturally
23:28enough, but they have ridden them and actually stayed way up there. HPDs one and two in LMP class,
23:35LMP two. Just phenomenal. One and two and three, in fact, if you're looking at just the engines.
23:41Yes, we are. The Lola HPD of Tommy Erdos has also moved his way up into third place. They are
23:48currently in pit lane, but he's just fired it up and it looks like he's heading back out, so
23:54they should hang on to that place. It's a proper block, isn't it?
23:57Yeah. Well, as a creature of the night, now the sun is rising in the sky, shining with all its might.
24:04I didn't realize that Mark Cole was your son. It's time for me to go downstairs and happily say
24:09good night. Thank you, Neville. Thank you. Neville Hay doing sterling work, sterling service through
24:14the night, and I know that a lot of you on the Uppall nightclub are very appreciative of that
24:20wonderful cognac and licorice vocal code, the combination that he provides us every single
24:26Le Mans evening. It's fabulous. We're just checking in on Fernandes here, and
24:34there he is running in seventh place. Hancock is at the moment in the 009 in eighth place.
24:40It's not bad for the 00s. They've got the 008 here. Vinnie Ix at the moment,
24:46rounding out the top ten. That's a superb performance by them, and it bodes very well
24:50for the future. They're talking about taking this development of this machine completely in-house,
24:55provided the regs level the playing field ever so slightly between the petrols and the diesels.
24:59Yeah, and I think this just shows us that we really do need a separate class for petrol and
25:03diesel in my opinion, because these guys have worked really hard. They've literally stayed in
25:08the exact same position the whole race. I doubt they've really had any problems,
25:11because they seem to have not shifted since we left in the night. They've been quiet, haven't they really?
25:14Yeah, they've not really, there's been no drama. So, you know, it goes to show,
25:19I think they should get something back for that, because all three of those low last Martins have just
25:24carried on. Well, I think we hit the nail on the head. They should get something back for that.
25:28It's an amazingly expensive thing to do this sort of form of racing, and yes, you don't want it to be
25:37thankless for long. Coffee time for everybody. Gosh, that smells good. It's almost like smelly vision.
25:42You can imagine what it smells like. Where's ours? Yeah, exactly. We've got sort of long,
25:46sort of watered-down gravy stuff available here, unfortunately. There's the two-car. It's out in front,
25:52and still going quick. A 3.24 on all the fours. But behind them, it's going to burn out. He's just
25:58posted a 3.22. Now, if you want to go quick, go quick in the morning, because just as everyone
26:04else maybe, maybe just starting to think about doing something else. And Marc Genet has been
26:09absolutely full-on on that number one car as well. He's just posted a 3.22.723. Now, we know that the
26:17cars go very, very well at this time of the day. It's nice and cool. Everything's up to temperature
26:24on the vehicle. Vision, well, it's just starting to leave them a little bit, because the night time
26:30really does give you a certain clarity. They often do go very, very quick. We've come through that
26:34transition stage now. The sun is still behind the trees, not really troubling them too much. It may well
26:39start to do so a little bit later on. The 8 car gets on to its sticks here, and Trubier,
26:46it is, that's on board, running third in class. Now, at least, those lights are correct. Well,
26:53you can see a lot of these drivers have still got a clear visor on from the night, and it is a very
26:57tricky time of day to drive when you come into the dawn, and especially coming into sort of things like
27:02the Porsche curves, and you tend to get a lot of fog early in the morning. I remember that myself from
27:0807. It was really quite an interesting experience, and then as the sun comes in,
27:12it is extremely bright and really difficult, but the cars are very, very fast, because it is really
27:17cool air. It's just a fantastic time of day to post an amazing time. Yeah, it's almost the time of day.
27:22You might choose to go on holiday somewhere. It's fantastic. It's got that freshness, which we don't
27:29have, because we've had four hours of kip suddenly. It just does get your focus, though, and thankfully
27:37downstairs, all of the teams look bright and bushy-tailed. I think they finally realise that
27:42this does feel like another day. It's almost like the start feels like a long, long time ago, and if you
27:49have been awake for most of it, or all of it, and for those of you on the website, we absolutely salute you,
27:55then, yes, you feel like you've actually even moved on. It does feel like there has been a proper
28:00block of sleep in between. I know we've had four hours. Have we had that much? Yeah, we have.
28:06Yes, eurosports.co.uk. Mark Cole has just joined us, is at this very moment just going through some of
28:13your messages. I know you may have been a bit fallow in that department for a while, but Mark's ready,
28:18so go to eurosport.co.uk, click on message boards. If you scroll down to motorsports, then you'll find
28:25Le Mans. Click on that, and the topic area, or the thread, is new, exclamation mark,
28:31Eurosport 2010, Le Mans Live. We assume, and we haven't heard if there's a new topic,
28:36a new thread ourselves, so we'll get on there and have a look, and we'll have a chat. Some of you
28:41brave souls have been up all night. I suppose you're possibly even more ragged than we are,
28:47but then again, we're the Singing and Dancing Monkeys, and you're turning the handle. We'll be back in a moment.
28:56Welcome back, and the two-car comes in off the lead. Just a routine. We can only keep our fingers
29:05crossed. We have had a mixed run, but this car hasn't put a bolt wrong so far, and they're out there,
29:14and in the front, and joining us is, as we salute, is Mr. Mark Cole. Mark, a very warm welcome.
29:22Good morning, friends. You never look more wonderful. Oh, what a day. Sun coming up. We're
29:26here at Le Mans. What more could you ask for? Questions already on the Eurosport forum. Liz,
29:31you could probably answer this one. This is for the team. Do marshals do 24-hour stints,
29:35like, or do they take shifts like the drivers? They don't look half as tired as I feel. No,
29:40they definitely do take shifts. It's very important that they stay very, very sharp,
29:44as I'm sure you can imagine, because they are the ones out there looking after us, and I have to say,
29:50it is incredible having good marshals out here, because you really do need it. You need things,
29:54even just like the passing flags makes a huge difference. So, no, they do definitely take shifts.
29:58I'm not entirely sure how long they are at a time, but it is, you know, I suppose, similar to what a
30:03driver would do. Yeah, sorry, I should have said that was from K2M7, one of our regulars. A very
30:08original name, that. When is Liz back on, asks Lawrence Hopkins. Well, here she is. Hello.
30:15Good morning, Southampton. I hope it's as sunny down there as it is here in Le Mans. Yeah,
30:19it's amazing that the weather has actually come to this race, and there was all kinds of dread going on,
30:25and stories, and long faces, that this would be a mixed affair. Here's your overall classification,
30:30if you've only just woken up. Peugeot and Montagne are leading, and the two come. Oh, hello. Now,
30:38what are we saying about not putting a bolt on? My goodness, that is a curse. And this is big news
30:43for Audi, and all of a sudden, they're getting very animated down there. They're telling all and sundry,
30:49my goodness, talk about curse of the commentator. That is an absolute nightmare, and it's letting go big time
30:54here, Mark. It has indeed, and a lot of, as you can see, flame there. Look at this. This is just
30:59what they didn't want. It's the curse of Carlton. He just said the number two car hasn't put a wheel
31:04wrong, and look at this. Frank Montagne at the wheel. It's over. It is over by the looks of things.
31:11Goodness, only knows. Liz? This looks like an absolute disaster. I'm not entirely sure what's happened
31:18there, but it's not good. Even Dr. Ulrich shaking his head, and looking actually a little bit woeful.
31:25I think when that camera arrived, the smile went the other way up. That was a diplomacy at its height.
31:32This is going to be our new leader. This is phenomenal stuff for Audi. Well, it just kept going when the
31:39race went against them, and they felt that the pace car had also picked them up wrong out there, but this
31:44looks a nightmare time. In fact, Montagne there, as the spiker comes by here, they're going to unlock
31:49themselves, and then take the lead here. The nine car is still one lap behind, but this car's going
31:54absolutely nowhere at the moment. A whole load of flame coming out of one side of the car.
31:58That would suggest a turbo, wouldn't it, Liz? It would. That's what it would look like, and then
32:01that in itself has looked like maybe it's melted down a few things in the process, because it looked like
32:05the car was getting very, very loose behind. So, you know, once you've got a fire anywhere in a
32:10vehicle, who knows what damage it's done. That's the problem. There you are. Boys, come and look
32:14at the monitor. Get yourself out of the fresh air, and the heads go down, the shoulders go down,
32:18and they know it. Oh, my goodness me! And what were we saying about the Corvettes as well? They've been
32:23metronomic in their progress, and all of a sudden, I didn't see which one it was. Did you? No, no,
32:28I didn't see. Corvettes one and two nonetheless, the 64 and the 63 car, and look at this. That!
32:32Well, Antonio García was on his outlap, so that would probably suggest something there in the 63 car.
32:41Can't believe it, and everybody is going to be wondering if it was their fault.
32:45Yes. I think Marky put the nail on the head there. That definitely does look like a turbo issue. It
32:50looks like it's probably melted down the tire, which is why we saw him start to lose the rear,
32:53because you can see the flames just engulfing that right rear tire. Well, a sense of urgency here,
33:00how long it takes. This is going to be interminable here. Well, he's only, yeah,
33:04he's only just gone to the Monsard. Exactly, he's still a long way to go. Well,
33:07they're not going to get that car back, even if those French marshals push it the whole of the rest of
33:11them. They'll give it a go. Mark Genet has never given up here, either of these. No?
33:16And there's still, well, now we've got a massive race on our hands, because the one car
33:20is down there in fourth place. I think you can more or less just ride off, at least for the time
33:25being, the number two car. We don't want to be too unkind to them after such a good work out there.
33:30But suddenly, with renewed vigour here, Audi start hitting it, and the long faces are down at
33:36Peugeot. They can't believe it. They don't want the cameras here. It's an emotional time,
33:40especially this deep into the race. We've just got under eight hours to go, seven hours and 55 minutes.
33:46Check that out. My goodness. All that work, all that time. To be fair to them, they have
33:52constantly looked absolutely poker-faced. There's not been any celebrations out there,
33:56because they had a big attrition rate before we came off our ship last night. They lost a couple
34:01of cars, essentially. They've actually battled their way back. At least one of them, Mark Genet,
34:06has been absolutely superb. The pace he's setting out there is amazing, and we're on board with him now.
34:11This is probably Peugeot's last hope. Yeah, well, there's only one lap down on the
34:15Audi, and in fact, Nick Lapierre, who's back in the Matmut Areca Peugeot, he's only three laps down.
34:21So Peugeot are still in with a shout, but this car, definitely out. Well, if you divide this race
34:27up into thirds, at least, there's a lot still to be told, isn't there? There is. I mean,
34:32we've got a lot of racing left to do, and at this stage in the race as well, the cars start to get a
34:37little bit worn. We are talking about top, top race cars that have been hammering it for a long
34:43time now, and this is when things start to fall apart at the seams. So there's a lot more to happen
34:47here, a lot more heartache to happen, I think, probably. And this moves Aston Martin, the two
34:53Aston Martin golf cars, Adrian Fernandes and Sam Hancock, up to sixth and seventh. And in fact,
34:58Philip P from Pool says, Hi guys, I've been up all night, and I'd love a shout, and best wishes to
35:06Aston Martin Racing. Hope they win the petrol division. Well, Philip P, looks like you're going to get your wish.
35:11Absolutely. Now, this loads well, bizarrely, for Johnny Cocker and the number 11 outfit, because they
35:19needed, I think it was eight laps to complete, based on the leader's pace. He was a lap and a half ahead of
35:25everyone else. So they've effectively gained a lap and a half at race pace. You know what I'm trying
35:33to say, Liz. Yeah, absolutely. They're not going to get DQ'd if they can manage, if the lead cars carry
35:37on at this pace. They will do enough, percentage-wise. That's a very good point, and you can see them in
35:42the pit lane. I think they've noticed that, and they will be doing their best to get it going. Now,
35:46let's just talk about the man who has just had a big smile and taken it on board that Montaigne's had
35:53a problem, because Timo Bernhard in the number nine car, which is in second place, has just done
35:57the best time that car has done in the entire race. As if by just hearing down the radio. Guess
36:02what, Timo? Step on it and get a pull out there. That's what you call a heartbreaker, isn't it?
36:07Drive that nail home, and Bernhard is really doing exactly that in the nine car. They've got belief. We
36:14said this was a long one. It's always, always going to be about reliability, and on the reliability
36:21bet, surely your token has to be in the Audi camp. And that's something you can attach to
36:26Corvette as well, but not this morning. It is Antonio Garfield. We've got confirmation of that now.
36:31He was on his out lap, which means Beretta is now leaving from Wolf Hensler. Hensler, of course,
36:37in the number 77 Thalbermeyer Proton Porsche. Yeah, that 63 Corvette coming down there. Just a replay
36:43for you of the incidents which has absolutely hobbled the Peugeot challenge up front. It's going
36:50to be Audi's in the lead, one and two. Before you know it, they currently now have just arrived.
36:55That's how far they were ahead, incidentally, on the Montaigne number two car. They are now just
36:59on the same lap. They will be taking the lead, and effectively, they've already unlocked themselves.
37:04They are going for it. The pace they're showing out there, Audi, is even more of a problem here
37:11for the Peugeots, because it's just showing what might have been. And it just makes you wonder,
37:16if maybe because we knew Peugeot had been pushing so hard straight from the start, you know, jumping
37:21all the curbs, really, really hammering the car all the time. And, you know, there are quite a few
37:26training thoughts, especially from people like Johnny Merlum and whatever, that were saying,
37:29well, maybe they just sometimes push that wee bit too hard, and that, you know, Audi always pushes hard,
37:34let's not take that away from them. They never go out there and be casual, but they just seem to
37:38always have the ultimate goal in mind as well. Just that, you just wonder if maybe they just know
37:43how to finish it. Just some oil dry going down there, it looks like. Just showing the surface flag,
37:48that is that orange and yellow flag, making sure that the other drivers, you know, know that there's
37:53something down there, and also so they don't run them over, which is very important when coming onto the
37:57most on straight. Yes, it's almost a platform, isn't it? Yes, there is a surface fluid, and it's all from
38:05this car, and the lead has just been taken right now as the Audi goes by. Timo Bernhardt is your man in
38:13the lead. It's Audi at the moment, and before you know it, it's truly in the eight car. It's also
38:18going to be just passing by the Montaigne vehicle, and essentially just not only unlapping itself,
38:26but moving onwards and upwards. Audi one and two. It's just a matter of a few seconds.
38:31Phenomenal. And look at the pace that they're maintaining here. They're bullying everyone,
38:34the entire field. Get out of my way. We're coming through because you never, ever know,
38:39especially the way that Mark Jenny is peddling out there. He's going to be promoted to third place,
38:43don't forget, so it will be a podium position, at least for one of the Peugeots. And then what?
38:49Big, big breaking. A huge win as well from Liz Halliday here, who felt just how tight and challenging
38:55that was. It was, and you can see Timo coming down the straight and actually looking to his left,
38:59staring straight over at Sam Hancock as if to say, I really hope you've seen me here, and I'm going by.
39:04I'm sorry.
39:05Audi's Ralph Juttner on the radio to him, just saying, right, this is the strategy now, guys.
39:11We're going to have to do what we said last night, steady but solid. Peugeot we said last
39:17night, around midnight, fast but fragile. I'm afraid it's all proving only too true.
39:22Yes, prophetic, Mark. And just still can't stop walking around the car, and just,
39:30he doesn't actually want to go the 10 metres away from the vehicle.
39:33Don't rip it off.
39:34Well, you never know. I mean, he's been on the radio to the team. They may be saying,
39:37look, you can get it back. It is possible. I mean, certainly, I've driven cars with turbos
39:42that have fallen apart. They won't go very fast, but I think possibly there's more damage done there
39:47than we can see.
39:48What he's trying to do is get the back of the car off, and he can't do it by himself. He's saying
39:52to the guys, help me, but anyone touches it. Sorry, you're out. Here we go. That's it.
39:57No, no, no. That's not allowed. Oh, wait. Is he a marshal or a cameraman?
40:01Photographer.
40:02Cameraman. Okay. Well, I don't know the rules on that.
40:04But it's still outside assistance, isn't it?
40:05I think that is not allowed. I think perhaps the marshals just told him that he's done it.
40:10That he's done it. I think that's what it was, which is why.
40:13Yeah, I think the marshals just said outside assistance, mate. That's it.
40:16It's all over, and suddenly all work stops. To be fair, that fire was quite intense there,
40:23and they're looking. I don't know whether he's still in radio contact there at that point,
40:28but look at this. Huge disappointment for Peugeot, and it is Audi 1 and 2 at the moment on the timing
40:34sheets. They've unwound themselves here, and it's not a bar he's standing at at the moment,
40:41but he wishes it was. We'll take ourselves a commercial break.
40:45Huge drama here in the early morning. It's 7 hours, 48 minutes, and 10 seconds to go.
40:51It's Audi 1 and 2. Peugeot still in the race, though, with two goals.
41:00Welcome back here. You join us as the KSM machine decided the second hand at the moment.
41:05They've straighted it right here. It's been a familiar part of the track where incidents have happened here.
41:11That looks like Arnage corner to me, and look at all of the gravel across the circuit. I just
41:15wonder if maybe that's caught him out a little bit. If he's come into that brake zone a little
41:19bit too hot, but I've got to say, at this stage in the race, unless you have a problem, there just
41:24isn't any excuse for losing it in that corner, because you know it's tight. It's slippery.
41:27This is the gentleman driver, Jean de Patel, who's gone off there, and as you say, Liz, it's...
41:32Oh, we can't blame him yet. We don't really know what's happened. I, for one, had a car that was
41:38spitting oil out the back as I came down to Arnage once, and I spun there, and you just don't know
41:43what's happened. But if he has just had a little whoopsie and outbraked himself, it's not really...
41:47He's gone in quite hard, hasn't he? He has gone in hard. If he can drive that, he can get it back.
41:51Yep. But he's better off doing that than spinning it and hitting, you know, the front and the back,
41:55but it doesn't look great for them. Yes. One thing is, if you do bring money to the team,
42:02you don't generally tend to get told off that much as you're paying the bills.
42:07Nine and eight. Those are our one and two. It's Bernard and Trullier. Audi's one and two.
42:12Frank Montani in the two-car. They had such an advantage, didn't they, out there? They were
42:19looking so good. Came in for what we thought was a routine stop. We said they hadn't put a bolt wrong
42:23all day. And now, all of a sudden, they're still in fourth place. Can you believe it? But they
42:28haven't actually officially been kicked out yet, but we think they will. But outside assistance at the
42:32very least. But it didn't look like they could get the back cover off. Nothing that could be done by
42:37Frank Montani. Marc Genet is on a real pace at the moment. Second only to Bernard by
42:42the way, who is setting the race pace at the moment at 325.446. As the day warms up, those times
42:50may just lengthen a little bit. But we saw an absolute steamer from them, from Audi, as if to
42:56just prove a point and say, look, we're still full on it. You've got your problems. It kind of drives
43:00home an advantage that sort of psychologically, doesn't it? That sort of behavior. It does, absolutely.
43:04And the one thing they've got to keep in mind is that Marc Genet is not far away at all. He will be
43:09waiting in the wings for anything to happen to Audi. So certainly, the Audi camp is not going to be
43:14hanging out and feeling relaxed right now. They're going to be saying, look, look after the car, but
43:18keep it going. Yeah, it's now they, Marc, that they're going to get all poker-faced and serious
43:22here, isn't it? Oh, yes. I mean, just to stress again, we're only two-thirds of the way through
43:27the race. We've got a full eight hours to go. Far more, far longer than a thousand kilometer race yet
43:32to go, and anything can happen. Marc Genet will just keep pushing now. This is the guy who won last
43:37year. He knows exactly what you need to do to win, and that's what they're doing. He's two laps down on
43:42Bernhardt, one down on Trillier, but they will not give up. They'll just keep pushing. I've been so impressed by
43:48Marc Genet. He really is incredibly quick and smooth as well when you see his performances here. He's
43:56absolutely on the mark. Yeah, very, very much a thinking man as well. He's actually a graduate,
44:00a business graduate of Buckingham University. So he spent a lot of his education in Buckingham,
44:05just close to Silverstone. So still very popular there. Everyone knows him and comes back to Buckingham
44:11occasionally. He's always faded when he goes there. He's got a little piece of loose panelling here,
44:15just on the side of one of those fissured intakes, please. I don't think that's really
44:20going to be a major issue for them at the moment, especially the way that it's come loose. I don't
44:24think that will affect them, but I'm sure some people are seeing that on screen and wondering
44:29if that will be something they would need to pit for, but I would find that very unlikely.
44:33Yeah, it doesn't look like it's a danger to other vehicles as well, unless of course it snaps off.
44:37But yeah, just for now, I think he'll continue. We've seen a few cars here with duct tape
44:44becoming part of the livery. I suspect we might see a bit more here. It depends on how much time
44:49they're prepared to give it. Yellow flags are waving at that point, Liz, where they're just
44:54extricating the vehicle. It's still there. Yeah, and you'd be amazed how much of a race car you can
44:59actually rebuild with gaffer tapes. So you never know. I'm not even sure. I think there are some
45:02legalities for how many pieces you can build nowadays with that. So here is effectively the
45:07only other Peugeot in. We're still waiting for official confirmation that the two-car has been
45:11kicked out for outside assistance or not being able to relay back. The Matmux Peugeot, which is
45:16effectively a full-on factory machine, is still very much here. And Nico Lapierre takes it out in
45:23six places. Yeah, he has stayed on board after that change. Just having a look down LMP2 then. Danny Watts
45:29still leading the LMP2 class in the Stracca HPD car, but they've got quite a big lead, a two-lap lead now
45:37over the Brabham car. You remember last night when we were about just after midnight, Brabham had a
45:42few problems with that car. Nick Leventis has done his shifts again and kept the car out there in the
45:46lead. So full-on full marks to Nick. Good job by him, by Danny Watts, by Johnny Kane. And we're not going
45:53to start even trying to forecast us to win that class, because as soon as we do, something goes
45:57wrong. Just looking at GT2, which are the top GTs this year. GT1 have fallen by the wayside. Livia
46:04Barretta leading for Corvette. Mark Lee behind him for Porsche. And then in third place suddenly now,
46:09Raymond Larac, the driver from Rouen, who won this race with the IMSA Matmut car in 2007, won the GT2.
46:17And they are on the podium at the moment. So good job by Porsche. Now, he's on the
46:22mobile. I don't know whether that constitutes outside assistance either these days. No, says
46:27Liz. I know. But he's having a rare old chat here. But one suspects that the hand of the photographer
46:34may well have been the hand of doom. And I think he's just possibly getting that message right now,
46:40that there's nothing you can do. I don't think you can actually get one of those off on your own,
46:44because they're spring clips, aren't they? Well, I don't know actually about the Porsche,
46:48I mean, about the Peugeot decking. I know they are very difficult to get off in any prototype car.
46:54But certainly in an open cockpit when you'd have to stand in the seat and attempt to try
46:57and get off the back and push it off. But even that would be difficult. I don't know about this.
47:02Now we've got... Body language says everything. The door slams and he's on the stroll here.
47:08And Peugeot, nobody knows what to say to each other. There's no words required at the moment like
47:13this, because you can't give comfort. Oh, hello. Is somebody coming along saying everything okay?
47:18No. That's Bruno Famine we're looking at. He's part of the management there of Peugeot.
47:23So it's all gone wrong, isn't it? The glory of France. We had Sébastien Baudet on pole. He never
47:28even got in the car on the race. There we are. It's all over. That car was out and he's gone.
47:31He's done is 10 metres away and that's it. Yeah, they've told him, forget it. And that was the phone call.
47:37And so the black marker of doom, I think it's actually marked up as, scrolls through the two
47:43car here as Frank Montana takes them. That brings our retirement with the Corvette
47:47now then to 19 cars out of the 55 starters. Very high attrition rate this year. Liz,
47:53is this because they're still running it like a sprint race? Well, I don't know. I think they've
47:57been running it a sprint race for quite a few years now, to be honest. All the top runners really push
48:01like crazy every year. But certainly we seem to have had a huge amount of retirements early on,
48:06I think, more so than I've seen for quite a while. And I'm not entirely sure what the reason is beyond
48:09it. Maybe they are pushing that a little bit harder this year. And I think the point is that
48:13they're not just also ran retirements. These are all top runner retirements. Yeah, absolutely.
48:16Yeah. Yeah. At least put his helmet back on so he doesn't want to have to talk to anybody.
48:20And it's better to carry it. It's probably easier to carry it on his head as well than it is.
48:25Yes, exactly. Now, I mean, some of you out there were probably noticing that he was,
48:29that he was on his mobile. And I mean, he didn't just carry that around in his pocket casually from the pit lane.
48:33Yeah. Yeah. They do. Most of the teams do tend to have a little sort of repair kit in the car
48:39somewhere. And usually that includes a small cheap mobile phone as well. Well, here's one
48:43Persia that's still running at least. So there's still a couple on track as well. But yeah, you're right.
48:49That's a that'll feel like a limo soft compared to what he's been putting up with for the last few
48:56hours. And they were going so, so well. Frank Montani, that's the back of him we're looking at now. And it's
49:01the back of, we've seen the back of the number two car as well. And that was the moment it let go.
49:08Fire, we think, turbo failure that caused so much damage that car wasn't going to move any further.
49:13Had difficulty getting the clips off. I think one may have just welded shut there. And there,
49:18the reaction of his crew. There are still two Peugeots that are battling out there though,
49:22don't forget. The Matmut, the number four car. And Marc Genet, who is currently in a podium position,
49:27let's not forget that. And going very, very quickly indeed. And he's only a lap behind our
49:34leader at the moment. And he's the quickest man out there. And a 321.6 was his last lap. That's three
49:41seconds a lap faster than the lead car Bernard at the moment. It is definitely not all over for
49:47Persia, despite the fact that Audi are one and two. And that's the reason why they're maintaining
49:51their focus. We saw a little pep talk by her doctor a little bit earlier on. And he just said, look,
49:56get yourselves focused here. And almost immediately, trouble started to hit Persia.
50:01And don't forget that the other reason Marc Genet needs to keep it going strong here is that he's got
50:05Dindo Capello not far away from him at all, waiting in fourth place, hoping to make it an Audi 123.
50:11Is it the curse of a lead car? And he comes now. This is going to be fascinating,
50:15because Trillier and Genet will know this. There goes the drink bottle. I don't need any more of
50:21that. And he prepares to take off here. It's pretty routine. But then again, we've said that before,
50:27and we've been startled, Marc. Yeah, yes, very much so. Remember, these are the Porsche-drafted
50:32drivers. Drafted him to Audi for this race. And at the moment, there's a change of the guard,
50:37isn't there? Everything's going. James S. here said, we've been talking about GT2. He said,
50:41what about GT1? What's happening out there? Well, Celine, would you believe, is leading GT1. The
50:47class is rather self-destructing itself this year, particularly with the FIA World GT Championship
50:53runners, such as the Ford from the Matej and Marc Vidiad Ford. So, Gabriele Gardel on board that Celine,
51:00and if he can last seven and a half hours, that would be a famous victory for
51:05the last ever GT1 runners here at the mall. That's absolutely right. It will go in the history
51:10books as GT1's final champion. I think they deserve it of that, Liz. They've been big supporters of
51:16the class for a long, long time. I think, on occasion, they've been operating under special rules. But
51:20the car's still here, and it's had a long, old life, hasn't it? It has. And Gabriele Gardel himself,
51:25actually. He's been driving GT1 cars for as long as I can remember. And I think, actually, at the
51:30moment, they're in a good position, because they have quite a big lead over the next car,
51:33which is the Corvette of Julien Jus. So, they can afford to sort of look after that Celine a little
51:39bit. They don't need to push it as hard as maybe they would if they were just a lap off. They'll still
51:43need to keep it going, but I would have thought they could just taper it to a time that's safe and
51:47comfortable and look after that car a little bit and see how they get on. Very interesting. I mean,
51:51that Celine is run by Jacques and Debbie Lacan's Labre team, and they're the people who blocked
51:57everyone else, changing from Magneti Morelli Electronics to whatever they wanted to use here,
52:04because of the umbrella ability of that this year. But here they are. They're in the running,
52:08and they are 23rd overall. How ironic is that? It was part of the complaints within the GT1 division
52:16that they were keeping that management system, and preventing anyone, they all had to agree,
52:22from changing it. Well, they've held on, and despite the fact that you might think it is a bit shaky,
52:26well, they're proving that, at least for the time being, they're looking good in a decade of
52:30crowd-pleasing. They missed last year, and I think they kind of thought, well, if GT1 is going to die,
52:35we've still got this car. It's going to be basically written into the history books if we don't just use
52:40it. They've come along here, they've funded a proper challenge, and right now they're leading
52:45the class, which is phenomenal for them. Absolutely amazing. Two laps they've got on their nearest
52:52rivals in the class, which is Jus in the Corvette at the moment, the 73 car. So we'll take ourselves a
52:59commercial break. Don't forget the forum. We'll have another chat with some of you after this.
53:03Welcome back to Eurosport, our live coverage here of the Le Mans 24 hours, and what a dramatic night
53:13it's been, but an even more dramatic sunrise. Just as we came back on air, Mark Cole-Card for Kirby
53:20Liz Halliday, we had this man, Frank Montani, pulling off the track with a blown turbo in the lead
53:26Peugeot, putting Audi into one-two. If you're just joining us, that has been an incredible journey
53:32through the night. Audi just chipping away at Peugeot, and now Peugeot, these five cars are in
53:38third and in fifth place. It's a huge, huge disappointment. Liz, we're more than 16 hours
53:45into the race now. More than two-thirds have gone, but this is just what every driver dreads.
53:51Oh, the worst thing ever, being in the lead of the biggest race in the world,
53:55undoubtedly, and having something like that happen. It must just be a horrible experience. You can see
53:59him leaning there on the rear wing of that car, just contemplating the demise of his
54:04top-running vehicle, and thinking, is there anything I can do? And I think at that stage,
54:08you realize there really wasn't. Ferrari have dominated this race for the last two years,
54:13RISI competition. They only have won that race. This year, it's all gone against them. They are out,
54:18and this man, Giancarlo Fisichella, making his Le Mans debut in the AF course of Ferrari F430. He's in
54:26fourth place in that class, behind two Porsches and the leading Corvette. And that, again, has been an
54:32incredible story, Liz, this year, hasn't it? The fights going on all through the first 16 hours of
54:38this race in GT2. Yeah, GT2 has just got a huge amount of different manufacturers this year, and
54:44are really a new battle with the entrance of the Corvettes in GT2 as well. Now, on the topic of the
54:50Corvettes, we don't necessarily have a retirement yet from that number 39 car. They are still stopped
54:55out on track, but it does not say they've retired. And also, we can see the Corvette pit from here,
55:00or, yeah, some of the Corvette pits, and they haven't pulled the shade down yet. So, you never know.
55:05There might be something going on, though, that we're just not seeing on the TV. Undoubtedly,
55:08Antonio Garcia would be doing everything he can to bring that car back, and perhaps he's even
55:13speaking with the team on a phone or with them at the side of the circuit, trying to get it back
55:17somehow. But certainly, we do not have an official retirement from them on our list yet.
55:22I remember last year, we had problems with a drive shaft in one case, and perhaps a resurgence of that,
55:29coming in then to the pit lane at very high speed, the number seven car. That is Dindo Capello
55:34locking up there. Look at that. He's got to get down to the speed limit there. They really,
55:40really, really on the back foot, aren't they? The number seven car. They came here full of hope,
55:44McNish, Christensen, and Capello. But at the moment, they're being outshone by the other two cars.
55:50But it's not over yet, is it? I mean, we've seen so much change and so many things happen that
55:55I wouldn't necessarily discount them from a podium yet. Certainly not. They are running in fourth place.
56:00They're very close to Marc Genet's time. And Dindo Capello has just done a fastest sector time for that
56:05car for this race. So he's certainly had the orders from the team to push hard and try and catch Marc
56:10Genet. Yeah. And Genet, by the same token, is under orders to try and close that two-lap gap on Timo
56:17Bernhardt and the one-lap gap on Benoit Trullier. There's two Audis, one, two there. Just to remind
56:24you, Danny Watts continues to lead LMP2 in the black Stracca. HPD, the Honda, and Olivier Barretta is
56:33best of the GTs in 16th overall for Corvette.
56:36Well, we're looking at a Porsche insurgent here in the GT2 class now. They'll be loving that because
56:45much earlier on in the race, not even that much earlier on, actually, we had Corvette, Corvette,
56:49and Ferrari. And now it seems to be Corvette followed by Porsche, Porsche, and Ferrari,
56:54which they'll be very happy about. Yeah, we saw Fisichella, didn't we,
56:57just a few moments ago. Here is Brab's on board the Highcroft HPD car. But just before that,
57:02we saw Danny Watts in the Stracca and his familiar yellow helmet calls Danny a great
57:07supporter of Oxford United. And he was at Wembley two weeks ago when Oxford took that great victory
57:13there at the end of the season. So, everything to fight for still. Liz has seen something.
57:18Yeah, it's the 11 cars. Sorry, I don't sound like Liz. The 11 cars come back in. And yes,
57:24I'm just going to go and find out exactly how many laps that they do need in terms of percentage
57:28at the lead in comparison to the leader's pace to avoid the percentage rule, which would count them
57:35out. Do we know? Well, basically, a car may be excluded at 9am on Sunday morning at 75% race
57:43distance. If it is not completed 50% of the race leader's distance, assuming a dry race, they're
57:48saying that a car would likely to have covered 174 laps by 75% distance to avoid exclusion. Now,
57:56it comes down to maths then, doesn't it? It does, which I'm not any good at. And then basically,
58:02we're looking at the end of the race, saying to be classified, a car must finish the race under
58:07their own power and have completed at least 70% of the race winner's distance. So, it does come down
58:12to a lot of maths. Maybe we can get our friends over in the German commentator group to do that for us.
58:18We'll find out. This is a man who does not want to talk. He's, uh, he's chatting. That's Bruno
58:23Vandesrich, who's the circuit commentator. He's been a circuit commentator 25 years now. He and Frank
58:29are good friends. And I think Frank's actually opening up to him as they're walking along there. We can't
58:33hear the public address in French anyway, but I think probably he's giving the story there.
58:37Well, I think in this situation, there's nothing he can do. It's not, it's very unlikely that it's
58:43anything to do with being his fault. He's done everything he can. You know, I don't, I think
58:48when that sort of retirement happens, you're upset and you're gutted, but perhaps it's not quite as
58:51bad as having an accident or doing something under your own accord. Here's a team that have been really
58:56challenged. They've had just about everything go wrong that possibly can. They've had floor issues,
59:01back end issues, just clutch. I think as well was, uh, was a problem for them. And, uh, it's happened
59:07again. I don't know what their issue is this time by, and, uh, they may well just fall away here,
59:13unfortunately. And, uh, once you see those, uh, those lockup garage, uh, uh, clinker doors get pulled
59:21down, uh, that really is curtains time. And, uh, nine o'clock is, uh, is a, uh, rendezvous for them.
59:28They've got, uh, what, uh, one and a half hours to actually get the laps in that they need. Uh,
59:33there's, as you were explaining, um, that's the first time check. And then they've got to carry on
59:38right the way until the end. And the percentages can beat you even at the very last, which is so
59:42depressing when you, when a team like this has worked so hard to keep this car going. They've
59:46had so many different problems. They've kept it going. They've had it in and out of the garage all
59:50night, all day. It would be just so sad for it to fall by the way.
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