Experience the unforgettable 2016 24 Hours of Le Mans — a race that delivered one of the most dramatic finishes in endurance racing history. Toyota, Porsche, and Audi fought relentlessly for 24 hours at the legendary Circuit de la Sarthe, showcasing the peak of hybrid technology, strategy, and human endurance. From high-speed battles to heartbreaking twists in the final moments, Le Mans 2016 stands as a true modern classic. Relive every lap, every duel, and every emotion of this extraordinary race.
#LeMans2016
#24hLeMans
#EnduranceRacing
#MotorsportHistory
#ToyotaVsPorsche
#RacingDrama
#LegendaryRace
#LeMans2016
#24hLeMans
#EnduranceRacing
#MotorsportHistory
#ToyotaVsPorsche
#RacingDrama
#LegendaryRace
Category
🥇
SportsTranscript
00:00In GT, it's run by Olaf Mantai Racing, and Mantai has been the man since they were running the UPS turbo cars at the end of the 962 era.
00:11He brought GT class 911s with essentially 962 turbo motors in the back, and they've been racing under Olaf Mantai's banner all the while.
00:20But, as you say, they are the outright race winners from last year.
00:23Nick Tandy in one car, chasing Earl Bamba, his teammate. They stood and they shook the podium in the first, they shook the champagne in the first podium ceremony last year, meaning they were the overall winners.
00:32Now they're racing against each other for honours in the GTE Pro class, and behind them, closing in, is another of the Fords, and that will be Olivier Pla in the 66 car.
00:44So he is hoving up behind Tandy, even as Tandy pulls out, and does not get a run on Earl Bamba.
00:51This is the quickest part of the circuit now. Maximum velocity for these cars comes just before Indianapolis.
00:58You can see the Panis Bartes prototype, the LMP2 car there, only able to split the Porsches.
01:05He can't even jump two GT cars in one go.
01:11So down to Arnaje, he's going to try and...
01:14Got to be so careful here.
01:15He's going to have to get them off the corner, isn't he?
01:19And even then, rear engine Porsche, great traction, good grunt from that car.
01:24The prototype's got barely any more horsepower.
01:27Yeah, you have to wait until the GT cars start to run into sort of too much aerodynamic drag before...
01:35Oh, as we just see, the Risi Ferrari, that's the number 82 car.
01:39That's our leader.
01:40That's what's going into pit roads, once again, a lap later.
01:44But he was really hot into the start of the pit lane speed limit there, had both front wheels fully locked up, smoke belching from them.
01:51So I hope he's due for a tyre change as well, because it'll be good for nothing.
01:56And you can see all the rain lights on the cars in front flashing furiously.
02:02And the race director did point out to everybody about half an hour ago, you must leave your rain lights on.
02:07They all have headlights on anyway.
02:08In comes 92 Old Bamba.
02:12And he comes in from what was 4th? 4th.
02:15Nick Tandy stays out.
02:16There's Giancarlo Fisichella.
02:18And that red Risi Competizione Ferrari was the leader in the GTE Pro class when he brought it onto pit road.
02:243rd place in GTE Pro.
02:26Sam Bird's Ferrari just came into pit lane as well.
02:30They're all piling in, aren't they?
02:31Dirk Muller stays out in the 68 Ford that started on pole.
02:35He set the pole position.
02:36And he is the man who now leads the race.
02:39Brendan Hartley's just done his fastest lap of the race at 3 minutes.
02:4323.3.
02:44So these are really suitable conditions.
02:46That heavy, heavy rain earlier on will have washed the rubber from the road.
02:50We've now had a few hours of dry running.
02:5360 cars or 60 or so cars circulating.
02:56Gradually laying more and more rubber onto the racing line, increasing its grip level.
03:01The temperatures will be quite warm.
03:03But we're moving into the evening now.
03:05It's getting a little bit cooler with every passing hour.
03:08Let's get down to Ford and hear from Richard Westbrook.
03:13Well, Richard, a bit of an uncharacteristic start to the Le Mans 24 hours.
03:18But the car is obviously going very well.
03:20You've just gotten out of the car from the lead.
03:23Yeah, definitely uncharacteristic.
03:25It was pretty wet out there at the beginning.
03:30But it seemed to take a long while to go green.
03:32I thought we could have gone green earlier.
03:34So we were on the full wet.
03:36And by the time we went green, it was nearly dry.
03:39So, I mean, that screwed us.
03:41So, you know, it's good though.
03:45I mean, the car's not bad.
03:47We're fighting with the Ferraris.
03:48I mean, who would have thought?
03:50It's a long way to go.
03:52It doesn't mean anything at the moment.
03:54The car's a little bit tricky to drive.
03:56That's not too bad.
03:57The track's going to rubber in some more.
03:59Should be better for us later on.
04:01So, all in all, quite satisfied.
04:04And there were some last-minute restrictions put on both the Fords and the Ferraris.
04:09Do you think those are going to ultimately affect you?
04:11And can you talk us through what those were?
04:15Honestly, I don't know.
04:17I mean, I really don't know.
04:20I can't answer that.
04:21I mean, all we can do is focus on our own job.
04:23And all I know is that everyone at Ford Performance has worked so hard to get this program where it is.
04:28And, you know, we've just done a really good job.
04:34And this car is perfect for this track.
04:37A lot of thought went into that.
04:39We worked really, really hard for this.
04:40And, yeah, we've been pegged back a bit.
04:42But so far, it's not hurting us too much.
04:44Great. Thank you very much.
04:48Well, this is always one for the hard question and very hard for a driver to give a straight answer to that.
04:54They don't want to be involved in the politics.
04:56And, you know, in the end, Sam Hancock, it's nice to have a car that you feel might have a slight advantage.
05:03Nobody really wants a cakewalk.
05:04Not here.
05:05You don't want to win Le Mans and everybody say, yeah, but you were 12 laps in front because you clearly had a car that nobody else could catch.
05:12What you want is a decent fighting chance.
05:15You want to win, especially if you come in here with a new program, one with history like Ford, you want to win a race that people will stand back and go, wow, that was a classic.
05:27That's what you want.
05:28You know, in the end, yeah, if you clear off by 12 laps.
05:31You say that, but if for some freak of the rules and whatever road car product you happen to have, you spy on an opportunity to build just an epic car that moves the game on in class.
05:44I wouldn't be happy if they then pegged you back.
05:47No, not arguing that.
05:48But you understand going into GT, the idea is you will be pegged back to try and even the performance of all the cars because otherwise one manufacturer wins and all the others leave.
05:58Coming in is Dirk Muller in the Ford, the race leader, as we watch our LMP1 class number seven car, the very much delayed Audi trying to pick up a bit of pace.
06:10In the Risi Competizione Ferrari, Tony V-Lander has now taken over from Giancarlo Fisichello.
06:17So it is the fin who is flashing the headlights furiously at the number 84 machine.
06:21Now let's talk about this car a little bit.
06:23It's a car that one of the drivers here is a quadruple amputee.
06:29So he had a very rare disease when he was on holiday a few years ago, which meant that his extremities of arms and legs were both amputated on both sides.
06:40He's at the wheel now.
06:41He is at the wheel now, so Pratik Sausset is driving this car even though he can't get himself in and out of it.
06:49He has to come into the pits and actually has to be reached out of the car, but is still using pressure pads that he uses with his legs and his arms to control the car.
06:59This is the most remarkable bit of technology and human refusal to give up that you can imagine.
07:07All right, the number 44 car may have lost a second coming in behind him and he may be a little bit annoyed with that, but that is the garage 56 entry.
07:15So a number of people have been asking, why is it on the entry list with a different color to all the other classes?
07:20Well, because it is our garage 56 entry, they'll use that for new technology and whether it's in the car or the engine or whatever, and there's very definite new technology going on.
07:33Here is brown gray, groundbreaking the ability to drive a car for severely handicapped, physically handicapped drivers, which is directly transferable into road cars.
07:45So he is racing and Sam, the ACO said, OK, you can come and you can try, but you have got to set a minimum acceptable lap speed and he is able to do that.
07:58This is not just he's going to meander around and get in the way.
08:01He's got to keep the pace up and, of course, the other two physically fully able drivers will be able to do that with no problem.
08:07We're getting a bit of a look there.
08:09This is, look, this is potentially if they're doing a driver change, we get to see.
08:13Yeah, they're going to have to hoist him out of the car.
08:16But we've got a bit of a look there at sort of what I call the contraption that replaces the steering wheel.
08:21I understand that he steers more like with a hand on a tiller as opposed to a wheel.
08:26Kind of like a computer game or flying an Airbus.
08:29Exactly.
08:29Which in part explains why, as we saw him come into pit lane, he was a little off line, a little slow getting around the first tight chicane because it is so tight there.
08:39It's much more so than it looks at that front-facing camera angle.
08:43And he said that at Silverson in the previous round, for example, where he really struggled was around the tight hairpin.
08:50But there aren't really corners like that here, which is true.
08:52But I just wonder if the two chicanes coming into the pit lane are the ones that challenge him really the most out of the whole lap.
08:57And he has turned laps in just over four minutes, which is, you know, it's 15 seconds off the ultimate pace.
09:04That, to me, is just astonishing.
09:06You're quicker than quite a few GT cars.
09:09Well, Memo Rojas, fully physically able, has just done a 358.9.
09:13There you go.
09:14And he's not a slouch.
09:15So, you know, those are good, acceptable gentleman driver laps.
09:19Yeah.
09:20The fact that he's got neither hands nor feet makes it, frankly, just almost unfathomable how it is that he can do that.
09:27And just a very quick note before we go to commercial break.
09:29That was the camera of 44 that came right in behind him.
09:31That is an LLB2 class leader.
09:34Or was.
09:35It's now being led by 26.
09:36Oh, no, it's not.
09:3747.
09:38Richard Bradley in the KCMG car.
09:40I think I've never made a secret.
09:42The Tour de France is everything for my cycling career.
09:45It's what I base every single year around.
09:49I love going to France every year and racing the biggest bike race in the world.
09:53Champs-Élysées is a spectacular sprint whatever the year, you know.
09:57People who aren't interested in cycling, they watch the Tour de France, they know the Tour de France.
10:01The LLB2 class is the signifier cycling, you know.
10:05Monument Истины приближается.
10:07Monument Истины приближается.
10:08Monument Истины приближается.
10:09Monument Истины приближается.
10:10Monument Истины приближается.
10:11Monument Истины приближается.
10:12Monument Истины приближается.
10:13Monument Истины приближается.
10:14Monument Истины приближается.
10:15Monument Истины приближается.
10:16Monument Истины приближается.
10:17Monument Истины приближается.
10:18Monument Истины приближается.
10:19Monument Истины приближается.
10:20Monument Истины приближается.
10:21Monument Истины приближается.
10:22Monument Истины приближается.
10:23Monument Истины приближается.
10:24Monument Истины приближается.
13:55And they got a bit of a break because they're allowed to run at a different weight to an equivalently powerful motor car.
14:06But boy, didn't they use it?
14:09I mean, they're three Grand Prix drivers and they drove the wheels off the thing like they wanted it to break before tea time.
14:15Yes, and I'm not suggesting for a moment they didn't deserve a win.
14:19What I'm saying is it isn't quite as simple as it.
14:21And there was a manufacturer who went along and came, because it was a beautiful motor car and it was very cleverly run.
14:26And it made a wonderful noise.
14:28It made a wonderful noise.
14:29It didn't rip to 25,000 separate things.
14:32It ran for about eight because there were so many bangs per rotation.
14:36It just sounds like it ran for 25 grand.
14:38You could hear that clear across, well, clear across most of France when it was running.
14:42You could indeed.
14:42And, you know, we're sort of at the same situation as we were in a Group C rules where fuel consumption, getting the most bang for your buck, if you like, out of your propulsion units is what this is all about.
14:55And we were talking the other day about this hybrid technology, all of which is fast making its way into road cars.
15:03And the current generation of sports car racing is doing more for road car technology with the hybrid system, with energy recovery, with energy conservation, and with electronic advances than even anything like the disc brake on the D-Type.
15:20Because that was a massive step forward for road cars, getting disc brakes and that sort of safety level.
15:25And now all of this is a phenomenal potential energy saving for every single car manufacturer.
15:32It is indeed.
15:33And I don't know because I'm not that technically minded, but I have a suspicion that there are a number of people in single-seater racing at the top end who are looking rather longingly at things that are happening in sports car racing.
15:50The freedom to invent is remarkable, isn't it?
15:52It is.
15:54When I first saw the regulations for this, for the prototype, I couldn't believe that anybody would actually take it up.
16:01But they have, and they've been horrendously successful, if there is such a thing.
16:07They've been very, very successful.
16:09And we can now see that they are, basically they're very reliable.
16:16And they have problems for sure, but they are remarkably reliable cars.
16:20Well, looking really now at the class that is close to your own heart, in the Group C days you were at real stores of the C2 category, which was predominantly the non-factory-based and privateer class.
16:32And we've just seen the lead change in LMP2, which is its spiritual success, I think we'd have to say.
16:36And that has changed from the KCMG car, Richard Bradley just stopped, and seems to have gone back out yet again, rather greedily hogging the car.
16:46And Roberto Meri in the number 44 Manor Motorsport car has again leapt to the top of the pile.
16:51The Alpine, the 36 car, this is in contention as well.
16:54Nico Lapierre has been doing a stalwart job in that.
16:56I haven't, I'm not actually sure I've seen Mattia Specialist's number 46 car on camera, other than when other cars have been passing it.
17:04That's the Tyriae by TDS car, the Ligier Nissan that lies in third.
17:09And in, Oracle Nissan that lies in third, rather, in a fourth place, Rene Rastapol, which is in that class, in the number 26 car.
17:16It's one of the two SMP Racing BR01s.
17:20They are a Russian designed and built car, Nick Minacion, and you just saw Kirill Ladigan are the two drivers in their two cars.
17:28But again, you know, this has always been the case, probably as long as you've been coming here,
17:34is that a bulk of the field in any year is made up of privateer teams running custom machinery with enthusiasts,
17:43gentlemen drivers or wealthy drivers making up a fairly decent size of the field.
17:48then that's not to take anything away from them, because that's part of this racing.
17:52Absolutely.
17:53And the old garagistes, as they used to call them here at Le Mans, are still allowed to come in.
18:01And they do have people come in who are really proper amateurs.
18:05But without C2 in Group C, there would have been no races.
18:11Yeah.
18:11Because there were rarely more than 12 cars in C1, and the rest of the grid was C2, and it's the same here with P2 is a very successful formula.
18:23But going on to that, there's something you were saying earlier about how difficult it is for a P2 car to pass a GT car.
18:29It's going to be fun next year, they're going to have another 150 horsepower.
18:33In the P2s?
18:34In the P2s.
18:35Right, okay, so they'll have a little bit more.
18:37But that's going to make the hybrids, it's going to be even more of a struggle to get by a P2 car.
18:42Oh, sure.
18:43Because off boost, the hybrid will have less power than a P2 car.
18:47And then, of course, what do they do with this, what they call P1 light, P1L, if the P1L, as they are at the moment, the rebellious, they've probably got, I don't know, I have no idea, 600 horsepower, say.
19:03Well, the P2 is going to have 600 horsepower, so that means the P1 light is going to have a good 700 plus, and they can't be P1s.
19:13Yes.
19:14They'll just be swanning around with the P2 stuff.
19:17P1 and a half.
19:18P1.3.
19:18Yeah.
19:20P2.1 or something.
19:22Right.
19:22Anyway.
19:23And again, it's balancing the amount of power.
19:25Obviously, every racing driver wants more power, more speed, because that's just the way it is, and that's the way cars develop.
19:32I mean, compared to the Ford GT40, which looks about the size of a Lotus Elise compared to the modern cars, those things are just, it's like looking at
19:42a commercial airliner from the 1960s compared to a commercial airliner nowadays.
19:47They do vaguely the same job, but not in even remotely the same level of efficiency.
19:53Nicky team and Stefan Mooker have battled and swapped positions.
19:57And that is in the AM class.
20:00Just watching the pro class Aston Martin there.
20:03It's that Nicky team, 95, has gone ahead, or gone ahead of the Ford of Stefan Mooker.
20:08Mooker now back in front.
20:10Richard Neveur explaining things to Jean-Todd.
20:13In the Rebellion garage, in fact, as we talk about Lindsay Owen Jones there as well, the kind of, one of the head of the regulatory groups for the World Endurance Championship.
20:23Himself a keen racer.
20:26In a McLaren, I shouldn't remember.
20:27Indeed.
20:28Indeed.
20:28So, Nicky team in the Dane train, Stefan Mooker back in front in the Ford.
20:35And the 67 car, the fourth of the Ford GTs, stopped early on with a gearbox issue and is still outside the top 50.
20:44So that car is going to have a very, very, very long road to try and make the chequered flag.
20:50Not to say that it won't, but it is so far.
20:53In fact, it is 60th and currently last.
20:5751 still in the garage.
20:59This has been in for a while, Jeremy Shaw.
21:03And, in fact, Jeremy hasn't got the headset on.
21:04Huge has.
21:06That has lost a lot of ground.
21:07And that was the Ferrari that Sam Bird was sort of battling for.
21:11No, that was 71.
21:12Was that the one that Jimmy Bruni was battling in a top six position with?
21:15Yeah.
21:16And, yeah, both Ferraris have had difficulties, haven't they?
21:19They've both been in the pits for quite a long time.
21:21So, yeah, that's not, that doesn't bode well.
21:23What does bode well, though, is the Porsche at the front of the field.
21:28Brendan Hartley, last time on yet again, a new personal best lap.
21:333.23.222.
21:35He's done three personal bests now in his last six laps.
21:40Extended the lead to 12.7 seconds.
21:44He's flying.
21:45We're going to take a quick commercial break.
21:53We're going to take a quick commercial break.
22:23Mobile Strike.
22:26Skaçай и играй сейчас.
22:28Бесплатно в App Store.
22:30Cesar.
22:31Cesar.
22:32Cesar.
22:32И это, по-вашему, пятница?
22:39Играй вживую, чтобы жить.
22:44Встречайте!
22:45Новые сухарики хрустим к пенному.
22:48Со вкусом крылышек барбекю.
22:50В пятницу самое то.
22:52Вот что я называю пятницей.
22:56Хорошо хрустим.
22:57Мы уже скажем ему, что сегодня среда.
22:59Нет.
23:01За каждой бутылкой вилка Поповицкий козел безалкогольная.
23:05Мастерство пивоваров, влюбленных в свое дело.
23:08Здесь мы вертимся, как белка в колесе.
23:11Работаем со вкусом.
23:14Несем груз ответственности.
23:16Для того, чтобы не хвастаться мастерством.
23:20А наслаждаться им вместе со всеми.
23:24Вилка Поповицкий козел безалкогольная.
23:27Наслаждайтесь нашим мастерством.
23:35Звучит, как спорткар.
23:39Дарит чувство спорткара.
23:42Маневренный, как спорткар.
23:44И герб на нем свидетельство спорткара.
23:48Порше Макан.
23:50Для тех, кто верит, что каждый автомобиль Порше – это спорткар.
24:06Еду, а возникнув, это чувство растет изнутри.
24:10Пробуждая неудержимую страсть.
24:13Пробирая до мурашек.
24:16Заставляя пульс биться все чаще.
24:19Чтобы вырваться на свободу и превратиться в скорость.
24:24Какое топливо заводит вашу машину?
24:26Порше выбирает Экто Плюс от Лукойл.
24:29Звучит, как спорткар.
24:39Дарит чувство спорткара.
24:42Маневренный, как спорткар.
24:45И герб на нем свидетельство спорткара.
24:48Порше Макан.
24:50Для тех, кто верит, что каждый автомобиль Порше – это спорткар.
24:53Продолжение следует...
25:23...вырвая персонал бест.
25:24В машину, в левом-магазине,
25:27Марк Уэббер и Марк Лиев.
25:29Один с кей, один с кей.
25:31И они готовы к обработке,
25:33Порше.
25:34Уэббер приобретет от Бренден Хартли.
25:36А Лиев приобретет от Роман Дума.
25:41И дам пит-рога
25:42comes the Audi number eight of Loic Duval so there will be a driver change there we're going to try
25:49and grab a word with our race leader Brendan Hartley but Jeremy Shaw how soon till he is due
25:54in I know you were going to tell me that well I was going to say that Loic Duval just brought
25:58the car on pit lane but just immediately before that on the Mulsanne I believe he'd been overtaken
26:03by Sebastian Buemi so the secondary charges had just moved up into third place before the Audi
26:09came onto pit lane and for the Audi this is lap 49 so once again a 13 lap stint for Loic Duval
26:15so again the Toyota which came back out after its stint in fourth got ahead into third place
26:21before the pit stops rattled in so and this is what Mike Conway was trying to do to Brendan Hartley
26:27last time he got within half a second of taking the lead before Hartley stopped earlier than the
26:34Toyota so the Toyota as quick as anything out there and going further on fuel now there's been
26:40a temperature warning to add to the troubles for the by collars racing car the number four machine
26:46which had a fire on Wednesday didn't run most of Thursday didn't get their third driver qualified
26:53in the dark had to start from the back of the field was pushed off the grid lost a lap not going out
26:59behind the safety car and yada yada yada now it's it wouldn't start when it was wet it wouldn't go
27:05in the wet and it caught fire and now the wretched thing the cockpit temperature is over limits and
27:10they've been warned about that and if it doesn't come back within limits it will be brought into the
27:14pit lane until they can sort that out so that is the sort of car that's just occasionally turned up
27:20on Hugh Chamberlain's watch and would refuse to behave itself yeah and it is quite warm out there
27:25the sun is beating down now so it is quite warm and the Audis at Spa were having difficulties with
27:34cockpit temperatures they were very very close to the limit I think they might even got a warning there
27:39and so since Spa they've added a little bit more cockpit cooling i.e. ducting into the cockpit but that of
27:47course causes a little bit more drag and that's the last thing you want here at Le Mans also lets
27:52a little bit more air in and when it's raining what's in the air well that's a good point yeah
27:56and so the cockpit tends to get damper and the heat of the driver inside and the heat of the cockpit
28:02can help with condensation by which i mean help condensation form but this is such an interesting
28:08race right now i mean i think within this this last this current stint we've seen that Porsche
28:15i kind of realize the Toyota is going one lap farther on each of its pits on it between each
28:21of its pit stops and that certainly spells bad news in the long term before the end of the race as we
28:27see the number one Porsche onto pit lane yeah as you saw in the graphic stopped 11 laps ago so this is
28:34the end of his 12th on fuel Jeremy the last time they did 13 back down to a 12 lap stint unless your
28:41counting's wrong or our graphic is wrong i'm not sure uh no and and that's interesting because he'd
28:46been going super fast uh trying i think to to pull away because he realized they were already in
28:52trouble with the Toyota going one lap farther so they needed to turn up the wick but now of course
28:56who was in the fastest time a little while ago i think it was the Toyota yeah so they're really
29:01trouble and now because they were pushing so hard perhaps they've had to come in with one lap early
29:07than than the previous six only 12 laps as you say on this stint it's not necessarily the case
29:14that they are emptying the tank every time they come in so can they do two 11 lap stints and have
29:23enough left for a 12 at the end well you know so let's say let's say you've got 80 litres and you
29:30use 72 of them and then 72 the next and then you've just got enough for a final lap on the third stint or
29:37is it just that the pace they need to stay at the front is meaning they can't go the full
29:41trial this lap is 12 laps the Toyota's doing 14 yeah but they but but hadn't the toy didn't say
29:48portion of 13 yeah the last two were both 13 this one's only 12 okay so maybe that maybe that is
29:55a bit of an issue then with the pace they need to stay with the Toyota is not enough correct whatever
30:01okay i'm not even going to venture down that avenue because because they're down that way
30:06lies trouble uh dave rawding you need a note from your mum if you've only just got home i think he
30:12was probably watching at work or listening at work car 67 is still racing this is the andy prio
30:18merino franchiti harry tingle for gt and that is the one that had problems early on stopped behind
30:25the safety car had another long stop after the safety car came in with gearbox issues
30:30it's outside the top 50 but it is still going look scratch what i was just saying because i was
30:35confused there by that by that graphic it did indeed do 13 laps since the last pit stop did brendan
30:40hartley so my apologies there so it has up the pace and it is able to still do 13 laps but that's
30:47still not the 14 that we've seen from the toyota and i essentially think so our graphic said this
30:52stint 11 as he came in so that would be the end of his last pit stop of that 37 he's now completed
30:57going out yeah 15 okay fair he does one quick question i'm going to throw this out there because
31:02people on twitter know things that i don't james beckett was asking how many knights of the realm
31:10have raced in the 24 hours i'm going to widen that out how many knights of the realm or similar
31:17titles in any nation and he of course is thinking of sir chris hoy who'll be racing shortly danny
31:23watts versus ryan dll don't think any of them have been knighted yet danny watts in the open cockpit
31:28gibson ahead of multiple daytona sebring and now le mans winner ryan dll ryan dll one of the least
31:38well-known most successful uk driving if that if that makes sense would you agree damien fauna very
31:44few people in outside of drivers in uk motor racing know the name ryan dll and yet he has won
31:50lots loads of gt and sports car races well of course yeah he came up uh via the american system
31:58really so i first met him there i think 2001 he did toyota atlantic over there when i was doing
32:03indy lights in 2001 i think he started then in 2002 i think um so yeah so most of his career has
32:10been there he's had a super career he's been to champ car yeah um and he's you know he's just picked
32:15up fantastic drives he's been my teammate actually once um as is danny watts uh so yeah so i know the
32:23two guys well but uh yeah ryan's had a super super career it's sort of interesting i thought that
32:29that having had associations with daytona prototypes and being very much on chip ganassi's radar as a
32:36rival and as a driver that well maybe he did get approached to be part of the ford program maybe he
32:41wanted to keep prototype racing i'm not sure that's not actually something i've had a chance to to ask him
32:46about but he would you know in u.s racing terms you've got to look at him as being way more than
32:53capable in terms of his his own performance of being part of that team as he's giving danny watts a
32:59very tough time now you did say this is position what four one two three four fifth place in the gt
33:06in the lmp2 class and on pit road the fabian barthes lugier there's the number two porsche in
33:16roman dumas gets out and in gets mark lieb on board with the number one car coming past the pits
33:27and that means that mark weber who stopped a lap before will go past into third place but it is still
33:34toyota one two damien we've seen the other cars stagger their stops or the other teams stagger
33:41their stops for reasons either of choice or things what have happened but the toyota's coming nose to
33:48tail into the on the same lap into the garage together is that a show of confidence well it's
33:54just that i don't i don't know i mean they certainly look fantastic what's uh a little bit puzzling to me
33:59is that and i i thought it was the same uh slightly not uh not as bad or not as um
34:06i can't get the word out uh but in that last stint the porsche the when they did all their stops
34:15porsche came out just two or three seconds and and it created a gap of something like 10 seconds or
34:21more and then my economy started to take it down and and in doing so set the fastest lap of the race so
34:27far so i i don't understand they've got the pace and maybe it was traffic related i don't understand
34:31at the start of the stints they seem to be dropping back a bit toyota toyota and then towards the middle
34:38end of the stints they come on strong again either way they're uh running an extra lap which is going
34:44to be uh or two extra laps yeah and that's part of the reason why at the beginning of the toyota stint
34:51because there's sort of three or four or more laps behind on fuel and are a heavier car let's get
34:58down to the porsche garage catch up with race leader brendan hartley brendan you've just gotten
35:05out of the number one car leading this le mans 24 hours a fantastic battle with the audi how was
35:11that drive for you yeah it was good uh it was nice to finally get the race underway it was a bit too
35:15long under safety car in the beginning team did a good job in the first stint uh we boxed pretty
35:20early for slicks i think was the right call um i'm pretty pretty cautious in the first two stints
35:26it's the longest that we've been on tires so far because we've had lack of testing and you know
35:30qualifying in the in the wet conditions we didn't know how long we could make the tires last and
35:35actually on the the third stint i gave it some herbs and and the car was still feeling very good
35:39so yeah very positive for the rest of the race um so i just basically very good i saw seconds that
35:45they were right behind so i haven't had a full degree of what's been going on but anyway the the
35:50time seemed very close and yeah so far so good so based on what you've learned about the tires now
35:56and the performance of the other cars what's going to be the strategy for the rest of the race
36:00with stints yeah i'm still not 100 sure if we can we can make the tires last one one extra i was
36:06still feeling pretty good at the end but they'll do a bit of analysis on the tires back behind the
36:11the white doors there and like i said i haven't spoken to anyone yet and it'll probably depend a
36:16little bit what the other guys are doing as well um but yeah well to be honest i don't really know
36:21we just gotta you know just keep it on track and long long way to go but it's nice to be leading
36:26early on great thanks brandon brandon it is safe to say gave it some jandal there in the final stint
36:33and as you said you know very truncated dry and consistent condition running and consistently it
36:42was inconsistent so everybody is a little bit not well it is less well prepared than they would like
36:50to be they're not scratching around they're not guessing but they would like things to have been
36:54a little more clearly worked out here is our second place lmp2 car i was just complaining
37:00couldn't remember seeing him matthias besh like brendan hartley did the first hour behind the safety
37:05car he's been in that terrier by tds leger nissan the entire race and the only time we've actually seen
37:11him is when he's been passed by front running lmp1 cars but he has now got richard bradley again
37:17hoving interview the car behind him with the blue and silver that is last year's winning team
37:23kcmg with their orican nissan so matthias besh also in an orican nissan beg your pardon
37:28so terrier by tds hanging on to second richard bradley in third place yeah good battle for second
37:34place here certainly but the race leader in lmp2 that's roberto mary and he is 52 seconds down the
37:41road for in kind of a 44-4 man of the team yeah john booth and graham loudon's team first time
37:47but lamon doing a staggering job so far leading this race in lmp2
37:52at the heart of the superbike world championship with elf
38:07so
38:11so
38:16so
38:18so
38:21so
38:24so
38:26so
38:28so
38:38so
38:40so
38:42so
38:54so
38:56so
39:00so
39:14so
39:18so
39:20so
39:38so
39:40so
39:44so
40:04so
40:06so
40:08so
40:28so
40:30so
40:36so
40:38so
40:40so
40:42so
40:44so
40:46so
40:48so
40:50so
40:52so
40:54so
40:56so
40:58so
41:00so
41:02so
41:04so
41:06so
41:08so
41:10so
41:12so
41:14so
41:16so
41:18so
41:20so
41:22so
41:24so
41:26so
41:28so
41:40so
41:42so
41:44so
41:46so
41:48so
41:50so
41:52so
41:54so
41:56so
41:58so
42:00so
42:02so
42:04so
42:06so
42:08so
42:20so
42:22so
42:24so
42:26so
42:28so
42:30so
42:32so
42:34like
42:36so
42:38so
42:46so
42:54so
42:58so
43:00so
43:02He was 23 seconds behind.
43:03Oh, he is.
43:04There he is.
43:05It's Sebastian Bermier, number five car.
43:06I missed him going by our window.
43:08Okay, now, here's a question, which we are going to be asked.
43:11White bodywork on the top of the wheel arch,
43:13why is there that black square on the top of the one at the front?
43:15In fact, it's not a black square.
43:17It's a hole, and all prototypes have them.
43:20Because, Damien Faulkner?
43:21It's for safety reasons.
43:24It's so that air doesn't get trapped if the car becomes airborne.
43:28It gets sideways.
43:30Yeah.
43:31Exactly.
43:31Airborne in any shape or fashion, front way, sideways.
43:34So, the air can basically flow right through there.
43:38And they've made them bigger, actually, this year.
43:41They have.
43:42They've made them a lot bigger.
43:42Nicholas Leutweiler going off in the number 34 race performance.
43:48Orica Judd.
43:49And that is the left-hander at Indianapolis.
43:53That is the corner actually called Indianapolis.
43:56And that was formerly a big gravel trap and is now a big tarmac area.
43:59So, cars that go off there, and they do, can be rescued easily, even if they hit the tires.
44:05Mark Webber is our race leader now in the number one Porsche.
44:07The two Toyotas having stopped.
44:09And we now wait to see how many laps it takes for Toyota to get back in front.
44:13Number 51 Ferrari was back on pit road and out of the garage after a V-long stop.
44:21And I'm not getting anything in the Twittersphere to indicate what was up with that Ferrari.
44:27But it was a very, very long stop.
44:31And was the BR-01 that we saw in trouble?
44:34Was that Mikhail Alishin?
44:35I'm not sure which of the two it was.
44:40Mikhail Alishin is at the wheel of the 27 car, is he still?
44:43No, Carol Ladigan is in 37.
44:45Nick Manassian is in 27.
44:47I'm guessing it was 37.
44:50That's all I'm guessing.
44:52I have forgotten Lord Paul Drayson, Sheila Marison.
44:54I have, haven't I?
44:56Why threw it out to everybody else and they'd forgotten it?
44:58Oh, let's have a...
45:02Somebody's correcting our spelling.
45:03Christy McPherson, I can barely read that.
45:06We do not provide the graphics, by the way.
45:08We do not provide the pictures either.
45:10The only thing that Eurosport is responsible for
45:13is the noise coming out of your TV in terms of commentators
45:16and also our pit lane interviewers.
45:19All the other pictures are provided by Le Mans for broadcasters the world over.
45:23So whether they can spell Porsche on their graphics package or not
45:27is entirely up to them, we can, but we don't need to.
45:31Let's get down to the pits and hear from Mike Conway,
45:34the standout driver in the first four hours here at Le Mans.
45:41Mike, you've just gotten out of the car.
45:43A really fantastic stint out there.
45:46The fastest time of the race so far.
45:48Toyota must be handling very well.
45:51I didn't know it was a faster sound, so that's good.
45:54I mean, the car seems to be getting better as the stints go on.
45:57So we just lost a little bit of time to Porsche on the third stint.
46:02Then we seem to catch a little bit towards the end again.
46:04So I think we always get that with the first set of tires
46:07you're trying to go in three stints with.
46:09So I think it will get better for us as the day goes on.
46:12And we noticed that you've decided to pit both cars together.
46:15Do you know if that was always a team strategy
46:17or is that just how it worked out?
46:19I mean, we're trying to extend our stints as long as we can.
46:21So to get one car that's got a lap short, it's hard to catch it back up.
46:26So, yeah, we're always trying to stretch our stints as much as possible.
46:31But no, it's good that we're at one, two, I think, at the moment.
46:33So, yeah, hopefully we can stay there.
46:34Great. We'll let you have a rest. Thank you.
46:36Excellent effort by Mike Conway.
46:39And that's a classic sign of a driver enjoying doing what he's doing.
46:43He just drives the wheels off the car
46:45and has no interest whatsoever in whether it's the lap time or not.
46:49It's just driving it as fast as he can.
46:51Change your position between two of our Fords
46:54and the Fords with the identical red, white and blue livery.
46:57The red mirrors is the 68 car.
46:59The yellow mirrors is the 69 car.
47:02And that is the battle for second in the GTE Pro Class.
47:08Ferrari's Tony V-Lander leads.
47:10And the replay shows the red mirror is 69, red mirror is 68.
47:14I've forgotten now my own thing.
47:16Red mirror is 68 getting in front of the yellow mirror is 69.
47:19So Jerry Hand ahead at Ryan Briscoe.
47:22And the last time we saw them was from Ryan's car,
47:24watching Jerry Hand closing up on him.
47:26So Jerry Hand has moved that 68 car up into second place in the GTE Pro Class
47:32and fastest of the four Fords, Jeremy.
47:35Yeah, those are the two Ford Chip Ganassi Racing USA cars,
47:39the number 66 and 67,
47:41the European cars that run regularly in the World Endurance Championship.
47:46I just saw Joey Hand in the 68 car, 9 car rather,
47:5168 car rather, second of the two,
47:53riding the curbs a lot out the chicane,
47:55whereas Ryan Briscoe didn't have to,
47:56even though he's pulling away a little bit.
47:5844, Manor Racing.
48:01John Booth and Graham Loudoun's team
48:03racing here in the Le Mans 24 hours for the first time.
48:07Roberto Mary, we have barely seen,
48:09we've spoken his name a lot
48:11because he is leading the class yet again.
48:14And Davidson taking over the Toyota car number five.
48:19Kamui Kobayashi has taken over number six.
48:22And I thought they were in together.
48:23Whoa!
48:24And Roberto Mary, again, fast approaching.
48:28Now he's within 16 minutes of the end of his drive time.
48:33So he comes into Pit Road.
48:35They are due a stop anyway.
48:37And that will temporarily hand the lead to Matthias Besch.
48:40But wow, Roberto Mary attacking it there.
48:42He's in a Formula Renault 3.5 race.
48:45Yeah, he's almost a full,
48:46well, he is a full minute now ahead of Matthias Besch.
48:49And I expect Matthias Besch also onto Pitlane this time.
48:53Mary, of course, coming from a dual campaign last year,
48:57started the season racing in Formula Renault 3.5
49:00and then was drafted into Formula One
49:03and then did both.
49:06Doing neither this year.
49:07He's doing endurance racing.
49:09And boy, his ability in a single-seater show as well.
49:11And Matthias Besch, another young driver
49:13coming out of single-seaters that so many have
49:17to produce stellar sports car drivers.
49:20Damian Faulkner alongside me.
49:21Sam Hancock both had single-seater routes.
49:23And so too does almost every platinum, gold,
49:28maybe most of the silver drivers as well in the field.
49:32Excuse me, Anthony Davidson just made another pit stop.
49:36Yes.
49:36It was just one lap after his scheduled stop.
49:40Do we see that?
49:41I didn't see it.
49:42Yes, we just saw him leaving
49:43and I thought he'd been in either a very long time
49:46or a really, really...
49:47Because I said, didn't he stop the same time as Mike Conway?
49:50We've heard from Conway
49:51and Conway's gone to chat to the team and had a drink
49:53and a shower and a full meal and all for threepence.
49:56So, yeah, that was an unexpected stop at Davidson.
50:01That's now the fifth stop for that car.
50:03And that has dropped it out of the rotation
50:05where it was second, third, second, third, second, third.
50:08Yeah, it was a very quick stop, just 57 seconds.
50:10I think that's slightly more than just a drive-through.
50:12It was a right tyre.
50:14Yeah, it was a right tyre.
50:14I saw a right rear tyre going on.
50:17Now, it may have been the only tyre.
50:19It may not have been the only tyre.
50:21They may have had an immediate pressure or temperature warning
50:24on that tyre and just brought him in immediately
50:27rather than trying to make him survive three stints.
50:29Yeah.
50:29Fresh rubber going on 46.
50:31This is a Tyriot by TDS car,
50:33which has now spat out.
50:35Probably a fairly happy Matthias Besch
50:38and has taken on Gustavo Manessis.
50:41And there is Richard Bradley.
50:43Again, Richard Bradley.
50:44You know, I think he's araldised his door shut
50:47and he's stuck himself in the seat
50:49because he's been in there since the beginning.
50:51And again, when the car comes in,
50:52he will have to hand it over.
50:53Danny Watts is coming in in the Stratka car.
50:56He is going to hand that over.
50:57Ryan Diel has pitted in 31 there, Ligier.
51:01So Gustavo Manessis will cycle towards the front.
51:04Matt Rau has gone out in the number 44 car.
51:07That's the man of car he's taken over from Roberto Mary.
51:10So Matt Rau, runner-up in last year's British Formula 3 champion,
51:15year before's British Formula 3 championship,
51:17is at the wheel of that car.
51:19And the leader, Richard Bradley,
51:20he'll hand over, I think, to Matt Housen
51:22for the second stint in the KCMG car.
51:24Jeremy's waving his pen.
51:25Go.
51:26Our number 38 car, also the G-Drive Jojo entry,
51:31has just been on to pitman as well,
51:32Guido Van de Garda,
51:34running in the top five in the class.
51:36Yeah, he's taken that over recently, hasn't he?
51:38I think they double stinted that
51:39as everybody else has pretty much triple stinted.
51:41And in the garage, one of the factory Porsches.
51:44This is 91,
51:45and this is the car that we saw
51:47with Nick Tandy at the wheel.
51:49He is out.
51:52So Nick Tandy has brought the car in,
51:54it's been rolled back on the trolley dollies,
51:57and that is a fuel or oil tank or cooling issue.
52:00And I think that was Kevin Estra being bolted in,
52:03because there's, of course,
52:03no, it's brakes.
52:05Brakes as well.
52:06Is this full service?
52:08It doesn't have a hybrid system at the front.
52:10They have raced a 911 with a hybrid
52:12in the Nürburgring 24 hours, but...
52:15To be honest, they might take advantage
52:17and just change the brakes at this early stage.
52:20OK, so at the front is the fuel tank
52:23and the oil and water coolers.
52:26It's the boot.
52:27Yeah, it is.
52:28It's the back-to-front boot.
52:31Benoit Trillier brings Audi No. 7 down pit road
52:34for a scheduled stop.
52:35Jeremy, this car's still not in the top 50
52:38of our 60 cars and still no identification
52:40and no notification, actually,
52:42of any official au bon don.
52:43We're now here at 7 in the evening,
52:45four hours in,
52:46in a race that had an hour behind the safety car
52:48because of rain and the black marker of doom
52:50has not yet left its ceremonial case.
52:54So which car were you saying there was on to pit lane?
52:567.
52:577, yes.
52:58That is back.
52:59It is actually on the first page of the leader.
53:00It was up into 23rd place overall.
53:02Oh, my Lord.
53:03So it is.
53:03I was looking at it on page 2 and it is.
53:04It's jumped all the way up.
53:06Yeah, he's got himself as high as about 23rd or 4th there
53:09before that stop.
53:10And that will just drop him back a bit
53:12behind some of the LMT P2 cars.
53:14But certainly that car's been running very, very well.
53:17And certainly with some very, very fast lap times as well.
53:20Chasing up the order behind in the wash-off,
53:23Nelson Piquet,
53:24who is driving the number 12 rebellion car
53:27that stopped very early on behind the safety car
53:29for issues with its induction system.
53:33And you can see full service for the Audi.
53:36Talked earlier on about pressurized systems inside the car.
53:39You can see inside the door here a blue bottle and a red bottle.
53:43One of those is a pressurized container for the oil system
53:47to make sure that remains topped up.
53:49The other one is a pressurized system for the drinks bottle
53:52to remain that to make sure that gets topped up.
53:55Both are changed.
53:56And for very, very obvious reasons,
53:59they are very different colors
54:01because you wouldn't want to mix them up on your driver.
54:04Into the pit road comes Joey Hand.
54:07And the little flap with all the holes drilled on it,
54:10perforated flap,
54:11that's what houses the fuel flow meters.
54:15Ryan Frisco, not Joey.
54:16Indeed, yes.
54:17In the Audi.
54:18To measure,
54:19and all the hybrid cars have a fuel flow meter
54:21to make sure that the ACO can check
54:23if they are using more than their allocation of fuel.
54:26So the bonnet cover, if you like to call it that,
54:29or front bay cover, is back on 91.
54:31It's still not left the garage, though.
54:34So I wonder if they have had
54:35a radiator punctured by a stone or some similar,
54:38whether they have a knock-on issue.
54:40So 69 on pit road.
54:41It wasn't Joey Hand.
54:42Do you know who I was there?
54:43It was Ryan Brisco.
54:44He'll stay in for full service.
54:46The front bumper would have to come off, actually,
54:49for a radiator change.
54:50Yeah.
54:50So, I mean, you asked me what's housed in there,
54:54in the boot.
54:55The fuel tank's in there.
54:56Yep.
54:57The brake master cylinders,
54:59clutch master cylinder.
55:00All that stuff's in there.
55:01So brake master cylinder,
55:03and we saw a man with discs.
55:05So are we suggesting we are?
55:07We're kind of putting two and two together
55:08and going completely the wrong direction, possibly,
55:10but it might be that the thing wasn't stopping properly,
55:13and the brake master cylinder lid was off
55:14so that they can bleed the brakes
55:17and change the discs and so on.
55:19Yeah.
55:21So waiting also for the 48 car.
55:25I'm wondering what had happened
55:26to the Murphy's prototype machine
55:27because it has dropped off the pace.
55:29Maybe that's a Liz Halliday answer to a question
55:32because the number 48 car,
55:34here it comes down pit road.
55:37Last year for open prototypes here,
55:39so the Orica Nissan,
55:40this is not even a 05 Orica,
55:42this is an 03R,
55:43which is the updated 03 Orica chassis.
55:46And that comes in.
55:47Mark Hoosen shaking his head.
55:49They have not got pace in that car.
55:52Your own Blake and Merlin,
55:53Mark Hoosen,
55:54Hoosen and Ben Keating.
55:56It looks like Murphy's prototype,
55:57Murphy's men have run into an issue with that car.
56:00I think he was being offered a drink there.
56:02Oh, okay.
56:03I think that's what it was.
56:04It was either that or a...
56:04I put a drink.
56:05Blimey, they're good.
56:06Yeah.
56:07I thought they had enough last night.
56:0978R AM class leading Porsche.
56:12This is Wolf Hensler in the KCMG car.
56:15Same group sponsoring this as the car in front.
56:18The two KCMG cars in the same shot.
56:21Now, there's the sponsors,
56:22Wet Dreamer,
56:23this early stage of the race.
56:25And one of them is leading in the LMP2 class.
56:28That's number 47.
56:29And one of them is leading in the GT Air AM class.
56:32That's number 78.
56:33So, KCMG on top of the two classes there,
56:37contesting with a single car entry in both.
56:39And Greg Murphy's car is back in the garage.
56:43That's no mean feat, is it, for KCMG?
56:45Brilliant effort there by Wolf Hensler.
56:46It's been a long drive by Wolf as well.
56:48And number 88 car is running in the second place in that class.
56:51That's the Abadami Proton Racing entry
56:54with David Heinemeyer Hansen having taken over from Patrick Long.
56:59Ooh, a stint and a half ago, I think.
57:02Certainly at least a stint ago.
57:03Oh, leaking fluid on the left rear.
57:06That is the 91 Porsche.
57:09Was that fluid or smoke?
57:11Or is that a loose left rear?
57:12Loose left rear?
57:14It looks like fluid to me.
57:15That looks like a mist.
57:18That looks like...
57:19That's steaming.
57:21That's not brake fluid.
57:23Actually...
57:23That's hot.
57:24Ow.
57:25That is a cooler.
57:26That is a cooler, not cooling.
57:28You're right, absolutely.
57:29Look, they don't have to take the bumper off.
57:31They've just changed a rad.
57:33So, problems from 91, which is just left.
57:36We asked about ennobled, nitid, or other...
57:39Oh, and 89 is off.
57:40That's the WeatherTech 2 driver car in the AM class.
57:44Mark Miller.
57:44Mark Miller, the bronze driver.
57:47So, Cooper McNeil, too ill to race the car.
57:50They had a standby driver.
57:52An official, an officially approved reserve driver in the form of Gunner Jeanette, who's a former multiple race finisher here.
58:02That is a lot of damage.
58:04It's torn the belting off the tyre stack.
58:06Mark Miller's gone off hard there.
58:09Mark Miller was due to drive a double-hander in that car because Cooper McNeil not fit to drive.
58:16And so, Lee Keane and Mark Miller were going to have to do a second or a two-hand stint.
58:21And they were hoping to get Gunner Jeanette in.
58:24Although he took part in a test day and is unauthorized by the ACO reserve driver, they said, no, he can't drive.
58:32Yes, there's a couple of podium finishes here in the past, I've gone there.
58:35So, yeah, that was a very strange decision, as you say, having done no fewer than 20 laps at the test here.
58:40So, it wasn't as if he just did a lap or two.
58:44Here's the fourth-place car in GTE Pro, Earl Bamba, in number 92 Porsche, also on two-pit lane.
58:53Lord Grayson, we've heard, of course.
58:55Sir John Whitmore, did he race here at Le Mans when he was knighted?
58:58Count Carroll Godin de Beaufort, raced at LM and also Grand Prix.
59:02Also, Baron Fritz Husker von Hanstein, who not only was a racing driver, but also was Porsche's press man for many, many years.
59:10Earl Howe raced here.
59:11Yes, he did.
59:14Andy Prio OBE?
59:15Sir Ben Barker.
59:16Sir Ben Barker, is he?
59:18Oh, my goodness.
59:20Yikes.
59:21Now, that was a lose a long way back down the Dunlop curve.
59:27And on the way, I wondered how he had got there on the exit of the Dunlop chicane.
59:31Was there contact or was there not prepared for a slow zone here?
59:35Okay, so we're going to see something that we haven't seen so far.
59:38Tim Birkin.
59:39Thank you, everybody, in Noble Drivers.
59:41Ah, number five, had to pit again for new tyres due to big vibration on the previous set, according to the Toyota team, which is exactly what we saw.
59:51So, one lap in and the tyres were a bit wibbly and wobbly.
59:54Was it a full set?
59:55If it was a full set...
Recommended
1:00:12
|
Up next
1:00:02
1:00:02
1:00:13
1:00:04
1:00:02
59:59
1:00:00
1:00:02
1:00:02
1:00:00
1:00:03
59:57
1:00:00
59:58
1:00:03
59:56
1:00:04
59:59
1:00:00
1:00:00
59:55
1:00:00
1:00:00
1:00:01
Be the first to comment