Backstretch Motorsports

LM P1
Audi achieves second Le Mans hat-trick

Capello/Kristensen/McNish win thriller
Audi R10 TDI remains unbeaten at 24 Hour classic
Eighth Audi victory out of ten starts at the Sarthe

Ingolstadt/Le Mans – The Audi R10 TDI remains unbeaten in the Le Mans 24 Hour race: in its third attempt, the diesel sportscar won the French endurance classic yet again. After the incredible thrill of the 76th edition of the race, Dindo Capello (Italy), Tom Kristensen (Denmark) and Allan McNish (Scotland) triumphed at the wheel of the Audi R10 TDI number 2.

The widely anticipated duel between Audi and Peugeot definitely kept its promise: in front of a record crowd of 258,500 spectators, the two car manufacturers entered into a thrilling battle with their diesel sportscars which Audi finally won by a margin of 4m 31s.

During the entire race distance, the winning Audi R10 TDI and the best Peugeot 908 was never separated by more than a lap. After Peugeot initially set the pace, both the reliability and efficiency of the Audi R10 TDI gained the upper hand at night. After rain set in at Le Mans, Dindo Capello, Tom Kristensen and Allan McNish took the lead at 05:17 and held it until the finish at 15:00 hours.

On a rain-soaked track, the Audi drivers fully profited from the superiority of Audi TDI Power and led the field by a margin of one lap. In addition, they took advantage of the fact that Audi Sport Team Joest had entered the race with a set-up that was the best compromise for both dry and wet track surfaces. Whilst the opposition had to change their cars during the race to a rain set-up, Audi only needed to change tyres.

Changing tyres, however, was an exercise that was practiced frequently as the conditions changed throughout the second half of the race owing to the weather. Slicks, intermediates, and rain tyres – it was crucial to take the most suitable tyres at the correct time.

Audi Sport Team Joest and the Audi drivers fully exploited their experience and operated faultlessly. The only frightening moment occurred in the dramatic final phase when there was a collision between the leading car and a backmarker involving the innocent Tom Kristensen. In that situation, the sheer strength of the Audi R10 TDI became visible as well. The car ran faultlessly without the slightest technical lapse during the 24 hours.

Scotsman Allan McNish scored his second Le Mans victory after his inaugural 1998 triumph – 2008 being his first win with Audi. Tom Kristensen, from Denmark, extended his existing record to eight Le Mans victories now. Italian Dindo Capello won for the third time after 2003 and 2004.

For Audi Sport Team Joest, it was the third successive victory with the Audi R10 TDI. Thus, a hat-trick has been achieved for the second time after 2000, 2001 and 2002: three Le Mans victories achieved by one team. The Le Mans winners’ trophy that normally needs to be returned 12 months after each single victory is therefore in the possession of AUDI AG for good.

The other two Audi R10 TDI cars finished fourth and sixth. Youngsters Lucas Luhr, Alexandre Prémat and Mike Rockenfeller were in contention for a podium finish until shortly before the end and had previously occupied third place. In the penultimate hour of the race, however, the oil filter of their V12 TDI engine had to be changed.

Frank Biela, Emanuele Pirro and Marco Werner also encountered bad luck: the winning trio of 2006 and 2007 lost all chances for a better result on Sunday morning when a clutch had to be changed owing to a spin and the subsequent re-start in second gear.

In its tenth attempt, Audi has won the Le Mans 24 Hour race for the eighth time. Since 2000, Audi technology has been victorious at Le Mans. “This was a success of drivers, team and the efficiency of the Audi TDI technology – a triumph of reliability”, said Rupert Stadler, Head of the Board of Management of AUDI AG who followed the race at Le Mans personally in the Audi pit garage. “It was the most tense Le Mans race I remember. We had a very strong opponent who had an extremely fast car. But once more, it became obvious that Le Mans particularly rewards reliability and efficiency. I am proud of this team. And every Audi employee and customer can be proud, too.”

LM P2
Van Merksteijn Motorsport writes racing history: victory at Le Mans with Porsche RS Spyder

LE MANS (June 15th, 2008) Twenty years after Jan Lammers’s victory and 37 and 32 years after Gijs van Lennep’s achievements in 1971 and 1976 respectively, the team Van Merksteijn Motorsport by Equipe Verschuur has written a new chapter in Dutch motor racing history by becoming the first-ever Dutch team to score a class victory with a prototype in the Le Mans 24 Hours. In the 76th running of the endurance classic at the 13.629 kilometres long circuit, Jeroen Bleekemolen, Peter van Merksteijn and Jos Verstappen took their Porsche RS Spyder to victory in the LMP2 category in front of 258,500 spectators. For Porsche, this success was historic, too: ten years after the brand’s last overall Le Mans win with the 911 GT1, the Le Mans debut of the Porsche RS Spyder now ended with a commanding class win thanks to the Dutch team.

“I still can hardly believe it, this is just fantastic. This is what we have all been waiting for”, uttered team owner, Peter van Merksteijn after the chequered flag dropped just after three o’clock in the afternoon and the Dutch team was confirmed as the class winner with the Porsche RS Spyder. “Of course, we had hoped for this, but in such a long race, anything can happen, so that you can never be sure. We had to cope with changeable weather conditions and quite a lot of rain during the night and the early morning hours, and again in the closing stages of the race. However, together with everyone involved, the team has done a tremendous job! Porsche has given us a great car and Michelin provided us with the best possible tyres for these conditions.”

Jeroen Bleekemolen, who just like van Merksteijn raced for the third time at Le Mans, called it “the biggest success of my career”. At the start of the race, Bleekemolen had taken care of the first stint and convinced during the race with his consistency. Ex Formula 1 driver, Jos Verstappen, raced at Le Mans for the very first time. “Taking part in such a race is a very special experience. There is nothing you can compare this with: the differences in speed, the length of the track, driving at night…”

A VIP guest on Saturday evening: Prime Minister Balkenende came to visit the team

On Saturday evening, the team welcomed a VIP guest: Dutch Prime Minister, Jan-Peter Balkenende, who is known as a great motor sport addict, relished at the chance to visit the Le Mans 24 Hours, having been invited by his French counterpart, Francois Fillon. In the team’s pit box, the Prime Minister spoke with drivers Peter van Merksteijn and Jos Verstappen and team manager Frans Verschuur and promised to lend the team his support. This obviously helped!

In the first six hours of the race, the Dutch Porsche had a fascinating battle with the identical car of the Danish Essex team, swapping positions on the first two places in class several times in between them. The team Van Merksteijn Motorsport took the lead in the LMP2 class when the Danish Porsche suffered from a puncture of the left rear tyre just after 21.30 h and had to pit for an extra tyre change. The repair made the Danish team drop back a little bit and aftere that, Jos Verstappen drove as fast as he could during a quadruple stint to extend the margin. After that, Jeroen Bleekemolen was in for a triple stint. During Peter van Merksteijn’s subsequent stint, some vibrations occurred in the car, but this problem could be solved quickly. At about the same time, around four in the morning, the Danish Porsche lost five laps due to a lengthy repair in the pits, which gave the Dutch car a dominant lead.

Rain shower in the closing stages of the race

After that, Jeroen Bleekemolen, Peter van Merksteijn and Jos Verstappen drove victory home without any problems to speak of, although things got difficult again in the closing stages when a heavy downpour again flooded the track. Eventually, Peter van Merksteijn took the chequered flag as the class winner, which in Le Mans can be considered as a great performance. Porsche’s motorsport director, Hartmut Kristen, praised the efforts by his Dutch customer team: “The team has been working very professionally. I am glad that the RS Spyder has lived up to the expectations the customer teams had in the car. It was not only quick, but also reliable.” In the overall classification, the team finished tenth of 55 cars that took the start.

The racing programme of the team Van Merksteijn Motorsport by Equipe Verschuur will continue on August 17th with the participation in the Nurburgring 1000 kilometre race, the fourth round of the Le Mans Series. In these series, Van Merksteijn Motorsport is currently leading the team standings of the LMP2 class. Before that, there is also a demonstration with the Le Mans winning car during the DTM event at Circuit Park Zandvoort on July 13th. There, Jos Verstappen will be driving the Van Merksteijn Motorsport car for the very first time in his home country.

LMGT1

Aston Martin victorious at Le Mans for the second consecutive year

One year on from Aston Martin’s first victory in the GT1 class in 2007 — which was the first Le Mans win since the company triumphed overall in 1959 — the 009 DBR9 of David Brabham, Antonio Garcia and Darren Turner has claimed another GT1 win at the La Sarthe circuit.

Just like last year, the 009 car — this time resplendent in the iconic Gulf livery — took the class victory at Le Mans, for sports cars based closely on their road-going equivalents.

The race was one of the closest in history, in all the classes. The 009 car took the lead within the first three hours of the endurance classic, but it was shadowed constantly by its Corvette rival. Intermittent rain and safety car periods made the duel closer still: at one point halfway through the race 009 and its pursuer were separated by less than four seconds. Even at the finish, the two cars were less than five minutes apart — having covered more than 4,500 kilometres.

The suspense remained right up until the end of an epic race. More rain fell within an hour of the finish at 3pm on Sunday, making every decision crucial. A wrong tyre choice, or the smallest mistake from any of the drivers, would have cost the coveted victory.

As it was, all the drivers as well as the car were flawless throughout the 24 hours. Brabham, Garcia and Turner represented the perfect blend of youth and experience, each bringing their own area of expertise to the challenges of the 14-kilometre circuit.

Brabham, who started and finished the race, commented: “I’ve competed at Le Mans 15 times, but this is the closest race I’ve ever experienced. That’s exactly how I thought it would be from the start of the year, and of course it makes our second win here even more satisfying. The finish was particularly tense; we really didn’t know how it was going to work out up until the very last lap. I’ve never driven a race where I’ve had to push so hard from the very start to the very end: I think it’s been a great show for everyone.”

Antonio Garcia, a new recruit to the Aston Martin Racing team this year who qualified the 009 car in fourth and soaked up the pressure from the Corvette when it was at its closest, commented: “It was actually a perfect event for us, but there were some stressful moments. When I got the message in the middle of the night that the Corvette was right behind me, I was a bit worried at first but then I realised that we had the pace to pull away, so from then on it was a bit easier. Mechanically the car has been perfect: very quick, and very easy to drive.”

Darren Turner — who has been an Aston Martin Racing driver since the programme started in 2005 — drove two crucial stints that were key to the victory: one quadruple stint during the night, and the penultimate stint in hazardously wet and dry conditions. “Lots of people say that winning is easier the second time round, but I’m not sure that’s true,” he said. “Every victory is tough but this one was something else. The fact that we managed to achieve it against such strong opposition is a huge tribute to the entire team. Conditions were far from easy, but thanks to a great car and a great team we were able to do it.”

The second factory Aston Martin DBR9, 007, finished fourth in class thanks to an excellent drive from Heinz-Harald Frentzen, Andrea Piccini and Karl Wendlinger. The 007 car was running in a strong third overall when it encountered an alternator problem just after 5am on Sunday morning. Some excellent pit work from the Aston Martin Racing team meant that the car was out again in just 15 minutes, and then ran faultlessly to the finish.

Adding to Aston Martin’s satisfaction over the weekend was a brilliant performance from the new Charouz Racing System LMP1 prototype powered by the same V12 engine that is at the heart of the DBR9. An impressive qualifying performance from Stefan Mucke saw it start from sixth overall on the grid on its Le Mans debut: the fastest of all the petrol cars. An accident earlier in the race meant that it lost half an hour in the pits for repairs, but the car still finished ninth in the general classification and it could have been close to the top six without the accident.

The privateer DBR9 of Team Modena finished eighth in the GT1 class, despite a couple of setbacks including a puncture.

David Richards, Chairman of Aston Martin, commented: “For me, Le Mans is the greatest motor race in the world and to win it for the second consecutive year is a brilliant endorsement of a fantastic team effort — particularly in the iconic colours of Gulf.”

Dr Ulrich Bez, the Chief Executive of Aston Martin added: “I am very proud that in the space of just three weeks we have taken two major class wins in two of the most important 24-hour races: the Nurburgring 24 Hours and now the Le Mans 24 Hours for the second time. It’s been an incredible day for everybody, and one that we will remember for a very long time.”

LMGT2
LE MANS 24 HOURS — FERRARI GT2 VICTORY

At the end of today’s 76th running of the 24 Hours of Le Mans, American Le Mans Series GT2 Champions Risi Competizione led a clean sweep for Ferrari of the GT2 podium after running a faultless and completely trouble free race. Gianmaria Bruni, Jaime Melo and Mika Salo drove their Ferrari 430 GT as only Champions can, not putting a foot wrong throughout the entire 24 hours, despite difficult weather and track conditions during the second half of the race.

An emotional Giuseppe Risi said afterwards: “This is tremendous. The last time we were here as a winner I was in partnership with Doyle [1998], but this is my own team and it’s been going now since 2000. To me, winning Le Mans is worth winning a whole championship. One talks about Le Mans in very light terms but until you come here and have to grind through the night, hoping that the car holds together, racing against other people you respect and who are qualified to come here…and you see drivers who are top level but who have accidents and fall by the wayside. It’s a lifetime achievement, especially to do it with Ferrari, and if you are a professional in the automotive world. I can’t say enough about it.”

Final Results 24 Heures du Mans
Circuit de la Sarthe, Le Mans, France

Pos # Class Drivers Team Car Laps Gap
1. 2 LM P1 R.Capello, A.McNish, T.Kristensen Audi Sport North America Audi R10 381 5:04.492
2. 7 LM P1 M.Gene, N.Minassian, J.Villeneuve Team Peugeot Total Peugeot 908 380 1 Lap
3. 9 LM P1 F.Montagny, R.Zonta, C.Klein Peugeot Sport Total Peugeot 908 379 2 Laps
4. 3 LM P1 L.Luhr, A.Premat, M.Rockenfeller Audi Sport Team Joest Audi R10 374 7 Laps
5. 8 LM P1 P.Lamy, S.Sarrazin, A.Wurz Team Peugeot Total Peugeot 908 367 14 Laps
6. 1 LM P1 F.Biela, E.Pirro, M.Werner Audi Sport North America Audi R10 366 15 Laps
7. 17 LM P1 H.Primat, C.Tinseau, B.Treluyer Pescarolo Sport Pescarolo Judd 362 19 Laps
8. 5 LM P1 S.Ayari, L.Duval, L.Groppi Team Oreca Matmut Courage-Oreca LC70 Judd 357 24 Laps
9. 10 LM P1 S.Mucke, J.Charouz, T.Enge Charouz Racing System Lola B08/80 Aston Martin 353 28 Laps
10. 34 LM P2 P.van Merksteijn, J.Verstappen, J.Bleeke Van Merksteijn Motorsport Porsche RS Spyder 353 1:34.781
11. 18 LM P1 V.Ickx, S.Gregoire, J.Barbosa Rollcentre Racing Pescarolo Judd 351 30 Laps
12. 31 LM P2 J.Nielsen, C.Elgaard, S.Maassen Team Essex Porsche RS Spyder 346 35 Laps
13. 00 LM GT1 D.Brabham, D.Turner, A.Garcia Aston Martin Racing Aston Martin DBR9 344 37 Laps
14. 63 LM GT1 J.O’Connell, J.Magnussen, R.Fellows Corvette Racing Corvette C6.R 343 38 Laps
15. 64 LM GT1 O.Beretta, O.Gavin, M.Papis Corvette Racing Corvette C6.R 341 40 Laps
16. 00 LM GT1 H.-H.Frentzen, A.Piccini, K.Wendlinger Aston Martin Racing Aston Martin DBR9 338 43 Laps
17. 72 LM GT1 L.Alphand, J.Policand, G.Moreau Luc Alphand Aventures Corvette C6.R 334 47 Laps
18. 35 LM P2 P.Ragues, M.Lahaye, C.Cheng Saulnier Racing Pescarolo Judd 333 48 Laps
19. 82 LM GT2 M.Salo, J.Melo, G.Bruni Risi Competizione Ferrari F430 GTC 325 56 Laps
20. 40 LM P2 M.Amaral, O.Pla, G.Smith Quifel-ASM Team Lola B05/40 AER 324 57 Laps
21. 73 LM GT1 P.Goueslard, J.Blanchemain, L.Pasquali Luc Alphand Aventures Corvette C6.R 324 16.805
22. 97 LM GT2 F.Babini, P.Ruberti, M.Malucelli BMS Scuderia Italia Ferrari F430 GTC 318 63 Laps
23. 90 LM GT2 L.-E.Nielsen, P.Ehret, P.Kaffer Farnbacher Racing Ferrari F430 GTC 317 64 Laps
24. 14 LM P1 S.Hall, J.Mowlem, M.Goossens Creation Autosportif Creation CA07 AIM 315 66 Laps
25. 99 LM GT2 B.Aucott, S.Dauodi, A.Ferte JMB Racing Ferrari F430 GTC 312 69 Laps
26. 4 LM P1 M.Faggionato, J.Nicolet, R.Hein Saulnier Racing Pescarolo Judd 310 71 Laps
27. 77 LM GT2 A.Davison, W.Henzler, H.Felbermayr Team Felbermayr-Proton Porsche 911 GT3 RSR 308 73 Laps
28. 50 LM GT1 C.Bouchut, P.Bornhauser, D.Hallyday Larbre Competition Saleen S7R 305 76 Laps
29. 32 LM P2 J.Barazi, M.Vergers, S.Moseley Barazi Epsilon Zytek 07S/2 304 77 Laps
30. 59 LM GT1 J.Menten, C.Fittipaldi, T.Borcheller Team Modena Aston Martin DBR9 301 80 Laps
31. 26 LM P2 B.Devlin, M.Rostan, G.Jeannette Team Bruichladdich Radical Radical SR9 AER 297 84 Laps
32. 80 LM GT2 J.Bergmeister, J.van Overbeek, S.Neiman Flying Lizard Motorsports Porsche 911 GT3 RSR 289 92 Laps
33. 11 LM P1 D.Ito, Y.Tachikawa, T.Kataoka Dome Racing Team Dome S102 Judd 271 110 Laps
34. 55 LM GT1 P.Kox, R.Rusinov, M.Hezemans Interprogressbank Spartak Lamborghini Murcielago 266 115 Laps
35. 24 LM P1 Y.Terada, K.Takahashi, H.Katoh Terramos Courage Mugen