Backstretch Motorsports

Sports car racing fans have given the annual 24 hours of their lives , dedicated to the grandfather of competition. the twice-around-the-clock excitement, splendor and accomplishment that is Le Mans.

The 77th race took place in front of a crowd of 234 800 spectators, down from the 2008 figure by around 9% (which set a record-beating figure of 258 500 spectators).

This slight reduction is due to a decrease in ticket sales because of public relations activities by companies, but overall the number of tickets sold to the general public remains stable.

Countless others watch on Eurosport TV, SPEED TV, and dozens of other internet outlets.

The weekend was blessed with fine weather, a festive ambience and the overall level of commercial operations and entertainment was more than satisfactory.

The international crowd saw a thrilling race, which ended in a double for Peugeot putting an end to ten years of Audi domination. The first five places were filled by four different teams (three major manufacturers Peugeot, Audi and Lola-Aston Martin and ORECA a private entrant).

Audi’s new R15 TDI finished third overall and seven laps behind. Allan McNish, Tom Kristensen and Dindo Capello lost time with an electrical problem late. The trio had beaten Peugeot at Sebring with its new diesel racer.

The problems experienced by Audi this year could have been avoided … by racing. The decision in the corporate board rooms to not participate in American Le Mans Series events had an effect. Nothing beats the experience of the competition proving ground, learning what can go wrong and finding the prevetion measure.

Peugeot driving squadron drivers Australian David Brabham, Spaniard Marc Gene and Austrian Alexander Wurz led the French maunufacturer’s No. 9 Peugeot 908 Hdi FAP to a stunning victory over the German Audi R15 TDI

While the Porsche RS Spyder is just a memory in North America, it was certainly alive and racing at the checkered flag for the 24 Hours of Le Mans as the iconic LMP2 sports prototype captured its second Le Mans class win in two tries thanks to the Danish customer team of Casper Elgaard, Kristian Poulsen, and Porsche factory driver Emmanuel Collard.

The Team Essex, which came in second in LMP2 a year ago, beat its Lola Judd rival by more than 14 laps, as well as capturing the energy efficiency classification “Michelin Green X Challenge” as the car with the best overall efficiency, calculated by the ratio between lap times and fuel consumption.

Americans and the American Le Mans Series were very well represented again, with winning results and heartbreak.

Corvette Racing, Risi Competizione and Patrón Highcroft Racing’s David Brabham were the big winners from the American Le Mans Series at the Le Mans endurance classic. Corvette ended its GT1 reign with a sixth class win, Risi repeated in GT2 and took two podium spots, and Brabham scored a long-awaited overall victory in the world’s greatest race.

“When you look at the Americans who have won here multiple times, they’re all important figures in motorsports history,” Corvette driver Johnny O’Connell said. “To achieve my fourth win with Corvette Racing, driving a sports car that’s an American icon, it’s hard to put that into words. There is nothing more difficult and more rewarding than winning here, and sharing it with two awesome drivers like Jan and Antonio.”The sister Corvette of Oliver Gavin, Olivier Beretta and Marcel Fässler were on the same lap through 22 hours before losing drive and grinding to a halt just shy of pit lane. The car still finished third in class.

Corvette Racing will move to GT2 in August at the Mid-Ohio round of the American Le Mans Series.

Risi became the first GT2 team in a decade to repeat in class. Jaime Melo and Mika Salo won their second straight race, and Pierre Kaffer was a winner for the first time. The red Ferrari F430 GT led since the sixth hour; prior to that it was part of a five-car scrap for the class lead including the Flying Lizard Motorsports Porsche 911 GT3 RSR of Jörg Bergmeister, Darren Law and Seth Neiman. It retired following a crash in the 17th hour while running fourth.

“To be honest I didn’t expect to see the Porsches out of the challenge from the first few hours,” said Melo, who has been with Risi since the beginning of 2006 when the F430 GT was introduced. “Before the race we all thought they were really strong, but I think Risi Competizione has really prepared well for this race in the past year as well as more recently. Pierre, Mika and I were able to do really consistent lap times, and it was a really easy car to drive so that helped us to do our job. Like Mika said we had no problems. Tire changes were perfect every time so we need to say thanks to Risi Competizione for those and to Michelin as well as we could triple stint the tires from quite early on. “

Tracy Krohn, Nic Jonsson and Eric van de Poele finished third in class in the second Risi entry in partnership with Krohn Racing. The green F430 also finished on the class podium in 2007. So this makes three straight GT2/GT podium finishes for the same entrant, a rarity at Le Mans.

“This is a very special day; winning this again after what we did last year makes it even more so,” said team principal Giuseppe Risi. “To have 10 Ferraris here and have two of our cars placed in the top-three is a simply magnificent result. These are the best teams in the world who race here so it is extremely special to have achieved this outcome, and to have entered the history books as part of Ferrari’s racing folklore. I can’t say enough about it.”

At the head of the grid, Brabham won overall at Le Mans in his 16th appearance but first in a Peugeot 908 HDi. Son of three-time F1 World Champion Jack, Brabham teamed with Marc Gene and Alexander Wurz for a one-lap victory over the team car of Stephane Sarrazin, Sebastien Bourdais and Franck Montagny.

Brabham’s car led for the better part of the final two-thirds of the event. Coincidentally, the last time Peugeot won Le Mans was in 1993. Brabham’s older brother Geoff was part of the lineup in the Peugeot 905. Father Jack won the 1968 French Grand Prix on the Le Mans Bugatti circuit.

“I think it might take a few days for this to sink in. It’s all quite unbelievable,” Brabham said. “Our strategy was really to take care of the car; the tires, the brakes - particularly the front brakes which were wearing a bit more than we would have liked. We just agreed to adjust our driving styles and keep within a consistent lap time target. We were running at a restricted pace but other cars were having problems, so it worked out OK. We didn’t make one mistake and that’s what it takes to win this race.”

But most of all, Le Mans again provided what the intent of the founders of the event desired most. Racing that means something, endurance, manufacturers finding what works in the most greuling of scenarios, technology and innovation in both performance and safety, that will find its way to the street versions of their cars in short time, be they top-of-line sports cars or everyday driving sedans. There is a relevance to the competition that seems to elude other forms of racing.

From Mulsanne stretch to Dunlop Bridge, Playstation chicane to Porsche corners, benefits of exciting racing to cheer for, and the unseen benefits of learning by those that create and build… provided.