Le Mans

LE MANS, France  (With four hours complete) — If you are wondering if the Peugeot’s are for real — they are. The Peugeot team has attacked Circuit de la Sarthe with a vengeance, with memories of near misses here and earlier this year at Sebring urging them onward. On the course the Audi’s look slower — perhaps not as slower as it was last year — but slower never the less.

What is not clear at this writing is whether this is by plan — last year the Peugeot’s were equally quick but were unable to seal the deal when the rain and   other troubles beset them and the Audi pulled off an incredible victory. Even at Sebring it appeared as if the Peugeot team had finally gotten the monkey off its back only to have the Audi superior tactics  steal a victory in the last 15 minutes of the race.

Walking by  pits the body language does not seem very positive, though we did not see any of the principals of the team to know what the real scoop is. Stay tuned our visit to the garage later.

Here are the top 10 at the end of four hours for each division:
 

Pos	#	Team	Driver in Pit	Laps
1	8	Team Peugeot Total	BOURDAIS Sebastien	77
2	1	Audi Sport Team Joest	CAPELLO Rinaldo	76
3	9	Peugeot Sport Total	WURZ Alexander	76
4	2	Audi Sport North America	LUHR Lucas	76
5	007	AMR Eastern Europe	CHAROUZ Jan	75
6	008	Aston Martin Racing	VERSTAPPEN Jos	75
7	17	Pescarolo Sport	PAGENAUD Simon	75
8	3	Audi Sport Team Joest	BERNHARD Timo	75
9	14	Kolles	LOTTERER Andre	74
10	15	Kolles	BAKKERUD Christian	74

Pos	#	Team	Driver in Pit	Laps
1	31	Team Essex	POULSEN Kristian	72
2	5	Navi Team Goh	KUNIMOTO Keisuke	72
3	33	Speedy Racing Sebah	LEUENBERGER Benjamin	71
4	25	RML	DYSON Chris	69
5	41	G.A.C. Racing Team	GOSSELIN Claude-Yves	69
6	35	OAK Racing	LAHAYE Matthieu	68
7	32	Team Barazi Epsilon	BARAZI Juan	68
8	30	Racing Box	PICCINI Andrea	68
9	24	OAK Racing	NICOLET Jacques	66
10	26	Bruichladdich Bruneau	GREAVES Tim	65

Pos	#	Team	Driver in Pit	Laps
1	76	Imsa Performance Matmut	NARAC Raymond	66
2	82	Risi Competizione	KAFFER Pierre	66
3	92	JMW Motorsport	KIRKALDY Andrew	66
4	80	Flying Lizard Motorsport	NEIMAN Seth	66
5	78	AF Corse	BRUNI Gianmaria	65
6	97	BMS Scuderia Italia	RUBERTI Paolo	65
7	83	Risi Competizione	KROHN Tracy	65
8	85	Snoras Spyker Squadron	JANIS Jarek	65
9	89	Hankook-Farnbacher	FARNBACHER Dominik	64
10	84	Team Modena	RUSINOV Roman	64

Le Mans, France – With three hours completed of the most challenging distance race in the world, it is still anyones race. All of the teams know, that not only are they racing against one another, but they are also battling Le Mans, which always has a way of throwing a wrench into the best plans. The races have already covered more than 450 Miles, in the first 3 hours, approximatly the same distance it is frome Seattle, WA, to Medford, OR.

Current Running Order by Class:

Pos # Team Driver in Pit Laps

LMP1
1. 8 Team Peugeot Total SARRAZIN Stephane  57
2. 9 Peugeot Sport Total BRABHAM David  56
3. 2 Audi Sport North America WERNER Marco  56
4. 1 Audi Sport Team Joest CAPELLO Rinaldo  56
5. 008 Aston Martin Racing VERSTAPPEN Jos  56
6. 007 AMR Eastern Europe ENGE Thomas  56
7. 17 Pescarolo Sport PAGENAUD Simon  55
8. 15 Kolles BAKKERUD Christian  55
9. 14 Kolles LOTTERER Andre  55
10. 3 Audi Sport Team Joest BERNHARD Timo  55

LMP2
1. 31 Team Essex ELGAARD Casper  53
2. 5 Navi Team Goh ARA Seiji  53
3. 33 Speedy Racing Sebah LEUENBERGER Benjamin  52
4. 25 RML NEWTON Mike  51
5. 41 G.A.C. Racing Team OJJEH Karim  51
6. 35 OAK Racing LAHAYE Matthieu  50
7. 32 Team Barazi Epsilon MOSELEY Stuart  50
8. 30 Racing Box BIAGI Thomas  49
9. 26 Bruichladdich Bruneau GREAVES Tim  48
10. 24 OAK Racing NICOLET Jacques  47

LMGT2
1. 63 Corvette Racing GARCIA Antonio  50
2. 64 Corvette Racing FASSLER Marcel  50
3. 73 Alphand Aventures MAASSEN Xavier  49
4. 72 Alphand Aventures GREGOIRE S  49
5. 66 Jetalliance Racing Gmbh GRUBER Thomas  23
6. 68 JLOC YAMAGISHI Yutaka  1

LMGT2
1. 80 Flying Lizard Motorsport BERGMEISTER Jorg  49
2. 76 Imsa Performance Matmut PILET Patrick  49
3. 82 Risi Competizione KAFFER Pierre  48
4. 92 JMW Motorsport BELL Robert  48
5. 89 Hankook-Farnbacher SIMONSEN Allan  48
6. 78 AF Corse RUSSO Matias  48
7. 87 Drayson Racing COCKER Jonny  47
8. 85 Snoras Spyker Squadron CORONEL Tom  47
9. 97 BMS Scuderia Italia BABINI Fabio  47
10. 83 Risi Competizione KROHN Tracy  47

With 2 hours completed in the 2009 24 Hours of Le Mans, it is the No. 8 Peugeot 908 HDI FAP in first and the No. 9 908 HDI FAP in second place, closely followed by the Audi R15 of  Montagny and in fourth the R15 driven by Scotsman Allan McNish. 

Dr. Ullrich of Audi Sport says of the Team Audi Sports stradegy, “Hopefully to be as fast as possible but we must stay concentrated.”

The No. 68 LMGT1 lamborghini Murcielago R-GT or team JLOC Isao Noritake, from Japan, officially retired from the race due to engine problems.

Current Running order by class:
Pos # Team Driver in Pit Laps 

LMP1

1. 8 Team Peugeot Total MONTAGNY Franck  37
2. 9 Peugeot Sport Total GENE Marc  36
3. 2 Audi Sport North America ROCKENFELLER Mike  36
4. 1 Audi Sport Team Joest MCNISH Allan  36
5. 007 AMR Eastern Europe MUCKE Stefan  36
6. 008 Aston Martin Racing VERSTAPPEN Jos  36
7. 17 Pescarolo Sport BOULLION Jean-Christophe  35
8. 14 Kolles ZWOLSMAN Charles  35
9. 15 Kolles ALBERS Christian  35
10. 3 Audi Sport Team Joest PREMAT Alexandre  35

LMP2

1. 31 Team Essex ELGAARD Casper  35
2. 5 Navi Team Goh ARA Seiji  35
3. 33 Speedy Racing Sebah POMPIDOU Xavier  34
4. 25 RML ERDOS Tommy  34
5. 41 G.A.C. Racing Team PETER Philipp  34
6. 35 OAK Racing MOREAU Guillaume  33
7. 32 Team Barazi Epsilon BENNETT Phil  32
8. 26 Bruichladdich Bruneau BRUNEAU Pierre  32
9. 24 OAK Racing YVON Jean-Francois  32 
10. 30 Racing Box BIAGI Thomas  31

LMGT1

1. 63 Corvette Racing O CONNELL Johny  33
2. 64 Corvette Racing BERETTA Olivier  33
3. 73 Alphand Aventures JOUSSE Julien  32
4. 72 Alphand Aventures GOUESLARD Patrice  32
5. 66 Jetalliance Racing Gmbh LICHTNER-HOYER Lukas  14
6. 68 JLOC YAMAGISHI Yutaka  1

LMGT2

1. 76 Imsa Performance Matmut PILET Patrick  32
2. 80 Flying Lizard Motorsport BERGMEISTER Jorg  32
3. 82 Risi Competizione KAFFER Pierre  31
4. 92 JMW Motorsport  31
5. 78 AF Corse COMPANC Luis  31
6. 89 Hankook-Farnbacher MONTANARI Christian  31
7. 99 JMB Racing RODRIGUES Manuel  31
8. 83 Risi Competizione KROHN Tracy  31
9. 87 Drayson Racing FRANCHITTI Marino  31
10. 85 Snoras Spyker Squadron CORONEL Tom  31