Le Mans

LE MANS, France — When the last minute of the last lap finally ticked off the clock, there was a collective sigh of relief throughout the Audi pit area as the team could finally relax and sip a little victory champagne.

But until the race finally did end and Audi was named the winner of the 75th 24 Hours of Le Mans, no members of the team was ever fully sure what card the gods of racing might deal them.

From the very first hour of the race the Audi team basically stepped on the neck of the Peugeot team (in Tiger Woods fashion if I can mix my sports just for a moment) and waited for it to respond.

The Peugeot was never really able to respond with an agressive move and virtually fell off the pace with the big red machine running first, second, and third midway through the race.

But then the real racing started to happen.

This is a classic response from a champion to a challenger. During most of the week Peugeot had stolen the thunder of Audi by taking the pole position of the race. The qualifying coo put a spring into the step of the Peugeot team — a certain

Audi number three hit a patch of oil and spun into the wall. Even with a herculean effort by the driver to get the car back to the garage it was damaged beyond driveability and it was out.

Late in the race, Audi number two had a freak racing accident when a rear tire left the axle mysteriously and the car went into the tire barrier putting it out of the race.

The last two hours of the 75th running of the 24 Hours of Le Mans had its share of excitement, with Mother Nature throwing the proverbial monkey wrench into plans of the teams, by introducing another heavy shower for the remainder of the race.
Teams immediately switched to rain tires, and continued as best they could until several team managers complained that the conditions were too bad to continue at racing speeds. Initial requests for the safety car were not met, until team managers approached the race director in a group and made their demands.

With 11 minutes left in the race, the 75th running of the 24 Hours of Le Mans went to the green flag and it will be interesting to see if the Audi that is leading the race does anything but just cruise home to the victory. The last remaining Peugeot is still sidelined.
Noone really seems to be crazy enough to “put their foot into it” and it would seem that the race as a Sunday drive. It is too bad — but there is nothing to race for as the Audi is far enough ahead that noone can really catch him in the time remaining.
As was mentioned in earlier post, to finish first, first you must finish!