24h Le Mans
Photo : Nicolas COUSSEAU - ACO/Nikon
With no safety car interventions and no rain the Autosport 1000kms of Silverstone ran for 170 laps and 1000 kms, rather than the full ‘Six Hours’. The average speed of the winning car was 202.585 kmh. The much anticipated Audi.v.Peugeot confrontation lost one of its key contenders when the #7 Audi Sport Team Joest Audi R15 TDi ground to a halt out on the circuit with ‘no drive’ and Allan McNish walked back to the pits without Tom Kristensen even getting into the car. This took the pressure off the two remaining Peugeot 908 HDi-FAP cars with the Audi challenge now down to one car.
Timo Bernhard, in the surviving Audi, had a great race managing to keep in touch with the second place Peugeot, staying within around 20 seconds for much of the race. After their disastrous Le Mans, Peugeot will be relieved and delighted to have taken a ‘One-Two’ at Silverstone, particular since they were never put under great pressure by Audi.
In LM P2 after all the pit stops were over #40 Strakka Racing Team had got their strategy spot on and had built up a lap’s lead over the #40 Quifel-ASM Team Ginetta-Zytek. Just behind them #35 OAK Racing Pescarolo Judd. The Class winners will be the #25 RML Lola HPD Coupe of Tommy Erdos, Mike Newton and Ben Collins. The new Formula Le Mans-Orecas have blended in well with the existing LM P2 cars with the leading #44 DAMS car coming 6th behind the LM P2’s. They proved reliable and competitive.
In LM GT1 the sole Saleen S7-R finished 22nd over all and this will probably be the last time we see the venerable Saleens after eleven years of top level endurance racing.
LM GT2 was a tense affair with the result in the balance right up to end and it was always going to be close , down to pit stops, fuel consumption and tactics. It was looking good for the #92 JWW Motorsport Aston Martin Vantage V8 but it all went wrong when they were given, what they believed an unfair , stop go penalty for ‘not respecting the circuit limits’. It had been a fine showing bearing in mind they needed to make one more pit stop for fuel than the Ferraris and Porsches. They eventually finished 3rd behind the race winning #96 AF Corse Ferrari F430 GT and the 2nd place #75 Porsche 997 GT3 RSR. The winning Ferrari had always been running in first three and their tactics paid off after a trouble free race. The overall Class winner for the season was the #77 Team Felbermayr Proton Porsche 997 GT3 RSR,driven by Marc Lieb and Richard Lietz, they needed to come 10th or higher to clinch the Championship.
It had been a great race as finale for the 2010 Le Mans Series and very exciting opening round for the new Intercontinental Le Mans Cup. Peugeot will been delighted and relieved to comprehensively beaten the Audi Team and to have put the record straight after their disappointing 2010 Le Mans 24hrs.
