The 2011 24 Hours of Le Mans lived up to its brutal reputation this weekend.
Prominent Crashes: There were a lot of surprises including two significant crashes and an unusually high number of laps under the yellow flag. Audi and Peugeot were fully set for a high speed dual, Audi having brought their new R18. The Corvette factory team arrived with high hopes of winning again. This would be a great way to celebrate their 10th year at Le Mans, and Chevrolet’s 100 year anniversary. Of the four classes racing, the two most interesting were P1 and GTE Pro.
Audi’s Woes: Audi started well but were soon sobered by two events. They’ve been dominant for a decade and are well known for their preparation and execution. This year, however, they were visited with misfortune. Two serious shunts kept viewers on the edge of their seats. In both cases the race was run under the yellow flag for extensive periods of time (totaling over 3 hours) while the barriers underwent repair.
In the opening laps Audi looked good until the 1 hour mark. Allan McNish crashed the #3 Audi when he attempted an aggressive pass on his teammate, colliding with a GT car. McNish was fortunate to walk away from his car that hit the tire barrier, flipped up and rolled. It was even more fortunate that no photographers or spectators were hurt as debris and one of the wheels rained down on the other side of the track barrier. That left two of Audi’s three cars left in the race.
GTE Pro: In GTE Pro the two BMWs ran with the leaders early in the race after qualifying on pole and third in their class. As the race progressed, however, the #55 car was hindered by a puncture. They were further troubled by an engine misfire that had to be addressed in the garage. They recovered but lost a couple of laps. Corvette was in the lead at the 1 hour mark. It was clear that they were contenders for the class win at this event. They’ve won many times at Le Mans, but were robbed of a possible additional win last year as one of their cars was punted by a Peugeot prototype driven by Anthony Davidson.
Racing into the night…
