By Sam Tickell
Audi were again metronomic in their Le Mans defence, while Dome put in an impressive performance
The main battle at Le Mans was certainly a Goliath vs Goliath affair. A titanic diesel battle between the French Peugeot and the German Audi squads. But there was more – a petrol battle with Charouz, Oreca and Pescarolo and interlopers to the crown also in the field.
But it was hard to look past the two manufacturers in the field. Peugeot had the fast car. There was no denying that. A 3:18 lap in qualifying for Peugeot and the first three spots on the grid signalled their intentions.
As did their driving squad. F1 drivers galore. In fact all of their drivers, except one – Nicolas Minassian had started in at least one Grand Prix. To the casual observer, this seemed a mighty outfit.
And in the dry, daylight of the early race it was. They held the first three spots and seemed to be able to put in fast lap times at will.
But only a fool would discount Audi. They could be in the slowest car and they would still find a way to win.
Not for the first time the Audi was not the fastest car in race. But Audi wanted to win and had spent a rumoured 200 million Euro on their 2008 campaigns.
Their strategy was as apparent as Peugeot’s in their driver lineup. Only two of their drivers had F1 experience. But all their drivers were sportscar aces and knew how to run a 24 hour race.
Peugeot were fast but couldn't take the win
They had their two cars of experienced Audi favourites and a car of comparatively new guys.
That driver lineup says a lot about Audi’s approach to the race. They do things their way. They don’t worry about a flashy name (although their drivers have almost become brands themselves, they are certainly crowd favourites) they don’t worry about what the press says. They do their thing because they know it works.
And work it did.
Once night fell and conditions got a little difficult, Audi came into their own. They overcame the Peugeot advantage, and extended into the lead.
The #2 car with McNish, Capello and Le Mans legend, Kristensen never lost the lead once they had it in the morning. There were never that far away from the Peugeots but far enough ahead.
It seemed that Peugeot cracked slightly under the pressure too. Their teamwork was a little shabby under the pressure and their leading car spent about 10 minutes less in the pitbox. Considering the gap between first and second was about four minutes, it’s not hard to see where Audi won the race.
You would expect after winning eight of the last nine races, Audi would be used to winning, nothing to get overly excited about.
But they did. The emotion was clear on faces of Reinhold Joest and Dr Wolfgang Ullrich – they truelly enjoyed the win – and with the pressure they were under from Peugeot, it is completely understandable.
Peugeot on the other hand scored second and third – a great result but were left slightly deflated. They had the fastest car but couldn’t turn that into the win they so desperately wanted.
In the unofficial petrol battle, Pescarolo and Oreca battled through the race. They were interrupped by the Charouz Aston Martin and the Dome competing in its first race.
The Dome put in an amazing performance in what was said to be a technology demonstration. It is suspected that there was secret manufacturer help on this one and after such a great performance, that help may be more obvious in future years. The car had a few problems which prevented it from finishing high but the pace was there.
As may well the Aston Martin support for the Charouz Lola coupe. The car was quick and if it weren’t for a heavy crash, they could have been up further in the field.
But it was left to Pescarolo and Oreca. Pescarolo have had their car a long time now and that familiarity surely helped.
It must seem like an age since their glory days of 2005 and 2006 where they fought for overall victory but this year they fought for the best of the rest.
Which they won, by a number of laps over the Oreca.
Pescarolo ended up winning the unofficial 'petrol class'
This race also marked the first 24 hour race for the Epsilon Euskadi, who got one car to the line. Major gearbox dramas, however ensured that the car was well back in the end. But a gallant effort overall and a spectacular looking car which deserves more funding.
The usual suspects were hanging round all race. Rollcentre were running strongly but fell back with issues. One issue they had was that Team Manager, Martin Short wanted to be in the car after taking this year off from driving duties!
Creation were there, but again, it feels like their potential was not reached. Their American customers, Autocon ran a steady race but retired in the last half.
The only other LMP1 finisher was the Saulnier Pescarolo – again embarrassing in pace but the did reach the end.
Of the retirees, the Muscle Milk car, after no doubt annoying the ACO by not entering early season LMS rounds as planned, they crashed into the Trading Performance Zytek, eliminating that P2 car early on. They continued for a while longer before retiring.
The plucky Brits – Chamberlain Synergy were back after some driver disagreements in the LMS. They were there, they retired. They have said they will be back – we hope they are.
Remining is the Japanese contingent of Tokai University and Terramos. Terramos is the team for the third most experienced driver – Terarda. This car, while reaching the finish was unclassified as they had not completed enough laps.
The Tokai University car was slow but many expected it not to make it after problems back in Japan. But they did make it, just not to the end of the race.
So that is that. A true manufacture battle that went right to the end. Next year could bring more changes in the diesel/petrol formula and surely will bring a reduction in speeds after the blistering pace of 2008.
Audi won, not on sheer pace but on sheer teamwork. They had a great car, great drivers and a great team…
…and that is how you win Le Mans.