Now that the dust has settled, and parts of Alan McNish's AUDI R16 have come back down from orbit, it seems that LeMans was not in short supply of drama this year!
Here are a few of the highlights:
And hour into the race, Alan McNish in a LMP1 AUDI passed the Luxury Racing Ferrari 458 (in GTE Pro) just under the Dunlop bridge. The rules at LeMans state that the slower cars can hold their line, and the prototypes go around them. Unfortunately, McNish went inside the Ferrari on a turn, causing the two cars to touch, sending McNish and the AUDI into a horrific crash. Amazingly, there were no injuries, including McNish, but the race was run under a full-course yellow for an hour. The Ferrari would return to the race a few hours later.
Sometime around 11pm, Mike Rockenfeller in another factory AUDI R16 came into contact with another Ferrari 458 (in GTE Pro), which caused the AUDI to spin and hit the guardrail at an estimated 170+mph. The car blew apart, sending the cockpit over the fence and into the woods. Amazingly, Rockenfeller also walked away unscathed, but spent the night in the hospital for observation.
In the end, it came down to Simon Pagenaud in the #9 Peugeot chasing down the #2 AUDI of Andre Lotterer for the overall lead. Despite Pagenaud's push to the end, the difference from 1st to 2nd place was decided by only 13 seconds! A heartbreaker for the Peugeot team, who was perhaps the most miserable-looking team ever on the podium.
Another great milestone was for Corvette Racing, who brought their yellow Corvette ZR-1 to a class win in GTE-Pro on not only the 10th anniversary of GM returning to LeMans, but also the 100th anniversary year of the founding of Chevrolet.
Full race results can be found here.
Another great year at LeMans - what did you think? Leave us a comment, or talk to us on Facebook and tell us your favorite parts, memories, or pledge your Peugeot vindication for next year.
.
No comments:
Post a Comment