Motorsport | Sports Cars

Peugeot at Le Mans

Audi climbs towards Peugeot



Halfway through the Le Mans 24-hour race, the reliable Audis continued to claw their way closer to the leading faster Peugeots.

After the No. 3 Peugeot retired very early in the race with a suspension failure and the No. 1 Peugeot lost a lot of time while changing the alternator, just before the halfway mark the No. 4 Peugeot 908 also had to be pushed into the Team Oreca pits for extensive repairs. The right rear suspension had to be replaced, which caused the car to lose 13 minutes on the leading No. 2 Peugeot.

The problems with the No. 4 was good news for the Audi team. While the R15 Plus is missing the outright speed to threaten Peugeot, the car has proved in the first half of the race to be very reliable. None of the three R15s have encountered any major technical difficulties, and are slowly climbing towards the podium, while the Peugeots drop away one by one.

Just before the No. 4 Peugeot would enter the pit for repairs, Team Oreca also had to do extensive repairs to its second car, the No. 6 Oreca 01. Remarkably also this car also had a failure on the right rear of the car, in this case the right rear axle had to be replaced, which dropped the car out of the top 10.

In LMP2 the gap between the Strakka and Highcroft cars grew with one lap when Marino Franchitti got a puncture in the first sector of the track. Highcroft lost a couple of minutes due to this puncture, but the gap with the in third place running no. 35 OAK Racing car was large enough to stay in second place.

The GT1-leading No. 60 Ford GT and No. 72 Corvette both suffered technical difficulties, which gave the lead surprisingly to the No. 50 Labre Competition Saleen. 

Corvette still leads the GT2 class with their No. 64 and 63 cars, while Team Felbermayr Porsche 911 GT3 RSR was on the final podium position at the halfway mark.

© MNI

2010 Le Mans 24-Hour Race - Overall Standings after 6 Hours
Pos  Class  Drivers  Team  Car  Laps  Gap  Pit stops 
1.  LMP1  N.Minassian, S.Sarrazin, F.Montagny  Team Peugeot Total  Peugeot 908 HDi FAP  182  182 laps  14 
2.  LMP1  O.Panis, N.Lapierre, L.Duval  Team ORECA-Matmut  Peugeot 908 HDi FAP  182  +1:27.748  14 
3.  LMP1  M.Rockenfeller, T.Bernhard, R.Dumas  Audi Sport North America  Audi R15 TDI  181  -1 lap  14 
4.  LMP1  A.Lotterer, M.Fassler, B.Treluyer  Audi Sport Team Joest  Audi R15 TDI  181  +57.453  14 
5.  LMP1  T.Kristensen, R.Capello, A.McNish  Audi Sport Team Joest  Audi R15 TDI  180  -2 laps  14 
6.  LMP1  A.Wurz, M.Gene, A.Davidson  Team Peugeot Total  Peugeot 908 HDi FAP  179  -3 laps  14 
7.  007  LMP1  H.Primat, S.Mucke, A.Fernandez  Aston Martin Racing  Lola B09/60 Aston Martin  178  -4 laps  14 
8.  009  LMP1  D.Turner, J.Barazi, S.Hancock  Aston Martin Racing  Lola B09/60 Aston Martin  177  -5 laps  14 
9.  15  LMP1  C.Bakkerud, O.Jarvis, C.Albers  Team Kolles  Audi R10 TDI  174  -8 laps  14 
10.  LMP1  S.Ayari, D.Andre, A.Meyrick  AIM Team ORECA-Matmut  Oreca 01-AIM  173  -9 laps  15 
11.  008  LMP1  P.Ragues, V.Ickx, F.Mailleux  Signature Plus  Lola B09/60 Aston Martin  172  -10 laps  14 
12.  42  LMP2  N.Leventis, D.Watts, J.Kane  Strakka Racing  HPD ARX.01  170  -12 laps  12 
13.  26  LMP2  D.Brabham, M.Franchitti, M.Werner  Highcroft Racing  HPD ARX.01  167  -15 laps  13 
14.  14  LMP1  C.Bouchut, S.Tucker, M.Rodrigues  Team Kolles  Audi R10 TDI  165  -17 laps  14 
15.  35  LMP2  M.Lahaye, G.Moreau, J.Charouz  OAK Racing  Pescarolo 01 Judd  165  +59.963  13 
16.  40  LMP2  M.Amaral, O.Pla, W.Hughes  Quifel-ASM Team  Ginetta Zytek 09S  165  +1:39.568  13 
17.  25  LMP2  M.Newton, T.Erdos, A.Wallace  RML  Lola B08/80 HPD  163  -19 laps  13 
18.  64  LMGT2  O.Gavin, O.Beretta, E.Collard  Corvette Racing  Chevrolet Corvette C6 ZR1  157  -25 laps  11 
19.  41  LMP2  K.Ojjeh, T.Greaves, G.Chandalon  Team Bruichladdich  Ginetta Zytek 09S  156  -26 laps  15 
20.  63  LMGT2  J.Magnussen, J.O'Connell, A.Garcia  Corvette Racing  Chevrolet Corvette C6 ZR1  156  +2:50.375  11 
21.  77  LMGT2  M.Lieb, R.Lietz, W.Hentzler  Team Felbermayr Proton  Porsche 911 GT3 RSR  156  +3:28.504  10 
22.  12  LMP1  N.Prost, N.Jani, M.Andretti  Rebellion Racing  Lola B10/60 Rebellion  155  -27 laps  15 
23.  76  LMGT2  R.Narac, P.Pilet, P.Long  IMSA Performance Matmut  Porsche 911 GT3 RSR  155  +17.534  10 
24.  89  LMGT2  D.Farnbacher, A.Simonsen, L.Keen  Hankook Team Farnbacher  Ferrari F430 GT  154  -28 laps  10 
25.  95  LMGT2  G.Fisichella, J.Alesi, T.Vilander  AF Corse  Ferrari F430 GT  154  +11.215  10 
26.  78  LMGT2  J.Muller, A.Farfus, U.Alzen  BMW Team Schnitzer  BMW M3 GT2  154  +3:02.749  11 
27.  50  LMGT1  R.Berville, J.Canal, G.Gardel  Larbre Competition  Saleen S7R  154  +3:14.807  12 
28.  97  LMGT2  M.Holzer, R.Westbrook, T.Scheider  BMS Scuderia Italia  Porsche 911 GT3 RSR  153  -29 laps  12 
29.  73  LMGT1  J.Jousse, X.Maassen, P.Goueslard  Luc Alphand Aventures  Chevrolet Corvette C6.R  152  -30 laps  10 
30.  39  LMP2  J.de Pourtales, H.Noda, J.Kennard  KSM  Lola B08/47 Judd  151  -31 laps  11 
31.  24  LMP2  J.Nicolet, R.Hein, J-F.Yvon  OAK Racing  Pescarolo 01 Judd  151  +39.898  11 
32.  37  LMP2  P.Salini, S.Salini, T.Gommendy  WR / Salini  WR Zytek  150  -32 laps  14 
33.  11  LMP1  P.Drayson, J.Cocker, E.Pirro  Drayson Racing  Lola B10/60 Aston Martin  148  -34 laps  15 
34.  75  LMGT2  P.Van Splunteren, N.Hommerson, L.Machiels  Prospeed Competition  Porsche 911 GT3 RSR  148  +2:46.683  11 
35.  88  LMGT2  H.Felbermayr Sr, H.Felbermayr Jr, M.Konopka  Team Felbermayr Proton  Porsche 911 GT3 RSR  146  -36 laps  11 
36.  60  LMGT1  T.Mutsch, R.Grosjean, J.Hirschi  Matech Competition  Ford GT Matech  144  -38 laps  11 
37.  28  LMP2  M.Rostan, R.Meichtry, P.Bruneau  Race Performance AG  Radical SR9 Judd  142  -40 laps  12 
38.  72  LMGT1  S.Gregoire, J.Policand, D.Hart  Luc Alphand Aventures  Chevrolet Corvette C6.R  142  +2:15.376  12 
39.  83  LMGT2  T.Krohn, N.Jonsson, E.van de Poele  Risi Competizione  Ferrari F430 GT  142  +2:25.517  10 
40.  52  LMGT1  C.Nygaard, T.Enge, P.Kox  Young Driver AMR  Aston Martin DBR9  142  +2:34.008  10 
41.  85  LMGT2  T.Coronel, P.Dumbreck, J.Bleekemoelen  Spyker Squadron  Spyker C8 Laviolette  132  -50 laps  11 
42.  69  LMGT1  A.Yogo, K.Yamanishi, H.Iiri  JLOC  Lamborghini Murcielago  115  -67 laps  11 
DNF  LMP1  S.Bourdais, P.Lamy, S.Pagenaud  Peugeot Sport Total  Peugeot 908 HDi FAP 
DNF  LMP1  N.Mansell, G.Mansell, L.Mansell  Beechdean Mansell  Ginetta Zytek 
DNF  13  LMP1  A.Belicchi, J-C.Boullion, G.Smith  Rebellion Racing  Lola B10/60 Rebellion 
DNF  19  LMP1  M.Lewis, B.Willman, T.Burgess  Autocon Motorsports  Lola B06/10 AER 
DNF  29  LMP2  L.Pirri, M.Cioci, P.Perazzini  Racing Box  Lola B09/80 Judd 
DNF  38  LMP2  J.Schell, F.Da Rocha, D.Zollinger  Pegasus Racing  Norma Judd 
DNF  61  LMGT1  N.Gachnang, R.Frey, C.Allemann  Matech Competition  Ford GT Matech 
DNF  70  LMGT1  E.de Doncker, B.Leinders, M.Palttala  Marc VDS Racing  Ford GT Matech 
DNF  79  LMGT2  A.Priaulx, D.Muller, D.Werner  BMW Team Schnitzer  BMW M3 GT2 
DNF  80  LMGT2  S.Neiman, D.Law, J.Bergmeister  Flying Lizard Motorsport  Porsche 911 GT3 RSR 
DNF  81  LMGT2  P.Gentilozzi, R.Dalziel, M.Goossens  Jaguar RSR  Jaguar XKRS 
DNF  82  LMGT2  J.Melo, G.Bruni, P.Kaffer  Risi Competizione  Ferrari F430 GT 
DNF  92  LMGT2  R.Bell, T.Sugden, B.Miller  JMW Motorsport  Aston Martin Vantage 
DNF  96  LMGT2  L.Perez Companc, M.Russo, M.Salo  AF Corse  Ferrari F430 GT 

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