A couple of weeks ago two of the three races in motorsports unofficial “Triple Crown” took place in Monaco and Indianapolis. Now it’s time for the 24 Hours of Le Mans, the third and perhaps most important event, at least from a car enthusiast’s point of view.
The past five years has seen a battle royal between Audi and Peugeot with their incredibly high-tech diesel-powered LMP1 Prototypes. Audi has won the event nine times since 2000, while Peugeot has only won once since its return to the Le Mans race after a long absence. The only other non-Audi win in the past decade was when Bentley won in 2003, albeit in a modified Audi!
In many ways this weekend’s battle hearkens back to the 1960s when Ferrari and Ford battled each other on the famous circuit. It’s a true test of a car’s engineering and reliability. It’s worth noting that these LMP1 cars are actually faster than F1 cars and cover a greater distance in 24 hours than a F1 car does in a whole year of races.
Qualifying during the past couple of days was as intense as anyone remembers. Pole position at Le Mans is not as critical as in other forms of racing but Peugeot and Audi battled for bragging rights. Audi managed to grab the top two spots, for the first time since 2006, during the closing stages of qualifying.
Speed TV is covering the Le Mans race from the start tomorrow (Saturday) at 9am EST to the finish 24 hours later. Coverage will continue on www.speedtv.com, when the Le Mans race is interrupted by NASCAR qualifying in Pocono and qualifying for the Canadian Grand Prix. Audi will carry live coverage on a microsite: www.audi-microsites.com/lemans. You can also watch the Peugeot team’s progress live, in English, on www.peugeot-sport.com/en.
We must not forget that there are plenty of Americans waving the Stars & Stripes for the Corvette race team, which qualified in fourth and sixth in the GTE Pro class. Live streaming coverage of the Corvettes will be covered on www.speedtv.com/corvette.
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