Expect updates to be uploaded at about a half hour after these times. Remember that these are local French times 1 hour ahead of BST.
This final session will be intriguing, the pundits are all pondering how Toyota and Porsche are going to play this. Theoretically the scales are pretty well balanced ... OK so Toyota may be in front, but remember Porsche have two cars to work with. Could Porsche really put some pressure on the Toyota and push it really hard, maybe risking the car, but it could still leave one of the Porsches running ... ummm ! All the same Alan McNish remained pretty bullish with two hours to go. In GT2 the number 51 Chrysler Viper looks very strong for a podium finish . Porsche's hopes had rested with the number 64 GT2, but that all fell to bits with the gearbox ! Remember the Toyota gear boxes haven't made too many friends either !
We wrote the previous paragraph about five minutes ago and incredibly heard at 12:37 hrs that the leading Toyota was having gearbox trouble and it was stuck out on the circuit. This is a devasting and very emotional blow to the team. All this means that both the Porsches have passed it and the number 29 Toyota is slipping irrevocably down the results. The writing was on the wall when Porsche did some superb pit work getting the number 26 car back out and eating away 25 seconds of the Toyota lead. Allan McNish then piled on the pressure taking a second a lap out of the Toyota's lead, not enough to win at this point, but certainly enough to really pressurize the Toyota drivers. At 12:38 McNish took the lead. By 12:42 there was still no sign of the Toyota and number 25 Porsche then moved into second place. No doubt the entire Porsche team breathed a collective huge sigh of relief. There is still an hour to go, but it does look as if Porsche are now home and dry .. assuming the rain stays away and neither of them falls to bits at the last moment. Remember last year ? There where three hours to go when the Porsche 911GT1 number 26 car burst into flames. The 'dark horses', Nissan move into third place.
With half an hour to go the two Porsches are running in formation, unlike the 911GT2 number 71 .. 'The Home Improvement' car ... suddenly it looked as if the engine was gradually returning to component form as it laid oil around the track.
At 13:32 the two Porsches both pitted for a final fill up and the team even resisted the temptation to clean the cars. Unlike the number 12 Ferrari 333 .. they made serious effort to impress their sponsors and wiped the car down ... mind you they had the time with a monstrous seven lap cushion over the next guys.
As the clock moved towards 14:00 hrs the number 40 EMI EMKA McLaren was coming under a bit of pressure from the number 32 Nissan that was lapping quicker than them but, with a 35 second lead and only just over 15 mins to go, they should come home a remarkable fourth ... behind two works 911GT1's and a works Nissan R390GT1 .. makes you think doesn't it?
As the chequerd flag greeted the two Porsche 911GT1 '98 cars we reached the end of what must have been one of the most exciting, emotional, and fascinating 24 Heures du Le Mans for a number of years. Just what does a Japanese manufacturer have to do to win Le Mans again?! Toyota got within an ace of doing it this year , but bad luck ruined it. Porsche did what Porsche do best ... winning Le Mans ! The Nissans have done well, they have been a little short of power but their tactics could just have worked. What if the number 30 car hadn't had all that trouble with vibrations? But Le Mans is all about 'what ifs'... the fact remains that when the flag came out to end the 1998 Le Mans it was the two Porsches that crossed the line in formation. Congratulations ! The excitment in GT1 has overshadowed a splendid effort by the number 53 Chrysler Viper GTS-R run by Viper Team Oreca and driven by Bell, Donohue, and Drudi. LMP1 was won by Ferrari 333 SP run by Doyle-Risi Racing and driven by Taylor, van de Poele and Velex. 1998 has been a vintage year here at Le Mans ....
The final result after 24 hours :- 26,25,32,40,30,31,45,12,27,33,53,16,51,3,24,15,64,71,69,71,69, 56,68,55,65,72. The winner completed 352 laps
Further news on the Momo Ferrari gearbox situation. The gearbox had locked in third gear whilst Didier Theys was driving and this necessitated a 90 minute transmission change. The only gearbox available was the 5 speed unit used at Daytona as opposed to the six speed unit that was in the car at the start. Having been in 12th position overall when the breakage occured, the car re-emerged in 18th place.
At 10.30 the decibel level in the press room looked set to be cut in half when the number 44 Panoz was officially retired with gearbox oil pump failure. Our desks in the press room are directly over the Panoz pit and we certainly had no trouble staying awake last night as number 44 was a frequent visitor throughout the night. You really have to hear them at close quarters to truly believe the effect...come back rotary powered Mazdas, all is forgiven.
Number 29 Toyota pitted at 10:35 for a routine stop this allowed the number 26 Porsche,still being driven by Stephane Ortelli, back into the lead, which initially he was able to stretch a little. Then it was his turn to pit and hand over to Laurent Aiello. No tyres were taken on board but it took four attempts at the start button to fire it up. The car emerged only 1 minute behind the Toyota, which then stretched at the rate of 3 seconds a lap. With Kelleners at the wheel of the Toyota it was lapping regularly at an impressive 3:44 secs.
The number 15 La Filiere Courage is still in the pit and looking unlikely to rejoin for some time.
The number 30 Nissan has developed a worrying vibration. The team are perplexed. It first came in at 11:00 to change tyres, then again at 11:05 to change the front bodywork and again at 11:11hrs Then an incident involving two photographers who somehow got knocked over in the panic to prepare the adjacent pit for the impending arrival of the number 32 4th placed Nissan. It seems that photographers are in season this year, these are the second and third ones to get knocked about by cars! The problem on number 30 appears to be the rear bodywork. It appears to have worked loose. The mechanics are furiously fabricating an extra mounting bracket to rectify the problem. The car rejoins at 11:20.
11:30, the leading Toyota pitted for a routine stop but this time it managed to get out without losing the lead....a very significant moment, that might just have won them the race. Fighting talk with two hours to go. The number 26 Porsche then pitted at 11:34 and rejoined. But it was a slender 1 minute and 15 seconds astray. It may not sound much, but at Le Mans 1998 it could be significant.
11:45 A Toyota with a puncture, word spread like wild fire .... but unfortunately for Porsche it was car number 27 .. not 29 ! At the same time the number 30 Nissan was back, still not cured of its vibration. This time they changed the entire rear body work, but not before fifth place slipped from their grasp. The car that stole their spot was the clockwork EMI EMKA McLaren, number forty. In fact number 30 eventually slipped down to seventh place behind its sister car number 31.
11:50 Guess what ? The Schirle, Warnock, Ahrle 911 GT2 was at it again ! This time they tried the Ford Chicane by way of a change .. as usual they got away with it. Car number 64 was running second in GT2 until the gearbox stuck in sixth. Not a lot of use really, so out it came and the team are fitting a new one. It means they have lost second in GT2, but should be pretty safe holding onto third.
To add to this already rather engaging Le Mans , the weather is now looking distinctly dodgy so everything could change all over again. Watch this space for another two hours !
The positions after 22 hours are as follows :- 29,26,25,32,40,31,30,45,12,27,33,53,16,24,51,3,64,15,68,71,69,56,55, 72 65.
The race leader has now covered 322 laps
The only additional retirement was the number 44 Panoz.
We have now got rather more information about the huge accident that involved the Konrad Porsche GT2 driven at the time by Nick Ham. It was rather more serious than we had initially gathered. It seems the car suffered brake failure at Mulsanne and as it rolled it cleared the catch fencing by about two metres and wound up in a spectator area. A potentially catastrophic scenario Thankfully we can confirm that nobody was seriously injured , but there were a few people hurt by flying debris.
On a lighter note the dedicated lunatic campers at Houx have had a dreadful time. Apparently the site flooded during a storm on Friday and then things got worse on Saturday ... by 02:00 hrs the local pompiers had evacuated thirty very moist people. There a distinct Dunkirk spirit as fellow campers wading in to save belongings getting washed away ... all this in June !
Opposite us in the grandstand is the most dedicated group of fans we have seen in years ! They have been stoically waving several huge Japanese flags ... nothing special you may say ... but these are big flags and these guys have been at it non stop since 14:00 hrs yesterday ! We reckon they must be knackered by now, the only sign of weakness is that occasionally the flags only just get waved above head height ! We dread to think what will happen if the Toyotas and Nissans go out ... mass Hara-Kiri maybe !
At the moment the Toyota and Porsche are swapping places at every pit stop, so this could turn into a mathematical equation to see who wins. The writer is nowhere near smart enough to sort it out though ! The problem for Porsche is that the Toyota is actually going a bit quicker, this might indicate that they have the upper hand. But there is still rather a long way to go. The other Porsche is running fine in third place. The Nissan charge has faded a bit, they are now lying fourth and fifth. The earlier increase in pace didn't actually lead anywhere. They may have left it all a bit too late. But there is long way to go yet.
With less cars on the track, at the time of writing the field had been whittled down to 26 runners, things have calmed down a bit. The Toyota appears to be going quicker than the Porsche and using less fuel, not all that encouraging for Porsche. But it won't be for want of trying, Ortelli was clearly pushing hard and getting a tad untidy in the process.
In the Nissan pit the number 33 car seemed to take an awfully long time. The crew chief tells us that it was routine. Routine it may have been , but it dropped them down the field. The number 27 Toyota had another lengthy stop, long enough to clean the bodywork up abit, it now looks rather smart. Next car in a spot of bother was the number 51 Viper. It was stuck for a while in the pits while the crew sorted out the back brakes, bled them and then had trouble getting the pads in.
At 09:30 the number 65 911 GT2 was having another smashing time, literally ! This time it was Ahrle who stuffed it into the tyre wall at Indianapolis. The tractor extricated the car and they were up and running again, or to be more precise staggering. Two quite decent off's and two lucky escapes ! Mind you they are still in the pits and running last. All the same they have had an eventful Le Mans. 09:40 the leader number 29 came into the pits for fuel only, no driver change, all very routine. Ortelli just grabbed the lead while this going on. Things are getting tight, the various Toyotas and Porsche were all running together and we are watching with bated breath ... team tactics might come into play. The gap first to second is 4.898 secs after 287 laps at nineteen and three quarter hours ... quite remarkable !
Positions at twenty hours :- 29,26,25,32,30,40,31,45,12,27,53,33,64,16,24,51,15,3,44,68,69,71, 56,72,55,65.
The leader has covered 291 laps.
Retirements at 19 hours :- 13,41,8,10,67,28,5,60,62,21,14,7,22,61,1,2,36,50,70,35,73.
Back to the plot ....Just as we were closing the last report at 06:00 hrs all kinds of drama was brewing ! As dawn broke there was a distinct lack of Porsche GT1's ... Number 25 was up on its axle stands having a revitalised under tray fitted, quite a lengthy process. Number 26 was also in trouble with what we believe was a water leak in the intercooler. All this meant that the number 29 Toyota was hauling them in and at 06:20 hrs it took the lead. Car number 16 one of the Kremer K8/2 LMP1 went through a bad patch. They spun twice at the Esses and once at Arnage on consecutive laps, and they got away with it ! Amazing ! 06:40 hrs Car number 41, the Gulf Davidoff McLaren was wheeled into its garage and retired. The cause was its spin at Mulsanne some laps earlier. 07:05 hrs the number 3 car , the Ferrari 333SP, came in with a serious lack of gears and the team set about rebuilding the gearbox.
The Porsches are now both back in the fray, running second (car number 26) and fourth (car number 25). They are far from beaten yet ! The Toyota still leads but will it last ? The Nissans are running third, fifth and seventh and still looking very calm ! One of the star drives to date must be the EMKA EMI McLaren ... what on earth is it doing running sixth .. this car is generally regarded as being 'old technology'. GT2 is still led by car number 53, one of the Oreca Vipers, their nearest opposition is the number 64 911 GT2 which is running three laps behind it.
With two thirds of the race behind us this is looking like a classic Le Mans that may go right down to the wire. We just wonder about those Nissans. At 07:50 we hear that the leading Toyota is in trouble and it is heading for its pit garage. The plot thickens ! Boutsen is now in the car and waiting to get back on the circuit. The trouble lies with the gearbox again. The second place Porsche is only two laps behind and in about five minutes it could well take the lead. We will extend this report a little to find out what happens. The Nissans have got a whiff of all this and are speeding up and both cars have banged in their fastest laps to date. This is brewing up nicely ! In the meantime we have lost number 13 Courage at at Indianapolis with a suspected crown wheel and pinion failure.
At almost exactly 08:00hrs the number 26 Porsche takes the lead.
The positions after 18 hours :- 26,29,32,25,30,40,31,45,12,27,53,64,33,16,13,71,25,26,31,16,68, 53,27,30,44,51,45,69,56,33. Retirements at 17:00 hrs:- 41,8,10,67,28,5,60,62,21,14,7,22,61,1,2,36,50,70,35,73.
It couldn't last, number 13 stopped at the 1st Mulsanne chicane at 04:06 with a broken throttle cable. The car, after some tinkering by Marc Goossens, managed to limp back to the pits at 04:40, returning to the track at 04:49 having refuelled. The dream lives on for Yves Courage, although not very realistically now, having lost 9 laps on the Toyota it had been catching for third. A great shame.
A retirement that happened at 03:50 but we were not informed in time for the last update was that of the number 60 Playstation Porsche 911 GT2 with transmission failure.
At 04:40, the somewhat delayed but still circulating number 44 Panoz came in to change the front splitter (damaged) and the rear bodywork, as the tail lights had gone out. Returned to the track at 04:45 in 28th place, with its sister car running 12th, 18 laps behind the leader.
At 04:46, the second placed number 25 Porsche came in and a very uncharacteristic piece of indecision by the team over a tyre change cost the car some valuable seconds. In contrast, the number 26 car enjoyed a very good stop, changing its wets for scrubbed slicks. The number 25 car had ultimately stayed on wets.
At about five o'clock, David Murry spun the LMP leading number 8 Porsche, damaging the rear wing. He came in for a replacement, thus dropping it to 10th in the process. He then came straight back in for slicks and refuelling.
05:15 saw the number 44 Panoz back in after a spin at Tertre Rouge.
The rain that had been coming and going on for the last couple of hours began to come down with a vengeance at around 05:45. These showers are making life tricky for the teams. 05:50 hrs The gloomy televison screens are showing us a Viper, apparently stuck in the gravel, we think it is the number 51 car. It was pulled out and we think it is out racing again. Number 55 Viper is having a new clutch, so they have grabbed the chance to fit a new gearbox as well. 05:55 saw the 25 Porsche taking a shortcut through the kitty litter and getting away with it.At 05:56 The number 41 McLaren spun at the first Mulsanne chicane and it looks to be in fairly deep, but the recovery crew managed to pull it out and it made its way back to the pits !
The order at sixteen hours :- 26, 25,29,32,30,40,41,31,13,45,12,3,27,53,16,64,24,33,51,10,15,67,69,44, 65,68,55,71,56,72.
The race leader has now done 239 laps
Despite the drizzle and the ensuing tyre changes by several teams, the rain never really happened, all teams returning to slicks. The rain gave teams the opportunity to play the strategy gamble, two notable beneficiaries were Allan McNish and Thierry Boutsen who both stayed out on slicks moving up to 1st and 3rd respectively, McNish pulling out a lead of almost half a lap.
An interesting fact at half distance was the fact that the two leading cars had spent just 17 mins 38 secs (number 25) and 17 mins 42 secs (number 26) in the pits, both cars having made 15 stops.
Award for endurance this year we think should go not to anyone directly connected with the race but the manic flag waving group of Japanese Nissan supporters who have been encamped on the terraces directly opposite us in the press room, never failing to acknowledge the passing of any of the Nissans since the start, throughout all the drizzle...wonder if the promised storms might change things. Devotion of the highest order!
Back to all things racing; two retirements to report. The number 21 Riley & Scott retired at 02:28 with engine failure while the number 5 car retired with gearbox problems at 02:57, but not before a pit fire at 02:48 which happened while the back was off investigating the problem.
At 02:10, the number 30 John Nielsen Nissan had a long 'scheduled' stop with a brake related problem. The car then came back 5 laps later, straight into the garage, tail off with what turned out to be electrical problems with the fuel pump, rejoining at 02:43 in 7th place. The number 15 Courage finally came out again after a very lengthy stop at 02:15 and is currently circulating at 3:57 as opposed to the leaders at 3:50.
The number 13 Courage and number 29 Toyota have been providing real entertainment with their battle for 3rd place, positions swapping several times depending on pit stops and a spin by Didier Cottaz. With both cars lapping within tenths of each other at 3:51, this could go on for some time....hopefully!
GT2 is still being led by the Bell/Donohue/Drudi Viper with a 3 lap cushion over the number 64 Roock car.
The Momo Ferrari returned to its garage at around 03:40 for further repairs to the front end after its earlier incident. It returned to the track at 04:03 in 13th.
Just when it looked as though things could get a little dull (relatively speaking), the threatened rain returned at 03:40, fairly heavy this time. First casualty was the Martin Brundle driven Toyota which failed to negotiate the Ford chicane in the wet, spinning backwards into the armco and instant retirement. Both GT1-98 Porsches pitted together again, both changing to wets. On leaving the pits, Laurent Aiello in number 26 started to pull away from Bob Wollek at six seconds a lap. The rain was short lived and at 03:55 it was apparently virtually dry between Mulsanne and Arnage. Ralf Kelleners in Toyota number 29 in third place is staying out on slicks. The wets shod Courage driven by Didier Cottaz is reeling him in again.
Race positions after 14 hours of racing are as follows:- 26,25,29,13,32,30,8,40,41,31,12,45,3,16,53,10,27,64,24,55,33,51,67,15,71,69,44,68,65,60,62,56,72
The race leader has covered 211 laps
Firstly, a press release from Chrysler has filled in some gaps. The unscheduled stop for number 51 at 20:10 was to change a cracked exhaust header. The replacement took 18 minutes and the car rejoined in fourth position in GT2. At 21:35, the car was back with a broken gear selector which broke the transmission. The gearbox was changed in 22 minutes. As regards the number 56 Chamberlain Viper, its two unscheduled stops were for a broken throttle spring and later for a repair to the exhaust system.
A retirement we missed happened just before we 'went to press' at midnight. Having spent a considerable amount of time in the pits stuck in last place on 106 laps, the Debora was officially retired at 23:42 with gearbox failure. At 12:03, number 64 Roock 911 GT2 came in and straight into the garage, losing 4 laps with an unspecified problem. 12:07 saw the number 45 Panoz in the hands of Jamie Davis in for an unscheduled stop. After much fumbling in the dashboard area the car returned having dropped to 16th place.
At 12:15 hrs we had the number 65 Roock 911 GT2 in with very heavy left front corner damage. This came about as a result of a close encounter of the tyre wall type while Rob Schirle was at the helm. We gather it was a self inflicted wound. However as a result of this the number 3 Momo Ferrari collected some debris, 'Porsche junk' as they put it. This damaged the front spoiler and a mass of nice matching red tank tape as well as much rivetting was necessary. The car re-emerged having dropped to 14th place.
At 12:37 hrs the number 15 La Filiere Courage came into the pits and straight into the garage for a lengthy stop. We are not sure why and we are not sure if it is out again yet. At 12:50 hrs the number 12 Ferrari in after just one lap of its stint, not really quite enough ! The problem remains a mystery.
12:58 hrs the race leader Porsche number 25 came in for a scheduled stop for fuel and tyres losing the lead to number 26 in the process. Things began to look as if they might get a bit lively at 01:20 hrs when light drizzle started. Thunderstorms are promised during the night which won't please the drivers, imagine a messy bug ridden screen, blinding lights and a and a thunderstorm ... not nice at all... even worse in a sports prototype. We have just recieved a pertinent press release from Michelin .. it states ' Despite a day that started with cold, dank weather with a threat of rain, the race has so far been held in dry , warm conditions. Indeed, the ground temperatures at midnight were still around 20 degrees C and the leading cars have been running the C compound front and D rear combination (tyres designed for the heat of the day) right up until 23:00 hrs. Only at that time did teams first go to the softer option B front, C rear.' They also remind us that they are currently leading LMP1, GT1 and GT2. Not bad eh ?
The positions at the half way mark are as follws :- 26,25,30,13,29,32,5,8,40,28,41,3,31,12,33,45,16,53,10,27,64,55,24,60 21,67,51,15,71,69,62,68,65,44,56,72.
The race leader has completed 182 laps .
Quite a lot to report this time, starting with a major change at the top, with the leader, number 29 Toyota going straight across the gravel trap at the second Mulsanne chicane. It did a bit damage, not too surprisingly, and headed off to the pits where repairs lost it the lead. so it was the number 25 Porsche who inherited the lead, it was worse still since the number 26 Porsche got past as well. So it was now Porsche, Porsche, Toyota.
Then at 22:40 hrs number 29 Toyota came into the pits and straight into its garage. This car hadn’t, to date, had any problems apart from its venture into the gravel, so it was a bit of shock when the back came off and the team set about the gearbox. Remember it was the number 27 Toyota that was in trouble with gears last time. At 22:53 hrs the tail went back on and the car was refuelled and it rejoined in seventh place. In the meantime number 61 car, that was running last retired with engine failure.
Another rather more serious bit of news surrounded the retirement of car number 70 the second Konrad 911 GT2. They retired when the car rolled several times at Mulsanne Corner, actually vaulting the guard rail and safety fencing! The driver, Nick Ham, and several spectators were treated by the medical services after debris got hurled into the spectator areas during this massive roll. Fortunately nobody was seriously injured. But it proves yet again that motor racing is dangerous. This happened at 18:15, but the seriousness has only just been reported.
At 23:05 hrs the number 56 Chamberlain Viper went into its garage and the nose came off .. we don’t know the problem but will keep you informed. At 23:07 hrs Courage number 13 displaced the number 30 Nissan for third place, quite the most impressive Courage performance for some time.At 23:15 hrs the new leader Porsche number 25 had a long stop to change brake pads dropping it behind its sister car number 26.
At 23:18 hrs Courage number 14 which had earlier been seen running very slowly at Arnage came in for a stop during which time there was a flash fire which burnt through a cooling pipe which was replaced and the car rejoined a rather daunting 23 laps behind the leader. We can report that , not all that surprisingly, that the car retired at 23:32 hrs suffering from overheating.
The cars now face the darkness and the long haul through to dawn. The Porsche plan looks to be working as they now occupy first and second place, with the second car hauling in the leader at about five seconds a lap. Has the number one car got a problem ? Just as we write this the number 26 made a routine stop and dropped to second ! Toyota are still in the running as are those Nissans. GT2 is still in the hands of the number 53 Justin Bell Oreca Viper. The other one is running some ten laps behind the class lead. Second is the number 64 Roock racing 911 GT2, they are only 2.5 minutes behind the leader with the other Chamberlain Viper ,number 55, four laps behind in third. Everything is looking nicely poised for some intriguing racing tonight.
The positions at ten hours are as follows :- 25,26,30,13,8,32,29,33,45,5,3,31,40,41,12,28,15,16,53,64,10,55,60,67,27,24,62,21,65,51,69,71, 68, 44,56,72,22.
The leader has now covered 153 laps.
Additional retirement is the number 14.We have finally discovered what went wrong with the two Mercedes. Norbert Haug , Mercedes-Benz Motorsport Chief tells us ‘ Both cars retired with engine failures which were the result of a broken steering servo pump drive. We never experienced such a problem during the 10,000 kms of testing we did. I am very sorry for the AMG crew and our drivers. They have worked faultlessly and are not responsible for the retirements.’ This steering pump problem led to the engine failure that ended the race for Schneider... ‘Naturally I am disappointed. I thought we had a good chance to finish after all our good testing results where we didn’t have any major problems. So to retire after one hour is really upsetting. We just have to wait a year to show what we can achieve here’
Michelin are rather pleased at the moment, at the time of writing their tyres are fitted on the first three cars. Interesting to note that Michelin shod cars are managing to do two stints per set of tyres. This is all part of the race strategy since plenty of valuable time can be wasted during pits stops because the rules state that mechanics are not allowed to touch the car until refuelling is completed, so tyre changes can prove time consuming.
So, how is at going after eight hours .. some of the steam has gone out of the race with Mercedes, BMW and Toyota all in trouble. All the same the number 29 car of Boutsen/Kelleners/Lees is in the lead with about 50 secs to spare. Lurking behind them are the two 911GT1 Porsches, they have been running faultlessly, until 21:30 hrs that is when the number 25 car went off through the gravel trap with Alzen at the helm. In fourth place is the dark horse, the number 30 Nissan. It is calmly cruising around keeping an eye on the leading group waiting for trouble, and with the kind of trouble we are seeing this year it could be a cunning plan.
How is the race progressing ? Well for the Oreca Viper number 51 not too well, it made an unscheduled stop running straight into the garage with an engine exhaust leak. At the same time Martin Brundle set the fastest lap of the race in the repaired Toyota number 28 with a time of 3:42.80 secs, despite being ten laps behind the leaders. 20:15 hrs and the number 40 EMI McLaren was called in by the officials to replace its race number which was scuffed off during its earlier encounter with the scenery at Indianapolis. Meanwhile Brundle was on a mission, he banged in a 3:41.809 secs, another fastest lap, by some margin ! At 20:30 hrs number 31 Nissan is in trouble in the handling department and they came in for checking. 20:40 hrs the first and second placed cars (Numbers 29 and 25) both pit together just 30 secs apart and exit ten seconds apart ... very interesting ! 20 :50 hrs the LMP1 Porsches numbers 7 and 8 are running just two seconds apart until number 7 span off at the first Mulsanne chicane without damage. Alboreto was at the wheel. . 21:00 hrs the severely delayed number 44 Panoz, which had been in the pits for ages with gear box problems and had rejoined the race, blotted its copy book again by hurling itself through the gravel at the Ford chicane. It carried on for a full lap, then pitted was hoovered out and is now back in the race again. 21:03 hrs not satisfied by trying to bouncing photographers through the windscreen this time it missed its pit by a mile and overshot, pulling into a friendly Ferrari pit .. who were most unhappy about the whole debacle since they expected their own car at any moment ! 21:08 hrs ... it looks like it won’t be a lucky three in a row for number 7 as it experienced an engine management problem and expired on the Mulsanne Straight. At the moment it is still there and they are chatting away on their mobile phones ! Once again, at 21:30 hrs cars 29 and 25 arrived in the pits together but this time 50 secs apart due to a sterling effort from Kelleners. On leaving the pits Alzen blotted his copy book big time by going off straight out of the pits at the Dunlop chicane ! He staggered through the gravel onto the service road and escaped. He couldn’t even blame it on cold tyres since they hadn’t actually been changed ! 21:35 hrs saw number 51, the Oreca Viper back in its garage from third place in GT2 ... we don’t know the problem. Also in GT2 the number 72 Larbre Competition entry is one of the fastest cars GT2’s on the track despite losing dozens of laps in the pits having had various problems, such as drive shafts. it is currently running a mere 25 laps off the class leader ! We hope it makes it into the night since it is carrying the amazing and innovative Scroll-Fast information display system. More of this when it gets dark.
Race positions after eight hours :-
29,25,26,30,13,8,32,45,33,5,3,31,40,15,41,12,28,14,16,10,64,53,21,55,60,67,65,62,56,69,24,51,27,71,68, 44,22,72,61..
The race leader has covered 124 laps.
As far as we know the only additional retirement is number 7.
At the start of the four hour report we were able to tell you that Mercedes had retired, now we can tell you all about the demise of both the BMW V12 Le Mans. In a word they are both out of the race ! Another blow for the German motor industry. The problems began after the delays to the number 2 car after its accident and body work repairs. Things then got worse when the team discovered that the new uprights they had fitted after qualifying were of a different type and were losing grease, this could result in the front wheel bearing seizing and this in turn would be highly dangerous. So here is another team loading up its transporter and heading home.
18:05 hrs the number 27 Toyota rejoins .. it seems that the gear selection was at fault and they still have not solved the problem. The leader, number 29 Toyota is going fine, at the moment and they pitted for a routine stop. At the same time the Moretti Ferrari pitted for a routine for stop so it seems that old clutch problem may have gone away. 18:15 the number 27 Toyota goes out for another go, bad gear selection and all ! 18:30 hrs number 44 Panoz, the first we have really heard of them, was running slowly down the Mulsanne Straight and then it stopped. at 18:47 hrs the car was on the move again and made it back to the pits and straight into its garage and no more has been heard about it. Also at 18:50hrs we had the number 12 Ferrari driven by Wayne Gardner , throwing itself into the tyre wall at Indianapolis .. it was extracted by the authorities and it returned relatively undamaged to its pit , we await information on this one. Number 70 the second Konrad Porsche has now retired, reason unknown, maybe because he went off..
At last some good news, some real racing is brewing up between number 8 the LMP1 Porsche and number 13 Courage, enthusiastically driven by Belloc. The Courage eventually got in front , only to lose it again during the pit stops. 19:00 hrs number 27 Toyota returns to the track but travelling slowly. 19:05 hrs the leading number 29 Toyota pitted and returned to the race only to find the number 25 Porsche right up his chuff, less than a second behind. The number 31 Nissan pitted at 19:00 hrs and lost 4 laps for an unspecified reason. Gary Ayles has just planted the number 56 Viper into the gravel out there somewhere and it has now restarted.
At 19:38 hrs drama hit Toyota yet again when Helary threw number 2 8 it into the tyre wall on the pit entrance. It was all caused by the sun and a filthy screen. It was dragged out and it then managed to make the pits full of gravel.. At 19:45 hrs Steve O'Rourke threw the EMI EMKA McLaren at the tyre wall at Indianapolis and is limping back to the pits.Out comes the gaffer tape and Sugden took over the driving. Amongst all this drama the three Nissan R390 GT1's are ploughing round steadily and sounding fine and looking good, maybe not the swiftest cars on the track, but at least they are all running, unlike some !
Race order at six hours :-
29,25,26,8,13,30,7,32,33,3,45,15,5,31,41,40,12,16,51,64,53,21,28,14,10,60,67,55,71,69,68,65, 56,62,72,24,22,61,27,44,
At five hours the retirements were as follows, 1,2,36,50,70,35,73.
The big drama here at Le Mans and the very bad news back at Stuttgart is that both the Mercedes CLK-LM's are out of the race. Ummm ... there must be some red faces hiding at the factory and here in France since both cars suffered engine failures. At 16:00 hrs the second car came in and it never went out again, remember that the first car succumbed at around 15:30 hrs. This was the new all conquering V8 as opposed to the old V12. The new engine was a development of the one found in the Sauber C9 that won in 1989. Maybe they should have stuck with the old, well proven device. Anyway they are now loading up the truck and getting ready to head back home. The other casualty was the number 73 911GT2 of Seiler, Kitchak and Zadra in the number 73 who expired after just two laps. In the meantime the Toyota lads seem radiantly happy after their opening stints ... 'The car is running smoothly, in fact brilliantly, no problems whatsoever.' said Brundle. Boutsen was just as happy 'My car is running very smoothly, with excellent handling. To keep the car in trim I'm braking earlier and taking the corners in a higher gear'. Tsuchiya follows the trend ' I'm very impressed with the car. Just before coming in for my second pit stop to hand over to Katayama I felt slight oversteer'. I wonder if the Mercedes lads felt this optimistic prior to their disaisters ? In LMP1 Gabriele Rafanelli , Race Director BMW Motorsport, was clearly unimpressed by the Courage that clashed with Martini .... ' It is very annoying that Martini was involved in an accident which was no fault of his own.The crash was obviously so hard that the securing lugs for the front hood were affected. We tried fitting a new hood but that didn't work, which is why we had to re-use the old one, which the mechanics repaired in record time' After Kristensen took over he told us ' The car is running perfectly. I tried to be easy on the tyres and not to brake on the limit, whilsts taking as smooth a line as possible in the fast corners. It was however quite tough to drive three turns in this heat'.
At 16:05 hrs Moretti spun the Ferrari 333 SP at the Dunlop chicane. We later gathered that the problem actually lies with the clutch which is playing. However the team are working round the problem and still running. He lost rather a lot of time because while sorting things out he straddled the kerb and got stuck , all very undignified for Mr Moretti who was at the wheel ! The Number 50 Oreca Viper is in trouble, it has stopped at the entrance to the pit lane and is still there after about an hour and a half, it is still technically running but not actually moving ! (At 18:00 hrs we heard the car had retired )We don't know what the problem is. 16:15 saw two cars, number 14 Courage Nissan C51 and number two BMW spinning independently at Mulsanne. The next incident was when the black McLaren of Bscher/Pirro/Capello spun , unaided and on his own , at the first Mulsanne Chicane. He rejoined without damage. 16:55 hrs and the GT2 leader, the Roock 911 GT2, came in for a routine stop and struck a photographer. The result was a slightly damaged photographer and a broken windscreen and wiper on the Porsche. Amazingly it only took a minute to change. The next drama surrounded the Toyota, Eric Helary in the leading number 28 Toyota, spun the car under braking while lapping the slower number 61 911 GT. He shot backwards into and through the kitty litter to emerge at speed, blocking the path of the 911 he had just missed .. all rather close ! He then had to do a full lap and called back into the pits for a lengthy stop to hoover out gravel and bleed the brakes, change pads. At the same time the number 27 car arrived for a scheduled stop and things were getting busy at Toyota ! At 17:40 hrs the number 27 Toyota was going very slowly and apparently missed the pit entrance, he eventually pitted. At the same time number 28 rejoined and came immediately came back into the pits and was wheeled into its garage. Number 27 then also pitted and was also wheeled into the garage. Things were falling apart big time for the uptil then rather relaxed and confident Toyota lads. The fun contiunued when the number 16 Kremer car staggered into the pit lane and expired possibly due to a lack of juice. At 17:50 hrs the third Toyota number 29 was still alive and 22 seconds ahead of the leading number 25 Porsche and the second 911GT1 is lying third. GT2 has been a bit quiet compared with all the drama in GT1 ! At 17:55 hrs GT2 is led by number 51, one of the Oreca Vipers, second number 53, another Oreca Viper and third is number 64 Roock, the one that had its windscreen changed. So with Mercedes gone and Toyota appearing to be in a spot of bother, things are looking are more promising for Porsche.
At 18:00 hrs the running order was as follows :- 29,25,26,30,31,1,8,13,32,7,33,45,40,3,15,21,5,41,44,27,12,51,14,53,16,64,10,28,60,55,67,71,69,56,68,62,65,61,72,22,24,2,70. The leader had covered 62 laps.
At almost exactly 14:00 hrs .. two hours earlier than the traditional 16:00 hrs , the Bentley Arnage pace car pulled off and the 1998 24 Heures du Le Mans was underway. The weather was a bit damp and murky and the track possibly a bit moist . The front runners had clearly lost the plot and apparently forgotten this was a 24 hour race not a sprint ! Brundle eased his Toyota GT-One into the lead and gradually set a pattern. He seemed able to bang in consistent 3:43’s without too much effort. At least that is the way it looked, no doubt our Mr Brundle was pretty busy behind the wheel !
All was not sweetness and light however, at the first chicane at Dunlop cars 35 (Schneider) and 28 (our man Brundle) very nearly came to grief when they both appeared to want to use the same bit of tarmac. All was well and they both pressed on undamaged with Schneider in the lead. But not for long: Brundle took the lead before the end of the first lap. As we mentioned he looked very comfortable. Ferrari number 5 came in a couple of laps earlier than expected to rectify what proved to be a dodgy tyre choice. This heralded the start of the pit stops and then rather to everybody's surprise the leading Toyota came in. Bit strange this ... surely the GT1 Toyota should have run a bit further than that. Some cynics (us !) reckon that it might have gone out with a light fuel load to ensure top class television coverage at the start of the race .. surely not ! To maybe support this view the second Toyota number 29 wasn’t all that far behind. Brundle had spare tyres available just in case he had flat spotted the originals during that first lap incident. In the end he didn’t use them. The leading Mercedes stopped two laps later after 45 minutes, no doubt on schedule. No tyres , just fuel. Number 25 Porsche arrived at the same time for fuel. At 14:55 hrs number 24 Courage tried to close the door on number 2 BMW at Indianapolis and light contact (??) resulted, during the spin he was T-Boned by the BMW, The number 24 Courage came straight in for repairs and went no further at the time of writing.. The BMW pressed on only doing repairs at its scheduled pit stop. The pit stop was a shambles since the body work was clearly never meant to be changed at speed and it took ages. The next drama surrounded Brundle ... the car suddenly slowed and it looked serious. But the car then speeded up again and all seemed well. Later in the pits Brundle ruefully admitted he had inadvertently hit the pit lane speed limiter ! Whoops ! At 15:13 disaster struck the leading Mercedes when it slowed on the pit straight and ground to halt at the exit of the pit lane. Schneider was in deep pooh .. he couldn’t reverse back down the pit lane (although he tried rolling backwards down the gentle incline until a marshall started pushing the other way!) and no way was the car going to make another lap. The record shows that this was where car number 35 ceased to be part of Le Mans 1998 ! Schneider was advised by the marshal that if he went further than 100 meters from the car he would be deemed to have abandoned the car ... no matter it was all over anyway ! The problem was a huge oil leak .. take a look at the photos.