By: Jock Simpson
The second placed Toyota interestingly just did a 3:37 opposed to Jorg Muller’s 3:41 on same lap. Lap times should begin to improve slowly as the air cools, and engine performance increases.
Let us grab a moment to bring you up to date with the cars that will not be going any further for various reasons.
This was the Official list of retirements at Midnight ..
#1 Toyota GT-One Brundle, Collard, Sospiri. The car wound up in the barriers after either a puncture or a suspension failure. Brundle made a heroic attempt to stagger back to the pits but didn’t make it.
#4 Mercedes CLR, Webber , Gounon, Tieman. This was the car that flipped in qualifying and in the warm up. It didn’t start the race.
#5 Mercedes CLR, Bouchut, Dumbreck, Heidfeld. This was the car that flipped with Dumbreck at the wheel.
#6 Mercedes CLR, Schneider, Lamy, Lagorce. Withdrawn by the team after the #5 accident.
#9 Audi R8C, Ortelli, Johansson, Abt. Gearbox failure.
#23 Nissan R391. This car never started after the van de Poele accident in qualifying
#25 Lola -Judd B98/10, Tinseau, Montagny, Terrien. Retired with engine trouble
#29 Ferrari 333SP, Policand, Baldi, Boullion.
#60 Porsche 911 GT2, Ishihara, Iketani, Jurasz. Went off and didn’t restart
#83 Porsche 993 RSR Neugarten, MacQuillan, Westwood. Not allowed to start.
There are others still running despite being miles off the pace. At the time of writing (23:54 hrs) The leading car has done 122 laps :
#31 has done 25 laps but is still officially running
#65 has done 33 laps and it is running rather well now.
#24 has done 47 laps but they are trying to keep going
#62 has done 82 laps no information
#66 has done 88 laps but is still running, at a leisurely pace however.
It is 00:20 hrs and how are things shaping up ? BMW #17 still has a good, but shrinking, lead of 44 secs ahead of the #2 Toyota. 3rd is #15 BMW and behind them is the Japanese #3 Toyota. These are both 2/3 secs slower than the leading pair. As we write the #2 Toyota just took another 2.5 sec bite out of Jorg Muller’s BMW lead. Bit of good news for Audi they have three cars still running despite gearbox worries and the leading car is 5th but two laps behind the leaders.
In GTS the leading Viper is #51 and it is in 14th place, maybe lining up for that elusive top ten finish. #52 and #53 are cruising along minding their own business. Lap times are coming down as the air gets cooler. For example the #7 Panoz with a 3.37 secs.. the #51 Viper with a 4:02 secs. The #65 Porsche 4:10 secs.
The fastest lap to date was McNish in the #2 Toyota. If you were with us earlier you may recall that we were speculating whether Canadian Pole man Michael Schumacher’s 3:35 lap would be beaten ... it is getting closer.
#13 Courage Nissan has just set its best lap of the race a 3:47.25 secs.
Audi #10 is being pushed into its garage, is the gearbox playing up.
The leader #17 has been in and out of the pit and JJ Lehto is at the helm leaving Kristensen to perhaps do the dawn shift .. remember how quick he was in the Joest Porsche at 04:30 in the morning ?
During these last pit stops the Toyota crew was not as quick as BMW and this earned the leader a solid 8 secs bonus. Times are still dropping, the #7 Audi has put in its fastest lap to date, a 3.39.8. The Courage has also chipped away at his 3:47.25 and has done a 3:46.5
We hear that Brundle remains unclear quite why his Toyota snapped out of line, maybe the team will know more if and when they can get to the car.
Panoz are having mixed fortunes, #12 is lying 7th and #11 is 31st and 35 laps behind the leader. #11 suffered from a split oil hose. The #18 BMW with Bscher, Soper and Auberlen are running in 8th place, it is safeish spot and they are not under much pressure, not a bad effort with a 1998 chassis and a private team.
In LMGT class the humble Porsche 996 GT3 #81 is running 19th overall and sixth in GTS and obviously winning LMGT. The #80 car is running 29th after its puncture.
The Paul Belmondo Viper #55 has picked up the pace and they have just put in their best time of the race, as did the Chamberlain Viper #57 another personal best.
17, 2, 15, 3, 8, 21, 12, 18, 7, 13, 19, 27, 14, 51, 52, 53, 61, 55, 81, 67, 56 50, 64, 10, 54, 63, 22, 26, 80, 84, 11, 66, 62, 1, 57, 25, 32, 24, 65, 31, 60Just to make sure that we spook the clockwork BMWs and they run into spot of bother it is worth noting that as far as we can remember they have not, so far, had any problems.
We had a cheery moment when the #24 Riley and Scott Autoexe car that has had a troubled race to say the least, actually came in for what looked like a scheduled stop !
#12 Panoz is in the pits and straight into the garage and the team are working on the back end of the car, problem was high gear box temperature, looks like a new gear box..
Audi #8 regular stop Biela stayed in the car.
The #10 Audi is out and about again with a new gear box and Perry McCarthy at the wheel.
#55 Paul Belmondo Viper has just sorted out the #81 Porsche 996 GT3 and is putting the record straight and getting ahead of it, not before time. Having done that it set it sights on the #61 Friesinger 911GT2. It is between six and ten seconds a lap quicker.
The leading clutch of Vipers, #51 , #52 and #53 are lying 14th, 15th and 16th overall ! They always seem to be creeping up the order together... it is spooky.
#24 Autoexe Riley and Scott spun coming out of Arnage. After a 26 point turn it got stuck on the kerb and after a push start by the very helpful marshalls who appeared oblivious to the danger. Then it was on its way back to the pits for yet another ‘unscheduled stop’ !
So where are we ? The race is now 10 hours old and it seems to be settling into a bit of a pattern as we carry on through the dark. The BMW ##17 still leading the #2 Toyota , the lead seems to stabilised at about two minutes. Behind the Toyota is the #15 BMW running like clockwork and at its own pace , the #3 Toyota and #8 Audi are on the same lap and three laps behind the leader. This could turn into a battle as the race progresses.
In GTS nothing changes, guess what it’s still #51 #52 #53, all Oreca Vipers, then we have #61 and #65.. they are actually having a race and it is the #61 Porsche that is going to lose the battle ! We have to mention the #81 Porsche 996 GT3 that is lying 19th overall, 6th in GTS and winning its own class by ten laps !
#12 Panoz has slipped down to 12th with its gear box problems.
There are now four BMWs in the top ten and privateer Bscher is running 6th.
17, 2, 15, 3, 8, 18, 21, 7, 19, 27, 13, 12, 14, 51, 52, 53, 55, 61, 81, 67, 56, 50, 64, 54, 26, 63, 80, 84, 10, 11, 66, 22, 62, 57, 25, 24, 32, 65, 31.Just as we close and hand over to our colleagues we see that our pals in the Autoexe Ford have done its best lap to date !