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06/13/2007 - 07:00 PM
Le Mans, France
AUDI DRIVERS UP FOR CHALLENGE
After being eclipsed by their new diesel rivals from Peugeot in yesterday's qualifying, Audi's works drivers remained confident in the chances at Le Mans – but remained wary of the possibility that Peugeot has yet to show the full strength of its new Peugeot TDI.
"I am sure that Peugeot are as ready as they can be," said four-time winner Emanuele Pirro. "I wouldn't take it for granted that they are quicker than us in terms of speed, like they were in the pre-test.
"I think qualifying is another story... I think they also might be playing a little bit."
Teammate Dindo Capello, who has won the 24 Hours twice, agreed that the fight between the two diesel-engine manufacturers could be a lot fiercer than people have predicted.
"It is always nice to have another factory team, especially a factory team with such a strong history in motorsport," the Italian said. "Everything Peugeot have done in motorsport, they were successful – rallying, Le Mans, touring cars – that's why we have a lot of respect for Peugeot.
"We know this, even though they are telling everybody that they will be unreliable, that they are not ready to compete with Audi. I am sure that they are ready to compete with us."
F1 and GT veteran Pedro Lamy is a less-know but key element of Peugeot's Le Mans attack. (LAT photo) » More Photos
LAMY BACK IN PROTOTYPES
Although a bulk of his motorsport career has been in GT, Touring and open-wheel cars (including 32 Formula 1 starts), Pedro Lamy came into his new position as a factory Peugeot driver with a tremendous amount of experience.
The Portuguese pilot compiled an extensive prototype experience from 1998-2003 with strong efforts in cars such as Mercedes, ORECA's Chrysler prototype and BMW's V12 LMR, which he raced twice in the American Le Mans Series in 1999.
For Le Mans, he teams with Stephane Sarrazin and Sebastien Bourdais as Peugeot tries to end Audi's dominance at Le Mans with diesel power of its own.
"It is easy to jump in the Peugeot and drive it well," Lamy said. "But I enjoyed driving the BMW, which was the winning car at Le Mans in 1999. The aerodynamic detail is the biggest difference. The tires also have gotten better since then. If you started comparing them side by side, there would be a large difference."
40 HOURS OF LE MANS
The 24 Hours of Le Mans? It's more like closer to 40 hours or more, says Corvette Racing's Dan Binks. When you factor in the Saturday warm-up, the lead-up to the world's most famous auto race, the 24 Hours itself, postrace and tearing down the cars Sunday, it makes for a long two days.
"The preparation is the big key. Any team can run a 24-hour race," said Binks, crew chief for the No. 63 Corvette C6.R. "But you still have to be ready and our team is. We have gearboxes ripped apart and ready to go in, the same with all of our spares. We've done this enough times where we've gotten pretty good at it."
That's safe to say. The Corvette factory squad is going for its sixth class win in seven seasons at Le Mans including the last three by Oliver Gavin, Olivier Beretta and Jan Magnussen. The opposition is both talented and deep with entries from Aston Martin, Saleen and Ferrari, not mention other Corvettes. That puts experience at a premium and no one has more of it than Corvette Racing.
"We go to Le Mans to compete against the world's best, and this year is going to be our most challenging yet," said Johnny O'Connell, who will share the No. 63 Corvette with Ron Fellows and Jan Magnussen. "We've got to be mistake-free and just keep running, running, running. The other teams might have speed on us but about the 18th hour they're going into uncharted territory. We've been there before, and that's our strength. We've got the heart, the experience, and the right people. Corvette Racing just never gives up."
F1 and GT veteran Pedro Lamy is a less-know but key element of Peugeot's Le Mans attack. (LAT photo) » More Photos
ENGE STILL IN PAIN
Tomas Enge has admitted that he is still in pain from the injuries he sustained at St. Petersburg's American Le Mans Series race in April.
The Czech driver sustained multiple injuries, including a severely shattered elbow, when he crashed on the street circuit. Although he was declared fit by doctors several weeks ago and won on his return to the ALMS at Miller Motorsports Park, he has not yet fully recovered.
Unlike Tom Kristensen, Enge was fit in time to take part in the pre-event test two weeks ago, where he was able to complete a long run to judge his condition.
"I had to see how it was physically and speed-wise, and the test went well," Enge told Autosport.com. "I was running consistently and I did a full stint."
"Physically, it was fine, Le Mans is not a hard track for the driver. It is not perfect, it's still painful, but right now I have not been working too hard."
Enge admitted that he feels more pain when he is out of the car rather than when he is sitting in the Aston Martin DBR9, and he is not expecting to have any problems during the race.
"I don't think I will have a problem to do double stints in the race," he added. "But we are flexible, and I have told my team that I might only do a few stints. We can be flexible if things are bad, but I don't expect them to be."
Catch up on the latest in Champ Car racing each month in RACER. David Phillips catches up with Derrick Walker on the transformation of his Team Australia into a title contender in our July issue, on sale now.
LOLA VS. ZYTEK
Adrian Fernandez, can you compare your Lola-powered Acura in the American Le Mans Series to the Zytek prototype at Le Mans?
"This is a different track than anything we race in America, so it's difficult to compare the two," Fernandez said. "You're doing speeds here that you don't do in America. Plus the track is very smooth; there are no bumps. The sight differences and seating positions are nothing that you don't get used to. There are different spaces to look at. I don't want to say either is better than the other."
Fernandez is at Le Mans as preparation for a hopeful entry next year for Lowe's Fernandez Racing and Acura.
AROUND THE PADDOCK:
With the factory Zytek withdrawn in P1, Stefan Johansson moved into one of the works Courage entry with Jean-Marc Gounon and Guillume Moreau. Johansson of course has experience with Courage as Highcroft Racing's Acura-powered entry in the American Le Mans Series was originally a Courage before being morphed into an Acura ARX. ... Liz Halliday is back in a prototype at Le Mans with Noel Del Bello's AER-powered Courage LC75. He recorded her first laps in Wednesday's first session after the car crashed before she could get in it 10 days ago at the Test Day.
24 Hours of LeMans Guide - Click HERE
LeMans Photo Gallery - Click HERE
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Email your questions to the SPEED LeMans broadcast team at LeMans24onSPEED@gmail.com. SPEED's all-star lineup of Leigh Diffey, Greg Creamer, Dorsey Schroeder, Calvin Fish, Brian Till, Chris Neville, Andrew Marriott and Justin Bell just might answer it on-air!
