73e édition des 24 Heures du Mans
Selon les prévisions météo, le week-end s’annonce radieux. Le thermomètre dépasse les 30 degrés.
16h00 précise, la Pescarolo Judd #16 de Jean-Christophe Boullion, détentrice de la pole position, passe la ligne de départ. Soheil Ayari sur la Pescarolo #17 et Ryo Michigami sur la Dome Mugen qui a pris le meilleur sur l’Audi du Champion Racing n°2
Les deux Aston Martin DBR9 mènent le LM GT1, la 59 devance la 58. En LM P2, Darren Turner sur la Lola AER Intersport #32 devance la Belmondo Courage Ford #37.
Dès la fin du 1er tour d'ouverture, Jan Lammers au volant de la Dome Judd n ° 10 du Racing for Holland regagne la voie des stands pour ravitailler en carburant.
Du changement en tête de la catégorie LM GT2, Bill Auberlen sur la Panoz #77 devance la Porsche 911 GT3 RSR du Alex Job Racing.
2ème tour. L'une des favorites de la catégorie LMP2, la RML Lola MG #25 regagne les stands en raison d’une température élevée du moteur. Après un bref arrêt pour contrôler les niveaux d’eau, elle rejoint la piste mais le mal est persistant. Erdos est contraint de rentrer au ralenti.
En tête de la course, les deux Pescarolo imposent un rythme soutenu malgré la chaleur. 5 secondes séparent Boullion et Ayari. Le 3ème est à 22 secondes après seulement quatre tours.
16h20 Erdos arrive lentement à son stand puis rentre directement à l’intérieur de son box.
16h21 Coup dur pour l’Aston Martin DBR9 n°29. Le leader de la catégorie LM GT1, Darren Turner, est pénalisé d’un stop-and-go pour avoir tapé un cône délimiteur de piste au raccordement.
16h25 l'équipe RML vient de diagnostiquer les problèmes dont souffrent la Lola MG n°25. La boite de vitesses à l’origine des soucis est remplacée. L’intervention dure 10 minutes.
16h29 Après seulement huit tours, Soheil Ayari qui pointait en seconde position rentre aux stands pour un ravitaillement de routine. La Pescarolo n°17 regagne la piste à la 8ème place juste devant la Courage Judd n°13.
16h30 Darren Turner sur l’Aston Martin DBR9 59 effectue son stop-and go. Le règlement l’empêche toutefois d’en profiter pour ravitailler dans la foulée. Un ravitaillement 2 boucles plus tard puis un second stop and go pour une nouvelle quille renversée vont bouleverser la donne en tête du LM GT1. L’Aston Martin DBR9 #58 devance maintenant la Corvette C6 #64 d’Oliver Gavin.
16h33 Après 9 tours, le leader Jean-Christophe Boullion ravitaille. La Dome Mugen #5 de Ryo Michigami s’empare temporairement de la première place.
16h37 la Dome ravitaille à son tour.
Status quo en LMP2. La Lola AER #32 devance la Courage Ford #37 du Belmondo Racing. Pas de changement non plus en LM GT2, la Panoz Elan #77 tiend toujours la tête devant la Porsche 911 GT3 RSR #71.
16h39 La Lola RML #25 stoppe pour la 5ème fois à son stand.
16h40 Ryo Michigami abandonne sa place de leader pour ravitailler et régler un problème de changement de vitesse. La japonaise perd un tour.
16h41 Les Audi n°2 et n°4 rentrent ensemble dans la pit lane pour ravitailler. Jean-Christophe Boullion sur la Pescarolo-Judd n°16 reprend la tête de la course devant la sœur jumelle n°16.
Après seulement 12 tours, le duo Pescarolo possède une avance de près d'une minute.
La Direction de course est très stricte avec les concurrents qui franchissent les lignes blanches qui délimitent les bords de la piste. Stop-and-go pour la Ferrari Cirtek Motorsport 92 et la Spyker C8 n°85.
16h54 La galère continue pour la Dallara Nissan Rollcenter n°8. Le règlement lui impose de prendre part à la course avant 17h00 sous peine d’exclusion. Michael Krumm quitte la voie des stands pour un tour à petite allure. Les problèmes ne sont visiblement pas résolus.
Phil Bennett, dans le n ° 30 Courage Judd Kruse Motorsport, a pris les devants en LMP2, il devance de quelques secondes la Courage Ford Belmondo n ° 37.
A la fin de la 1ère heure, les positions sont les suivantes
LMP1
1. No. 16 Pescarolo Judd, Boullion (16 tours) - 2. No. 17 Pescarolo Judd, Ayari à 13 secondes - 3. No. 2 Champion Audi, Pirro à 1m15s
LMP2
1. No. 30 Kruse Motorsport Courage Judd, Bennett - 2. N ° 37 Belmondo Courage Ford, Andre - 3.No. 33 Intersport Courage AER, Zlobin
GT1
1. No. 64 Corvette C6-R, Gavin - 2. N ° 59 Aston Martin DBR9, Turner - 3. N ° 58 Aston Martin DBR9, Kox
GT2
1. No. 71 Alex Job Porsche 911 GT3 RSR, Lieb - 2. No. 76 Raymond Narac Porsche 911 GT3 RSR, Narac - 3. No. 80 Flying Lizard Porsche 911 GT3 RSR, Van Overbeek
24 hours of Le Mans 2005 - 16h00-17h00 - First hour
The final preliminaries of the 73rd running of the 24 Hours of Le Mans got under way at 15:26 hrs. when the green flag was waved to indicate that the track was open. Cars pulled away to do almost a full lap of the 13.650km circuit; at the end of which they could either run slowly through the pit-lane and set off on another lap, or head for their appointed slot on the grid.
Last-minute drama. The No. 69 JMB Ferrari 575 GTC had to be push-started; it will be interesting to see how the team cope with their first pit-stop. There was more drama for the No. 8 Rollcentre Dallara Nissan; this car did not line up on the start-finish straight as the team completed a late engin-change. The change was complete by 15:30 hrs, but agonisingly the car then refused to rev; the team diagnosed an electrical problem and were forced to start yet another engine change. Finally, the No. 23 Gerard Welter WR failed to take up its grid slot, starting the race from the pit lane. The No. 36 Belmondo Courage Ford had to be pushed off the grid when the engine failed to start. It was pushed into pit-lane and back to its garage to have the battery changed.
The race got underway at the traditional start time of precisely 16:00 hrs. The pace car led the grid around the 13.650 km circuit so that the pole sitting No. 16 Pescarolo Judd crossed the start line at exactly the right moment. Ahead of the teams were over 5,000 kms of racing. As an added complication, the race is set to be run under scorching conditions, with temperatures well over 30 Celsius on both days.
As the cars roared up the start-finish straight the No. 16 Pescarolo Judd took the lead from pole with Jean-Christophe Boullion at the wheel, ahead of Soheil Ayari in the sister No. 17 Pescarolo Judd. Ryo Michigami, in the No. 5 Jim Gainer International Dome-Mugen, found a way past the No. 2 Champion Audi to claim third on the opening lap.
The Aston Martin DBR9 pair swapped over from their grid positions, the No. 59 Aston Martin DBR9 going past the sister No. 58 Aston Martin DBR9 to become the leading LM GT1 entry. Remarkably, on lap 3, Darren Turner managed to overtake the No. 37 Belmondo Courage Ford, which was running second in LMP2 – the class leader was the No. 32 Intersport Lola AER.
Lammers driving, came into the pit-lane and took on a significant amount of fuel. The class lead in LM GT2 also changed hands, Bill Auberlen taking the No. 77 Panoz Elan to the front, ahead of the No. 71 Alex Job Porsche 911 GT3 RSR – a sizable achievement for a front engined car.
One of the favourites in the LMP2 class, the No. 25 RML Lola MG, endured a torrid start to the race. Tommy Erdos brought the car into the pits at the end of the second lap because of high engine temperatures, going out again shortly afterwards. However, he then brought it in at the end of the next lap with the same problem, again rejoining.
The two Pescarolo entries set a searing pace at the front of the field despite the heat, lapping almost five seconds quicker than the third-placed car, opening up a 22-second lead after only four laps.
The troubled times for the No. 25 RML Lola MG continued, Tommy Erdos bringing the car slowly back to the pits at 16:20 hrs and going straight into the garage. Only a minute later came a blow for the No. 59 Aston Martin DBR9 leading the LM GT1 class as Darren Turner was hit with a stop-and-go penalty for hitting a marker cone.
By 16:25 hrs the RML squad had diagnosed the problems being suffered by the No. 25 RML Lola MG as being gearbox-related; the team were forced to change the gear selector, which took just over ten minutes.
After just 29 minutes and eight laps, Soheil Ayari brought the second-placed No. 17 Pescarolo Judd in for what appeared to be a routine refuelling stop, rejoining down in eight place just ahead of the No. 13 Courage Judd.
At 16:32 hrs Darren Turner brought the No. 59 Aston Martin DBR9 in for his stop and go penalty. The rules prevented him from then stopping in his pit, so he headed back to the track. The time lost dropped him to third in LM GT1, handing the class lead to the sister No. 58 Aston Martin DBR9 and allowing Ollie Gavin in the No. 64 Corvette C6-R to move up to second. Just over a minute later, at the end of lap 9, Jean-Christophe Boullion brought the No. 16 Pescarolo Judd in from the lead for a refuelling stop, as per the sister car a lap earlier. That handed the overall lead to the No. 5 Jim Gainer International Dome-Mugen.
The top two in LMP2 did not change over the first 20 mintues, the No. 32 Intersport Lola AER still running ahead of the No. 37 Belmondo Courage Ford. In LM GT2 the No. 77 Panoz Elan continued to hold the lead, still ahead of the No. 71 Alex Job Porsche 911 GT3 RSR as the first round of pit stops began to take place.
At 16:40 hrs Ryo Michigami brought the race-leading No. 5 Jim Gainer International Dome-Mugen into the pits – however, this wasn’t just a routine stop as the driver had a problem with the paddle gearshift; the team lost a lap sorting the problem out. At the same time the No. 25 RML Lola MG returned to the pits for the fourth time, clearly still suffering technical problems. The first round of pit stops caused a flurry of activity, with both No. 2 Champion Audi and No. 4 Audi Playstation Team Oreca Audi coming into pit-lane together from second and third overall; the changes saw Jean-Christophe Boullion resume the lead in
the No. 16 Pescarolo Judd, with the No. 17 Pescarolo Judd sister car back up to second.
After just 12 laps the Pescarolo duo had amassed a lead of almost a minute. The race organisers are being very strict about crossing the white lines that indicate the edge of the circuit, handing out stop-and-go penalties to the No. 92 Cirtek Motorsport Ferrari 360 Modena GTC and No. 85 Spyker C8 Spyder.
At 16:45 third and fourth in LM GT1 came in almost together for routine stops, third placed No. 59 Aston Martin DBR9 coming an ahead of No. 63 Corvette C6-R.
Three minutes later the leading pair came in, with Peter Kox in the No. 58 Aston Martin DBR9 only a second ahead of Ollie Gavin in the No. 64 Corvette C6-R. It was close, but Gavin made it out ahead of Kox to claim the LM GT1 class lead in eleventh overall – first blood to Corvette in the pit-stop battle.
The crew of the No. 8 Rollcentre Dallara Nissan continued to be unable to get the engine to rev; the regulations state that had the car not left the pit-lane by 17:00 hrs it would be excluded.
At 16:54 hrs Michael Krumm limped out of the pit-lane agonisingly slowly to meet the deadline, crawling around the circuit at no more than tickover. Phil Bennett, in the No. 30 Kruse Motorsport Courage Judd, took the lead in LMP2, already a lap down after less than an hour and just seconds ahead of the No. 37 Belmondo Courage Ford. The LM GT2 class lead also changed hands, with Mike Rockenfeller in the No. 71 Alex Job Porsche 911 GT3 RSR going ahead of the No. 77 Panoz Elan, which now has Robin Liddell at the wheel.
