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krabu
June 12th, 2003, 12:07
Yesterday the 1st qualifying was and here are the times:

1 Kristensen/Capello/Smith (Bentley) 3m 32.843s
2 Brabham/Herbert/Blundell (Bentley) 3m 35.222s
3 Biela/McCarthy/Salo (Audi) 3m 37.076s
4 Lehto/Johansson/Pirro (Audi) 3m 37.316s
5 Lammers/Bosch/Wallace (Dome-Judd) 3m 37.350s
6 Ara/Magnussen/Werner (Audi) 3m 37.391s
7 Oritz/Gabbiani/Gommendy (Dome-Judd) 3m 38.908s
8 Beretta/Jeannette/Papis (Panoz) 3m 40.766s
9 Boullion/Lagorce/Sarrazin (Coruage-Peugeot) 3m 40.839s
10 Kondo/Katayama/Fukuda (Dome-Mugen) 3m 41.608s

Looks like our friends over at Bentley can steal our long line of victorys this year. Well...only as long as it stays within the family. :D

Here's also a map over this years track - with speeds based on the data recorder in one of the Audi R8s.

krabu
June 12th, 2003, 23:55
Todays pictures from the sunny Le Mans.

krabu
June 12th, 2003, 23:56
:race:

krabu
June 12th, 2003, 23:57
Stunning picture. :bow: :D

krabu
June 12th, 2003, 23:57
Did'nt they rebuild this part of the track last year? I think so...

krabu
June 13th, 2003, 00:00
"Authentic Audi Service and Parts" :D

krabu
June 13th, 2003, 00:00
:bow:

krabu
June 13th, 2003, 00:01
Also a really nice picture. :D

krabu
June 13th, 2003, 00:02
:incar:

krabu
June 13th, 2003, 00:03
And the last one for today...I saved the best for last.
To quote Vin Diesel in xXx:
"I wan't all that in here!" :D

krabu
June 13th, 2003, 07:47
Fastest Audi third on the grid at Le Mans

The three Audi customer have achieved good starting positions for the Le Mans 24 Hour race (start on Saturday 4 p.m. local time). During final qualifying on Thursday evening, Audi Sport UK, Audi Sport Japan Team Goh and Team ADT Champion Racing captured third, fifth and sixth positions on the starting grid. Fastest Audi driver was Frank Biela, who has won the Le Mans 24 Hour race three times in a row and could write Le Mans history: In the 80-year history of the French long distance classic, no driver has ever managed to win the race in four successive years.

“Third position on the grid does not mean much in a 24 hour race,” explained Frank Biela after the qualifying. “Despite that, it is a nice feeling to start so near to the front of the grid.” Biela was already the fastest Audi driver during Wednesday’s first qualifying session. Thursday, Audi Sport UK’s Audi R8 dropped to sixth position, before Biela improved to third on the grid behind the two works cars of the Bentley team in the darkness, with about one hour to go.

Biela’s team-mates at Audi Sport UK are Britain’s Perry McCarthy and former Finnish Formula One pilot Mika Salo, who competes at Le Mans for the first time. “It’s a great track, the Audi R8 is fun to drive, and yesterday I drove for a full hour in darkness for the first time. This was a completely new experience for me,” said Salo. “I’m really looking forward to the race.”

The two other Audi customer teams will start on Saturday from the third row on the grid. Jan Magnussen secured Audi Sport Japan Team Goh the fifth position. “I’m sure I could have gone faster, but I did not get a clear lap,” explained the Dane who drives his first race in an R8. His team mates are Japan’s Seiji Ara and German Marco Werner. Stefan Johansson, JJ Lehto and Emanuele Pirro will start with Team ADT Champion Racing’s Audi R8 from sixth position on the grid. “We have a good set-up for the race,” said Pirro, who along with Biela, aims for his fourth consecutive Le Mans victory.

“I am very content with the performance of the Audi customer teams,” was the positive qualifying resumee of Dr Wolfgang Ullrich, Head of Audi Sport. “It seems that the teams found a very good setup and will be able to run at a very fast pace in the race.” The Audi teams are counting on the well known reliabilty of the R8, the economic fuel consumption of the Audi FSI engine and the easy way to work on the car: while practicing, the Audi customer teams changed the complete rear section of the car including the gearbox in less than three and a half minutes.

The starting grid at Le Mans

1 Kristensen/Capello/Smith (Bentley) 3m 32.843s
2 Brabham/Herbert/Blundell (Bentley) 3m 35.098s
3 Biela/McCarthy/Salo (Audi) 3m 35.745s
4 Lammers/Bosch/Wallace (Dome-Judd) 3m 36.156s
5 Ara/Magnussen/Werner (Audi) 3m 36.418s
6 Lehto/Johansson/Pirro (Audi) 3m 36.857s
7 Goossens/Matthews/Tinseau (Riley & Scott) 3m 37.476s
8 Ortiz/Gabbiani/Gommendy (Dome-Judd) 3m 38.058s
9 Cochet/Gounon/Gregoire (Courage-Judd) 3m 40.400s
10 Beretta/Jeannette/Papis (Panoz) 3m 40.766s

Benman
June 13th, 2003, 16:27
krabu,

thanks for the great pics:D
i actually don't mind at all if team Bentley wins. in fact, i'll be
routing for them. think about it. the car IS a R8 in drag. same
chassis (modified), same engine (modified), AND same Audi
team members!!! lets face it. THIS IS TEAM AUDI!!!:cheers:

Ben:addict: :addict: GO AUDI (i mean Bentley):cheers:

Erik
June 14th, 2003, 12:57
Two pretty good link with videos/interviews etc.

http://www.eurosport.com/home/pages/V3/L0/S76/E5522/sport_Lng0_Spo76_Evt5522_Sto445020.shtml

http://www.speedarena.com/special/le_mans_03/le_mans_03.html

Erik
June 14th, 2003, 19:35
The Audi Nuvolari quattro on the starting grid at Le Mans

http://www.rs6.com/forum/attachment.php?s=&postid=8362

krabu
June 15th, 2003, 00:06
Audi Sport UK is out! :vsad:
They ran out of fuel and are the first Audi R8 EVER to not finish the race...borring, very borring. :(

krabu
June 15th, 2003, 00:54
From the start at 16:00 CET.

krabu
June 15th, 2003, 00:55
So beautiful picture. :race:

krabu
June 15th, 2003, 00:56
Does'nt this look very much like a Florida or Australian track?

Erik
June 15th, 2003, 13:01
Online status from 24h LeMans - still looking good!

http://www.lemans.org/2003/24auto/pages/classements_gb.shtml

krabu
June 15th, 2003, 17:19
Audi drivers on the podium for the fifth time in a row at Le Mans

The balance of Audi at the famous Le Mans 24 Hour race remains unique: Following three consecutive victories of the Audi factory team in the years 2000, 2001 and 2002, an Audi customer team repeated the result, that Audi had achieved in 1999 on their Le Mans debut. Finishing third with the Audi R8 of Team ADT Champion Racing, Stefan Johansson, JJ Lehto and Emanuele Pirro made it the fifth time in a row that Audi drivers have stood on the podium at Le Mans. The R8 of Audi Sport Japan Team Goh finished fourth. The R8 of Audi Sport UK ran out of fuel and retired already in the early stages of the race.

The race at a glance

Hour 1 (16 – 17 hrs): #6 Lehto temporarily in the lead, #6 Lehto third at the end of the first hour ahead of #5 Magnussen and #10 Biela
Hour 2 (17 – 18 hrs): Shortly before 18 hrs #10 Biela runs out of fuel and retires
Hour 3 (18 – 19 hrs): #6 Lehto drops to 4th behind #5 Magnussen due to a puncture
Hour 4 (19 – 20 hrs): #6 Johansson refuels during a Safety Car period, loses time due to red light at pit exit. #5 Werner has to change the front section of the bodywork
Hour 6 (21 – 22 hrs): #6 Pirro moves to 3rd in front of #5 Ara
Hour 10 (1 – 2 hrs): #5 Magnussen has front right suspension changed (lost about 9 minutes)
Hour 12 (3 – 4 hrs): #5 Werner reports misfire, spark plugs and other parts of the engine peripherals are changed. Lost about 11 minutes
Hour 15 (6 – 7 hrs): #6 Pirro has battery changed (lost about 4 minutes and 30 seconds)
Hour 18 (9 – 10 hrs): #6 Lehto hits oil and slides into gravel of first chicane, about 4 minutes lost
Hour 23 (14 – 15 hrs): #6 Johansson has puncture and battery changed again
Hour 24 (15 – 16 hrs): #6 Pirro finishes third behind the two Bentley factory cars. #5 Ara crosses the finish line in fourth position

Quotes after the race

Emanuele Pirro (Team ADT Champion Racing Audi R8 #6): “It’s an amazing feeling to be on the winners’ rostrum for a fifth consecutive year here at Le Mans. We did the best job possible in the circumstances and for a privateer team to climb on to the podium here is an incredible achievement.”

Marco Werner (Audi Sport Japan Team Goh Audi R8 #5): “We were fast but did not have the necessary luck. After finishing third last year, of course I would have liked to step on the podium again. But a third and a fourth place in my first two Le Mans races are still quite an achievement.”

Frank Biela (Audi Sport UK Audi R8 #10): “I am just so upset for the team. I found myself baulked by another car beside me and I couldn’t turn into the pit-lane which meant I had to start another lap. I knew immediately that I would not have enough fuel to do so. When the engine died, I tried to get back to the pits using the starter but it was impossible.”

Dr Wolfgang Ullrich (Head of Audi Sport): “The Audi customer teams have done a great job and proven how good the Audi R8 is as a year old ‘used car’. You should not forget the basic concept of the R8 is now four years old. Bentley has developed a completely new car for this year’s race and has earned the victory. The early retirement of Audi Sport UK was a shame. But it proves once more how difficult it is to win Le Mans. Even the smallest mistake can upset your plans.“

Results

1 Kristensen/Capello/Smith (Bentley) 377 laps
2 Brabham/Herbert/Blundell (Bentley) - 3 laps
3 Johansson/Lehto/Pirro (Audi R8) - 5 laps
4 Ara/Magnussen/Werner (Audi R8) - 7 laps
5 Beretta/Jeannette/Papis (Panoz) - 17 laps
6 Lammers/Bosch/Wallace (Dome-Judd) - 17 laps
7 Cochet/Gounon/Gregoire (Courage-Judd) - 17 laps
8 Boullion/Lagorce/Sarrazin (Courage-Peugeot) - 21 laps
9 Helary/Ayari/Minassian (Courage-Peugeot) - 25 laps
10 Kox/Enge/Davies (Ferrari) - 41 laps

Erik
June 16th, 2003, 10:45
The magnificent homepage of the winners

http://www.teambentley.com/