June 16, 2010
(Photo by Rick Dole, Courtesy of Michelin North America)
The Patrouille de France - the precision aerobatic demonstration team of the French Air Force - does their customary low-level pass before the start of the 24 Hours of Le Mans.
(Photo by Rick Dole, Courtesy of Michelin North America)
It wasn't to be this year for the much vaunted and heavily-favored Peugeot Team.
(Photo by Rick Dole, Courtesy of Michelin North America)
Highcroft Racing finished ninth in LMP2 and 25th overall in the team’s Le Mans debut. The HPD ARX-01c of David Brabbham, Marino Franchitti and Marco Werner lost time initially to a flat tire and then a cooling issue while running second in class. Another HPD ARX-01c – the Strakka Racing entry – won the class and placed fifth overall. “The guys at Highcroft really did an amazing job - I am very proud of them and would certainly go into battle with them any day,” said team owner Duncan Dayton. “They faced a huge task in getting everything ready to run this aero package and do this style of pit stop for the first time. They are all extremely dedicated and I am eternally grateful for their efforts and very proud to come to Le Mans with them to fly the Highcroft flag.”
(Photo by Rick Dole, Courtesy of Michelin North America)
GT2 was a titanic struggle among the top competitors with Porsche winning the class for the first time since 2007. Porsche factory driver Wolf Henzler teamed up with Marc Lieb and Richard Lietz in their Team Felbermayr Proton Porsche 911 GT3 RSR to win GT2 by two laps.
(Photo by Rick Dole, Courtesy of Michelin North America)
The Corvette Racing team battled hard - with its nose-to-tail duel with the Risi Competitzione Ferrari F430GT being one of the highlights of the race - but alas it was not to be. The No. 63 Corvette C6.R retired with engine failure - a first for Corvette Racing in eleven years of competing at Le Mans - shortly after 7 a.m. on Sunday having completed 225 laps. And then Corvette Racing's bid for its first GT2 title in the 24 Hours of Le Mans ended at 9:42 a.m. when the No. 64 Corvette C6.R also retired with an apparent engine problem. Driver Oliver Gavin nursed the car to a marshal's station at Mulsanne corner, where it was pushed behind the barriers and officially retired. This was after the car suffered a huge impact after an on-track run-in with a Peugeot prototype that was attempting to make a pass. "It's frustrating that we get so far into it, we prove that we have the speed and the pace to win the race, and then a crazy move by one of the Peugeot drivers forced Manu (Emmanuel Collard) off the road at a very dangerous spot," said Gavin. "Everybody has to share the track; we are racing four different classes, and every driver has to have respect for the others. That accident was huge, but it shows the strength of the car that Manu was able to drive back to the pits and climb out without an injury. The guys fixed the car brilliantly after the crash, and I was able to run my fastest lap of the race with a rebuilt car," Gavin said. "The Corvette Racing team is fantastic, and I literally trust them with my life. I'm impressed with their spirit, guts, and determination to take on everybody. We had the fastest car for 18 hours, but unfortunately it wasn't enough." After six wins in the GTS/GT1 class at Le Mans, Corvette Racing was bidding for its first title in GT2. "There are different ways to make history, and today's result certainly wasn't what we set out to accomplish," said Corvette Racing program manager Doug Fehan. "At the end of the day, you have to look at what you did accomplish and the goals that you had set. The Corvettes qualifying first and second in an extremely competitive class validated all of the time spent designing and developing the GT2 Corvette C6.R," he noted. "Second, we demonstrated the value of safety engineering being transferred from production to racing. The No. 64 Corvette had a huge impact, but Emmanuel walked away and is feeling fine. That's a testament to the product relevance of the Corvette Racing program. So now we go back, we work harder, we improve ourselves, and we look forward to coming back next to achieve our goal of winning the 24 Hours of Le Mans," Fehan said. "We never give up at Corvette Racing."
(Photo by Rick Dole, Courtesy of Michelin North America)
On to the Mulsanne...
(Photo by Rick Dole, Courtesy of Michelin North America)
The impressive pit lane complex at Le Mans.
(Photo by Rick Dole, Courtesy of Michelin North America)
There is nothing like the 24 Hours of Le Mans.
(Photo by Rick Dole, Courtesy of Michelin North America)
Looking down the pit straight...
(Photo by Rick Dole, Courtesy of Michelin North America)
The third place Audi hammers on into the night.
(Photo by Rick Dole, Courtesy of Michelin North America)
The winning Audi makes another stop in the pits. It was another triumphant day at the 24 Hours of Le Mans for Michelin as the French tire company scored its 13th consecutive overall win, breaking the previous record for distance with nearly an hour remaining. Michelin teams claimed the wins in all four classes, raising the Michelin record of class wins at Le Mans to 35 of a possible 44 since 2000.
Editor-in-Chief's Note: Check out Michelin's excellent wrap-up coverage from Le Mans. Go here. - PMD
(Yokohama Tire)
Yokohama's eco racing continues as its orange oil-infused ENV-R2 race tires will be on an electric buggy in the upcoming Pikes Peak International Hill Climb, June 27. The ENV-R2 tires - which cut petroleum use by 20 percent - are the same ones used on Porsches in the IMSA Patrón GT3 Challenge by Yokohama and the new ALMS GT3 Challenge (GTC) Class. In 2009 the Yokohama-sponsored EV buggy sported off-road Geolandar® tires and placed second in its class with Japanese driver Ikuo Hanawa behind the wheel, just missing the EV world record by 13 seconds. Hanawa is back this year piloting the new EV Sports Concept HER-02 Sanyo battery-powered electric buggy with a new AC Propulsion engine, but this time it will have the ENV-R2 tires which cut petroleum use in the manufacturing process by 20 percent by utilizing sustainable resources such as orange oil and natural rubber. The orange oil technology developed by Yokohama’s motorsports division is part of the company’s overall global environmental strategy. The proprietary technology, which combines orange oil with natural rubber to form a new compound called “Super Nano-Power Rubber,” is used in race tires and Yokohama’s dB Super E-specTM, an everyday passenger car tire that debuted in July 2009.
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