We’re closing in on the start of the greatest endurance race of them all, and a wet final practice session proved a bit of an equalizer in the LMP1 class.
Allan McNish topped the times in his Audi by just more than a second, running a 3:51.404 to Marc Gene’s 3:52.455 in one of the week-leading Peugeots. The Pugs played it very conservatively because of the wet track.
The results can be found at various spots at the Le Mans site, including here.
So keep that in mind as the race starts. Le Mans officials are saying that showers are expected throughout the race.
There’s also some talk, given the weather, of how much tires might play a part. One highlight is that Dunlop has brought some new technology to the race, including wet weather configurations that, I believe, haven’t had much more than some tests under their (steel) belts.
Two other quick notes.
First, the Group C Race results:
The second race of the day was won by Justin Law in car No 4 Jaguar XJR9 at an average speed of 201.285 kph second was Gary Evans in a Nissan R88C and third was Gary Pearson in a Jaguar XJR11, all of which were C1 cars.
Class C2 was won by Duncan Mackay in his Spice SE88C, GTP was won by Nathan Kinch in a Spice Chevrolet SP92 and the GTP/Light class by Mike Furness in a Spice SE88CL.
The track had dried out just about and no further rain is forecast before the main race starts at 15.00.
Then the Porsche Cup*:
The race was won by car No 3 the Motorsport Academy team car driven by Sylvain Noel at an average speed of 181.404. Second was Kevin Estre in the Sofrev ASP car and third was the British Driver Tim Harvey in the Redline Racing car.
32 cars took part in a semi wet first race of the weekend.
Sit back, maybe lay back given the long length of the race, and let’s watch Le Mans.
* Hey, look! An opportunity for me to mention the whole MINI challenging Porsche to a race at Road Atlanta, which the bwak bwak chicken Porsche folks turned down. If you didn’t see it, give it a quick search. Fun little marketing, and I totally understand why Porsche wouldn’t say yes. But feel free to argue — politely as ever — the issue. I think if the course was twisty enough, the MINI could have at least kept up. It can take some short lines, as I know. The video with Porsche’s response is pretty awesome.
