Le Mans 24 Hour - Audi and Peugeot duel at dawn in Le Mans

Sun, 12 Jun 08:26:00 2011

Audi's sole surviving works car fought a duel at dawn with Peugeot in the Le Mans 24 Hours sportscar race with the rivals trading the lead through the pitstops.

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After a chilly night at the La Sarthe circuit, dawn broke with the number two Audi lapping just a fraction faster than the three Peugeots running in close formation behind.

However, there was some concern about the Audi shared by Frenchman Benoit Treluyer, Switzerland's Marcel Faessler and German Andre Lotterer after smoke was seen coming from the rear of the car after an otherwise routine pitstop.

While the Audi diesel was faster, it was also thirstier and requiring more frequent pitstops than the Peugeots.

Audi's other two works contenders were destroyed in huge accidents involving slower Ferraris on Saturday, with Germany's Mike Rockenfeller kept in hospital overnight.

Former British winner Allan McNish was lucky to escape unhurt when he clipped a slower Ferrari and crashed the number three Audi spectacularly in the opening hour, bringing out the safety car.

Rockenfeller then wrote off the number one R18 TDI when he hit another Ferrari while travelling at full speed on the fast stretch leading to Indianapolis with eight hours gone and darkness descending.

The safety car was deployed for the fourth time in the early hours after more crashes with full racing only resuming at around 06:30 local (05:30 UL).

It then came out again at around 07:30 after an accident between a Corvette driven by Jan Magnussen and the Porsche 911 of Christian Reid.

Audi, in a battle with French rivals Peugeot, have won six of the last seven editions of the race and swept the front row in qualifying.

Crash Audi n°1

Reuters

Comment 1 - 16 of 16

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  1. Miraculous that no one is injured seriously in massive­ Audi crashes over the weekend. McNish's­ especially as the car very nearly ended up in a­ pedestrian walkway. Pieces of the car falling within­ inches of people who literally had neither the time to­ move to safety nor a safe place to which they could­ move. The ACO really dodged the big one this time.

    From Richard, on Sun 12 Jun 22:29

  2. Audi deserve to win with their remaining car,­ especially after the dirty tricks being used by­ Peugeot. Unbelievable that drivers from both crashes­ walked away unscathed. Incredible engineering.­ Fantastic race.

    From Parsley, on Sun 12 Jun 20:33

  3. # 7

    The car no. 7 of Peugeot should be banned in­ blocking the leader hours ago.

    From Stephen KS, on Sun 12 Jun 20:19

  4. apreciez eforturile pilotilor si comentatorilor de a ne­ oferi acest maraton. imi pare reu pentru audi. sunt­ echipa mea favorita. tineti-o tot asa baieti!!! bravo

    From Horatiu, on Sun 12 Jun 20:16

  5. Great coverage lousy graphics

    From stuart.phillips7ger, on Sun 12 Jun 20:15

  6. 11 posts for the best motorsport race in the history of­ 4 wheels. Sad

    From webbski, on Sun 12 Jun 20:07

  7. #7
    It's called cheating. Maybe you don't know­ the rules of racing, the Pug was 4 laps behind and a­ blue flag equals "move over, faster car coming­ through". You'd do well to know what­ you're talking about before you share your­ uneducated views.

    From Max504, on Sun 12 Jun 20:05

  8. fausto are you an idiot

    From joewackrill, on Sun 12 Jun 19:57

  9. Can anyone tell me if the pit crews work in shifts­ during the race or is it the same pit crew on duty and­ do they catnap between pitting?

    From Kim, on Sun 12 Jun 19:57

  10. Commentators keep talking like there is excitement, but­ Audi got this wrapped up. Who they trying to fool?

    From cityboja, on Sun 12 Jun 19:27

  11. #5 have you never heard of tactics, race craft, set­ them up, all part of the plan dear lady.

    From RS1800, on Sun 12 Jun 19:26

  12. Very funny Fausto - if cars were invented now they­ would be banned or limited as you suggest - but they­ are fun though aren't they - almost as much fun as­ Scalextrics Donney!!

    From CAMPBELL C, on Sun 12 Jun 18:57

  13. Anthony in Post 2 has the right idea. These dirty­ tricks from Peugeot are distasteful, they should­ concentrate on winning by making their cars go faster­ rather than forcing the Audi to go slower.

    From Max504, on Sun 12 Jun 18:46
  14. Comment hidden due to its low rating. Show

    ALL CAR RACES SHOULD BE BANNED A WASTE OF FUEL AND­ MOTORBIKES ARE ALL FAR TOO POWERFUL , ALL CARS SHOULD­ BE LTD TO 500CC AND MOTORBIKES TO 100CC AND BOTH LTD TO­ 60MPH ....YEAH BICYCLES RULE FOREVER . YEAH

    From Fausto, on Sun 12 Jun 18:03
  15. Comment hidden due to its low rating. Show

    ALL CAR RACES SHOULD BE BANNED A WASTE OF FUEL AND­ MOTORBIKES ARE ALL FAR TOO POWERFUL , ALL CARS SHOULD­ BE LTD TO 500CC AND MOTORBIKES TO 100CC AND BOTH LTD TO­ 60MPH ....YEAH BICYCLES RULE FOREVER . YEAH

    From Fausto, on Sun 12 Jun 18:03

  16. Utter disgrace.........Davidson Peugeot should be black­ flagged for cheating. Are the french officials­ running Le Mans as corrupt as FIFA

    From Antony, on Sun 12 Jun 17:13
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