The200124 Hours of Le Manswas the 69th Grand Prix of Endurance, and took place on 16 and 17 June 2001.
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Background
editPreview
editThe 200124 Hours of Le Manswas the 69th edition of the race and took place at the 8.454 mi (13.605 km)Circuit de la Sartheroad racing circuit close byLe Mans,France from 16 to 17 June.[1][2]The race was first held in1923after the automotive journalistCharles Faroux,theAutomobile Club de l'Ouest(ACO) general secretary Georges Durand and the industrialist Emile Coquile agreed to hold a test of vehicle reliability and durability. It is considered the world's most prestigious sports car race and is part of theTriple Crown of Motorsport.[3]
Track and regulation changes
editAfter the2000 race,the ACO and theFrench governmentmodified theRoute nationale 138which forms theMulsanne Straight,by decreasing the height of a hill by 7.9 ft (2.4 m) on the approach to the Mulsanne Corner whereMark Webberhad an airborne accident in aMercedes-Benz CLRduring a warm-up session for the1999 edition.[4][5]Work in the area costing almost F6.5 million was mandated by motor racing's governing body, theFédération Internationale de l'Automobile(FIA), to comply with road safety regulations and traffic using the area was diverted onto an alternate route. It commenced on 1 December 2000 with the removal of 7,000 m3(250,000 cu ft) of cuttings and continued until mid-March 2001.[6][7]Other changes included a widening of therun-off areato the outside on the approach to the right-hand Indianapolis corner and a gravel trap and spectator section was moved further back in an attempt to enhance safety.[8]
The ACO allowed cars in theLe Mans Prototype675 (LMP675) category to be installed with aV6turbocharged enginewith a maximum capacity of 2,000 cc (120 cu in) up from aV4 power unitin the 2000 event. Teams could also fit aV8 engineinto a car in the event that it wasnormally aspirated.The governing body also revoked a regulation for a car'sheadlightsto be switched on in daylight hours and the FIA would supervise laboratory crash tests conducted on all vehicles.[9]Changes to the format of the weekend saw the test day have 48 cars and 6 reserves all driving together in lieu of individual sessions forGrand Touringand Prototypes and would not eliminate any cars from contention as seen in previous editions of the race.[10][11]
Entries
editThe ACO received 80 "good quality" inquires for applications by the deadline for entries at midnight, 28 February 2001.[12][13]The ACO's eight-person selection committee granted 48 invitations to the 24 Hours of Le Mans in-late March. Entries were divided between the Le Mans Prototype 900 (LMP900), Le Mans Grand Touring Prototype (LMGTP), LMP675, Le Mans Grand Touring Sport (LMGTS) and Le Mans Grand Touring (LMGT) categories.[13][14]
Automatic entries
editAutomatic entries were earned by teams which won their class in the 2000 24 Hours of Le Mans, or have won Le Mans-based series and events such as the2000 Petit Le Mansof theAmerican Le Mans Series,theRace of a Thousand Yearsheld as part of the Asian-Pacific Le Mans Series and the2000 1000 km of Nürburgringof the European Le Mans Series.[15][16]As entries were pre-selected to teams, they were restricted to a maximum of two cars and were not allowed to change their vehicles nor their competitors' licence from the previous year to the next. Entries were permitted to change category provided that they did not change the make of vehicle and the ACO granted official permission for the switch.[13]
The ACO published its final list of automatic berths on 26 January 2001.[15]Audi Sport North America,Viper Team Orecaand Dick Barbour Racing were the three teams out of the twelve that were pre-selected to decline their automatic invitations.[16]
Reason Entered | LMP | LMGTS | LMGT | |
---|---|---|---|---|
1st in the24 Hours of Le Mans | Audi Sport Team Joest | Viper Team Oreca | Team Taisan Advan | |
1st in the1000 km of Nürburgring | Panoz Motor Sports | Viper Team Oreca | Dick Barbour Racing1 | |
1st in thePetit Le Mans | Audi Sport North America | Corvette Racing Pratt | Dick Barbour Racing1 | |
1st in theRace of a Thousand Years | Audi Sport North America1 | Viper Team Oreca1 | Dick Barbour Racing1 | |
Entry list and reserves
editThe ACO announced the full 48-car entry list for Le Mans plus six reserves on 4 April. TheAscari,Audi,Bentley,Cadillac,Courage,Chrysler,DomeandPanozbrands were accepted into the two Prototype classes, which featured a mixture ofworks teamsandprivateers.Cars fromLola,PilbeamandReynardfeatured in the eight-vehicle LMP675 class. Chrysler,General Motorsvia itsChevroletdivision andSaleenwere the three manufacturers in the LMGTS category. The majority of cars in the LMGT class were fromPorschewithCallawayrepresented by one team.[17]On 27 April, the No. 59 Saleen/Allen Speedlab-enteredS7was withdrawn from the race. The No. 21 Team Ascari car was promoted from the top of the list of reserves to take the vacated slot on the grid.[18]
Testing
editA mandatory pre-Le Mans test day split into two daytime sessions of four hours each was held at the circuit on 6 May,[13]involving all 48 cars and four reserve entries.[19]The morning session was led by Audi with a lap of 3 minutes, 36.054 seconds fromStefan Johanssonin the No. 4Johansson MotorsportR8.The top-placed works Audi wasTom Kristensen's No. 1 Team Joest car in second and the fastestBentley EXP Speed 8was the No. 7 ofStéphane Ortelliin third.Emanuele Pirroof Team Joest,Johnny HerbertforChampion RacingandYannick Dalmasin aChrysler LMPoccupied fourth to sixth positions.[20]A brokenexhaust headercaused the carbon fibre chassis onDavid Brabham'sPanoz LMP07to catch fire in the final moments of the morning session. Panoz withdrew the No. 12 car for the rest of the test day due to extensive damage it sustained.[20][21]Eric van de Poelefor Dick Barbour set the fastest lap in the LMP675 category,[22]while theLarbre Compétitionteam led both GT classes with the No. 58 Oreca Viper and the No. 60 Porsche.[23]Several drivers ran off the circuit during the session. Kristensen damaged the No. 2 Audi's front-right and the car'ssuspension armwas replaced. The No. 64 Corvette's steering failed and the car was stopped on the Mulsanne Straight.[24]
The second test session had Audi continue to lead withRinaldo Capelloin the No. 2 car with the day's fastest lap of 3 minutes, 32.742 seconds. This was followed by an improved time for the Champion Racing car ofRalf Kellenersin second andMartin Brundlein Bentley's No. 8 car in third.Racing for Hollandwas fourth courtesy of a lap fromJan Lammersand the second Joest Audi ofFrank Bielarounded out the top five.[25]The Dick Barbour team continued to lead the LMP675 category with an improved lap of 3 minutes, 44.272 seconds,[26]ahead of the trio of drivers of the second-placed No. 38 ROC Auto Reynard 01Q andClaudia Hurtgen's No. 32 Roock/KnightHawk RacingLola B2K/40-Nissanin third.[23][27]Oliver Gavinmoved the No. 60 Saleen Allen Speedlab S7R to the head of LMGTS with a lap of 3 minutes, 54.344 seconds. He was followed byJohnny Mowlem's No. 62Ray Mallockcar on the soft compound tyres and Corvette's No. 63C5-Rwas third-fastest in the session.[27]Xavier Pompidouin the No. 73 Freisinger Motorsport Porsche led the LMGT class with the No. 80 Larbre car second.[28]Fabio Babini's No. 83Seikel Motorsportcar and the No. 35 Rowan Racing Pilbeam MP84-Nissan made contact at the Ford Chicane late in the session and the former was unable to continue driving.[27][29]
Qualifying
editThere were eight hours of qualifying divided into four two-hour sessions available to every entrants on 13 and 14 June. During the sessions, all entrants were required to set a time within 110 per cent of the fastest lap established by the fastest vehicle in each of the five categories to qualify for the race.[13]The first session took place in clear weather conditions.[30]Audi, the pre-race favourites,[31]led early on with a flying lap from Kristensen before his teammate Capello followed with a 3 minutes, 34.880 seconds time to go fastest overall. Kristensen stood three-tenths of a second adrift in second. Lammers followed in third and Kelleners was fourth for Champion Racing. The fastest Bentley was in fifth position after a lap from Brundle.[30]The No. 12 Panoz ofJan Magnussenstopped after the PlayStation chicane and was then sidelined with a blockedgearbox.[32]Anthony Reidcarried the No. 34MG-Lola EX257-Lola to provisional pole position in the LMP675 category with a time of 3 minutes, 42.065 seconds ahead of the ROC Auto Reynard and No. 36 Dick Barbour entries.[30][33]The crew of MG's No. 33 car set no laps because it suffered from analternatorissue that created a misfire.[30][32]The GTS class of GT was led byRon Fellows' No. 64 Corvette, who set a 3 minutes, 55.552 seconds lap.Andy Pilgrimin the sister No. 63 Corvette was second followed byChristophe Bouchut's No. 58 Larbre Oreca in third. At the conclusion of the session, the No. 80 Larbre Porsche led in LMGT from the No. 70 Aspen Knolls MCR Callaway C12-R and the No. 72 Team Taisan Advan car.[32][33]
The day's fastest laps were predicted to possibly be set within the opening fifteen minutes of the second session due to lowering ambient temperatures and light levels.[34]Kristensen improved provisional pole position to a 3 minutes, 32.458 seconds lap seven minutes into the session to be four seconds faster thanAllan McNish's 2000 pole lap.[35][36]He was unable to improve any further because of an electrical misfire that affected the No. 1 Audi. Capello fell to second; the No. 2 car had apower steeringfault just asChristian Pescatorirelieved his co-driver. Kelleners moved Champion Racing to third after a change of gearbox. Lammers of Racing for Holland fell to fourth and Brundle's No. 7 Bentley was demoted to fifth because apunctured tyreon the Mulsanne Straight sent him into the gravel trap at Mulsanne Corner. Reid MG's No. 34 car had a possible blockedfuel filterthat regulated its fuel pressure; the car kept the class pole of LMP675.[36][37]Kevin McGarrityelevated the sister No. 33 MG to second in class and ROC Auto fell to third.[33]In LMGTS, Oliver Gavin's No. 60 Saleen led the session and took the provisional class pole position from Corvette Racing.[37]Fellows crashed into a tyre barrier at the second Mulsanne Chicane and the No. 63 Corvette sustained heavy rear-end damage.[35][37]He was unhurt.[36]The sole non-Porsche car in LMGT of the Aspen Knolls MCR-entered Callaway C12 of Cort Wagner moved to the front in class withPatrice Goueslard's No. 80 Larbre car second.[33][36]
Conditions were overcast for the third practice session on 14 June and some rain fell intermittently.[38]None of the first three Audi teams improved their times from the day before as most teams focused on locating theirracing setups.Lammers set the session's fastest lap at 3 minutes, 34.838 seconds to strengthen Racing for Holland's hold on fourth position and he moved to within half a second of Herbert's Champion Audi. Johanasson was second-quickest and his time moved the No. 4 Audi from eighth to fifth in the final ten minutes of the session.[39]Jordi Genéset the fastest time in the LMP675 in the ROC Auto Reynard yet he was almost four seconds behind the class pole-sitting No. 34 MG.[39][40]The LMGTS class remained the same upfront as Gavin improved the No. 60 Saleen's fastest lap time to a 3 minutes, 52.849 seconds and took a new class record.[41]The No. 58 Larbre Oreca of Christophe Bouchut retained third place in category. The lead of LMGT changed when Goueslard's No. 80 Larbre entry took the category pole position late on before Wagner in the Aspen Knolls Callaway used his team's race engine to reclaim the position.[39][42]Perspective Racing's Michel Neugarten went off the circuit and damaged the rear of the No. 75 Porsche at the PlayStation chicane. Luis Marques in the No. 74Luc Alphand Adventurecar leaked oil at the entry to the Michelin chicane due to a hose problem andmarshalsquickly cleaned the track. Noël del Bello's No. 79 vehicle of Georges Forgeois damaged its front-left in an accident.[43]
As temperatures cooled in the final qualifying session due to fading light,[44]Capello waited in his garage before he negotiated slower traffic to set a 3 minutes, 32.249 seconds lap in the No. 2 Audi and demoted Kristensen from pole position.[45]Kristensen's No. 1 car had itsdamper unitand front bodywork changed and ran a race-tuned engine along with soft compound tyres;[44][46]he could not better his teammate's lap because of a slow puncture when he ran into a gravel trap at the first Mulsanne Straight chicane,[47]giving the No. 2 car pole position.[44][45]Champion Racing were not able to improve their lap and took third. Lammers' third-session time secured Racing for Holland fourth and Johansson's No. 4 Audi took fifth. Anthony Reid twice reset the fastest lap in LMP675 to secure pole position for the No. 34 MG team with a 3 minutes, 41.769 seconds lap.[46][47]Kevin McGarrity in the sister MG was second in class after an oil leak caused the team to change engines. Gené's ROC Auto entry took third in the category.[44][47]The GT categories remained the same with the No. 60 Saleen's lap time set by Gavin giving it pole position in the GTS class and Wagner's lap in LMGT was not bettered by any other driver.[41]Team Advan's No. 72 Porsche driven by Kazuyuki Nishizawa had an accident at the Porsche Curves and sustained damage to its front and rear.[48]
Qualifying results
editPole positionwinners in each class are indicated inboldand by a ‡ The fastest time set by each entry is denoted in gray.
Pos | Class | No. | Team | Car | Day 1 | Day 2 | Gap | Grid |
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1 | LMP900 | 2 | Audi Sport Team Joest | Audi R8 | 3:33.514 | 3:32.429 | — | 1‡ |
2 | LMP900 | 1 | Audi Sport Team Joest | Audi R8 | 3:32.458 | 3:37.678 | +0.029 | 2 |
3 | LMP900 | 3 | Champion Racing | Audi R8 | 3:34.349 | 3:38.787 | +1.920 | 3 |
4 | LMP900 | 9 | Racing for Holland | Dome S101 | 3:36.031 | 3:34.838 | +2.419 | 4 |
5 | LMP900 | 4 | Johansson Motorsport | Audi R8 | 3:37.451 | 3:35.128 | +2.699 | 5 |
6 | LMP900 | 16 | Team PlayStation | Chrysler LMP | 3:36.155 | 3:44.755 | +3.726 | 6 |
7 | LMGTP | 7 | Team Bentley | Bentley EXP Speed 8 | 3:36.535 | 3:37.441 | +4.106 | 7‡ |
8 | LMP900 | 5 | DAMS | Cadillac Northstar LMP01 | 3:39.892 | 3:37.402 | +4.973 | 8 |
9 | LMGTP | 8 | Team Bentley | Bentley EXP Speed 8 | 3:37.408 | 3:38.512 | +4.979 | 9 |
10 | LMP900 | 19 | SMG | Courage C60 | 3:38.746 | 3:54.156 | +6.317 | 10 |
11 | LMP900 | 15 | Viper Team Oreca | Chrysler LMP | 3:38.814 | 3:42.559 | +6.385 | 11 |
12 | LMP900 | 6 | DAMS | Cadillac Northstar LMP01 | 3:39.596 | 3:41.991 | +7.167 | 12 |
13 | LMP900 | 17 | Pescarolo Sport | Courage C60 | 3:40.926 | 3:39.789 | +7.300 | 13 |
14 | LMP675 | 34 | MG Sport & Racing Ltd. | MG-Lola EX257 | 3:42.065 | 3:40.243 | +7.814 | 14‡ |
15 | LMP900 | 10 | Team Den Blå Avis-Goh | Dome S101 | 3:42.089 | 3:40.958 | +8.529 | 15 |
16 | LMP900 | 14 | Viper Team Oreca | Chrysler LMP | 3:42.215 | 3:48.022 | +9.786 | 16 |
17 | LMP675 | 33 | MG Sport & Racing Ltd. | MG-Lola EX257 | 3:42.476 | 3:56.274 | +10.047 | 17 |
18 | LMP900 | 20 | Team Ascari | Ascari A410 | 3:42.931 | 11:18.421 | +10.502 | 18 |
19 | LMP900 | 12 | Panoz Motor Sports | Panoz LMP07 | 3:48.083 | 3:42.974 | +10.545 | 19 |
20 | LMP900 | 18 | Pescarolo Sport | Courage C60 | 3:43.924 | 3:43.004 | +10.575 | 20 |
21 | LMP900 | 11 | Panoz Motor Sports | Panoz LMP07 | 3:51.969 | 3:43.498 | +11.049 | 21 |
22 | LMP900 | 21 | Team Ascari | Ascari A410 | 3:46.398 | 3:43.663 | +11.234 | 22 |
23 | LMP675 | 38 | ROC Auto | Reynard 2KQ-LM | 3:48.075 | 3:44.198 | +11.759 | 23 |
24 | LMP675 | 36 | Dick Barbour Racing | Reynard 01Q | 3:49.650 | 3:46.008 | +13.679 | 24 |
25 | LMP675 | 30 | Gérard Welter | WR LMP01 | 3:49.986 | 3:50.006 | +17.557 | 25 |
26 | LMGTS | 60 | Saleen/Allen Speedlab | Saleen S7-R | 3:54.190 | 3:52.849 | +20.420 | 26‡ |
27 | LMGTS | 63 | Corvette Racing Pratt | Chevrolet Corvette C5-R | 3:55.552 | 3:59.399 | +23.123 | 27 |
28 | LMGTS | 58 | Larbre Compétition | Chrysler Viper GTS-R | 3:58.658 | 3:56.838 | +24.609 | 28 |
29 | LMGTS | 64 | Corvette Racing Pratt | Chevrolet Corvette C5-R | 3:58.209 | 3:57.052 | +24.803 | 29 |
30 | LMP675 | 32 | Roock-KnightHawk | Lola B2K/40 | 3:57.942 | 3:57.099 | +24.850 | 30 |
31 | LMP675 | 37 | Dick Barbour Racing | Reynard 01Q | 3:58.533 | 3:57.257 | +25.028 | 31 |
32 | LMGTS | 62 | RML | Saleen S7-R | 4:02.022 | 3:58.626 | +26.297 | 32 |
33 | LMGTS | 61 | Konrad Motorsport | Saleen S7-R | 4:03.135 | 3:58.868 | +26.439 | 33 |
34 | LMP675 | 36 | S+R Rowan Racing Ltd. | Pilbeam MP84 | 4:14.269 | 3:59.302 | +26.873 | 34 |
35 | LMGTS | 57 | Equipe de France FFSA | Chrysler Viper GTS-R | 4:00.790 | 4:02.181 | +28.341 | 35 |
36 | LMGTS | 56 | Paul Belmondo Racing | Chrysler Viper GTS-R | 4:02.148 | 4:02.183 | +29.719 | 36 |
37 | LMGTS | 55 | Paul Belmondo Racing | Chrysler Viper GTS-R | 4:06.329 | 4:02.791 | +30.362 | 37 |
38 | LMGT | 70 | Aspen Knolls MCR | Callaway C12-R | 4:13.063 | 4:10.168 | +37.738 | 38 |
39 | LMGT | 80 | Larbre Compétition | Porsche 911 GT3-RS | 4:13.834 | 4:11.738 | +38.509 | 39 |
40 | LMGT | 83 | Seikel Motorsport | Porsche 911 GT3-RS | 4:15.167 | 4:11.787 | +38.547 | 40 |
41 | LMGT | 72 | Team Taisan Advan | Porsche 911 GT3-RS | 4:18.010 | 4:13.158 | +40.729 | 41‡ |
42 | LMGT | 77 | Freisinger Motorsport | Porsche 911 GT3-RS | 4:18.918 | 4:13.816 | +41.587 | 42 |
43 | LMGT | 79 | Noël del Bello | Porsche 911 GT3-RS | 4:18.573 | 4:24.058 | +46.143 | 43 |
44 | LMGT | 76 | PK Sport Ltd-Ricardo | Porsche 911 GT3-RS | 4:18.625 | 4:23.422 | +46.196 | 44 |
45 | LMGT | 74 | Luc Alphand Adventure | Porsche 911 GT3-RS | 4:18.926 | 4:24.814 | +46.427 | 45 |
46 | LMGT | 82 | Seikel Motorsport | Porsche 911 GT3-RS | 4:23.973 | 4:19.445 | +47.216 | 46 |
47 | LMGT | 75 | Perspective Racing | Porsche 911 GT3-RS | 4:20.667 | 4:38.786 | +48.238 | 47 |
48 | LMGT | 71 | Racing Engineering | Porsche 911 GT3-RS | 4:30.143 | 4:24.840 | +52.391 | 48 |
Sources:[49]
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Warm-up
editThe drivers took to the track at 09:00 local time on 16 June for a 45-minute warm-up session.[13]It was held on a damp track after overnight rain;[50]teams focused on systems checks, setting up their cars against the weather of the time, tried several tyre compounds and ensuring their drivers had some driving experience.[50][51]Christian Pescatori's No. 2 Audi lapped fastest at 3 minutes, 40.497 seconds, ahead of Pirro's sister No. 1 Joest Audi, the highest-placed Bentley ofGuy Smith's No. 7 car,Sébastien BourdaisinPescarolo Sport's No. 17C60andÉric Bernard's No. 5DAMSCadillac Northstar LMP.[50][52]The ROC Auto Reynard set the fastest LMP675 lap at 3 minutes, 51.491 seconds. RML's No. 62 Saleen paced the LMGTS category and the Aspen Knolls MCR Callaway led in LMGT.[50]Klaus Graf's No. 11 Panoz had a tyre issue and went into the gravel trap at the exit to Indianapolis corner from which marshals extricated him.[50][51]Corvette's No. 64 car stopped at theDunlop Bridgewith a brokenoil pumpbelt and the No. 80 Larbre Porsche leaked oil from its underside due to a possible fuel system fault.[52]
Race
edit220,000 people attended the event.[53]Audi's top two finishers had to share the podium with a Bentley interloper, but their margin over third place was formidable.
Corvette Racing's achievement of a GTS class win was sullied by a slow pace and the presence of two GT class Porsche 911s in front of them. It was the last time a Porsche team would finish in front of the GTS class until they had the class-consolidating 4.0 liter 997 GT3 RSR in their possession, in 2010.
Race results
edit- Distance – 4381.65 km
- Average Speed – 180.949 km/h
- Highest Trap Speed – Audi R8 – 318 km/h (race), Dome Judd S101 – 335 km/h (Practice)[54]
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