2011 24 Heures du Mans - 79th Grand Prix d'Endurance, June 11-12 - Race Week Thread

Today and tomorrow, qualifying. Friday is off. Warmup Saturday morning, green flag at 15:00 local. Not really all that much too it.
 
So two qualis? How does that work?
 
So two qualis? How does that work?

Three, actually. Two tomorrow, one today. From what I remember, fastest lap between them all determines starting place.

They also double as additional practice sessions.
 
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On "ideal" laps (i.e. fastest sector times combined) Peugeot are ahead by about half a second at the moment, despite the Audi 1-2. Qualifying and the race should be mega with 7 cars this close together.

Based on the fact that the factory diesels are likely to get into some kind of trouble, I'm thinking more and more about tipping Oreca for the win. The old 908 is still a rocketship, last year's engine issue will not be repeated, the car is proven...
 
I just hope they don't take each other out in the beginning.......they are so bloody close together some real racing might happen :). This year, this is for sure, will be a 24h sprint race. So excited for first qualifying, 50 mins to go!
 
I just hope they don't take each other out in the beginning.......they are so bloody close together some real racing might happen :). This year, this is for sure, will be a 24h sprint race. So excited for first qualifying, 50 mins to go!

What I'd want is a replica of the first stint at Silverstone last year before the 7 Audi (at the time)'s transmission gave up the ghost, the on-track action between Davidson and McNish was stunning.

Only not with two cars this time, but with seven.
 
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Results after qualification 1:

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Audi #1 had a crash with the #60 Aston Martin, didn't look too good. The Strakka crash at the end was a true shame though!! Looks wrecked, hopefully Nick Leventis is alright.
 
The Strakka is fucked, the Aston looked suprisingly good. My theory is the Audi aimed for the middle of the Aston deliberately to get maximum overlap once he realized he couldn't evade to prevent massive damage. I hope both are fixable :/
 
I can't understand why the audi didn't try to make the corner round the aston. They crashed because he locked his brakes and went straight. Anyway great quali 1. This will be such a full weekend with le mans and f1!
 
No he didn't. If he tried to go round he hit the Aston with his front left corner, ripping everything off there, so he saw he couldn't make it and steered towards the Aston to prevent massive damage, at least in my eyes. Also note that he hit the curb while trying to go round with the right wheels...
 
Holy Crap the Aston Martins are slow, I knew they were slower than the Diesel but 9 seconds? Some LMP2 car are even faster than that. Well see what happen the next 2 qualifying sessions.
 
Also, Sarrazin on pole :burnrubber::burnrubber:

Yeah, what a surprise! :lol:

Hopefully it won't rain tonight and we will see Audi have a go at the pole...

Any news on the Strakka? I have no doubt in my mind that mechanics can fix that amount of damage in time, but what worries me is possible chassis damage and the availability of spare tubs...
 
I have no doubt in my mind that mechanics can fix that amount of damage in time, but what worries me is possible chassis damage and the availability of spare tubs...

If there's chassis damage, then they're screwed, there are no ARX-01 spare tubs available. RML are using the old Andretti Green chassis, which was the last remaining undamaged tub, until they get a newly-built tub after Imola.
 
Fixing chassis damage is not unheard of... The KSM team had a big crash in qualifying for the 2008 race and their P2 Lola suffered chassis damage but with help from Lola the car was mended in time for the race.

Of course, this being an HPD chassis might make things trickier...
 
I wonder if the AMR cars will last through the race......not that they are hilariously slow, but I saw some coverage on German TV today and you could see how rich these engines were running, they left a smoke trail...looks like they are happy for every minute these things hold....
 
I wonder if the AMR cars will last through the race......not that they are hilariously slow, but I saw some coverage on German TV today and you could see how rich these engines were running, they left a smoke trail...looks like they are happy for every minute these things hold....

They won't. Okay, they're probably more reliable than previously, but that probably only means that they won't make it to Sunday morning instead of not making it to nightfall.
 
I hope they die at night. Engine fires at night give LeMans that special flair :p
 
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