What a Difference a Day Makes

On the face of it, twenty-four hours is not such a long time – three sleeps, a long haul flight, the average time it takes hackers to crack new digital music protection software. But in other situations the same twenty-four hours seem like a very long time indeed, and can test the limits of endurance. Such is the case for the Le Mans 24 Hour race, an event in which vehicles and tyres are pushed to the limit and nothing is assured until the very end.

The Virgo Motorsport team wes a case in point. A brilliant performance cut short close to the end. With less than three hours remaining the British team was forced to retire from its GT2 class second place position following engine failure, becoming one of twenty vehicles to withdraw from the original line up of fifty-five. In the end first place went to the Michelin shod Audi Sport R10 TD1 driven by Kristensen, Capello and McNish, and as a further bonus the tyremaker savoured victory in each of the four race categories.

“I’m just gutted,” said Virgo Motorsport driver Rob Bell following the race. “We had a car capable of winning, but it wasn’t to be.” A solid result from Virgo would also have been a feather in the cap for Dunlop, with the Ferrari 430’s tyres proving a worthy match for the competitors’ Michelins. As driver Tim Sudgeon commented, Virgo Motorsport had “three strong drivers, a highly professional team, a car with the capability to win, great tyres.” He added: “We had all the ingredients, and it’s not often that’s the case, so it makes it all the more disappointing for us. It is renowned as the hardest race and that reputation is for good reason.”

First across the line at Le Mans was, as previously mentioned, the Audi Sport R10 TD1 driven by Kristensen, Capello and McNish. This year’s win was the German marque’s eighth victory on the Sarthe circuit and the fifth in a row since 2004. And of course a victory for Audi is also a victory for Michelin, who has not tasted defeat in the Le Mans 24 Hour race since 1998. This year the French company took first spot in every one of the competition classes: In LMP2 victory went to the Van Merksteijn, Verstappen and Bleekemolen Porsche RS Spyder; in LM GT1 to the Brabham, Garcia and Turner Aston Martin; and in LM GT2, drivers Salo, Meli and Bruni drove to victory in their Ferrari F430 GT.

“This year’s Le Mans was one of the greatest challenges we have ever faced,” commented Audi sport Director Dr Wolfgang Ullrich. “We really needed a tyre partner we could rely on to get us to the end of the race. Michelin’s people did that superbly for us, supplying a product that was absolutely right, and perfect service to go with it. We work as one with our Michelin technician: he’s part of the team, he thinks the same way we do and he did absolutely everything he could to give us the best advice in very difficult racing conditions. So thanks and hats off to Michelin!”

“Once again we learned a great deal this year with all our partners and it was a difficult race,” added Michelin competitions director Frédéric Henry-Biabaud. “Looking at the broader picture, we have won all four classes and that’s just fantastic. We have every reason to be proud of what we have done, and I would like to thank all Michelin employees who work hard all over the year to provide the best product for our partners.

“It was a very taxing race,” he added. “One that brought the full range of available tyres into play. The first part of the race, on a dry track, showed how well our soft and medium tyres coped with double of triple stints in the various classes, while the wet second part of the race meant we had to call on our intermediates and our choice of part- and full-wet tyres. It was a wonderful Le Mans, one where we were able to put everything we learned from testing this season with our 2008 range in the LMS and ALMS series into practice.”

Pirelli reports a second place finish for the “most Italian” Ferrari, the BMS-Scuderia Italia 430 GTC driven by Babini, Malucelli and Ruberti. The Pirelli shod car, the only vehicle on the grid fitted with the Italian manufacturer’s products, competed in the GT2 class. The BMS-Scuderia Italia Ferrari finished 22nd overall.

But for every happy ending at Le Mans there is a story of opportunity lost, and like their counterparts from Virgo Motorsport, the Yokohama supported Tokai University-YGK Power team was forced into retirement late in the race. After completing 18 hours the team’s Courage-ORECA-YGK LC70 vehicle experienced transmission problems that made competing further an impossibility. “The students are disappointed, but they are very satisfied to have done the race at Le Mans,” said Yokohama’s Global Motorsport general manager Akinori Tokieda. “They have done around 18 hours; it’s a good result for them. They gained a lot of experience from the race. We’re very proud to have been involved in the first university team at Le Mans.”

Plans for next year’s race had begun even before the chequered flag waved on June 15. Michelin’s Henry-Biabaud commented that “During this 2008 race our minds were already turning to 2009… Naturally we will have a full debrief, and we should be able to sort out the priorities for the rest of the season pretty quickly.”