2008 24 Hours of Le Mans Official Thread

[faksta]

The domination is not this particular race, but also all previous Audi (and that 'green Audi', too) wins.

[Cyco]

No domination at all, a very close race, with 2 different strategies that ended up very close in end.

[CdocZ]

Yeah, I barely have been able to leave this damn computer and its feed, hahaha. Maybe next year if Audi wins I will have it in me to complain....

EDIT: Since when are the safety cars LMP1's?

[Kitdy]

Congratulations to Audi and Capello, Kristensen, and McNish.

[faksta]

Originally Posted by Cyco

No domination at all, a very close race, with 2 different strategies that ended up very close in end.

No-no-no, yesterday and today the battle was very interesting. Again I say that I don't mean this 76th race, but all VW Group wins last years

[Schumi]

how many wins is this for audi this decade like 8??

[Dantera22B]

Kristensen IS Le Mans. Legend. And well done to the Aston Boys.

Audi have won 8 of the last 9 attempts and even then that was the Bentley which was a tarted up R8.

[RacingManiac]

It was a very close race. If it had been dry the Peugeot would be far more comfortable, because they will have the margin to make up for the:
1) Poorer mileage
2) Poorer pitstops
3) Poorer Poorer reliability(the linkage, the potential radiator over heating issue, the headlight)
4) Poorer setup for anything other than bone dry....

Audi Joest is simply better prepared to win the race, and far more consistent in all conditions.....Peugeot 908 is a faster and better car, but the team as a whole and the performance of it is not yet at Audi's level...

[RacingManiac]

btw watching it for 24 hours, it wasn't boring at all...the race was intense the whole way....

[Dantera22B]

I suppose Audi have got their operation down to a fine art by now, whereas Peugeot are still a relatively new outfit. Given time I don't see why they cannot match Audi's domination as long as they have the funding to match.

[RacingManiac]

The thing is I don't see why some of the stuff couldn't be done before this race. Like having a set of pre-assembled rear-wing unit for a start.....set at the varying downforce level. Or just simply having a better drilled crew. You saw the size of their operation, they have been seeing how Joest go about their business in doing Le Mans, there is nothing really they can't already "copied" from Joest....Its almost as if they are purely relying on the raw pace of the car to get the job done, which I supposed worked for the 1000km races.....Look at Audi in 1999 before their streak even started, they already got their gearbox change(at the time a 15 min unit) practice down. And then with the improved car in 2000 they were prepared for everything that they might need in the race, including doing 3 sub-5 min gearbox change......I can't believe anyone who have ambition of beating Audi with the same size operation don't already do the same thing as they are doing.....

[Wouter Melissen]

It was the best race for years. Peugeot lost this race by poor pit work. The car ran troublefree, yet they lost to a much slower car. Something has to change if they want to beat Audi.

As for this domination scaring other manufacturers off; it would not surprise me that Toyota, Honda, Corvette and Aston Martin will announce full LMP1 Works programs in the near future. The FIA is worried ...

[RacingManiac]

Yeah the talks have been pretty active....With the diesel set to be equalized and hybrid on the horizon(and the 7 liter limit for the "production" engine for LMP1), lots of interested parties are preparing for something....

[Dantera22B]

I would like to see the Japanese come back and hopefully, if Peugeot still haven't got their arses into gear, knock Audi off of their all dominant perch.

Not only that but I think i'm gonna have to go back to Le Sarthe and watch the race next year. I miss it.

[Ferrer]

Congratulations to Audi.

I hope next year petrol and diesel can actually compete.