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Moments after the last eighth of the race 'starts', we spot the #009 Aston Martin setting lap times which suggest either a) they've ceased to set the pace, and are going to ease back a touch for the last three hours or b) it's in trouble. It's in trouble. 14.10 and the GT1 leader since the seventh hour, when Ollie Gavin and a prototype came together, pits and is pulled into its garage. Clutch. Gavin takes the lead again, after a massive contest between these two. It seems like last year, in some ways. 14.15 and Andy Wallace completes his driving in the RML MG Lola. Not to put any jinx on RML, but the No. 25 Lola has already surpassed its 2005 total and is headed for a very laudable result. It will also be the highest overall finish for a P2 car since the 2001 rain race. We’re conjecturing that Mike Newton will carry the car across the finish line but then again Messrs. Erdos and Wallace have done a great job. We’re approaching the half-hour mark (14.30) and the gap is at six laps, between 6 and 007 now. It is far past the point where the two marques can be expected to race each other. The outcome will be decided by relative health as it so often is. I am sure that Chevrolet as much as anyone would prefer to win through a heated battle but the race between the two has been conducted at such a high and respectful level that no one need go home ashamed. Twenty-two hours on the same lap or seemingly thereabouts ain’t bad. As expected, the positions of the two Aston Martins have now reversed. Enge’s 007 completes its 313rd and beyond laps while Ortelli is stranded at 312. The Czech driver slows and pulls in to hand over to Piccini in a very normal stop. Meanwhile the Lamborghini also slows—that is, more slowly than it usually circulates. Its loss would be a shame and a blow to the genuine diversity of the series. The Murcielago is too far down to be an issue in the standings but the problems of 009 have now propelled the No. 72 Corvette of Jerome Policand into the final class podium spot. The No. 62 privateer Aston was also poised to move up but Antonio Garcia pulled in for a stop a lap before exceeding the erstwhile class leader’s total. The Seikel Porsche remains atop GT2. The ironies are ceaseless—a late accepted reserve wining the event. A class so often associated with one marque is instead poised to offer three different badges on the market - Porsche, Panoz and Ferrari. Of course, all the attention will focus on the front---Audi ahead of who? the papers will read. It is time to consider the ramifications of the results we are about to see. Audi once more has come and conquered—massive corporation beats up on garagistes. Egos assuaged, marketing targets met. Now what? What will happen next year? Will Peugeot be so intimidated that you won’t show up? Will Audi retire? Will they finally build customer cars? Will the ACO extend the Hybrid rules another year or two? Most importantly, what about the Pescarolos, Courages, Lolas, and all the rest? All the other classes, on the other hand, will leave with their heads held high. LM P2 finally became more dependable than P1, although given the disarray in P1 that may be a backhanded compliment. It’s not meant to be. RML, Miracle, Binnie, Intersport, and Radical each ran hard consistent races and worked well through their problems. It wasn’t just the Aston vs. Corvette show in GT1 either. Saleen, the various Ferraris and even the screaming Lambo all contributed spectacularly to the show. A scrapped together team of Porsche enthusiasts, a podium for Panoz, and a super comeback by the lone Ferrari—what more could you ask for in GT2. The ACO may not like non-P1s, but that’s where the action is. But all this begs the question with 90 minutes to go, is this race over? The long-awaited clouds are gathering. There is definitely a sense of pregnancy yet, especially given the developments of the past two hours or so. It sure ain’t ! At 15:35 the GT2 leading 996 is stopped along the run to Indianapolis. There is a shot of the stranded Porsche along the guardrails. Absolutely simultaneously, John Hindaugh in one ear and Malcolm Cracknel in the other exclaim, “It’s just like Jesus Pareja” For those that don’t remember, it was in 1990 when the Spaniard was driving Walter Brun’s Porsche 962 and destined for a very high finish. With 15 minutes to go the engine expired out on the circuit. Even those elevated a position on his demise shed a tear for Jesus. It may not, fingers crossed, be terminal. Hans Gallinis advises that Farnbacher is stranded with a broken gearshift. The marshals have pushed him behind the barrier, but that won’t disqualify the car (cars can be moved for safety reasons). The team hopes that he can find a way to coax a gear or two out of the box to be able to return it to the pits. "We've been in gearbox trouble since 9am," explained a surprisingly cheerful car owner, Lars Erik Nielsen. "He's stuck somewhere with no gears - the mechanics have gone to find him and shout at him. If we can get it into gear, any gear, it may not be all over." Seventy minutes and we have more drama with the already delayed 009 Aston Martin. Pedro Lamy stepped aboard during the last routine stop but the car stalls at the pit exit. The crew runs out there and pushes him back—their only option. Exactly on the hour mark Farnbacher gets the Porsche going. It travels maybe another 50 meters and it stops dead on course. Once again marshals head to it. Before they get there Richard Dean cruises past in the orange Panoz and moves onto the same lap. We’re into the final hour. Intersport has been grappling with mapping, spark plugs, coils and turbos - but got to grips with it all in the 23rd hour, and Clint Field is out there in a very healthy car. They won't get near the podium three in LMP2, but they should finish fourth. Hour
23 Positions And
Finally Stay tuned. The last two hours have seen two class leaders break down. The wind is picking up. It is raining hard ten minutes away. The leading Audi makes its last stop and Emanuele Pirro takes over the wheel. Here are the top 3 and the gaps in each class as we enter the last 50 minutes of the race. Overall, P1 GT1 P2 GT2 Dean makes a quick stop and a look is taken at the car. Dean is sent back out. Mowlem outbraked McNish but the Saleen briefly went off the course. Mowlem simply wanted to say that he once passed an Audi with a Saleen. In any case Christian Fittipaldi takes over the Saleen for the finish. Forty minutes to go and Dean is pulling away from Farnbacher by three seconds per lap. Over the next 20 minutes Farnbacher turns up the wick and starts lapping about two seconds quicker than the Panoz. But then the young German pushes it a bit too hard, goes off at Mulsanne and damages the rear wing. He’s able to keep going but car is clearly deranged. The gap in GT2 is 2m:06. Farnbacher gathers it together and is again faster, but only by about 1 second per lap with a 2 minute margin at under 15 minutes to go—not enough time. The rain looks like it will hold off—just. It looks like 27 cars will finish with the Pilbeam bringing up the rear, some large number of laps behind the No. 8 Audi. The penultimate lap and Clint Field pulls off between the two Mulsanne chicanes—a puncture apparently. Cruel, cruel fate. We’ll see if he can crawl around. The two Audis form around Terte Rouge the last time around and the queue forms behind them. The marshals are waving their flags and the field passes by the stricken Lola. They continue around slowing, slowing—exchanging greetings with the hundreds of turn workers. Quite a pack of cars including the Panoz, Taisan Porsche, and the Zytek are unlucky enough to have been caught so far away that they will have to yet complete a full lap as the leaders come into sight at the Ford chicane. The throngs cheer. The drivers of the open cars pump fists in the air, those in the coupes open their doors and give a hearty wave as they pass the flagman. It’s that moment of release. Always the emotion. The R10 wins on its debut. Corvette over the collapsed Aston Martin, a late win by a Panoz. As we soak this all in here comes the red and blue No. 33 Lola with a smoking rear wheel. Clint Field makes it—he crosses the line. * This is drama—every year, guaranteed—sport, business, a little bit of all. * Stay tuned indeed. There is the subject of a six-minute rule. To be classified a finisher one must cross the line after 24 hours have elapsed, and complete 70% of the winner’s distance, AND complete the final lap in under 6 minutes. The final time for No. 33 was 13:37.274. Hmmm ? But wait, five others among the 27 across the line took more than six minutes, including those others caught at the wrong end of the final lap, and also—are you ready for this – the two Audis. Can you say, oh, oh.—Guess some rules are made to be broken.
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