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[EwanM]

I hope nobody is expecting me to actually do anything productive next weekend, then. Because I will be glued to my screen. I like Eurosport - I can actually watch it

Also Martin Haven and Toby Moody will be among the commentary team, so it should be good!

[Jamie]

Going to be an awesome race

[texasmr2]

Forsure I'll be working but I will record as much as possible .

[Jamie]

Forsure I'll be working but I will record as much as possible .

Ahhh Tex, you say the famous Racing man words, 'Forsure'

Bravo

[texasmr2]

Forsure I'll be working but I will record as much as possible .

Ahhh Tex, you say the famous Racing man words, 'Forsure'

Bravo

You got me there and I did not even realize it .

[Jamie]

Forsure I'll be working but I will record as much as possible .

Ahhh Tex, you say the famous Racing man words, 'Forsure'

Bravo

You got me there and I did not even realize it .

lolol!


I find myself doing that ll the time, even Moto GP men do it
Funny as hell though, i wonder who's the first person to say it

[EwanM]

So Audi were fastest in the wet practice, and their body work has been declared legal.

Hmmmm looking good.

[cap-dude]

Seems Pug are still fighting the case. Can't see anything being done about it now though.

Anyways, com'n Pug. Seems we could see a role reversal this year. Audi going for pole, whilst the 908's catch up during the race. It'll be interesting to see what Pescarola can do with their 908 as well.

The weather's not looking great either this weekend. Great LeMans needs a bit of rain.

[EwanM]

I think both of the top 2 haven't shown their true pace yet. Both were trying different strategies. I hope that Dindo Allan and Tom can continue to be consistant.

[EwanM]

Some news: (all from Autosport.com)

Basic 2010 Le Mans rules confirmed

By Kevin Turner Thursday, June 11th 2009, 12:59 GMT

Le Mans 24 HoursThe ACO has confirmed the class structure and basic regulations for the Le Mans 24 Hours for the next two years.

As previously planned, the top LMP1 cars will be further slowed with reduced capacity engines. Normally-aspirated petrol engines will now be limited to 3.4-litres, down from 6-litres, diesel units to 3.4-litre (from 5.5-litres), and turbocharged petrol to 2-litres (from 4-litres). Downforce levels will also be reduced.

LMP2 cars will run using GT2 engines or more production-based units, while some common parts will be introduced to cut costs. Telemetry will also be banned.

The ACO confirmed that it is open to running the latest generation FIA GT1 regulations, meaning that this year's race will be the last for the likes of the Chevrolet Corvette C.6R and Aston Martin DBR9.

The GT2 regulations will also follow the FIA GT Championship and will introduce the new GT2 cars alongside the existing machines, such as the Ferrari 430 and Porsche 911 RSR. Measures will be taken to equalise the two types of car within GT2.

Sarrazin: Peugeot advantage is gone

By Simon Strang Thursday, June 11th 2009, 15:45 GMT

Stephane Sarrazin, Peugeot, Le MansLast year's Le Mans 24 Hours pole winner Stephane Sarrazin believes that the Peugeot 908 HDi FAP no longer enjoys a performance advantage over its Audi rivals.

The Frenchman, who lapped La Sarthe in 3m18.513s in the diesel coupe a year ago, says he does not expect to be able to dominate the timesheets in the same way, now that Audi has introduced the R15 TDI.

"We don't have that advantage any more," Sarrazin told AUTOSPORT. "They [Audi] have a very fast car. We will see, but I am only really concentrating on my car and focussing on the job.

"We need to have a good set-up, a good car, and after that we can only do the maximum. In that respect I don't care about Audi, we need to have a good race without problems and without mistake and we will see what we can do.

"I think we can be in a very good position because we have three very fast cars in the team."

Sarrazin is part of a new driver line-up in 2009 and will share the #8 Peugeot along with Scuderia Toro Rosso Formula 1 driver Sebastien Bourdais and Franck Montagny, and he added that the crew still has some work to do before they have gelled perfectly.

"Franck and myself have the same style so we do not need two different set-ups but with Sebastien, he is a bit more sensitive to the rear of the car so we cannot have any oversteer," he explained. "So we need to set-up the car for Sebastien to drive.

"But it is a battle of endurance and we are three drivers who together need to make the fastest overall average - not one very lap and one very slow.

"So everybody needs to be happy and confident, because it is such a long and difficult race that if you drive eight or ten hours with a car you don't like it is not good."

Capello: Bad timing for a rules row

By Steven English and Simon Strang Thursday, June 11th 2009, 15:06 GMT

Rinaldo CapelloAudi's Rinaldo Capello believes the dispute over the legality of the R15 TDI has come at the wrong time for sportscar racing, when the category should be taking advantage of the instability in Formula 1 to boost its profile.

Peugeot yesterday protested against Audi's front bodywork and although the ACO declared the R15 legal, Peugeot intends to take its appeal to the FIA. So the result of this weekend's Le Mans 24 Hours may not be confirmed until weeks after the race.

With the future of F1 up in the air, and several manufacturers believed to be considering Le Mans projects if they do not enter F1 next year, Capello says Peugeot's unsuccessful protest and subsequent appeal is unsettling sportscar racing when it should be thriving.

"That is a very bad side of the race," Capello told AUTOSPORT. "Especially in this moment when Formula 1 has a lot of political problems, this would be the right moment for sportscars to look better and increase its popularity.

"That is what we need because now we have nice, fast cars, very good drivers and it should be a great show for everybody. If we start having political problems in our own category, it allows F1 to look better than us. It would be the right moment to switch and look better than them."

Putting the dispute to one side, Capello is expecting a closely-fought race between Audi and Peugeot this weekend.

"I think Peugeot learned a lot from the debacle they had last year," he said. "I think they learned quite a lot about strategy and some of the mistakes they have done.

"But I know we have a better car than last year, a faster car than last year. We will be much closer to them, I hope even better, than before. That's why I am confident on our strengths but I know we will fight even harder than last year to beat them.

"This is what the spectators want, what the show needs, because the more fighting we will make on the race track the better it is for everybody."

Le Mans invites F1 manufacturers

By Steven English and Kevin Turner Thursday, June 11th 2009, 12:51 GMT

2008 Le Mans 24 HoursThe organisers of the Le Mans 24 Hours have thrown the door open for any of Formula 1's manufacturers to compete in the French classic - and they have even been offered the chance to help shape future regulations.

F1 teams are due to meet with FIA president Max Mosley today in an attempt to reach a last-minute agreement ahead of the publication of the entry list for 2010 tomorrow morning.

Several of the manufacturers have been linked to sportscar programmes if they go through with their threats not to enter Formula 1 next year.

Piero Ferrari, son of marque founder Enzo, has mentioned Le Mans as a potential avenue for the team, and Toyota is also believed to be interested in a return to the 24 Hours 10 years after its last appearance at the event with its GT-One car.

ACO general manager Remy Brouard says Le Mans would welcome F1 manufacturers returning to sportscar racing and insists that Le Mans' governing body is open to suggestions from manufacturers on future regulations.

When asked about the number of manufacturers involved in the 24 Hours, Brouard said: "There is no ideal figure, the more the better. They [the Formula 1 teams] are welcome here. If they want to make proposals, we will listen."

Brouard would not comment on which manufacturers, if any, had been in contact with the ACO about possible entry to the event.

Ferrari president Luca di Montezemolo will be the official starter of this year's race on Saturday, and former double world champion Fernando Alonso is also due to attend after admitting his interest in competing in the event in the future.

Renault and BMW have also had success as past winners of the Le Mans 24 Hours in 1978 and 1999 respectively.

[Jamie]

So Audi were fastest in the wet practice, and their body work has been declared legal.

Hmmmm looking good.

Really? Audi?

Hmmm Mr MK will be looking again this year

[cap-dude]

I can only hope this new Audi, is a typical new car. Hopefully the car still has some bugs that cause the odd mechanical problem. But knowing audi, how likely is that. Audi do seem to have the upper hand so far, but we'll see what happens.

Still rooting for Pug

[EwanM]

Absolutely fascinating qualifying session from Le Mans.
Martin Haven, Mark Cole and Jeremy Shaw are wonderful as ever.

[Rivelution]

Absolutely fascinating qualifying session from Le Mans.
Martin Haven, Mark Cole and Jeremy Shaw are wonderful as ever.

Do you have the times? We dont get any coverage til race day.

[EwanM]

None reliable as of yet but:

Sarrazin takes sensational pole

By Steven English Thursday, June 11th 2009, 22:16 GMT

Stephane Sarrazin produced a stunning late effort to clinch pole position at the Le Mans 24 Hours for Peugeot for the third successive year.

Sarrazin's team-mate in the #8 908, Franck Montagny, had set the pace throughout Wednesday's first qualifying session, only to have his time beaten by Audi's Allan McNish on the very last lap.

That left Peugeot needing to better Audi's time in the dark during final qualifying and Sarrazin left his charge late.

He set two purple sector times on two consecutive laps, only to have them spoiled by traffic - the first by Andre Lotterer's Kolles-run Audi R10 and the second by Tom Kristensen in the #1 R15.

Sarrazin was forced to pit for a new set of tyres and it was close to midnight when he unleashed the fastest lap of the week so far, a 3m22.888s - seven tenths quicker than McNish's effort at the end of the first session.

The Frenchman made up all the time over his previous best effort in the final sector and lapped just four seconds slower than his pole time from last year, despite the regulation changes reducing the power of the Peugeot 908 by an estimated 10 per cent.

Nicolas Minassian was just a couple of hundred yards behind Sarrazin on the road and set the best time of the evening for the #7 car to take third place.

The Pescarolo-run customer 908 will start the race from fourth place thanks to Jean-Christophe Boullion's effort in the earlier session.

Marc Gene and Marco Werner both made improvements on their final runs to lift the #9 Peugeot and the #2 Audi to fifth and sixth on the grid respectively.

The #3 Audi was one of the only front runners not to improve its time in the second session and will start seventh.

Stefan Mucke pulled out a sensational lap in the #007 Lola Aston Martin to pinch eighth place from the sister #008 car. Mucke lapped within a tenth of a second of the #3 Audi in seventh, but Jan Charouz took over the car from Mucke and crashed into the barriers at the second chicane. The team is still waiting to get the car back and investigate the severity of the damage.

The #008 Aston will start ninth after Anthony Davidson lowered its best time into the 3m27s, while the Speedy Racing Team Sebah Lola Aston Martin completes the top 10 as a result of Andrea Bellichi's surprise effort.

Danny Watts's best lap in the first session was good enough for the Strakka Racing Ginetta-Zytek to hold onto 11th on the grid.

The Kolles-run Audi R10s and the two ORECAs were surprisingly off the pace of the front runners and will fill the seventh and eighth rows of the grid respectively.

Casper Elgaard clinched the LMP2 pole position for the Team Essex Porsche RS Spyder with a time less than a tenth of a second faster than Team Goh's Porsche.

Jan Magnussen's lap from the first qualifying session was enough to claim the GT1 pole for the #63 Corvette, beating the best lap of the #64 sister car by half a second.

Similarly, Jorg Bergmeister's best lap of the earlier session was enough to earn the GT2 pole for the Flying Lizards Porsche, just 0.030s quicker than the Felbermayr 911.