The special Test Day of the 24 Hours of Le Mans was run this past weekend, in preparation for the grand classic endurance race which will be held in eight weeks.
The test day provided a lot of interesting information from a sporting point of view. Tom Kristensen in the no. 3 Audi R18 set the quickest time, and the 8-time Le Mans 24-Hours winner lapped the unique circuit in 3m 27.687s, an average speed of 236,687 km/h, just under 8 seconds slower than last year’s pole (3m 19.711s).
Mike Rockenfeller in the no. 1 Audi R18 was second quickest in 3m 27.815s proving that the German engineers have got their sums right. The three R18s monopolized the top of the time sheets for a good part of the session, but in the dying seconds of the afternoon, Stephane Sarrazin put in a stunning lap in a time of 3m 27.876s to bag third place, showing the potential of the new Peugeot 908.
The first five cars, three Audis and two Peugeots, were covered by only 0.617 seconds! The highest top speed fell to Franck Montagny with 340.5 km/h.
However, the two major contenders for victory in the coming Le Mans 24 Hours did not only go for a time, they also did a great deal of work on the setups the aerodynamic configurations and the use of tires. The three Audis covered 3257 km and the three works Peugeots, 3407 km.
The first of the petrol-engined cars was the no 16 Pescarolo-Judd driven by Emmanuel Collard who got round in 3m 36.583s. The performance of the Aston Martin AMR-ONES was a bit disappointing. The two cars covered a total of just twelve laps! The English manufacturer still has a long way to go as it seems to be faced with chronic engine problems.
In LM P2, the battle raged between three cars with Nissan power, the nos 26 and 48 Orecas and the no. 41 Zytek. Franck Mailleux at the wheel of the no. 26 Signatech Nissan finally came out on top with a lap in 3 42.992s.
The GTE Pro category was again the theatre of some intense competition. Quickest was the Hankook-Farnbacher Ferrari F458 Italia driven by Allan Simonsen who got round in 3m 59.966s, the only driver to dip below the 4-minute barrier. The gap to the BMWs and Porsches is tiny. Only the Lotuses which were there to learn were not on the same pace due to their comparative lack of experience.
Larbre Competition’s two cars dominated in GTE Am with the best time going to the no. 50 Corvette with Tom Milner at the wheel with a lap in 4m 04.222s closely followed by Jean-Philippe Belloc’s Porsche in 4m 05285s.
Standings of the Test Day :
1 : Audi R18 TD1 n°3, 3’27’’687, 62 laps
2 : Audi R18 TDI n°1, 3’27’’815, 48 laps
3 : Peugeot 908 n°8, 3’27’’876, 80 laps
4 : Audi R18 TD1 n°2, 3’27’’878, 50 laps
5 : Peugeot 908 n°9, 3’28’'304, 43 laps
6 : Peugeot 908 HDi FAP - Oreca n°10, 3’31’’141, 78 laps
7 : Peugeot 908 n°7, 3’32’’549, 117 laps
8 : Pescarolo Judd n°16, 3’36’’583, 65 laps
9 : Rebellion Lola n°12, 3’37’’809, 60 laps
10 : Rebellion Lola n°13, 3’38’’716, 26 laps
etc
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| Peugeot 908 (Photo: WRI2) |
The test day provided a lot of interesting information from a sporting point of view. Tom Kristensen in the no. 3 Audi R18 set the quickest time, and the 8-time Le Mans 24-Hours winner lapped the unique circuit in 3m 27.687s, an average speed of 236,687 km/h, just under 8 seconds slower than last year’s pole (3m 19.711s).
Mike Rockenfeller in the no. 1 Audi R18 was second quickest in 3m 27.815s proving that the German engineers have got their sums right. The three R18s monopolized the top of the time sheets for a good part of the session, but in the dying seconds of the afternoon, Stephane Sarrazin put in a stunning lap in a time of 3m 27.876s to bag third place, showing the potential of the new Peugeot 908.
The first five cars, three Audis and two Peugeots, were covered by only 0.617 seconds! The highest top speed fell to Franck Montagny with 340.5 km/h.
However, the two major contenders for victory in the coming Le Mans 24 Hours did not only go for a time, they also did a great deal of work on the setups the aerodynamic configurations and the use of tires. The three Audis covered 3257 km and the three works Peugeots, 3407 km.
The first of the petrol-engined cars was the no 16 Pescarolo-Judd driven by Emmanuel Collard who got round in 3m 36.583s. The performance of the Aston Martin AMR-ONES was a bit disappointing. The two cars covered a total of just twelve laps! The English manufacturer still has a long way to go as it seems to be faced with chronic engine problems.
In LM P2, the battle raged between three cars with Nissan power, the nos 26 and 48 Orecas and the no. 41 Zytek. Franck Mailleux at the wheel of the no. 26 Signatech Nissan finally came out on top with a lap in 3 42.992s.
The GTE Pro category was again the theatre of some intense competition. Quickest was the Hankook-Farnbacher Ferrari F458 Italia driven by Allan Simonsen who got round in 3m 59.966s, the only driver to dip below the 4-minute barrier. The gap to the BMWs and Porsches is tiny. Only the Lotuses which were there to learn were not on the same pace due to their comparative lack of experience.
Larbre Competition’s two cars dominated in GTE Am with the best time going to the no. 50 Corvette with Tom Milner at the wheel with a lap in 4m 04.222s closely followed by Jean-Philippe Belloc’s Porsche in 4m 05285s.
Standings of the Test Day :
1 : Audi R18 TD1 n°3, 3’27’’687, 62 laps
2 : Audi R18 TDI n°1, 3’27’’815, 48 laps
3 : Peugeot 908 n°8, 3’27’’876, 80 laps
4 : Audi R18 TD1 n°2, 3’27’’878, 50 laps
5 : Peugeot 908 n°9, 3’28’'304, 43 laps
6 : Peugeot 908 HDi FAP - Oreca n°10, 3’31’’141, 78 laps
7 : Peugeot 908 n°7, 3’32’’549, 117 laps
8 : Pescarolo Judd n°16, 3’36’’583, 65 laps
9 : Rebellion Lola n°12, 3’37’’809, 60 laps
10 : Rebellion Lola n°13, 3’38’’716, 26 laps
etc
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