Tiago Monteiro replaces injured Matthieu Lahaye at OAK Racing for the 24 Hours of Le Mans

Highcroft won’t be at Le Mans this year. The Kronos Aston Martin should be qualified.

That’s all for now. See you in Le Mans in 30 days or so…

The MICHELIN GREEN X Challenge goes to the Peugeot N°7 in LMP category and to the Ferrari N°51 in GTE

Ferrari 1-2 in GTE Pro for No. 51 and 60. BMW No. 66 in third.

The race is over, with Peugeot in the top two spots (No. 7 and 8), followed by all three Audi (3, 1, 2)

The third Peugeot, No. 9, ended up 8th after late race repairs.

34,600 spectators at Spa today for the 1000 km race (15,000 people last year)

Simon Pagenaud (Peugeot N°9) posted the best time lap (2’04”673) after a 9mn suspension repair

Pagenaud in the No. 9 Peugeot has right front suspension damage and is proceeding to the pits.

Kristensen has just gone into 3rd place in the No. 3 Audi. He may still need to stop for a Splash-and-Go before the end of the race.

Peugeot No. 8 in for fuel only and back out. It will likely keep its second place.

Third place man Pagenaud in the No. 9 Peugeot in for fuel and new front bodywork. He is back out still in third place.changa change of nose.
Leader Gené in No. 7 Peugeot back in for fuel and to put Hero Driver Wurz in the car for the finish.

Fassler in Audi No. 2 and Rockenfeller in the No. 1 Audi in the pits for fuel. With 50 minutes to go, they are both marginal to get to the end of the race, unless they go into (slower) fuel conservation mode.

Kristensen back on track in 5th place as Pagenaud (No. 9 Peugeot) and Mike Rockenfeller in the No. 1 Audi have gone past him during his long stop to repair his car.

Kristensen in No. 3 Audi is losing two to three seconds a lap to Pagenaud in No. 9 Peugeot in the fight for the last podium position.

Fuel stategies are now coming into play, as the cars cover the 22 to 23 lap stints in 46 to 47 minutes to cover. This means the cars must stop for fuel with less than 46 min to go in order to make it to the finish To do this, they must still go for 15 minutes (Say 7 laps) before a final stop that will get them to the end.

Time to save some fuel perhaps?

The Kristensen car has just lost some rear body panels at the rear, likely in an incident. He is now in the pits for fuel, tires and some new rear bodywork. Pagenaud is closing in on him…

Chistensen (Audi No. 3) just came in from second place for fuel, and went back out in third place, just behind Minassian in Peugeot No. 8, and ahead of No. 9 Peugeot with quick man Pagenaud at the wheel.

The race for podium positions is ON!

With 95 min to go, the three Peugeot need one more stop, while Christensen needs to stop twice to make it to the end on fuel.
Pagenaud in the fourth place No. 9 Peugeot may have a chance at the posium.

In any case, the rest of the race will be an all-out sprint for all the top teams.

Lamy in No. 9 Peugeot in the pits. Lamy is out of the car, Pagenaud now in. No extra work seems to have been done other than fuel and new tires.

The lead No. 7 Peugeot now in the pits for fuel only.

Christensen in No. 3 Audi now up to 3rd place.

Lamy now back on track after 2 min delay

Second place Peugeot No. 9 off the track at turn 9. No reason yet

1000 km of Spa, after 4 hours: 1. Peugeot N°7 105 laps – 2. Peugeot N°9 + 15”4 – 3. Peugeot N°8 +1’06”8 – 4. Audi N°3 +1’50”1 – 5. Audi N°1 +1L..

Second place driver Pedro Lamy (Peugeot No. 9) nearing end of a triple stint in the car and keeping leader Gené in Peugeot No. 7 honest, just 22 seconds behind him after 4 hours of racing.

Third place Peugeot No. 8 keeping 1min 8sec behind the leader on the same lap.

Romain Dumas (Audi N°1): ‘One of the worst stint of my carrer. After the contact early on when Timo was driving, I guess a rear toe is damaged and the diffuser broken. The car is handling very badly. I’ve just tried to keep it on track.’

The leading car (Peugeot N°7) in the pits: tires, refuelling and driver change (Marc Gené in)

1000 km of Spa, after 3 hours (mid-race): 1. Peugeot N°7 78 laps – 2. Peugeot N°9 +9”4 – 3. Peugeot N°8 +1’02”3 – 4. Audi N°3 +1’17”3 – 5. Audi N°1 +2’06”6…

LMP2: 1. Oreca N°46 – 2. Oreca N°40 – 3. Oreca N°45 – 4. HPD N°42 – 5. MG N°43…

LM GTE Pro: 1. Ferrari N°71 – 2. Ferrari N°51 – 3. Ferrari N°66 – 4. Ferrari N°89 – 5. BMW N°56…

LM GTE Am: 1. Porsche N°67 – 2. Ferrari N°61 – 3. Ferrari N°82 – 4. Corvette N°50 – 5. Porsche N°63…

FLM: 1. N°91 – 2. N°95 – 3. N°93 – 4. N°99 – 5. N°92

We are at mid point in the race, with 3 hours to go.

Peugeot Team Magager Olivier Quesnel happy with his three cars in the lead, and hopes for similar weather conditions at Le Mans.

Green flag is out.

All of the major teams have now done three stops.

Top three Peugeot (No. 7, 9 and and fourth place Capello Audi No. 3 all on lead lap. Rest of the field, including two other Audi all at least one lap down.

Track is now clear as the tire barriers at Eau Rouge took the hit well, and restart is now close.

Two safety cars on track. Pit exit was closed, and the No. 2 Audi was trapped. The car is now back on track, but at the end of one of the lines behind a safety car.

Lola Coupe HPD No. 33 (Christophe Bouchut) broke RR suspension at Eau Rouge high speed corner. Safety car is out

No. 7 Peugeot (Davidson) just touched the Larbre Corvette. No apparent damage to Left Front bodyworl

Treluyer in No. 2 Audi drove off the track and back on with LF body damage. Will pit.

Three Peugeot in the lead: Davidson in No.7, Lamy in No. 9 and Sarrazin in No.8.

Three Ferrari lead in GTE Pro: the No. 61 of Bruni, then No. 71 with Vilander on board, and No. 60 Bell in third.

Treluyer (No. 2 Audi) in the pits from second place after only 17 laps and may have had a puncture. No.1 Audi with Dumas aboard under investigation and now in the pits.

Team Oreca Matmut Peugeot No. 10 had to change a fuel pump, losing 11 laps in the process

Race leader Peugeot No.7 (Davidson) is “Under Investigation” by the officials.

1000 km of Spa, after 2 hours: 1. Peugeot N°7 55 laps – 2. Audi N°2 +20”3 – 3. Peugeot N°9 +27” – 4. Peugeot N°8 +54”1 – 5. Audi N°3 +1’03”4…

Franck Montagny (Peugeot N°8) : ‘Starting from the back, it’s never boring! We’re back in the game and that’s a good thing.’

Corrected order for top runners: Davidson (No. 7 Peugeot), Treluyer (No. 2 Audi) and Lamy (No. 9 Peugeot)

Wurz declares that he brought his tires in slowly in the early laps, then applied pressure and passed the leaders easily as the car was working well.

Capello lost about ten seconds a lap ago as he pushed the pit speed limiter button under braking. He is now 5th in his No. 3 Audi, and has just been passed by Sarrazin in the No. 8 Peugeot.

Audi N°3 back up to full speed

Audi N°3 running slowly on track

After stops by all the leaders, new order is Davidson in Peugeot No. 7, Capello in No. 3 Audi 21 sec. back, and Lamy in No.9 Peugeot a further 3 sec. behing Capello.

A good fuel-only LM P1 stop take 90 sec. Add 30 sec for tire and driver change.

Planned pit stops for the leaders. McNish out of No. 9 Audi, Dindo Capello in. Most leading cars changing tires.

Timo Bernhard (Audi N°1): “It was a good fight with Alex and Andre. 2 laps before my pit, I overtook a FLM car at Blanchimont but it clipped me at the rear.

Wurz in No. 7 Peugeot leads, 11 sec in front of Lotterer in No. 2 Audi, with McNish in No. 3 Audi a further 4 sec back.

No. 1 Audi back on track after 2m 49 sec stop, one minute extra to fix the bodywork.

McNish in No. 3 Audi in the lead. No.3 Audi has been hit and is in the pits to fix body damage in right rear. They are fueling the car, changing tires and triple stinting the driver. New rear engine cover not going on easily at RR.

Second Lotus Evora in the garage

No. 10 Matmut Peugeot back in the race, now down in 46th place

Bourdais in No. 9 Peugeot 1.5 sec behing cNish (No. 3 Audi) and looking to get by.

1000 km of Spa, after 1 hour: 1. Peugeot N°7 (26 laps) – 2. Audi N°1 +2”9 – 3. Audi N°2 + 8”1 – 4. Audi N°3 +15”6 – 5. Peugeot N°9 + 17”3

No.10 Matmut Peugeot in the pits with engine problems apparently on the left cylinder bank. Mechanics are looking at the injector pump.

Peugeot-Oreca N°10 pushed back in the box

Corrected order after all stops is Peugeot No. 7 (Wurz), No. 1 Audi (Bernhard), No. 2 Audi (Lotterer)

In GTE Pro, No. 66 Ferrari (Rob Bell) just muscled into the lead past No. 77 Ferrari (Melo)

The Lotus N°65 in the pit-lane with a oil smoke at rear

No. 7 and No. 8 Peugeot in the pits, all fuel only.
Bourdais in No. 9 Peugeot also in and out with only fuel.

Only fuel for No.1 Audi, no tire or driver change

No. 1 Audi in the pits

Wurtz now in the lead in magic traffic pass

Top three LM P1 cars nose to tail

Alex Wurz (Peugeot N°7) closed up to the lead Audi N°2

LMP2: 1. Oreca-TDS Racing N°46 – 2. Oreca-Nissan Signatech N°26 – 3. Oreca-Boutsen Racing N°45 – 4. HPD Strakka N°42

Ferrari N°71 still leading the LM GTE Pro category. Retirement for the Luxury Ferrari N°58

Wurz (Peugeot N°7) overtook Bernhard (Audi N°1) in traffic. The Peugeot is now 2nd behind leader Lotterer (Audi N°2)

Franck Montagny (Peugeot N°8) is now 6th

Great fight between the Audi N°1 and the Peugeot N°7 for the 2nd position

McNish (Audi N°3) overtook Loic Duval (Peugeot-Oreca). The Audi N°3 is now 5th behind Lotterer (Audi N°2), Bernhard (Audi N°1), Wurz (Peugeot N°7) and Bourdais (Peugeot N°9). Montagny (Peugeot N°8) is 9th

The Porsche N°77 hit the Ferrari N°51 and spun in the kitty litter with suspected borken suspension

McNish (Audi N+3) and Montagny (Peugeot N°8) are 9th and 17th

Lotterer (Audi N°2) is leading

Wurz (Peugeot N°7) and Bourdais (Peugeot N°9) are 5th and 7th

McNish (Audi N°3) spun

Go! the 3 Audis in the Raidillon

Spa 1000KM

The huge crowd at the Grid Walk is now being evacuated, 20-odd minutes before the scheduled start.

The No. 59 Luxury Racing Ferrari 458 will start from the pits after a change of tires from qualifying.

Spa 1000KM

The warmup is over. No incidents, a few harmless spins on cold tires perhaps, and no red flag in sight!

Top LM P1 cars were the No. 8 Peugeot, the No. 2 Audi and the No. 7 Peugeot. Three Ferrari led in GTE, the No. 66, followed by No. 89 and No. 89.

It is now time for the Signature session, then Pits Walkabout and the start at 14:05.

Spa 1000KM

Beautiful morning here in the Ardennes. Not a cloud in the sky, at least right now…

The warmup will go from 09:55 to 10:15. You can bet that drivers will take it easier than in qualifying yesterday. No way you want to damage the car a few hours before the race.

The qualifying session will not be restarted due to some serious damages to safety barriers. The Audi N°1 on pole position

Matthieu Lahaye (OAK Racing N°15) went off, car badly damaged

Red flag, 5mn remaining

Kristensen, Berhnard and Lotterer are on track for Audi. Gené, Lamy, Montagny for Peugeot

1000 km of Spa, LMP Qualifying session starts in 5mn

1000 km of Spa, LM GTE Qualifying session: 1. Ferrari/MICHELIN N°71 – 2. Ferrari N°66 – 3. Ferrari/MICHELIN N°51…

Spa 1000KM – Qualifying

The LM GTE Pro and LM GTE Am cars ar on the track for the 20-min qualifying session.

The session is scheduled to last until 16.10.

Spa 1000KM – Rumblings in the Ardennes Forest

All is quiet now, but expect some serious action in the upcoming qualifying sessions. LM GTE Pro and LM GTE Am go first, from 15.50 to 16.20. They are followed by the LM P1, LM P2 and LMS cars from 16.20 to 16.40.

Expect the fur to fly figuratively in the second session, as both Audi and Peugeot take the gloves off, wanting to look good here while always keeping the ultimate goal – a win at Le Mans – foremost in their minds – at least those of the team managers.

Come what may, drivers in the slower cars had better keep an eye on the mirrors and the blue flags.

Spa 1000KM Morning Free Practice results

LMP
1- No 1 Audi, 3.02.697; 2- No 2 Audi, +0.309; 3- No 9 Peugeot, +1.861; 4- No 3 Audi, +1.988; 5- No 7 Peugeot, + 2.291

LM GTE
1- No 51, Ferrari, 2.20.836; 2- No 77 Porsche; 3- No 89 Ferrari, 4- No 71 Ferrari; 5- No 55 BMW

Spa 1000KM Morning Free Practice

Second Red Flag in this session, with 4 minutes left. Unlikely to restart.

Spa 1000KM Morning Free Practice
The cars are back on the track with 19.51 remaining in the session

Spa 1000KM Friday Morning Free Practice
The session was red flagged after 34 minutes. We will advise why as soon as we find out.

In the meantime, here are the Top Five in LMP: No 2 Audi, No 9 Peugeot, No 7 Peogeot (The rebuilt Gene car from yesterday’s accident, No 1 Audi and No 2 Audi.

Spa 1000KM
The cars are on track for the 60 minute Free Practice session, which is scheduled to end at 12.55

Olivier Quesnel, Peugeot Sport Director: ‘Pedro Lamy had just overtaken the N°36 car when he was touched at the rear. Pedro is dissapointed but it wasn’t his fault. The car is not back in the pit box yet, so I can’t say much. I hope we can repair the 908.’ As the car arrived on a platfom truck, he added that he thought it could be repaired for tomorrow.

Spa 1000KM Results dor Free Practice 2
LMP
1- Audi No 2, 2.03.124; 2- Audi No 3, +1.237 sec: 3- Audi No 1, + 1,281; 4- Peugeot No 9, +2.348 sec; 5- Peugeot No 10, +3.838sec

LM GT Pro
1- Ferrrari No 66, 3.21.446; 2- Ferrari No 88, +0.453sec; 3- Ferrari No 51, +0.743sec; 4- Porsche No 76; +1.260sec 5- BMW No 56, +1.482sec

Red flag: 2 cars involved in a crash at Pouhon, the Peugeot N°9 (Lamy) and the RML N°36.

Green flag. 22 minutes remaining

Red flag: JC Boullion (Lola-Toyota Rebellion N°13) went off at Eau Rouge. Driver out of the car. The prototype N°13 is very damaged.

Andre Lotterer (Audi N°2) posted the best time so far (2’03”124)

Dindo Capello (Audi N°1, best time this morning) : ‘the Audi R18 is completely different, the DNA of the car is different, the vue from the cockpit is different. We had to change our driving style’

1000 km of Spa: The 2nd free practice session has just started. Bernhard, Lotterer, McNish, Gené, Sarrazin, Pagenaud at the wheel.

Spa 1000KM – Peugeot Press event
I spoke to three of the nine Peugeot drivers the race, and one could sense the pressure on them. They all mentioned the real objective is to win Le Mans, and that this race will help settle a few questions regarding low downforce such as used at Le Mans. By the way, Spa requires somewhat more downforce for the high speed corners. So you can see their problem.

More work is also needed regarding the behaviour of the MICHELIN tires, more specifically how well the soft compond will work over three full stints.

Woven trough all that is how the car feels and how quick it remains over multiple stints on the same set of tires.

They do earn their money!

Spa 1000KM:
See you during the second Free Practice, from 16.55 to 17:55
And, it was Ferrari – Ferrari – Porsche – BMW in LM GTE Pro after the first Free Practice session.

Results: Spa 1000KM Free Practice 1
1-Audi No 3 (Dindo CAPELLO), 2.03.844; 2-Audi No 9, +0,210, 3-Peugeot No 5, +0,373; 4-Audi No 2, +1.485; 5-Peugeot No 8, +1.548

The driver of car N°16 (Manu Collard) must get to the race direction. Green flag in 3mn

Red flag, Audi N°2 out at Turn 8. After 30mn, 1. Audi N°3 – 2. Audi N°1 – 3. Peugeot N°9

1000 km of Spa-Francorchamps: The 1st free practice session starts now. It’s sunny in Spa!