I was very pleased to see that Audi TV released a great recap of this years Le Mans race. I saw the Audi TV cameras and crew around all week at the track but wasn’t sure how soon they would have their video ready. To my surprise it was released today only a few days after the race was complete! I wondered a bit if I would make any of the scenes and low and behold in the very first scene you can see me walking behind the commentator (Look for me with the green media vest, black shirt and black backpack). Anyway, enjoy the movie, and be sure to click to view it in full screen! Click link below to view the video. Continue reading ‘Audi TV releases 18 minute Le Mans recap video’
The 2010 running of the 24 Hours of Le Mans has come to an exciting and unexpected conclusion. With the speed that Peugeot showcased throughout the week it was going to be a challenge to even consider a podium finish, let alone a full on sweep. It was the hand of serious engine failures in the final hours of the race that ended the battle and gave victory to Team Joest and the Audi Motorsport team! The #9 car driven by Bernhard, Dumas and Rockenfeller took the overall victory and the threesome stood atop the podium yielding their new Rolex watches. Timo Bernhard had the exceptional honor of driving the clean diesel powered Audi R15 Plus across the finish line. The #8 car was driven by Fassler, Lotterer and Treluyer finished in 2nd. The “Dream Team” of McNish, Capello and Tom Kristensen were certainly very pleased with their podium finish in 3rd place considering they were almost taken from the race by the rookie mistake of the driver of the BMW Art Car.
I will be posting pictures and updates soon! Now I’m going to sit back, take a deep breath and think about how fortunate and lucky I have been to experience this event of a lifetime! It has been such an honor and a privilege to represent QuattroWorld here at Le Mans! I will be posting a full recap and story later this week.
Special thanks again to George from Fourtitude and Joe and Rusty from Tertre Rouge Times who all helped me out more than I could imagine by showing me around, helping me avoid rookie mistakes and most importantly sharing some amazing experiences with me! Make sure you check out their event coverage as well!
The #1 Peugeot fell victim to engine failure as it was putting up one of the very best fights I have ever seen on track. It is a shame for Audi to win due to the failures of its competitors but this is a huge victory proving that Audi is the champion of efficiency! Still 2 hours left to go and 1 Peugeot left that is chasing Tom Kristensen in the #7 Audi R15 TDI. Let’s go TK! Keep this podium 100% Audi! It has to be said that the last remaining Peugeot must be very careful not to push too hard or will it too see engine failure if it does?
We are heading out to shoot the end of the race soon. We will be offline until approximately 1 hour after the race! GO AUDI GO!
Car #8 ran off at Arnage and had a minor impact with the tire barrier and lost about a minute and a half as a result. The #1 Peugeot 908 driven by Alexander Wurz came charging fast and hard when this opportunity appeared and after a few laps of battling, was able to pass Andre Lotterer in the Audi R15 TDI pushing them down to 3rd place. However on the very next lap the #1 Pug pitted and gave the spot back to the #8 Audi. And now they are handing the #2 spot back and forth with each pit visit.
Car number 9 driven by Mike Rockenfeller is running fast and hard in the lead and has a 2 lap lead on the Peugeot. It will be interesting to watch the gap and hopefully the faster Peugeot will not be able to make up the deficit.
Here is another large group of photos, mostly of sunrise this morning up near the Dunlop bridge! Enjoy!
June 13, 2010 - Published By Josh -
in Le Mans 2010. Closed
What a morning it has been for Audi! They have continued to pressure Peugeot all night and into the morning. Now with dawn past and daylight upon us we have a new leader in the race! The #9 Audi R15 TDI is in the lead with Timo Bernhard tearing up the track. Right behind him one lap down is the number 8 R15 TDI with Faessler piloting. Not to be forgotten, the dream team of Capello, McNish and Kristensen are in 4th position putting pressure on the number 1 Peugeot which is one lap ahead.
Go Audi Go!
Editor’s note: I was on the Tertre Rouge corners when the Peugeot #2 which was leading the race blew up right in front of me! I got some great shots and here is a preview… downloading 32GB worth of pics from the sunrise at Dunlop bridge now. Check back soon as I will load them right here.
Audi has not given up on this race. They are pushing hard and putting down very impressive lap times. They have put pressure on Peugeot and made it so that they cannot let up at all. If anything should happen to slow up the 908s Audi is right there ready to pounce on any opportunity! The R15 TDIs are running in reverse order. The #9 car is sitting in 2nd, while the #8 car is in 3rd. The #7 car is running very good but still back in #4 position due to the time lost from the incident with the BMW art car.
The Kolles Audi R10s are still running strong as well. The #15 car currently sits in 9th position. The #14 car is in #14th position and they are both running consistent.
For now, enjoy this gallery of pics from the Pit Lane at Midnight!
June 12, 2010 - Published By Josh -
in Le Mans 2010. Closed
Armed with my new Canon 7D I got brave and decided to try out the HD video feature while in the pit lane. Now I’m obviously no “SteadiCam” operator so be nice! Watch as the crew from Team Joest performs a ballet like ritual and performs a full pit stop including a driver change, fresh tires and fuel. Allan McNish jumps out and assists as Tom Kristensen gets in to pilot the #7 on the midnight stint! Go Audi Go!
June 12, 2010 - Published By Josh -
in Le Mans 2010. Closed
We have over 10,000 photos to go through and the race is only 8 hours old. Albeit most are from the rest of the week. We’ve run through today’s pictures though and have pulled out some that we’d like to share. More to be added in another update later.
Special shout out to APR who has helped make our trip to Le Mans possible. We have named them the official sponsor of our photos from the event!
June 12, 2010 - Published By Josh -
in Le Mans 2010. Closed
It is about half past the 8th hour of the race and Audi has benefited from some mechanical failures on the number 1 Peugeot 908. It was pushed into the garage last hour for a 5 minute repair. As a result it fell out of first place all the way back to 7th giving each of the Audi R15 TDIs a boost in position. The number 8 Audi R15 is one lap back of the lead Peugeot. We are hopeful that with the cooler weather Audi will gain an advantage over its rival.
Current Running order with 15 hours and 30 minutes left in the race
1 Peugeot #2
2 Peugeot #4
3 Audi R15 TDI #8
4 Audi R15 TDI #9 5Audi R15 TDI #7
6 Aston Martin #007
7. Puegeot #1 8 Aston Martin #009 9 Audi R10 TDI #15
10 Oreca #6
June 12, 2010 - Published By Josh -
in Le Mans 2010. Closed
The 2010 running of the 24 Hours of Le Mans is underway! The scene here is surreal with hundreds of thousands of fans surrounding every part of the circuit. Peugeot is maintaining their lead and there have not been any advances by the Audi team. After only 10 minutes or so there was a full course yellow. The Audi R15 TDIs were very unfortunate as a second safety car jumped out onto the track right in front of them which prevented them from catching up to the Peugeots as they normally would be able to do. Not only this, the safety car in front of the #7 Audi driven by McNish was driving notably slower than the car in front of the Peugeot! This only increased the gap and now the Audi’s are over 1 minute behind the leading #2 Peugeot.
We will be uploading more pictures to this article in a few moments. Please check back soon.
If you haven’t done so yet, tune into Radio Lemans to listen into the action!
