The opening six hours to the 24 Hours of Le Mans has been eventful to say the least.  From on-and-off rain showers to early race retirements by Audi and Corvette, the 75th edition of the French endurance racing classic is looking to go down in the record books as one of the most interesting editions in recent years.  

At 3:00 p.m., Mr. Roland du Luart, President of the Le Mans construction trade union, waved the tri-colour to start the 75^th annual 24 Hours of Le Mans.  The polesitting No. 8 Team Peugeot Total 908 HDI FAP of Sebastien Bourdais held the lead heading into the first corner but cut through a part of the corner, giving second-placed Dindo Capello the top spot.  Capello, in the No. 2 Audi Sport North America R10 TDI, rocketed off to an early lead.  While Capello started to build his lead, a great battle was developed behind the No. 2 Audi.  The two Peugeots and other Audis diced with each other in the opening minutes.

Trouble struck the No. 53 JLOC Lamborghini after just two laps as the Italian supercar pulled off the circuit with transmission failure.  After spending all of last night building up a new chassis due to its crash in qualifying, the Japanese team was obviously gutted with the very early retirement. 

Another car in trouble very early on was the No. 32 Barazi Epsion Zytek of Michael Vergers.  After moving up to second in class in the opening minutes but spinning in the Dunlop Curve, Vergers brought the Gulf-liveried LMP2 entry into the pits with gear linkage issues.  The car remained in the pits for much of the first three hours. 

As the leading LMP1s continued to lap, the skies started to darken and raindrops began to fall around the 8.5-mile circuit.  With one hour elapsed, the safety car came out due to a wreaked Bruichladdich Radical SR9, which crashed heavily as the rain began to intensify.  Tim Greaves limped the LMP2 challenger to the pits and was later retired due to the severe damage. 

During the yellow, the majority of the runners ducked into the pits for either intermediates or wet weather tires.  The rain became to intensify, then let up.  Conditions were unpredictable throughout the next hour. 

The field got the green one hour and 25 minutes in with Audi leading the way.  However, drama was about to strike La Sarthe, and it came through two major incidents.  90 minutes in, Mike Rockenfeller spun his No. 3 Audi R10 TDI hard into the armco barriers at Tetre Rouge, brining out the safety car. 

Rockenfeller was uninjured in the heavy crash, but the catch fence and wall was in need of repairs.  The young German driver also tried to make repairs to his R10 TDI, but there was too much damage for it to limp back to the pits.  It was day done for the No. 3 trio of Rockenfeller, Lucas Luhr and Alexandre Premat, who never even got a chance to drive the car in the race.

Still under the yellow, another favorite for a class win grounded to a halt.  Oliver Gavin in the No. 64 Corvette Racing C6.R stopped on track with a broken driveshaft.  Gavin was able to jump start the GT1 car on its starter motor but was still forced to retire the machine, putting another contender out of the race early on. 

Two hours in, and still under the safety car, another class favorite ran into problems.  This time, it was the No. 25 RML MG Lola of Andy Wallace, which stopped on course in the pouring rain.  After fifteen minutes, Wallace was once again underway, getting back to the pits under the car’s own power.

After a one-hour safety car period to fix the barrier at Tetre Rouge, the field got the green after two hours and 45 minutes of racing.  RML’s day got from bad to worse as Wallace suffered suspension failure on track, crashing the MG Lola hard into the barriers.  Wallace once again had to limp the P2 car back to the pits, where the Phil Barker-led crew began repairs.  Mike Newton returned to the track after lengthy service.

While the No. 2 Audi continued to lead, trouble struck another race-winning candidate.  This time, it was the No. 8 Team Peugeot Total entry of Stephane Sarrazin, which slowed on track with smoke billowing from the rear of the diesel-fueled 908 HDI FAP.  As the French entry entered pitlane, it looked as though a serious mechanical failure had occurred.  After fifteen minutes of work though, Sarrazin was miraculously back on track.  A right rear hub assembly was the culprit, nothing related to the engine. 

However, 25 minutes later, Sarrazin pitted again and was wheeled back to the garage for more repairs.  Mechanics scurried around the left rear portion of the car this time, replacing the left rear hub assembly.  By the time the Peugeot went back out, it had lost over 5 laps, dropping it to 8th overall.  

Five hours and 30 minutes in, Felipe Ortiz lost control of his No. 9 Creation Autosportif Judd on the Mulsanne, near the Playstation Chicane.  The British entry backed into the barriers after suffering from brake failure, causing significant damage to the LMP1 car.

The racing continued though, mostly uneventful for the remaining thirty minutes of the hour as the competitors reached the one-quarter mark of the race.  The track has dried up, giving drivers the perfect chance to go for some quick flyer laps before the sun sets.

Other cars in trouble nearing the end of the six hour mark included the No. 5 Swiss Spirit Lola Audi (crash), No. 81 Team LNT Panoz (mechanical), No.76 IMSA Performance Matmut Porsche (tire puncture), and No. 85 Spyker Squadron C8 Spyder (mechanical).   

The No. 2 Audi Sport North America R10 TDI of Tom Kristensen, Allan McNish and Dindo Capello led the way, after enjoying a trouble-free run so far in their diesel-fueled LMP1.  The sister No. 1 Audi of Frank Biela, Emanuele Pirro and Marco Werner sit in second with the No. 16 Pescarolo of Jean-Christophe Boullion, Romain Dumas and Emmanuel Collard have taken advantage of the troubles by the Peugeot to sit in third.

In LMP2, the No. 33 Barazi Epsilon Zytek of Adrian Fernandez, Haruki Kurosawa and Robbie Kerr lead the way, ahead of the No. 40 Quifel-ASM Team Lola of Warren Hughes, Miguel Amaral and Miguel Angel de Castro.  The No. 31 Binnie Motorsports is in a solid third, although there has been much attrition in the baby LMP class already.

GT1 is paced by the No. 009 Aston Martin Racing DBR9 of David Brabham, Rickard Rydell and Darren Turner, ahead of the sister Prodrive machine of Johnny Herbert, Tomas Enge and Peter Kox.  Third in class is the lone remaining No. 63 Corvette Racing C6.R of Ron Fellows, Johnny O’Connell and Jan Magnussen.

GT2 has been a good story in the first six hours as the category has seen a number of different cars up front.  At the end of six hours, it is the No. 97 Risi Competizione Ferrari of Mika Salo, Jamie Melo and Johnny Mowlem ahead of the No. 80 Flying Lizard Motorsport Porsche and No. 87 Scuderia Ecosse Ferrari.  Another car which led a good portion of the opening quarter of the race was the No. 93 Autorlando Sport Porsche, with quick Dane Allan Simonsen putting in a quick pace early on in the wet (above). 

John Dagys 

Positions After Six Hours: