Risorgimento
For a brief few laps at Monza, the story of Le Mans 2008 was clearly spelled
out. Like the précis of a book the outline of the plot was revealed, and Audi
will take plenty of heart from the performance of their R10 TDI in the hands of
Mike Rockenfeller, against the Peugeot of Pedro Lamy. After Stephane
Ortelli’s monumental accident in the ORECA Courage, the safety car was
deployed, bunching up the field. Rockenfeller was in the pits as the safety
car emerged, Lamy had his final pit stop, but unlike Rockenfeller he didn’t
change tyres, and it was a clear run to the flag.
After dominating the pace in each practice session and claiming pole
position by 1.7s, the Peugeots clearly had the faster car of the two. This was
not a surprise given the speed of the 908 Hdi FAP in the Sebring test, race,
and at Barcelona. In the Monza race, Peugeot set the fastest lap, a
1m32.124 for the Gene/Minassian car, compared to 1m33.746 for Allan
McNish and Dindo Capello. The second cars were classed 1m33.375 for
Lamy and Sarrazin’s Peugeot, 1m34.839 for Premat and Rockenfeller in the
second placed Audi. Both of the Audis qualified in the 1m33s, the Peugeots
in the 1m31s.
Yet in those last ten laps of the race, the Audi was able to negotiate the
traffic at least as well as the Peugeot, was able to pull out something of a
gap between the two, and Lamy looked under pressure. A stupid mistake,
overtaking a GT2 Spyker under yellows, almost caused carnage as he
narrowly missed a truck picking up the stranded Embassy Racing car. Pedro
is a professional, and would have seen the white flags, yellow flags, and the
truck on the entry to the second chicane.
If not, never mind. As he ducked out, the large object in front of him would
have been clear, yet he made the move and didn’t slow to recognise the fact
that he had made such a mistake. His eyes were firmly on the Audi, and he
couldn’t afford to let it go. In race trim, he had neither the pace, nor the fuel
economy, to give anything away. He picked up a stop and go penalty, which
should have meant a comfortable Audi win. Yet there was confusion on the
radio and Rocky continued to race.
The Portuguese slipped past the Audi at the first chicane, went wide, and
led, at which point the officials posted the stop and go penalty message.
Pedro slowed, let the Audi back past and was right on his tail, able to attack
immediately. This was Rocky’s reason for continuing to race the Peugeot but
I don’t buy it. The message came up immediately, no time for discussion of
the officials and no time for Pedro to make a now customary amendment and
allow Rocky back through. This he did, thus avoiding another stop and go
penalty. The Peugeot sat right on the tail of the Audi in preparation for
another attack at the first chicane, Pedro tried the outside, the pair touched,
the Audi punctured a front tyre. But now the Peugeot led by enough of a
margin that Lamy was able to take his penalty, and exit the pits before
Rocky made it round to change his tyre. For me, it was clear that the penalty
was for overtaking under yellows but Audi was not risking that; Rocky
continued to race the Peugeot, and in so doing took an even bigger risk.
Why?
The puncture meant that the race was over and Audi was not happy. They
went to see the officials, who waved them away. This is Le Mans, not the
World Touring Car Championship. Protests are not part of the post race
procedure. I cannot ever remember a fine being issued for a technical
infringement, unlike the FIA model. Pedro will have been awarded the racing
equivalent of the yellow card but the ACO does not do things publicly. Punch
a policeman at Le Mans, and you will not be invited to race at Le Mans the
next year, as one FIA Champion team discovered. Upset them, and you will
not be invited to play with their ball again. This is a French club, and
membership is exclusive.
One observer commented that it seemed unjust that John Nielsen should
have a minute stop and go penalty for a team member touching the Team
Essex Porsche during a pit stop and having narrowly avoided a truck, Pedro
was allowed to go immediately. I agree. Not that Pedro was entirely to
blame. The touch was innocuous, the puncture unfortunate, and Peugeot’s
team manager Serge Saulnier was right to point out; do you want racing, or
you want the same as last year? The incident showed how close the diesels
are to each other in performance, how high the stakes are for Le Mans. One
thing to consider; starting from the pit lane, the Audi’s overall race time would
have been around a minute faster than that of the Peugeot. Even with the
puncture, the gap between the two was 47s.
While Porsche is contesting overall wins in the US, in Europe the story is
different. Though the RS Spyder filled the LMP2 podium at Monza, the
Speedy Racing Sebah Lola has the pace and the strategic acumen to
challenge, and I do expect it to win a race this year. The GT1 class is clearly
dying. Though Aston Martin and Corvette put on a fine show, finishing 12
seconds apart, with only four cars, five in Spa, it is harder and harder to
justify it. There are so many cars sitting in garages and collections, including
Ferraris, Aston Martins, Maseratis, Corvettes and Saleens, yet they are not
being raced. In GT2, the IMSA Porsche won, was excluded due to a data
logging cable coming loose, and the decision is under appeal. A GT2 story
will be coming later in May.
For now, the race had international appeal. Broadcast on Radio Le Mans, it
attracted 89,000 listeners on race day through the internet, more than
110,000 people over the weekend from in excess of 40 countries. At Spa we
will have the added attraction of Jacques Villeneueve and Alexander Wurz,
completing the Le Mans line-up for Peugeot. Oddly, with three drivers in each
car at Spa, Peugeot says this will weaken their race chances. I reckon on
pure race pace and economy, Audi would have run them close regardless.
Andrew Cotton, May 2008
|
