Le Mans Series – Barcelona – Hour 5
Fairly Clear
© Janos Wimpffen

The retirement of the Modena Aston has made for a strange looking GT1 podium a-brewing. The No. 72 Corvette is in a strong lead, and that’s not a surprise. However, second place is the last place starting Saleen—a very, very good run. They’re two laps down and have no hope of catching the leader unassisted. Third place is the Lamborghini—a good comeback after being caught behind during the safety car intervention. The Bruichladdich whiskey has been radically stirred for the third or fourth time.

The No. 91 Farnbacher Porsche is a retirement—accident damage. Its radiator suffered terminal damage from its earlier brush in the chicane. The Epsilon has had a battery change.

The consensus of opinion is that this has been a very good start to the season. Good long Audi vs. Peugeot contest that took several hours before it stretched into a lap plus lead—for that matter it was eventful to see Audi (thus far) beaten in a straight up battle. It seems that Peugeot is winning it on sheer speed as the Peugeot has spent about 30 seconds more in the pits than the German car. Most of the debutantes have performed well—best of all the Lola-Aston Martin now leading “PP”—Prototype Petroleum. LM P2 has melted down a tad from expectations, but again it is a good day for Lola. GT2 has been predictably unpredictable. That's the one class that isn't clear cut, although the Virgo car looks pretty safe after a very fast run.

The No. 73’s blowout was quite unexpected. Berville did not notice any debris, nor experienced any contact. Verstappen has re-upped the fast lap in LM P2

The lead car, No. 7, seems to have a minor blemish on it—some damage to a headlight cowling. It’s enough of a concern at the moment for the team to let the long delayed diesels, No. 1 and No. 8 respectively, to easily gain a lap back.

It now appears that the race won’t make the 1000-kilometer (215 lap) length before the 6-hour time limit expires. The extended lead of the Peugeot, slightly slowed lap times, and the brief full-course caution have conspired to do this.

LM P2 has had a similar experience to P1. The leading Van Merksteijn Porsche has spent a little bit more time in the pits that the Lola Coupe, but is faster on speed.

Hour 5 Positions
1 7 Team Peugeot Total  GENE Marc MINASSIAN Nicolas Peugeot 908 Hdi-FAP LMP1 ==178== 1:34.188 5 6:19.150
2 2 Audi Sport Team Joest  PREMAT Alexandre ROCKENFELLER Mike Audi R10 TDI LMP1 ==177== 1:35.297 5 5:43.056
3 10 Charouz Racing System  MUCKE Stefan CHAROUZ Jan Lola Aston Martin LMP1 ==175== 1:35.531 6 7:54.431
4 16 Pescarolo Sport  COLLARD Emmanuel BOULLION Jean-Christophe Pescarolo Judd LMP1 ==174== 1:37.578 5 6:31.700
5 34 Van Merksteijn Motorsport VAN MERKSTEIJN Peter VERSTAPPEN Jos Porsche RS Spyder LMP2 ==172== 1:37.093 6 7:32.296
6 1 Audi Sport Team Joest  CAPELLO Rinaldo McNISH Allan Audi R10 TDI LMP1 ==171== 1:34.953 6 15:34.103
7 17 Pescarolo Sport  PRIMAT Harold TINSEAU Christophe Pescarolo Judd LMP1 27.469 1:37.469 5 6:35.371
8 33 Speedy Racing Team Sebah  BELICCHI Andrea POMPIDOU Xavier ZACCHIA Steve Lola Judd LMP2 28.563 1:37.688 6 7:01.731
9 18 Rollcentre Racing  BARBOSA Joao ICKX Vanina SHORT Martin Pescarolo Judd LMP1 ==168== 1:39.313 5 7:27.993
10 31 Team Essex  ELGAARD Casper NIELSEN John Porsche RS Spyder LMP2 5.234 1:37.797 6 13:10.528
11 25 RML  ERDOS Tommy NEWTON Mike Lola MG LMP2 ==167== 1:39.344 5 6:05.496
12 35 Saulnier Racing  RAGUES Pierre LAHAYE Matthieu Pescarolo Judd LMP2 20.703 1:40.688 5 8:05.377
13 27 Horag Racing  LIENHARD Fredy THEYS Didier LAMMERS Jan Porsche RS Spyder LMP2 ==164== 1:37.234 5 16:16.188
14 8 Team Peugeot Total  LAMY Pedro SARRAZIN Stephane Peugeot 908 Hdi-FAP LMP1 ==161== 1:33.515 7 28:41.750
15 72 Luc Alphand Aventures  ALPHAND Luc MOREAU Guillaume GOUESLARD Patrice Corvette C6.R LMGT1 39.125 1:45.750 5 5:21.237
16 26 Bruichladdich Radical  ROSTAN Marc PETERSEN Jens LUEDERS Jan-Dirk Radical AER LMP2 ==160== 1:41.859 6 8:36.184
17 50 Larbre Competition  MAKOWIECKI Frederic BORNHAUSER Patrick BOUCHUT Christophe Saleen S7R LMGT1 ==159== 1:45.593 4 5:39.334
18 41 Trading Performance  OJJEH Karim GOSSELIN Claude-Yves SCHROYEN Julien Zytek 07S LMP2 1:00.687 1:40.578 5 7:21.745
19 55 IPB Spartak Racing  RUSINOV Roman KOX Peter Lamborghini Murcielago LMGT1 ==157== 1:46.734 5 6:26.856
20 96 Virgo Motorsport BELL Robert BRUNI Gianmaria Ferrari F430 GT LMGT2 1:16.468 1:48.937 5 5:55.779
21 77 Team Felbermayr-Proton  LIEB Marc DAVISON Alex Porsche 997 GT3 RSR LMGT2 ==156== 1:50.297 5 5:36.292
22 6 Team Oreca Matmut  PANIS Olivier LAPIERRE Nicolas Courage-Oreca Judd LMP1 1.985 1:35.968 7 36:39.409
23 76 Imsa Performance Matmut  NARAC Raymond LIETZ RIchard Porsche 997 GT3 RSR LMGT2 ==155== 1:49.766 4 5:19.617
24 19 Chamberlain Synergy  EVANS Gareth BERRIDGE Bob Lola AER LMP1 ==154== 1:40.297 6 59:55.999
25 90 Farnbacher Racing  EHRET Pierre KAFFER Pierre BELTOISE Anthony Ferrari F430 GT LMGT2 8:10.984 1:50.516 4 4:58.215
26 40 Quifel ASM Team  AMARAL Miguel PLA Olivier Lola AER LMP2 ==153== 1:38.172 5 16:47.835
27 99 JMB Racing  AUCOTT Ben DAOUDI Stephane Ferrari F430 GT LMGT2 ==152== 1:51.844 4 5:13.227
28 85 Snoras Spyker Squadron  DUMBRECK Peter KELLENERS Ralf VASILIEV Alexei Spyker C8 Laviolette GT2R LMGT2 1.094 1:52.484 4 4:58.631
29 95 James Watt Automotive  DANIELS Paul PALTALLA Markus FORTSEN Mikael Porsche 997 GT3 RSR LMGT2 ==151== 1:52.344 4 6:04.831
30 88 Team Felbermayr-Proton  RIED Christian FELBERMAYR Horst Jr FELBERMAYR Horst Sr Porsche 997 GT3 RSR LMGT2 9.093 1:52.531 4 6:06.169
31 75 Imsa Performance Matmut  BALANDRAS Richard LECOURT Michel BELLOC Jean-Philippe Porsche 997 GT3 RSR LMGT2 ==150== 1:51.344 5 9:12.766
32 73 Luc Alphand Aventures  BLANCHEMAIN Jean-Luc DUMEZ Sebastien BERVILLE Roland Corvette C6.R LMGT1 ==148== 1:46.766 5 19:55.398
33 98 JMB Racing  BASSO Maurice McCORMICK Bo CASADEI Mauro Ferrari F430 GT LMGT2 ==146== 1:52.375 4 7:00.450
34 20 Epsilon Euskadi  BURGUENO Angel DE CASTRO Miguel-Angel Epsilon Euskadi Judd LMP1 ==137== 1:39.047 5 59:18.553
35 4 Saulnier Racing  NICOLET Jacques FAGGIONATO Marc HEIN Richard Pescarolo Judd LMP1 ==132== 1:40.266 4 4:56.589
36 14 Creation AIM  CAMPBELLWALTER Jamie HALL Stuart ORTIZ Felipe Creation Aim LMP1 ==127== 1:37.094 6 59:05.834
37 59 Team Modena  GARCIA Antonio ENGE Tomas Aston Martin DBR9 LMGT1 ==124== 1:45.141 4 4:51.498
38 37 WR / Salini  SALINI Stephane SALINI Philippe ROUSSEL Patrice WR Zytek LMP2 ==122== 1:46.531 5 59:08.828
39 30 Racing Box  DIDAIO Marco FRANCIONI Filippo SAVOLDI Mirco Lucchini Judd LMP2 ==114== 1:45.532 6 59:49.205
40 5 Team Oreca Matmut  ORTELLI Stephane AYARI Soheil Courage-Oreca Judd LMP1 ==108== 1:38.484 3 39:30.517
41 44 Kruse Schiller Motorsport de POURTALES Jean NODA Hideki Lola Mazda LMP2 ==94== 1:39.750 9 58:12.220
42 91 Farnbacher Racing  NIELSEN Lars Erik WESTBROOK Richard SIMONSEN Allan Porsche 997 GT3 RSR LMGT2 ==90== 1:50.734 6 22:48.792
43 3 Scuderia Lavaggi LAVAGGI Giovanni Lavaggi AER LMP1 ==87== 1:42.094 6 13:38.560
44 32 Barazi Epsilon  BARAZI Juan VERGERS Michael Zytek 07S LMP2 ==55== 1:39.296 2 1:04.019
45 45 Embassy Racing  HUGHES Warren HABERFIELD Mario WF01 Zytek LMP2 ==43== 1:40.031 2 3:03.022
46 46 Embassy Racing  KANE Jonny FOSTER Joey WF01 Zytek LMP2 ==41== 1:40.312 1 2:28.652
47 94 Speedy Racing Team  CHIESA Andrea LEUENBERGER Benjamin Spyker C8 Laviolette GT2R LMGT2 ==17== 1:53.703 1 9:19.555