FIA GT CHAMP 2004, ZHUHAI ROUND 11
MASERATI'S SECOND WIN
They make it 1-2. Luhr/Maassen win N-GT Series!

November 14 - At Zhuhai, in China, 29 cars were present for the final round of the 2005 FIA GT Championship. Once more there were no Listers, whilst the Dutch and French Viper were only present as field fillers. For Lister and Viper the FIA GT story seems definitively over. At the qualifications the Ferrari 550 Maranello of Matteo Bobbi and Gabriele Gardel was the fastest, followed by the two terrible Maseratis MC12. Series winners Lucca Cappellari and Fabrizio Gollin were not in, since their #2 Ferrari Maranello was now shared by Drudi/Dor/Cadei. The race was fully dominated by the two Maseratis, taking the two first places at the finish with Bertolini/Salo finishing 1 second earlier than Herbert/de Simone. Only one other car finished in the same lap, the Bobbi/Gardel Ferrari 550 Maranello, having won the round at Dubaï. Christophe Bouchut, having joined Calderari/Bryner on the #3 Ferrari Maranello finished fourth overall.

In N-GT Lucas Luhr and Sacha Maassen caused a stir by winning in extremis the N-GT class after Ortelli/Collard had to withdraw after 57 of the 113 laps. By finishing second in N-GT behind the Ferrari 360 Modena of Pescatori and Melo, Luhr and Maassen won eventually the FIA GT series for N-GT drivers. For Pescatori - having lost his team mate de Simone during the four last rounds (after his move to Maserati) it was only his second N-GT victory of the season.  [JPVR]

FIA GT CHAMPIONSHIP, DUBAI ROUND 10
FERRARI 550 OF BOBBI & GARDEL TAKES 2ND WIN
But Cappellari/Gollin are series winners!

October 10 - In Dubaï, at the one but last round of the FIA GT Championship, Matteo Bobbi and Gabriele Gardel not only qualified as first - ahead of the two terrible Maseratis - but they also won the race, their second victory of the season. At the finish they had an advance of 42 seconds over the Maserati MC12 shared by Johnny Herbert and Fabrizio de Simoni. Two other cars finished in the same lap: the #3 Ferrari 550 Maranello of Biagi/Calderai/Bryner and the #5 Saleen S7 of Bartels and Alzen. By finishing fifth, at one lap, Cappellari and Gollin ensured their overall victory in the series: with one round to go their advance over Bobbi/Gardel is more than 10 points - 10 points being the maximum which can be won at the last round.
It seems that the rôle played by the Listers and Vipers during the past years is definitively over. Just as at Oschersleben no Listers came at the start, whilst the Vipers of the Swaan Bros and of Beltoise were only present as field fillers, at no moment envolved in the combat for victory. The Maserati of Bertolini/Salo, having won last month, was retired just before mid-race.

In N-GT Lucas Luhr and Sacha Maassen won once more, already their sixth victory of the season. Their arrears on Ortelli/Collard, running the sister Yukos Porsche, is now down to 2.5 points. That means that it is not impossible that Luhr and Maassen will win the N-GT class, should Ortelli and Collard have technical problems during the real last round at Zhuhai in China. Just as at Oschers-leben they finished one complete lap behind the Luhr/Maassen Porsche. The Ferrari 360 Modena of Pescatori - now with Jaime Melo as team mate - finished again third in the N-GT class. This year the Porsches won nine of the ten rounds, the Ferrari Modena only once. [JPVR]

FIA GT CHAMP, OSCHERSLEBEN ROUND 9
MASERATI'S FIRST WIN
They beat the Ferrari 550 by one complete lap!

September 19 - At Oschersleben it became more and more obvious that the nrew Maseratis are killing the series. Contrary to all other cars, having been derived from street cars, the Maseratis are real race machines, built in function of competition. On the German circuit they dominated the complete field.
At the German circuit Lechner/Seiler/Konrad were the fastest qualifiers with their #4 Saleen. Series leaders Cappellari/Gollin were second. Both Maseratis, handicapped by 90 kgs of extra ballast were res. fifth and seventh.  But shortly after the start they moved up, setting the pace. The Bertolini/Salo Maserati was followed by three Ferraris 550, one Ferrari 575 and the #8 Saleen of Goodwin/Fontes, after the #34 Maserati of Herbert/de Simone lost two laps in the pits.
Towards the final stages of the race Bertolini and Salo lapped the entire field. At the finish they had one lap over the series leaders Cappellari and Gollin. Since the Maserati can win no points for the series Cappellari/Gollin added 10 new points to their total, so that - without miracle - they seem to go after the series win. Their runners-up, Bobbi and Gardel finished fifth, good for 5 points. Third place went to the Saleen of Goodwin/ Fontes, their best result this year.

N-GT saw Lucas Luhr and Sacha Maassen taking their fifth win of the season at the wheel of the #99 Yukos Porsche 996 GT3-R. At the qualifications they were already fastest in their class, ahead of the #62 Ferrari 360 Modena, now shared by Pescatori and Belgium's Vincent Vosse. In the race those two cars and the Porsche 996 GT3-R of Ortelli and Collard were pulling away from the rest of the N-GT cars. At the finish Luhr and Maassen had one complete lap over Ortelli and Collard and over Pescatori and Vosse. That means that they are narrowing the gap with the N-GT leaders Ortelli/Collard. They have good hope that, with two rounds to go, they can still finish as winners of the N-GT class. [JPVR]

FIA GT CHAMP 2004, IMOLA ROUND 8
#5 SALEEN S7-R: THIRD WIN
 Alzen/Bartels do it again - "Killer" Maseratis 2nd & 3rd

September 8 - At Imola several new cars entered the FIA GT Competition. Among them the two new Maseratis MC12, pure factory cars, not derived from an existing race car as all other cars. Both cars finished at their maiden race, with res. 65 kg and 60 kg ballast, second and third. Already now they are considered as the "killers" of the FIA GT Championship. There were also the two Lamborghinis Murcielago R-GT entered by DAMS. They were absolutely not so convinging as the Reiter sister car, having finished 3rd in Valencia at its lonely outing.  There was also the yellow Ferrari 360 Modena, entered by Scuderia Veregra, having moreover a Chrysler-Viper GTS-R in the GT-class.
Winners, for the third time, were Uwe Alzen and Michael Bartels with their Vodaphone Saleen S7-R. During the whole race they were purchased by the two Maseratis and no less than 5 Ferraris 550 or 575. But at the finish all Ferraris were at least one lap down to the fast Saleen. Pics of the new Maseratis and Lambos are to be found below.
Luca Capellari and Fabrizio Gollin, having finished fourth, despite 100 kg of extra weight, are still leading the series, 16.5 points ahead on their team mates Matteo Bobbi and Gabriele Gardel, having finished sixth at Imola. They had to start with 45 kg ballast.

N-GT saw Pescatori hang onto a narrow lead over the repaired #99 Freisinger Porsche of Lucas Luhr, but eventually managed to ease away in the second half of the first stint, then hung on to a reasonably safe margin, which was looking good at 28 seconds at the flag. Some hours later, the Ferrari was excluded, but the GPC team has appealed. It became a Yukos / Freisinger 1-2-3, with the heavier Ortelli / Collard RSR in second (after Ortelli had an off under braking), the Vassiliev / Bergmeister car third. The Piccolo / Berton 360 was a distant fourth. Ortelli and Collard (72 points) are now 8.5 ahead of Maassen and Luhr, with Pescatori still on 46. [JPVR]

FIA GT CHAMP 2004,  SPA 24H - ROUND 7
#2 FERRARI 550 M WINS
Yukos Porsches confirm, BMW M3 fast but not enduring

August 1 - The Proximus 24-hours of Spa-Francorchamps saw the #2 BMS Ferrari 550 Maranello starting from the pole, since Fabrizio Gollin took TQ in 2'15"047 ahead of the #5 Vitaphone Saleen S7-R (2'15"221) and the #1 BMS Ferrari 550 Maranello. There were 42 cars at the start. Among them we found in GT-R no less than 15 cars: 4 Ferraris 575 GTC (on ranks 4-5-8-21 on the grid), 4 Saleens S7-R (ranks 2-7-12-18 on the grid), 3 Chrysler Vipers GTS-R (ranks 10-13-41), 2 Ferraris 550 Maranello (ranks 1-3 on the grid), and 2 Lister Storms (ranks 9-15 on the grid).  In N-GT we noted 14 starters, except for the #62 Ferrari 360 Modena - fastest N-GT on the grid in 2'20" 861 - and for the Nissan 350Z, all Porsches 996 GT3R. Moreover there were 9 cars in the special G2 class. Among them the Corvette C5-R realised the 6th place on the grid. More impressive however were the 2 Schnitzer BMW M3R cars, real factory cars, and going like bombs at the early stages of the race. Other cars in this national class are the 2 Vertigo-Streiff cars and a lot of Porsches 996GT3. In the G3 class (single-made series cars) we noted 3 Porsches GT3-Cup, 1 Viper GTS-R and 1 Lotus Elise. 
Immediately after the start Uwe Alzen took the lead with the #5 Vitaphone Saleen, followed by the Ferraris 550 and 575 GTC. The #9 Zwaan's Viper refused to start and was retired without having left the pits. After 20 minutes the N-GT leading Ferrari 360 Modena suffers a tire puncture damaging the rear wing. The car finishes in the barriers and is beyond repair. The pace car comes out and Alzen decides to make a pit stop for fuel. The same is done by the 2 Schnitzer BMWs. The Ferraris stay all behind the pace car.
During the four first hours we found the Ferraris #1, #2, and #11 in front with the Vitaphone Saleen. Due to the several pit stops the Schnitzer BMWs and the Freisinger Porsches 996 GT3R were at a given moment found among the top-5. Especially the BMWs were extremely fast, achieving laps in nearly the same time as the leading GT-R cars. 
At 19h20 the leading Vitaphone Saleen S7-R stops along the circuit offering the Ferraris #1, #2 and #11 the three first places. The #143 BMW looses several laps in the pits with an oil leak. The #142 will loose its 4th place with a tire puncture, but can come back in the two following hours. After 6 hours of racing positions are: 1. #11 Ferrari 575 GTC 145 laps, 2. #1 Ferrari 550 Maranello, 3. #2 Ferrari 550 Maranello, 4. #143 BMW M3 GT3 at 2 laps, 5. #77 Porsche 996 GT3R (N-GT leader), 6. #7 Saleen S7-R at 4 laps, 7. #50 Porsche 996 GT3R, 8. #10 Viper GTS-R, 9. #88 Porsche 996 GT3R at 7 laps, 10. #18 Ferrari 575 GTC at 9 laps. The fastest Freisinger Yukos Porsche lost 13 laps in the pits but is running again at the 20th place.
At mid-night the three Ferraris race always together, followed with the surprisingly fast #143 BMW. But shortly after the #1 Ferrari 550 Maranello hits a debris and looses 21 laps in the pits for repairs of the whole front of the car. It rejoins the race in 17th position. The lonely surviving #7 Saleen has to retire at 01h and the two Listers run in problems. Shortly before mid-race the #143 BMW M3 - third at that moment - stops at Stavelot with electrical failure. Positions after 12 hours are: 1. #2 Ferrari 550 Maranello 286 laps, 2. #11 Ferrari 575 GTC at 1'01", 3. #77 Porsche 996 GT3R at 3 laps (N-GT leader), 4. #50 Porsche 996 GT3R at 6 laps, 5. #143 BMW M3 at 8 laps (but no longer racing), 6. #10 Viper GTS-R at 11 laps, 7. #99 Porsche 996 GT3R at 15 laps, 8. #88 Porsche 996 GT3R at 17 laps, 9. #75 Porsche 996 GT3R at 18 laps, 10. #1 Ferrari 550 Maranello at 19 laps. The #142 BMW, having lost more than one hour in the pits during the evening, is making a great come-back in the hands of Hans-Joachim Stuck and both Müllers.
It's still night when the spectators realise that BMW will not win its 19th Spa 24-hours. Indead the vaillant #143 doesn't pass any longer, whilst the #142 is 26 laps behind the two leading Ferraris in 15th position. It's now obvious that the struggle for victory lane goes between the four gentlemen drivers on the #2 BMS Ferrari 550 Maranello and the four professional drivers on the #13 GPC Giesse Ferrari 575 GTC. During the 13th hour the "professional" Ferrari takes the lead, having a 25 seconds lead over the "gentlemen" Ferrari at the end of the 13th hour. One hour later the difference is already 1'42". The #1 Ferrari 550 Maranello is now already 6th, but at 19 laps of the leaders. In 5th pmosition, behind the two Yukos Porsches we find the Zwaan's #10 Viper (at 11 laps). The #142 BMW is already 11th. After 15 hours the difference between both leading Ferraris is up to one lap. The #142 BMW enters the top-10. At the end of the 18th hour drama for the GPC Giesse Ferrari: The diffuser 'drops', wearing away the vertical strakes, and leaving an almost featureless panel, which is what is held up by the rubber straps. So top driver line-up in damaged, less-developed Ferrari against more of an amateur line-up in highly-developed Prodrive 550. The #10 Zwaan's Viper has to retire with a blown-up motor. Positions after 18 hours are: 1. #13 Ferrari 575 GPC 417 laps, 2. #2 Ferrari 550 Maranello at 2"34, 3. #50 Porsche 996 GT3R at 7 laps (leading N-GT), 4. #77 Porsche 996 GT3R at 10 laps, 5. #1 Ferrari 550 Maranello at 20 laps, 6. #99 Porsche 996 GT3R at 24 laps, 7. #71 Porsche 996 GT3 at 25 laps, 8. #17 Ferrari 575 GTC at 32 laps, 9. #142 BMW M3 at 34 laps, 10. #69 Porsche 996 GT3R.
The #88 Gruppe M Porsche and the #75 Seikel Porsche are retired. The problems with the rear of the GPC Giesse Ferrari make it for Miko Salo (his first 24-hour race!) impossible to come back on the BMC Ferrari 550 Maranello. The #17 Ferrari 575 GTC, lucky winner at Donington, looses valuable time in the pits with suspension problems. Positions are maintained until the last hour. Then BMB decides to call the #1 into the pits and to wait there until the last minutes. They play on security, defending the 3rd place in GT-R. In the overall standings the #1 looses 2 places, dropping from 5th to 6th. As a result of this strategy the 3 Freisinger Yukos Porsches finish on ranks 3-4-5 with the BMW M3 immediately behind as 6th. The #2 Ferrari 550 Maranello, with Liliane Bryner doing the last stint, wins the race ahead of the #11 Ferrari 575 GTC, where Vincent Vosse did the last stint. For results  after 24 see below   [JPVR]

FIA GT CHAMPIONSHIP 2004, ROUND 6
#17 FERRARI 575 GTC WINS
 Alzen/Bartels: no third victory  at Donington Park (GB)

June 26 - At Donington Park (GB) Austria's Karl Wendlinger (ex-F1) and Brazils Jaime Melo won  after an absolutely nail-biting finish to the three-hour race.  After leading for much of the race, and after having opted for two instead of three pit stops, Karl Wendlinger had seriously to slow down if he wished to avoid running out of fuel. For Uwe Alzen, having started from pole position, the JMB Racing Ferrari 575 GTC was found meat during its slow last lap. He could pass the black Ferrari without any problem, when at the penultimate corner, after a collision between the race leading #5 Saleen S7-R and ye #99 Freisinger Yukos N-GT Porsche of Lucas Luhr, Wendlinger could pass the Vodaphone car to win, 6 seconds ahead of poor Alzen, missing his third victory.  Babini and Peter took third for GPC Giesse. Eventually Ferrari made it 1-3-4-5-6-7.
This year only Saleen can beat the Ferraris 550 and 575. For the 575 it's only its first victory of the season and its second in two seasons. The Lister is no longer able to win. On the holy British home ground the work's Lister was even absent, and it can be feared that the car will not seen back this year. The Creation Autosportif Lister, good for three top-5 places this year was retired. The two Dutch Chrysler Vipers are nothing more than field fillers, especially now that Christophe Bouchut and Marc Goossens are no longer behind the wheel.
Luca Capellari and Fabrizio Gollin, having finished fifth, despite 100 kg of extra weight, are still leading the series, 9 points ahead on their team mates Matteo Bobbi and Gabriele Gardel, having finished fourth at Donington Park.
N-GT was dominated by the Yukos Porsches - Stephane Ortelli/Emmanuel Collard finishing ahead of Sacha Maassen/Lucas Luhr. First Ferrari in N-GT was the Scuderia Ecosse Modena 360, finishing fourth in its class, headed by the Gruppe M Porsche 996 GT3-R shared by Tim Mullen and Jonathan Cocker. [JPVR]

7A

7B

7C

7A

7B

7C

(1)= Monza (I); (2)= Valencia (E); 3=Magny-Cours (F); (4)=Hockenheim (D); (5)=Brno (CZ); (6)=Donington (GB); (7)=Spa 24H (B); (8)=Imola (I); (9)=Oschersleben (D); (10)=Dubaï (UAE); (11)=Zhuhai (CHN).

AUDI WINS A THRILLING LE MANS 24 HOURS

Corvette C5-R beats Ferrari 550 after gruelling combat

Although it was said that the 2004 Le Mans 24-hours should be condemned to be a minor edition - since there were no works cars at the start and since number of starting cars was restricted to only 48 - this year's Le Mans was one of the best since 1965/1967. Eventually there was a gruel-ling fight between the #5 Audi R8 of Audi Sport Japan and the #88 Audi R8 of Audi Sport UK, being both in the same lap during the last hour, never further away from each other than 35". 
In the GTS class there was a splendid combat between the #66 Ferrari 550 Prodrive and the #64 Corvette C5-R. With 4 hours to go the #66 was 5th overall, the Corvette 6th. During the whole night and whole morning both cars were seen closely together, until the moment that the Ferrari ran in troubles with a broken wheel.
In GT the #85 Yukos Porsche 996 GT3 was leading most of the time, followed by the #77 and #90, but towards the end positions switched giving class victory to the Japanese #90 Porsche 996 GT3.
Only the LMP2 class (with only 6 entrants) disappointed, especially when the fast #31 Courage was enforced to retire and when the surviving LMP2 cars were the back benchers surving as moving chicanes.
Eventually the Japanese Audi #5 won the race, 41 seconds ahead over the British sister car #88.

The entry
Main favourites at the start were the 4 Audis. Of them the British entries of the #8 and #88 were considered to be the fastest. The Japanese #5 Audi R8 and the Champion Racing #2 were the other Audis at the start. As direct opponents there were 3 Domes S101 (two of them entered by Racing for Holland) and 2 Pescarolo-Judds. Among remaining LMP1 cars (they were 18 at the start) the Australian Zytek 04S was expected to be very fast. Other cars such as the #6 Dallara-Judd, the Lolas B160 AER and B2K/10 and the 7 years old Panoz Esperante were hardly anything more than field fillers.
In LMP2 (only 6 cars) the 3 Courages C65 had only 2 WRS and an old Lola B2K/40 as competitors.
Much more interesting was the GTS class with at the start 2 Corvettes C5-R, 3 Ferraris 550 Mara-nello (2 by Prodriven 1 by Larbre Compétition) and 2 Ferraris 575 GTC (by Barron Connor Racing). Here a sharp combat between the Corvettes and the Prodrive 550s was expected.
In GT we found 2 Ferraris 360 Modena, 2 TVR Tuscans T400R, the strange Morgan Aero and no less than 11 Porsches 996 GT3. Among them the 2 Freisinger Yukos Porsches were main favourites.

Qualifications
After the Wednesday qualification sessions we found the 4 Audis at the 4 first places, with the UK #8 (McNish/Biela/Kaffer) heading with 3'34"683 the sister car #88 (Davies/Herbert/ Smith) in 3'34"907. First non-Audi was the new #17 Pescarolo-Judd as 5th in 3'36"801. In GTS the Corvettes (3'52"158 for the fastest) were faster than the Ferrari Maranellos (3'56"439 for the fastest). In GT the #90 Dale White Porsche 996 GT3 (4'09"679) was first, followed by the #70 JMB Racing Ferrari Modena (4'11"025).
On Thursday we had again 2 qualification sessions. Now Johnny Herbert (#88 Audi R8 UK) was the fastest in 3'32"838, followed by Allan McNish (#8 Audi R8 UK) in 3'33"233. Biggest surprise came from David Brabham who brought the Zytek 04S (nowhere on Wednesday) in 3rd position with 3'33"923. Then followed Marco Werner (#2 Audi R8 Champion) in 3"33'927,  Tom Kristensen (#5 Audi R8 Japan) in 3'34"038, and Sébastien Bourdais (#17 Pescarolo Judd) in 3'35"252. First Dome on rank 7 was the #9 by Kondo Racing in 3'36"285, immediately followed by Jan Lammers's #15 Dome S101 in 3'36"353. Then followed a serious gap with the #6 Dallara as 9th (3'39"260) and Tom Coronel's #16 Dome

in 3'40"261. Soheil Ayari brought the second Pescarolo-Judd as 11th, followed by the fastest LMP2, the Courage C65, where Jean-Marc Gounan realised a super performance in 3'41"126. In the second Courage C65 Paul Belmondo was ...10 seconds slower.
Among the GTS cars Tomas Enge was the fastest in 3'49"438, bringing his #66 Ferrari 550 Prodrive in 17th position overall. Then followed the Corvettes C5-R with 3'49"750 for Oliver Gavin (#64) and 3'51"755 for Johnny O'Connell (#63). Rank 21 on the grid was for the second Prodrive Ferrari Maranello in 3'51"755. Fifth in GTS was the Larbre Compétition Maranello in 3'55"500. The 2 Barron Connor 575s GTC came not under 4 minutes and were 27th and 31st on the grid.
In GT Sacha Maassen (#90 Porsche GTS) was first with 4'07"394 (32nd) with the JMB Racing Ferrari Modena immediately behind in 4'08"484. Big deception for Stephane Ortelli and his #85 Freisinger Yukos Porsche 996GT3, coming no further than 4'10"011 (being 4th in the GT class). The Russian #86 Freisinger Yukos Porsche came even much further in 4'18"973 (realised on Wednesday). Last place on the grid was for the Morgan in 4'24"080.

FIRST HOUR
As the cars head out for the penultimate lap before the start, with the temperatures just about right and some scattered high cloud, the JMB Ferrari 360 Modena is pushed from the grid with an engining refusing to be fired. Jamie Davies (#88 Audi R8) takes immediately the lead, followed by Allan McNish (#8 Audi). Still before the end of the first lap the Zytek 04S slips from 3rd to 6th. J-J Lehto (#2 Audi R8) passes Rinaldo Capello (#5 Audi R8) at the end of the first laps. We have already the 4 Audis at the 4 first places. Bourdais (#17 Pescarolo)is 5th. The five first GTS cars race nose to tail with Kox (#66 Ferrari 550) heading the train.
After 8 laps Capello quits the track in the gravel after the Dunlop bridge. He looses a full lap and comes back as 24th. After 10 laps the leading cars come in for refuelling, one lap later followed by the GTS cars. In one hour 16 laps are covered. Positions after the first hour are: 1. #88 Audi R8 UK, 2. #8 Audi R8 UK at 23", 3. #2 Audi R8 Champion at 28", 4. #18 Pescarolo-Judd at 1'41", 5. #16 Dome S101 at 1'44, 6. #6 Dallara-Judd at 1'45", 7. #22 Zytek 04S at 1'46, 8. #17 Pescarolo-Judd at 1'46", 9. #9 Dome S101 Kondo at 1'37", 10. #15 Dome S101 at 2'44", 11. #31 Courage C65 at 3'20", 12. #20 Lister LMP at 3'25", 13. #5 Audi R8 Japan at 1 lap, etc.
In GTS the #64 Corvette leads both Prodrive Maranellos, and the #87 Porsche GT3 leads GT.

Hours 2 and 3
After 90 minutes of racing we have always the three Audis together with the #5 one lap behind. Drama 7 minutes later when Allan McNish (#88 Audi) and J-J Lehto (#2 Audi) go both off the track at a speed of 300 kph: an oil leak at the entry of the Porsche curves but no flags. Both cars are towed backwards and the pace car is out. The damage on both Audis seems beyond repair. But Lehto and McNish can bring their cars back into the pits. On the #8 Audi the whole front bodywork is missing and the front left wheel is pointing at 45 degrees to the norm. The rear left too looks askew. Allan McNish, apparently unhurt, is taken away for a precautionary check in the circuit me-dical centre and is out for further racing. Repairs on the #2 Audi take 40 minutes (9 laps), on the #88 Audi even 26 laps!
Meanwhile the Zytek had to punctures and the #17 Pescarolo is loosing valuable time with electrical problems. On the #16 Dome a gearbox change is necessary. After 3 hours positions are: 1. #88 Audi R8 UK 46 laps, 2. #5 Audi R8 Japan at 1 lap, 3. #9 Dome S101 Kondo at 45 secs from the second, 4. #18 Pescarolo Judd at 1'11", 5. #6 Dallara-Judd at 1'45", 5. #15 Dome S101 at 2'09", 6. #31 Courage C65 at 2 laps, 7. #63 Corvette C5-R at 3 laps, 8. #65 Ferrari 550 Prodrive at 12", 9. #66 Ferrari 550 Prodrive at 1'37", 10. Lister LMP at 2'05"', etc. Never before GTS cars were classified that high after only 3 hours of racing. In GT the #90 Porsche GT3 is leading at the 17th place overall. 

Hours 4 to 6
The #17 Pescarolo-Judd lost already 6 laps in the pits, the #22 Zytek even 10 laps. The #88 Audi is always immobile in the pits. The Panoz has spun off and is out. The Kondo Dome has a transmission problem and looses time in the pits. The #16 Dome S101 can continue its race under appeal: ACO officials pretend that the whole gearbox casing was changed, not only the cluster. After 4 hours Lammers (#15 Dome) can pass the #18 Pescarolo for the 3rd place. The Dallara runs in problems and looses 3 laps. Robert Nearn goes off with the #86 Freisinger Porsche and his car is towed behind the wall: for one of both Yukos Porsches the race is thus over. After 4h30 of racing a water pump is to be changed on Lammers's Dome, so that the #6 Dallara is during a short moment 3rd, ahead of the #18 Pescarolo-Judd.
More than 2 hours after its accident the #8 Audi can rejoin the track, but in 37th position. Jan Lammers is back too, but in 16th position. The vaillant #31 Courage C65 has serious problems with its new gearbox and is in the pits, loosing more than one hour. The Belmondo Courage is already out. Leader in LMP2 is now the only remaining Courage, the #35, but only 21st in the overall standings. After 6 hours positions are: 1. #88 Audi R8 UK 94 laps, 2. #5 Audi R8 Japan 93 laps, 3. #18 Pescaro-Judd 91 laps, 4. #6 Dallara Judd 90 laps, 5. #64 Corvette C5-R 88 laps (leading GTS), 6. #66 Ferrari 550 at 1'54", 7. #17 Pescarolo-Judd 87 laps, 8. #4 Lola B2K/10 86 laps, 9. #2 Audi R8 Champion 85 laps, 10. #9 Dome S101 Kondo 85 laps, 11. #69 Ferrari 550 Larbre Compétition 95 laps, 12. #63 Corvette C5-R 83 laps, 13. #90 Porsche GT3 83 laps (leading GT), 14. #22 Zytek 82 laps, 15. #61 Ferrari 575 GTC 82 laps, 16. #85 Porsche GT3 82 laps, etc.

Hours 7 to 12
The #69 Ferrari Maranello of Christophe Bouchut has a stuck throttle as the second quarter of the race starts. The #31 Courage quits the pits after one hour of repairs and takes immediately the lead in LMP2, proving how poor is attendance there. Back too is the Jan Lammers Dome, now in 18th position after a puncture. When the #63 Corvette goes off at Mulsanne (with serious damages at the rear), the pace car is out during a while. Meanwhile the Champion Audi is improving hour after hour its position. At midnight the #2 Audi R8 is already 5th, just behind the Dallara. The Kondo Dome and the Zytek are always in the top-10. In LMP2 the #31 Courage, having had an engine firing problem after a pit stop is now headed by the #32 Lola B2K/40. The 2 WRs are more in the pits than on the track. 
At 1am the class leading Corvette, with Jan Magnussen at the wheel, hurts the leading Audi driven by Davies. The car looses 7 laps in the pits for repairs, so that Tomas Enge (#66 Ferrari 550) is the new leader in GTS. ACO officials decide that the colission between Magnussen and Davies was due to a driving error of the Audi, so that the #88 Audi receives a stop and go penalty. That brings the #5 Audi R8 in the same lap as the leaders. During the night Alain Menu is during 7 minutes stationary on the track with engine firing problems, so that the #64 Corvette can reduce its arrears on the #66 Ferrari 550 to 4 laps. The Zytek has had a longish stop, with the rear bodywork off, then back on and back out. Shortly after the motor explodes so that the race is over for the Zytek. At 4am, at mid-race both Audis are still leading the race, followed at 6 laps by the #18 Pescarolo-Judd.

In the background the #8 Audi R8 UK is making its come-back. After 12 hours the car will be already in 16th position. The Dallara and the Kondo Dome maintain their positions among the top-10. The JMB Ferrari 360 Modena is retired with transmission problems. The two remaining Courages are out with engine problems. The #83 Seikel Porsche is retired with an overheated engine. The second Prodrive Ferrari 550 Maranello has problems with the gearbox, but continues its race with gear shift troubles. In GT the Freisinger Yukos Porsche #85 shared by Ortelli/Dumas/Kelleners has now one lap over the #90 Porsche driven by Sacha Maassen/Jorg Bergmeister/Patrick Long. The #77 Chiroq Porsche GT3 has been passed by the #87 Orbit Porsche, having led the class during the early stages of the race. In LMP2 only 2 cars are left, serving as mobile chicanes. When the #64 Corvette has to make an unscheduled pit stop the difference with the GTS leading Ferrari Prodrive increases, shortly after 12 hours of racing to 6 laps.
Positions at mid-race are: 1. #88 Audi R8 UK 188 laps, 2. #5 Audi R8 Japan 187 laps, 3. #18 Pescarolo-Judd 182 laps, 4. #6 Dallara Judd 181 laps, 5. #2 Audi R8 Champion 179 laps, 6. #9 Dome S101 Kondo 176 laps, 7. #66 Ferrari 550 Maranello Prodrive 173 laps (leading GTS), 8. #17 Pescarolo-Judd 172 laps, 9. #64 Corvette C5-R 170 laps, 10. #4 Lola B2K/10 169 laps, 11. #16 Dome S101 167 laps, 12. #65 Ferrari 550 Maranello Prodrive 165 laps, 13. #61 Ferrari 575 GTC Barron 163 laps, 14. #85 Freisinger Porsche GT3 163 laps (leading GT), 15. #69 Ferrari 550 Maranello Larbre 162 laps, 16. Audi R8 UK 162 laps, 17. #63 Corvette C5-R 162 laps, 18. #90 Porsche GT3 162 laps, 19. #87 Orbit Porsche GT3 160 laps, 20. #77 Porsche GT3 160 laps.

Hours 13-18
At 5.30 am the #2 Audi R8 Champion Racing can  pass the Dallara-Judd for the 4th place. J-J Lehto is now chasing the Pescarolo-Judd, being the lonely car able to prevent a 1-2-3 for Audi. Shortly after, however, the Champion Audi looses 8 minutes for changing its discs. 06.30 and the #9 Kondo Dome has been marooned in its pit for half an hour, after failing to start up at its routine pit stop. Up from here it's obvious that the Kondo will have problems to maintain its position in the top-10. The car is passed by the #66 Maranello Ferrari, later also by the #17 Pescarolo-Judd and the #64 Corvette C5-R (always 6 laps behind the Ferrari). 06.57 am: drama for the Dallara, running in 5th position, when the rear of Martin Short's car is hit by the #17 Pescarolo of Sébastien Bourbais. Short is beached, then dragged out of the gravel. After 15 hours of racing the #17 can pass the #66 Prodrive Ferrari 550 to take the 6th place. Meanwhile the Kondo Dome dropped in the standings to rank 13, 4 laps behind the #16 sister car (being 10th) and 4 laps ahead of the other #15 sister car, limping 4 laps behind at rank 15. At 7.20 am the Dallara is definitively out. A broken rear suspension (consequence of the collision with Sébastien Bourdais) provoques a violent contact with the barriers, writing off the car. In front the #88 looses the lead when the car has to pit to adjust the rear suspension.  

The #88 Audi R8 UK, which was leading during more than 15 hours rejoins the track in second position, one lap down to Capello in the #5 Audi R8 Japan. The 62 Barron Connor Ferrari has stopped at the entrance to the Porsche Curves. The Kondo Dome still hasn't left its pit, and apparently has a clutch problem. The #2 Audi Champion passes the #18 Pescarolo for rank 3, when the French car looses 15 minutes in the pits.
Approaching 09.00 am, and the completion of 17 hours of racing, Tom Kristensen (who has now a possibility to win his 6th Le Mans, doing as well as did Jacky Ickx) is in the #5 Audi R8 Japan almost exactly a lap ahead of Herbert - who has taken over from Jamie Davies in the #88 Audi UK.
Kristensen stays ahead until he pits a couple of laps later, which leaves a lead of about 2 mins 40 secs. Meanwhile the #62 Barron Connor Ferrari 575 GTC is stopped definitively at the entrance of the Porsche Curves. The Kondo Dome is retired, just as the second Barron Connors #61 Ferrari 575 GTC. Positions after 18 hours of racing are: 1. #5 Audi R8 Japan 282 laps, 2. #88 Audi R8 UK 281 laps, 3. #2 Audi R8 Champion 273 laps, 4. #18 Pescarolo-Judd 270 laps, 5. #17 Pescarolo-Judd 265 laps,  6. #66 Ferrari 550 Maranello Prodrive 261 laps (leading GTS), 7. #16 Dome S101 256 laps, 8. #64 Corvette C5-R 257 laps, 9. Audi R8 UK 253 laps, 10. #4 Lola B2K/10 252 laps, 11. #63 Corvette C5-R 250 laps, 12. #15 Dome S101 248 laps, 13. #85 Freisinger Porsche GT3 245 laps (leading GT), 14. #90 Porsche GT3 242 laps, 15. #65 Ferrari 550 Maranello Prodrive 242 laps, 16. #69 Ferrari 550 Maranello Larbre 240 laps, etc.

Hours 19-21
At 10am the Kondo Dome is officially retired, followed shortly after by the #17 Pescarolo-Judd, victim of a broken motor. That brings the GTS leading Ferrari 550 Maranello on rank 5, the best place ever of a GTS car in a race with prototypes. Difference with the Corvette C5-R on the 7th place is always 6 laps. That two GTS cars can finish that high proves how competitve the Maranellos and the Corvettes are. Unfortunately for the #66 Prodrive of Tomas Enge the enjoyment to be 5th is short-living. Indeed, at 11.40 am the car has a puncture. Unfortunately the punctured tyre and wheel refuse to rotate. That implies that Enge needs more than 30 minutes to reach his pits. Meanwhile the Corvette can not only take back its 6-laps arrear, but it passes the #66 Ferrari Mara-nello, being immobilised in its pits during more than one hour. When the car rejoins the track 5th position is far away and its new rank is 11th, even passed by the #65 sister car, having lost precious time earlier on the replacement of its gearbox.
The #8 Audi R8 UK is now winning place after place, moving within 3 hours from rank 9 to rank 5. The same is done by the Jan Lammers Dome, making a come-back from place 12 to place 8. The other Racing for Holland Dome is immobile in the pits with gearbox problems.
In the GT class the Yukos Freisinger #85 Porsche looses the lead on oil feed problems. So the #90 Porsche GT3 can reconquer the lead it lost one hour earlier. The Chiroq #77 Porsche GT3 and the Sekel #84 Porsche are now 3 laps behind the class leader. Positions after 21 hours are: 1. #5 Audi R8 Japan, 2. #88 Audi R8 UK at 1 lap, 3. #2 Audi R8 Champion at 9 laps, 4. #18 Pescarolo-Judd at 14 laps, 5. #8 Audi R8 UK at 29 laps, 6. #64 Corvette C5-R (leading GTS) at 32 laps, 7. #66 Ferrari 550 Maranello Prodrive at 35 laps, 8. #15 Dome S101 at 37 laps, 9. #63 Corvette C5-R at 44 laps, 10. #4 Lola B2K/10 at 49 laps, 11. #16 Dome S101 at 50 laps,. 12. #65 Ferrari 550 Maranello Prodrive at 50 laps, 13. #90 Porsche 996 GT3 at 51 laps (leading GT), 14. #85 Porsche 996 GT3 Freisinger/Yukos at 54 laps, 15. #77 Porsche 996 GT3 Choroq, 16. #84 Porsche 996 GT3 Seikel, etc.

The last 3 hours
For Tomas Enge, Peter Kox and Alain Menu - who drove the #66 Prodrive Ferrari 550 Maranello to a superb 5th place, the 3 last hours are extremely painful, since the car is passed by the #15 Dome, the second Corvette and even the GT class leading Porsche 996 GT3. But as difficult are the last hours for Benjamin Leuenberger/Christian Vann/Didier Andre in their #4 Intersport Lola B2K/10: having been among the top-10 since the 6th hour, they'll drop from rank 10 to rank 21 during the 3 last hours. Indeed, a new clutch, gearbox and starter must be fitted on the car with 3 hours to go. That makes it loosing 2 hours in the pits.
In front the gap between the leading #5 Audi R8 Japan, with Seiji Ara (JP) at the wheel for the real last stint and the #88 Audi R8 UK with Johnny Herbert is down to 46 seconds with still one hour to go. Up from now the gap steadily becomes narrower, even less than 30 seconds with 30 minutes to go. The last hour is a real sprint among the two Audis. A 1-2-3-4 for Audi is no longer possible since the gap between the #18 Pescarolo-Judd, shared by Soheil Ayari/Erik Comas/Benoit Tréluyer and the #88 Audi R8 UK is too important: 11 laps.
Herbert goes sraight on across the gravel at the second Mulsanne Chicane... which puts the Veloqx Audi UK cars (#88 and #8) together for a formation finish, so that Tom Kristensen will take his sixth win at Le Mans. Eventually 28 cars reach the finish, with the Morgan Aero as last.
Positions at the finish are: 1. #5 Audi R8 Japan 379 laps, 2. #88 Audi R8 UK at 41"345, 3. #2 Audi R8 Champion 368 laps, 4. #18 Pescarolo-Judd 361 laps, 5. #8 Audi R8 UK 350 laps, 6. #64 Corvette C5-R (winning GTS class) 345 laps, 7. #15 Dome S101 341 laps, 8. #63 Corvette C5-R 334 laps, 9. #65 Ferrari 550 Maranello Prodrive 329 laps,  10. #90 Porsche 996 GT3 327 laps (winning GT-class), 11. #66 Ferrari 550 Maranello Prodrive 325 laps,  12. #77 Choroq Porsche 996 GT3 322 laps, 13. #85 Porsche 996 GT3 Freisinger/Yukos 321 laps, 14. #69 Ferrari 550 Maranello Larbre Compétition 317 laps 15. #84 Seikel Porsche 996 GT3 317 laps, 16. #72 Porsche 996 GT3 316 laps, 26. #32 Lola B2K/40 (winning LMP2 class).

Conclusions
The 72nd Le Mans 24 hours was certainly not one with great technical innovations. Nearly all cars at the finish were at least concepts dating from 2000 or earlier. We found even a seven year old Panoz Esperante among the starters. The severity of the ACO officials was by moments disgusting, especially in the case of the #16 Dome S101 having been disqualified at the end of the race on dubious grounds. The fact that all cars had to race during 24 hours with their lights on, and that cars having no lights at e.g. noon were sanctionned, was another example of the police mentality of the ACO officials. But when they should have sanctionned Sébastien Bourdais for buming off Martin Short, at once they were one and all generosity: no wonder, we all know the typical French chauvinism. The maintenance of the LMP2 class, being of no high sportive interest, is another example of that French chauvinism. Those cars are only maintained because all but one manufacturers of such cars at the start came from France.
Nevertheless the far from innovative 72nd Le Mans 24 hours was a great event thanks to the thrilling combats on the track - among them the battle for first place between the two Audis, the battle for GTS victory between the #64 Corvette C5-R and the #66 Ferrari 550 Prodrive (a combat having raged during 20 hours!) and the battle for GT victory.
Two biggest surprises were the excellent performances of the #31 Courage C65 and the excellent behaviour of the new Zyntek being not on their favourite track but performing astonishing well.
The prize for most back luck goes undoubtedly to Tomas Enge who succeeded after a superb race to guide his Prodrive Ferrari 550 into 5th position after 20 hours, but who lost all benefit of his efforts due to gripped ball bearings after a stupid puncture. Other famous bad luck was noted for Martin Short and his Dallara and for the #4 Lola B2K/10 which deserved much more than a poor 20th place.  [JPVR]

1. #5 Audi R8 (Audi Sport Japan) Tom Kristensen/Seiji Ara/Rinaldo Capello

2. #88 Audi R8 (Audi Sport UK) Jamie Davies/Guy Smith/Johnny Herbert

3. #2 Audi R8 (Champion Racing) JJ Lehto/Marco Werner/Emanuele Pirro

4. #18 Pescarolo Judd (Pescarolo Sport) Soheil Ayari/Erik Comas/Benoit Tréluyer

5. #8 Audi R8 (Audi Sport UK) Allan McNish/Frank Biela/Pierre Kaffer

6. #64 Corvette C5-R (Corvette Racing) Oliver Gavin/Olivier Beretta/Jan Magnussen

7. #15 Dome S101 Judd (Racing for Holland) an Lammers/Chris Dyson/Katsutomo Kaneishi

8. #63 Corbette C5-R (Corvette Racing) Ron Fellows/Johnny O'Connell/Max Papis

9. #65 Ferrari 550 Maranello (Prodrive) Rickard Rydell/Darren Turner/Colin McRae

10. #90 Porsche 996 GT3-RSR (Dale White) Sacha Maassen/J. Bergmeister/P. Long

11. #66 Ferrari 550 Maranello (Prodrive) omas Enge/Peter Kox/Alain Menu

12. #77 Porsche 996 GT3-RSR (Choroq Racing) Haruki Kurosawa/Kazuyuki Nishizawa/Manabu Orido

13. #85 Porsche 996 GT3-RSR (Freisinger) Stephane Ortelli/Romain Dumas/Ralf Kelleners

14. #69 Ferrari 550 Maranello (Larbre Compétition) Christophe Bouchut/Patrice Goueslard/Olivier Dupard

15. #84 Porsche 996 GT3-RS (Seikel) Tony Burgess/Philip Collin/Grady Willingham

16. #72 Porsche 996 GT3-RS (Luc Alphand Adventure) Luc Alphand/Philippe Alméras/Chris Lavieille

19. #16 Dome S101 Judd (Racing For Holland) Tom Coronel/Justin Wilson/Ralph Firman

20. #92 Ferrari 360 Modena (Cirtek Racing) Frank Mountain/Rob Wilson/Hans Hugenholz

21. #4 Lola B2K/10 Judd (Taurus) Benjamin Leuenberger/Chr Vann/Didier Andre

24. #75 Porsche 996 GT3-R (Perrier) Ian Khan/Tim Sugden/Nigel Smith

34 (DNF). #62 Ferrari 575 GTC (Barron Connor) Mike Hezemans/Ange Barde/Jean-Denis Deletraz

36 (DNF). #61 Ferrari 575 GTC (Barron Connor) John Bosch/Danny Sullivan/Thomas Biagi