72nd Le Mans 24 Hours - Saturday Morning At Le Mans
Race Morning Warm-up & Group C Race

Warm Up
47 out of the 48 cars were out on track for the 9am warm-up, the PK Sport Porsche being the only car not to run this morning – no dramas for the #78 car, they had decided yesterday not to run in the session. “I was enjoying my breakfast,” chuckled Mike Pickup, whose team almost always misses out the race morning warm-up, having completed his pre-race checks on Thursday.

Top of the timing charts this morning was JJ Lehto in the #2 Champion Audi, a 3:36.078 with the two Audi UK Team Veloqx cars just a couple of tenths behind.

Johnny Herbert tells Eurosport that Jamie Davies is likely to be the starting driver in the #88 Audi (see below).

Incidents to report include the #81 Racers Group Porsche being pushed behind the barriers, with Ian Donaldson at the wheel. Peter Kox had a quick but harmless trip into the gravel mid-session, Antony Kumpen ground to a halt in the #10 Lola Caterpillar (David Addison tells us the gear selector split front to rear and jammed the ‘box) and the TV cameras have now caught the NASAMAX being pushed by a gaggle of marshals out on the circuit.

It seems that both the Racers Group and NASAMAX were running fuel consumption tests, running the cars dry to see exactly how much the reserve tanks hold (the NASAMAX managing 11 full laps and the half a lap extra before it ground to a halt). Both teams proclaimed themselves delighted with the results.

Yojiro Terada, about to start his 25th Le Mans 24 Hours in the #24 WR was in good spirits. “We’re looking to take the class win in LMP2.”

David Legangneux reports that the #61 Barron Connor Ferrari 575 has had a third engine change of the week, Thursday’s new V12 seeming ‘off-song’.

Confirming the 88 Audi’s starting driver(s), we find that:
Jamie Davies (#88), Allan McNish (#8), Rinaldo Capello (#5) and JJ Lehto (#2) will be the start drivers of the R8s. During the race, driver changes are planned as follows:

Audi R8 #88: Jamie Davies > Guy Smith > Johnny Herbert

Audi R8 #8: Allan McNish > Pierre Kaffer > Frank Biel

aAudi R8 #5: Rinaldo Capello > Tom Kristensen > Seiji Ara

Audi R8 #2: JJ Lehto > Marco Werner > Emanuele Pirro.

Peter Kox and Darren Turner will start the two Care Racing Prodrive 550s – other starting drivers to come.

Group C Classics Race
What a sight, 30+ Group C and IMSA GTP cars out and racing on the full Le Mans circuit.

From the off at 10.00 or so, it was a story of two cars slugging it out for the race win and several others running quickly but not spectacularly so. Attrition was always going to be an issue with 20 year old thoroughbred racers, but even that could not take very much away from what turned out to be a wonderful spectacle. While it was Charlie Agg’s awesome Nissan R90CK that took the race win, the star of the race was Simon Pullan who took a fighting third place, just a tenth of a second behind Nigel James’ ex Joest Racing Porsche 962.

From the off, as race favourite Ralf Kelleners pulled in to retire the Leyton House Kremer CK6 with fuel pressure problems, it was a two way battle between Gary Pearson in the Silk Cut Jaguar XJR11 and Agg’s Nissan. The lap times tumbled but Pearson seemed to have the legs on the Nissan. 3:56 became 3:54 and then 3:52. This was no parade.

Behind this pair there was trouble for the Bardon C2 car, which chugged off the course to retire at the start, and for Richard Bryan’s achingly beautiful Lancia LC2, which trundled to a stop at the Dunlop Chicane.

A quick shot of the cars leaving Mulsanne corner seemed to indicate problems for Pullan’s Porsche, the car slowing dramatically… but he continued, Simon later explaining that, “The car needs a really smooth downshift, if you try to rush it the box jams solid in neutral for five seconds or more. I did it twice or more on my first couple of laps. I literally had to take both hands off the wheel and force it into gear.”

Suitably re-educated, Pullan now set about recovering the time and places lost. Mark Blundell, talking to Ben Edwards, was full of admiration for Pullan’s drive (to come), reckoning that he couldn’t have a better showcase to show off his talents in a powerful, high downforce car.

Behind him there were further problems – Chris Randall’s #88 Nissan received no luck at all from dsc’s very own Danny Bear, the car losing its engine at Mulsanne. Nick Rini parked his Bud Light Jaguar backwards into the wall on the inside of the exit of Mulsanne Corner: the driver was fine, the car sadly wasn’t.

Behind the leading pair, Justin Law was pushing on in the Jaguar XJR12, closing in on James’s New Man Porsche. Creation Autosportif boss Mike Jankowski was involved in this battle too, the Spice rocketing in to contention from a lowly grid spot - until a quick spin at Indianapolis left Jankowski with it all to do again.

Pullan meanwhile was now back up to sixth (although he had no idea of his track position). He humbled the Intrepid and then a recovering Jankowski through Tertre Rouge. His lap times were now under 4 minutes (too).

Another colourful battle involved the remaining Lancia of Benton Bryan, Gareth Evans in the Swap Shop Porsche 962 and Jim Edwards’ Argo. Edwards though was in brake trouble and the Lancia would soon retire. The first part of Evans’ racing day was going according to plan, he would eventually finish in 13th slot.

It was bad news for Jaguar fans next, as first Justin Law (from third) and then Gary Pearson (from the lead) retired their XJRs (the latter having chewed off all its gears) - Agg’s Nissan led the race (and would hold it to the flag).

There were more casualties too, Allen Lloyd going off the circuit on the inside of the Porsche Curves, his Spice’s front bodywork was pulled off as the car pitched over the grass. and he retired with the remains of the front section lying on the rear deck.

Ray Mallock’s gorgeous Nimrod stopped too, an electrical fault spelling the end of his race.

All TV cameras though were on the battle for second place – albeit unbeknown to Pullan!

The youngster had been catching the Nigel James Porsche steadily and with a lap and a half to go the battle was very much on. The Kenwood liveried car outbraked the New Man car only to be outdragged on the straights, as Simon lost momentum with the sluggish gearshift.

And so it went on for the rest of the race, through the Dunlop Curves, Tertre Rouge, Mulsanne, Indianapolis, Arnage and the Porsche Curves, there were just tenths between them, Pullan getting by at least twice, only to lose out again. Pullan was aiming to pass where others dared to tread, and the Kremer car was moving around on the track like a narrow-tyred ‘thing’, not like a 962, being driven by a 962 debut man.

At the Ford chicane Pullan was ducking and weaving to get by, and the ACO official with the checkered flag decided to take several steps back towards the wall when faced with the sight of two Porsche 962s, still very much racing, as they crossed the line, with the yellow car just a tenth ahead of the red.

On the podium Charlie Agg delivered the glad tidings to other Group C competitors that he has a 1200 bhp engine available – the Mulsanne may seem rather shorter when these monsters visit again.

And Pullan, barely older than the car?

“I don’t think the smile will come off my face for many years to come.”

Great entertainment. As this is written, the atmosphere continues to build here. This could be a sensational 24 hours ahead. Davies, McNish, Wallace, Capello, Bourdais and Lehto will start the first six on the grid…. with Katoh, Lammers, Barbosa and Coronel next up. It doesn’t get better than this. Audi Sport UK Team Veloqx wisely keeping McNish and Herbert apart.
GG

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