72nd Le Mans 24 Hours - Le Mans Statistics (2)
The Winning Goh Audi Vs. The Second Placed Veloqx Audi

The simple question is: How did the Goh Audi beat the Veloqx #88? We’ve partly answered that question already, with a look at the stints and times of the #88 car. Here we compare the #5 Kristensen / Capello / Ara entry’s performance with that of the Herbert / Davies / Smith car.

One feature of the race is that we saw an amazing ‘dust-up’ between these two, but it could have been even better – a four car battle - but for the fluids on the track at the Porsche Curves.

A comparison of the 12 lap stints of the #5 Audi drivers with the same stints of the #88 drivers tells some of the story. Missing out any 13 lap stints, plus any stints shorter than 12 laps, plus any stints hindered by the Safety Car, the sequence for #5 looks like this:

16:44:42 Capello 44m 24
19:58:01 Ara 44m 17
20:43:12 Ara 44m 14
21:28:15 Ara 44m 19
23:50:07 Capello 44m 24
00:35:21 Capello 44m 25
01:20:52 Kristensen 43:59
(TK had completed a double stint beginning at 18:28, but that comprised a 13 lapper and an 11 lapper – his first 12 lapper was the first under 44 minutes for #5)
02:43:24 Kristensen 43m 43
04:27:54 Ara 43m 59
05:12:43 Ara 44m 11
05:58:00 Capello 43m 50
07:24:01 Capello 43m 57
08:20:54 Kristensen 43m 50
(TK starting a spell at the wheel that would last for three and a half hours)
09:40:16 Kristensen 43m 37
10:24:41 Kristensen 43m 26
11:08:56 Kristensen 43m 33
11:53:37 Capello 43m 50
13:27:52 Ara 44m 08
14:12:46 Ara 44m 14 (Herbert stint beginning half an hour later was a 43m 42).

Of course things go wrong in a 24 hour race: Capello was in brake trouble early on, and the #5 went a lap down after a visit into the gravel and a tow out, which was the start of the chase of #88, until the latter stopped for seven minutes to replace the seized pushrod (its bearing had seized). Then the roles were reversed, #88 being faster, and catching #5 – except when Kristensen was at the wheel. #88 had two ‘offs’ over the gravel, plus the contact with the Corvette, plus a stop and go for allegedly overtaking under the yellow flags, while in his three and a half hour Sunday morning drive, TK had two slow punctures – and the #5 had a couple of quick excursions too. Capello also had the incident with flames licking around the fuel filler as he left his pit.

It would be harsh to compare driver stint times of the #88 throughout the race with those of the #5, but here’s a comparison of #88’s average lap times per driver over its 12 lap stints after 07.00, once the #88 was handling well and the chase was on, with those of the #5 drivers throughout the race:

Rinaldo Capello – six 12 lap stints, average lap time 3:40.7
Seiji Ara – seven 12 lap stints, average lap time 3:41.0
Tom Kristensen – six 12 lap stints, average lap time 3:38.4.

Jamie Davies – three 12 lap stints after 07.00, average lap time 3:38.5 (3:39.5)
Guy Smith – two 12 lap stints after 07.00, average lap time 3:39.1 (3:40.8)
Johnny Herbert – three 12 lap stints after 07.00, average lap time 3:38.0 (3:40.3).

The times in brackets at the end of each line for the three British drivers are their average lap time throughout the race, including the 15 hours when the car was understeering.

It came down to Johnny Herbert (#88’s fastest driver) chasing Seiji Ara (#5’s least fast driver) at the end, but the gap was too large, even for Herbert.

At a simpler level, #5 spent 35m 45 seconds (34 stops) in its pit, #88 spent 36m 56 (32 stops) – but #88 also had the stop and go. Perhaps without the stop and go penalty, they would have been neck and neck at the finish?

Incidentally, the 13 lap stints that each car occasionally completed were perhaps marginal, Jamie Davies running out of fuel in the pit lane after one of them.

So Johnny Herbert or Tom Kristensen for man of the race? Kristensen averaged 3:38.4 throughout his six 12 lap stints, while Herbert averaged 3:40.3 during his ten 12 lappers, but seven of these were before the car was fixed, and his three after 07.00 averaged 3:38.0. We can’t split them, they’ll have to share our honours - although TK did set the fastest single stint time, his 43m 26. It is worth pointing out that these amazing average lap times include time lost leaving the pits and getting back into pit lane at the end. The pace of this race was furious throughout – for all four Audi R8s. What a race.