It’s official, the countdown to the 77th annual 24 Hour LeMans race has begun. Monday and Tuesday were sporting and engineering checks. Today the practice sessions began. Friday is the driver’s parade through the city streets and Saturday, June 13th starts the grueling 24 hour race. Those who survive will cross the finish line on Sunday, June 14th at 3:00pm.
Top contender, Peugeot, unveiled their new nose focusing on high downforce, abandoning their 2008 low downforce iteration. The 908, similar to the Audi R15, feeds its radiators over the new high ramps on the nose, giving it excess power to motor down the straights with a minimal top speed penalty.
Peugeot’s move to the new nose is a bold one, but it makes sense. The 908s were decisively faster than the R15s at Sebring, and especially so on the straights. The two diesels were matched in the corners with the 908 holding a slight advantage on overall lap times. For Le Mans, and with their big power advantage, Peugeot has opted to increase their front downforce to make their cars even faster and have willingly sacrificed a bit of their top end advantage.
-Marshall Pruett, SpeedTV.com
I’m looking forward to a great race this year. Will the Audi team pull off their 9th consecutive win or if Peugeot can overtake them? Who’s your favorite?
Check out SpeedTV.com for live streaming coverage starting at 8:30am EST on Saturday, June 13, with partial coverage throughout the weekend on the Speed Network TV channel.
