Le Mans 24h 2013: With a bad start...

[Ferry_vO]

The 90th 24-hour race at Le Mans started at 3 PM local time today, but sadly on the third lap Danish driver Allan Simonsen was killed when he lost control of his Aston Martin and crashed..:

http://auto-racing.speedtv.com/article/le-mans-simonsen-killed-in-early-race-accident

[Ferry_vO]

Meanwhile up front, Audi is having a fight with Toyota, the German diesel-hybrids against the Japanese petrol-hybrid cars; the Audi's are quick but the Toyota's aren't much slower and can do more laps on a tank as they are allowed to carry more fuel because they have a petrol engine. It's raining a bit, causing problems for a lot of the drivers. Quite a few spins so far!

[Ferry_vO]

Seven hours underway, and the #1 Audi is in the pit with (electrical?) problems, the #3 Audi had a flat tire in the first corner of a 13 kilometer lap.. #2 is still doing fine, and the Toyota's are now in P2 and P3 but both one lap behind.

[Ferry_vO]

It's morning again in Le mans, the #2 Audi is still leading so right now Tom Kristensen could break his own record again and win the race for the ninth (!) time in less than seven hours. Toyota are in P2 and 3 not too far behind though and it looks like we'll have a race to the finish!. The other Audi's are in P4 and P6.

[Ferry_vO]

And Kristensen did make it nine for himself and twelfe for Audi in fourteen years! :applause:

At least Porsche will be joining the LMP1 class next year with a works team...