Latest Vehicles

Most Popular Vehicles

Latest Features

Latest Topics

Featured Galleries

Photo of the Day

2006 24 Hours of Le Mans
By: Drew Phillips
Photos by Jimmy Sykes
June 29, 2006

Article Images


With one of the most diverse and competitive fields to take to the circuit in recent years, the 74th running of the 24 Hours of Le Mans had the potential to be an exciting and unpredictable race. Much of the focus was directed towards the Audi team, who were competing with the diesel-powered R10, the replacement for the legendary R8. Before its debut, the R10 was relatively unproven with the exception of its Sebring win three months prior and 18,000 miles of testing since then. Despite the preparation, Audi expected to encounter a few bumps in the road during the race. They would also face a competitive Pescarolo Sport team with WRC champ Sebastien Loeb at the wheel. The lighter P2 class looked somewhat bare without the Penske Porsches, but the Intersport Racing and Miracle Motorsports teams represented the ALMS teams proudly. The GT1 class was mostly a battle between the Corvette and Aston Martin teams – a battle that will continue the rest of the year following Aston Martin’s announcement that they will compete in the rest of the ALMS season. French team Oreca had begun preparations with a Saleen S7-R, but they did not feel completely prepared for a 24 hour race just yet. GT2 was completely up for grabs with Porsche, Panoz, Ferrari and Spyker teams all looking competitive.

Audi started out in control with the #7 Audi capturing the overall pole and the #8 sister car not far behind after trading quickest qualifying times with Pescarolo. As well as being faster, the Audis were getting better fuel mileage than the Pescarolos – meaning the Pescarolos would have to outlast the tough Audis to win. However, trouble started early for the #7 Audi when it came in just before the fourth hour for some bodywork adjustments. The #8 Audi took over and never relinquished the lead. The #7 car continued to have problems throughout the race: a shattered windshield, bad fuel filter, and engine management problem (fourth hour), broken left rear suspension (ninth hour), and a turbo failure (fifteenth hour). Amazingly, its quick pace allowed it to stay relatively near the lead Audi and the #17 Pescarolo. The only major trouble encountered by the #8 car was a gearbox problem that was fixed handily by the Audi team by replacing the entire gear cluster. The entire stop took only nine minutes, pointing once again to why the Audi team is the best in the world.

The P2 class seemed to be a case of the last one standing. Cars dropped like flies with mechanical problems and wrecks. In one of the more spectacular incidents of the race, a Paul Belmondo Racing Courage Ford spun off course due to a tire explosion and was catapulted into the wall with body parts flying in every direction. Problems started early for Intersport who suffered electrical problems and needed a wastegate replaced. The Chamberlain Synergy Lola held the lead for the first several hours followed by the one-off Radical run by Rollcentre and the RML Lola AER in third. RML ended up inheriting the lead with more than eighteen hours to go and never looked back. Binnie Motorsports finished seventeen laps behind with Miracle Motorsports behind another two laps.

The GT1 fight is the latest battle in the rivalry forming between the Aston Martin and Corvette teams. While each are extremely competitive, Corvette has the upper hand with a victory in last year’s Le Mans and this year’s Sebring race. Aston Martin has managed to have the speed but not the endurance to stay with the Vettes. The #007 seemed to have the same fate as the #7 Audi – start on pole and then go downhill from there. Just under three hours in #007 suffered an oil leak, handing the lead over to the #64 Corvette up until hour seven when the #009 Aston Martin took the first spot after a long Corvette pitstop. The #63 Corvette encountered similar troubles starting with a spin that resulted with body damage to the rear of the car. The battle for first stayed with the #64 Corvette and #009 Aston Martin, with the cars so evenly matched that the gap was never more than a few minutes. Aston Martin finally relinquished the lead to the persistent Corvette team when the #009 suffered a clutch failure dropping it to fourth place with three quarters of the race gone. The second Aston Martin held second place but finished a distant five laps back. Mark another one down for the Corvettes.

The GT2 class was perhaps one of the most exciting battles of the race with several lead changes and many contenders for the lead throughout the twenty-four hours. The Multimatic Panoz team felt confident after a win at Sebring, but their hopes ended early when the car ran out of fuel in the middle of the circuit. One of the surprise performances came from the Spyker Squadron. The #86 car ran consistently in the top three for more than fifteen hours before retiring with a broken valve. The Ecosse Ferrari team also ran well, although the team experienced wheel hub troubles similar to the Risi Competizione team at Sebring. Victory went to the LNT Panoz team who claimed the lead after the Seikel Motorsport Porsche lost time with a broken gear shift. The Panoz suffered relatively few problems compared to the historically reliable Porsches and finished a lap ahead of the Seikel Motorsports team.

When the checkered flag dropped at the end of twenty-four hours, it truly was a historic win for the Audi team. With both R10’s crossing the line together, Audi showed that a diesel-powered car really could have the speed and endurance to win the world’s most prestigious race. The R10’s victory makes it 2-for-2, continuing the winning tradition of the R8. Corvette Racing’s victory builds on a winning streak since Sebring of last year, further establishing the team’s place in racing history. Finally, the Panoz win provided further celebration for their tenth anniversary in endurance racing – all of this before a record crowd of nearly a quarter million fans. Historic indeed.