[kalamokid]

Surprised there is not a huge thread on this yet. I heard that Toyota has to switch one of their engines out today on their prototype. Only one left for the race.

Live coverage on Speed this weekend and awesome information guides on their website.

Also Drive YouTube channel will have live coverage!

[ptack]

Toyota and Nissan have interesting cars in the race, but I'm annoyed there's no Puegot to fight with Audi and NO BMW!

[Andrew_K_AZ]

Yes, its pretty sad that the M3's wont be there this year. But, Here is why I will be watching:

• High Tech KERS Hybrid technology battle at the top between Audi and Toyota (Diesel Power at the Rear Wheels+Williams Electric Flywheel power to the front on Audi Vs all Rear Wheel drive Gasoline Power+Capacitor based KERS on the Toyota).
• Toyotas are about 2 seconds slower per lap in qualifying, but can they really challenge the heavily evolved and massively funded Audis?
• The awesome Nissan Deltawing wearing number zero and based on Garage 56 (even though its speed is limited)....the shape of things to come!
• The always fun to watch 73 and 74 Factory Corvette C6.Rs taking on the best GT cars the world has to offer in GT Pro
• The French Team Larbre Compétition running the Corvette C6.R's in the scrappy GT Am category
• and Porsche Meister, Patrick Long, doing his thing in the Flying Lizards 911

[BrokenVert]

Lets do it!

[Terraforce1]

I actually watched the documentary 'Truth in 24 II: Every Second Counts' this afternoon. Highlighted the 2011 season and the competitiveness between Audi and Peugeot. It was amazing how Audi lost two of is R18 TDI's to crashes, but its remaining car passed Peugeot to win the 24 Hours of Le Mans, The #2 Audi car beat the Peugeot # 9 car by a mere 13.854 seconds. You guys should check it out, well worth it

Looking forward to this weekend

[BrokenVert]

Originally Posted by Terraforce1

I actually watched the documentary 'Truth in 24 II: Every Second Counts' this afternoon. Highlighted the 2011 season and the competitiveness between Audi and Peugeot. It was amazing how Audi lost two of is R18 TDI's to crashes, but its remaining car passed Peugeot to win the 24 Hours of Le Mans, The #2 Audi car beat the Peugeot # 9 car by a mere 13.854 seconds. You guys should check it out, well worth it

Looking forward to this weekend

I watched it a week ago. Agreed its not bad.

[scflaw]

Originally Posted by Andrew_K_AZ

Yes, its pretty sad that the M3's wont be there this year. But, Here is why I will be watching:

• High Tech KERS Hybrid technology battle at the top between Audi and Toyota (Diesel Power at the Rear Wheels+Williams Electric Flywheel power to the front on Audi Vs all Rear Wheel drive Gasoline Power+Capacitor based KERS on the Toyota).
• Toyotas are about 2 seconds slower per lap in qualifying, but can they really challenge the heavily evolved and massively funded Audis?
  

i'm rooting for Audi. Toyota is the Michael Jordan of Racing. They used to be great and retired. After many years of creating many shades of grey, they think they can take on the experienced younger, stronger, faster players. Only way i can see them winning is if one of their car's has a "mishap" with unintended acceleration and takes out all 4 audi's in 1 go.

my analogy may be wrong though haha, was never a basketball fan. Dispute the cars and the company and not my analogy's. (or grandmer )

[NL-J]

Watching final qualifying session, now live on Eurosport HD Audi is going bloody fast, almost thought he'd smash into the rear of a Porsche, taking quite a bit of risks lol.

Love Le Mans

[Andrew_K_AZ]

Couldn't find a nice graphical link to the qualifying results. But here is a text version.

Audi Hybrid on Pole, but fastest Toyota Hybrid within a second. Ferrari and Aston 1-2 in GT Pro with Corvettes in 3rd and 5th. Flying Lizards GT Am 911 qualifies first in GT Am ahead of many GT Pro cars. The speed limited and unclassified Nissan Deltawing qualifies in 29th about 19 seconds behind Pole.


You can donwload a cool spotters guide of all the teams, cars and drivers here. http://www.spotterguides.com/wp-cont...12_LM_V1_H.pdf


1. Lotterer/Fassler/Treluyer Audi Sport Team Joest Audi R18 e-Tron Quattro3mins 23.787secs LMP1 *
2. Bernhard/Dumas/Duval Audi Sport Team Joest Audi R18 Ultra 3mins 24.078secs LMP1
3. Davidson/Buemi/Sarrazin Toyota Racing Toyota TS030 HYBRID 3mins 24.842secs LMP1
4. McNish/Capello/Kristensen Audi Sport Team Joest Audi R18 e-Tron Quattro 3mins 25.433secs LMP1 *
5. Wurz/Lapierre/Nakajima Toyota Racing Toyota TS030 HYBRID 3mins 25.488secs LMP1 *
6. Jarvis/Bonanomi/Rockenfeller Audi Sport North America Audi R18 Ultra3mins 26.420secs LMP1
7. Leventis/Watts/Kane Strakka Racing HPD ARX03a-Honda 3mins 29.622secsLMP1 *
8. Prost/Jani/Heidfeld Rebellion Racing Lola B12/60-Toyota 3mins 29.837secsLMP1 *
9. Belicchi/Primat/Bleekemolen Rebellion Racing Lola B12/60-Toyota 3mins 31.866secs LMP1 *
10. Minassian/Ara/Bourdais Pescarolo Team Dome-Judd 3mins 33.066secsLMP1
11. Brabham/Chandhok/Dumbreck JRM HPD ARX03a-Honda 3mins 35.421secs LMP1 *
12. Montagny/Baguette/Kraihamer OAK Racing OAK Pescarolo-Judd 3mins 35.584secs LMP1 *
13. Collard/Boullion/Hall Pescarolo Team Pescarolo 03-Judd 3mins 37.485secs LMP1 *
14. Martin/Charouz/Graves ADR-Delta Oreca 03-Nissan 3mins 38.181secsLMP2 *
15. Nicolet/Lahaye/Pla OAK Racing Morgan-Judd 3mins 38.598secs LMP2 *
16. Ragues/Panciatici/Rusinov Signatech Nissan Oreca 03-Nissan 3mins 39.152secs LMP2
17. Thiriet/Beche/Tinseau Thiriest by TDS Racing Oreca 03-Nissan 3mins 39.252secs LMP2
18. Perez-Companc/Kaffer/Ayari Pecom Racing Oreca 03-Nissan 3mins 39.711secs LMP2 *
19. Firth/Hartley/Hughes Murphy Prototypes Oreca 03-Nissan 3mins 39.877secs LMP2
20. Heinemeier Hansson/Leinders/Martin OAK Racing Morgan-Nissan 3mins 39.899secs LMP2
21. Sims/Buurman/Iannetta Status Grand Prix Lola-Judd 3mins 40.280secsLMP2
22. Potolicchio/Dalziel/Kimber-Smith Starworks Motorsport HPD ARX03b-Honda 3mins 40.471secs LMP2 *
23. Briere/Petersen/Nakano Boutsen Ginion Racing Oreca 03-Nissan 3mins 40.727secs LMP2
24. Brundle/Brundle/Ordonez Greaves Motorsport Zytek Z11SN-Nissan 3mins 40.738secs LMP2
25. Hancock/Dolan/Kurosawa JOTA Zytek Z11SN-Nissan 3mins 41.287secsLMP2
26. Tresson/Maillieux/Lombard Signatech Nissan Oreca 03-Nissan 3mins 41.982secs LMP2 *
27. Tucker/Bouchut/Diaz Level 5 Motorsports HPD ARX03b-Honda 3mins 42.224secs LMP2
28. Zugel/Julian/Gonzalez Greaves Motorsport Zytek Z11SN-Nissan 3mins 42.292secs LMP2 *
29. Franchitti/Krumm/Motoyama Highcroft Racing DeltaWing Nissan 3mins 42.612secs New Tech
30. Frey/Meichtry/Hirschi Race Performance Oreca 03-Judd 3mins 43.619secsLMP2
31. Holzer/Schultis/Moro Lotus Lola B12/80-Lotus 3mins 45.664secs LMP2 *
32. Giriox/Badey/Johansson Gulf Racing Middle East Lola B12/80-Nissan3mins 47.224secs LMP2 *
33. Rosier/Thirion/Haezebrouck Extreme Limite ARIC Norma MP200-Judd3mins 48.025secs LMP2
34. Makowiecki/Melo/Farnbacher Luxury Racing Ferrari 458 Italia 3mins 55.393secs GTE-Pro *
35. Mucke/Turner/Fernandez Aston Martin Racing Aston Martin Vantage V83mins 55.870secs GTE-Pro *
36. Gavin/Milner/Westbrook Corvette Racing Chevrolet Corvette C6 3mins 55.910secs GTE-Pro
37. Bertolini/Beretta/Cioci AF Corse Ferrari 458 Italia 3mins 56.484secs GTE-Pro *
38. Garcia/Magnussen/Taylor Corvette Racing Chevrolet Corvette C6 3mins 57.181secs GTE-Pro
39. Neiman/Pilet/Pumpelly Flying Lizard Motorsports Porsche 997 RSR 3mins 57.594secs GTE-Am
40. Lietz/Lieb/Henzler Felbermayr-Proton Porsche 997 RSR 3mins 57.606secsGTE-Pro *
41. Alfaisal/Curtis/Edwards Prospeed Competition Porsche 997 RSR 3mins 58.035secs GTE-Am
42. Bergmeister/Long/Holzer Flying Lizard Motorsports Porsche 997 RSR3mins 58.717secs GTE-Pro
43. Nygaard/Poulsen/Simonsen Aston Martin Racing Aston Martin Vantage V8 3mins 58.725secs GTE-Am
44. Ehret/Montecalvo/Jeannette Luxury Racing Ferrari 458 Italia 3mins 58.800secs GTE-Am *
45. Ihara/Deletraz/Rostan Gulf Racing Middle East Lola B12/80-Nissan 3mins 58.895secs LMP2 *
46. Ried/Roda/Ruberti Felbermayr-Proton Porsche 997 RSR 3mins 59.181secsGTE-Am *
47. Bornhauser/Canal/Lamy Larbre Competition Chevrolet Corvette C6 3mins 59.192secs GTE-Am *
48. Cocker/Walker/Wills JMW Motorsport Ferrari 458 Italia 3mins 59.638secsGTE-Pro
49. Fisichella/Bruni/Vilander AF Corse Ferrari 458 Italia 4mins 00.025secsGTE-Pro *
50. Perazzini/Griffin/Cadei AF Corse Ferrari 458 Italia 4mins 00.288secs GTE-Am
51. Pons/Narac/Armindo IMSA Performance Matmut Porsche 997 RSR 4mins 00.332secs GTE-Am
52. Kauffman/Aguas/Vickers AF Corse-Waltrip Ferrari 458 Italia 4mins 00.691secs GTE-Am *
53. Krohn/Jonsson/Rugolo Krohn Racing Ferrari 458 Italia 4mins 02.323secsGTE-Am *
54. Rodrigues/Illiano/Ferte JMB Racing Ferrari 458 Italia 4mins 02.461secsGTE-Am
55. Bourret/Gibon/Belloc Larbre Competition Chevrolet Corvette C6 4mins 02.969secs GTE-Am *
56. Daniels/Palttala/Camathias JWA Avila Porsche 997 RSR 4mins 03.661secsGTE-Am *

[Silver E90]

I'm pumped! Going to try to watch the entire 24 hours! Really hoping that Toyota can be reliable enough to give Audi a fight. I think they have the speed and might have an advantage on fuel. P2 and GT are going to be a 24 hour sprint race!

Also the guys from the Drive Channel and Shakedown are going to be doing a live 24 webcast of them watching the race. Last years was pretty entertaining!

[kalamokid]

Spotters GUIDE!!!! I am so pumped will watch the start and finish for sure with little tidbits in between. Also tonight and tomorrow morning Speed Channel is showing a doc on Toyota's journey to Le Mans


http://www.spotterguides.com/le-mans-2012/

[Sylon]

Super excited. And I'm glad Toyota is keeping up with the Audis, maybe we'll have a great battle after all!

And it's great seeing Rocky back at Le Mans, after last year it looked like he was really beating himself up over the crash.

[Impervious]

Anyone else loathe McNish as much as I do?

[Andrew_K_AZ]

Saw the documentary on Toyota's Road to Le Mans. Highly Impressive to have built these cars in 9 months from the ground up to challenge Audi, who are on probably the longest period of dominance in modern racing of any kind, and then to race these cars in competition for the very first time at the LM24 itself.

[Andrew_K_AZ]

Toyota Hybrids chasing Audi Hybrids as expected. Looks like the Toyotas are losing about 40 seconds per hour in the early going. It may come down to the 24-hour reliability of the Hybrids.

#73 Corvette appears to have fallen back. Looks like they have handling issues. #74 is chasing the Aston for the lead.

Nice to see Flying Lizards #79 in the early lead in GTE Am.

[Andrew_K_AZ]

Sudden acceleration indeed!!! Here come the Toyotas...all over the back of the Lead Audi after 4.5 hours of racing.

[E90SLAM]

The delta wing is interesting...

[MrClean335i]

Originally Posted by E90SLAM

The delta wing is interesting...

The Delta Wing is horrible. It just caused and accident too. I hope that after the race it crawls back to the whole it came from.

[BrokenVert]

Originally Posted by MrClean335i

The Delta Wing is horrible. It just caused and accident too. I hope that after the race it crawls back to the whole it came from.

It's doing what le mans is meant for. It's proving advanced ideas on the track. I love it

[Andrew_K_AZ]

I like the idea of the Deltawing, but, perhaps too much of a lightweight car for this type of racing. Not sure if it could have taken a crash like the Toyota or Rocky last year, especially with that jet fighter looking front end.

Too bad for Toyota. Nine months is perhaps not enough to take on a car that had evolved over 12 years.

I think they should drop the GT Am category and their relatively inexperienced drivers to make the races safer.

[kalamokid]

http://www.liveleak.com/view?i=643_1339873095

[Sylon]

Here is something interesting, the 2 famous crashes last year with Audi and the one this year with the Toyota, all involved Ferrari 458's.


Sucks the Delt Wing is out. They were able to keep up with the slowest of the LMP2 cars, which is impressive.

And are both Toyotas out? I saw the one crash, but what about the other one? The only ones left to take on the Audi's are a couple of Lolas.