Le Mans pictures (fast internet a must)

[Jack Olsen]

I grabbed these from http://forums.pelicanparts.com/motorsport.com's site.

This is the GT-winning Porsche team. American Patrick Long is 22.




Like it or not, Seiji Ara's next girlfriend will be much hotter.




Team Goh.




Petersen / White Lightning Team




Racers Group drivers and blue livery.




Corvettes chasing Ferraris in close racing.




Porsches are still the best looking race cars.

[Jack Olsen]

Petersen / White Lightning at night.




Steve McQueen's accident in the 1971's 'Le Mans' motion picture happened at Porsche curve.




Jacky Ickx finally got his six-win record tied.




#87 Orbit Racing Porsche 911 GT3 RSR: Leo Hindery, Marc Lieb, Mike Rockenfeller.




#75 Thierry Perrier Porsche 911 GT3 RS: Ian Khan, Nigel Smith, Tim Sugden.




#77 Choroq Racing Team Porsche 911 GT3 RSR: Kazuyuki Nishizawa, Haruki Kurosawa, Manabu Orido.




#90 White Lightning Racing Porsche 911 GT3 RSR: Sascha Maassen, Jorg Bergmeister, Patrick Long.




Allan McNish arrives at his pit with the damaged Audi R8.




This makes me want to drive this circuit.




#86 Freisinger Motorsport Porsche 911 GT3 RSR: Nikolai Vasiliev, Alexei Fomenko, Robert Nearn -- note the Russian decals.

[Jack Olsen]

The Morgan is kind of a joke, in my opinion, and would only earn its place at the race if Hooters agreed to sponsor it.




The Ferraris scared the Corvettes, but they were no match for the Porsches. (#70 JMB Racing Ferrari 360 Modena: Jaime Melo Jr., Jean-Rene de Fournoux, Stephane Daoudi.)




#88 Audi Sport UK Team Veloqx Audi R8: Jamie Davies, Johnny Herbert, Guy Smith -- they led early, and might easily have won it all.




#77 Choroq Racing Team Porsche 911 GT3 RSR: Kazuyuki Nishizawa, Haruki Kurosawa, Manabu Orid. Great picture.




Check out the heat by those brakes.




What's cool: I could buy one of these right off the shelf at any dealer.




Racer's Group RSR.

[Jack Olsen]

Class-winning 911.




Team Goh wins it outright.




#90 White Lightning Racing Porsche 911 GT3 RSR takes the checkered flag.




White Lightning.




#72 Luc Alphand Aventures Porsche 911 GT3 RS: Luc Alphand, Christian Lavieille, Philippe Almeras.




Tom Kristensen - six-time winner.




Oops.

[GrindingGears]

Great pictures, great race...

Go Porsche!

[}{arlequin]

So am I 'reading' this correctly? A Japanese team won the overall victory? In an Audi? (Sorry, somehow Comcast does not carry Speedvision here... )

[k9handler]

very nice!

[speeder]

Next year we will be there Jack, I hope. Great pictures.

[m325ix]

awesome pics!!!
Those Russian guys are actually movie stars who are passionate about racing...kind of like Tom Cruise and Val Kilmer getting together to drive Le Mans

[Jack Olsen]

Originally posted by }{arlequin
So am I 'reading' this correctly? A Japanese team won the overall victory? In an Audi? (Sorry, somehow Comcast does not carry Speedvision here... )

Yes. Privateer teams driving Audis took 1st, 2nd and 3rd. There was only one Japanese driver on the Goh team.

[speeder]

"Like it or not, Seiji Ara's next girlfriend will be much hotter."

Let's hope so.

[Deeks]

This makes me want to drive this circuit.

That chicane at the end of the pit straight is a great spot to watch the prototypes outbraking all the GT cars at night.
The disc brakes glow bright red when braking hard into the right hand bend .....

[osidak]

I am sorry but when the class (GT) is made up of almost entirely Porsches and the other cars (TVR, Morgan) and not even remotely competitive where is the joy in winning.

Porsche barely got into the top 10 over all.

That is like me saying so I raced this Yugo in my 911 and I beat it...... What is the point.

Wish Porsche would actually start to race again. Great photos though

[jpachard]

Originally posted by osidak
I am sorry but when the class (GT) is made up of almost entirely Porsches and the other cars (TVR, Morgan) and not even remotely competitive where is the joy in winning.

Porsche barely got into the top 10 over all.

That is like me saying so I raced this Yugo in my 911 and I beat it...... What is the point.

Wish Porsche would actually start to race again. Great photos though

Actually, I wish BMW would race again and not pack it up if they only have a "cheater" car. Jack's point is right on when he said "you can go to the dealer and buy one of these" That's what GT is all about. Unfortunately, BMW backed out when the FIA demanded they lived up to their promise of producing the GTR for general consumption. Still, it's good to see privatter Porsche's out there in force. Great pictures too!!

James

[osidak]

James - Sure you can buy it off the show room floor but who cares.

If you race against yourself and win does it matter if you have a great car. All that matters is that you car can run for the majority race.

Why don't we throw a bunch of Jetta diesels out there and and VW can claim they sell a LeMans class winner on the show room floor.

I am not really knocking the 996 itself I am knocking Porsche for staying in a nice comfortable class where no one really challenges them. Bring the BMW GTR cars back and Porsche get blown out of the water.

Yes BMW bent the rules but Porsche has been know to bend the rules more than a few times.

I am tired of Porsche pushing a damn SUV when they should be racing. All those privateers are in Porsches because they have a reputation of winning races and being durable. If Porsche stops racing (which they have) the reputation will fade away.

[jpachard]

Originally posted by osidak
James - Sure you can buy it off the show room floor but who cares.

Bring the BMW GTR cars back and Porsche get blown out of the water.

Yes BMW bent the rules but Porsche has been know to bend the rules more than a few times.

.

Of course they got blown out of the water. The GTR cost 300K more to make than the GT3-RS. That was a classic BMW marketing thing. They petition the FIA to get a car in that they know will dominate and do it for one season then bail( the FIA said they could return if they made the cars that they promised but they backed out, with buyers lined up too). They did the same in the mid 70's. Then they can make the big fancy poster that can hang in the dealership claming they won a manufacturers championship. I would love to see Porsche in the higher echelons of Motorsport too, I would also like to see other manufacturers step up to the plate and make a decent, legal GT car that anyone can buy. VW has plenty of experience in this arena, how come they don't do it????

Cheers, James

[johndglynn]

Originally posted by JackOlsen
[B]The Morgan is kind of a joke, in my opinion, and would only earn its place at the race if Hooters agreed to sponsor it.

lol, You mean something like this Jack

[osidak]

VW has and does step up to the plate. They have won LeMans (overall) for the last 5 years.

Audi - 2000,2001,2002,2004
Bentley - 2003

They have taken the top 3 spots in every LeMans for the past 5 years

Porsche is no longer racing and they have not shown any desire to race. As long as their truck sells they are happy.

I believe I heard Audi will be back for at least another 3 years and will develop an all new prototype as well.

However Porsche may start selling a Cayenne pickup truck, at same time refusing to race the CGT (which was developed for LeMans).

I would also love to see of manufactures get into all classes. LeMans looses some of its appeal when you don't ask which manufacture will win but which Audi will win.

[Deeks]

I am sorry but when the class (GT) is made up of almost entirely Porsches and the other cars (TVR, Morgan) and not even remotely competitive where is the joy in winning.

I think the GT class is just as exciting to watch as any of the other classes. All the teams are seriously competitve between each other.... just like the Audi and Judd cars are competitive in LMP class.

I admit it's a shame that the factory has no entry - but also it's great to see how the GT3 RSR is so much better than anything that Ferrari (360s), TVR (Tuscans) or Morgan (Aero8) can put forward. Nobody can even come close !!

And remember that all these other manufacturers compete against Porsche for customers in the marketplace.

.......saying all that, I wish that the boys at Zuffenhousen would pack up a team of 15 mechanics and drivers, a big truck full of spare tyres/parts and a modified CGT and get their butts racing at Le Mans.

(ps. In last month's "GT Purely Porsche" mag I read that the old Porsche Motorsport boss (forgotten his name) was "kicked upstairs" to make space for a new guy ?

It could indicate the beginning of a new era of racing developments at Porsche......you never know !

[mikebrasket]

I would love to see a privateer enter with a CGT. That would be hot.