June is an exciting month, because what I consider to be the greatest race in the world takes place then (oh, plus my birthday… hehe) — the 24 Hours of Le Mans.
The Race
Why do I say it’s the greatest race in the world?
You’d just have to watch it, but it’s brutal. Insanely brutal. It’s one thing to go out and race for a few hours. It’s another thing to even run the 12 Hours at Sebring. But it’s a whole other level to run the 24 Hours of Le Mans.
I don’t think it rained this year, did it? I didn’t watch the whole thing! But it usually does rain for part of the race, making it incredibly chaotic when it does.
It also asks a lot from the cars, as well as the teams. This year especially saw many, many cars not finish.
Audi’s Comeback
Last year was a very sad year for me — Audi didn’t win. Peugeot did.
It was then that I realized how much I actually cared about the race… I didn’t think I did so much. This year I started watching ALMS more and I very much enjoy the series. The 24 Hours is the big highlight, though.
This year I watched some of it on tv. I saw one of the Peugeots blow up live. I ended up recording the last three hours of the race, and watched it Sunday morning. By then, I already knew who won…
It was Audi, with a 1-2-3 podium sweep! Woohoo!!
It’s kinda sad how it went down — all four Peugeots running were out of the race by the end. Audi was hoping for a showdown between themselves and Peugeot, not for Peugeot to blow up. I think most people were hoping for that too.
Endurance Racing 101
Then again, I think the way it happened shows just how awesome Audi is at racing at Le Mans.
Peugeot pushed their cars too hard. Sure, they were fast, but the cars couldn’t take it for the entire race.
Audi, on the other hand, proved to be reliable. All three of their R15′s finished the race, leading Audi to win their ninth time at Le Mans.
I hope Peugeot learns from their mistakes this year and comes back next year better. I have no doubt that Audi will continue to improve.
Besides…
The Audis are so pretty, aren’t they? I think they are….
Related posts:








Personally, I preferred the R10′s nose, even the R15 (the LM winners this year were the R15 Plus, technically)’s “platypus” nose to the R15 Plus. Honestly, it made the car look kind of misshapen to me.
That said, it didn’t rain a drop all race.