Diesels Dominate By Taking The Top Five Spots on the Le Mans Starting Grid!

In the runup to what should be a fun-to-watch 24 Hours of Le Mans, diesel-powered cars got the five fastest qualifying times. All the top times were set during the first four-hour qualifying session on Wednesday night, as heavy rain on Thursday meant that no one improved their times.

The Peugeot 908 driven by Stéphane Sarrazin crossed the finish line just after the time limit expired, beating Alan McNish's best time in the three Audi R10s by 0.6 seconds. The top five qualifiers were, in order:

1. Lamy/Sarrazin/Bourdais (No. 8 Peugeot 908 HDi FAP), 3m 26.344s
2. Capello/Kristensen/McNish (Audi R10), +0.572s
3. Gene/Minassian/Villeneuve (No. 7 Peugeot 908 HDi FAP), +1.380s
4. Biela/Pirro/Werner (Audi R10), +1.957s
5. Luhr/Rockenfeller/Premat (Audi R10), +3.392s

We already know the Audis can run the distance reliably, the big question now is can the hometown crew from Peugeot maintain its pace for twenty-four hours.


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BenzW124 - 6/15/2007 11:13:14 AM

-10 Boost

It is extremely sad that Le Mans prestigiousness is being destroyed by VW/Audi. No real automotive brand worth discussing takes Le Mans seriously, and quite frankly, I'm tired of hearing all this VW propaganda.

07mcs - 6/15/2007 1:35:38 PM

+3 Boost

They are competing in F1, and so far they are ahead by 28 points of Ferrari, after 6 races.

BenzW124 - 6/15/2007 1:35:05 PM

+1 Boost

"My brand" participated in the world's first automobile race. Unlike VW, Mercedes-Benz does not have anything left to prove to the world through "dominating" a racing series that most of the world has seemed to have lost interest in. There would be no Le Mans or VW without Mercedes-Benz.

Please educate yourself.

DieselRules - 6/17/2007 2:59:23 AM

+1 Boost

Educate yourself on this:

Benz commercial vans (sold as Sprinters in US) were designed and built by VW.
VW builds engines for Benz under contract.
Benz build engines for VW under contract (many of the early Golf diesels were made by Benz)
Benz passenger vans are Eurovans with Benz engines and interiors (that's why VW wheels don't fit on a Eurovan, but Benz wheels do)
VW and Mercedes are almost as incestuously connected as VW and Porsche.
Get a grip!

Your whining is almost like a Mazda pickup owner complaining that Ford's Rangers aren't as good (when the Mazda comes out of the Ranger factory in Detroit)

chewy - 6/15/2007 3:50:02 PM

0 Boost

BS, too bad MB embarassed itself out of Le Mans. Their cars flipped and failed in 1999 at Le Mans.