[LM24 Race] Rate the 24 Hours of Le Mans

[gregtummer]

Rate the 24 Hours of Le Mans


I gave it an 8.

Some good battles but also lots of attrition. Audi kept it interesting at the front of the field, but it would be great to see another manufacturer there too.

[broadrun96]

Started out as an easy 9 with potential for a 9.5, has to be all out all race to the last time through porsche curves to be a 10 I think, with Toyota bringing an INCREDIBLE car to the track. Every class in the early running had leading or top 5 cars within sight or less for full stints and more, but it then had the 'classic' LM feel as cars starting having their gremlins appear and the teams went to work.
To me LM is about having the challenge of bringing the cars back to circuit and getting the team involved in making the car last to the end. Seeing cars run flat out for 24 hours is impressive but makes me wonder if sportscars can afford that kind of racing and expense. We got a split of both worlds this weekend and I agree with Hindy, it's made Silverstone an event not to miss.

[The Badger]

I gave a 6 .

Just above average for me ..... lack of serious competition for a start in P1 ..... P2 was a good battle

P1 petrol wasnt brilliant either .

Gt was a good scrap ..... not sure what to think of Am , but I do agree with it .

Weather was excellant ..... delighted for those who were there .

Ive been at better LM 24 myself .

Amazing to see Audi put on a show like that though ..... not trying to take any feathers form anyones cap here ..... but more works badly needed .

The future looks bright imo .

[Paradise City]

It was 7, IMO. It was crammed with drama. The racing was usually pure 'endurance' rather than the 'sprint within endurance' that we've been spoilt with in some previous years but LM was still the epic it usually is.

[Acid09]

I give it a 8. 2011 was a 10 with stars & sparkles of course and we all knew beforehand that this year simply couldn't reach that.

However, the first 7 hours were awesome, the hour in which the Toyotas started battling with Audi really felt like 2011...too bad it ended so abruptly.

Still, the race was remarkable and will be remembered, the freakshow Audi put on was "interesting" and the GT Am battle at the end provided a nice finish.

I`ve definitely seen worse and in terms of LMP1 I really see it as an appetizer of what's to come in 2013.

With that being said, I don't think I could ever rate a Le Mans lower than 5... it's still Le Mans after all

[dxk1]

I had to give it a 3 as most of the drama disappeared before the 12 hour mark and the only thing left over the last few hours was GT-Am. Okay, so a few Audis were still at it near the end, but most folks predicted an Audi 1-2-3 and it was obvious that that would be the case from before nightfall on.

DK

[carrera2]

I couldn't give it more than a 5. When the 2nd of the Toyotas retired it seemed pretty clear that it was going to be an Audi procession to the finish. With the Porsches performing as poorly as they did, certainly wasn't one of my favorite Le Mans.

Having said that, full credit to Audi, Starworks, and AF Corse for the class wins. Can someone tell me what happened to GTE AM at the end? I saw the IMSA Performance car cut down the left rear tire with I believe 1 lap to go...they had 5 laps in hand by they somehow lost it?

[Cougar]

8 for me. Yes there were "quiet" bits, but there always are. Even though AUDI "were always going to win", they sure did try their best not to

I also managed to stay awake for all of it. Ended up staying up for 37hrs straight! OOPS!

[Dunlop Corner]

Audi procession?
The 1 and 2 cars had a mighty battle throughout the race. It was back and forth all the time and the drivers were really pushing. It was a blow that the race was decided by the McNish crash, I would have loved to see how it would have played out. Until then the battle was just as hard as last year, although of course it is more exciting when different makes are involved. But if anyone believe that the Audis were just cruising to the end, they were obviosuly not paying attention to the timing screen. Yeah Audi dominated and it was not as good as last year. But they put up a damn good show, now that nobody was there to pressure them.

[eps]

I thought this year was really good. There seemed to be some strong battles all the way down the classes. As opposed to the previous years when Audi just simply dominated.

I can't remember the last time I'd seen two Audis going into the garage as early as I did this year. The Toyotas seemed quite Audi like in that respect



The GT battles were great as well.

My pre-race tip took the LMP2 crown.

[Acid09]

Originally Posted by eps

As opposed to the previous years when Audi just simply dominated.

The last year Audi dominated was 2007...

[eps]

Originally Posted by Acid09

The last year Audi dominated was 2007...

Maybe not dominated, but certainly dominant.

I just think that Toyota had a surprising turn of speed this year, which Peugeot didn't.. Peugeot always seemed to be playing catch up and never quite on terms with Audi (once behind). Whereas Toyota motored up to them and past them. Audi didn't seem able to respond, which they would normally do.

[Adam43]

Worst race ever. Demonstrating all that is wrong with the sport and it's artificial rules (this is how I rate all races).

7.

[nobster]

I have to give it a 7 on average.
Race was ok till the Toyota crash and the aftermath.
Highlight for me was the effort of Satoshi Motoyama trying to get the Delta wing back on track after being punted out by the nr. 7 toyota.
I was fortunate to witness his efforts as it happened right in front of me.
Took some nice pictures of him working on the car, shame in the end he could not manage it. True hero!!!!!!

[Acid09]

Originally Posted by eps

Maybe not dominated, but certainly dominant.

I just think that Toyota had a surprising turn of speed this year, which Peugeot didn't.. Peugeot always seemed to be playing catch up and never quite on terms with Audi (once behind). Whereas Toyota motored up to them and past them. Audi didn't seem able to respond, which they would normally do.

I'm sorry but I have the feeling you didn't see the last few Le Mans races?

Peugeot playing catchup? Maybe in terms of strategy but in terms of speed, Peugeot had the clearly faster car from 2008 to 2010.

Audi wasn't able to respond to Peugeot in 2009 which led to a loss and wasn't respond in terms of speed in 2010 either.

[The Badger]

Someone gave it a 1 !!! LMAO ..... a 1 .....

[gregtummer]

The lowest I see is a 3?

[gregtummer]

Originally Posted by eps

Maybe not dominated, but certainly dominant.

I just think that Toyota had a surprising turn of speed this year, which Peugeot didn't.. Peugeot always seemed to be playing catch up and never quite on terms with Audi (once behind). Whereas Toyota motored up to them and past them. Audi didn't seem able to respond, which they would normally do.

If you followed Peugeot #1 at the 2010 Le Mans, you know that this is not true AT ALL.

[isynge]

Difficult one to rate.

The traditional Grand Prix of Le Mans in running in to sunset was good with the surprising Toyota performance, and it was nice to see Audi really allow the teams to race until very late on. Thus, on those grounds, good.

I must confess however that in the early hours I felt that this was the Le Mans that offered least in many years, largely down to the lack of any real depth in the frontline field (Rebellion notwithstanding Pescarolo's woes and the Strakka issues took a lot of the sting out of this).

The rest of the field put on a good show (and I feel I should elaborate more elsewhere, but seriously hats off to the Norma), and being there always casts a better complexion on things, but taken in the greater scheme of things I'm not sure this year's review video will get a huge amount of replay.

[nasdriv87]

8.

first hours were awesome watching aston martin x corvette battle..

wow it remindes me 2007-08 races, it was very good to watch it again... dang aston still can do it very well in gt class... pity vantage am gone too soon.

few battle audi x toyotas, i guess everyone had a fell about toyotas can't last at all, but it was gorgeous to see ahead of e-tron, maybe for few times...

[GAMEOFGUTS21]

I give it a 7 over 2011 as being a 5. It was a pretty good race, but I would have liked to have seen a lot more GTs and a lot less LMP2s.

[cptkablamo]

I was a bit harsh and gave it a 5...based on the premise that a dull Le Mans is still better than the best race of any other series. And that we have been spoilt over the last couple of years with some fierce races. Wasn't really a classic but still a very enjoyable race.

[GAMEOFGUTS21]

Originally Posted by cptkablamo

I was a bit harsh and gave it a 5...based on the premise that a dull Le Mans is still better than the best race of any other series. And that we have been spoilt over the last couple of years with some fierce races. Wasn't really a classic but still a very enjoyable race.

Indeed. I felt like it was a bit of an "off year", if you know what I mean? But still highly entertaining!!!

[Holt]

7.

The only thing that saved the race was the battle for the lead in the mourning hours.

Everything else went completely wrong.

Fan favorite Pescarolo had probably the worst race as a team in it's history. As soon as Toyota begins to battle for the lead one car crashes, then the next. And the Delta Wing got taken out by a stupid move. We only got to see it for 6 hours, with most of that spent in the pits.

And the Corvettes probably had their worst race as a team in their history as well.

7 is very generous...it would have been much worse if not for the great lead battle

[Aysedasi]

Diffilcult this, as I suppose I have to separate emotion from reality. But I can't.

Any Le Mans is going to have a starting point of at least 5 with me - simply because it is the world's greatest motor race. I give it a 7, based upon how exciting I found the first few hours and that tiny hope in the morning that Rebellion could just get a podium.....

On an emotional level, Le Mans gets a 'Spinal Tapian' 11 from me every time.