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AutosDiesels Crush All Challengers at Le Mans
Diesels didn't just win the 24 Hours of Le Mans, they crushed all comers to thoroughly dominate the race for the third consecutive year, taking the top six positions and leading the closest gas-fueled car by 19 laps in a race many pundits are calling one of the best ever.
The prestigious endurance race has in recent years become the key battleground in the fight for diesel engine supremacy, and an Audi R10 - running some biodiesel, no less - scored its third consecutive win in a hard-fought race with Peugeot's 908 HDi.
Everyone expected a tight race going in, and Peugeot held the advantage with faster cars that started from the first three places on the grid. Peugeot got off to a better start, with the No. 7 car of Nicolas Minassian, Marc Gene and Jacques Villeneuve leading the No. 2 Audi of Allan McNish, Tom Kristensen and Rinaldo Capello.
Then the rain started.
The Peugeots are a handful in the wet, and Audi seized the advantage.
Kristensen took the lead on lap 234 at 5:17 a.m. Sunday as Villeneuve stopped for fuel. There was no looking back from there, but the race stayed tight. By 2 p.m. Sunday, with 23 hours elapsed, the cars were still less than two minutes apart on a track that's 8 miles long. Another spate of rain dashed Peugeot's hopes, though, as Minassian - running on slicks to make up time on dry parts of the track - spun near the end of the race. Audi opened its lead to finish the race 4 minutes and 31 seconds ahead of the Peugeot.
But throughout the race - all 24 hours and 3,077 miles of it - the two cars
were never more than one lap apart. Audi took first, fourth and sixth places, while Peugeot took second, third and fifth. The No. 7 Pescarolo Judd took seventh, the highest finish by a gasoline car.
The performances by Audi and Peugeot should put to rest any
lingering doubts about the performance and reliability of turbo-diesel
engines.
Associated Press photo.
Published: Thu, 19 Jun 2008 10:49:01 GMT - Source: Blog.Wired.Com - Read the article
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