Saturday, June 12, 2010

24 Heures du Mans - 11:39:00
Just past the halfway point in the 24 Heures du Mans, watching the competitors slashing through the night. Darkness is falling across America, but we've only a few more hours to go before sunlight bathes the countryside of France and the Circuit de la Sarthe. Pardon my language, but this shit is bananas.

In the L.M.P.1 class—Le Mans Prototype, the fastest, most powerful cars—the Peugeot 908s got off to a grand start, running in places one, two, three, and four (the three factory Peugeots and one run by a privateer team) with the factory Audi R15s running in fifth, sixth, and seventh. But Le Mans is about more than speed. One 908 suffered irreparable mechanical failure and two others, including the privateer—who's actually driving last year's race-winning car—had to spend significant time in the garage, allowing the relentless R15s to overtake. The last Peugeot standing is still the overall leader, but the Audis are now running in second, third, and fourth. Can the Audis keep it up, or will they too be bitten by bad luck and lose precious time? Can the leading Peugeot avoid the misfortune that felled its companions? There's a long time left to go before we read the end of the 24 Heures du Mans and anything might yet happen.

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