In the first stint, Mike Conway, driving the № 7 Toyota TS050 Hybrid, set the all-time track record for a racing lap, 3:17.297. (Faster times have been set in qualifying.) Faster that any previous TS050, faster than any of the all-conquering Audi & Porsche P.1s, faster even than the legendary Porsche 217s of the early 1970s. Wait? The '70s? Yes. Back then, the Mulsanne Straight was a three-mile-long straight, allowing the cars to reach speeds in excess of 240 M.P.H., speeds comparable to the absolute record at the Indianapolis 500, the different being that at Le Mans the Mulsanne Straight is followed by a 90˚ corner. Since then, the Mulsanne has been broken up by two chicanes, which limit the cars' absolute top speed. Such is the speed through & out of the corners of the Toyota Hybrid that even with the chicanes on the Mulsanne it is still, at least in the hands of hot shoe Conway, faster than any other care ever. Wow!
In G.T.E. Pro, the Corvette C.7Rs are strong, so strong that all the other G.T.E. Pro. competitors received a five kilogram (11.02 lbs.) weight reduction in the interval between qualifying & the race. Despite this the № 63 Corvette has still climbed from third place to the class lead. The Pro. field looks very close, between Corvette, Aston Martin, B.M.W., Porsche, Ferrari, & Ford.
So far, my fiendish plan of watching the great race on the Motortrend television channel (formerly, Velocity) while listening to the audio from Radio Le Mans on YouTube on my iPhone is working out as well as expected. There are recurrent problems with the YouTube buffering, but c'est le vie. We live in an age of marvels, but to expect flawless perfection is foolish, a wicked snare of the devil designed to lead to inevitable disappointment.
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