2008 Le Mans 24 hour race

The Audi R10 TDI, winning car of the Le Mans 24-hour race in 2008

The shapely but not fully developed Epsilon Euskadi eel; both reported vehicles broke down early after defects

Dome S102

The 76th 24-hour race at Le Mans , the 76 ^s Grand Prix d'Endurance les 24 Heures du Mans , including 24 Heures Du Mans, Le Mans , was from 14 to 15 June 2008, the Circuit des 24 Heures instead of.

The race

In 2008 the number of participants in the LMP1 class increased significantly. In addition to Audi and its team, Joest Racing , which had already reported three prototypes at Le Mans in recent years, this time Peugeot was also represented with three vehicles at Le Mans. In addition to the two 01s by Henri Pescarolo, there were also new developments by Dome and Epsilon Euskadi .

The Dome S102 was the successor to the open Dome S101 and was co-developed by employees of the University of Tokyo . Epsilon, the team of Juan Barazi and Michael Vergers , which had previously been active in the LMP2 class, entered the LMP1 class in 2008 under the direction of Joan Villadelprat with the Epsilon Euskadi ee1 . The ee1 was designed by John Travis . In the first drafts, the double roll bar was still present, as was required for open sports prototypes such as the Audi R10 TDI . Since the ACO , which organizes the 24 Hours of Le Mans, aimed to only allow closed prototypes from 2010, the design was changed and the vehicle was given a roof. Another change was the introduction of a high nose, as is common with formula vehicles. The ee1 was equipped with a Judd GV5.5 S2 engine in the 2008 racing season . When choosing tires, they relied on Michelin .

In practice, Stéphane Sarrazin drove a time of 3: 18.513 minutes in the Peugeot 908 HDi FAP . This time corresponded to an average speed of 247.160 km / h. Since the late 1980s - in 1988 Hans-Joachim Stuck in the Porsche 962C (3.15.640 = 250.164 km / h) and 1989 Jean-Louis Schlesser in the Sauber C9 (3.15.040 = 249.826 km / h) - nobody had the Circuit des 24 heures under 3 minutes 20 lapsed. In contrast to the previous year, this time the Peugeot's were not only able to keep up with the speed of the Audi R10 TDI , but were also superior on a dry track. However, all Peugeot's were in the race with a dry set-up. The Audi with the number 2 took the lead during the rainy night. In some cases, this vehicle was up to ten seconds per lap faster than the competition. In the end, the lead gained was enough for victory. Record winner Tom Kristensen won for the eighth time. Van Merksteijn Motorsport won the LMP2 class in the Porsche RS Spyder . Aston Martin Racing won the GT1 class in the Aston Martin DBR9 . Risi Competizione secured the class win in the GT2 class in the Ferrari F430 .

Results

Pilots by nationality

36 French	24 British	13 Germans	11 Americans	11 Japanese
10 Italians	8 Dutch	7 Danes	6 Swiss	5 Austrians
5 Brazilians	5 Spaniards	3 Belgians	3 Portuguese	3 Monegasque
3 Russians	2 Australians	2 Canadians	2 fins	2 Sweden
2 Czechs	1 Saudi	1 Chinese	1 San Marinese

Final ranking

Item	class	No.	team	driver	chassis	engine	tires	Round
1	LMP1	2	Audi Sport North America	Allan McNish Rinaldo Capello Tom Kristensen	Audi R10 TDI	Audi TDI 5.5L Turbo V12	M.	381
2	LMP1	7th	Team Peugeot Total	Nicolas Minassian Marc Gené Jacques Villeneuve	Peugeot 908 HDi FAP	Peugeot 5.5L Turbo V12	M.	381
3	LMP1	9	Peugeot Sport Total	Franck Montagny Ricardo Zonta Christian Klien	Peugeot 908 HDi FAP	Peugeot 5.5L Turbo V12	M.	379
4th	LMP1	3	Audi Sport Team Joest	Mike Rockenfeller Lucas Luhr Alexandre Prémat	Audi R10 TDI	Audi 5.5L Turbo V12	M.	374
5	LMP1	8th	Team Peugeot Total	Stéphane Sarrazin Pedro Lamy Alexander Wurz	Peugeot 908 HDi FAP	Peugeot 5.5L Turbo V12	M.	368
6th	LMP1	1	Audi Sport North America	Frank Biela Marco Werner Emanuele Pirro	Audi R10 TDI	Audi 5.5L Turbo V12	M.	367
7th	LMP1	17th	Pescarolo sport	Christophe Tinseau Benoît Tréluyer Harold Primat	Pescarolo 01	Judd GV5.5 S2 5.5L V10	M.	362
8th	LMP1	5	Team ORECA-Matmut	Soheil Ayari Loïc Duval Laurent Groppi	Courage-ORECA LC70	Judd GV5.5 S2 5.5L V10	M.	357
9	LMP1	10	Charouz Racing System	Jan Charouz Tomáš Enge Stefan Mücke	Lola B08 / 60	Aston Martin 6.0L V12	M.	354
10	LMP2	34	Peter van Merksteijn Motorsport	Peter van Merksteijn Jeroen Bleekemolen Jos Verstappen	Porsche RS Spyder Evo	Porsche MR6 3.4L V8	M.	354
11	LMP1	18th	Rollcentre Racing	João Barbosa Stéphan Grégoire Vanina Ickx	Pescarolo 01	Judd GV5.5 S2 5.5L V10	D.	352
12	LMP2	31	Team Essex	Casper Elgaard John Nielsen Sascha Maassen	Porsche RS Spyder Evo	Porsche MR6 3.4L V8	D.	347
13	GT1	009	Aston Martin Racing	David Brabham Antonio García Darren Turner	Aston Martin DBR9	Aston Martin 6.0L V12	M.	344
14th	GT1	63	Corvette Racing	Johnny O'Connell Jan Magnussen Ron Fellows	Chevrolet Corvette C6.R	Chevrolet LS7.R 7.0L V8	M.	344
15th	GT1	64	Corvette Racing	Oliver Gavin Olivier Beretta Max Papis	Chevrolet Corvette C6.R	Chevrolet LS7.R 7.0L V8	M.	341
16	GT1	007	Aston Martin Racing	Heinz-Harald Frentzen Andrea Piccini Karl Wendlinger	Aston Martin DBR9	Aston Martin 6.0L V12	M.	339
17th	GT1	72	Luc Alphand Aventures	Luc Alphand Guillaume Moreau Jérôme Policand	Chevrolet Corvette C6.R	Chevrolet LS7.R 7.0L V8	M.	335
18th	LMP2	35	Saulnier Racing	Pierre Ragues Matthieu Lahaye Cong Fu Cheng	Pescarolo 01	Judd DB 3.4L V8	M.	333
19th	GT2	82	Risi Competizione	Gianmaria Bruni Mika Salo Jaime Melo	Ferrari F430 GTC	Ferrari 4.0L V8	M.	326
20th	LMP2	40	Quifel ASM team	Miguel Amaral Olivier Pla Guy Smith	Lola B05 / 40	AER P07 2.0L Turbo I4	D.	325
21st	GT1	73	Luc Alphand Aventures	Jean-Luc Blanchemain Laurent Pasquali Patrice Goueslard	Chevrolet Corvette C6.R	Chevrolet LS7.R 7.0L V8	M.	325
22nd	GT2	97	BMS Scuderia Italia	Matteo Malucelli Paolo Ruberti Fabio Babini	Ferrari F430 GTC	Ferrari 4.0L V8	P	318
23	GT2	90	Farnbacher Racing	Pierre Ehret Pierre Kaffer Lars-Erik Nielsen	Ferrari F430 GTC	Ferrari 4.0L V8	D.	317
24	LMP1	14th	Creation Autosportif	Stuart Hall Johnny Mowlem Marc Goossens	Creation CA07	AIM YS 5.5L V8	D.	316
25th	GT2	99	JMB Racing	Ben Aucott Alain Ferté Stéphane Daoudi	Ferrari F430 GT	Ferrari 4.0L V8	M.	312
26th	LMP1	4th	Saulnier Racing	Jacques Nicolet Marc Faggionato Richard Hein	Pescarolo 01	Judd GV5.5 S2 5.5L V10	M.	311
27	GT2	77	Felbermayr-Proton team	Horst Felbermayr senior Alex Davison Wolf Henzler	Porsche 997 GT3-RSR	Porsche 3.8L Flat-6	M.	309
28	GT1	50	Larbre Compétition	Christophe Bouchut David Hallyday Patrick Bornhauser	Saleen S7-R	Ford 7.0L V8	M.	306
29	LMP2	32	Barazi epsilon	Michael Vergers Juan Barazi Stuart Moseley	Zytek 07S / 2	Zytek ZG348 3.4L V8	M.	304
30th	GT1	59	Team Modena	Terry Borcheller Christian Fittipaldi Jos Menten	Aston Martin DBR9	Aston Martin 6.0L V12	M.	302
31	LMP2	26th	Team Bruichladdich Radical	Marc Rostan Gunnar Jeannette Ben Devlin	Radical SR9	AER P07 2.0L Turbo I4	D.	297
32	GT2	80	Flying Lizard Motorsports	Jörg Bergmeister Johannes van Overbeek Seth Neiman	Porsche 997 GT3-RSR	Porsche 3.8L Flat-6	M.	289
33	LMP1	11	Dome Racing Team	Tatsuya Kataoka Yuji Tachikawa Daisuke Itō	Dome S102	Judd GV5.5 S2 5.5L V10	M.	272
Not classified
34	GT1	55	IPB Spartak Racing	Peter Kox Mike Hezeman's novel Russinow	Lamborghini Murciélago R-GT	Lamborghini L535 6.0L V12	M.	266
35	LMP1	24	Terramos	Yōjirō Terada Hiroki Katō Kazuho Takahashi	Courage LC70	Mugen MF408S 4.0L V8	M.	224
Failed
36	GT2	96	Virgo Motorsport	Rob Bell Tim Mullen Tim Sugden	Ferrari F430 GT	Ferrari 4.0L V8	D.	289
37	LMP1	16	Pescarolo sport	Emmanuel Collard Jean-Christophe Boullion Romain Dumas	Pescarolo 01	Judd GV5.5 S2 5.5L V10	M.	238
38	LMP1	23	Autocon Motorsports	Bryan Willman Michael Lewis Chris McMurry	Creation CA07	Judd GV5 5.0L V10	D.	224
39	LMP2	45	Embassy Racing	Warren Hughes Jonny Kane Joey Foster	Embassy WF01	Zytek ZG348 3.4L V8	M.	213
40	LMP2	33	Speedy Racing Team	Steve Zacchia Andrea Belicchi Xavier Pompidou	Lola B08 / 80	Judd DB 3.4L V8	M.	194
41	LMP1	20th	Epsilon Euskadi	Ángel Burgueño Miguel Ángel de Castro Adrián Vallés	Epsilon Euskadi ee1	Judd GV5.5 S2 5.5L V10	M.	189
42	LMP1	22nd	Tōkai University	Toshio Suzuki Haruki Kurosawa Masami Kageyama	Courage-ORECA LC70	YGK YR40 4.0L Turbo V8	Y	185
43	LMP1	21st	Epsilon Euskadi	Shinji Nakano Stefan Johansson Jean-Marc Gounon	Epsilon Euskadi ee1	Judd GV5.5 S2 5.5L V10	M.	158
44	LMP1	6th	Team ORECA-Matmut	Marcel Fässler Olivier Panis Simon Pagenaud	Courage-ORECA LC70	Judd GV5.5 S2 5.5L V10	M.	147
45	LMP2	44	Kruse-Schiller Motorsport	Jean de Pourtales Hideki Noda Allan Simonsen	Lola B05 / 40	Mazda MZR-R 2.0L Turbo I4	D.	147
46	LMP1	12	Charouz Racing System	Greg Pickett Klaus Graf Jan Lammers	Lola B07 / 17	Judd GV5.5 S2 5.5L V10	M.	146
47	GT2	78	AF Corse	Thomas Biagi Toni Vilander Christian Montanari	Ferrari F430 GT	Ferrari 4.0L V8	M.	111
48	LMP2	25th	Ray Mallock Ltd.	Andy Wallace Mike Newton Thomas Erdos	MG-Lola EX265	MG XP21 2.0L Turbo I4	M.	100
49	LMP1	19th	Chamberlain-Synergy Motorsport	Bob Berridge Gareth Evans Amanda Stretton	Lola B06 / 10	AER P32C 4.0L Turbo V8	D.	87
50	GT1	53	Vitaphone Racing Team	Peter Hardman Nick Leventis Alexandre Negrão	Aston Martin DBR9	Aston Martin 6.0L V12	M.	82
51	GT2	94	Speedy Racing Team	Andrea Chiesa Iradj Alexander Benjamin Leuenberger	Spyker C8 Laviolette GT2-R	Audi 4.0L V8	M.	72
52	GT2	85	Snora's Spyker Squadron	Ralf Kellener's Alexey Vasilyev Peter Dumbreck	Spyker C8 Laviolette GT2-R	Audi 4.0L V8	M.	43
53	GT2	76	IMSA Performance Matmut	Raymond Narac Patrick Long Richard Lietz	Porsche 997 GT3-RSR	Porsche 3.8L Flat-6	M.	26th
54	LMP2	41	Trading performance	Karim Ojjeh Claude-Yves Gosselin Adam Sharpe	Zytek 07S / 2	Zytek ZG348 3.4L V8	M.	22nd
55	GT2	83	Risi Competizione	Tracy Krohn Nic Jonsson Eric van de Poele	Ferrari F430 GT	Ferrari 4.0L V8	M.	12
Not started
56	LMP2	30th	Racing Box Srl.	Andrea Ceccato Filippo Francioni Ferdinando Geri	Lucchini LMP2-08	Judd DB 3.4L V8	D.	1

¹ Technical acceptance failed

Only in the entry list

Here you can find teams, drivers and vehicles that were originally registered for the race, but did not take part for various reasons.

Item	class	No.	team	driver	chassis	engine	tires
57	GT1		Interprogressbank Spartak Racing		Lamborghini Murciélago R-GT	Lamborghini L535 6.0L V12	M.
58	GT2		IMSA Performance Matmut		Porsche 997 GT3-RSR	Porsche 3.8L Flat-6	M.
59	LMP1		Creation Autosportif		Creation CA07	AIM YS 5.5L V8	D.
60	GT2		Spyker Squadron BV		Spyker C8 Laviolette GT2-R	Audi 4.0L V8	M.
61	GT2		Felbermayr-Proton team		Porsche 997 GT3-RSR	Porsche 3.8L Flat-6	M.
62	GT1		Larbre Compétition		Saleen S7-R	Ford 7.0L V8
63	GT2	81	Blackboard Racing		Ferrari F430 GTC	Ferrari 4.0L V8	M.
64	GT1		Strakka Racing		Aston Martin DBR9	Aston Martin 6.0L V12
65	LMP2		WR Salini		WR LMP2008	Zytek ZG348 3.4L V8

Class winner

class	driver	driver	driver	vehicle	Placement in the overall ranking
LMP1	Allan McNish	Rinaldo Capello	Tom Kristensen	Audi R10 TDI	Overall victory
LMP2	Peter van Merksteijn	Jeroen Bleekemolen	Jos Verstappen	Porsche RS Spyder Evo	Rank 10
GT1	David Brabham	Antonio Garcia	Darren Turner	Aston Martin DBR9	Rank 13
GT2	Gianmaria Bruni	Mika Salo	Jaime Melo	Ferrari F430 GT	Rank 19

Racing data

• Registered: 65
• Started: 55
• Rated: 33
• Race classes: 4
• Spectators: 258,500
• Honorary starter of the race: unknown
• Race weekend weather: warm, rain at night and at the end of the race
• Route length: 13.629 km
• Driving time of the winning team: 24:00: 24,085 hours
• Rounds of the winning team: 381
• Distance of the winning team: 5192.649 km
• Winner's average: 216.300 km / h
• Pole position: Stéphane Sarrazin - Peugeot 908 HDi FAP (# 8) - 3: 18.513 = 247.160 km / h
• Fastest race lap: Stéphane Sarrazin - Peugeot 908 HDi FAP (# 8) - 3: 19.394 = 246,068 km / h
• Racing series: did not belong to any racing series

Web links

Commons : Le Mans 24 Hours 2008  - Collection of images, videos and audio files

• Official website of the 24 Hours of Le Mans