Press Release N° 24
14H00 to 15H00

The Audi's in the same lap
Sunday, June 17th, 2001
After overtaking just before the Tertre-Rouge, the n°2 Audi driven by Laurent Aiello has managed to get back into the same lap as the n°1 Audi, still the race leader an hour before the grand finish of the 2001 24 Hours of Le Mans.

The two leading Audi's are now in the same lap one hour from the end of this 69th edition of the Le Mans 24 Hours Race. Laurent Aiello overtook Emanuele Pirro at the edge of the Tertre Rouge «esses» to catch up the lap that he was trailing by.
The n°16 Chrysler is now unchallenged in 4th place, close behind the n°8 Bentley who completes the provisional podium line-up. The Chrysler Team Oreca, driven by Pedro Lamy then Olivier Beretta, is now 13 laps ahead of the n°38 Reynard Roc Auto who has taken 5th place despite a somewhat slackened pace due to cooling problems. The Reynard is still leading in the LMP 675 category.
The car benefited from the immobilization of the n°17 Courage, whose engine would have had a pierced piston. Pescarolo Sports team plan to drive the last lap anyhow, just to see the chequered flag. Another car was also having trouble at about the same time : Christophe Tinseau's n°6 Cadillac stopped on the side of the track. As a consequence, it retrograded to the 9th position.
ln the GTS category, the n°63 and 64 Corvettes spent almost half an hour in the pits before being back on the track. However, n°63 Gary Pratt racing preserved the first position in its category, with a 10th position in the overall ranking.
The GTs reaped all the benefits. The n°83 Porsche Seikel Motorsport is more than ever in the lead in its category, but what matters most in the fact that it succeeds in being in the 6th position in the overall ranking. It is always followed by n°77 Porsche Freisinger, 7th within a lap. Note that the reliability of the Porsches needs no proving, as 9 out of the 10 Porsches are still on the race after 23 hours.