24 hrs. Le Mans ! Live today !

[Grey Ghost]

Speed. Starts 8:00 am.:seasix:

[ApexOversteer]

Grabbing the legends race now, for the '49-'65 cars.

They better be taking a break to show the WRC coverage tonight...

[VetteBoy1979]

Well at least I still get to watch it on TV! Maybe next year. Go team Corvette. Don't forget Speed has the live in car video stream again this year.

[DAB]

Peeping prerace

[VetteBoy1979]

Less than 8 minutes! Got my coffee, spotters guide, laptop, GETTING GOOSEBUMPS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[VetteBoy1979]

Can we field a VB GTE AM car? I'll be a driver!

[VetteBoy1979]

Damn, 1 Aston down already! Door missing, twisted roof, ouch!

[DAB]

10 minutes after prepping for a year. Oops.

[Jeff '79]

Damn... A trip to HD and now i'm gonna trim out another window in the barn. Then off to a pool party at 1.... No racing for me today....:sadangel:

Oak tree , you're in my way..... Ouch

[Grey Ghost]

They haven't airlifted the driver out. But, the team members won't give any updates on his condition. :sadangel: Hang in there man.

[Stangkiller]

For the first time in 3 years...I have speed tv and don't have to stream the race! :hurray:

[RedLS1GTO]

:sadangel:

Just announced that Allan Simonsen has died as a result of injuries from his crash.

Aston Martin driver Allan Simonsen has died following his high-speed crash early in the Le Mans 24 Hours.

The Dane, who was 34 years old, and had started from pole in the GTE Am class, crashed heavily at Tertre Rouge early on, bringing out the safety car and causing significant damage to the barriers.

Simonsen, who was racing at Le Mans for the seventh time, was taken to the medical centre by ambulance, where he succumbed to his injuries.

A statement from Le Mans organiser the ACO read: "At 15h09 the #95 Aston Martin Vantage GTE, driven by Allan Simonsen of Denmark, exited the track at high-speed at the Tertre Rouge corner on his fourth lap of the race.

"The driver was immediately attended on the scene by the doctors from the Automobile Club de l'Ouest's Medical Service.

"In a serious condition, Allan Simonsen was transferred immediately to the circuit medical centre, where he died soon after.

"Allan Simonsen's family has been informed immediately by David Richards, principal of Aston Martin Racing."

The ACO will make no further statement until the exact reasons for the accident are determined.

Simonsen's death is the first Le Mans 24 Hours fatality since Sebastien Enjolras was killed in an accident during pre-qualifying in 1997, and the first during the race since Jo Gartner's death in 1986.

[Stangkiller]

Damn... A trip to HD and now i'm gonna trim out another window in the barn. Then off to a pool party at 1.... No racing for me today....:sadangel:

Oak tree , you're in my way..... Ouch

They haven't airlifted the driver out. But, the team members won't give any updates on his condition. :sadangel: Hang in there man.

Looks like he lost his life. :sadangel:

[Thunder22]

Allan Simonsen dies after Le Mans 24 Hours crash - Le Mans news - AUTOSPORT.com (http://www.autosport.com/news/report.php/id/108217)

Aston Martin driver Allan Simonsen has died following his high-speed crash early in the Le Mans 24 Hours.

The Dane, who was 34 years old, and had started from pole in the GTE Am class, crashed heavily at Tertre Rouge early on, bringing out the safety car and causing significant damage to the barriers.

Simonsen, who was racing at Le Mans for the seventh time, was taken to the medical centre by ambulance, where he succumbed to his injuries.

A statement from Le Mans organiser the ACO read: "At 15h09 the #95 Aston Martin Vantage GTE, driven by Allan Simonsen of Denmark, exited the track at high-speed at the Tertre Rouge corner on his fourth lap of the race.

"The driver was immediately attended on the scene by the doctors from the Automobile Club de l'Ouest's Medical Service.

"In a serious condition, Allan Simonsen was transferred immediately to the circuit medical centre, where he died soon after.

"Allan Simonsen's family has been informed immediately by David Richards, principal of Aston Martin Racing."

The ACO will make no further statement until the exact reasons for the accident are determined.

Simonsen's death is the first Le Mans 24 Hours fatality since Sebastien Enjolras was killed in an accident during pre-qualifying in 1997, and the first during the race since Jo Gartner's death in 1986.

[Grey Ghost]

http://www.v8scglobal.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/04/Allan-Simonsen.jpg

RIP Allan Simonsen :sadangel:

[VetteBoy1979]

RIP for Aston Martin driver :(

['77Babe]

Somehow I'm glad I wasn't there for this. :sadangel: Our campsite is right behind that embankment.

[VatorMan]

RIP Allan. :sadangel:

[VetteBoy1979]

This seems to be the only video of right before it happened. I turned away from the live Corvette stream for half a second and missed it.

Le Mans 24h 2013 Allan Simonsen #95 Aston Martin Crash - YouTube

[Grey Ghost]

Looks like his tires got on the painted surface. Slick enough in dry conditions. Add in the rain and it just spun into the wall at speed.

[Woody]

:sadangel:

[Jeff '79]

Damn... Alan Simonson was killed... It did look that bad.......:sadangel:
I just got home and saw this... What a tragedy in this day and age...

[Thunder22]

Damn... Alan Simpson was killed... It did look that bad.......:sadangel:
I just got home and saw this... What a tragedy in this day and age...

Simonsen.

:sadangel:

[Jeff '79]

This is good stuff!
The C-7 expose' was a really good piece too.:driving:

[Thunder22]

I'm just watching the C7 story now, nice job. I had switched over to the hockey game and missed it.

[Jeff '79]

Those guard rails at LeMans absolutely suck. Simonson would be alive right now if they weren't inferior metal. Now another car punched through and was totally demolished. It's a miracle he survived after seeing the final product. France should be ashamed. Those guard rails are absolute junk.

[Thunder22]

Simonsen hit a tree head on at over 100MPH. No guard rail was going to help him. Which begs the question, why are there trees lining the track- the majority of the track is public roads, especially the Mulsanne Straight, which is where he crashed, at the beginning of it.

[Jeff '79]

Simonsen hit a tree head on at over 100MPH. No guard rail was going to help him. Which begs the question, why are there trees lining the track- the majority of the track is public roads, especially the Mulsanne Straight, which is where he crashed, at the beginning of it.

There was a guard rail between the oak tree and the track. His car went right through it. The guard rails are inferior. He would have survived if the rail held and he didn't hit the tree.
Did you see the other car that went thought the rail? That shit just should not happen.... The cars are actually just slicing through them.

[Jeff '79]

Wow, the weather is really sucking out there...:lol:

[Thunder22]

At that point of the track, hitting the rail at over 100MPH, I'm not sure what they would have to put there to hold a car at that speed. I do agree that they don't look as beefy as they could be, but I think that's a by-product of any/all tracks that are built on public roads, like Monaco and Long Beach.

[Grey Ghost]

Those guard rails at LeMans absolutely suck. Simonson would be alive right now if they weren't inferior metal. Now another car punched through and was totally demolished. It's a miracle he survived after seeing the final product. France should be ashamed. Those guard rails are absolute junk.

:iagree:

Then it takes them hours to repair. A member of the France family dropped the flag to start. He must be overseeing the repairs (NASCAR style):kick:

[VetteBoy1979]

Both Vettes are 3 laps off the lead Porsche. Not sure if we have a shot to make that up with less than 1 hour left. Sigh.

[Jeff '79]

This has been quite an eventful race. I've had it on all night and it seemed that there was always something happening, other than just cars going around the track.. This track sure lived up to it's reputation this year.
It was a really good, entertaining race to watch,
6 Caution hours and 23 hours of rain.

[DAB]

18 hrs of racing, 6 of caution.

[Jeff '79]

18 hrs of racing, 6 of caution.

Ya, what a wild ride....:yesnod:

[Thunder22]

I'm exhausted, first time in a long time I tried to stay awake to watch. Usually the race is on Father's day and that conflict keeps me from watching live, so this year I watch live and the Vettes have their worst year in ages. Maybe I'm a jinx lol

[DAB]

Race is always on Saturday nearest summer solstice.

[C5Nate]

Well, we beat the new Italia's and the new Vipers with the old school C6 :cert:


GTE-Pro

1. #92 Lieb/Lietz/Dumas Porsche AG Team Manthey Porsche 911 RSR * 315 laps (22 stops)
2. #91 Bernhard/Pilet/Bergmeister Porsche AG Team Manthey Porsche 911 RSR * 315 laps (24 stops)
3. #97 Turner/Mucke/Dumbreck Aston Martin Racing Aston Martin Vantage V8 * 314 laps (24 stops)
4. #73 Garcia/Taylor/Magnussen Corvette Racing Corvette C6 ZR-1 312 laps (23 stops)
5. #71 Beretta/Kobayashi/Vilander AF Corse Ferrari 458 Italia * 311 laps (23 stops)
6. #51 Bruni/Fisichella/Malucelli AF Corse Ferrari 458 Italia * 311 laps (23 stops)
7. #74 Gavin/Milner/Westbrook Corvette Racing Corvette C6 ZR-1 309 laps (25 stops)
8. #53 Farnbacher/Dalziel/Goossens SRT Motorsports Viper GTS-R 306 laps (28 stops)
9. #93 Bomarito/Kendall/Wittmer SRT Motorsport Viper GTS-R 301 laps (26 stops)
10. #66 Bertolini/Alfaisal/Qubaisi JMW Motorsport Ferrari 458 Italia 300 laps (26 stops)
Ret. #99 Bell/Makowiecki/Senna Aston Martin Racing Aston Martin Vantage V8 * 248 laps Retirement
Ret. #98 Auberlen/Dalla Lana/Lamy Aston Martin Racing Aston Martin Vantage V8 221 laps Retirement

[Jeff '79]

I'm exhausted, first time in a long time I tried to stay awake to watch. Usually the race is on Father's day and that conflict keeps me from watching live, so this year I watch live and the Vettes have their worst year in ages. Maybe I'm a jinx lol

Me too.... I'm tired...:yesnod:

[ApexOversteer]

I'm watching Eurosport's 8 part Le Mans series 24 Minutes. They have had an episode every day since the cars arrived. Planning to watch until the race day show and then catch Eurosport's highlights package for the actual race.

Who did Speed have commentating on the race? How was the coverage?

[Jeff '79]

I'm watching Eurosport's 8 part Le Mans series 24 Minutes. They have had an episode every day since the cars arrived. Planning to watch until the race day show and then catch Eurosport's highlights package for the actual race.

Who did Speed have commentating on the race? How was the coverage?

They kept me up all night. I enjoyed their commentary.:yesnod:

[Thunder22]

I'm watching Eurosport's 8 part Le Mans series 24 Minutes. They have had an episode every day since the cars arrived. Planning to watch until the race day show and then catch Eurosport's highlights package for the actual race.

Who did Speed have commentating on the race? How was the coverage?

Bob Varsha for most of it. It was good, more than a few pit interviews, a short story on the C7. SPEED didn't control the video/audio feed on the main race so that was out of their control. They filled in the night time hours as well as they could with pit stop coverage and interviews.

[ApexOversteer]

I think I've gotten to the point where an American voice commentating on motorsports automatically sounds wrong...

[Jeff '79]

I think I've gotten to the point where an American voice commentating on motorsports automatically sounds wrong...

What's wrong with Michael Waltrip? :rofl: I love when they take him out of the tool box..... NOT!

['77Babe]

I think I've gotten to the point where an American voice commentating on motorsports automatically sounds wrong...

We started watching German Eurosport. The footage is all in english, but they have to translate everything that was said into german, I was getting pissed because I was trying to here what was actually being said. The fiancee muted the tv and turned on Radio Le Mans over the PC. Much better. :yesnod: Especially since I've got them running when we are at the track anyway.

I was disappointed in the Vipers/Corvettes. I miss the real battles. But Kudos to Manthey. Fantastic job. :seasix:

[onedef92]

Be sure and post any glowing brake rotor/exhaust system pics.