le man retrospective

["Dave Eaton" <Dave.Eaton@clear.net.nz>]

excellent result for bmw/williams.  they have learned from last years
disappointment to return better and faster.  the reliability worries at
sebring, were dealt with and they had a mainly trouble-free race.

toyota.  so near and so far.  what have these guys got to do?  clearly the
fastest car (as last year), but dogged by bad luck.  katayama did
wonderfully well to recover the car from it's high speed puncture and bring
it to the pits, but of course, that finished the challenge to the lead.
brundle's effort he will probably want to forget, after promising so much.

mercedes-benz.  what can you say?  their 3rd high speed flip.  absolutely
horrific.  it is an image which has disturbing implications, and reminds you
of the mercedes le mans incident of the 50's.  the car was clearly
susceptible to lift on bumpy track and the late addition of another front
splitter after practice was not enough in the race.  after the debacle of
last year, this is probably worse, and a huge blow to the corporate ego.
particularly after they have dominated sportscar racing for the last few
years.

audi.  excellent effort.  as a first up, with no previous history in the
race, they fared extremely well.  just didn't have the basic speed.  joest
obviously helped give the factory experience and expertise.  but the factory
has produced a car which lasted 24 hours despite gearbox weakness
(particularly in the coupes), and was just about on the pace.  will audi be
back?  with the continued rumours of bmw withdrawing from all non-formula 1
activity, i wonder if the incentive will be there for them.  one can't help
but feel that the factory needed more time though, particularly with the
beautiful r8c's which were never looking composed.

overall, for this punter, an excellent race, and a credit to audi.  it is
wonderful to see audi competing again at the top level in motorsport.

dave
'95 rs2
'90 ur-q
'88 mb 2.3-16