Mercedez-Benz Out. Porsche Moving Up.

By: P. Michael Clarke

Both Mercedes CLK LM cars have dropped out of the 24 Hours of Le Mans after less than 4 hours of competition. The cars experienced mechanical problems, one with the oil pump and the other with the steering system. In their wake, the battle that had been anticipated between Mercedes-Benz and Porsche will not happen at this year's event in La Sarthe, but may very well resume once the two German manufacturers meet again in the FIA Championship.

These mechanical problems have indeed been to the advantage of Porsche as they moved up in the provisional results. At the moment, Porsche's primary adversary seems to be Toyota. If the cars hold up, that is. Toyota continues to lead, and their pace is quicker than that of Porsche. They are consuming fuel at a higher rate, though. This seems to be affecting their reliability, as two of Toyota's three cars have visited the pits on quite a number of occasions for different problems, among them brakes and gear selection.

This is Toyota's first presence at Le Mans, and it's a grueling race. Reliability can only come from many hours of testing. Surprisingly, the Nissans - which have not been fast at all this week - are presently in 5th and 6th place overall. Radio Le Mans has been telling us from the outset of the race that Nissan was going to win the 1998 edition of the 24 Hours of Le Mans. Would they be onto something?

Over the past couple of hours, Porsche has been reeling in the pace-setting Toyota at a slow but steady pace. At the moment, the gap between first and second place has been reduced to 25 seconds. The Porsche GT1s are in second (car #25) and third (car #26) place and, according to team sport Press manager Jurgen Pippig, all is going as planned with the GT cars. Pippig also noted that, although they are not as easy to drive as they would like yet, the team is progressing with the LMP cars. The LMP car # 8 driven by Raphanel, Weaver and Murry, is first in class and 6th overall.

The pace-setting LMP1 car throughout the week, the BMW V12, has just come into the pits with some mechanical problems, and the team has decided to retire the car. Wheel bearings seem to have been disintegrating inexplicably, which puts the Joest/Porsche at the head of the pack in the LMP1 category.

In the GT2 category, the Vipers continue to lead but are experiencing some minor problems as time goes on. You can bet that, should these problems turn into more substantial ones later, the hoard on Porsche 911 GT2 will be ready to take advantage.

Weather report: The weather has improved from this morning and is currently warm and muggy with hazy skies overhead. But the prediction is for rain later this evening. Stay tuned.