Porsche Driving LeMans Race Coverage Article 7

6/14

7:23 am PST

"First Hour"

Le Mans -- The Start and First Hour

Live reporting submitted by Pete Albrecht

Weather conditions: overcast, threatening rain, temp 19 dec. C (66 deg F). Expect it to rain sometime after dark.

Right from the start, Porsche led the race. The #25 car, Le Mans veteran Bob Wollek at the helm, jumped into the lead from its position on the inside of the front row, closely followed by Eric van de Poele in the Nissan and Michele Alboreto in the Joest-Porsche. This lineup lasted until lap 3, when Alboreto passed the Nissan and began working his way up to Wollek. The pass for the lead came just a lap later, under braking for the first chicane on the Mulsanne Straight. A puff of smoke from the Joest car's tires, and Alboreto was by Van de Poele. The three leaders were opening up a big gap to the rest of the field, about 7 sec on fourth place, the other works GT1 Porsche, Collard in #26.

At 4:26, the BRM reported as smoking, then coming to a halt on the Mulsanne straight. That Nissan-powered effort didn't last long. Henri Toivonen threw up his hands and just walked away; that's our first retirement of the race. Toivonen later reported that the car was misfiring badly before he parked it.

At exactly 5 PM, after one hour, the lineup is
#7 Joest Porsche/Alboreto
#22 Nissan R390/Erik van de Peole
#26 works Porsche GT1/Collard
#42 Gulf McLaren

The strategy is set: the Joest Porsche is trying to run away from the Porsche factory GT1s before the impending rain starts, at which time the GT1s gain an advantage.

In GT2, the Vipers are running 1-3 with Porsche running second.

6/14	7:23 am PST	"First Hour"
Le Mans -- The Start and First Hour Live reporting submitted by Pete Albrecht Weather conditions: overcast, threatening rain, temp 19 dec. C (66 deg F). Expect it to rain sometime after dark. Right from the start, Porsche led the race. The #25 car, Le Mans veteran Bob Wollek at the helm, jumped into the lead from its position on the inside of the front row, closely followed by Eric van de Poele in the Nissan and Michele Alboreto in the Joest-Porsche. This lineup lasted until lap 3, when Alboreto passed the Nissan and began working his way up to Wollek. The pass for the lead came just a lap later, under braking for the first chicane on the Mulsanne Straight. A puff of smoke from the Joest car's tires, and Alboreto was by Van de Poele. The three leaders were opening up a big gap to the rest of the field, about 7 sec on fourth place, the other works GT1 Porsche, Collard in #26. At 4:26, the BRM reported as smoking, then coming to a halt on the Mulsanne straight. That Nissan-powered effort didn't last long. Henri Toivonen threw up his hands and just walked away; that's our first retirement of the race. Toivonen later reported that the car was misfiring badly before he parked it. At exactly 5 PM, after one hour, the lineup is #7 Joest Porsche/Alboreto #22 Nissan R390/Erik van de Peole #26 works Porsche GT1/Collard #42 Gulf McLaren The strategy is set: the Joest Porsche is trying to run away from the Porsche factory GT1s before the impending rain starts, at which time the GT1s gain an advantage. In GT2, the Vipers are running 1-3 with Porsche running second.