By Derryn Wong in LeMans, France

IT’S A PITY that one of Europe’s biggest exports doesn’t get much time of day here. While sometimes you can hear the inebriated roars of soccer fans late into the night here, we personally prefer the roar of racing engines.

To set the record straight, the most-attended single sporting event in Europe so far this year is the 24 Hours of LeMans endurance race with an estimated turnout of 250 – 270,000 strong. In comparison the UEFA Champions League match attendance is averages about 80,000.

LeMans is steeped in history, having being run on the same Circuit de la Sarthe almost every year since 1923. In comparison the oldest track in Formula One still on the calendar is Monza, which has been running since 1922. The mix of a huge crowd, open air concerts, camping, barbeques and the roar of engines for 24 hours makes the quiet French town turn into a sort of insane, non-stop carnival from 11-15 June. Just think of it as a Formula One race day times five, with more fun and less corporate snobbery.

The 13.6km circuit is a mix of public roads and permanent race track with the main attraction being the Ligne Droite des Hunaudières or Mulsanne Straight which was 5km long. LeMans racers from the 1980s reached speeds of up to 400km/h there, although it has been slowed with the addition of chicanes cars still reach speeds in excess of 330km/h.

In recent years it’s German manufacturer Audi who has dominated the premier LeMans Prototype 1 (LMP1) class, winning every year since 2000 interrupted only in 2003 by Bentley, which used an Audi engine in any case.

LMP1 being the top-tier class features the fastest machines purpose built for racing with power outputs of up to 750bhp and a minimum weight of 900kg, followed by LMP2 which are restricted to 475bhp and 825kg. Under those are the GT1 and GT2 classes which are modified from homologated road cars like the Porsche 911 GT3 and Aston Martin DB9.

Since the event only happens once a year it attracts many participants, with 55 entries on this years grid alone. Because the cars run for 24 hours continuously, LeMans isn’t just a test of outright speed but also tactical acumen, fuel economy and keeping your car out of trouble with the backmarkers.

Each car has a team of three drivers and they are allowed a maximum four hour stint at a time. Such is the draw of LeMans that many ex-F1 racers participate, including Allan McNish, champion Jacques Villeneuve, Alex Wurz and Olivier Panis.

The big story this year is that Audi’s V10 turbo diesel powered R10 TDI entered the race not as the favorites to win, but as underdogs. Peugeot returned to LeMans in 2007 with its 908 HDi LMP1 contender, also running on diesel and came in second. This year they threw down the gauntlet with Peugeot taking all top three spots in qualifying, outpacing the Audis by two to three seconds. The fastest R10 driven by McNish took fourth.

From the start on June 14 at 3pm, the Peugeots took the lead in dry conditions and it more or less stayed that way throughout the night with Audi #2 (McNish, Capello and Kristensen) harrying lead Peugeot #7 (Gene, Minassian, Villeneuve) but not able to get by.

However luck was with the Audi team when it began to rain at four in the morning. Better speed in adverse conditions, fuel economy (Audi #2 pitted four times less than the closest Peugeot) and a strong drive by Kristensen put him in first place with the Peugeots barely a lap down, a gap which would remain almost constant to the end.

The wet conditions came and went all the way to the chequered flag. Amazingly, just two hours before the end, Kristensen suffered a nail-biting collision with another car but came out unscathed and brought the R10 home to victory. It was Audi’s ninth victory at LeMans, third in a row with a diesel car and Kristensen’s personal record-setting eight victory.

LMP2 was locked out by the Porsche RS Spyder cars, with the top spot taken by Van Meirsteijn team’s #34 with Jos Verstappen at the wheel.
GT1 saw a fierce, close fight between Aston Martin Racing’s DBR9 #009 and Corvette Racing’s C6.R which saw the British marque take victory and the Corvettes less than two laps down.

In the GT2 class privateer team Risi Competizione’s Ferrari F430 GT with ex-Ferrari pilot Mika Salo at the helm won the day after the normally dominant Porsche GT3 RSRs fell by the wayside.