Well, another trip around Le Sarthe
has come and gone and although much has changed, much remains the same. Audi remains the force to be reckoned with in sports car racing but many new faces have popped up on the scene and it seems as though the
world of sports cars is on the verge of change. Of all the new faces the one that turned the most heads, well it turned my head, was Bentley. I can only imagine the feeling that British racing
aficionados got as they saw that beautiful British Racing Green GTP car flying around the Lemans circuit and coasting to a 3rd place finish.
I must admit that I was impressed and happy with this strong showing and cant wait for next June to come to see if perhaps Audi will be dethroned.
Although there were new faces this year, there was one red and white face missing, and that face was that of the Oreca Vipers. Sure the Vipers were gone but Oreca was there in force, but their car this year didnt
have a top. Yes Chrysler has moved up to the LMP 900 class and was running in the top 3 for a lot of the race, eventually finishing in 4th.
Another newcomer, and also a British team, was the MG effort. They were pushing for the overall victory
with a P675 car; the first purpose built for the 675 class. As I said before, the Oreca Vipers were absent from the GTS class, so you'd expect the Vettes to have it all their own way. But what became of those
sleek Saleens that weve been hearing so much about. Well the Saleen that was expected to do the best was severely damaged on a lap 3 incident when the skies opened over France, drenching the track in rain. The
rain set the tone for the entire race as it rained for most of the race.
But I digress, back to the situation in the GTS class. The Vettes won pretty much without much trouble. As
for the GT class, the only non-Porsche entry suffered from some mechanical problems and so it was pretty much an all Porsche race in the GT class.
Although Lemans is such a big thing, that is certainly not the only thing going on in the motor sports world today. A story of equal proportions is taking place in the world of Formula 1. Yes as we now come close
to the French Grand Prix, there are many stories on everybodys lips.
These range from the Williams-BMW team making a come back, McLaren slipping, Mika Hakkinens
terrible season, Ralf Schumachers new found speed and big brother, Michael Schumachers dominance this season on his way to perhaps his 4th world championship, just one behind Fangio. But I suppose I should
take it one story at a time. First of all, the Williams team who used to be the dominating force in F1 have had a few slow seasons, but it seems that with their strong BMW engine Williams is on the way back up to
the top. In conjunction with this, Ralf Schumacher has found much new speed and in the past 2 races has been dueling with his brother for the lead. Ralf did win in Canada and may have won in Germany, if it
hadnt been for that outrageous penalty.
Another big story is McLarens lack of speed as of late. Often times the McLaren cars are absent from
even the first 2 rows and sometimes all the way back on the 4th row. Whats worse is Mikas terrible season this year. Mika has found problem after problem at every turn. Robbed from his only chance at a
win thus far by a mechanical failure on the final lap and plagued by poor setups and mechanical failures race after race Mika just cant seem to get it together this season and one can only ask why? Is it just a bad
season, or is something falling apart at McLaren, or perhaps Mika is past his prime, though I hardly think that is the problem. Personally, I think McLaren is on the way down, what with Adrian Neweys debacle
and the series of poor finishes and other problems McLaren could be in for some rough times. One person and team that is not on the way for rough times is Michael Schumacher and Ferrari. Michael has a
substantial lead in the constructors championship and now that he has arguably the best car on the grid, he seems to be unmatchable by his closest competitor, David Coulthard.
So now that we are just past the midway point in the F1 season it seems as though if he continues his pace, Michael Schumacher will be able to go on cruise control to the championship sometime soon. And as for
the world of sports cars I think Audi will cruise to another constructors championship in ALMS, but who will take the drivers title? I have no idea as all the Audi drivers are pretty evenly matched.
Well, another trip around Le Sarthe
has come and gone and although much has changed, much remains the same. Audi remains the force to be reckoned with in sports car racing but many new faces have popped up on the scene and it seems as though the
world of sports cars is on the verge of change.