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Audi 1-2-3 lead at Le Mans
Audi has dominated the early stages of the 2002 Le Mans 24 Hour race. After four hours in warm and humid summer weather, the three Infineon Audi R8 sportscars hold the first three positions. Customer team Audi Sport Japan Team Goh improved from their 15th position on the grid up to 3rd spot and were placed 5th at 20:00 hrs local time.

In front of an impressive crowd, Johnny Herbert (Infineon Audi R8 #2) and Frank Biela (#1) took the lead from the start of the race swapping the lead various times amongst themselves in the opening four hours. A stop-and-go-penalty against Tom Kristensen due to overtaking under yellow flags opened the gap between the two leading Audis to about 30 seconds. “Of course I accept the stop-and-go-penalty, despite not seeing any yellow flags on the track,” explained the Dane.

Johnny Herbert proved that the Infineon Audi R8 is not only fast but also comfortable to drive: The former British Formula One driver completed four stints in a row before handing over the leading R8 after three hours to his team-mate Christian Pescatori. “I feel well, the R8 is such an easy car to drive - that is what you want in such a race like Le Mans,” Herbert explained after his marathon drive.

The number 3 Infineon Audi R8 made an unscheduled start: Michael Krumm collected a slow puncture on the formation lap. The subsequent tyre change dropped the Audi to the 50th and last position at the end of the opening lap. Within two hours, however, Michael Krumm and Philipp Peter had moved up to third position.

Shortly before the end of the fourth hour, race leader Christian Pescatori also suffered a puncture which cost the number 2 Infineon Audi R8 a lap and dropped him to third position. “There is a lot of debris on the track which cause the punctures. At the moment, we have to change the tyres more frequently than planned,” explained Dr Wolfgang Ullrich, Head of Audi Sport.

20:56

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23:31

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00:37

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08:49

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Audi extends lead at Le Mans
Audi continued to demonstrate „Vorsprung durch Technik“ throughout the night in the 2002 Le Mans 24 Hour race: The three Infineon Audi R8 sportscars were not only the fastest cars in the field, but also the most reliable ones. Despite two punctures on each car, the three “works” Audi extended their lead over the rest of the field with consistent lap-times. After two-thirds of the race distance, the Bentley in 4th place was eight laps behind the leading R8 of Frank Biela, Tom Kristensen and Emanuele Pirro.

The winning trio of the past two years took the lead on Saturday evening shortly before 8 p.m. and have extended their lead over the other two Infineon Audi R8 sportscars to two laps. “We lost a lot of time with two punctures”, explained Johnny Herbert, who – just like Christian Pescatori – was driving for almost four hours non-stop at the steering wheel of the number 2 Infineon Audi R8. “I simply feel comfortable in this car.”

„The R8 is so good that you can drive it even with one hand,“ added Marco Werner. “During a stint in the night I had to hold my head with a hand in the fast sections because the small windscreen was missing in the cockpit. It is astonishing what a big aerodynamic effect such a little screen has.”

Newcomers Michael Krumm, Philipp Peter and Marco Werner have so far driven an impressive race with the number 3 Infineon Audi R8. They were up to second position temporarily and on the same lap as the R8 of Rinaldo Capello, Johnny Herbert and Christian Pescatori after two-thirds distance.

Seiji Ara, Yannick Dalmas and Hiroki Katoh have fought back in 2001-spec R8 of the Japanese Audi customer team Goh. The trio lost about half an hour due to a water radiator change, but had already worked their way back into the top-10 on Sunday morning.

Frank Biela, Tom Kristensen and Emanuele Pirro meanwhile have a great chance to achieve a historic hat-trick: Never before in the history of the Le Mans 24 Hour race has the same driver squad won three times in a row.

10:00

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10:55

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11:55

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Le Mans
:: Preview
:: Practice I
:: Practice II
:: Warm-up
:: The Race
Gallery I & II & III

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