CADILLACS CLAWING BACK TO THE TOP;
CORVETTES COMFORTABLE AT THEIR OWN PACE
LE MANS, June 15, 2002 – Defending Le Mans GTS Champions Corvette Racing and Team Cadillac had mixed fortunes in the first quarter of the 70th Le Mans 24 Hours.
The yellow Corvette C5-Rs ran like clockwork at their pre-set race pace, securing second and their place in the GTS class as night began to fall over the Sarthe region. Next door neighbors Team Cadillac suffered a setback on the #7 Northstar LMP 02 when an electric problem required some time tracing the source of the problem. At that time, starting driver Emmanuel Collard was up to a confident fourth place overall. However, repairs cost some 25 minutes dropping the car back to 42nd overall, leaving co-drivers Eric Bernard and JJ Lehto with a precise idea of what to do for the rest of the race!
"We started off really well and we were very pleased how the #7 car was working through the field," Cadillac LMP Program Manager Doug Duchardt said. "Unfortunately we had an issue with the battery that cost us some time in the pits. Since then the car has been running well and we are climbing back up through the field. The #6 car is running well and very steady laps. Right now we have no concerns so we are hoping to keep on going and make up our lost time."
The sister Northstar LMP 02 of Max Angelelli, Wayne Taylor and Christophe Tinseau, ran a conservative pace without incidents, securing a spot inside the top ten with 18 hours of racing still to be done.
Both Chevrolet Corvette C5-Rs ran a near-faultless race so far, with the Fellows/O'Connell/Gavin car a lap down on the class leaders. "We are happy with the way things are going," said Program Manager Doug Fehan. "We had a little problem in the first hour with the detent spring on the gearbox in the No. 64 car. We stopped in the second hour and got that fixed and there has been no problem since. We are getting excellent fuel mileage and doing a great job in the pits and that will turn out to be a very important aspect of our strategy."
70th Le Mans 24 Hours – Positions after 6 hours
| 1. |
Biela/Pirro/Kristensen |
Audi R8 |
96 laps |
| 2. |
Capello/Herbert/Pescatori |
Audi R8 |
94 laps |
| 3. |
Krumm/Peter/Werner |
Audi R8 |
94 laps |
| 4. |
Reid/Hughes/Kane |
MG Lola EX257 Le Mans (1st LMP675) |
94 laps |
| 5. |
Lammers/Hillebrand/Coronel |
Dome-Judd S101 |
92 laps |
| 6. |
Montagny/Minassian/Sarrazin |
Dallara-Judd |
92 laps |
| 7. |
Wallace/Leitzinger/Van de Poele |
Bentley EXP Speed 8 |
92 laps |
| 8. |
Lamy/Comas/Beretta |
Dallara-Judd |
92 laps |
| 9. |
Angelelli/Taylor/Tinseau |
Cadillac Northstar LMP 02 |
91 laps |
| 10. |
Lagorce/Bouillon/Bourdais |
Courage-Peugeot C60 |
91 laps |
| 15. |
Blundell/Bailey/McGarrity |
MG Lola EX257 Le Mans (2nd LMP675) |
87 laps |
| 16. |
Enge/Menu/Rydell |
Ferrari 550 Maranello (1st GTS) |
86 laps |
| 17. |
Fellows/O'Connell/Gavin |
Chevrolet Corvette C5-R (2nd GTS) |
85 laps |
| 18. |
Bernard/Collard/Lehto |
Cadillac Northstar LMP 02 |
85 laps |
| 19. |
Bouchut/Goueslard/Vosse |
Chrysler Vipet GTS-R (3rd GTS) |
85 laps |
| 20. |
Daoudi/De Fournoux/Bouvet |
WR-Peugeot (3rd LMP 675) |
85 laps |
| 21. |
Pilgrim/Collins/Fréon |
Chevrolet Corvette C5-R (4th GTS) |
84 laps |
| 27. |
Dumas/Maassen/Bergmeister |
Porsche 911 GT3-RS (1st GT) |
81 laps |
| 29. |
Buckler/Luhr/Bernhard |
Porsche 911 GT3-RS (2nd GT) |
81 laps |
| 31. |
Iida/Yogo/Nishizawa |
Porsche 911 GT3-RS (3rd GT) |
79 laps |
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