CORVETTES LEAD GTS BATTLE;
CADILLACS CONTINUE IN TOP TEN
LE MANS, June 16, 2002 – Just after the halfway mark the Corvette C5-Rs of Ron Fellows/Johnny O'Connell/Oliver Gavin and Andy Pilgrim/Kelly Collins/Franck Fréon took the lead in the GTS class, while drivers and engineers of Team Cadillac were put through a series of character building exercises. The #6 Northstar LMP 02 had clawed all the way up to fourth overall, when a puncture required the rear end of the car to be changed, putting paid to the valiant efforts of Wayne Taylor, Max Angelelli and Christophe Tinseau. Despite the technical hardship both cars remain in the top 10, looking at scoring Cadillac's best ever finish in the world's most grueling endurance race, even though the #7 car needed repairs as a result of yet another puncture.
"We had some structural damage to one of the turbochargers as a result of the last puncture. We elected to do the minor repair to prevent possible major damage later," Cadillac LMP Engine Engineer Ed Keating explained.
Apart from a windscreen change, the Corvettes kept running like clockwork. "Right now at the three-quarter mark we are running one-two in the GTS category," GM Racing Group Manager Joe Negri said. "The Corvette is a very well proven package here and we ran our own race. The Ferrari was very quick and they had us at one point early in the race. If they had stayed in it would have probably been a very fine race at the end."
70th Le Mans 24 Hours – Positions after 18 hours
| 1. |
Biela/Pirro/Kristensen |
Audi R8 |
280 laps |
| 2. |
Capello/Herbert/Pescatori |
Audi R8 |
278 laps |
| 3. |
Krumm/Peter/Werner |
Audi R8 |
276 laps |
| 4. |
Wallace/Leitzinger/Van de Poele |
Bentley EXP Speed 8 |
269 laps |
| 5. |
Sarrazin/Montagny/Minassian |
Dallara-Judd |
267 laps |
| 6. |
Lamy/Beretta/Comas |
Dallara-Judd |
266 laps |
| 7. |
Ara/Dalmas/Katoh |
Audi R8 |
264 laps |
| 8. |
Lammers/Hillebrand/Coronel |
Dome-Judd S101 |
263 laps |
| 9. |
Angelelli/Taylor/Tinseau |
Cadillac Northstar LMP 02 |
260 laps |
| 10. |
Bernard/Collard/Lehto |
Cadillac Northstar LMP 02 |
253 laps |
| 12. |
Fellows/O'Connell/Gavin |
Chevrolet Corvette C5-R (1st GTS) |
249 laps |
| 13. |
Pilgrim/Collins/Fréon |
Chevrolet Corvette C5-R (2nd GTS) |
246 laps |
| 14. |
Belloc/Cochet/Treluyer |
Chrysler Viper GTS-R (3rd GTS) |
245 laps |
| 15. |
Daoudi/De Fournoux/Bouvet |
WR-Peugeot (1st LMP675) |
241 laps |
| 17. |
Buckler/Luhr/Bernhard |
Porsche 911 GT3-RS (1st GT) |
239 laps |
| 18. |
Dumas/Maassen/Bergmeister |
Porsche 911 GT3-RS (2nd GT) |
238 laps |
| 19. |
Iida/Yogo/Nishizawa |
Porsche 911 GT3-RS (3rd GT) |
235 laps |
| 21. |
Deletraz/Lechner/Pillon |
Reynard-VW 2KQ (2nd LMP675) |
230 laps |
|
