Press Release N° 10
19.00 to 20.00

The Johansson team still not spared
Saturday, June 16th, 2001
As per the qualifying sessions, the Audis n°1, n°2 and n°3 are still in the lead, while the rain is still acting as a killjoy and continues to interfere, notably with respect to electronics.

Johansson's R8 n°4, rather badly treated since the start, with notably a complete change of the front end, of the flat floor and of the suspensions pursuant to a spin, has again given signs of weaknesses by stopping on the Hunaudières straight.
The Swedish pilot that finally managed to get going again after several minutes of uncertainty has slowly returned to the pits. Just as Patrick Lemarié had just started driving, it was signalled that he had also stopped.
The rain that is still falling on the track has again constrained the management of the race to use the pace cars. The deplorable climatical conditions have, it seems, caused trouble to the electronics. The electric gearbox, which has caused problems on both the Panoz cars, has caused the team to have both "batmobiles" regain the pits.
In the Dome team, water is also causing trouble since Casper Elgaard, who was in the top 10, has stopped on the Hunaudières straight. The Danish finally restarted the car in an attempt to regain the pits. There again, an electronic problem could be at source.
Cadillac, which had not experienced any real trouble since the start of the race, has just had a first serious problem when Massimiliano Angelelli lost his front right wheel when entering the pits. The seriously damaged discs at the rear forced the team to change all of the rear end.
The excellent behaviour of the team Roc Auto's Reynard Lehmann n° 38 should be noted as it is in provisional lead of the LMP 675 class. The car of Jean-Denis Deletraz, Pascal Fabre and Jordi Gene are very regular since the start of the race and seem very reliable. The MG n°33, which is immobilised at the pits, suffers from exhaust problems.
After the black serial that has impacted the Vipers and the Saleens, the n°64 and n°63 Corvettes are leading the way.
Finally in the GT class, the Seikel Motorsport's team n°83 Porsche is in the lead in front of the Freisinger's team n°77 and of the Luc Alphand Adventure's team n°74.