Press Release N° 11
20.00 to 21.00

Audi Still Ahead, and a Bentley Out
Saturday, June 16th, 2001
Rain continues to disrupt the race. Practically all the leading teams are experiencing problems with one of their cars. Only the official Audis seem unworried.

At the top of the bill since the start of this Le Mans 24 Hours: the rain. It's been causing many problems for the drivers during this 5th hour of the race. In fact, only the official Audis are breezing through this difficult time without a worry.
The n°15 Chrysler, which was running a cautious but effective race, had just taken the 4th place from the n°7 Bentley, when Franck Montagny went off into a spin, thus losing two places. Stéphane Sarrazin took over from him at the wheel, but he soon sustained a slow puncture at the front left. A further visit to the pits pushed them back to 7th place.
The n°4 Audi from team Johansson dropped out. Patrick Lemarié only drove a few kilometres before being forced to abandon the race, due to major problems experienced over several laps.
In the team Pescarolo, the results are mixed. Thanks to an excellent stint by Jean­Christophe Boullion, the Courage Peugeot was in 4th position. On the other hand, the n°18 was right in the back of the pack, mostly because of an accident, which damaged the whole rear of the car.
In the Cadillac camp, the n°5, which was the best positioned of their cars, skidded off the track in the Dunlop bend. Marc Goosens could start again, but he went straight in the Arnage turn. The suspension triangle perforated the body structure. Withdrawal inevitably followed.
At Bentley's, Guy Smith lost a lot of time at the wheel of n°7. And although the telemetry gave no signal, the car caught fire. The driver was safe, but the English team was very disappointed... The n°8 Bentley is in 5th position.
In the MG camp, n°33 was in 8th position, but n°34 was stopped, 35 laps behind the leading car. After the Dome n°9, it was n°10's turn to have serious problems with its petrol pump.
As for the line-up after 5 hours, the n°1 Audi was leading, with a lap between the n°2, which was itself a lap ahead of the n°3. It's far closer however between the n°17 Courage, the n°8 Bentley and the n°15 and n°16 Chryslers.
In the LMP675 category, the MG n°33 is a lap ahead of the n°38 Reynard. In GTS, the Corvettes are monopolising the race, with the n°64 ahead of the n°63. Also in this category, note the withdrawal of the n°61 Saleen. In the GT class, the n°83 Porsche is in the lead.