Press Release N° 16
02.00 to 04.00

Thrills & spills - the race is still as exciting
Sunday, June 17th, 2001
Three other cars have withdrawn, while the leading cars have not been spared by trouble either.

The leading cars had a rough time at mid-race: both the Audi n°2, which was in 2nd position at that time, and the Corvette n° 63, which was leading in the GTS category, went into the gravel within a few seconds of each other. Finally, Christian Pescatori and Ron Fellows were in for a good fright, but they were able to return to the track without further trouble.
The problems that have affected the pack of leaders, began with the withdrawal of Chrysler n°15 due to a piston problem, which led to a loss of power. Four-times winner Yannick Dalmas, who used to be Stéphane Sarrazin's team-mate - test driver for Prost in Formula 1 - will not be on the podium a 5th time. Yet, the prototype prepared by Oreca was in 3rd position at that time.
In the GT category, we also witnessed the withdrawal of the only "non-Porsche" car, the Callaway n°70. The American car, which had achieved the pole position in its category, encountered some difficulties as soon as the race began, when it showed up late on the starting grid. Aspen Knolls n°70 was not luckier during the rest of the race, and the team finally announced their official withdrawal from the 24 Hours.
Meanwhile, Seikel Motorsport n°83 was staying at the same pace, without any trouble.
Next comes the n°20 Ascari, the big surprise of the race with a provisional 5th place. The car was stopped on the circuit with no headlights. A few minutes later,  team Pescarolo Sport's C60 swerved into the Raccordement gravel trap. While Laurent Redon managed to return to the pits without any problem, the Courage was out of action for a good while to remove all the gravel from the car.
The withdrawal of the n°32 Lola Nissan has meant that the last woman left in the race won't be seeing the chequered flag. The LMP 675, which had strayed several times into the gravel traps, was suffering from an overheated engine. This latest withdrawal amongst the "small" prototypes reduced the number of cars still in the race to three. Roc Auto's n°38 Reynard, which has been following a sound strategy since the start, is in 4th place after 12 hours of race. A fine performance by the car entrusted to Deletraz, Fabre and Gene.