Press Release N° 20
10H00 to 11H00

Audi n°1 crosses the 3000 km mark
Sunday, June 17th, 2001
The n°1 Audi is still dominating this 69th edition of the Le Mans 24 Hour Race. Two laps up on the second official Audi, the current holder of the title looks set to win it for a second time. The car has already passed the 3000 km mark.

The n°1 Audi is still in the lead of this 2001 edition of the Le Mans 24 Hours. Tom Kristensen took the wheel of the leading car. The n°2 Audi driven by Christian Pescatori follows just 2 laps behind, and the rain seems to be lightening off. Still in 3rd place behind the two Ingolstadt cars, the n°8 Bentley driven by Andy Wallace has fallen 13 laps behind.
4th place is more uncertain. The n°16 Chrysler is only one lap ahead of the n°17 Courage in which Sébastien Bourdais briskly takes the wheel again. The local boy is lapping equivalent times to those of the three lead times.
Comfortably settled in 6th place, Racing Gary Pratt's N°63 Corvette driven by Ron Fellows is still monopolising the GTS category. The n°60 Saleen is still 2nd in the GTS class, with a good 10th overall position.
The n°6 Cadillac, the last in the race, is apparently undergoing recurring starter problems. Every time it stops at the pits, it loses precious minutes putting it in 9th position at 11H00.
Masahiko Kondo took advantage of the Cadillac's problems to take 7th position, but the Japanese singer/driver gave himself a fright, by twice hitting the guard rail in the Playstation chicane. With a slightly blocked accelerator, but no other important damage, the Chrysler was temporarily robbed of its 7th position first by the Cadillac, and then by the n°38 Reynard-Roc Auto.
Kondo put his foot down to come back on the two cars, and he took advantage of a new pit stop by the Cadillac to take the 8th position.
The n°38 Reynard-Roc Auto is still giving a fine performance, and is still leading in the LMP675 category. The n°38 had to make frequent stops at the pits for water­refuelling, as it is suffering from problems with the engine cooling system. However, the brand with the fox still occupies the 7th position. The n°30 WR is the only other LMP675 left, and is in 20th position.
In the fight for the leadership in the GT category, the n°77 Porsche Freisinger Motorsport driven by Philippe Haezebrouck, overtook the n°83 Porsche driven by Luca Drudi.