Press Release N° 22
Noon to 13.00

The competition is getting tougher
Sunday, June 17th, 2001
The n°1 Audi driven by Emanuele Pirro has had to enter the pits hastily to change its rear axle assembly. This fast repair performed by the Audi mechanics has enabled the n°2 Audi to resume the race only one lap behind.

Suspense definitely still is present three hours from the end of this 69th edition of the 24 Hours. The victory is even more uncertain now that n°1 Audi, driven by Emanuele Pirro, has had to make a pit stop. It didn't, however, seem to be for any particularly alarming reason.
Nevertheless, the pit stop was longer than expected when the mechanics decided to change the rear axle assembly of the leading car. After six minutes in the pits, Emanuele Pirro is only one lap ahead of his fellow pilot, the n°2 Audi of Christian Pescatori. Thereby promising a thrilling finish.
Another smash improvement was that of the n°6 Cadillac driven by Max Angelelli. The Italian driver has twice beaten his best lap and has crawled up to 7th place, thanks to the many incidents that took place on the track.
Indeed, Seiji Ara, in the n°14 Chrysler, was forced to abandon the race after his car caught fire upon exiting the Mulsanne bend. Other confirmed withdrawals came from n°18 Courage and n°21 Ascari.
21 is also the number of cars left in the race. Concerning the n°60 Saleen, while in 10th position, it began to give some worrying signs : blue smoke started to come out from the rear of the car while on the Porsche bend.
As a result from that, in GTS, the n°63 Corvette, driven by Johnny O'Connell, was free to take the lead in its class. Even better, it managed to climb into 6th position.
In LMP 675, the n°38 Reynard Roc Auto refuses to give in and, despite recurrent mechanical trouble, the marque with the fox logo is still within the top ten, in 8th place.
Sébastien Bourdais' n°17 Courage and Jean-Christophe Boullion's n°16 Chrysler make for a nice show as they fight for the 4th position. Bourdais has taken a psychological benefit over his rival by lapping as fast as the two leading Audis. The Pescarolo Sport, with Jean-Christophe Boullion at the wheel, finally succeeded in taking that much coveted 4th position thanks to the pit stops done by his opponents.
In the GT category, it's a tough fight for the first position too. N°77 Porsche Freisinger, which went into a spin, lost its leading position to Porsche Seikel n°83.
The Seikel is currently one lap ahead of its rival, and has entered the top ten, as it is now in 9th position in the overall ranking.