www.Thepitwall.com

I'll write up a full race report later... and have hundreds of photos to sort though, and publish.

Not only that, we will be writing reports on some of the key teams, and stories that unravelled during the weekend.

For now, a shower, some proper food and a good night's sleep are what I need - extreme tiredness makes it hard to even write this!



In quick summary some facts:

Top 10:

1: Manthey Racing Porsche 911 GT3 RSR (Class SP7) 155 laps, average speed 163.330km/h. Fastest lap: 8:36.768
2: Abt Sportsline Audi R8 LMS (Class SP9-GT3), 154 laps, average speed 162.634km/h. Fastest lap: 8:42.163
3: Manthey Racing Porsche 911 GT3 Cup S (Class SP9-GT3, 152 laps, average speed 159.789km/h. Fastest lap: 8:38.772
4: Alzen Automotive Porsche 997 GT3 Cup S (Class SP9-GT3), 150 laps, average speed 158.378km/h. Fastest lap: 8:56.207
5: Phoenix Racing Audi R8 LMS (Class SP9-GT3), 149 laps, average speed 157.354km/h. Fastest lap: 8:40.717
6: Sabine Schmitz Porsche 997 RSR (Class SP7), 149 laps, average speed 157.073km/h. Fastest lap: 8:56.602
7: Manthey Racing Porsche 911 GT3 Cup S (Class SP9-GT3), 149 laps, average speed 157.015km/h. Fastest lap: 9:02.196
8: Mulhner Motorsport Porsche 997 GT3 Cup S (Class SP9-GT3), 148 laps, average speed 155.995km/h. Fastest lap: 8:48.416
9: VIP Petfoods Aus Porsche 997 RSR (Class SP7), 146 laps, average speed 153.912km/h. Fastest lap: 8:59.351
10: Rudi Adams BMW Z4-MCoupe (Class SP6), 145 laps, average speed 152.831km/h. Fastest lap: 9:03.662


As you can see 6 of the top 10 cars are in the SP9-GT3 class. This level of dominance was predicted due to the recent regulation changes forcing air restrictors (thus lower power) on SP7 class cars, like the RSRs.

It was a tight battle, and I think Manthey's undoubted reliability, combined with the excellence of their drivers were key to their sucess, as taking into account fuel consumption, and thus pit stops, it is not clear if they would have made it with raw pace alone.

Whilst Audi will be disappointed not to have won, having led for a good part of the race, it was still a hugely impressive 24hr debut for the R8, and I'm sure they'll be back next year to try and prize the coveted trophy from Olaf Manthey's hands!