Speed:Sport:Life

As I sit here at home typing this while trying to recover from massive sleep deprivation, I’m still in disbelief that just four days ago I was standing less than five feet from the legendary Mulsanne straight.  I’m still in disbelief that a hybrid race car not only ran at the 24 Hours of Le Mans, but also won the race.  Most of all, I’m still in disbelief that I attended the 80th running of the 24 Hours of Le Mans. No more “Maybe next year.”

By now you probably already know the results of the 2012 24 Hours of Le Mans and you may have even kept up with our live news stream here at S:S:L.  Rather than rewriting the news that you already know,  I present to you the 80th running of the world’s greatest racing event as seen through my eyes and my camera.  These photos were taken at various points during the week; some are from qualifying sessions, some from the pre-race pageantry, and others from the race itself.  I hope that you enjoy these photos as much as I enjoyed producing them, and I hope that every one of you gets to experience the amazement and wonder of the 24 Hours of Le Mans in person as I just did.  Cheers.

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We will be doing real-time flag to flag coverage of the 24 Hours of Le Mans on Twitter @SpeedSportLife , or you can follow along here with our Cover It Live widget.  Don’t forget to download the 2012 Le Mans Spotters Guide from SimRaceway.com.

In our opinion the best place to listen to the broadcast of the race is RadioLemans which offers a live stream worldwide, flag to flag. These guys are the best motorsport commentators out there and do an incredible job covering the race year after year.  Live timing of the race can be found on the Lemans.org website at http://live.lemans-tv.com/en/.

For those of you who are in the U.S., the race will be aired on SPEED.  While SPEED is doing flag to flag coverage, they will be alternating between a live TV broadcast and streaming video on their website for the hours they go off-air on TV.  Their schedule is as follows:

STREAMING FEEDS: 

 SPEED 

Drive will also be doing a live stream on their YouTube channel at http://www.youtube.com/drive

Audi.TV

FIA/WEC Official Channel

TELEVISION: SPEED: Saturday 8:30am EDT

We like to be social and interactive during the race so please drop us a line in the comments or via twitter.   Let us know who you are cheering for and feel free to make jokes at our expense while watching.

The grid is set for the 80th running of the 24 Hours of Le Mans and Audi is once again on pole position with their R18 e-tron quattro.  Audi claimed spots 1-2-4-6 with Lotterer leading the way with a lap time of 3:23.787 in the #1 R18 e-tron quattro which is nearly two seconds faster than last year’s pole time set by Benoît Tréluyer in an R18 TDI.  This marks the first time a hybrid car has been on pole at Le Mans.

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We’re just getting started with events here at 2012 24 Hours of Le Mans, but wanted to get some photos up for you to enjoy until the track action starts tomorrow.  Enjoy!

[View with PicLens]

[View with PicLens]

More than 23,000 spectators showed up at the 80th 24 Hours of Le Mans Test Day to watch 61 cars make their first laps around Circuit de la Sarthe.  Audi proved to be the quickest with their two R18 e-tron Quattro hybrids, with the #3 Audi R18 Ultra taking the third fastest spot overall.

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The Automobile Club de l’Ouest (ACO) and the Fédération Internationale de l’Automobile (FIA) have announced the hybrid braking zones for the upcoming 2012 24 Hours of Le Mans, held at the Circuit de la Sarthe on June 16-17.   These specifically created ERS zones will allow the Audi R18 e-tron Quattro and Toyota TS030 Hybrid LMP1 prototypes to recover lost energy under braking.

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