Post Le Mans - 17/06/2001   Those Audis And Their (Pit) Strategy   One reader asked the question, 'Did the R8s complete 14 or 15 laps per stint?' The official log of the winning car's pit stops tells some of the story. The ever changing conditions meant that the right tyres were always more important than an extra lap or two on a tank of fuel, but if these figures are correct, then at one point the #1 car completed 19 laps on a tank - some of it behind the pace car, of course, the rest on a very wet track in the early evening period of the race. For comparison purposes, the #17 Courage completed 16 laps in the period 18:42 until 20:16. The 110 second stop included changing bodywork. Apart from the six minute stop for a complete rear end change, the typical 50+ second stops suggest that Audi won the race in the pits as much as on the track. 0 Time Stationary Time Leaving Laps Completed Driver Leaving 1 58 secs 16:17.11 4 F Biela 10 55 secs 01:02.46 114 F Biela 11 91 secs 02:06.25 128 T Kristensen 12 55 secs 03:13.55 143 T Kristensen 13 71 secs 04:12.24 157 E Pirro 14 53 secs 05:06.08 170 E Pirro 15 61 secs 05:58.38 183 E Pirro 16 73 secs 06:50.52 196 F Biela 17 56 secs 07:43.01 209 F Biela 18 59 secs 08:19.18 218 F Biela 19 52 secs 09:09.38 231 F Biela 2 57 secs 17:00.38 12 F Biela 20 69 secs 09:40.39 238 T Kristensen 21 53 secs 10:42.31 252 T Kristensen 22 76 secs 11:43.00 266 T Kristensen 23 363 secs (rear end change) 12:36.25 278 E Pirro 24 73 secs 13:11.47 287 E Pirro 25 56 secs 14:43.14 304 E Pirro 26 50 secs 15:23.40 313 E Pirro 27 End of Race 16:08.05 321 E Pirro 3 53 secs 17:25.11 18 F Biela 4 51 secs 18:14.41 31 F Biela 5 70 secs 18:47.27 39 T Kristensen 6 55 secs 20:35.04 58 T Kristensen 7 73 secs 21:38.53 72 E Pirro 8 56 secs 23:03.14 89 E Pirro 9 110 secs 23:45.27 98 F Biela Official website of the Le Mans 24 Hours Copyright ©2000-©2023 TotalMotorSport