Post Le Mans - 17/06/2001   Bentley Pit Stops How Did They Compare With Audi #1?   Looking at the table below of the Bentley #8 pit stops and driver stints and comparing it with the Audi #1 analysis on another page link in this Post Le Mans section, we see that the Bentley stopped 29 times against the Audi's 26, and that the Bentley was stationary in pit-lane for 70 minutes and 58 seconds, against the Audi's astonishing total of 33 minutes exactly. The Audi of course had the rear end change, which conveniently fell more or less at the end of a stint, so 6 minutes and 3 secs were lost there, compared to a standard stop of about 55 seconds. In round figures, had the Audi not stopped for that rear end change, it would have been in the pits for the astonishingly small time period of about 28 minutes. Even 33 minutes must be a record in the modern era, isn't it? (No, as David Legangneux explains. "The record is 31'00" for the Audi #8 last year, which didn't have a gearbox change. Often, the winning car was the one that has spent the least time in the pits, with exception in 1998 & 1997 with the very reliable McLaren F1 GTR (97 type): 2000 Audi #8 31' 00" 1999 BMW #15 33' 04" 1997 McLaren #41 (1st GT1, 2nd OA) 32' 32")" The Bentley pit stops were noticeably slower, plus there were two lengthy delays (9 mins. plus and 15 minutes plus) for attention to the gear change mechanism. In round figures, 71 minutes were lost in the pits, plus 4 minutes for the penalty late in the race, or 75 minutes, which at an average of, say, four minutes or so per lap, means that the Bentley lost approx. 10 laps to the winning car in the pits, and therefore only five laps on the track. Bearing in mind the problems the drivers were having with visibility and the wiper blade, that's no mean achievement. 10 laps lost in the pits though simply emphasises Joest's superiority - but this was Bentley's first year, and also their first race, of course. Well done. Now match Herr Joest next year. 0 Time Stationary Time Leaving Laps Completed Driver Leaving 1 58 secs 16:17.21 4 A Wallace 10 69 secs 00:30.44 101 A Wallace 11 9 min 39 secs 01:14.30 108 A Wallace 12 108 secs 02:15.41 121 E van de Poele 13 69 secs 03:09.32 133 E van de Poele 14 98 secs 03:36.43 139 E van de Poele 15 3 min 45 secs 04:29.57 151 B Leitzinger 16 62 secs 05:20.08 163 B Leitzinger 17 2 min 54 secs 06:10.33 175 A Wallace 18 63 secs 06:59.48 187 A Wallace 19 117 secs 07:48.42 199 E van de Poele 2 112 secs 16:54.44 10 A Wallace 20 70 secs 08:36.16 211 Eric van de Poele 21 106 secs 09:24.35 223 B Leitzinger 22 89 secs 10:07.48 232 B Leitzinger 23 96 secs 11:07.35 245 A Wallace 24 93 secs 12:00.09 257 A Wallace 25 101 secs 12:49.52 269 Eric van de Poele 26 81 secs 13:15.29 275 Eric van de Poele 27 138 secs 14:16.33 285 Eric van de Poele 28 172 secs 15:17.24 298 A Wallace 29 End of Race 16:08.06 306 A Wallace 3 94 secs 17:42.50 22 E van de Poele 4 61 secs 18:29.36 34 E van de Poele 5 78 secs 18:47.28 38 E van de Peole 6 152 secs 19:58.59 49 E van de Poele 7 148 secs 21:03.02 62 B Leitzinger 8 89 secs 22:18.56 77 B Leitzinger 9 15 min 58 secs 23:26.58 88 A Wallace Official website of the Le Mans 24 Hours Copyright ©2000-©2023 TotalMotorSport