Le Mans 2008 Blog
A Fantastic Le Mans - thank you for joining me here at Baekdal.com
This year's Le Mans has been absolutely spectacular, with drama to the very end. And, it was the biggest "coverage" I have ever done. With 20+ articles, 3 Live trackers, 31,487 visitors (absolutely unique), and more than 110,000 page views in just 24 hours. This was a truly magnificent experience, which are all thanks to you who visited this site. So a BIG thanks here from Baekdal.com. »
Audi and Tom Kristensen wins the 2008 Le Mans
The #2 Audi wins the "24 Heures du Mans 2008", and Tom Kristensen has now won 8 times, which is a new record. The Peugeots did a really good job this year, but it wasn't enough. The Audis are simple spectacular driving machines. They are extremely reliable and very fast in the wet. »
One hour to go - and boy this is exciting!
There is now only one hour to the end Le Mans 2008, and what and exciting finish. The #2 Audi with Tom Kristensen is still in the lead, even after his brush with the #32 Zytek. Nicolas Minassian in the #7 Peugeot (in second place) spun his car, which shows just how tricky it is out there. »
22 hours into the race - Two more hours to
This year's Le Mans is turning out to be absolutely exciting. It is rare to have a race that is this close throughout the entire 24 hours. The Audi is in the front, going strong with Tom Kristensen, but Peugeot is not giving up yet. The #7 Peugeot is only 1 lap behind.»
Early Morning of Le Mans
It is the morning of the 2008 Le Mans, and Audi is leading the race. Tom Kristensen mixed with a bit of rain seemed to be a good recipe for Audi, because they quickly managed to turn a second place into first. »
It's raining!
The weather gods did promise rain or at least few drops every now and then. And its here! This is great news for Le Mans fans; because now we are go to see some real strategy. They need to change to the right tires at the right time - and the Audis and the Peugeots have already, or are in the process of changing theirs. »
It's 04:10 AM and Peugeot is having problems again
The race continues to be exciting. The otherwise very fast Peugeots seems to have some kind of problem with the cooling system. Both the #7 and #8 Peugeots came into the pit with smoke coming from the back. They quickly fixed it by pumping dry ice through the system, but it did mean that the #2 Audi took the lead (at least for a short while).»
Getting sleepy...
We now reach the point in time where it is very late at night, nothing much is really happening. And everybody is getting a bit sleepy - including me. There was a time when I was younger where I could stay up for 24 hours, but I fear that I have to lie down for just a couple of hours of so.»
12 hours into the race… 12 more to go
We are now half way through the race and it couldn't be more exciting. The Audis and the Peugeots are still battling for the lead (with only a lap between them), so is the Aston Martins and the Corvettes.»
Where are the Le Mans Girls?
I was asked "where are the girls" at Le Mans 2008? Well, they are hiding in the pits. With the drivers, the team leaders and the other racing celebrities. »
00:10 AM - Safety Car is out
The #6 Team Oreca Matmut has crashed. Officials and medics are on scene. It seems that he hit the barrier hard. The back end of the car is pretty damaged. Marcel Fassler is probably not hurt too badly, as he was seen walking into the nearby ambulance.»
The Crashes of Le Mans 2008 - part 1
The first part of Le Mans 2008 has been full of events, including a number of crashes. YouTube broadcaster MotorSportsZone has posted the videos.»
Nightfall at Le Mans - #9 Peugeot off the track
It is slowly getting darker every minute now, and a time where some drivers start to make mistakes. The tracks changes, the surface changes, the humidity in the air changes, and the glare from the other cars headlines are much stronger. »
4 hours into the race…
We are now 4 hours into the race, and things have pretty much settle down. The drivers have got into a good rhythm, and we are seeing far fewer accidents and events. »
Tons of problems with the Club 24 web cams
If you are a Club 24 member, you might have noticed that the official web cams are not really working very well. The main web cam has been offline since 17:51 (40 minutes), and the other cams are equally bad. Often displaying static TV "snow", or simply not working at all. »
Audi in the Lead
Before the race Tom Kristensen said the strength of Audi was that Peugeot never race at Le Mans without running into problems with their cars, and the Audi's are more reliable. And this seems already to be case. »
2 hours into the race...
We are now two hours into the race - and only 22 more to go. So far Peugeot is going pretty strong, but I absolutely loved it when Allan McNish, in the Audi, overtook the Peugeot's on the first lap. A nice way of saying "don't get too comfortable, we will be right behind you... "»
A lot of problems with Lemans.org
Last year, I was pretty annoyed by the Le Mans web team. All they have to do is to update their site throughout the race. It is of course a lot of data, which you need to automate to do well. And you got a lot of visitors, so you need a pretty good server. But the Le Mans web team seems not to care about the quality of their website. »
Updating the Live Tracker for Le Mans 2008 (troubleshooting tips)
Le Mans 2008 is starting in an hour and I have received a number of email concerning "race events", updating in general and how to get the tracker to work. Here is how...»
Are the speeds too high at Le Mans?
There have already been a number of spectacular crashes before the race have even started. First was the Peugeot which we saw flying off the track, and this evening the Lola Mazda disintegrated itself when it became airborne (see video). »
Introducing: Le Mans 2008 Web Cam Tracker
You can now download the live web cam tracker as well as the live "score" trackers. This Web cam tracker allows you to watch the four official web cams from Le Mans 2008, and they are updated every 5 seconds. You can see the TV feed, 2 other cameras at fixed position on the track and a 4th that usually displays other relevant images (sometimes a map, sometimes the score etc.)»
Qualifying is on - tracker updated
The qualifying is on and I have updated the tracker with the latest links. But, not everything works. The Le Mans web team is notorious for having rather strange system - and so the French version is fully updated, where the English version is not. I can only hope that they "get their act together" soon. »
While we wait… Steve McQeen's Le Mans Movie
There are a number of movies around that features Le Mans, but the only real one is Steve McQeen's "Le Mans" from 1971. It is absolutely brilliant, although you do have to like Le Mans to really understand it. »
Live Tracker Preview
I have updated the tracker to support Le Mans 2008. You can download the preview in the right column. This is not the final Le Mans tracker, as some of the data is not yet available from Lemans.org.» »
Setting up Le Mans 2008
Le Mans is now only a week away, and I am hard at work preparing for the event. Much needs to be done. The official "Baekdal.com Le Mans mini site" (where you are now) has to go live (this weekend), I have to create the 3 tracking applications. And, apart from a number of technical issues - everything is working fine. Stay tuned...»
Le Mans 2008 on Baekdal.com
The 2008 Le Mans is only a month away and people have already asked me if Baekdal.com is going to create a live tracker - like I did last year. The answer is: yes, of course!»
"24 Heures du Mans 2007" Web Application
I am not that particular interested in sport. I mean, I like sailing and skiing which I do when I got time for it. But there is one thing that has always intrigued me - the 24 hour endurance race "Le Mans".»
