2009 N24 Australian update - hour 15
May 24th, 2009 Posted in 24 hour race, Australia
N24 is now well over half complete and, sadly, some of the Australian teams have retired or are struggling due to misfortune.
According to Radio Le Mans the #44 Mal Rose Racing Holden Commodore has suffered clutch problems and is out of the race. Car #10, the “crowd favourite” M3 with Australian Rodney Forbes in the team, crashed out after hitting an oil spill.
Special mention must go to the #48 Brunswick Automotive BMW 130i which is doing a sterling job despite its placing. Three of the four drivers and three pit crew have been struck down with food poisoning. Ric Shaw has missed two driving stints as he is too ill to race. So for the team to have completed 72 laps and to be still out there circulating is a great effort. Best of luck to those guys for the rest of the race. [Thanks to Jon Roberts for the info, as posted in the hour 10 update.]
That leaves the good news, which is headlined by the VIP Petfoods Porsche RSR currently circulating in 11th outright. The Osborne Motorsports Toyota Corolla is running 3rd in class and 86th outright. Recent contact with Stu revealed the team is in good spirits and the car is running strong.
There has been change at the head of the field, too, with the #99 Audi R8 LMS heading the pack for a bit over an hour. The #1 Manthey Porsche is running in second. Although, all this could be thrown into confusion due to an odd timing issue caused by the #1 car being given a 3 minute penalty due to speeding through a caution area. However, the Manthey team are disputing this. I could have this a bit wrong, so will endeavour to find out the full story.
Below is the full list of Aussies, sourced from the Results Database on the official website.
11th overall – 14:37:37.383 elapsed time – 89 laps – 6 behind leader
#29 – VIP Petfoods – Porsche 997 RSR – Class SP 7
Tony Quinn (AUS), Klark Quinn (AUS), Craig Baird (NZ), Grant Denyer (AUS)
65th overall – 14:38:46.503 elapsed time – 77 laps – 18 behind leader
#48 – BMW E46 M3 – Class SP 6
Guy Povey (GB), Graham Coomes (GB), Denis Cribbin (AUS), Alan Shepherd (AUS)
66th overall – 14:39:02.183 elapsed time – 77 laps – 18 behind leader
#136 – VW Golf V TDI – Class D1 T
Eberhard Rattunde (D), Maurice O’Reilly (NZ), Wayne Moore (NZ), Heinrich Immig (D)
69th overall – 14:37:21.684 elapsed time – 76 laps – 19 behind leader
#170 – BMW E46 M3 – Class V5
Richard Gartner (AUS), Ray Stubber (AUS), Paul Stubber (AUS)
86th overall – 14:27:42.875 elapsed time – 73 laps – 22 behind leader
#13 – Osborne Motorsports – Toyota Corolla – Class SP 3
Colin Osborne (AUS), Stu Jones (AUS)
92nd overall – 14:41:08.633 elapsed time – 72 laps – 23 behind leader
#48 – Brunswick Automotive – BMW 130i – Class SP 5
Ric Shaw (AUS), Steve Borness (AUS), Anthony Robson (AUS), Robert Rubis (AUS)
59th overall – 12:44:52.748 elapsed time – 77 laps – retired (accident)
#10 – MSC Adenau – BMW E46 M3 GTS – Class SP 7
Rodney Forbes (AUS), Jörg Viebahn (D), Marko Hartung (D), Duncan Huisman (NED)
122nd overall – 11:19:29.318 elapsed time – 62 laps – retired (clutch)
#44 – Mal Rose Racing – Holden Commodore – Class SP 8
Mal Rose (AUS), Peter Leemhuis (AUS), Tony Alford (AUS)
10 Responses to “2009 N24 Australian update - hour 15”
By Terence on May 24, 2009
Thanks for the update. From a viewing angle this is a fantastic event. Time best sounding car is the nz audi rs4. There are a lot of hung over germans here this morning
By Alastair on May 24, 2009
Hey Liam,
They just answered your question on Radio Le Mans mate, I was lucky enough for them to answer a question about the VIP pet food guys last night as well. I’ve got the ADAC stream out putting to my 60 inch plasma and the Radio Le Mans feed on the 7.1 system in all channel stereo, almost as good as being there
Cheers Alastair
By Liam on May 24, 2009
Thanks Al. I’m listening now, but have no idea how close to live broadcast I am as the feed keeps dropping in and out for me. I haven’t heard the question, but hopefully I will catch up to it.
By Liam on May 24, 2009
Bad news for the Osborne Motorsports team. I just received a TXT from Stu Jones saying the car is in the pits (hour 17) getting a gearbox replaced. They’ll be back out as soon as they can.
By TommyB on May 24, 2009
thanks liam. all great at mini aunited. the movie is about to start.
By Jon Roberts on May 24, 2009
Well with 6 hr and 15 min to go Ric has been able to pull it together and get back in the car, the car is being held together as best they can following some issues, but the hope is that it will hang together for the remainder of the race, at this point I would look for Ric to be back in a Mazda next year, rumor has it it will be something a bit different, more as it takes shape Cheers Jon
By Liam on May 24, 2009
Thanks Jon. The guys are doing a great job I reckon!
By Liam on May 24, 2009
Problems for the #29 VIP Petfoods car that has been in the pits 3 times from its last 4 laps. The good news is the guys have not lost a place and are still running in 11th. Fingers crossed the car can stay on track now and maintain its pace.
By Jon Roberts on May 24, 2009
Ric has just had to pit due to broken seat mount, the guys have done what they can but it is going to slow him down considerably, bring back the mazda!