Classic, Performance & Retro July 2013 | Page 31

Below: Rebellion Racing’ s beautiful Lola B12 / 60 enters the pit straight. how tough that must have been. However, continue it did, and like it or not, sometimes the show must go on, regardless of how some people feel.
New Era
This year’ s race had been eagerly awaited for some time as it marked the start of a new era of team rivalry. Recent years have seen the allconquering Audi Sport Team Joest go head-to-head with arch rivals Peugeot, with the two works supported teams becoming the Real Madrid and Barcelona of the sports car racing world. The 2011 race saw one of the closest finishes in the race’ s history when the winning Audi finished just 13.8 seconds ahead of the chasing Peugeot car. The final lap that year was also the first full race speed final lap( as opposed to the traditional staged photofinish) since that of the 1969 race, due to the small gap between the two lead cars.
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