Diesel Peugeot and Audi fought over the 2007 24 Hours of Le Mans

The 2007 24 Hours of Le Mans put a new diesel Peugeot 908 against the diesel Audi R10 TDI, and Audi once again won overall. The race also gave Aston Martin its first GT1 win over Corvette since the British marque returned to Le Mans in 2005, while Porsche beat Ferrari in GT2. The 75th running attracted 250,952 spectators.

What had changed at the Circuit de la Sarthe?

The circuit had been upgraded before the 2007 race. Reshaping Tertre Rouge into one long curve trimmed the lap by 21 metres, to 13.629 km. Behind the pit lane, nine new garages replaced four temporary ones, and the public roads from Indianapolis to the Porsche Curves were resurfaced.

The new garages allowed the ACO to raise the entry from 50 to 55 cars. The paddock was reorganised too, with a wider choice of shops for spectators, landscaping work and the Audi Tower monument.

Run-off areas at the Dunlop, Tertre Rouge, Indianapolis and Ford chicanes were partly asphalted. Cars that left the line could then slow on tarmac rather than bringing gravel back onto the circuit.

The Peugeot 908 HDi FAP met the Audi R10 TDI in the first head-to-head diesel contest at Le Mans.

What rule changes came with the 2007 race?

The ACO announced new rules in October 2006 for the Le Mans-based series, and they applied to all four classes. Diesel LMP1 cars lost fuel capacity, falling from 90 litres to 81 litres, while petrol cars kept their 90-litre tanks.

LMP2, GT1 and GT2 cars had air restrictors five per cent smaller than in 2006. GT1 and GT2 cars could run ethanol or other alternative fuels if the ACO approved them, and every entry had to use Shell fuel.

Cockpit temperatures were capped at 32 C in cars with air conditioning and at 10 C above ambient in cars without it. The ACO would monitor the temperature and stop any car that exceeded the limit.

Noise was limited to 113 dB measured 15 metres from the track edge. Newer LMP900 and LMP675 prototypes were allowed to enter, while older examples were not.

The start was moved an hour earlier, to 3:00 pm local time, to give French voters more time before the 17 June legislative election.

How were the entries decided?

The ACO had 76 race applications before the 24 January deadline, and it invited 55 teams across LMP1, LMP2, LMGT1 and LMGT2. Automatic places went to 2006 class winners, to winners of the Petit Le Mans, the Le Mans Series and the American Le Mans Series, and under an agreement between the ACO president Claude Plassart and the Stephane Ratel Organisation to the top FIA GT finishers.

Pre-selected entries were restricted to two cars per team, and a team could not change its vehicles from one year to the next. Teams could switch category only if the make stayed the same and the ACO gave permission.

On 19 January 2007, 24 of the 28 invited teams accepted their automatic places. Penske Racing refused both invitations, Ray Mallock Ltd. dropped its second entry for lack of funding, and Vitaphone rejected its place since its Maserati MC12 failed to meet the GT1 rules.

How did the reserves move up the list?

The official entry list, published on 27 February 2007, carried 55 entries and eight reserves. It was the largest field since the 1989 edition, but the list was not final for long.

Rollcentre Racing's LMP2 Radical-Judd was withdrawn after its sale to Embassy Racing on 3 April, which promoted the PSI Experience Chevrolet Corvette C6.R. Eight days on, the Petersen/White Lightning team pulled its GT2 Ferrari out for money reasons, and GPC Sport stepped in with a Ferrari F430 GT2.

Tom Kristensen's participation was in doubt after an injury in the opening round of the DTM season, and Mattias Ekstrom was nominated as a possible replacement. Doctors cleared Kristensen to race on 11 June, which made Ekstrom's services unnecessary.

What did the official test day show?

The official test on 3 June gave teams eight hours of track time. Sebastien Bourdais set the pace at 3:26.707 in the Peugeot 908 HDi FAP wearing No. 8, and Frank Biela was second in the No. 1 Audi R10 TDI.

Allan McNish was third in the sister No. 2 Audi, while Jean-Christophe Boullion's No. 16 Pescarolo was fourth. Jacques Villeneuve put the No. 7 Peugeot fifth, the fastest rookie over the two sessions.

In LMP2 Michael Vergers' Barazi-Epsilon and Adrian Fernandez's sister car set identical times of 3:39.016. In GT1 Jan Magnussen's Corvette was fastest at 3:49.207, and Porsche's new 997s took the first three GT2 places.

Three accidents brought red flags. Guillaume Moreau's Courage bent its chassis at the Porsche Curves, Vitaly Petrov's entry went off the ground after touching the concrete barrier there, and an Arena Zytek caught fire. The Arena entry was pulled during scrutineering, around a week and a half on, shortly before the race.

How did qualifying unfold?

Qualifying took place on 13 and 14 June. Each night held two two-hour sessions, one at dusk and one in darkness. The first session on Wednesday ended with the No. 1 Audi fastest overall at 3.28.301, and the Barazi-Epsilon Zytek of No. 33 was in front in LMP2 once a misfire had been fixed.

The pole position changed hands several times between the Audis and the Peugeots. A red flag followed when Marco Apicella's JLOC Lamborghini smashed into the barrier at the first Mulsanne chicane. Apicella was not allowed to race because of his head injuries, and JLOC was allowed to use a Lamborghini borrowed from the DAMS team.

The No. 8 Peugeot claimed the top spot on the final lap of the second session at 3:26.344. In GT1 the Larbre Aston Martin took the class lead at 3:50.761, and the Oreca Saleens were the fastest GT1 cars.

Thursday began with heavy rain, and the teams spent most of the first session in their garages. No one could improve on the previous day's times. Marc Gene's No. 7 Peugeot hit a tyre barrier at Arnage, and Luc Alphand's Corvette missed the same turn. Audi led the wet sessions with 4:01.257 in the No. 1 car, and the Autorlando Porsche was the fastest GT2 car in the rain.

How did the warm-up and the start look?

The 45-minute warm-up began at 09:00 Central European Summer Time on a circuit dampened by overnight rain. Bourdais was fastest in the No. 8 Peugeot at 4:00.830, with McNish second in the No. 2 Audi and Marco Werner third.

Collard was fourth in the highest-placed Pescarolo. Vergers led LMP2 at 4:17.127, four seconds quicker than Erdos in the RML Lola, while Gavin topped GT1 in the Corvette and Long was fastest in GT2 in the No. 76 Porsche.

The start was at 3:00 pm local time with the track still damp, and 250,952 people watched. Bourdais led into the Dunlop Chicane but overshot it, which handed the lead to the No. 2 Audi.

Audi's trio then led the race through the first hour, until the first pit stops came around. The JLOC Lamborghini's gearbox failed on the Mulsanne during the second lap, and that was the first retirement of the race.

A little after the one-hour mark, heavy rain returned the safety car to the track.

What were the race results at a glance?