The 69th 24-Hour Endurance Race

Bentley, a five-time winner of Le Mans, returned to Sarthe in 2001 for the first time since racing Cricklewood Bentley Speed Sixes to their fourth consecutive win in 1930—a gap of 71 years.

British flags were out in force, as another famous British marque, MG Sport & Racing Ltd, also made its return for the first time in 36 years with the MG-Lola EX257, a car built specifically for MG by Lola for the Le Mans race.

But... is it a Bentley?

In 1998, the Volkswagen AG group went shopping and acquired Bentley, Bugatti, and Lamborghini.

Skoda had been acquired in 1991 and SEAT in 1986.

Audi had been part of Volkswagen since 1964 and was the chosen marque to race successfully at Le Mans.

First Visit, Third Place

• 1999: Audi achieved third place on the podium in their first outing at the Le Mans 24 Hours.
• 2000: Audi claimed all three podium places.
   

Pitching a Bentley with an Audi Engine?

If you think about it, virtually all brands—including Bentley, Rolls-Royce, Bugatti, Jaguar, and Alvis—started out by developing engines built on a rigid chassis. 

Then, coachwork companies would build the body on top of the rolling chassis, which included the chassis, drivetrain (engine, gearbox, differential, axles, wheels), suspension, steering system, and radiator.

It was common practice for a customer to order the rolling chassis from the manufacturer and then go to a coachbuilder of their choice to request an open two-seater, four-seater, saloon, or open-top body to be mounted on the chassis, along with a choice of upholstery, fabrics and styling.

Some car manufacturers had in-house body designs that customers could accept as-is or take to a coachbuilder for modifications.

Certain coachbuilders would independently order chassis from manufacturers and create design options, giving customers a “one-stop shop,” bypassing the manufacturer altogether.

Brand Identity

The constant elements were the chassis and the engine, with performance and reliability being key factors in promoting the manufacturer’s brand—the very essence of what the Le Mans endurance race was all about, especially given the rugged, unforgiving road conditions of the early 1900s.

In many cases, the radiator grille and the badge upon it were the only indicators of the manufacturer’s brand.

So, in 2001 Bentley, now based in Crewe, was back—Fantastic! But… it was utilising the 3.6-litre V8 from the Audi R8.

Sunday 17th June 2001

Out of a field of 48 cars, 27 did not finish (DNF), and 1 was not classified (NC) — in this instance, a Porsche falling short of the minimum distance required for the vehicle category during the 24-hour period.

There were 20 finishers, with the German Audi teams taking a 1-2 win. The No. 1 Audi team (Biela / Pirro / Kristensen) completed 321 laps, averaging 180.9 km/h and 4365.6 km, taking the top spot.

The Winning Car: Audi Sport Team Joest

Taking a comfortable 1-2 win, with one lap between them, the winning car, with 321 laps, was driven by Frank Biela, Emanuele Pirro, and Tom Kristensen. It was the same team who won the previous year in 2000, driving an Audi 3.6 L Turbo V8 once again, well in fact not quite the same engine.

Though not disclosed prior to the race a new innovation had been implemented on the Audi R8 enhancing power and torque, engine responsiveness, fuel consumption and engine start time. 

Called TFSI 'Turbo Fuel Stratified Injection' it utilises direct fuel injection, where fuel is injected directly into the combustion chamber instead of into the intake manifold. 
Just another fine example of ‘Vorsprung durch Technik.’

2nd: Audi Sport Team Joest Team 2:

Rinaldo Capello, Laurent Aiello, and Christian Pescatori came in second place, just one lap behind. Pescatori had the fastest lap, which was 3 minutes 40.497 seconds.

3rd: Team Bentley:

The Bentley EXP Speed 8 (No. 8) was similarly affected by water ingress, but survived, with drivers Andy Wallace, Butch Leitzinger, and Eric van de Poele taking 3rd place with 306 laps — some 204 km / 126 miles behind the leaders.

Bentley Podium Finish

So, Team Bentley joined Audi on the podium in 3rd place and won the Le Mans GT Prototype category.

But not one, but two Audi R8s had absolutely cruised home to achieve their second consecutive 1-2 win.

Saturday 15th June 2002, 4pm local time

The weather was hot and dry at Le Mans for the 70th race. 

The Freisinger Motorsport team matched Audi's winning lap total of last year (321) in their Porsche 911 GT3 RS (996) but finished in 17th place in 2002.

However, that is, at face value, slightly misleading.
The track was lengthened between November 2001 and February 2002 by 275 metres.

Work between the Dunlop Bridge and Esses extended the lap from 13.605 km to 13.880 kms  (8.454 miles to 8.625 miles)

Only one Bentley

Meanwhile, Bentley was back, with the 2002 Peter Elleray variant which included a 4.0-litre engine, but was fielding a single car due to budget constraints.

Qualifying produced the following 12 teams at the start of a race with fifty cars taking part:
 

Pole Position: Audi Sport North America (Audi's 3rd consecutive).
2nd: Audi Sport Team Joest took second place with car No. 1 (Team Frank Biela/Kristensen/Pirro).

3rd: Herbert/Pescatori/Capello and their R8s.
4th: PlayStation Team Oreca: Dallara SP1
5th: Racing for Holland: Dome S101
6th: MG Sport & Racing Ltd: MG-Lola EX257 in sixth place and also in 12th.
7th: PlayStation Team Oreca: Dallara SP1 (Chrysler)
8th: Team Cadillac: Cadillac Northstar LMP02
9th: Panoz Motor Sports: Panoz LMP01 Evo
10th: Team Cadillac: Cadillac Northstar LMP02
11th: Team Bentley EXP Speed 8 (No. 8) had a minor crash in qualifying.
12th: 1MG Sport & Racing Ltd: MG-Lola EX257
 

Twenty-Six of the fifty starters finished.

The Audi R8's finish was a swap between pole and second from the starting lineup, with Tom Kristensen picking up his 3rd consecutive, but 4th Le Mans win. 

It was also the first time that the same driving team had won on three consecutive occasions.

Audi had earlier, in March, also won its 3rd consecutive win at the 12 Hours of Sebring at the Sebring International Raceway, Florida.

Team Bentley's only car, upgraded to a 4.0-litre Turbo V8 and driven by Andy Wallace, Eric van de Poele, and Butch Leitzinger, completed 362 laps and took 4th place.

The Bentley's 13-lap variance to the winning Audi was not dissimilar to 2001.

Both of the British MGs went out after 129 laps (gearbox failure) and 219 laps (engine failure), respectively.

The winning Audi team completed 375 laps of the extended circuit length. This equates to 382.57 laps of the previous circuit length, an increase of 61.57 km.

2002: Audi 1st - Audi 2nd - Audi 3rd - Bentley 4th  

Weather, Skill, Output: 2002 vs 2001 Mileage

Compared to the rain-drenched 2001 race at Le Mans, the winning Audi R8 car completed an additional 878.47 km or 520.5 miles in the 2002 Le Mans 24 hours.

A 19% increase.

Looking back at 17 hours of steady rain in 1995

The dry weather conditions of 1996, compared to the previous year's 17 hours of steady rain in 1995, showed an increase from 298 laps to 354 laps travelled by the winner.

In terms of distance: the increase was 731.6 km or 473.4 miles.
That is an 18.7% increase.

2001 - 3rd podium position at first outing for Bentley at Le Mans since 1930

2002 - 4th position in 2002 at Lemans dispensing with the Audi R8 engine 

2003 - March 15th 12 hours of Sebring taking 3rd & 4th place and the LMGTP class win.