race final

Orbit Racing, in partnership with BAM! (British American Motorsport), had an early out from the 24 Heures du Mans. The team was in contention for the GT class win, but a mechanical failure dropped them out of the 24-hour race.

During the third quarter of the race, Mike Rockenfeller moved up to second in the GT class and lapped the 13.65-km circuit faster than the class race record. (His fellow Porsche factory driver Sascha Maassen also zapped the record, a fraction of a second faster.) Rockenfeller completed his triple stint at 14h49 and handed the No. 87 YES Network Porsche 911 GT3 RSR to Marc Lieb, who regained a lost lap and took aim at the class victory. His efforts were stopped by a transmission failure at 16h29.

Leo Hindery, Jr. (driver)

"If it was a 12-hour race, we just finished second, but it's a 24-hour race and we didn't. But you can't ever feel bad about a second-place run; it's a compliment to the team. People today saw some of the finest driving they'll ever see in Mike and Marc, they saw one of the best-prepared cars they'll ever see and they saw a team that respects the sport and loves Le Mans and this race. BAM! will be back and you'll see Mike and Marc on the podium, I promise."

Peter Baron (BAM! owner, business director)

"I'm sad for the whole team and everybody associated with us. Everybody did their personal best and should be proud of their effort. As the sun comes up, you think most of that stuff is over and if it lasted 18 hours, it's good to go the distance. Unfortunately, we were caught out by gearbox problems. I just feel bad about all the hard work everybody put in from the crew and drivers, to have it end like this ..."

Tim Munday (BAM! technical director)

We came, we saw, we didn't conquer. It's one of those mechanical failures, you can't help it. All brand-new parts, the best preparation in the world, things break. That's the way this sport goes. Unfortunately for us, the Le Mans rules for this year have changed: You are no longer allowed to change the gearbox during the race, only repair the internal parts and retain the original casing. This repair would have taken at least four to five hours and may not have even been possible if the casing was damaged. With the high speeds at Le Mans (nearly 200 miles per hour), a poor repair to the gearbox could lead to a failure and a very large accident, and is therefore a high-risk thing to do."