Audi trio keeps Le Mans under control

Geir Moulson

Sunday, June 18, 2000 | 3:39 a.m.

LE MANS, France - Audis held the top three spots in the Le Mans 24-Hour race early Sunday, while a series of mechanical problems pushed Mario Andretti's Panoz back into the pack.

After 14 hours and 212 laps, the car driven by Frank Biela, Tom Kristensen, and Emmanuele Pirro held a one-lap lead over the car of Stephane Ortelli, Allan McNish and Laurent Aiello, the fastest qualifiers.

Michele Alboreto, Christian Abt and Rinaldo Capello were 2 minutes, 20.572 seconds behind in third place.

Audi is trying for its first victory in the classic endurance event.

The Panoz of Andretti, David Brabham and Jan Magnussen, which shadowed the Audis for the first half of the race and took a brief early lead over the German manufacturer's trio of silver cars, had its share of problems.

A 20-minute stop for a gear cluster change after 11 hours dropped the car to sixth as Andretti took over for his second spell. The worse was to come at the end of his drive, when the car went into the garage with smoke coming from its front end.

Brabham came out after 45 minutes and extensive work to the front of the car, which was then in 12th place. Still smoking, it went back in the pits shortly after with an oil tank problem.

"Far too many problems to win this one," Brabham said after the third stop. "The car was running really well at the beginning."

The Panoz was 16th, 24 laps behind, at the 14-hour mark.

The reliable Dams Cadillac driven by the French team of Eric Bernard, Emmanuel Collard and Franck Montagny moved up to fourth place but remained seven laps behind the last of the Audis.

Another Panoz car, piloted by Hiroki Kato, Johnny O'Connell and Pierre-Henri Raphanel, was running fifth, ahead of the Courage of Sebastien Bourdais, Olivier Grouillard and Emmanuel Clerico. Chrysler Viper GT cars were ninth and 10th.

Andretti, looking for his first win here in eight attempts, was racing here for the first time since 1997. He won the 1978 Formula One world championship as well as four CART Indy-car titles. Among his many victories are the 1967 Daytona 500, the premier U.S. stock car race, and the 1969 Indianapolis 500.

His best Le Mans performance so far came when his team finished second in 1995. A victory for the 60-year-old Andretti would make him the only driver to win the Formula One championship, Indianapolis 500, Daytona 500 and Le Mans.