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#5 Toyota leads Porsche in Le Mans 24 Hours with two hours to go

Toyota enjoyed a lead of roughly half a minute over Porsche with two hours remaining in the Le Mans 24 Hours, although its second car has dropped out of contention

After extending the #5 TS050's lead over the #2 919 during his stint, Anthony Davidson handed over to Kazuki Nakajima, who should be able to take the race-leading car to the finish.

However, the #6 Toyota, which was also on the lead lap throughout Sunday morning in a three-way scrap for victory, lost three laps when repairs were carried out on damage picked up in the night.

The second car clipped a backmarker during the night, suffering floor damage, and following a spin into the gravel for Kamui Kobayashi in the 21st hour, Toyota decided to fix the bodywork damage and also carry out precautionary checks on cooling systems to make sure the car reaches the finish.

The #6 machine is under no threat from behind, as the leading #8 Audi is 10 laps adrift in fourth place.

The race-leading car's lead was trimmed during the most recent round of pitstops as Toyota changed driver and tyres, but Porsche could have a similar delay to come before the finish.

LMP2 - SIGNATECH EDGES CLOSER
By Mitchell Adam

G-Drive ORECA was fighting to keep its slim hopes of LMP2 victory alive by staying on the lead lap as the 22nd hour concluded.

Stephane Richelmi in the Signatech Alpine was running nearly three minutes ahead of Roman Rusinov, but when the G-Drive pilot emerged from his latest fuel stop at the end of the hour, he was directly ahead of Richelmi on the road, trying to avoid being lapped.

Vitaly Petrov is back in the third-placed SMP Racing BR01 for the run home, with Danny Watts also back behind the wheel for Strakka in fourth.

Eurasia Motorsport and Greaves Motorsport still complete the top six, while Extreme Speed Motorsports' #31 Ligier did return to the track after spending a significant amount of time in pitlane but now 16th in the order.

GTE PRO - FORD CHASES ONE-TWO
By Scott Mitchell

Ford's focus has switched to attempting to secure a one-two finish on its return to Le Mans.

While the #68 car enjoys a strong lead of more than half a minute following Toni Vilander's spin towards the end of the previous hour, the #69 Ford GT has come into contention for second.

Scott Dixon is driving the #69 and is 22 seconds behind Giancarlo Fisichella, who has taken over from Vilander in the #82 Risi Competizione Ferrari 488 GTE.

Fuel mileage is a key question heading into the final two hours, with the #68 stopping a lap later than the two chasing cars and therefore having more in reserve.

It could make one stop and run to the end, whereas the others may require a splash and dash.

GTE AM - FERRARI LEADS THE WAY
By Jack Cozens

Jeff Segal returned to the cockpit of GTE Am-leading #62 Scuderia Corsa Ferrari as the team closes in on class victory.

Pitting to swap Segal in for Townsend Bell did put an end to the lap-long lead the Ferrari had enjoyed over the rest of the field.

But with second-placed Rui Aguas more than two minutes behind in the #83 AF Corse Ferrari the #62's lead is a comfortable one, with David Heinemeier Hansson third in the #88 Porsche.

POSITIONS AFTER 22 HOURS:

Pos Class Car Drivers Laps Gap
1 LMP1 #5 Toyota Davidson, Buemi, Nakajima 352
2 LMP1 #2 Porsche Dumas, Jani, Lieb 352 + 29.076s
3 LMP1 #6 Toyota Sarrazin, Conway, Kobayashi 349 + 3 Laps
4 LMP1 #8 Audi Di Grassi, Duval, Jarvis 339 + 13 Laps
5 LMP1 #7 Audi Fassler, Lotterer, Treluyer 335 + 17 Laps
6 LMP2 #36 Alpine Menezes, Lapierre, Richelmi 327 + 25 Laps
7 LMP2 #26 Oreca Rusinov, Stevens, Rast 326 + 26 Laps
8 LMP2 #37 BR01 Petrov, Shaytar, Ladygin 322 + 30 Laps
9 LMP2 #42 Gibson Leventis, Watts, Kane 321 + 31 Laps
10 LMP2 #33 Oreca Pu, Gommendy, De Bruijn 319 + 33 Laps
11 LMP2 #41 Ligier Rojas, Canal, Berthon 318 + 34 Laps
12 LMP2 #27 BR01 Minassian, Mediani, Aleshin 317 + 35 Laps
13 LMP2 #23 Ligier Barthez, Chatin, Buret 316 + 36 Laps
14 LMP2 #49 Ligier Pew, Negri Jr, Vanthoor 315 + 37 Laps
15 LMP2 #43 Ligier Gonzalez, Senna, Albuquerque 314 + 38 Laps
16 LMP1 #1 Porsche Bernhard, Webber, Hartley 313 + 39 Laps
17 LMP2 #30 Ligier Sharp, Brown, Van Overbeek 313 + 2m12.605s
18 GTE Pro #68 Ford Hand, Muller, Bourdais 311 + 41 Laps
19 LMP2 #25 Ligier Munemann, Hoy, Pizzitola 311 + 18.769s
20 GTE Pro #82 Ferrari Fisichella, Vilander, Malucelli 311 + 40.062s
21 GTE Pro #69 Ford Briscoe, Westbrook, Dixon 311 + 1m02.258s
22 GTE Pro #66 Ford Pla, Mucke, Johnson 310 + 42 Laps
23 GTE Pro #95 Aston Thiim, Sorensen, Turner 309 + 43 Laps
24 LMP2 #40 Ligier Krohn, Jonsson, Barbosa 308 + 44 Laps
25 GTE Pro #97 Aston Stanaway, Rees, Adam 308 + 1m38.335s
26 GTE Pro #63 Chevrolet Magnussen, Garcia, Taylor 307 + 45 Laps
27 GTE Am #62 Ferrari Sweedler, Bell, Segal 303 + 49 Laps
28 GTE Am #88 Porsche Al Qubaisi, Heinemeier Hansson, Long 302 + 50 Laps
29 GTE Am #83 Ferrari Perrodo, Collard, Aguas 302 + 45.243s
30 LMP2 #22 Ligier Capillaire, Maris, Coleman 301 + 51 Laps
31 GTE Am #61 Ferrari Mok, Sawa, Bell 301 + 1m29.899s
32 LMP1 #12 Rebellion Prost, Heidfeld, Piquet Jr 301 + 2m21.910s
33 GTE Pro #77 Porsche Lietz, Christensen, Eng 300 + 52 Laps
34 GTE Am #86 Porsche Wainwright, Carroll, Barker 299 + 53 Laps
35 LMP2 #48 Oreca Keating, Bleekemolen, Goossens 295 + 57 Laps
36 GTE Am #60 Ferrari Laursen, Mac, Nielsen 291 + 61 Laps
37 GTE Am #99 Aston Howard, Griffin, Hirsch 290 + 62 Laps
38 LMP2 #31 Ligier Dalziel, Derani, Cumming 288 + 64 Laps
39 GTE Am #50 Chevrolet Yamagishi, Ragues, Belloc 288 + 1m57.281s
40 CDNT #84 Morgan Sausset, Tinseau, Bouvet 287 + 65 Laps
41 LMP2 #28 Morgan Taittinger, Striebig, Roussel 286 + 66 Laps
42 GTE Pro #67 Ford Franchitti, Priaulx, Tincknell 284 + 68 Laps
43 GTE Am #98 Aston Dalla Lana, Lamy, Lauda 281 + 71 Laps
44 GTE Am #57 Chevrolet O'Connel, Bryant, Patterson 278 + 74 Laps
45 GTE Am #55 Ferrari Cameron, Griffin, Scott 274 + 78 Laps
46 GTE Am #78 Porsche Ried, Henzler, Camathias 272 + 80 Laps
47 LMP2 #34 Oreca Leutwiler, Nakano, Winslow 267 + 85 Laps
48 LMP2 #38 Gibson Dolan, Dennis, Van Der Garde 222 + 130 Laps
49 LMP1 #13 Rebellion Tuscher, Imperatori, Kraihamer 200 + 152 Laps
50 LMP2 #44 Oreca Graves, Rao, Merhi 283 Retired
51 LMP2 #46 Oreca Thiriet, Beche, Hirakawa 241 Retired
52 LMP2 #35 Alpine Cheng, Tung, Panciatici 234 Retired
53 GTE Pro #64 Chevrolet Gavin, Milner, Taylor 219 Retired
54 LMP1 #4 CLM Trummer, Webb, Kaffer 206 Retired
55 GTE Pro #51 Ferrari Bruni, Calado, Pier Guidi 179 Retired
56 GTE Pro #71 Ferrari Rigon, Bird, Bertolini 143 Retired
57 GTE Pro #92 Porsche Makowiecki, Bamber, Bergmeister 140 Retired
58 GTE Pro #91 Porsche Pilet, Estre, Tandy 135 Retired
59 LMP2 #47 Oreca Matsuda, Howson, Bradley 116 Retired
60 GTE Am #89 Porsche Macneil, Keen, Miller 50 Retired


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