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By: Geoff Creighton

Summary

#8 Toyota claims second Le Mans 24 Hours win in a row
Sister #7 car led majority of race, but tyre-pressure sensor wrongly indicated late puncture
Signatech Alpine car takes convincing LMP2 win
#51 Ferrari wins GTE Pro, Am honours sealed by Keating Ford squad
Status: Stopped
So, Toyota and Alonso win at Le Mans again - but the #8 car Alonso shared with Nakajima and Buemi was only victorious after some of the manufacturer's famous bad luck struck its lead runner. We're still not sure if the drama of the final hour outstrips the heartbreak the #7 crew of Conway, Kobayashi and Lopez must be experiencing.

Thanks for joining us this week, particularly those of you who've slugged it out since Wednesday and stayed up for 24 long hours. We'll be back next week, but a little further south for live coverage of the French GP weekend at Paul Ricard. See you then!
Alonso, Nakajima, Buemi win Le Mans 24 Hours and 2018/19 WEC title
Nakajima is still yet to step out of his car. Meanwhile, Buemi consoles Lopez - who was little more than an hour away from a near-certain victory.
Final LMP1 result: 1 #8 Toyota; 2 #7 Toyota; 3 #11 SMP; 4 #1 Rebellion; 5 #3 Rebellion; DNF #17 SMP; DNF #4 ByKolles; DNF #10 DragonSpeed
That success also confirms the trio as World Endurance Championship title winners.
Nakajima stops the #8 TS050 HYBRID on the front stretch to collect Alonso and Buemi, who he parades back along the straight and then up the pitlane to the podium.
Nakajima, who is proudly flying the colours of Toyota and his national flag on the warm down lap, is the first Japanese driver to win the Le Mans 24 Hours for a second time.
It's Signatech's third victory in four years at Le Mans, all of them with a certain Nicolas Lapierre behind the wheel. Lapierre maintains his remarkable 100% winning record in four LMP2 starts, on his final start for the team before making way for Thomas Laurent next year. Do you think this might give the parties cause to change their minds?
And that's a wrap in LMP2 - Signatech-Alpine takes back-to-back Le Mans wins and with it, the WEC title for the first time since 2016.
Bleekemolen brings the #85 Keating Ford through the final section to seal victory in the GTE Am division, and is followed shortly afterwards by the #36 Signatech Alpine car - which wins in LMP2.
The #51 AF Corse car has also taken the chequered flag to claim GTE Pro honours.
There was no formation finish from the Toyotas; Lopez crossed the line 16.972s behind his team-mate.
Nakajima comes through the Porsche Curves, into the Ford Chicane and crosses the line to win the 2019 Le Mans 24 Hours.
There's just over three minutes left, and LAST LAP has been declared on the timing screens as the #8 comes across the line.
Nakajima is told not to go faster, in order to ensure only two more laps are completed.
Lopez has just taken a heap out of Nakajima - the gap is down to 17.8s between the leaders. But surely the #8 car is just controlling things here.
Just 10 minutes left in the 2019 Le Mans 24 Hours. 20.5s separates the two leading cars, but everything points to a second victory in a row for the #8 car.
Jamin has returned to the track in seventh after that suspension problem, but it's the battle for eighth behind him that the TV crews are focusing on at the moment, as the Panis-Barthez Ligier of Will Stevens attempts to fend off Tristan Gommendy's Graff ORECA.
For completion's sake, Senna has just been in and out of the pits in the #1 Rebellion, which is set to finish fourth.
Now Duval comes in from third. Hugs all round in the TDS camp as he's sent on his way again.
Lopez is told "please bring the car home".
Nakajima was told "the situation is under control" moments ago. So, no change of position?
There are only 20-odd seconds between the two Toyotas, but the team's rules of engagement prohibit the two cars to race after the last pitstop. Would the team waive that rule given the circumstances of this race? I extremely doubt it.
Small GTE Am update amid all that excitement. Bleekemolen has stretched the gap over the Porsche of Bergmeister, so Keating Motorsports' win is starting to look a little safer now.
Lopez brings the #7 in at the end of lap 379 for fuel. The timing screen suggests there's 23s between the pair, with 19 minutes to go.
In comes Ho-Pin Tung for his final stop - the #38 DC Racing ORECA followed in by race leader Lapierre. Both take on a splash of fuel to take them to the end.
Lopez is up to 21.424s clear of Nakajima, but it's going to take a heck of a lot more than that to turn this tide.
Vandoorne is safely in and out for SMP for what should be the final time. A Le Mans podium beckons for the #11 crew.
Nakajima comes in for what should be his final stop, and rejoins 13s behind Lopez. But the #7 car still needs to stop again.
Toyota has explained the happenings with #7 bang on the 23rd hour. The tyre-pressure sensors were telling the team that the car had a front right puncture whereas the errant tyre was in fact the right rear. That's why Lopez had to come back into the pits. Had all four tyres been changed at the first stop, the Argentinian, Kobayashi and Conway would probably be celebrating a Le Mans victory at 3pm.
Half an hour to go. Here's one final look at how things stand in LMP1 (gaps included)

Half an hour to go. Here's one final look at how things stand in LMP1 (gaps included)

The lead gap is under 50s now, but there's only so much that can be read into there; Nakajima only needs to stop once more and, provided that goes well, the race should be the #8's for a second year in a row.
Jamin makes it back to the garage and sits stationary. He's already dropped to seventh in class and could yet drop further places.
After that worrying stop/go penalty, Bleekemolen now appears to be gapping Bergmeister and has built up a 6s advantage. Could it be enough for the Ford to hold on for a fairytale victory?
Jamin is crabbing back to the pits with the right-rear deranged and remains in fifth for the time being, but will soon lose that position to the #48 IDEC Sport ORECA of Paul-Loup Chatin.
That was the state of play with an hour and thirty seconds remaining. It's definitely not the case now.

That was the state of play with an hour and thirty seconds remaining. It's definitely not the case now.

What a shame for Duqueine Engineering - it had a puncture in the first hour and now looks to have a rear suspension failure in the final hour, Nico Jamin once again the unlucky chap behind the wheel. That will settle the battle for fourth in the LMP2 class in favour of United Autosport - Jamin had closed to around 10s of Phil Hanson's #22 Ligier a few laps ago.
It was't even a glitch for the #7 - it seems as though it had two punctures in as many laps.
Pier Guidi pits the Ferrari that leads in GTE Pro, he should have little trouble getting the #51 home to the end barring any expected dramas now.
Ben Keating has pitted the GTE Am-leading Ford to hand over to Jeroen Bleekemolen, so it's a race to the flag now between Bleekemolen and Bergmeister's Porsche.

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