84th Le Mans 24 Hours
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Race organisers have responded to fan criticism of the safety car start - or to be more accurate, how long the safety car stayed out once conditions had clearly improved: "It goes without saying that the decision was not taken lightly but in the interests of safety, it was deemed best. Even once the rain had ceased, the 13.629km-long circuit took a while to dry out. Many fans would have preferred the field to be unleashed earlier. However, race officials will take no risks with driver safety."
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GTE AM
Two slightly spread out pitstops have done nothing to change the GTE Am order, despite Wolf Henzler finally handing the #78 KCMG Porsche over.
Joel Camathias has taken over from Henzler and now holds an 11s lead over Heinemeier Hansson, with Dalla Lana having handed the #98 Aston over to Mathias Lauda - though that car has emerged in third.
Joel Camathias has taken over from Henzler and now holds an 11s lead over Heinemeier Hansson, with Dalla Lana having handed the #98 Aston over to Mathias Lauda - though that car has emerged in third.
LMP1
Jarvis rejoins just behind the #5 Toyota of Davidson, with both adhering to the slow zone pace on the run to the Dunlop Chicane. More drama in the slowzone as the ByKolles CLM briefly stops on track, but it is soon back on its way with Trummer behind the wheel.
LMP2
Stevens has made a pitstop in the G-Drive ORECA and rejoins the race in sixth. At the front of LMP2, Rao leads Hirakawa by 29s, with Menezes a further 12s behind and Howson 10 more.
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GTE PRO
Vilander's lead over Briscoe is 7.3s, with Hand a further 1.2s behind.
Half a minute back is Mucke, who was another to star in the previous stint. The #66 is by no means out of contention. But another 25s behind, the lead Aston (#95) and Chevy (#64) continue to slip further off the lead.
Half a minute back is Mucke, who was another to star in the previous stint. The #66 is by no means out of contention. But another 25s behind, the lead Aston (#95) and Chevy (#64) continue to slip further off the lead.
Pit stop
Jarvis brings the #8 Audi in right on schedule for its next stop. That releases Lieb into third in the #2 Porsche.
Green flag
The 2016 Le Mans 24 Hours is go - sort of. The cars take off behind the safety car.
30 seconds to the start (behind safety car).
GTE AM
Like the LMP2 field, there wasn't too much track activity from the GTE Am cars in Thursday's sodden qualifying session. Of those that did brave the conditions, the #86 Gulf Porsche (in the hands of Ben Barker) was quickest, lapping as quickly as 4m24s on a long run. Mikkel Mac was another to attempt a long run in the Formula Racing Ferrari, but neither of the Astons or the Chevrolets gave too much away in terms of wet weather pace.
It might be a while, too, before we see how the four cars stack up against each other.
It might be a while, too, before we see how the four cars stack up against each other.
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Safety car
The safety car start also means Brad Pitt won't get to wave the French flag from the traditional start gantry. There's no formation lap, so he is waiting at the front of the grid with the flag, where he will set the cars off behind the safety car at 15:00 local time.
Crash
Drama already. The #67 Ford, due to be started from fourth in GTE Pro by Priaulx, has been wheeled into the pitlane! In fact, it's being pushed back into the garage altogether.
Safety car
Because of the safety car start, there will be no formation lap.
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The grid is being cleared. Less than 10 minutes to the race start.
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Information
There are 180 drivers in this race. A total of 40 of them are rookies - including ex-F1 racers Will Stevens, Roberto Merhi and Giedo van der Garde, 2012 McLaren Autosport BRDC Award winner Jake Dennis, four-times IndyCar champion Scott Dixon and Olympic cycling legend Chris Hoy.
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LMP2
We did not see a lot of serious wet-weather running from the LMP2 group during qualifying. But for what's worth, Roberto Merhi was quickest for Manor on Thursday evening, by about six seconds from Laurens Vanthoor, in the Micheal Shank Racing Ligier. The pair will start fourth and fifth, but Vanthoor's outfit will have to complete a five-minute stop-go penalty during the first half of the race, for using a second engine before the race.
Radio Comms
"Andre, you're taking a set of full wet tyres," Lotterer in the #7 Audi is told.
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The most experienced driver in the field is Emmanuel Collard, who is in the #83 Ferrari in GTE Am. This is is 22nd Le Mans start and moves him up to =7th in the starts list, alongside Jan Lammers, Pierre Yver and Claude Haldi.
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http://pbs.twimg.com/media/ClO_6F1WMAA1_uI.jpg"/>Jason Stetham with the Audi boys. #WEC #LeMans24 #LeagueofPerformance http://pbs.twimg.com/media/ClO_6F1WMAA1_uI.jpg
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GTE PRO
The factory Porsches were the closest challengers in qualifying, some 3.7s in arrears, and could well be in range in race trim now the Fords and Ferraris have been pegged back.
But that’s not all – all five manufacturers should now be in the mix.
The Aston Martin Vantage GTE and Chevrolet Corvette C7.R have each been allowed an engine air-restrictor 0.2mm larger in diameter.
They were giving away most of their time in the middle sector of the lap, notable for the huge Mulsanne straight. So, with more grunt for the Astons and Chevys, not to mention the Fords (which were 1-2-3-4 for best middle sectors in qualifying) getting a power reduction, the playing field should be more even.
That means the 14-strong GTE Pro field could legitimately be won, on merit, by any of the cars.
But that’s not all – all five manufacturers should now be in the mix.
The Aston Martin Vantage GTE and Chevrolet Corvette C7.R have each been allowed an engine air-restrictor 0.2mm larger in diameter.
They were giving away most of their time in the middle sector of the lap, notable for the huge Mulsanne straight. So, with more grunt for the Astons and Chevys, not to mention the Fords (which were 1-2-3-4 for best middle sectors in qualifying) getting a power reduction, the playing field should be more even.
That means the 14-strong GTE Pro field could legitimately be won, on merit, by any of the cars.
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All ready to go!! Start looks like it will be interesting ????!! Let's do this! #LeMans24 #Gdrive #JotaSport #LMP2 #WEC
Innovative Car
In the innovative car class, Tinseau starts the SRT41 OAK Morgan. That's the car quadruple amputee Frederic Sausset will be in later in the race.
GTE PRO
Qualifying, as you can tell by the starting order, was dominated by the spirit of the 1960s – a Ford and Ferrari contest. But will the race?
In addition to 24-hour pace being a very different thing to one-lap qualifying spec, the Ford GTs and Ferrari 488 GTEs have been pegged back.
Ford declared its rivals’ progress “shocking” but if that was a bid to deflect attention from its huge advantage in qualifying, it failed.
A Balance of Performance change since the final qualifying session has certainly made the picture murkier.
So, what’s different?
The four Chip Ganassi Racing-run Fords have had their minimum weight raised by 10kg, having initially received a 25kg reduction in the lead-up to the event, while engine power has also been cut with a revised table of turbo boost ratios.
The three Ferraris – two run by the factory AF Corse team and one by Risi Competizione – have picked up 15kg.
In addition to 24-hour pace being a very different thing to one-lap qualifying spec, the Ford GTs and Ferrari 488 GTEs have been pegged back.
Ford declared its rivals’ progress “shocking” but if that was a bid to deflect attention from its huge advantage in qualifying, it failed.
A Balance of Performance change since the final qualifying session has certainly made the picture murkier.
So, what’s different?
The four Chip Ganassi Racing-run Fords have had their minimum weight raised by 10kg, having initially received a 25kg reduction in the lead-up to the event, while engine power has also been cut with a revised table of turbo boost ratios.
The three Ferraris – two run by the factory AF Corse team and one by Risi Competizione – have picked up 15kg.
The conditions on track during a gridding lap
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GTE Am starting drivers (in grid order):
#61 Clearwater Racing Ferrari –R Bell
#98 Aston Martin Racing Aston –Lamy
#88 Abu Dhabi-Proton Racing Porsche –Long
#55 AF Corse Ferrari –Griffin
#83 AF Corse Ferrari – Collard
#50 Labre Competition Chevrolet – Ragues
#60 Formula Racing Ferrari – Mac
#78 KCMG (Proton) Porsche – Henzler
#62 Scuderia Corsa Ferrari – T Bell
#89 Proton Competition Porsche – Keen
#86 Gulf Racing Porsche – Carroll
#57 Team AAI Chevrolet – O’Connell
#99 Aston Martin Racing Aston - Hirsch
#61 Clearwater Racing Ferrari –R Bell
#98 Aston Martin Racing Aston –Lamy
#88 Abu Dhabi-Proton Racing Porsche –Long
#55 AF Corse Ferrari –Griffin
#83 AF Corse Ferrari – Collard
#50 Labre Competition Chevrolet – Ragues
#60 Formula Racing Ferrari – Mac
#78 KCMG (Proton) Porsche – Henzler
#62 Scuderia Corsa Ferrari – T Bell
#89 Proton Competition Porsche – Keen
#86 Gulf Racing Porsche – Carroll
#57 Team AAI Chevrolet – O’Connell
#99 Aston Martin Racing Aston - Hirsch
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GTE Pro starting drivers (in grid order):
#68 Ford – Muller
#69 Ford – Westbrook
#51 Ferrari – Calado
#67 Ford – Priaulx
#66 Ford – Pla
#71 Ferrari – Bird
#82 Risi Ferrari – Fisichella
#92 Porsche – Makowiecki
#95 Aston – Turner
#91 Porsche – Pilet
#97 Aston – Stanaway
#77 Dempsey-Proton Porsche – Christensen
#64 Chevrolet – Gavin
#63 Chevrolet – Garcia
#68 Ford – Muller
#69 Ford – Westbrook
#51 Ferrari – Calado
#67 Ford – Priaulx
#66 Ford – Pla
#71 Ferrari – Bird
#82 Risi Ferrari – Fisichella
#92 Porsche – Makowiecki
#95 Aston – Turner
#91 Porsche – Pilet
#97 Aston – Stanaway
#77 Dempsey-Proton Porsche – Christensen
#64 Chevrolet – Gavin
#63 Chevrolet – Garcia
Safety car
The race will start behind the safety car.
In four hours time, the weather is set to be even worse...
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Autosport's vantage point offered a great view of the scramble to get wet tyres onto the grid after the deluge began
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By: Geoff Creighton
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