Le Mans 2013 Wednesday practice & qualifying
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Nick Heidfeld
All three Audis pit, meaning Toyota's two cars are the only LMP1 representatives out on circuit at the moment.
During the lull, we've been looking at photos from yesterday's promotional activities, which included Nick Heidfeld (a bit of a cult figure at AUTOSPORT, thanks largely to Pablo Elizalde) looking very happy.
The times in the GTE Pro category are around 15 seconds off what the fastest drivers were managing before the rain came. Track temperature is back up to nearly 24 degrees, having dipped a few below that when it got wet.
We have three different makes in the top three positions with Patrick Pilet's benchmark in the factory Porsche still standing ahead of Pedro Lamy (Aston Martin) and Gianmaria Bruni (AF Corse Ferrari).
It's a mirror image from 4-6 with the best of the Vipers, currently with Dominik Farnbacher at the wheel, in seventh.
We have three different makes in the top three positions with Patrick Pilet's benchmark in the factory Porsche still standing ahead of Pedro Lamy (Aston Martin) and Gianmaria Bruni (AF Corse Ferrari).
It's a mirror image from 4-6 with the best of the Vipers, currently with Dominik Farnbacher at the wheel, in seventh.
A reminder, if you're just joining us, that we are yet to see either of the Lotus LMP2 cars so far.
The German squad is going to court this afternoon, looking to overturn a court order that resulted in key parts of its pair of Lotus-Praga T128 LMP2 prototypes being seized on Tuesday.
Read the full story here.
The German squad is going to court this afternoon, looking to overturn a court order that resulted in key parts of its pair of Lotus-Praga T128 LMP2 prototypes being seized on Tuesday.
Read the full story here.
It's all about social media these days, and Le Mans is no exception - stickers are being plastered over the media centre promoting this year's hashtag, #LM24.
If you're following on Twitter, be sure to also follow AUTOSPORT Le Mans for all the latest news and developments.
On track, Audi has now joined Toyota, with Benoit Treluyer heading out in the #1 car. Mike Conway meanwhile heads out in the #26 G-Drive Racing ORECA-Nissan, currently second fastest in LMP2. The class-leading #38 Jota Sport Zytek-Nissan is in the pits.
In GTE Pro, its Porsche from Aston Martin and Ferrrari, with the #91 Team Manthey 911 heading the pile.
In GTE Pro, its Porsche from Aston Martin and Ferrrari, with the #91 Team Manthey 911 heading the pile.
Race organisers report that there is no more rain due before midnight. Encouraging news for qualifying, which you can follow on here from 22:00 local time (21:00 in the UK).
Not quite sure we believe the prediction...
Not quite sure we believe the prediction...
Jann Mardenborough is reportedly going slowly down the back straight in the #42 Greaves Motorsport car. Not a great opening session for the squad - Gary Watkins has just been down to find out the latest on the #41 machine...
Conditions clearly improving, as Tommy Milner sets the fastest time of the session for the #74 Corvette crew
Crash
We've had a shunt by the #66 JMW Ferrari. Abdulaziz Al-Faisal has crashed and damaged the car. Our info is that it's happened at marker point 134. Quick on the drawer, our man Geoff Creighton has written the marker posts down on his track map, and he informs us that it happened at the Ford chicane.
No news yet on the fate of the tub of the Greaves/Caterham Zytek after Lux's shunt. Investigations are on-going, but team boss Tim Greaves has revealed that a spare monocoque is on its way. The tub from the team's former LMS LMP2-winning chassis – which first raced here back in 2007 – is in transit. It was meant to be on one of the team's race trucks, but hadn't been painted in time. A change of chassis would, of course, need the approval of the ACO.
A Lotus is on track; Christophe Bouchut has just left the pits. Looks like the team's trip to court this afternoon was successful.
Romain Brandela spins the DKR Lola-Judd at La Florandiere chicane, the second of the Mulsanne kinks.
Stopwatch
Audi Le Mans WEC 2013
A great lap from Treluyer puts the #1 car at the head of the timesheets. He's nearly two seconds clear of McNish's previous best with a 3m26.615s. Track conditions are looking good.
Stopwatch
There's a new name at the head of the GTE Am standings too; Christoffer Nygaard putting the factory Aston Martin he shares with Danish compatriots Allan Simonsen and Kristian Poulsen right in the fight.
His 4m02.117s lap is 0.5s quicker than the previous marker set by Rui Aguas in the 8Star Ferrari.
His 4m02.117s lap is 0.5s quicker than the previous marker set by Rui Aguas in the 8Star Ferrari.
Loic Duval misses the chance to put the #2 Audi back on top after getting baulked by Matteo Malucelli in the #51 AF Corse Ferrari at the Porsche curves. From two seconds up at the second split, he completes the lap 4s off the pace.
Sam Tremayne and Jamie O'Leary are feeling pretty cheery right now. That's the effect of a handful of sweeties, pilfered from the lovely Pippa and James from Dunlop, can have on a pair of AUTOSPORT reporters who have been up since before 4am.
Yellow flag
The #81 8Star Ferrari is off at the entrance to the Porsche curves. That's the former GTE Am class leader, now with team owner Enzo Potolicchio at the wheel.
This battle at the top of the timesheets between the Audis is getting really interesting. Duval sets the fastest second and third sectors to go top by almost a second.
The #45 OAK Pescarolo is being reported to stewards for speeding in the pitlane. That's the slowest of the three cars, driven by Jacques Nicolet, Jean-Marc Merlin and Philippe Mondolot.
Perhaps Merlin could conjure up a spell and make any impending penalty disappear into thin air?
Perhaps Merlin could conjure up a spell and make any impending penalty disappear into thin air?
It's all change in LMP2, as a matter of fact. And this particular update concerns the fastest of the OAK cars; Bertand Baguette having stuck the #35 Morgan-Nissan on top of the class with the first lap into the 3m42s. He's over a second clear of new second-placed man Maxime Martin (TDS ORECA-Nissan).
Patrick Dempsey has had a moment in the #77 Dempsey-Del Piero Porsche at the PlayStation chicane (that's the first one on the Mulsanne).
The Grey's Anatomy star going again without too much trouble. That car, which he shares with Joe Foster and factory Porsche ace Pat Long, is sixth in the class.
The Grey's Anatomy star going again without too much trouble. That car, which he shares with Joe Foster and factory Porsche ace Pat Long, is sixth in the class.
Anthony Davidson's #8 Toyota has been stopped in the pits for a little while now. The Brit had straight-lined the first of the Mulsanne chicanes prior to pitting.
That car, the best of the Japanese machines, is currently fourth, one spot ahead of the sister TS030 HYBRID. They're both over six seconds behind the fastest Audi though.
That car, the best of the Japanese machines, is currently fourth, one spot ahead of the sister TS030 HYBRID. They're both over six seconds behind the fastest Audi though.
Stopwatch
Kamui Kobayashi Le Mans 2013
There's a been a change of leader in GTE Pro as Kamui Kobayashi goes to the head of the timesheets in his #71 AF Corse Ferrari. Pilet and Malucelli lie second and third.
GTE Am also has a new front man. Matt Griffin set the pace - also in an AF Corse car - and has now been relieved behind the wheel by Jack Gerber.
Crash
Spin for Rodin Younessi in the #40 Boutsen Ginion ORECA-Nissan, as he loses the rear of his car braking for the Ford chicane. He clips the tyre wall but continues - he was too late to pit so he's headed round for another lap.
Improvements from both Toyota men. Anthony Davidson puts the #8 on top with a 3m29.573s, just over one second faster than Kazuki Nakajima in the sister #7 TS030. Still some four seconds slower than the lead Audi, though.
Roald Goethe has a very lucky escape as he spins the #96 Aston Martin at the Porsche curves, missing the barriers. As he rolls back across the track he is very lucky not to be collected by Mark Patterson's Murphy LMP2 machine.
That said (see 17:09), the lead #2 Audi is also comfortably clear of its sister R18s - at least it was. Benoit Treluyer closes to within six tenths of a second of the ultimate pace in the #1 machine.
Stopwatch
The lead of GTE Pro changes again as Richard Lietz goes top in 3m58.547s; a few tenths up on Kobayashi's Ferrari.
Wonderful footwork from one of the Audi pitcrew, as he sidesteps a sliding R18 when Marcel Fassler, complete with disco headlights, heads out.
Crash
Another big crash for a GT car; this time for Tracy Krohn, who has narrowly avoided rolling his own GTE Am Ferrari at the Dunlop Esses.
Krohn is out of the car, but that was a big accident.
Krohn is out of the car, but that was a big accident.
Red flag
The session has been red-flagged to allow the Krohn-hit barrier to be rebuilt.
Replays on our screens show Krohn's car violently turning sharp right as he approaches the left-hand part of the sequence. He spins into the tyre wall, his Ferrari lifted up into the air on impact and coming back down on four wheels.
Scary.
Scary.
Circuit being swept, plenty of frantic work trying to pull and tweak the tyre barrier, but this could be a long one given the impact of that crash. We have 33 minutes to run - technically - of this session.
Opinion split down the middle in the AUTOSPORT camp as to whether we'll get this session underway again. The Krohn Racing Ferrari will take some fixing if it's to make the race, meanwhile.
A reminder that this session cannot be extended by even one minute, as we have qualifying to follow exactly two hours after it winds down.
Checkered flag
It's a chequered flag of sorts - organisers confirm the session will not restart, as the extent of the damage to the barrier is 'bigger than anticipated'.
So, Audi's dominant start to the 2013 season rolls into the first official session at Le Mans, as the German marque locks out the top three. The #2 R18 of Tom Kristensen, Loic Duval and Allan McNish sets the pace with a 3m25.415s, some six tenths clear of the sister #1 car.
Toyota meanwhile claims fourth and fifth, with Anthony Davidson gaining inter-team bragging rights in the #8 TS030, albeit some four seconds down the road from the lead Audi.
Toyota meanwhile claims fourth and fifth, with Anthony Davidson gaining inter-team bragging rights in the #8 TS030, albeit some four seconds down the road from the lead Audi.
Predictably, it's far tighter in LMP2. The #35 OAK Racing Morgan of Bertrand Baguette, Ricardo Gonzalez and Martin Plowman ends top of the pile, but the #46 Thiriet and #26 G-Drive ORECA-Nissans are both within 1.2s.
Porsche meanwhile starts brightest in GTE Pro, claiming first and third courtesy of the #92 and #91 Manthey 911s. Splitting them is the #71 AF Corse Ferrari 458.
The lead Aston Martin of Darren Turner, Stefan Mucke and Peter Dumbreck is fourth.
The lead Aston Martin of Darren Turner, Stefan Mucke and Peter Dumbreck is fourth.
AUTOSPORT has just been given word from Caterham that the #41 Greaves Motorsport Zytek-Nissan, which is being supported by the now Malaysian-owned constructor this weekend, will not take part in tonight's opening qualifying session.
This comes in the wake of Eric Lux's red flag-inducing crash during the second hour of the session.
This comes in the wake of Eric Lux's red flag-inducing crash during the second hour of the session.
By: Jamie O'Leary, Sam Tremayne, Gary Watkins, Scott Mitchell
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