Le Mans 2013 Wednesday practice & qualifying
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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.
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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.
Romain Brandela spins the DKR Lola-Judd at La Florandiere chicane, the second of the Mulsanne kinks.
A Lotus is on track; Christophe Bouchut has just left the pits. Looks like the team's trip to court this afternoon was successful.
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.
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.
Conditions clearly improving, as Tommy Milner sets the fastest time of the session for the #74 Corvette crew
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...
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...
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
Still very treacherous out there, as Andre Lotterer and Marc Gene prove in their respective Audi R18s. Track conditions are in that horrible middle-ground, too dry for wets but too wet for slicks.
Toyota readying slicks once more. Buemi is going to be guinea pig, it seems.
Aha. We have sunshine back, and the rain has definitely let up. Seems Gary Watkins might have been fed dodgy information. The track is still very wet though.
And as if to underline the fact conditions are worsening, Neel Jani loses the rear of his Rebellion Racing Lola B12 heading through Turn 1.
Marc Gene heads out in the #3 Audi, but the other two R18s are still yet to go out following that red flag. As a measure of track conditions, Sebastien Buemi comes round in a 4m07.111s - more than 30 seconds down on his best.
We have the #8 Toyota - currently fifth fastest - on track, but it doesn't have much in the way of company. Wet tyres being fitted to several cars along the pitlane.
Windscreen wipers are in full action as the rain starts to worsen. AUTOSPORT meanwhile has been discussing the Archimedes principle (in a very specific situation), while Gary Watkins has been informed this rain is here to last - so we might not see much in the way of improvements before qualifying tonight.
The mechanics will have a heck of a job to get that fixed for the remainder of the session.
Green flag
Green flags, and practice is back underway.
Rain
And, just as we prepare to go green, the rain is starting to come down - lightly for now, but enough to prompt the marshal umbrellas to go up.
Car 26 meanwhile - that's the G-Drive Racing ORECA Nissan - has been reported to the stewards for overtaking under yellows.
Session to restart at 17.20 local time - that's just under three minutes.
Lux hit the barriers on the left-hand side on the entry to the second Mulsanne Chicane - looks like he lost it under braking. Repairs to the guardrail appear to be nearly finished.
Here, incidentally, is the view that AUTOSPORT has from our perch above the pitlane. Yep. That's the AF Corse Ferrari of Matt Griffin/Jack Gerber/Marco Cioci getting a service.
With the session stopped, now seems like a good time to update you on the class leaders...
LMP1: #2 Audi (McNish) 3m28.538s
LMP2: #38 Jota Zytek-Nissan (Turvey) 3m44.220s
GTE Pro: #91 Porsche (Pilet) 3m58.797s
GTE Am: #81 8Star Ferrari (Aguas) 4m02.625s
P2 looks especially good for British interest in the race, as it's a 1-2-3 courtesy of Oliver Turvey, Mike Conway and Alex Brundle.
LMP1: #2 Audi (McNish) 3m28.538s
LMP2: #38 Jota Zytek-Nissan (Turvey) 3m44.220s
GTE Pro: #91 Porsche (Pilet) 3m58.797s
GTE Am: #81 8Star Ferrari (Aguas) 4m02.625s
P2 looks especially good for British interest in the race, as it's a 1-2-3 courtesy of Oliver Turvey, Mike Conway and Alex Brundle.
Eric Lux is standing next to his car surveying the damage. Good to see he got out of that one; it looked nasty.
1990 Le Mans
Ever found yourself wondering which races stood out most to Gary Watkins? Or, perhaps more relevantly, which races from the past two decades are most likely to go down as classics?
From Le Mans to Daytona, via the last Snetterton Willhire, Gary picks out his all-time top 10.
Red flag
The red flags are out.
Crash
Massive shunt at the second Mulsanne chicane. It's the Caterham Greaves car of Eric Lux.
Crash
The Ford chicane continues to catch out the unwary. This time it's Keiko Ihara (remember her from British F3 almost a decade ago?) spinning the #28 Gulf Racing Lola-Nissan.
That car currently lies 16th in the class.
That car currently lies 16th in the class.
Porsche driver Patrick Pilet has eclipsed Peter Dumbreck's test day best for Aston with his GTE Pro class-topping time of 3m58.797s.
Incidentally, we've worked out that the 2013 Le Mans 24 Hours is also the 24th for our sportscar doyen Gary Watkins.
Mind, we only have his maths to go by on that (he's denying all parallels with Pele's 1000 goal record).
In driver terms, that'd be enough to put him sixth on the all-time list. Still some way to go to beat Henri Pescarolo though, who racked up 33 visits to La Sarthe in total. You can follow the man himself (Watkins, not Pescarolo, here).
Mind, we only have his maths to go by on that (he's denying all parallels with Pele's 1000 goal record).
In driver terms, that'd be enough to put him sixth on the all-time list. Still some way to go to beat Henri Pescarolo though, who racked up 33 visits to La Sarthe in total. You can follow the man himself (Watkins, not Pescarolo, here).
Stopwatch
Ferrari shoots to the top of the order in GTE Pro category; Toni Vilander pumping in a 4m01.866s in his AF Corse 458 Italia to get him ahead of the best of Manthey Porsches.
Patrick Pilet is currently at the wheel of that Porsche, although it was Jorg Bergmeister that set the time.
Patrick Pilet is currently at the wheel of that Porsche, although it was Jorg Bergmeister that set the time.
Yellow flag
The Murphy LMP2 is off again. This time Patterson is facing the wrong way at the exit of Indianapolis and is being towed back towards the corner. Yellow flags are covering it.
Stopwatch
Alex Brundle, whose car was involved in that Heidfeld spin earlier while David Heinemeier Hansson was at the wheel, goes top of the LMP2 times in 3m45.313s. He's over a second clear of Franchitti.
McNish is the first man into the 3m28s to knock Lotterer off the top spot. Lotterer and Jarvis - now easily recovered from his spin - are next up.
By: Jamie O'Leary, Sam Tremayne, Gary Watkins, Scott Mitchell
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