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WEC
24 Hours of Le Mans
Le Mans 2017: The race
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LMP1
Ooh - a new personal best lap for the #8 Toyota of Davidson, a 3m18.832s. That's not far off the fastest lap Mike Conway logged on the third lap of the race, which was a 3m18.694s.
LMP2
The #31 Rebellion ORECA is back on track at last after 90 minutes in the garage. That car has had a gearbox internals change.
LMP1
Hirschi has pitted the #24 Manor, which means the #2 Porsche is now up to sixth overall, a little under two minutes behind the next car in line - the #37 DC Racing ORECA.
Overall standings at the front, as the #2 continues to make its way back through the field. We're still on course to have the LMP2 winner, whoever it is, on the overall podium this afternoon:
LMP1
Lotterer is suited and booted, ready to clamber aboard the race-leading #1 Porsche.
LMP2
Gommendy's had a stop in the #37 Jackie Chan DC ORECA. That car is in fourth. Meanwhile, Autosport is very proud of itself for not yet having attempted some kind of Jackie Chan pun.
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There are still 51 runners here at Le Mans. In 51st and last is the #43 Keating Riley currently driven by Taylor.
Driver Change
In comes Davidson in the #8 Toyota, Nakajima taking over behind the wheel. At least the WEC championship leaders are firmly on course to pick up a solid haul of points, although that will come as scant consolation to the Japanese manufacturer.
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Fun fact: The total distance surpassed by all cars in the race has just surpassed 200,000 kilometres.
Driver Change
The #23 Panis Barthez Ligier has been taken over by Barthez.
LMP2
The battle for fourth place is very much alive. Currently, the #35 Signatech ORECA of Panciatici has the advantage ahead of the #24 Manor ORECA of Hirschi and the #32 United Autosports Ligier of Owen. They are all on the same lap, and while Gommendy is 110s ahead, Owne is only 8s further back.
GTE PRO
So, a perusal of our notebook-based scribblings on tyre strategy - and please bear in mind that this, like many extemporaneous notebook-based motorsport punditry, could be utter twaddle - we think the #97 Aston will need to stop twice more for tyres, but the #91 Porsche and possibly the #63 Corvette could run to the end on one more set. That's based on the Aston double-stinting from its last tyre stop at 9.20am. Our scribblings also suggest the Corvette and Porsche will have to splash-and-dash in the last half hour and run to the end on tyres that have already done three stints.
GTE PRO
Lietz pits the #91 five minutes later than our notebook anticipated, so the GTE Pro race outlook is already deviating from our putative script. Edd Straw will be furious.
Driver Change
The #32 United Autosports Ligier has been in for a stop. De Sadeleer has taken over.
Information
The #36 Signatech ORECA, which is still battling on after earlier problems, is being investigated for a potential pitstop violation. That car is currently 11th.
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Pit stop
Jarvis pits in the Jackie Chan DC ORECA that has been leading LMP2 for quite some time now. That's bang on schedule.
GTE PRO
Lietz's pitstop brings the #63 Corvette back into the lead, with a 16.3s lead over Turner, who is likely to cause consternation with our hourly report elsewhere on Autosport.com by pitting at the turn of the hour.
LMP1
Hartley now up to fifth overall in the #2 Porsche ahead of the #37 DC Racing ORECA, but the next car in line - the #35 Signatech - is a lap up the road.
GTE PRO
So we now expect, all other things being equal, the #91 Porsche to stop four more times but the #63 Corvette that's currently leading and the #97 Aston that's 15s up the road will have to stop five more times - and the Aston's next one is imminent.
The real race right now is in GTE Pro, even though the pitstops for the leading contenders are out of sequence. Our money is on a close battle between the #63 Corvette and the #91 Porsche as the race draws to a close.
LMP2
Graves is back out in the #24 Manor ORECA. Those with long memories might remember that he used to race as Tor Sriachavanon.
LMP2
Beche brings the #13 Rebellion ORECA into the pits.
Pit stop
Hartley has just been in the pits in the #2 Porsche but that latest stop has dropped him back behind the #37 DC Racing ORECA of Gommendy to sixth place.
LMP2
Beche has headed back out in the #13 Rebellion. That's two laps down in second.
Crash
Massive drama. The #1 Porsche has slowed.
Well, it's often been said that this race is a Lotterer-y...
LMP1
The #1 car was the last LMP1 machine to not be blighted by mechanical problems and Lotterer has got a long way to go to get back to the pits.
Twitter
Going to stick my neck out and say that #1 looks like a car creeping back to the pits on electric power.
Radio Comms
"No oil pressure," is the report. The team tells Lotterer “engine off, engine off”.
LMP1
Before people get too excited about the prospect of an LMP2 overall win at Le Mans, let's just remember that the #2 Porsche is still on course to climb ahead of the other LMP2 cars before the end of the race.
LMP1
This is agonising for the #1 Porsche. It's crawling along so slowly it barely looks like it's moving. But it is inching along.
LMP1
The #1 car crawls down the Mulsanne straight:
LMP1
The #1 Porsche does have a 12 lap lead currently. So Lotterer can afford to take his time.
Crash
The Porsche briefly stops but is back going again at a crawl.
LMP1
Lotterer is doing all he can to get this car back. To stand a chance of winning or even finishing this race he needs to get back to the pits.
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LMP2
The #38 Jackie Chan DC ORECA of Jarvis could, eventually, pick up the lead from this. but it's still 11 laps down, so that will take a while. And then the #2 Porsche is there and should overhaul it, all things being equal.
LMP1
Lotterer is still crawling along the Mulsanne Straight - there's still a very long way back to the pits from here...
By: Matt Beer
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