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WEC 24 Hours of Le Mans

Le Mans 2017: The race

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After his massive shunt in the #28 TDS ORECA a couple of hours ago, Collard was taken to medical centre but released with just bruising.
GTE PRO
Stanaway goes straight on at Arnage on his out-lap. Now the #95 Aston has deranged front-left bodywork to go with its mangled left-rear (a consequence of a puncture in hour two) and it's back in the pits - and wheeled into the garage. This is a game-changer for the GTE Pro lead. Taylor is currently in front in the #63 Corvette, but he's due to pit soon and that will hand the advantage to Makowiecki in the #91 Porsche.
Pit stop
Laurent is the latest driver to visit the pits in the LMP2 class-leading #38 Jackie Chan DC ORECA.
GTE PRO
So it's pitstop routine Groundhog Day in GTE Pro as the two Astons pit - Stanaway in #95 from the lead - which enables the #63 Corvette to take its turn at the front. Crucially, Stanaway has got out in second place, ahead of the #91 Porsche, now driven by Makowiecki.
Pit stop
Adam has brought the #97 Aston Martin into the pits.
LMP2
After running very close together for a number of hours, the top three LMP2 cars are now the most spread out they have been in the entire race.
LMP2
Heinemeier Hansson is now in the #13 Rebellion ORECA after that stop and it is now 4m37s behind the class-leading DC Racing car of Laurent, but in turn is ahead of the sister Rebellion by 3m22s.
Information
It was a very quick fix, whatever the problem was for the Rebellion car as it has now been sent on its way again.
Crash
But the #13 Rebellion ORECA has now been pushed into the garage. That was running third overall.
Pit stop
Over three consecutive laps, the second, third and fourth-placed LMP2 cars have all pitted, but there have been no changes to the order.
Slow Zone
That incident has resulted in the guardrail needing to be repaired at the second Mulsanne chicane so a slow zone is now in force there.
GTE PRO
Race control says that an incident between cars #51 (Calado) and the #90 GTE Am Aston Martin at Zone 16 (that's the second Mulsanne chicane) "will be investigated". That fits with the 10s time loss, which came in sector two of that lap.
GTE PRO
Calado into the pits now. Front-end damage to the #51; Calado gets out and walks forlornly back into his garage, followed by his car on a dolly.
GTE PRO
We take that back: Stanaway has passed Calado on that last lap and the Ferrari has dropped 10s.
GTE AM
The GTE Am scrap isn't as close as Pro, with three Ferraris leading the way:
Driver Change
It's now Laurent in the second-placed #38 ORECA and its lead over Piquet in the #13 Rebellion example is now 22.5s.
GTE PRO
Pilet and Calado are still running closely at the top of GTE Pro in the #91 Porsche and #51 Ferrari. But Stanaway is struggling to stay in touch and the gap to him has widened to 6s.
Green flag
The track is clear again now.
GTE PRO
And here's how GTE Pro is shaping up, with Pilet leading the way:
Pit stop
Jani has also pitted from the lead of the race.
Pit stop
Now Tung pits the LMP2 class-leading #38 Jackie Chan DC ORECA. Let's see how big his advantage is after this.
GTE PRO
Serra has also been in the pits, relaying the #97 Aston to Adam after smashing the lap record in it. That car is currently seventh in class and playing catch-up after losing ground in the pre-dawn safety car period.
LMP1
Just as a reminder, the #1 Porsche continues to utterly dominate this race with an 11-lap lead. It's easy to forget that not all of the LMP1 cars have broken down.
LMP2
A bit more to shout about in LMP2, with the #38 DC Racing ORECA (which is now second overall) still leading the way:
Slow Zone
We now have a slow zone as Gutierrez is recovered after that off in #22 G-Drive ORECA.
GTE PRO
After that encouraging taste of the lead for Magnussen, he's pitted the #63 and handed it to Taylor. That leaves Pilet at the top of the GTE Pro tree in the #91 Porsche, 2.9s ahead of Calado's #51 Ferrari. Stanaway is just 3.3s off Calado in the #95 that we view as still being the net leader, though it's a constantly shifting picture.
Crash
It's the #22 G-Drive ORECA that has stopped in the gravel. That was running way down in 46th after earlier troubles.
Yellow flag
We have a yellow flag at Indianapolis.
LMP1
It's a lonely, lonely race for all three of the remaining LMP1 cars:
Pit stop
Buemi pits the sole remaining Toyota. That has worked its way back up to 15h.
Pit stop
Piquet now brings the #13 Rebellion ORECA into the pits from second in LMP2. That battle with the #38 machine will have to wait for now.
GTE PRO
GTE Pro is still so close that pitting has dropped the #95 Aston from the lead to fourth in class. The constantly shifting web of pitstop schedules now means Magnussen leads in the #63 Corvette for the first time. Pilet is just 14s behind in the #91 Porsche with Calado a further 3.8s down, and Stanaway in his slipstream.
LMP2
Or not! Tung has responded to Piquet's improvements and it's back up to 9.5s now.
LMP2
That LMP2 lead gap is down to 7.8 seconds now! We might have a battle on our hands soon.
LMP2
The lead LMP2s are now just 9.406s apart after second-placed Piquet banged in a 3m28.785s lap last time around.
LMP2
Piquet has just gone round in 3m28.829s, Tung in 3m31.939s, to slash the lead further.
Driver Change
Sorensen pits from the GTE Pro lead in the #95 Aston. Stanaway takes over.

By: Matt Beer

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