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WEC 24 Hours of Le Mans

Le Mans 24 Hours 2014 The 82nd Le Mans 24 Hours

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Mardenborough's laptimes aren't as eye-catching on this stint as he continues to lead LMP2. But, bearing in mind his tyres are older, he's still doing a fine job.
The #60 AF Corse Ferrari's had a trip through the gravel. He's continued.
The #13 Rebellion has been officially retired. It's the seventh retirement from this race.
Nakajima is eking out his advantage over Fassler - it's now up to 1m55.
Webb brings the Signatech Alpine ORECA into the pits. He's taken fuel and tyres and handed over to Panciatici.
Berthon is still trying to get the #48 Murphy ORECA, which has stopped in the vicinity of the Porsche Curves, back to the pits. @MurphyPrototype: "@natberthon is currently reporting a steering issue with the car and is working with the team to resolve it."
Good stint this from Turner, having eked out 11s on Fisichella. Gavin's cut the Italian's advantage to just 6.6s on new rubber, while Tandy has 7.5s over Makowiecki now.
The overall lead is almost up to a full two minutes.
The #52 Ram Ferrari, which has been in and out of the pits this evening, is slow again – this time on the run through Porsche Curves.
Apparently the Murphy Prototypes team has sent some of its mechanics out to the Porsche Curves to give Berthon some advice on how to get the car back. They can offer verbal assistance, but nothing more.
The #47 KCMG ORECA, which Imperatori crash on the run out of the Porsche Curves a few hours ago, has been officially retired.
Fisichella pits the Ferrari, with Bruni jumping into the car in place of the ex-Renault F1 driver. Gavin takes hold of second.

Tandy's pit the #91 Porsche and moved aside for Patrick Pilet, so Makowiecki's now fourth.
Crash
That's eight retirements now. They are:

#0 Nissan ZEOD RC (Garage 56)
#3 Audi R18 e-tron quattro (LMP1)
#13 Rebellion-Toyota R-One (LMP1)
#37 ORECA-Nissan 03R (LMP2)
#41 Zytek-Nissan Z11SN (LMP2)
#47 KCMG ORECA 03R (LMP2)
#71 Ferrari 458 Italia (GTE Pro)
#91 Ferrari 458 Italia (GTE Am)
Gene pits in the #1 Audi and leaves with a full tank of diesel. He's now heading off into a triple of this set of Michelins.
Gavin pits in the #74 Corvette. A slick stop should get him out ahead of Bruni.
Yellow flag
Yellow flag at Indianapolis.
Gommendy brings the second-placed LMP2 Ligier into the pits for a scheduled stop. He has taken fuel and tyres.
Green flag
Yellow flag at Indianapolis has cleared.
Lapierre is back in the pits aboard the #8 Toyota. This is unscheduled and the car is pushed back into the garage.
The #67 IMSA Porsche has been hit with a 15-second stop-go penalty for speeding the pitlane. That car's mid-pack in GTE Am.
Mailleux pits in the #34 ORECA that's in the thick of the LMP2 fight. He just takes fuel and returns to the track in fourth.
Makowiecki sets a new personal best, a 3m55.696s, as he chases down the top three. That's some way quicker than Bruni ahead of him or Pilet behind.
The #12 Rebellion has lost a wheel, according to official reports. Heidfeld had just left the pits after taking over from Beche.
Now the Rebellion is being reported as going slowly. Probably a good idea if Heidfeld only has three wheels.
Panciatici is lapping quickly in the second-placed LMP2 car, the #36 Signatech Alpine ORECA. That car got fresh rubber at the last stop.
Fassler pitted last lap, Nakajima this. Fassler continues, but the Toyota is taken over by Wurz.
LMP1 order: 1 Wurz; 2 Fassler; 3 Gene; 4 Webber; 5 Jani.
Mardenborough brings the LMP2-leading #35 Ligier into the pits.. Looks like he took new tyres.
Heidfeld brings the #12 Rebellion back, minus that wheel it lost at the start of its outlap. The crew wheel the car into the garage - time to investigate how much damage that lap on three wheels has done.
Good news from Murphy Prototypes. Berthon has got the #48 ORECA rolling again. The bad news is that it is now over 40 laps off the LMP2 lead. @MurphyPrototype: "@NatBerthon has managed to repair our @Oreca Nissan and is about to bring the car back to the pits"
Mucke's bringing Gavin's lead down a touch, it's 7.1s now. Bruni's just 3s behind Mucke, but there's not a lot (if anything) between their times in general.
LMP1 lead battle gap update: Wurz (#7 Toyota) is 1m38s ahead of Fassler (#2 Audi).
If the #8 Toyota isn't handling well - hardly a shock after the size of Lapierre's shunt in the rain earlier - then it's going to be a tough remaining 15+ hours for them. Hopefully that recent extended stay in the garage to look into the problem can yield some results.

The car is currently 13th overall.
Quote
AMR boss John Gaw on how strategy is proving key in both the GTE Pro and Am battles: "We're starting to see the things that make a difference – who can single stint, double stint or triple stint the tyres/fuel.

"The key thing that's made the difference in the Am class is the silver drivers have managed to triple stint the tyres. Triple stinting the tyres [in the Pro class] has also helped us move back up the leaderboard."
Yellow flag
Yellow flags are back out at the Porsche Curves, seemingly for the Murphy car that Berthon has been trying to salvage. Could the return of yellows mean that he's stopped again on the track?
Heidfeld returns to the race in the #12 Rebellion after spending nine minutes in the pits after losing that wheel.
Rebellion also performed a radio change in that stoppage for Heidfeld.
LMP1 lead gap: Wurz (Toyota) leads Fassler (Audi) by 1m33s. Fassler was two seconds faster last time around.

By: Geoff Creighton, Scott Mitchell, Glenn Freeman, Edd Straw, Gary Watkins, AUTOSPORT staff

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