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24 Hours of Le Mans
Le Mans 24 Hours 2014 The 82nd Le Mans 24 Hours
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Brendon Hartley on his stint with Porsche, including that unscheduled pitstop for a suspected puncture: "This was my first turn at Le Mans with Porsche and I had a great time out there. We made one early stop because something felt a bit strange on the car. We weren't sure if it wasn't a puncture, so we pitted and the guys investigated it.
"The car is running fine and we are still close. We even led for a little while. Toyota had a little bit more pace so we couldn't maintain it. But still everything is running smooth."
"The car is running fine and we are still close. We even led for a little while. Toyota had a little bit more pace so we couldn't maintain it. But still everything is running smooth."
The #12 Rebellion is wheeled into the garage.
Milner's still within a second of Senna but unable to make a passing attempt yet.
Lotterer brings the #2 Audi in for fuel only. That means we should see the leading #7 Toyota in next time round.
And sure enough, there he is. Jani has also brought the #14 Porsche in.
And sure enough, there he is. Jani has also brought the #14 Porsche in.
Buemi takes over the recovering #8 Toyota from Lapierre, with the sister car of Wurz having rejoined after taking on fuel only.
The #36 Signatech Alpine is in the pits. It's currently second in LMP2.
The #12 Rebellion returns to the track with Prost having taken over from Heidfeld, after a short visit to the garage. The car spent six minutes in the pits, and was passed by the leading LMP2 Ligier for seventh overall during that stop.
The #41 Greaves Zytek, which retired as a result of damage picked up in an accident with the #48 Murphy Prototypes ORECA. Munemann was on slicks at the time and was powerless to avoid aquaplaning in the wet and collected the ORECA, which was having its own off.
Munemann got the car back, dragging the Murphy ORECA's splitter with it, but it was discovered that there was damage to a front suspension pick-up point, forcing the car's retirement.
Munemann got the car back, dragging the Murphy ORECA's splitter with it, but it was discovered that there was damage to a front suspension pick-up point, forcing the car's retirement.
Toyota extended its lead again during that latest sequence of pitstops. Wurz now heads Lotterer's #2 Audi by 2m20s.
Kristensen is third in the #1 Audi and still on the lead lap, with the Porsches of Bernhard and Jani completing the top five.
Kristensen is third in the #1 Audi and still on the lead lap, with the Porsches of Bernhard and Jani completing the top five.
Senna and Milner cranking it up now. Both set personal best laps the previous time around – 3m55.076s and 3m55.496s respectively – and just a second separates them still. Ace fight. Vilander's six or so seconds back.
The #42 Greaves Zytek is still going after suffering several delays, notably to repair rear suspension damage after being hit by an OAK car while bearing down on slower traffic.
The #26 OAK-run G-Drive Morgan has been official retired. It stopped out on track several hours ago while being driven by Pla. That's effectively the defending LMP2 winner, as OAK Morgans took a one-two last year.
That's the closest these two have been – 0.3s between Senna and Milner over the line.
Ouch - a 3m36s for Lotterer means he loses nine seconds to the leading Toyota on that lap.
We're not even at halfway yet, but right now this is Toyota's to lose. Audi has won races as the 'tortoise' against the 'hare' in the past, but right now all it can do it make sure that at least one R18 achieves the maximum that the car is capable of. Then it's over to Toyota.
We're not even at halfway yet, but right now this is Toyota's to lose. Audi has won races as the 'tortoise' against the 'hare' in the past, but right now all it can do it make sure that at least one R18 achieves the maximum that the car is capable of. Then it's over to Toyota.
Lotterer bounces back with a 3m28s, but that means he's lost another second to Wurz, putting the gap up to 2m27s. Kristensen is losing time in third, too.
Vilander brings his AF Ferrari into the pits. Milner's back to around a second behind Senna.
Brundle has a lead of 2m41s in LMP2 over the #36 Signatech Alpine ORECA. The #46 TDS Ligier is 3m18s down. There are 12 cars still running in the class.
Here's the full LMP2 order: 1 #35 Ligier (Brundle); 2 #26 ORECA (Chatin); 3 #46 Ligier (Badey); 4 #34 ORECA (Frey); 5 #38 Zytek (Dolan); 6 #43 Morgan (Hirsch); 7 #24 ORECA (Charouz); 8 #33 Ligier (Tung); 9 #29 Morgan (Roussel); 10 #42 Zytek (Dyson); 11 #50 Morgan (Ragues); 12 #27 ORECA (Ladygin).
The top three in LMP2 are all lapping at similar pace. Leader Brundle pits in.
It's another trip into the garage for the troubled #8 Toyota. That car has been a handful ever since it was repaired following Lapierre's big shunt, with the drivers reporting strange handling.
Senna's back in control of this now. His lead was pushing two seconds even before Milner peeled into the pits in his Corvette.
That was a very short garage visit - Buemi heads back out in the #8 Toyota after the mechanics took a quick look at the car while the wheels were off and then sent it back on its way.
The #45 TDS Ligier is in the pits from third in LMP2. It's getting fuel and tyres.
Wurz currently leads Lotterer by 2m26s out front.
The #91 Porsche is back in the game. Bergmeister back on track after what seems like an eternity in the pits.
Bernhard pits the #20 Porsche from fourth place.
Kristensen is the next LMP1 runner to come in. Fuel only for the #1 Audi, which is running third.
Holzer brings the #92 Porsche into the pits. He's running fourth, very much on his own. It's a quiet shift.
Chatin is on the move, lighting up the timing screens in second in class. The #36 Signatech ORECA sets personal bests in sectors one and two but has an average final sector. It's about a minute behind the #36 OAK Ligier.
Meanwhile, the #67 IMSA Porsche has spun at the second Mulsanne and continued.
Meanwhile, the #67 IMSA Porsche has spun at the second Mulsanne and continued.
Senna's keeping Milner about 5s behind but can't add any more to his advantage than that. All this would take it the Aston having to get out the way of traffic, or catch a slower Am car, and the Corvette would be on its tail...
Things are very quiet in LMP1, much to the delight of Toyota.
1 Wurz (#7 Toyota)
2 Lotterer (#2 Audi)
3 Kristensen (#1 Audi)
4 Bernhard (#20 Porsche)
5 Jani (#20 Porsche)
1 Wurz (#7 Toyota)
2 Lotterer (#2 Audi)
3 Kristensen (#1 Audi)
4 Bernhard (#20 Porsche)
5 Jani (#20 Porsche)
Brundle responds to Chatin's personal best sector times by setting the leading Ligier's best opening split. This is a very, very good showing by the new car – which has had a fair amount of testing mileage, but has put it to stellar use so far.
Lotterer brings the #2 Audi in. Looks like it's fuel only again.
Just before the #2 Audi is sent on its way, two mechanics make what appears to be a small adjustment around the front splitter area. An aero/balance tweak, perhaps?
Sarrazin takes over the leading #7 Toyota from Wurz, and gets fresh tyres as is standard. The lead car's stop is 20s longer than the Audi's: Lotterer didn't change tyres but he did have to wait a few seconds while his team made those front-end adjustments.
Depending on outlaps, that probably means that Toyota's margin of over two minutes is still safe for now.
Depending on outlaps, that probably means that Toyota's margin of over two minutes is still safe for now.
The #98 Aston has reappeared again, though it is 11 laps down now on the lead GTE. That car's running proof that, even when things look like they're all in order, Le Mans can bite.
Holzer made way for Lietz in the #92 car earlier, just in case we didn't mention.
Lieb looks ready to go in the Porsche garage, and here comes his #14 919 into the pits in the hands of Jani. The second Porsche is currently fifth and five laps down - three behind its sister car in fourth.
Mika Salo, in the last of the running LMP2 machines, will have to serve a 45-second stop and go penalty. The #27 SMP ORECA has been collared for speeding in the pitlane.
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Alex Imperatori comments on the crash that put the KCMG ORECA out of the race in LMP2 - caused by a driveshaft failure: "We had the car to win today so I'm really disappointed. We showed that by leading over the first two stints after moving up through the field, only for the weather to disrupt our progress.
"That was bad luck, but we were still fighting hard when the car failed. I'm thankful to be OK because it could have been a much bigger accident. Sometimes that's how it goes. There's always next year.”
"That was bad luck, but we were still fighting hard when the car failed. I'm thankful to be OK because it could have been a much bigger accident. Sometimes that's how it goes. There's always next year.”
By: Geoff Creighton, Scott Mitchell, Glenn Freeman, Edd Straw, Gary Watkins, AUTOSPORT staff
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