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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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Slowly but surely, Taylor's reeling in Lietz's Porsche in the battle for second in GTE Pro. Maybe this one's not dead yet.

Taylor was 1.8s quicker on that last lap, cutting the gap to 1m01s.
It's still looking very good for the Audi, which has taken more than four seconds out of the lead on the most recent lap.
Turner's had an off in the Aston, running wide at Mulsanne and skating across the gravel. He's back on it again now.
'Only' a three-second gain for Lotterer on that lap. He trails the #20 Porsche by 1m11s.
LMP1 order: 1 #20 Porsche; 2 #2 Audi; 3 #1 Audi; 4 #8 Toyota; 5 #14 Porsche; 6 #12 Rebellion.

Lotterer is slower than the leader on that lap. It's a 3m28s for the Porsche, and a 3m30s for the chasing Audi.
Small moment for Lotterer as he keeps pushing, and nearly runs on at Mulsanne Corner after missing the apex.

The leading #20 Porsche pits for fuel only.
Inside the final three hours here at Le Mans, and who'd have thought we'd have a Porsche in the lead. Not our sportscar expert GARY WATKINS (we asked him).
The gap at the front is just eight seconds now, but Lotterer will pit soon as the two leading cars are a slightly out of sync. Still, that's as close as it has been, and is much closer than it was at this stage in the last sequence of pitstops - showing how much ground the Audi has made up.
More gains for Lotterer as the gap comes down to five seconds, much to the excitement of the French circuit commentator.
The #91 Manthey Porsche was running quite slowly there coming out of Indianapolis. A lock up forced him wide slightly and he just touched the gravel.
Treluyer is kitted up and ready to go in the Audi pit. The #2's victory chase will be his responsibility soon.
The #88 Proton Competition Porsche, second in GTE Am, has been reported to the stewards for speeding in the pitlane.
The gap is down to three seconds, and the two leading cars (Porsche/Audi) are well and truly in the same shot now.

Lotterer pits before he can make a pass on track, and if there's a driver change (and tyres) here then this will be a longer stop, so the Porsche is safe for a little while longer.
No driver change, no tyres. The #2 Audi takes on fuel and picks up the chase once again, having spent 57s from pit in to pit out. That should mean the gap is back up to around the minute mark.
Early indications are that Lotterer now trails Bernhard's Porsche by 54s.
Traditionally the LMP1 teams have been spending 57-58s in the pitlane (including entry and exit) for fuel-only stops. So with Lotterer now 52s behind the leading Porsche, even if it's just a short stop the lead is likely to change hands when the #20 919 comes in.
In LMP2, the #35 Ligier still leads ahead of the #46 Ligier. Impressive, given that this is the racing debut for the Ligier JSP2.
Ayari spins into the gravel at the last corner in the #58 Ferrari.
We were assuming Webber's work might be done in this race, but the latest shot of him in the Porsche garage show he has put his race gear back on.

His car leads the #2 Audi by 50s at the moment.
The #57 Krohn Ferrari heads to the garage. That car was chasing third place in GTE Am.
The #97 Aston Martin is back in the garage with the bonnet off. It is fourth in the GTE Pro class.
Di Grassi pits the #1 car from third place. It's three laps down thanks to that turbo change earlier this morning, which cost it the lead when Kristensen was at the wheel and hunting a 10th Le Mans win.
The #35 Ligier's LMP2 lead is being whittled away by the #46. Brundle is in the lead car, which appears to be struggling for power.
Down in the Corvette pits, SCOTT MITCHELL spots some very happy crew members on the #73 car which is currently running third: "Just witnessed a very American amount of fist-bumping and back-slapping for the #73 Corvette guys after the car's last stop. They know they nailed it. A podium would be a great result given the early problems for that car."
The #27 SMP (AF Corse) ORECA has been wheeled into the garage. It was already last of the runners in LMP2.
The #35 Ligier's LMP2 lead is now down to 1m18.442s over the #46 car.
Lotterer has kept chipping away at the Porsche's lead. 37s now separates the chasing Audi from the leading 919 #20.
3m27s for Lotterer in #2 Audi - 3m35s for Bernhard. There's frantic action in the Porsche garage, including Webber charging out the back. Perhaps he's getting in slightly earlier than expected?
Webber is in position on the pit apron, waiting to take over the #20 Porsche. This stop will hand the lead to the #2 Audi. Bernhard comes in.
Lotterer passes the pits as the Porsche takes on a new driver (Webber) and new tyres. 2h23m to go and the race has come back to Audi at this stage.
The #88 Porsche of Bachler has been hit with a 45-seconds stop/go penalty for speeding in the pits. It's second in GTE Am.
Webber claimed earlier in the race that he drove to a pace he felt comfortable with rather than pushing too hard - because Porsche didn't particularly have anything to race for at the time due to the gaps to the cars around it.

Well, now he has something to race for, because his 919 is on the same lap as the race leader on Sunday afternoon. Let's see if he goes for it.
Webber's first flying lap of this stint is a 3m31s. Lotterer - with a 3m26s - now leads by 1m05s. GARY WATKINS points out that a couple more laps like that and the lead Audi will have a pitstop in hand - including time to take on new tyres.
This time it's a 3m33s for Webber, while Lotterer rattles off another 3m26s to extend the #2 car's lead to 1m13s.
The Audi crew (and Treluyer) are stood up in the garage and ready for action. #2 must be in soon from the lead.
Brundle's lead is down to 53.550s in LMP2 over the #46 Ligier. His car is still struggling for power.
Another 3m33s for Webber, who lets the sister Porsche of Jani through just before the end of the lap. Jani is lapping 6s per lap quicker than his team-mate at the moment, but is down in fifth.
Lotterer's lead is up to 1m16s now, and it looks like he'll be in this lap to hand over to Treluyer.

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

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