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24 Hours of Le Mans
Le Mans 24 Hours 2014 The 82nd Le Mans 24 Hours
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Porsche is still working on the #14 car, and Lieb has kept his helmet on, so perhaps one of the 919s will return to the action before the finish.
LMP2 standings: 1 #46 TDS Ligier (Gommendy); 2 #38 Jota Zytek (Turvey); 3 #36 ORECA (Pancaitici); 4 #35 Ligier (Shultzhitskiy); 5 #24 ORECA (Rast); 6 #43 Morgan (Hirsch); 7 #33 Ligier (Tung); 8 #34 ORECA (Lancaster); 9 #50 Morgan (Taylor); 10 #29 Morgan (Schell); #42 Zytek (McMurry); 10 ORECA (Zlobin).
Over on AUTOSPORT Race Centre Live, MotoGP's Catalunya Grand Prix is about to begin.
There are very, very dark skies overhead, and Marc Marquez is not on pole...
Follow MotoGP as it happens on Race Centre Live
There are very, very dark skies overhead, and Marc Marquez is not on pole...
Follow MotoGP as it happens on Race Centre Live
Lots of hand-shakes, fist-bumps and hugging going on in the Audi pit. That's about as close as you'll get to the team tempting fate with just over an hour to go.
Gommendy brings the LMP2-leading #46 Ligier into the pits. That hands the lead to the #38 Jota Zytek.
This could be a really close finish in LMP2.
Turvey heads into the pits. Just fuel for the Zytek.
And Turvey rejoins in the lead of LMP2 ahead of Badey.
The #95 Aston Martin is wheeled into the garage. It is four laps in the clear in GTE Am, so this isn't of huge concern yet – especially as reports suggest it's planned.
Badey has fresher rubber, but Turvey is a seriously quick driver so should have the edge.
Yellow flag
Yellow flags at Indianapolis.
It's the JMW Ferrari, which has been beached in the gravel.
Amazing that Turvey is leading LMP2 in the final hour. Remember, a week ago he was on the sidelines.
Turvey is fractionally quicker than Bady in the Ligier so far. The gap is just over 2.5s.
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According to @MichelinAlley...
"A whopping 262,000 spectators here at Le Mans over the weekend. The biggest since 1989! We hope everyone one of you has enjoyed it!"
"A whopping 262,000 spectators here at Le Mans over the weekend. The biggest since 1989! We hope everyone one of you has enjoyed it!"
Turvey now 3.019s clear in LMP2.
Seems after a lengthy, lengthy wait (possibly similar to the power-steering problems that afflicted the other two?) the #95 Aston is back underway and resumes the lead of the GTE Am race.
Prost takes the #12 Rebellion past the two Porsches, which are both still in the garage. That's fourth overall for the privateer team.
Rast is pushing on in the fourth-placed #24 LMP2 ORECA. Set the car's best lap of the race.
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@PorscheRaces: "Car no 14 with gearbox issue. Repair work going on. Team principle Andreas Seidl hopes to send it back into the race."
Formation flying for the Audis - an image that epitomises the marque's dominance of this race in the 21st century.
The #46 Ligier, second in LMP2, makes its final stop for fuel.
This is the top three in both GTE Pro, which hasn't changed in the last hour: 1 #51 AF Ferrari; 2 #73 Corvette; 3 #92 Manthey Porsche.
It's a similar story in GTE Am: 1 #95 Aston; 2 #88 Proton Porsche; 3 #61 AF Ferrari.
It's a similar story in GTE Am: 1 #95 Aston; 2 #88 Proton Porsche; 3 #61 AF Ferrari.
The fourth-placed LMP2 #35 Ligier makes its final stop with a very second-hand looking rear wheel coming off.
So, to confirm, in LMP1 it's the #2 Audi leading the #1 Audi by three laps. The #8 Toyota is a further three laps down in third, with the sole remaining Rebellion (#12) in fourth ahead of the leading LMP2 runners.
We're inside the final 20 minutes here, and there's a chance we'll see a Porsche 919 (#14) return to the track to take the finish.
We're inside the final 20 minutes here, and there's a chance we'll see a Porsche 919 (#14) return to the track to take the finish.
Turvey makes his final stop in the LMP2-leading Jota Zytek.
Turvey takes fuel and rejoins still leading.
After his stop, Turvey has a comfortable advantage of 24s over the #46 Ligier of Badey. No chance he will be caught, so just needs to keep out of trouble now.
There doesn't appear to be much activity around the #14 Porsche that we're expecting to rejoin the race for the finish. All the mechanics are stood around the car, but nobody appears to be working on it. Perhaps it's ready to go and the team is just waiting for the right time to send it out to take the flag...
Seven minutes to go and the #14 Porsche is wheeled out of the garage. It's time to join the formation finish.
AMR brings the #97 Aston back out as well to ensure it's running at the flag.
Credit to the ProSpeed Porsche team, Jeroen Bleekemolen and Cooper MacNeill on grabbing fifth in GTE Pro – with two drivers, and having had a busy Thursday night/Friday sorting out the replacement car.
The #14 Porsche leaves the pits, as the Audis cross the start/finish line with three minutes to go. That makes this the last lap.
Matt McMurry is behind the wheel of the #42 Greaves Zytek. It's only 11th, but at 16 years and 202 days he is the youngest driver ever to start the Le Mans 24 Hours, breaking the record set by Ricardo Rodriguez. Obviously, he will also break the record for youngest finisher, set by Gunnar Jeanette in 2000.
This has been a highly professional performance from AF Corse. The Ferrari 458 was the car to have in qualifying but there were doubts over whether it had the race pace to challenge the Aston Martin.
But Bruni, Fisichella and Vilander all went wheel-to-wheel with the Aston and the lead Corvette at times during the race, and ultimately it was the only car to have a run without any serious delay. That's what it takes to win at Le Mans – obviously it's a lot tougher than it sounds.
But Bruni, Fisichella and Vilander all went wheel-to-wheel with the Aston and the lead Corvette at times during the race, and ultimately it was the only car to have a run without any serious delay. That's what it takes to win at Le Mans – obviously it's a lot tougher than it sounds.
The #14 Porsche slows, waiting for the Audis so it can slot in behind and not have to complete another lap. The 919 - with Lieb at the wheel, is currently running 11th overall.
And speaking of professional GT performances, a hat tip to Aston Martin and the #95 crew. This has been about as dominant as it gets – four laps to the good at one stage and almost three laps clear at the finish.
Superb victory for the Jota Sport Zytek in LMP2. Harry Tincknell has been a star in this car, with Oliver Turvey doing a great job after being given a late call-up to stand in for Marc Gene, who was drafted into the #1 Audi. Simon Dolan, the silver rated driver, also did a good job.
The #46 TDS Ligier finishes second after running strongly at the front of the field throughout, but losing time with a puncture and resulting suspension damage, with the #36 Signatech Alpine also running strongly until it suffered a broken left-front upright and finishing third.
But the star turn has been the #35 OAK-run G-Drive-liveried Ligier of Alex Brundle, Jann Mardenborough and Mark Shulzhitskiy, which led for so long but lost ground with a rear brake problem and then a loss of power before finishing fifth.
The #46 TDS Ligier finishes second after running strongly at the front of the field throughout, but losing time with a puncture and resulting suspension damage, with the #36 Signatech Alpine also running strongly until it suffered a broken left-front upright and finishing third.
But the star turn has been the #35 OAK-run G-Drive-liveried Ligier of Alex Brundle, Jann Mardenborough and Mark Shulzhitskiy, which led for so long but lost ground with a rear brake problem and then a loss of power before finishing fifth.
Trophy
That's the flag...
It's victory for Audi in the Le Mans 24 Hours!
It's victory for Audi in the Le Mans 24 Hours!
By: Geoff Creighton, Scott Mitchell, Glenn Freeman, Edd Straw, Gary Watkins, AUTOSPORT staff
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