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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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Magnussen's the lead Corvette again after passing Gavin a couple of laps ago. He's about 2s behind Bruni, but the lead trio is clear of Turner – 13-odd seconds behind after a longer first stop.
Klien also pits, so the #47 KCMG ORECA, now driven by Bradley, cycles back into the lead of LMP2.
Race control has declared "wet race" so that must be more than light rain now.
The #47 KCMG ORECA's lead in LMP2 has been cut to just a couple of seconds, chased now by the #34 Race Performance ORECA driven by Mailleux.
Yes, the track is clearly wet in the first sector. We have rain...
It's not raining at the pits, but the Mulsanne Straight is soaked.
While we switched to weather watch, Lapierre pitted the #8 Toyota.
It is now raining at the pits – and quite hard, too. Cue a mad dash to stop?
The #2 Audi is in as well. Toyota changed tyres, possibly onto cut slicks?
Magnussen, who had caught right up to Bruni again, has retaken the lead in the Corvette.
It's the #42 Greaves Zytek. McMurry lost the rear and spun. Yet to get going again.
Bernhard pits the #20 Porsche, while Bonanomi stays out in the #3 Audi. And it's really chucking it down here now.
GARY WATKINS: KCMG switched to Bradley and gave him new tyres, while the second-placed Race Performance ORECA with Mailleux driving is on the tyres he started. Hence the reason the gap closed after the stops, but Bradley on fresh rubber is extending his lead.
Makowiecki's cleared the Am Ferrari of Bird, while Gavin's dropped right back from the lead two now.

Turner's just 7s behind Gavin's Corvette.
Wurz - the leader - goes straight on at the first Mulsanne Chicane. The straight looks flooded now.
A little while after passing Bird, Makowiecki went straight on at the Dunlop chicane. We don't blame him.
In LMP2, Bradley in the KCMG ORECA and Panciatici in the Signature Alpine ORECA have stayed out. Most of those chasing have pitted.
Safety car. Big shunt - it's Bonanomi in the #3 car. He's backed into the barriers somewhere.
Lapierre is out too! The Toyota collided with the Audi and the GTE Am #81 car of Bird on the Mulsanne Straight.
The replays aren't completely clear, but clearly the torrential conditions played a part in all of those cars coming together and doing very different speeds.
Lapierre is off on one side of the straight, and Bonanomi on the other. Both are facing the wrong way.
Bird's out of the car – that car is ruined at the front. His involvement in that race, and by extension that of the #81 Ferrari, is over.

That means the Dempsey Porsche, driven by Patrick Long, will take over the lead of the GTE Am division.
On boards from Bonanomi show that he was going slowly and tucking in behind Bird. He was hit from behind - surely by Lapierre - but there were other GTE cars around them at the time as well.
Lapierre is trying to rejoin. With the help of the marshals he's trying to get the Toyota turned around - but it's pretty heavily damaged.
Just seen a replay - the #47 KCMG car that was leading LMP2 class, but still on slicks, has also been off and hit the tyres at the first Mulsanne chicane. Aquaplaned off. It's crawling back to the pits but there will be damage.
Bonanomi hasn't given up yet either. He briefly emerges from the cockpit of the R18 but is now back in the seat.

Toyota mechanics are getting ready to head out to Lapierre - but now the Toyota is on the move down the straight. Can he make it back? The steering doesn't look well on the TS040.

Back with Bonanomi and he's got his head in his hands. Is it game over?
Bonanomi looks devastated. He's yet to get out of the car, but his crew have arrived on the scene so it's probably all over for the #3 car.
A flatbed truck has arrived on the scene to retrieve the Audi.
Lapierre has made it through both Mulsanne Chicanes and is still on the move, but he's going very slowly and has a long way to go to get back to the pits.
Leaders in GTE Pro Magnussen and Bruni have pit, so Gavin's now at the head of that class.
Bonanomi walks away and climbs into the truck. The #3 Audi is out.
Lapierre is at the Porsche Curves now, and he's picked up the pace a bit. Who knows, maybe the majority of the damage is cosmetic?
Panciatici now leads LMP2 in the #36 Signatech Alpine ORECA ahead of Mailleux in the #34 Race Performance ORECA. Bradley has rejoined in the KCMG car after his off and is in third.
We've had our first driver changes among the GTE leaders.

Garcia's in for Magnussen in the #73 Corvette, Vilander's taken over the #51 Ferrari and Turner's made way for Mucke in the #97 Aston.
Lapierre pits the damaged #8 Toyota. He's two laps down on the lead. The team refuels, and then wheels the TS040 into the garage. The main damage appears to be to the front of the car, but it has all four wheels still on it and nothing major appears to be hanging off.

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

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