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24 Hours of Le Mans
Le Mans 24 Hours 2014 The 82nd Le Mans 24 Hours
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Klien also pits, so the #47 KCMG ORECA, now driven by Bradley, cycles back into the lead of LMP2.
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.
Bonanomi pits the #3 Audi from third place, leaving Lapierre (who lost out in that pack of traffic) to hunt Lotterer.
LMP2 lead Tincknell brings the #38 Zytek into the pits.
The Audis try to go either side of a pack of cars on the Mulsanne Straight, briefly making it four-wide! Bonanomi has to back out on the outside, so he slots in to retain his third place.
This means Tincknell is back in the lead of LMP2 in the Jota Zytek, but he will have to stop shortly, as will second-placed Klien in the #43 Morand Morgan.
Thanks to a bit of clear track, Lotterer has pulled a small gap on Bonanomi, who is yet to shake off Lapierre since the Toyota caught back up during the scrap a couple of laps ago.
Sure enough, it all changes as soon as they catch traffic, and the two Audis are almost joined together again. There's no end in sight for this battle at the moment, while Wurz remains 36 seconds up the road in the lead for Toyota.
Sure enough, it all changes as soon as they catch traffic, and the two Audis are almost joined together again. There's no end in sight for this battle at the moment, while Wurz remains 36 seconds up the road in the lead for Toyota.
In the battle of the Rebellions, the #12 car is 1m40s clear of the #13 R-One, with both cars having pitted twice.
The top five in LMP2 have all hit the pits simultaneously. So the #47 ORECA, the #35 Ligier, the #46 Ligier and the #34 ORECA are all in at the end of their 20th laps.
GARY WATKINS: Kristensen makes his second stop after 13 laps - exactly what we expected the Audi turbodiesels to do on a tank of fuel. The question mark is over the number of laps the petrol P1s will do. The answer is coming shortly.
Kristensen had pulled a long way clear of Bernhard after their earlier scrap for P5, but the Dane is in for his second stop on lap 21.
Panciatici is on the move in LMP2 in the #36 Signatech Alpine ORECA> He's up to fifth ahead of Tincknell now.
Ruberti's had a minor off at Indianapolis in the #90 Am-class 8Star Ferrari and is back running again, although a bit slowly.
Traffic has brought Lapierre back into the battle for second, and Lotterer has to take a risk on the exit of the Porsche curves to pass a couple of backmarkers. There's nothing between the #2/#3 Audis and the #8 Toyota in this battle for second.
Wurz leads by 36 seconds.
Wurz leads by 36 seconds.
Pla brings the OAK-run G-Drive Racing Morgan into the pits. The car was running a quiet eighth.
The Audis are side-by-side down the Mulsanne Straight (again) and Lotterer re-takes P2 on the outside of Bonanomi.
Having led LMP2 after taking the lead from Gommendy's #46 TDS Ligier, Tincknell in the #38 Jota Zytek has not been able to keep the car right at the front. It's down to fifth in LMP2, having been passed by Mailleux in the #34 Race Performance ORECA.
While we wait to hear what the stewards make of the pitstop incident with the Toyota and the Audi, Wurz leads Bonanomi's R18 by 37s.
Lotterer is still right on his team-mate's tail, while Lapierre is 2s back.
Lotterer is still right on his team-mate's tail, while Lapierre is 2s back.
Breaking news
After being investigated for that unsafe release, the #7 Toyota (the leader) has been reported to the stewards. That's surely not a good sign...
The #24 Sebastien Loeb Racing ORECA is back out, Rast having handed over to Capillaire.
GARY WATKINS: Imperatori's pace in the KCMG ORECA is impressive. He's throwing in the odd 3m42s lap, allowing him to pull away from Mardenborough in the OAK Ligier. And then he bangs in a 3m41s - not bad for a race rookie.
Twitter
@PorscheRaces: #14 had fuel pressure issue, we had to change some fuel system components - took 9 mins
It's incredible how fiercely these Audi team-mates are fighting each other. Perhaps they fear that if they cede ground to each other early in the race they could lose first choice on strategy later on?
Imperatori now leads LMP2 by 20 seconds in the #47 ORECA.
HOUR 1 ORDER:
1 #7 Toyota
2 #2 Audi
3 #3 Audi
4 #8 Toyota
5 #1 Audi
6 #20 Porsche
Leading LMP2 runners:
1 #47 KCMG ORECA
2 #35 G-Drive OAK Ligier
3 #46 TDS Racing Ligier
Leading GTE Pro runners:
1 #51 AF Ferrari
2 #74 Corvette
3 #73 Corvette
Leading GTE Am runners:
1 #81 AF Ferrari
2 #95 Aston Martin
3 #72 SMP Ferrari
1 #7 Toyota
2 #2 Audi
3 #3 Audi
4 #8 Toyota
5 #1 Audi
6 #20 Porsche
Leading LMP2 runners:
1 #47 KCMG ORECA
2 #35 G-Drive OAK Ligier
3 #46 TDS Racing Ligier
Leading GTE Pro runners:
1 #51 AF Ferrari
2 #74 Corvette
3 #73 Corvette
Leading GTE Am runners:
1 #81 AF Ferrari
2 #95 Aston Martin
3 #72 SMP Ferrari
Rast has pitted after that trip through the gravel.
Did we say settled down in LMP1? Bonanomi has just passed Lotterer for second. Will the Audis fight each other and allow Lapierre's Toyota to close up again?
Rast in the #24 ORECA, has been through the gravel at Mulsanne Corner and continued
Wurz continues to lead comfortably, and things have settled down a bit behind him. Lotterer, Bonanomi and Lapierre are covered by 3s now.
The #37 SMP ORECA is out thanks to an engine problem.
GARY WATKINS: Rast's pace in the Loeb ORECA suggests that the Michelin tyre might be significantly better over a stint than one lap. The prototype rookie has just lost sixth in class to Tincknell, but he's on the pace of the Dunlop-shod frontrunners in class.
Jani is back in the action, but he's 51st overall and five laps down in the Porsche.
Yellow flag
Unsurprisingly, that's brought out the yellow flags at that corner. Looked like Cioci was tagged by a P2 Ligier.
Crash
The #61 AF Ferrari is off in the gravel at Mulsanne corner.
The release of the #7 Toyota is under investigation, race control confirms.
It would appear that Bruni's rejoined ahead, but Gavin jumped Magnussen by virtue of stopping two laps earlier and is now second in the #74 Corvette.
Well, in theory. Technically he's third because Nicolas Armindo leads in the #76 IMSA Porsche – which is yet to stop.
Well, in theory. Technically he's third because Nicolas Armindo leads in the #76 IMSA Porsche – which is yet to stop.
Lapierre is baulked by a backmarker and Bonanomi pounces through the new esses towards the start of the lap. From fighting for second, Lapierre is now fourth after a mugging by two Audis.
Now there is a flock of GTE cars in the pits. Bruni, Magnussen, Turner, Thiim, Lamy, Bertolini, Pilet, Ruberti and Cioci all come in.
Lapierre passes the Audi for second into Mulsanne corner. Lotterer attacks on the outside into the right of Indianapolis...and makes it stick! Brilliant racing here from the big guns.
Bruni has repassed Magnussen for the GTE lead. We didn't see it happen, but it was in the first sector.
By: Geoff Creighton, Scott Mitchell, Glenn Freeman, Edd Straw, Gary Watkins, AUTOSPORT staff
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