Le Mans 24 Hours 2014 Thursday: final qualifying
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Breaking news
While we wait for the outlaps to be completed, another news story!
The German Lotus team has unveiled the new LMP1 privateer contender that will carry its hopes in the second half of this year's World Endurance Championship.
Lotus WEC contender unveiled
Here is who is in the top cars for the start of running:
#1 Audi: di Grassi
#2 Audi: Lotter
#3 Audi: Albuquerque
#7 Toyota: Wurz
#8 Toyota: Davidson
#14 Porsche: Lieb
#20 Porsche: Webber
#1 Audi: di Grassi
#2 Audi: Lotter
#3 Audi: Albuquerque
#7 Toyota: Wurz
#8 Toyota: Davidson
#14 Porsche: Lieb
#20 Porsche: Webber
Green flag
The session is underway
Breaking news
Right, the story that's captured everybody's attention – Loic Duval's crash. Here's a round-up of everything that's happened so far:
* Late last night, doctors ruled Duval out of competing after the frightening impact at the Porsche Curves
* Audi has admitted that the caused of the accident is unknown, amid comparisons to Gene's crash in 2008 when the car became airborne and slammed into the catch fencing
* Gene, drafted in as Duval's replacement, has since said he is confident he will be on the pace in the R18 e-tron quattro
Given that so much of yesterday's six hours of running was interrupted by red flags, most teams will be behind on their programmes. Tonight's two two-hour sessions will decide the grid, but the priority will be to ensure that race set-up work is complete and that the performance of the tyres over race stints is understood.
Breaking news
Another withdrawal is that of the #99 Aston Martin Racing GTE Pro entry.
Fernando Rees crashed heavily at the Porsche Curves in qualifying last night and the damage has ruled that car out.
Aston withdraws #99 Vantage
Fernando Rees crashed heavily at the Porsche Curves in qualifying last night and the damage has ruled that car out.
Aston withdraws #99 Vantage
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Oliver Turvey was not expecting to be racing at Le Mans after the
ADR-Delta-run Millenium ORECA pulled out. But thanks to Marc Gene being called up by Audi to replace Loic Duval in the #1 car, he has given a late call-up to take the Spaniard's place in the JOTA Sport Zytek. Fortunately, he knows the team well.
Turvey, who flew to Le Mans this morning, said: "I'm really excited to be joining JOTA for Le Mans. Obviously, it's terrible to see a big accident and I hope Loic Duval is okay.
"It's going to be a little tricky going straight into Le Mans qualifying at this late stage, however I know JOTA and the Zytek car from last year, it’s a great team with knowledgeable people so I hope to do the best job I can for the team.
"I've not sat in the Zytek since the last race at Paul Ricard nine months ago but I set pole position in four of the five ELMS races last year, winning on my debut and finishing third twice along with Simon [Dolan], so it's a good package."
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"It was a pleasant surprise to see my name at the top," provisional pole-winner Brendan Hartley told GARY WATKINS.
Could we really see Porsche lead the field the way on Saturday? It's certainly going to try. Asked if the intention is to go flat-out for pole tonight, Porsche LMP1 vice president Fritz Enzinger said: "Absolutely."
Read the full story here.
Could we really see Porsche lead the field the way on Saturday? It's certainly going to try. Asked if the intention is to go flat-out for pole tonight, Porsche LMP1 vice president Fritz Enzinger said: "Absolutely."
Read the full story here.
Breaking news
Before we get into the detailed stuff, we need to establish what the state of play is going into qualifying #2. So, to kick things off, here's our full report from the first segment last night:
Porsche on provisional pole
Hello and welcome to AUTOSPORT Live's continued coverage of Le Mans week. Tonight's all about finishing qualifying for this year's edition of the 24-hour showpiece, with a pair of two-hour sessions to come.
The first is up at 1900, so about 20 minutes time. The second will run from 2200 to midnight.
The first is up at 1900, so about 20 minutes time. The second will run from 2200 to midnight.
By: Scott Mitchell, Edd Straw, Glenn Freeman, Gary Watkins
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