Le Mans 24 Hours 2014 Wednesday: Practice and qualifying
Live Text
Sort by
Newest first
That's it for AUTOSPORT Live's coverage of the first day of action for the 2014 Le Mans 24 Hours.
We'll leave you with our comprehensive qualifying report. Can Porsche hang on to pole after 15 years away? Or will Toyota, or Audi, fight back?
The second part of qualifying kicks off at 19:00 tomorrow. Join us from 18:30 onwards to find out the answers to those questions. See you then.
Hartley gives Porsche provisional pole
We'll leave you with our comprehensive qualifying report. Can Porsche hang on to pole after 15 years away? Or will Toyota, or Audi, fight back?
The second part of qualifying kicks off at 19:00 tomorrow. Join us from 18:30 onwards to find out the answers to those questions. See you then.
Hartley gives Porsche provisional pole
Twitter
Some good news on Aston Martin driver Fernando Rees. @AMR_Official: "Just to confirm that Fernando has been checked by medics and is fine. He has a bruised ankle but is being well looked after."
Twitter
A difficult day for the #74 GTE Pro Corvette, as Oliver Gavin explains. @olivergavin: "Tough day for us today. Transmission and other calibration issues meant it was hard to get meaningful running. Hoping for a better run tom[orrow]."
Porsche reveals that its #14 car suffered a hydraulic leak in that session.
Six of the 55 cars have not set a qualifying time. The Nissan ZEOD RC, the #1 Audi, the #41 Greaves Zytek, the #67 IMSA Porsche, the #76 IMSA Porsche and the #90 AF-run 8Star Motorsports Ferrari.
Barrier damage was the reason for the early stoppage tonight.
Twitter
It has been a frustrating day with so many red flags, as Le Mans newcomer Sam Bird has found out. @sambirdracing: "Red flag ... Followed by red flag .. Followed by red flag. I didn't do a lap :( Oh well , it'll be tomorrow that counts, And I'm feeling fast!"
And in GTE Am, provisional pole has been taken by the #72 SMP Ferrari driven by Bertolini.
Race control tells the teams that "until further notice all cars [are] under parc ferme conditions".
In GTE Pro, fastest was the #51 AF Corse Ferrari driven by Bruni.
In LMP2, the #26 OAK Racing Morgan-Nissan LMP2 is on provisional pole courtesy of Pla's lap of 3m38.843s.
So, with the first qualifying session not restarting, Porsche #20 is on provisional pole position thanks to Brendon Hartley's lap of 3m23.157s. Here are the leading times:
1 #20 Porsche (Hartley), 3m23.157s
2 #14 Porsche (Lieb), 3m23.928s
3 #7 Toyota (Wurz), 3m25.313s
4 #8 Toyota (Davidson), 3m25.410s
5 #2 Audi (Lotterer), 3m26.388s
6 #3 Audi (Albuquerque), 3m26.455s
7 #13 Rebellion (Leimer), 3m33.117s
8 #12 Rebellion (Heidfeld), 3m34.922s
1 #20 Porsche (Hartley), 3m23.157s
2 #14 Porsche (Lieb), 3m23.928s
3 #7 Toyota (Wurz), 3m25.313s
4 #8 Toyota (Davidson), 3m25.410s
5 #2 Audi (Lotterer), 3m26.388s
6 #3 Audi (Albuquerque), 3m26.455s
7 #13 Rebellion (Leimer), 3m33.117s
8 #12 Rebellion (Heidfeld), 3m34.922s
Toyota is still waiting for its #7 car to be returned to the pits - Sarrazin's machine has been left behind the barriers at the Dunlop Chicane for now on the back of a truck.
We've just had a brief glimpse of the #99 Aston on the back of a recovery truck. It's suffered heavy damage to the left-hand side and the rear of the car, so that was clearly a big hit in the Porsche Curves.
Checkered flag
The session will not restart
As well as the seven manufacturer cars in the LMP1 class, there are also a couple of the well turned-out Rebellion-Toyota R-Ones. The faster of the two, driven by GP2 champion Fabio Leimer, is seventh fastest, but 9.960s off Hartley's fastest time in the Porsche.
While we have this break, worth bringing to your attention the results of the Porsche Carrera Cup free practice session.
A stellar amalgamated French/GB grid of Porsches, predominantly the new 991-shaped 911s, is supporting the French enduro this year and some top young talent (and returning 1998 Le Mans winner Laurent Aiello) is among the mega 62-car offering.
GP2 race winner Tom Dillmann is among them, but it was Porsche scholar Earl Bamber and young Briton Ben Barker who led the way, with the New Zealander's 4m05.004s beating Barker by 0.421s.
This was AUTOSPORT's view earlier as the field assembled in the pitlane prior to the session starting.
Porsche confirms that when the session restarts, Bernhard will take over from Webber in the #20 car that is currently on provisional pole.
Twitter
Not a major drama for Rees, as AMR confirms on Twitter.
"Incident for our #99 Vantage GTE. We've spoken to @Fernando_Rees and he is fine. Car is being recovered."
"Incident for our #99 Vantage GTE. We've spoken to @Fernando_Rees and he is fine. Car is being recovered."
Here's a recap of the order out front, where it's still a Porsche one-two so far in qualifying: #20 Porsche; #14 Porsche; #7 Toyota; #8 Toyota; #2 Audi; #3 Audi.
Unusually, Sarrazin is still in the Toyota as it is being lifted.
The Toyota is now being lifted.
There's a tractor now.
The Toyota is being attended to by marshals.
Crash
We might have cursed Rees there...he's now stopped halfway through the Porsche Curves.
Red flag
Session stopped.
Gary Watkins reports that the Toyota has suffered a suspected loss of drive.
There have been very few improvements since the session restarted, probably not helped by yellow flags. One man to improve though is Fernando Rees, who has moved the #99 Aston up to sixth in GTE Pro.
Replays show that Sarrazin had some kind of problem and pulled off the track.
Twitter
Patrick Long's a satisfied Dempsey Porsche GTE Am driver right now.
"Hello from Le Mans! Logged my 5 laps at the start of this first quali session. Happy with the balance of the car. P3 at moment"
"Hello from Le Mans! Logged my 5 laps at the start of this first quali session. Happy with the balance of the car. P3 at moment"
The #7 Toyota of Sarrazin has stopped at Dunlop.
Crash
Another off, this time at the first Mulsanne chicane. It's the #95 GTE Am Aston with David Heinemeier Hansson driving.
Crash
The Taisan Ferrari is off again, Ehret at the wheel this time. It's in the gravel at Mulsanne corner.
In the frontrunning cars right now, we have:
#2 Audi: Lotterer
#3 Audi: Jarvis
#7 Toyota: Sarrazin
#8 Toyota: Lapierre
#14 Porsche: Lieb
#20 Porsch: Webber
#2 Audi: Lotterer
#3 Audi: Jarvis
#7 Toyota: Sarrazin
#8 Toyota: Lapierre
#14 Porsche: Lieb
#20 Porsch: Webber
Here are the drivers in the frontrunning GTE cars: Fisichella (#51 AF Corse Ferrari); Senna (#97 Aston); Holzer (#92 Porsche); Basov (#72 SMP Ferrari)*; Perez Companc (#61 AF Corse Ferrari)*.
*GTE Am.
*GTE Am.
Good news - the Nissan ZEOD RC is back on track for the first time since its gearbox failure early in free practice. Ordonez at the wheel.
Green flag
The session is back underway.
The AUTOSPORT Live team has had a punt at what the fastest time in this session will be.
Gary Watkins: 3m20.9s
Glenn Freeman: 3m22.0s
Scott Mitchell: 3m21.5s
Edd Straw: 3m21.2s
Gary Watkins: 3m20.9s
Glenn Freeman: 3m22.0s
Scott Mitchell: 3m21.5s
Edd Straw: 3m21.2s
Twitter
It seems the JMW Motorsport crew (which runs the #66 Ferrari 458) is eager to fill the gap this stoppage has caused, randomly tweeting: "So how is everyone this evening?"
Estimated restart at 2250, so in five minutes.
By: Glenn Freeman, Edd Straw, Scott Mitchell, Gary Watkins
Published:
Page:
