Le Mans 24 Hours 2014 Wednesday: Practice and qualifying
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Welcome to the start of AUTOSPORT's live coverage of the 2014 Le Mans 24 Hours.
Four hours of free practice are about to begin at a warm Circuit de la Sarthe, before the first qualifying session (and night running) is held later on.
Four hours of free practice are about to begin at a warm Circuit de la Sarthe, before the first qualifying session (and night running) is held later on.
2014 Le Mans 24 Hours driver photo
Engines have been running in the pitlane for the last 20 minutes or so, as the teams get ready to roll out for the first time since the test day on June 1.
Breaking news
Toyota, Le Mans test day
Toyota set the pace when the cars were in action earlier this month for the test, but the best of the Audis was within one second of the pace set by Sebastien Buemi.
All seven of the factory LMP1 cars from Toyota, Audi and Porsche were covered by less than two seconds.
Air temperature is 24C with five minutes to go until the session kicks off.
Plenty of the cars have been pushed out of the garages and onto the pit apron already, including two Audis, one Porsche, and one Toyota.
With a couple of minutes to go before this four-hour free practice session, there's already a queue forming at the pitlane exit. One of the Toyotas is at the front of the line.
Green flag
And the 2014 Le Mans 24 Hours weekend is go. Anthony Davidson leads a queue of cars onto the track for free practice.
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@Audi__Sport: "Starting drivers: No.1 Tom Kristensen, No.2 Benoît @BenoitTreluyer, No.3 @Marco@MarcoBonanomi"
The #20 Porsche 919 Hybrid is behind Davidson on track, with Le Mans returnee Mark Webber at the wheel.
AUTOSPORT's media centre vantage point is perfectly positioned to scrutinise AF Corse's pitstop efforts.
There are a number of LMP2 cars on track, with the likes of Mika Salo (SMP ORECA), and OAK Ligier duo Ho-Pin Tung (OAK Ligier) and Jann Mardenborough among 12 of the 18-strong field on early flying laps.
Stopwatch
Davidson, piloting the #8 Toyota TS040, becomes the first driver to complete a flying lap, putting in a 3m26.417s. That's around 3.4s slower than the car's fastest lap on the test day. Still a quick start on a dirty track.
And Sarrazin makes it a Toyota one-two, putting in a 3m29.014s in the #7 car.
Yellow flag
The distinctive Nissan Zeod already seems to be in trouble. It has stopped on track and is being attended to by marshals.
Salo's the first to set a time in P2, but it's an unrepresentative 3m56.029s – to put that in perspective, the fastest Test Day time was 3m37.795s (#26 OAK Morgan-Nissan).
The Nissan Zeod RC is being pushed to safety after stopping on its outlap. Looks like it's at the second chicane on the Mulsanne Straight. We've also got the #92 Manthey Porsche 911 RSR crawling slowly around the circuit.
Johnny Mowlem's the early GTE-Am benchmark in the Ram Racing Ferrari 458 Italian. The Briton's time is a 4m03.600s.
Stopwatch
Davidson improves his fastest lap to a 3m26.063s. He currently 1.759s faster than Toyota team-mate Sarrazin.
Ludovic Badey brings the quickest P2 time down to 3m48.287s in the Thiriet by TDS Ligier-Nissan.
Marco Holzer is still trying to get the #92 Manthey Porsche back to the pits. It's not fast, but he's getting there.
Matt Howson goes almost a second clear at the top of the P2 times, the #47 KCMG ORECA lapping in 3m47.485s.
The #14 Porsche of Marc Lieb returns to the pits and is wheeled back into the garage. The #92 Manthey Porsche has also finally made it back to the pits.
Mowlem improves to a 4m02.757s, leading a Ferrari 1-2-3 in GTE-Am with Al Faisal (JMW) and Giammaria (AF Corse) behind.
Incidentally, Mowlem's time is quicker than any of the GTE-Pro drivers' early attempts. Mind you, that's a touch irrelevant at this stage.
Incidentally, Mowlem's time is quicker than any of the GTE-Pro drivers' early attempts. Mind you, that's a touch irrelevant at this stage.
Tandy currently sets the GTE Pro pace in the #91 Manthey Porsche on a 4m02.793s.
Single-seater convert Sam Bird jumps to second quickest in GTE-Am, 0.02s slower than Mowlem. It's now a Ferrari 1-2-3-4-5!
Stopwatch
Davidson improves again. He's put in a 3m25.767s.
Tandy has improved to a 4m02.053s, meaning he has jumped clear of the leading GTE Am cars.
P2 is now topped by the #34 Race Performance ORECA-Judd/BMW, which Franck Mailleux has just wrestled a 3m44.021s out of.
Davidson heads into the pits in the Toyota after completing a seven-lap opening run for the #7 car. So far, 33 cars have posted laptimes.
Breaking news
The top seven positions are occupied by the works Toyotas, Audis and Porsches. The other two top-class cars, the Rebellion R-Ones running in the LMP1-L class, have not set flying laps but have each completed an installation lap.
Rebellion has been given a series of performance breaks to allow it to be more competitive, giving it a 40kg weight break and an increase in fuel allowance and capacity.
Rebellion has been given a series of performance breaks to allow it to be more competitive, giving it a 40kg weight break and an increase in fuel allowance and capacity.
Bird twice improves the #81 AF Ferrari's best time to move into (and then consolidate) GTE-Am top spot.
That class benchmark is now 3m59.497s – the first sub-4m lap of the session for any GT car – and so Bird's back above Pro pacesetter Tandy.
That class benchmark is now 3m59.497s – the first sub-4m lap of the session for any GT car – and so Bird's back above Pro pacesetter Tandy.
Stopwatch
Sarrazin knocks Toyota team-mate Davidson off top spot, setting a 3m25.463s.
Change at the top of P2 as well, as Paul-Loup Chatin puts the #36 Signatech Alpine ORECA-Nissan quickest on a 3m43.210s.
Karun Chandhok has moved into second fastest in his similarly-chassised/engined Murphy Prototypes machine, with Mailleux bumped to third in class.
Karun Chandhok has moved into second fastest in his similarly-chassised/engined Murphy Prototypes machine, with Mailleux bumped to third in class.
Mardenborough leaps to P2 top spot, improving to a 3m42.277s – a second faster than Chatin as the times begin to tumble.
Bird's been joined in the sub-4m club in GTE-Am by Joe Foster's #77 Dempsey Porsche. That's the new, 991-shaped 911 for you Porsche fans out there.
First person to tweet Edd Straw with the names of the teams running old 997-shaped Porsches wins five AUTOSPORT Live points.
First person to tweet Edd Straw with the names of the teams running old 997-shaped Porsches wins five AUTOSPORT Live points.
And there's the first flying lap from a Rebellion, with Dominik Kraihamer going eighth fastest on a 3m40.303s in the #13 car.
Chatin improves to leapfrog Chandhok for second (the Frenchman's now on a 3m42.807s) but Mardenborough's slashed his quickest time by two seconds, so his benchmark now stands at 3m40.611s.
Stopwatch
Davidson retakes top spot, lapping 0.152s faster than Sarrazin. It's still a Toyota one-two in favour of the #8 car. Next best is Benoit Treluyer's Audi R18, 2.592s off the pace.
Di Grassi has gone third fastest in the #1 Audi. He's just nine-tenths off, and set the fastest times we've seen so far in the first and third sectors.
Stopwatch
Di Grassi puts Audi to the top of the times for the first time in this session. He's set a 3m24.729s, 0.582s faster than Davidson.
By: Glenn Freeman, Edd Straw, Scott Mitchell, Gary Watkins
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