Le Mans 24 Hours 2014 Wednesday: Practice and qualifying
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The #7 Toyota of Sarrazin has stopped at Dunlop.
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"
Replays show that Sarrazin had some kind of problem and pulled off the track.
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.
Gary Watkins reports that the Toyota has suffered a suspected loss of drive.
Red flag
Session stopped.
Crash
We might have cursed Rees there...he's now stopped halfway through the Porsche Curves.
The Toyota is being attended to by marshals.
There's a tractor now.
The Toyota is now being lifted.
Unusually, Sarrazin is still in the Toyota as it is being lifted.
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.
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."
Porsche confirms that when the session restarts, Bernhard will take over from Webber in the #20 car that is currently on provisional pole.
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.
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.
Checkered flag
The session will not restart
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.
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.
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
In LMP2, the #26 OAK Racing Morgan-Nissan LMP2 is on provisional pole courtesy of Pla's lap of 3m38.843s.
In GTE Pro, fastest was the #51 AF Corse Ferrari driven by Bruni.
Race control tells the teams that "until further notice all cars [are] under parc ferme conditions".
And in GTE Am, provisional pole has been taken by the #72 SMP Ferrari driven by Bertolini.
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!"
Barrier damage was the reason for the early stoppage tonight.
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.
Porsche reveals that its #14 car suffered a hydraulic leak in that session.
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]."
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."
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
By: Glenn Freeman, Edd Straw, Scott Mitchell, Gary Watkins
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