Le Mans 24 Hours 2014 Wednesday: Practice and qualifying
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From @NissanZEODRC: "ZEOD back in the garage. We had a gearbox issue. We're swapping out the entire rear. Hope to get back out tonight."
The #43 Morand Morgan-Judd/BMW and the #92 Manthey Porsche are the only other cars yet to register a time.
The #43 Morand Morgan-Judd/BMW and the #92 Manthey Porsche are the only other cars yet to register a time.
We're past halfway on the clock now, and at the front the order is #8 Toyota, #1 Audi, #7 Toyota, #2 Audi, #3 Audi, #20 Porsche, #14 Porsche, followed by the two Rebellion R-Ones.
The #35 OAK Ligier leads LMP2, while the #71 AF Corse Ferrari leads GTE Pro. Another AF Ferrari, the #81 car, leads the way in GTE Am.
The #35 OAK Ligier leads LMP2, while the #71 AF Corse Ferrari leads GTE Pro. Another AF Ferrari, the #81 car, leads the way in GTE Am.
Chatin is the first driver to improve since the resumption of the session, jumping to second on a 3m41.096s.
Breaking news
If you're just joining our coverage, here is what we know about #1 Audi driver Loic Duval after that massive accident at the Porsche Curves:
Duval conscious after huge crash
Duval conscious after huge crash
The #62 GTE Am AF Ferrari has spun at the first Mulsanne chicane.
Audi is getting back to work. Both of its cars are on the pit apron, getting ready to return to the track.
Dumas in the #14 Porsche 919 leads the cars onto the track.
Green flag
Free practice is back underway.
Should the session resume when estimated, there will be just over two hours left on the clock.
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From Audi Sport: "Duval is alert. He will be transported from the Medical Center to the hospital for further examinations."
Breaking news
Race control estimates that the session will restart at 1755, which is in nine minutes.
Radio Le Mans has spoken to Audi Sport boss Dr Wolfgang Ullrich, who said that Duval is talking and has been taken away for checks after his massive accident.
While the car has been cleared up, the session will not get back underway any time soon. Significant work needs to be done to repair the fencing. There's currently two hours 20 minutes remaining in this free practice session.
The truck carrying the #1 Audi has made it back to the pits.
The garage door of the #1 Audi pit has been closed. Work is continuing to load the car onto a truck. Looks like there will also need to be some barrier repairs.
The Audi is being loaded onto a truck and has a cover over it. An ambulance is driving away from the scene.
This looks like it will be a very lengthy stoppage.
We haven't seen the accident itself, but the Audi has suffered substantial damage.
It's the #1 Audi driven by Duval at the Porsche Curves.
Red flag
Session stopped for a huge accident.
After one hour, here are the leading LMP1 runners:
LMP1:
1. #8 Toyota 3m23.652s
2. #1 Audi +0.832s
3. #7 Toyota +1.566s
4. #2 Audi +2.248s
5. #20 Porsche +3.273s
And the top three from the other classes:
LMP2:
1. #35 OAK Ligier-Nissan 3m40.11s
2. #48 Murphy ORECA-Nissan
3. #47 KCMG ORECA-Nissan
GTE Pro:
1. #71 AF Corse Ferrari 3m58.263s
2. #91 Manthey Porsche
3. #51 AF Corse Ferrari
GTE Am:
1. #81 AF Corse Ferrari 3m59.497s
2. #61 AF Corse Ferrari
3. #77 Dempsey Porsche
LMP1:
1. #8 Toyota 3m23.652s
2. #1 Audi +0.832s
3. #7 Toyota +1.566s
4. #2 Audi +2.248s
5. #20 Porsche +3.273s
And the top three from the other classes:
LMP2:
1. #35 OAK Ligier-Nissan 3m40.11s
2. #48 Murphy ORECA-Nissan
3. #47 KCMG ORECA-Nissan
GTE Pro:
1. #71 AF Corse Ferrari 3m58.263s
2. #91 Manthey Porsche
3. #51 AF Corse Ferrari
GTE Am:
1. #81 AF Corse Ferrari 3m59.497s
2. #61 AF Corse Ferrari
3. #77 Dempsey Porsche
Interesting that it took only an hour for the P1 boys to get into the same second as the quickest times at the Test Day. Davidson is now only six tenths off team-mate Buemi's table-topping time from earlier this month
Stopwatch
Davidson improves again to 3m23.652s, over a second up on Duval's #1 Audi.
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Jurgen Barth
@gazzasportscars has just run into 1977 Le Mans winner Jurgen Barth. Their chat centred on two things: the Porsche 908/3 (obviously) and food (rather less obviously).
Jurgen is writing a cook book. Is there no end to the man's talents? He's been a driver, rule maker, series boss, race official and author over the years, and now it turns out he's a bit of a dab hand in the kitchen.
Stopwatch
Davidson retakes top spot for Toyota, putting in a 3m23.897s lap. That's just under nine-tenths slower than the fastest time on the test day.
According to race control, the #3 Audi driven by Bonanomi has had a trip through the gravel at the first Mulsanne chicane
Only five of the 55 cars have yet to complete flying laps: The Nissan ZEOD (which stopped on track with a 'drive' issue), the #26 OAK Morgan, the #43 Morand Morgan, the #72 SMP Ferrari and the #92 Manthey Porsche.
Mirko Venturi makes it an AF Ferrari one-two at the top of the GTE-Am times, but falls 0.001s shy of Bird's benchmark.
Porsche made some cooling tweaks to the #20 car and has now sent Webber back out.
We also now have a full-house of LMP1 cars in the top nine positions on the timesheets. The Rebellion R-Ones have now both set times, albeit over 15s off the pace.
Breaking news
Ligier's P2, atop the class times with Jann Mardenborough's OAK example, is a lone beast at present – it's the only coupe in the class.
We know that'll change next season, with ORECA and HPD committed to building closed-top P2 cars, and now British constructor Zytek will join them as well.
GARY WATKINS has the story:
Zytek announces LMP2 coupe for 2016
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.
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
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.
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.
And there's the first flying lap from a Rebellion, with Dominik Kraihamer going eighth fastest on a 3m40.303s in the #13 car.
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.
Mardenborough leaps to P2 top spot, improving to a 3m42.277s – a second faster than Chatin as the times begin to tumble.
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.
Stopwatch
Sarrazin knocks Toyota team-mate Davidson off top spot, setting a 3m25.463s.
By: Glenn Freeman, Edd Straw, Scott Mitchell, Gary Watkins
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