Le Mans 24 Hours 2015 The 83rd Le Mans 24 Hours
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As Bleekemolen extends the #53 Viper's GTE Am lead, Victor Shaitar has moved the #72 Ferrari back ahead of the #98 Aston for second.
The gap between the lead #95 Aston and the chasing #99 has stabilised at five seconds, after a couple of unspectacular laps for Stanaway.
Stopwatch
Lapierre goes even quicker next time around, edging further towards the 3m39s, with a 3m39.168s. Badey responds with a new fastest lap for the TDS entry, but the 3m40.704s is still some way off.
Better from Stanaway: the #99's 4s behind the leading #95 Vantage now.
Fisichella's a couple of seconds back.
Fisichella's a couple of seconds back.
Traffic has spread out the battle for third a bit. Duval now leads Bonanomi by 2.9s, with Tandy 4.4s behind Bonanomi.
Duval will still have eyes on Lieb's Porsche in second, which is only 3.4s ahead of him now.
Hartley leads by 13.1s in the #17 Porsche.
Duval will still have eyes on Lieb's Porsche in second, which is only 3.4s ahead of him now.
Hartley leads by 13.1s in the #17 Porsche.
Yellow flag
We've got yellows at Indianapolis. Unclear why at this stage.
Drama for the former race-leading #7 Audi - Treluyer runs wide on the approach to Tertre Rouge and kisses the barrier. It's been a rough few laps for that car - which was in the lead before it suffered a puncture.
Yellow flag
Debris is the cause of the yellows at Indianapolis, which is not a slow zone.
Sarrazin has just done a 3m24.381s in the #2 Toyota, the quickest of the race for that car. The sister car went a few tenths quicker in the hands of Buemi earlier on.
It would probably be fair to suggest Stanaway is not far off pitting the #99 Aston in second. He was first to stop last time, and has completed 12 laps in this stint.
The first stint, completed at racing speed, was 13 laps for all except the Corvette. So the New Zealander might well be in this time, and for a driver change too.
The first stint, completed at racing speed, was 13 laps for all except the Corvette. So the New Zealander might well be in this time, and for a driver change too.
Crash
Big shunt for Duval in the #8 Audi!
Thiim's first in - the GTE Pro-leading #95 is in the pits.
Crash
Duval lost control trying to avoid a clutch of GTE cars that were slowing for the Indianapolis slow zone. He headed off track to the right before spinning across to the left and smashing the barriers.
Amazingly, he's got going and wrestled the car back to the pits pretty quickly, minus a lot of bodywork.
Amazingly, he's got going and wrestled the car back to the pits pretty quickly, minus a lot of bodywork.
Stanaway stops, as predicted, and is followed in by Fisichella in the #51 Ferrari.
That promoted the #97 Aston into the lead, ahead of the #71 Ferrari and #64 Corvette.
That promoted the #97 Aston into the lead, ahead of the #71 Ferrari and #64 Corvette.
The #8 Audi is wheeled back into the garage for repairs.
Out on track, Bonanomi has passed Lieb for second.
Out on track, Bonanomi has passed Lieb for second.
Amazing work from Audi - the #8 is back out already, with di Grassi now at the wheel.
Unless we're missing something, the #95's having a very long spell in the pits...
Fisichella and Rees, in for Stanaway, have long since left the pitlane.
Fisichella and Rees, in for Stanaway, have long since left the pitlane.
Yellow flag
And now we have a safety car.
Yellow flag
This is the second safety car of the race.
Yellow flag
There are three safety cars at this track. Which group you end up in will be essential in terms of deciding where the gaps are between the leading cars.
Bonanomi pits the #9 Audi from second place under the safety car. The car gets its first tyre change, and warm-up pacesetter Albuquerque takes over.
That stop was a lap early for the #9 Audi relative to is usual sequence.
The #9 Audi has to sit at the end of the pitlane waiting for the next safety car group to come by, so it's taken some pain there, but with a stop due anyway, it was inevitable.
Twitter
@NISMO: "Taking advantage of the safety car to change a loose brake duct on the No.23. Will be back out soon."
Hartley has caught a massive break in the #17 Porsche - he's in the safety-car group ahead of the cars chasing him.
Twitter
Polesitter Jani explains how he struggled at the start.
@PorscheRaces: "@neeljani: After the start for some reason I had no proper boost to accelerate onto Mulsanne and lost the lead."
He added: "It was difficult to drive close behind Timo because I lost downforce in his slipstream and almost ruined my tyres.”
@PorscheRaces: "@neeljani: After the start for some reason I had no proper boost to accelerate onto Mulsanne and lost the lead."
He added: "It was difficult to drive close behind Timo because I lost downforce in his slipstream and almost ruined my tyres.”
Amazingly, considering the size of the impact, the #8 Audi spent just 4m12s in the pits for repairs. So it's just one lap down on the leader.
So we have the #17 Porsche on its own of the leading LMP1 cars in one safety car group. The second group contains the #18 Porsche, #19 Porsche, #7 Audi and the #9 Audi.
Twitter
@PorscheRaces: "@NicoHulkenberg "I had lots of action on my first 36 laps. Start, slow zones, safety car. I'm not a Le Mans virgin anymore and I enjoyed it"
Here's who is currently in the factory LMP1 cars:
#1 Toyota - Davidson
#2 Toyota - Sarrazin
#7 Audi - Treluyer
#8 Audi - Di Grassi
#9 Audi - Albuquerque
#17 Porsche - Hartley
#18 Porsche - Lieb
#19 Porsche - Tandy
#21 Nissan - Shulzhitskiy
#22 Nissan - Krumm
#23 Nissan - Mardenborough
#1 Toyota - Davidson
#2 Toyota - Sarrazin
#7 Audi - Treluyer
#8 Audi - Di Grassi
#9 Audi - Albuquerque
#17 Porsche - Hartley
#18 Porsche - Lieb
#19 Porsche - Tandy
#21 Nissan - Shulzhitskiy
#22 Nissan - Krumm
#23 Nissan - Mardenborough
Audi described the repairs to the #8 car after Duval's shunt as "change of front end, rear end, engine cover". And it only spent 4m12s in the pitlane...
The next car among the leaders that is likely to need fuel is the #19 Porsche that runs third in the hands of Tandy.
Twitter
@NISMO: "18:07. No.22 made a very brief visit to the garage to change a rear light assembly. No time lost due to safety car."
The #23 Nissan leaves the garage after that brief stoppage for a loose brake duct.
In LMP2, that KCMG led by 40 seconds and second-placed TDS Racing pitted just before the safety car was called appears to have blown Lapierre's lead out to almost a lap.
Lapierre was about 40 seconds clear before Badey pitted in the TDS Ligier, and the timing screens are showing that the KCMG ORECA's safety car grouping is three minutes clear, albeit with the field running at reduced speed.
KCMG is still yet to make a fourth stop, while Signatech Alpine has just done that with, having been running in third place.
Lapierre was about 40 seconds clear before Badey pitted in the TDS Ligier, and the timing screens are showing that the KCMG ORECA's safety car grouping is three minutes clear, albeit with the field running at reduced speed.
KCMG is still yet to make a fourth stop, while Signatech Alpine has just done that with, having been running in third place.
Yellow flag
The barrier looks pretty bent out of shape down at Indianapolis where Duval went in.
Twitter
@VanthoorLaurens: "Good first stint. Took things easy to begin with but was able to bring the car in on P4. Still long way to go so getting some sleep now."
So, what's happened in LMP1 so far? Here's a recap:
* #17 Porsche takes the lead on lap one
* Lotterer takes the lead for #7 Audi after a safety car, but a puncture forces an unscheduled stop and drops it down the order
* Duval crashes the third-placed #8 Audi when catching a group of cars slowing for a slow zone at Indianapolis, but the car returns to action after a four-minute stop
* Latest safety car splits the lead battle, leaving Hartley a safety car group ahead in the #17 car again
* Porsches currently 1-2-3 (#17, #18, #19)
* #17 Porsche takes the lead on lap one
* Lotterer takes the lead for #7 Audi after a safety car, but a puncture forces an unscheduled stop and drops it down the order
* Duval crashes the third-placed #8 Audi when catching a group of cars slowing for a slow zone at Indianapolis, but the car returns to action after a four-minute stop
* Latest safety car splits the lead battle, leaving Hartley a safety car group ahead in the #17 car again
* Porsches currently 1-2-3 (#17, #18, #19)
Bernhard Le Mans 2015
Here's a look at the GTE Pro order:
1. #99 Aston, Rees
2. #71 Ferrari, Rigon
3. #97 Aston, Turner
4. #63 Corvette, Milner
5. #51 Ferrari, Fisichella
6. #91 Porsche, Christensen
The big stories:
* Long-time leader Thiim pits the #95 Aston, which is wheeled into the garage with an unknown problem
* The #92 Porsche suffers a dramatic fire at the start of the second hour and retires
1. #99 Aston, Rees
2. #71 Ferrari, Rigon
3. #97 Aston, Turner
4. #63 Corvette, Milner
5. #51 Ferrari, Fisichella
6. #91 Porsche, Christensen
The big stories:
* Long-time leader Thiim pits the #95 Aston, which is wheeled into the garage with an unknown problem
* The #92 Porsche suffers a dramatic fire at the start of the second hour and retires
Pilet, Le Mans 2015
And in GTE Am:
1. #53 Riley Viper, Bleekemolen
2. #72 SMP Ferrari, Shaytar
3. #88 Abu Dhabi-Proton Porsche, Ried
1. #53 Riley Viper, Bleekemolen
2. #72 SMP Ferrari, Shaytar
3. #88 Abu Dhabi-Proton Porsche, Ried
By: Scott Mitchell, AUTOSPORT staff, Mitchell Adam, Glenn Freeman, Edd Straw, Gary Watkins
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