Le Mans 24 Hours 2015 The 83rd Le Mans 24 Hours
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@MurphyPrototype: "A small error in strategy meant that Karun had to wait at the end of the pit lane for over a minute after his latest stop. Currently in P6."
Side-by-side for first! Side-by-side for third!
Where to look? No idea. Let's give the lead battle a try.
Still Milner hangs on despite a fierce attempt from Turner, who draws alongside into Mulsanne Corner - but he's on the outside. It's very difficult to overtake that way, and Turner can't on this occassion.
But Rees can! He has a slightly better run on the #71 Ferrari than Turner did on the Corvette, and Rees moves the #99 into third.
So it's Corvette-Aston-Aston-Ferrari now. Excellent stuff.
Where to look? No idea. Let's give the lead battle a try.
Still Milner hangs on despite a fierce attempt from Turner, who draws alongside into Mulsanne Corner - but he's on the outside. It's very difficult to overtake that way, and Turner can't on this occassion.
But Rees can! He has a slightly better run on the #71 Ferrari than Turner did on the Corvette, and Rees moves the #99 into third.
So it's Corvette-Aston-Aston-Ferrari now. Excellent stuff.
corvette le mans 2015
Turner has spun! The #97 ends up facing the wrong way at the first Mulsanne chicane, and the Aston drops out of second.
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@LarbreComp: "Let's just say we've had an eventful first 4 hours at #LM24! Another unscheduled pitstop after being caught up in an LMP1 crash."
The next car in will be the #9 Audi of Albuquerque, He took over the car with fresh tyres under the safety car, so it will just be for fuel.
Albuquerque is hacking away at Hartley's lead. It's down from 18s after Hartley's stop to 11s now.
P3 Treluyer is +49s, with Lieb and Bamber more than one minute back in the other two Porsches to complete the top five.
P3 Treluyer is +49s, with Lieb and Bamber more than one minute back in the other two Porsches to complete the top five.
Porsche and Audi are going at it on track, but not for position. Di Grassi is hassling the race leader to try to claim his lap back, and eventually Hartley relents and lets the #8 car go.
Di Grassi clearly fancied getting under the leader's skin there, he was flashing his headlights like mad as they went down the main straight. For the moment, that's not a battle Hartley needs - his fight is with the other two Audis that are within a minute of him.
Di Grassi clearly fancied getting under the leader's skin there, he was flashing his headlights like mad as they went down the main straight. For the moment, that's not a battle Hartley needs - his fight is with the other two Audis that are within a minute of him.
Treluyer is lapping consistently strongly in the #7 Audi in third place. He's set times between 3m20.5s and 3m20.6s for the past three laps, making him the fastest on track among the leaders during that period.
That aggro for Hartley means he now leads the soon-to-stop Albuquerque by just 5s. And Albuquerque is flying right now.
Lapierre led Estre in the OAK by 37 seconds, before the latter pitted. He's handed over to Cumming, but it appears to have been a slow stop, and the Canadian joins the race in seventh place.
Greaves has also pitted, with Hirsch staying behind the wheel and in third place.
Greaves has also pitted, with Hirsch staying behind the wheel and in third place.
GARY WATKINS: Both Toyotas have just set their fastest times of the race, that's a 3m22.9s for Davidson and a 3m23.5s for Sarrazin.
That suggests that the TS040 is, as predicted by Toyota, just a couple of seconds off the pace.
That suggests that the TS040 is, as predicted by Toyota, just a couple of seconds off the pace.
Stopwatch
Hartley's played it smart, settling in behind the charging di Grassi rather than trying to get in the Audi's way.
Behind him, Albuquerque sets a new fastest lap - 3m18.477s.
Behind him, Albuquerque sets a new fastest lap - 3m18.477s.
Two of the Nissans, cars #21 and #22, have just set their fastest laps of the race in the hands of Krumm and Shulzhitskiy respectively. They both did 3m40s, around 22s off the fastest lap of the race that was just set by Albuquerque in the #9 Audi.
Milner's GTE lead is 1.5s over Rees, who has dropped Rigon in third.
Turner's set a new PB for the #97 as he bids to make up for lost time - he's only 9.1s off the class lead and homing in on the #71 Ferrari in third.
Turner's set a new PB for the #97 as he bids to make up for lost time - he's only 9.1s off the class lead and homing in on the #71 Ferrari in third.
Stopwatch
Albuquerque is charging - still yet to pit, he posts a 3m17.647s. He's now all over the leading Porsche of Hartley.
The #8 Audi of di Grassi heads in for fuel.
Second and fourth in LMP2, Badey and Panciatici have pitted and rejoined the race.
Rigon brings the #71 Ferrari into the pits, releasing the #97 in third.
Rees has Milner's class lead down to one second.
Rees has Milner's class lead down to one second.
Albuquerque survives a near-miss with a GTE Porsche on the exit of the Porsche Curves, and then dives into the pits having spent that lap on Hartley's tail.
Early stop that, for Rigon. The AF Corse Ferrari in much sooner than expected.
For reference, including an outlap and four tours under the safety car, the #71 completed just 12 laps in that stint.
That's the shortest we've seen so far (equal with Gavin's opening run in the Corvette) and surprising given the amount of time under the safety car.
For reference, including an outlap and four tours under the safety car, the #71 completed just 12 laps in that stint.
That's the shortest we've seen so far (equal with Gavin's opening run in the Corvette) and surprising given the amount of time under the safety car.
Bamber is settling in well on his Le Mans 24 Hours debut in the #19 Porsche. He's currently 19th and has been lapping in the 3m20s and low 3m21s for the past few laps. Last time round, he was the fastest of the three Porsches.
Following Albuquerque's stop, Treluyer now leads the chase of Hartley, 49s behind the leader.
Albuquerque is 1m00s off the lead in third, just ahead of Lieb's Porsche.
Albuquerque is 1m00s off the lead in third, just ahead of Lieb's Porsche.
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@NISMO: "No.23 in the garage to rectify a small gear shifting issue."
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Rees is as close as he's been to the #64 Corvette ahead, but both should be due into the pits soon. This lap might be a bit early though.
In the intra-Toyota battle, with Davidson in the #1 car and Sarrazin in the #2 car, the former is doing the better job. Over the past seven laps, he has pulled 10.101s over the Frenchman.
The #99 Aston Martin leads GTE Pro again!
Rees gets a good run down the Mulsanne, draws alongside the Corvette and dives by under braking for the first chicane.
Milner's coming back at him, but Rees has it covered for now.
Rees gets a good run down the Mulsanne, draws alongside the Corvette and dives by under braking for the first chicane.
Milner's coming back at him, but Rees has it covered for now.
Side-by-side again for the lead of GTE Pro! Milner attacks into into Mulsanne Corner and tags him as he tries to cut back underneath.
The #74 Corvette won't give up though and as they run down towards Indianapolis it's back into first place through the right-hander.
The #74 Corvette won't give up though and as they run down towards Indianapolis it's back into first place through the right-hander.
Over the past six laps, Bamber in the #19 has been the fastest of the three Porsche 919s. But he is on fresher rubber than both Hartley in the #17 and Lieb in the #18. Of those two, who have very similar-aged tyres, Lieb is around a second per lap faster on average.
Now the Audis are fat with fuel again, Hartley is able to turn the tide. He was under siege in terms of laptime before Albuquerque's stop, but at the moment he has the measure of Treluyer's #7 and the #9 in third, with the gaps more than 50s and 1m00s respectively.
There you go, Rees lasted another lap (as predicted, we write smugly) and is now into the pits in the Aston having lost the lead.
No tyres, just fuel.
No tyres, just fuel.
Davidson does a 3m22.923s in the #1 Toyota. That's the fastest we've seen either of the TS040s go in the race.
Also into the pits are Fisichella in the #51 Ferrari and Christensen in the #91 Porsche.
KCMG's lead over TDS - which has made an extra stop - is 86 seconds. Not quite as close as the LMP1 or GT action, but it's still ticking along.
Fourth in LMP2, Chandhok has just set Murphy's fastest lap of the race, a 3m40.730s. The team has made steady progress from eighth on the class grid and generally able to go a couple of laps longer than most other cars.
At the last stop, that didn't quite pay off, having to wait until the next group of cars behind the safety car rolled around to rejoin the race.
Fourth in LMP2, Chandhok has just set Murphy's fastest lap of the race, a 3m40.730s. The team has made steady progress from eighth on the class grid and generally able to go a couple of laps longer than most other cars.
At the last stop, that didn't quite pay off, having to wait until the next group of cars behind the safety car rolled around to rejoin the race.
Bamber pits in the #19 Porsche, which runs fifth.
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@AMR_Official: "So who's enjoying our battle with @corvetteracing? @fernandorees pits but we look forward to meeting them on track later."
Albuquerque has gone from attack to defence since his stop. He's now got the #18 Porsche of Lieb for company in the battle for third. They are around 8s behind Treluyer in P2.
The #17 Porsche that leads in the hands of Hartley is currently on its second stint on its second set of Michelins of the race.
The #64 Corvette and #97 Aston stopped the latest of the frontrunners last time, so no surprise they've run a little longer.
Should be in this lap but have another in the tank in theory.
Christensen's jumped Fisichella in the pits, so the Porsche is up to fifth in GTE Pro.
Should be in this lap but have another in the tank in theory.
Christensen's jumped Fisichella in the pits, so the Porsche is up to fifth in GTE Pro.
Lieb suffers in traffic in the Porsche Curves and the final chicane, so Albuquerque gets a bit of a gap for now in third.
Turner pits (we're smug) but Milner cracks on.
Would appear that Fisichella spent a long time in the pits in the #51 Ferrari last time, though it's now showing the AF Corse as having left the pitlane.
Would appear that Fisichella spent a long time in the pits in the #51 Ferrari last time, though it's now showing the AF Corse as having left the pitlane.
By: Scott Mitchell, AUTOSPORT staff, Mitchell Adam, Glenn Freeman, Edd Straw, Gary Watkins
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