Le Mans 24 Hours 2015 The 83rd Le Mans 24 Hours
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Di Grassi bangs in the fastest middle sector for the #8 Audi. The middle sector runs from Tertre Rouge to Mulsanne Corner.
Calado's pit the #71 Ferrari. Looked like a slightly tardy getaway, but he's back on track now.
Breaking news
Bell's just copped a 15-second stop-go penalty for speeding in the pitlane.
Lotterer is 2m26s behind the second-placed #18 Porsche. He's lapping rapidly, but not anywhere near fast enough to catch him.
Here comes Bell, drafting the Porsche down the Mulsanne. Long defends, Bell tries to go round the outside in the same places as before - but thinks better of it this time.
The #9 Audi pitstop is under investigation. The reason is not yet clear.
Still the GTE battle continues, and still the gap is eight seconds - Vilander not giving much away, Taylor not giving up at all.
In GTE Am, Bell has caught Long - let that particular fight recommence.
In GTE Am, Bell has caught Long - let that particular fight recommence.
Remarkably, there are still 43 cars being scored in this race - although the two cars at the back, the #23 and the #22 Nissan, are both in the pits.
Lotterer still cracking on. He just did a 3m19.497s.
They are also changing the tyres. But there is no driver change.
The #18 Porsche pits from fifth place. Dumas takes on fuel.
The net result of Lapierre's excursion and those pitstops is that KCMG leads by 1m10s, with Turvey a further 36s behind.
Di Grassi is responding to the pressure and sets the fastest first sector of the race for the #8 Audi.
Behind him, Bird has pitted and rejoined the race, while Evans has handed the Jota over to Turvey.
Di Grassi has a lead of only 22s over the #18 Porsche of Dumas in the battle for fourth.
Twitter
@Audi__Sport: "No. 9 rejoins after 17m in the pit garage. Crew changed front left driveshaft."
Replays suggest it might have been a good, old-fashioned 'off' for Lapierre through the gravel, rather than the car stopping as it did earlier.
The #22 Nissan of Tincknell is being declared slow by race control. It's down in 22nd place with no hope of being a classified finisher even if it reaches the chequered flag.
The #9 Audi was in the pits for 18m28s.
With a push back down the hill from the officials, Lapierre is able to restart the car and continue. Led by 1m38s before that moment, but it'll be a lot tighter now.
So Albuquerque now has to chase the #2 Toyota, currently driven by Conway, to get back into the top six. It will take a while, even though the Toyota isn't particularly quick.
Yellow flag
Lapierre has stopped the KCMG on the escape road at Indianapolis. They had a moment like this a couple of hours ago, but were able to restart and continue.
The #9 Audi returns to the track with Albuquerque now at the wheel.
Like clockwork, another 12-lap, approximately 45-minute KCMG stint is in the books. Lapierre pits and goes back on his way. Three more stops will get them to 3pm.
The #2 Toyota has moved up to sixth place thanks to the #9 Audi still being in the garage.
Vilander's driven well and neutralised the threat from Taylor in the early laps of this stint. The gap is up to 6.6s at the front.
The #17 Porsche is in the pits for fuel, tyres and a driver change. Bernhard out, Hartley in.
Lotterer has certainly been pushing on in the #7 Audi. He is well under the 3m20s mark in third place.
Talking of Kapadia, the #67 Porsche he is part of the crew of is currently ninth in GTE Am.
The real battle of interest on screen was between the #77 Porsche and #62 Ferrari for third in GTE Am.
Patrick Long and Townsend Bell have been trading blows for a while but it ends in tears for the Ferrari when Bell tries to force the issue round the outside at Mulsanne Corner and ends up spinning.
Patrick Long and Townsend Bell have been trading blows for a while but it ends in tears for the Ferrari when Bell tries to force the issue round the outside at Mulsanne Corner and ends up spinning.
Twitter
@alexkapadia: "Done 9hrs in the car now. Back hurts and foot is slightly numb. Will be getting back in car for the last two stints. #justneedtofinish"
The #9 Audi remains in the pits. It won't be too much longer before it loses sixth place to the #2 Toyota.
Breaking news
This is the GTE Pro order:
1. #51 Ferrari
2. #64 Corvette
3. #71 Ferrari
4. #95 Aston
5. #91 Porsche
And the GTE Pro story so far:
* #51 Ferrari fights back from early delay to lead
* #64 Corvette remains firmly in contention
* #71 Ferrari runs third after changing starter motor early on
* Sole remaining Porsche loses podium slot to gearbox leak; other 911 RSR expired in fiery fashion in the first couple of hours
* AMR out of Pro fight following a crash for the #99, delays for the #95 and engine failure for the #97
1. #51 Ferrari
2. #64 Corvette
3. #71 Ferrari
4. #95 Aston
5. #91 Porsche
And the GTE Pro story so far:
* #51 Ferrari fights back from early delay to lead
* #64 Corvette remains firmly in contention
* #71 Ferrari runs third after changing starter motor early on
* Sole remaining Porsche loses podium slot to gearbox leak; other 911 RSR expired in fiery fashion in the first couple of hours
* AMR out of Pro fight following a crash for the #99, delays for the #95 and engine failure for the #97
Bruni Le Mans 2015
Bird has stretched his advantage over Evans to 16 seconds in the fight for second.
And the #8 Audi of Di Grassi returns to the track. That's closed up the battle for fourth.
The #8 Audi has returned to the pits. It is not yet clear what has caused this unscheduled stop.
Currently, Dumas in the #18 Porsche is the fastest on the track. He did a 3m19.590s last time round. That car is in fifth and 80.6s behind the #8 Audi.
Lapierre's march continues into the final three hours. KCMG leads by 2m13s, and he's just set a new fastest lap for the car - 3m36.836s.
The #9 Audi is still being worked on in the garage.
Twitter
Finally some good news from Nissan:
@NISMO: "The No.22 is back in the race! No.23 still being worked on."
@NISMO: "The No.22 is back in the race! No.23 still being worked on."
By: Scott Mitchell, AUTOSPORT staff, Mitchell Adam, Glenn Freeman, Edd Straw, Gary Watkins
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