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24 Hours of Le Mans
Le Mans 24 Hours 2015 The 83rd Le Mans 24 Hours
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New fastest time for Berthon in the #48 Murphy ORECA, currently fourth in LMP2 and still a long way behind the third-placed #26 Ligier.
Things have stabilised out front now. Bamber is keeping his lead over Bonanomi at over 40 seconds again, while Treluyer is making very few inroads, still 1m08s off the leading Porsche.
The other SMP BRE machine (#27) is also wheeled into the garage - perhaps the team have detected a fault that affects both cars.
Bamber puts in a much-needed 3m21s, just to stem the tide against Bonanomi, who loses ground with a 3m24s that lap. The lead gap increases to 42.0s.
More problems for the #37 SMP Racing BRE. It's wheeled back into the garage but is already last in class by some five laps...
The #98 Aston leads GTE Am but is being closed down by the #72 Ferrari. Matthias Lauda's not having a great stint, and is losing a lot of time to Victor Shaytar behind.
Stanaway > Milner is 52s since the Corvette stopped. Both cars have been down the pitlane 12 times.
It's a third 3m25s in succession for Bamber. Bonanomi takes another couple of seconds out of the #19 Porsche's lead, which comes down to 39.2s.
Another stop for the leading LMP2 #47 car. This time Lapierre has no problems and is quickly back on his way.
Hartley pits the #17 car from fourth place.
Bamber's had two 3m25s laps in a row now, so Bonanomi is hacking away at his lead. It's down to 41s, and the #7 car is 1m12s back in third.
Milner's relinquished the GTE lead, pitting the Corvette and heading out again. Stanaway, whose pace has understandably improved as this stint has developed, assumes the mantle of race leader once more.
That Audi driver-change stop took 15-16s longer than both the leading Porsches managed when they last swapped drivers. There seemed to be a delay with the wheel gun between removing the wheel and then attaching the new one. Strange.
Bamber lost another second in the first half of lap 200, but Lotterer was then delayed in the Porsche Curves before pitting at the end of the lap.
The #19 Porsche leads again, and Lotterer hands over to Treluyer after spending 1m31s in the pits. Bonanomi moves the #9 Audi back into second place, 45s behind Bamber.
The #19 Porsche leads again, and Lotterer hands over to Treluyer after spending 1m31s in the pits. Bonanomi moves the #9 Audi back into second place, 45s behind Bamber.
Bamber is into the 3m22s but Lotterer decides that won't be enough. The Audi man does a 3m20.7s to extend his lead by another 1.7s on lap 199.
LMP1 leaders:
1 #7 Audi (Lotterer)
2 #19 Porsche (Bamber), +9.7s
3 #9 Audi (Bonanomi), +55s
4 #17 Porsche (Hartley), +2m03s
1 #7 Audi (Lotterer)
2 #19 Porsche (Bamber), +9.7s
3 #9 Audi (Bonanomi), +55s
4 #17 Porsche (Hartley), +2m03s
Lotterer gives Bamber a ruthless welcome to the battle for the lead - pulling away by four seconds on the Porsche's outlap. The gap shoots up to 8.1s by the start/finish line.
Tincknell sets a new personal best for the #22 Nissan, which sits a troubled 47th overall - 3m38.196s.
Thiriet pits for fuel from second in LMP2. The #46 car is currently losing a couple of seconds per lap to leader Lapierre who is re-establishing the KCMG car's authority at the front.
Scratch that – the #91 Porsche was wheeled into the garage during its last stop for minor repairs. So it was actually a lap down on the Ferrari, and now isn't - but stays fourth.
Blame our weary eyes.
Blame our weary eyes.
Tandy pits after a phenomenal job taking the fight to Audi, keeping the #19 Porsche out front for so long.
Bamber gets in, with a fresh set of tyres, and Lotterer sweeps through Turn 1 as he exits the pits. The #7 Audi leads by 4s. Let's see how that gap develops in Bamber's first stint.
Bamber gets in, with a fresh set of tyres, and Lotterer sweeps through Turn 1 as he exits the pits. The #7 Audi leads by 4s. Let's see how that gap develops in Bamber's first stint.
The #51 Ferrari has pit and that should allow the #91 Porsche back into third place.
There's going to be huge pressure on Bamber when he jumps in the #19. He's going to be head-to-head with one of sportscar racing's true stars in Lotterer, and he's got to live up to the performances Hulkenberg and Tandy have shown in that car tonight.
Between them, those two have hauled that car into a race-leading position, and they'll expect it returned to them in similar fashion when Bamber's stint comes to an end.
For now, Tandy is back in the 3m21s, preventing Lotterer from making inroads. The gap is 1m05s.
Between them, those two have hauled that car into a race-leading position, and they'll expect it returned to them in similar fashion when Bamber's stint comes to an end.
For now, Tandy is back in the 3m21s, preventing Lotterer from making inroads. The gap is 1m05s.
The #47 KCMG ORECA remains in control of LMP2 with Lapierre eking its advantage back out to almost a minute to the #46 Thiriet machine. A further 1m25s back is Rusinov's #26 Ligier which has cemented its third place for the time being.
Tandy hasn't quite been able to flex his muscles towards the end of his stint in the #19 car, possibly because the tyres are crying enough. He's still got enough pace to keep Lotterer over a minute back, but with Bamber set to take over the Porsche at the next stop, it's likely Lotterer is close enough to take the lead.
Stanaway doesn't have the beating of Milner at this stage but he does have a pitstop in hand, so really it's advantage Aston Martin - assuming it plays out the way it appears to be, that is.
Bonanomi pits the #9 Audi, promoting Lotterer's #7 machine into second, 1m06s behind the leading Porsche of Tandy.
So Stanaway has rejoined and he's 4.3s behind Milner in the Corvette. The Chevy will be a bit quicker at this stage because it's lighter, although Stanaway probably has new tyres after a stay of 1m25s in the pits.
Crash
Big fire for the #66 GTE Am Ferrari in a pitstop, which takes a long time to put out after some help from marshals and neighbouring Audi mechanics.
The car is in the garage now being checked over, but that's likely to have done a lot of damage because it took a while to put the blaze out.
The car is in the garage now being checked over, but that's likely to have done a lot of damage because it took a while to put the blaze out.
Lotterer appears powerless to make any more progress in his battle with Bonanomi. The gap has stabilised at three seconds for a while now, and they are both just outside a minute of Tandy's leading Porsche.
Bird has pitted from third and has handed over to Rusinov for another stint in the #26 Ligier.
Whatever the problem was Lapierre had with the #46 KCMG ORECA in the pits, it doesn't seem to have affected his laptimes. He's currently circulating about a second quicker than nearest rival the #46 Thiriet car.
Rees pits in the #99 Aston, handing back over to Stanaway in the car fighting for the GTE lead.
Lotterer is only 3s behind Bonanomi now. That's the closest the two leading Audis have been on track for a long time.
Both remain more than one minute behind the leading #19 Porsche of Tandy, though.
Both remain more than one minute behind the leading #19 Porsche of Tandy, though.
Rees's lead in the #99 Aston is 1m22s, with Corvette's Milner struggling to match the Brazilian's pace.
It's been 53 laps since we lost the #97 Aston from the lead fight. Doesn't feel it...
It's been 53 laps since we lost the #97 Aston from the lead fight. Doesn't feel it...
Bernhard hands the #17 Porsche over to Hartley, the man whose yellow flag infringement dropped it out of the battle for the lead.
Worth pointing out the #91 Porsche has ceded third place to the #51 Ferrari, though with the way the pitstops keep shaking out it's likely the 911 RSR will be back ahead when Vilander stops.
Lapierre's advantage has been slashed at the head of the class from over four minutes to just 49 seconds. That long stop could prove very costly.
Sure enough, Tandy has now settled into the 3m21s, and he is easing away from both of the chasing Audis, as we've seen for the last couple of stints.
The combination of Lotterer being light on fuel and Tandy being heavy briefly made it look like the pendulum was about to swing back in Audi's favour.
The combination of Lotterer being light on fuel and Tandy being heavy briefly made it look like the pendulum was about to swing back in Audi's favour.
It was a very long stop for Lapierre - not quite sure what the team was looking at but they were having a thorough examination of something. It doesn't prevent him retaining the LMP2 lead though.
By: Scott Mitchell, AUTOSPORT staff, Mitchell Adam, Glenn Freeman, Edd Straw, Gary Watkins
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