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WEC 24 Hours of Le Mans

Le Mans 24 Hours 2015 The 83rd Le Mans 24 Hours

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GARY WATKINS: No quintuples yet from Audi. Fassler, Rast and Jarvis each did four stints and have now been replaced by Lotterer, Bonanomi and Duval respectively.
Tandy leads Lotterer by 31 seconds, with Bonanomi rejoining the #9 car in third, 55s back.

The #21 Nissan has got going again, slowly.
Rast pits the #9 Audi from the lead, handing over to Bonanomi. Tandy leads in the #19 Porsche.
This stint hasn't started very well for Audi superstar Lotterer in #7. He was failing to match the pace of Rast and Tandy, who - granted - are on lighter fuel loads. Let's see how things go once Lotterer settles in.
Yellow flag
The #21 Nissan has stopped at the side of the road on the inside of Arnage. It was always going to be a big ask to get the car back with what was clearly a severe problem.

Interestingly, it spun to the inside of the track. It looks pretty stuck right now.
Jani pits the #18 from P5, and Jarvis comes in from 6th in the #8 Audi.
More Nissan trouble. The #21 car is hobbling down the Mulsanne, with smoke and sparks coming out of the back. It's a long way home from there, at what looks like a snail's pace.

We're not sure what's happened, but the left-rear wheel isn't turning. The car is 46th at the moment.
Lietz jumped Gavin when the Corvette stopped, so that's an impressive turnaround from the Porsche team. Tenacious.

Lietz will probably be next to stop though, followed by Stanaway. All three are slightly out of kilter on strategy. It will be interesting to see how it plays out, but of course we've got 14 hours to go still!
As Bradley remained in the car, the #47 KCMG machine has extended its advantage over the #46 car to two minutes now.
Out front, Rast leads Tandy by 20s, with Lotterer 44s off the lead.

It's a three-car race at the moment, with Bernhard trying to make up for the one-minute penalty the #17 car picked up earlier for overtaking under yellow flags. He's 2m14s off the lead at the moment.
There's a problem for the #27 SMP Racing BRE car as it is wheeled into the garage.
The GTE Pro leader is in the pits: Gavin brings the #64 Corvette down the pitlane.

Stanaway takes the lead back in the Aston Martin.
LMP2 leader Bradley now pits in the #46 KCMG ORECA. With all the stops, his advantage stretched to over a lap but that will have reduced now.
The #37 SMP BRE has been given the black/orange flag for not having its rear lights on.
Bernhard pits the #17 car from fourth place for another tank of fuel.
The #48 ORECA does in fact lose a couple of places in the stops as there's a driver change with Chandhok taking the driving seat.

Badey is now in the #46 Thiriet machine.
Gommendy is also in now from second in class. Bradley's advantage at this point was a minute-and-a-half.
Rast leads Tandy by 25s, with Lotterer back on track +48s to the leader.
The #7 Audi comes in. If all goes well, it should slot back into third place, ahead of Bernhard in the #17 Porsche. That'll leave Rast in the lead from Tandy.

Lotterer is now at the wheel.
Berthon pits the #48 Murphy ORECA from third in LMP2. He should be able to complete the stop without losing a position.
Gavin has a lead of 30 seconds over Stanaway - that's the #64 Corvette to the #99 Aston, if you weren't aware.

Lietz and Fisichella, in for Bruni, are third and fourth still.
Fassler leads Rast by 30s, and it looks like the leader is about to hand the #7 over to Lotterer, who is warming-up in the Audi garage and getting some final instructions from engineers.
Bernhard dips into the 3m19s as the quest to get the #17 back in the mix after that stop/go penalty ramps up. He's fourth, but one minute behind the #19 car of Tandy that is currently third.
Beche is touring back to the pits in the #13 Rebellion (9th). He was on an outlap, but now the car is wheeled into the garage.
Derani just sets his fastest lap of the race for the #28 G-Drive Ligier with a 3m41.056s. He still lies sixth, some two minutes behind the next car.
Hulkenberg pits, handing the #19 Porsche over to Tandy after a stellar night stint that has put that car firmly back in the mix.

It's an Audi 1-2 out front now, Fassler (#7) leads Rast (#9) by 26s. Tandy rejoins third, 42s off the lead.
Hulkenberg leads Fassler by 30s, and Rast by 56s. Bernhard is 2m21s back in fourth place.
And Imperatori sets the #13 Rebellion's fastest lap, a 3m27.501s. Not bad at all for a private LMP1 effort.
The #23 Nissan has stopped on track with Pla at the wheel.
Currently in the hot-seats of the leading cars:

#19 Porsche - Hulkenberg
#7 Audi - Fassler
#9 Audi - Rast
#17 Porsche - Bernhard
#18 Porsche - Jani
#8 Audi - Jarvis
#2 Toyota - Wurz
#1 Toyota - Buemi
Stanaway pits in the Aston Martin, and Gavin takes the lead in the #64 Corvette.
Exciting times at Rebellion, where the #13 Rebellion is about to set its fastest lap in the hands of Imperatori.
Race control warns of oil on the track in the vicinity of Indianapolis. The corner, not the circuit. That's about 4000 miles away.
Meanwhile, Rast has brought the second-placed #9 Audi into the pits.
Replays show that the front bodywork was lost as a result of hitting debris. So not anything to do with the Nissan really. It's being wheeled into the garage.
The #22 Nissan has lost its engine cover with Tincknell at the wheel. Problem, or bold new design concept? You decide.

It's running 21st and is the best placed of the Nissans.
Hot pace up front - Hulkenberg does a 3m20.336s but Rast in the chasing #9 Audi does a 3m18.365s. Interestingly, it's the third cars at Audi and Porsche that are scrapping for the lead.
The #18 Porsche of Jani heads into the pits for fuel.

By: Scott Mitchell, AUTOSPORT staff, Mitchell Adam, Glenn Freeman, Edd Straw, Gary Watkins

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