Le Mans 24 Hours 2015 The 83rd Le Mans 24 Hours
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@ByKOLLES: "After a long repair due to engine problems, @s_trummer is back on track."
Following Lapierre's pitstop, KCMG leads by about 35 seconds - more or less its buffer before TDS' pitstop and the safety car period.
However, now, Estre is second in the Honda-powered OAK, having passed Badey on the first lap after racing resumed. Hirsch is fourth, ahead of Panciatici and Chandhok, who just had a fun moment navigating an 80-car pack contesting the GT lead.
However, now, Estre is second in the Honda-powered OAK, having passed Badey on the first lap after racing resumed. Hirsch is fourth, ahead of Panciatici and Chandhok, who just had a fun moment navigating an 80-car pack contesting the GT lead.
It's not over yet though. The #97 Aston is all over the #64 Corvette, with the #71 Ferrari and #99 Aston not at all far behind.
It's all change at the front of GTE Pro!
A manic half a lap ends with Milner scorching through to the lead ahead of Turner, with Rigon falling to third and Rees fourth.
Traffic and mistakes all played a part in that.
A manic half a lap ends with Milner scorching through to the lead ahead of Turner, with Rigon falling to third and Rees fourth.
Traffic and mistakes all played a part in that.
As predicted by EDD STRAW, our strategy guru this weekend, the #18 Porsche pits from third.
Rees' tenure of first position in GTE Pro hasn't lasted long - both Rigon and Turner have passed the #99 Aston, which drops to third.
The #51 leads, with the #97 very close behind. Milner's a bit further back in the Corvette, while Fisichella is 45s further behind and just ahead of the Porsche.
So we still have the remaining six competitive GTE Pro cars within a minute of each other.
The #51 leads, with the #97 very close behind. Milner's a bit further back in the Corvette, while Fisichella is 45s further behind and just ahead of the Porsche.
So we still have the remaining six competitive GTE Pro cars within a minute of each other.
Of the leading LMP1 cars, the #9 Audi, the #19 Porsche and the #2 Toyota all pitted under the safety car.
It won't be long before the #18 Porsche and the #1 Toyota head in.
It won't be long before the #18 Porsche and the #1 Toyota head in.
Now we're back to green, we've got a proper indication of Hartley's lead. He's 1m09s ahead of Treluyer's Audi, with Lieb and Albuquerque just behind them.
Albuquerque (#9) is now on Lieb's tail, looking to grab third from the Porsche.
Lapierre and Rusinov have pitted for KCMG and G-Drive respectively. The former will rejoin with a handy lead in LMP2, on safety car speeds it was 3m30s before he pitted.
Lieb has a look through the kinks to Indianapolis, but it's so narrow through there that Treluyer can hold onto the position with some crafty placing of his car in the road.
Green flag
We're off again - with Hartley now in a commanding lead after those safety cars split the field.
Treluyer passes Lieb for second immediately, moving the #7 Audi up.
Treluyer passes Lieb for second immediately, moving the #7 Audi up.
The #2 Toyota is, indeed, in the pits.
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@Toyota_Hybrid: "The latest images are in! Here is the #1 in action."
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Duval's explanation for his crash approaching the slow zone is that he saw a green flag, so he remained at racing speed through the kinks on the way to Indianapolis and was unsighted.
Chandhok has brought the Murphy ORECA in for its fourth stop, from third place in LMP2.
Safety car in this lap.
There's a good chance the #2 Toyota will be in at the end of the lap its currently on. Unless it's managed to do some significant extra fuel-saving.
Crash
During the safety car period, AUTOSPORT's Glenn Freeman and Edd Straw have both failed miserably at unwrapping bananas. Scott Mitchell, however, was successful.
The #95 Aston is back in the race, with Sorensen driving. It has lost five laps...
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@JonLracing: "That was interesting, nice sideways moment in Porsche chicane thanks to an Aston... Good pace last 2 stints! Over to @gary_hirsch."
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@PorscheRaces: "@Timo_Bernard: To overtake Neel on lap 1 wasn't planned. Then the two of us found a good rhythm to defend the Porsche 1-2 lead."
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Gavin enjoyed his wheel-to-wheel dice with Calado and Stanaway.
He's tweeted: "Nice battle there @JamesCalado @RichieStanaway that was fun! see you out there again in a few hours!"
Calado responds: "nice to race drivers with total respect. Good job boys, see you later"
Now, maybe we're not quite 'ard enough for this GTE racing lark, but Gavin was pretty damn robust in his defence. As in, forced Calado off the main part of the track robust.
Still, nice to see there's no bad blood.
He's tweeted: "Nice battle there @JamesCalado @RichieStanaway that was fun! see you out there again in a few hours!"
Calado responds: "nice to race drivers with total respect. Good job boys, see you later"
Now, maybe we're not quite 'ard enough for this GTE racing lark, but Gavin was pretty damn robust in his defence. As in, forced Calado off the main part of the track robust.
Still, nice to see there's no bad blood.
Expect to see the #2 Toyota that lies sixth in at the end of this lap, unless it has been able to do some extra fuel-saving.
In LMP2, the Signatech Alpine has now made its fourth stop, with Panciatici rejoining in eighth place.
Here's the current order:
1 #47 KCMG ORECA, Lapierre
2 #46 TDS Racing Ligier, Badey
3 #48 Murphy ORECA, Chandhok
4 #34 OAK Ligier, Estre
5 #41 Greaves Gibson, Hirsch
Lapierre's safety car group is about 3 minutes ahead of Badey's on the road, but that's with the field running at reduced speed and he's a pitstop behind. He led by 40 seconds before TDS pitted and the safety car came out.
Here's what's happened so far:
* KCMG leads early through Bradley, over Bird in G-Drive Ligier
* TDS takes lead with Gommendy
* TDS and KCMG gain advantage over rest of field with with safety car grouping
* KCMG takes lead during second round of stops, Lapierre replaces Bradley and builds 40-second buffer
* Jota runs third early, suffers gear selection problem and loses almost two laps
Here's the current order:
1 #47 KCMG ORECA, Lapierre
2 #46 TDS Racing Ligier, Badey
3 #48 Murphy ORECA, Chandhok
4 #34 OAK Ligier, Estre
5 #41 Greaves Gibson, Hirsch
Lapierre's safety car group is about 3 minutes ahead of Badey's on the road, but that's with the field running at reduced speed and he's a pitstop behind. He led by 40 seconds before TDS pitted and the safety car came out.
Here's what's happened so far:
* KCMG leads early through Bradley, over Bird in G-Drive Ligier
* TDS takes lead with Gommendy
* TDS and KCMG gain advantage over rest of field with with safety car grouping
* KCMG takes lead during second round of stops, Lapierre replaces Bradley and builds 40-second buffer
* Jota runs third early, suffers gear selection problem and loses almost two laps
That problem for the #88 Porsche has dropped a load of oil at the second Mulsanne chicane. The safety car period may yet be extended.
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@alex_wurz: "Rather difficult start of this race, a few little glitches to start, so my first tipple stint wasn't too nice to drive here in.
"Last stint a car dropped massive oil on my screen, could hardly see, a little scary frankly, but I didn't want to stop and get out of sync."
"Last stint a car dropped massive oil on my screen, could hardly see, a little scary frankly, but I didn't want to stop and get out of sync."
Another roasting Porsche has stopped on track, with flames and black smoke emanating from the #88 Abu Dhabi-Proton entry.
That was had been running strongly, though admittedly hadn't made its third stop.
That was had been running strongly, though admittedly hadn't made its third stop.
So that's Tandy out of the car after just one stint. Made sense given that Porsche had to pit the car for fuel that they took tyres and made a change as it doesn't cost any more time with the safety car deployed.
Here comes Tandy, bringing in the #19 Porsche under safety car conditions, and making a bit of a mess of the pit entry, getting very out of shape in one of the mini-chicanes.
Earl Bamber takes over from the Briton.
Earl Bamber takes over from the Briton.
Down the order, it's worth noting that ex-Formula 1 driver and Le Mans virgin Max Chilton has taken over the #23 Nissan. It's down in 51st place.
Ah, seems the #95 Aston Martin has been hobbled by a power-steering problem.
Now, that's not good: it was power steering woes that dropped the #97 out of victory contention last year...
Now, that's not good: it was power steering woes that dropped the #97 out of victory contention last year...
Repair work seems to be finished at Indianapolis. Hopefully we'll be racing again soon.
Ah, scratch that. Bleekemolen finally makes the Viper's third stop, under the safety car. Fair play to him though, he'd taken that car briefly into the outright GTE lead!
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
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
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
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@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."
Yellow flag
The barrier looks pretty bent out of shape down at Indianapolis where Duval went in.
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.
By: Scott Mitchell, AUTOSPORT staff, Mitchell Adam, Glenn Freeman, Edd Straw, Gary Watkins
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