Le Mans 24 Hours 2015 The 83rd Le Mans 24 Hours
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The #23 Nissan leaves the garage after that brief stoppage for a loose brake duct.
Twitter
@NISMO: "18:07. No.22 made a very brief visit to the garage to change a rear light assembly. No time lost due to safety car."
The next car among the leaders that is likely to need fuel is the #19 Porsche that runs third in the hands of Tandy.
Audi described the repairs to the #8 car after Duval's shunt as "change of front end, rear end, engine cover". And it only spent 4m12s in the pitlane...
Here's who is currently in the factory LMP1 cars:
#1 Toyota - Davidson
#2 Toyota - Sarrazin
#7 Audi - Treluyer
#8 Audi - Di Grassi
#9 Audi - Albuquerque
#17 Porsche - Hartley
#18 Porsche - Lieb
#19 Porsche - Tandy
#21 Nissan - Shulzhitskiy
#22 Nissan - Krumm
#23 Nissan - Mardenborough
#1 Toyota - Davidson
#2 Toyota - Sarrazin
#7 Audi - Treluyer
#8 Audi - Di Grassi
#9 Audi - Albuquerque
#17 Porsche - Hartley
#18 Porsche - Lieb
#19 Porsche - Tandy
#21 Nissan - Shulzhitskiy
#22 Nissan - Krumm
#23 Nissan - Mardenborough
Twitter
@PorscheRaces: "@NicoHulkenberg "I had lots of action on my first 36 laps. Start, slow zones, safety car. I'm not a Le Mans virgin anymore and I enjoyed it"
So we have the #17 Porsche on its own of the leading LMP1 cars in one safety car group. The second group contains the #18 Porsche, #19 Porsche, #7 Audi and the #9 Audi.
Amazingly, considering the size of the impact, the #8 Audi spent just 4m12s in the pits for repairs. So it's just one lap down on the leader.
Twitter
Polesitter Jani explains how he struggled at the start.
@PorscheRaces: "@neeljani: After the start for some reason I had no proper boost to accelerate onto Mulsanne and lost the lead."
He added: "It was difficult to drive close behind Timo because I lost downforce in his slipstream and almost ruined my tyres.”
@PorscheRaces: "@neeljani: After the start for some reason I had no proper boost to accelerate onto Mulsanne and lost the lead."
He added: "It was difficult to drive close behind Timo because I lost downforce in his slipstream and almost ruined my tyres.”
Hartley has caught a massive break in the #17 Porsche - he's in the safety-car group ahead of the cars chasing him.
Twitter
@NISMO: "Taking advantage of the safety car to change a loose brake duct on the No.23. Will be back out soon."
The #9 Audi has to sit at the end of the pitlane waiting for the next safety car group to come by, so it's taken some pain there, but with a stop due anyway, it was inevitable.
That stop was a lap early for the #9 Audi relative to is usual sequence.
Bonanomi pits the #9 Audi from second place under the safety car. The car gets its first tyre change, and warm-up pacesetter Albuquerque takes over.
Yellow flag
There are three safety cars at this track. Which group you end up in will be essential in terms of deciding where the gaps are between the leading cars.
Yellow flag
This is the second safety car of the race.
Yellow flag
And now we have a safety car.
Unless we're missing something, the #95's having a very long spell in the pits...
Fisichella and Rees, in for Stanaway, have long since left the pitlane.
Fisichella and Rees, in for Stanaway, have long since left the pitlane.
Amazing work from Audi - the #8 is back out already, with di Grassi now at the wheel.
The #8 Audi is wheeled back into the garage for repairs.
Out on track, Bonanomi has passed Lieb for second.
Out on track, Bonanomi has passed Lieb for second.
Stanaway stops, as predicted, and is followed in by Fisichella in the #51 Ferrari.
That promoted the #97 Aston into the lead, ahead of the #71 Ferrari and #64 Corvette.
That promoted the #97 Aston into the lead, ahead of the #71 Ferrari and #64 Corvette.
Crash
Duval lost control trying to avoid a clutch of GTE cars that were slowing for the Indianapolis slow zone. He headed off track to the right before spinning across to the left and smashing the barriers.
Amazingly, he's got going and wrestled the car back to the pits pretty quickly, minus a lot of bodywork.
Amazingly, he's got going and wrestled the car back to the pits pretty quickly, minus a lot of bodywork.
Thiim's first in - the GTE Pro-leading #95 is in the pits.
Crash
Big shunt for Duval in the #8 Audi!
It would probably be fair to suggest Stanaway is not far off pitting the #99 Aston in second. He was first to stop last time, and has completed 12 laps in this stint.
The first stint, completed at racing speed, was 13 laps for all except the Corvette. So the New Zealander might well be in this time, and for a driver change too.
The first stint, completed at racing speed, was 13 laps for all except the Corvette. So the New Zealander might well be in this time, and for a driver change too.
Sarrazin has just done a 3m24.381s in the #2 Toyota, the quickest of the race for that car. The sister car went a few tenths quicker in the hands of Buemi earlier on.
Yellow flag
Debris is the cause of the yellows at Indianapolis, which is not a slow zone.
Drama for the former race-leading #7 Audi - Treluyer runs wide on the approach to Tertre Rouge and kisses the barrier. It's been a rough few laps for that car - which was in the lead before it suffered a puncture.
Yellow flag
We've got yellows at Indianapolis. Unclear why at this stage.
Traffic has spread out the battle for third a bit. Duval now leads Bonanomi by 2.9s, with Tandy 4.4s behind Bonanomi.
Duval will still have eyes on Lieb's Porsche in second, which is only 3.4s ahead of him now.
Hartley leads by 13.1s in the #17 Porsche.
Duval will still have eyes on Lieb's Porsche in second, which is only 3.4s ahead of him now.
Hartley leads by 13.1s in the #17 Porsche.
Better from Stanaway: the #99's 4s behind the leading #95 Vantage now.
Fisichella's a couple of seconds back.
Fisichella's a couple of seconds back.
Stopwatch
Lapierre goes even quicker next time around, edging further towards the 3m39s, with a 3m39.168s. Badey responds with a new fastest lap for the TDS entry, but the 3m40.704s is still some way off.
The gap between the lead #95 Aston and the chasing #99 has stabilised at five seconds, after a couple of unspectacular laps for Stanaway.
As Bleekemolen extends the #53 Viper's GTE Am lead, Victor Shaitar has moved the #72 Ferrari back ahead of the #98 Aston for second.
Stopwatch
Lapierre goes faster again in the KCMG ORECA, this time around it's 3m39.278s compared to Badey's 3m40.998s and the lead is almost 40 seconds. Admittedly with some cars having pitted, only seven cars remain on the lead LMP2 lap.
Current LMP1 order:
1 #17 Porsche
2 #18 Porsche, +13.1s
3 #8 Audi, +17.0s
4 #9 Audi, +18.0s
5 #19 Porsche, +20.2s
6 #7 Audi, +35.5s
The Toyotas are +1m34s (#1) and +1m56s (#2)
1 #17 Porsche
2 #18 Porsche, +13.1s
3 #8 Audi, +17.0s
4 #9 Audi, +18.0s
5 #19 Porsche, +20.2s
6 #7 Audi, +35.5s
The Toyotas are +1m34s (#1) and +1m56s (#2)
Some excellent times being set in the GTE Pro ranks at present but Fisichella's consistency is a sight to behold.
The last three laps as he edged clear of the #97 Aston:
2m57.867s
2m57.877s
2m57.839s
OK, he's not winning us over with feisty underdog performances in a Jordan, but he's still pretty quick.
The last three laps as he edged clear of the #97 Aston:
2m57.867s
2m57.877s
2m57.839s
OK, he's not winning us over with feisty underdog performances in a Jordan, but he's still pretty quick.
Twitter
@Audi__Sport: "Lap 41, 17.35h Fuel, tires after puncture, @Andre_Lotterer out, @BenoitTreluyer in"
That's hurt the #7 car (obviously). Treluyer rejoins 6th, so Hartley now leads in the #17 Porsche from Lieb in the #18.
Stopwatch
With a new fastest lap in LMP2 - 3m39.704s, a second faster than Bird's earlier benchmark - Lapierre has extended KCMG's lead to 37 seconds. He was three seconds faster than second-placed Badey that last time around.
By: Scott Mitchell, AUTOSPORT staff, Mitchell Adam, Glenn Freeman, Edd Straw, Gary Watkins
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