Le Mans 24 Hours 2015 The 83rd Le Mans 24 Hours
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A Porsche GT car is on fire!
The #13 Rebellion of Imperatori is in the gravel at the first chicane on Mulsanne.
Sure enough, Duval is now up with Bernhard and Jani to make it three for the lead.
Meanwhile, the #72 SMP Ferrari and #77 Dempsey-Proton Porsche both pitted in GTE Am...
The #72 rejoins in the lead, so has jumped the #98 Aston.
The #72 rejoins in the lead, so has jumped the #98 Aston.
While the two Porsches scrap for the lead, the #8 Audi is closing up. All three of the Audis setting an impressive pace, with both #8 and #9 faster last lap round.
The upshot of the pitstops is Bruni has jumped Stanaway and Calado jumped the two Porsches. So the #51 Ferrari's now second and the #71 sixth.
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@JotaSport: "@OliverTurvey P3 after opening lap, pits with gearshift issue @24hoursoflemans resumes P18."
Jani remains right on Bernhard's tail in the fight for the lead. Right now they've got around three seconds back to the lead Audi of Duval.
The leading GTE Pro runners all stop. Let's see how this plays out.
Bradley has moved back past Bird and into second in P2, with Gommendy now leading by four seconds. At the back of the pack, the Jota Gibson has returned to the track, almost two laps behind Gommendy.
The first pitstops have taken place among the GTE Pro runners, with Gavin diving in in the #74 Corvette and followed swiftly by the #92 Porsche.
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@MurphyPrototype: "Nat brings the car back in P1 and makes our first pit stop of the race (fuel only) we rejoin in P7."
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The two lead Porsches had a tough lap with traffic. They're only 0.5s apart, but Duval has blown away their lead of 7s to get within 3s of them again. Lotterer is close by in fourth as well, so Audi keeps up the chase.
So how are the Nissans getting on? When they haven't been making a late start or suffering from unexpectedly-open doors, the pace has been relatively consistently in the 3m42-3m43s bracket. That means the pace gap to the front is pretty similar to what we saw in qualifying.
Ordonez brings the #21 Nissan - with its open door - back to the pits for inspection.
Thiim pumps in the #95 Aston's best lap of the race so far and that extends its advantage to 3.5s at the front. Stanaway's still edging clear of Bruni in second though.
The #71 Ferrari's the second-fastest GTE on the track and is just a second behind the #92 Porsche now in the battle for eighth.
The #71 Ferrari's the second-fastest GTE on the track and is just a second behind the #92 Porsche now in the battle for eighth.
Ordonez, running 26th, is on an outlap in that Nissan, so it must have hit a snag during its pitstop which prevented the door from closing properly.
Tincknell has the lead Nissan (#22) up to 18th now.
Tincknell has the lead Nissan (#22) up to 18th now.
The #21 Nissan is cruising down the Mulsanne Straight with its left-side door up. Oh dear.
With the Audis currently 7s back, we could have a Porsche fight for the lead on our hands here. Jani is hanging onto Bernhard, getting to within one second of the #17 car.
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@StrakkaRacing: "Fuel stop this lap - car missing part of dive plane but all ok."
Berthon pits, handing control of LMP2 back to Gommendy, who has Bird and Bradley for company, with Vanthoor and Lancaster rounding out the current top five.
Gommendy was quick and up for a fight during the first half an hour, whether TDS fancies building a lead at this early stage remains to be seen.
Gommendy was quick and up for a fight during the first half an hour, whether TDS fancies building a lead at this early stage remains to be seen.
The GTE Am-leading #98 Aston Martin has stopped, putting the #72 SMP car of Bertolini into the lead and Patrick Long second in the #77 Dempsey-Proton Porsche.
Bernhard holds onto the lead, but only just. Jani has to negotiate his way past an Aston Martin in the first sector, but he's only 1.1s behind the leading Porsche now.
Duval is another 6.5s back in third, with Lotterer close behind and Bonanomi a bit further adrift in the third Audi. Hulkenberg is still keeping Bonanomi honest in their scrap.
Buemi, in the leading Toyota, is 39s off the lead.
Duval is another 6.5s back in third, with Lotterer close behind and Bonanomi a bit further adrift in the third Audi. Hulkenberg is still keeping Bonanomi honest in their scrap.
Buemi, in the leading Toyota, is 39s off the lead.
Thiim edges the #95 Aston to a 2.3s lead, with a similar gap from the #99 Aston in second to the #51 Ferrari in third.
Is anyone closing on anyway else? Calado's the man on the move, putting the #71 Ferrari just a couple of seconds behind the #92 Porsche.
Is anyone closing on anyway else? Calado's the man on the move, putting the #71 Ferrari just a couple of seconds behind the #92 Porsche.
Bernhard pits the #17 Porsche from the lead at the end of lap 12. Further back, Buemi brings the P2 #1 Toyota in as well.
Duval's stop a lap before Lotterer's has got the #7 Audi back ahead of the #8 in the fight for what is effectively third place. Jani has held them both off, building a decent cushion through this first pit sequence. He's 10 seconds clear of them now, having had them all over his tail before the stops.
Bradley and Bird have pitted form the front of the LMP2 field and rejoined without too many problems, looks like they've rejoined behind Gommendy. Yet to stop, Berthon leads in the Murphy Prototypes ORECA.
More progress from Calado, who now just has the two lead GTE Am cars (Lamy and Bertolini) between him and the rear of the Pro field.
Once he clears them he'll be just over three seconds behind Pilet in the #92 Porsche.
Once he clears them he'll be just over three seconds behind Pilet in the #92 Porsche.
Calado Le Mans 2015
Jani and Lotterer stop at the end of lap 11, with Wurz following further back.
Of the leading cars, only the race-leading Porsche of Bernhard and the Toyota of Buemi have not come in yet.
Of the leading cars, only the race-leading Porsche of Bernhard and the Toyota of Buemi have not come in yet.
A good few laps from Thiim has bought him a reprieve from Stanaway behind.
Three very quick, very consistent laps have moved him two seconds clear. But it's still only two seconds, so the #95 Aston can't relax too much.
Bruni's fallen away a bit in the #51 Ferrari, 1.8s behind Stanaway at the end of the Pro runners' ninth lap.
Three very quick, very consistent laps have moved him two seconds clear. But it's still only two seconds, so the #95 Aston can't relax too much.
Bruni's fallen away a bit in the #51 Ferrari, 1.8s behind Stanaway at the end of the Pro runners' ninth lap.
Bonanomi's earlier stop has got him back ahead of Hulkenberg's Porsche, in what is effectively the battle for fifth once the pitstop cycle shakes out.
Possible problem for the Jota Sport Gibson, Turvey hasn't left pitlane yet and is dropping down the order.
Gommendy's lead was brief, he's now pitted, along with Vanthoor, Lancaster, Dalziel, Turvey, Fogarty and Aleshin.
Duval and Hulkenberg pit at the end of lap 10, coming in from P4 and P5.
Out front, Bernhard leads Jani and Lotterer.
Out front, Bernhard leads Jani and Lotterer.
Ignoring the opening lap, Bonanomi completed seven flying laps in that stint opening stint at an average pace of 3m23.288s.
GARY WATKINS reckons that was a straightforward strategy call from Audi. "Get him off sequence with the other cars, and get him away from Hulkenberg's Porsche where he was stuck in sixth place."
Unsighted by TV, Gommendy looks to have moved into the lead of LMP2, with a move on Bradley, as the lead trio are joined by the ByKolles LMP1 entry.
We have our first pitstop in LMP1 on lap nine - Bonanomi brings the #9 Audi in from P6, having fallen back behind Hulkenberg's Porsche during the first encounters with traffic.
Jani is eating back into Bernhard's lead at the moment, closing it to 3.4s now. He still has Lotterer's and Duval's Audis for company, no wonder he's keeping the pace up.
PBs for the first four GTE Pro cars but the order remains the same. Stanaway, though, is closer to Thiim.
By: Scott Mitchell, AUTOSPORT staff, Mitchell Adam, Glenn Freeman, Edd Straw, Gary Watkins
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