Le Mans 24 Hours 2015 Wednesday: Practice and qualifying

Karun Chandhok has just set Murphy Prototype's first time of the session, a 3m55.413s has the entry 14th in LMP2.

The track is improving again as the sun tries to break through the clouds. Rast, now at the wheel of the pacesetting #9 Audi, has just come around 10 seconds slower than the 'dry' pace. When the rain was at its worst, the LMP1s were 20s adrift.

Fassler goes straight on at the first Mulsanne chicane, exploring how much grip is coming back as the track dries.

Rene Rast is out on track in the #9 Audi. This is his first time at Le Mans in an LMP1 car, but he was impressively quick on debut last year in the Sebastien Loeb Racing ORECA that finished fourth in LMP2.

Mardenborough has just set the best time by a Nissan so far – a 3m50.548s on the first flying lap of the #23 GT-R LM.

The #45 Ibanez Racing ORECA has a quick spin at the first chicane. Perret is at the wheel of that car

Fassler keeps pushing the boundaries, skipping across the entry to the final chicane.

Replays show Bamber had a wiggle on the way into the chicane, which bounced him across the kerbs in the middle and sent him straight on into the gravel. Crucially, the Porsche didn't reach the barriers, and a recovery tractor is on the scene now.

Bamber had improved the #19 car's best on the lap before his off, moving it up to sixth.

The latest Nissan GT Academy graduate is on track for the first time this weekend. Gaetan Paletou was a late addition to the Greaves Motorsport LMP2 line-up, replacing Bjorn Wirdheim.

Paletou is sharing the entry with Gary Hirsch - who set the 3m45.194s lap that has the Gibson-Nissan 015S second at the moment - and Jon Lancaster. His Le Mans debut comes just 10 months and 18 races after winning the 2014 gamer-to-racer competition.

This session is now faster than last year's equivalent. Jani's fastest time of 3m23.215s is over four-tenths faster than Davidson managed in his Toyota to top the 2014 free practice session.

Bamber is back on the move, making his way back to the pits after spending a few minutes in the gravel at the first Mulsanne chicane in the #19 Porsche.

After stopping on track in the opening minutes, the KCMG ORECA-Nissan 05 is back in action with Richard Bradley behind the wheel. He's just logged the car's first lap time, a 3m55.214s.

Awkward moment between the #95 Pro Aston Martin and the Am-class #98 car.

Thiim tries to pass Dalla Lana at the Dunlop chicane but his team-mate, who has won the opening two GTE Am races in the WEC this season, mustn't have seen him coming.

He turns in, Thiim locks up and they just avoid contact.

Rob Bell, now in the #97 Aston, goes second in the Pro ranks on a 3m59.623s. The on-loan McLaren driver is on a better lap this time round in the Vantage, too.

Extreme Speed Motorsports has popped up to second in LMP2, thanks to a 3m44.518s from Dalziel in the Ligier-Honda JSP2.

Quick work from Porsche to get the #19 ready to head back out just a few minutes after it returned from its spell in the gravel. Tandy has taken over from Bamber at the wheel

Congratulations to sportscar legend Vic Elford. The Targa Florio winner turns 80 today. He's probably the driver who raced most iterations of the Porsche 917.

Bell sets personal bests in the first two sectors and despite a slightly slower end to the lap, he goes quickest so far in GTE.

The #97 Aston leads the way on a 3m58.847s – that's 0.033s faster than the #64 Corvette.

Gaetan Paletou is on track in the #41 Greaves Gibson. He got a late call-up to make his Le Mans 24 Hours debut in place of former International F3000 champion Bjorn Wirdheim.

The winner of last year's Nissan GT Academy will be starting only his 19th race, but he did sample the Le Mans track during the test day in a Ginetta LMP3. Click here for full story.

After the car's earlier problems, KCMG is now on top in LMP2. Bradley has just recorded a 3m41.422s, some three seconds faster than the previous SMP Racing benchmark.

Worth noting that the earlier rain arrived just as many teams were swapping over to slicks, but it's still half-a-second faster than the best time recorded in the class during the test day.

Current LMP1 leaders:

1 #17 Porsche
2 #7 Audi
3 #18 Porsche
4 #9 Audi
5 #1 Toyota
6 #19 Porsche
7 #2 Toyota
8 #8 Audi

GARY WATKINS: Progress is being made at Nissan — Matsuda has just gone almost exactly three seconds faster than the GT-R LM's best time from the test day, posting a 3m40.332s to move up to P11 overall.

And Tincknell follows it up with a time just a second slower.

Scrutineering for the Le Mans 24 Hours took place at the Place de la Republique in Le Mans town centre in front of big crowds on Sunday and Monday. Starting at 1430 on Sunday, with the Strakka Dome S103 first up, the technical experts ran the rule over all 56 cars.

There are three parts to scrutineering. First, the car is placed on a horizontal platform to measure its width, length, overhangs, wheelbase, wing and fin height and various other parameters. It also weighed.

Then, it is hoisted to allow the underside to be checked, including measuring the underbody plank.

The final stage involves removing some of the bodywork to examine all safety equipment. This includes belts, fire extinguishers, safety systems relating to electrical components of hybrid systems and the fuel tank.

There, the transponder is also checked, as well a the data-acquisition system and marshalling system, which supplies drivers with information from trackside marshals.

The drivers also have to be checked. They are weighed and all of their equipment (helmet, overalls etc) are inspected to ensure they comply with current FIA standards.

Le Mans scrutineering

Circuit information notes that the #37 SMP Racing entry, second in LMP2, spun at the first Mulsanne chicane and has continued. Kirill Ladygin is behind the wheel at the moment.

All three Nissans are now within a second of each other, sitting in positions 11-13:

#21 3m40.332s
#23 3m40.429s
#22 3m41.302s

Webber's LMP1 benchmark in the #17 Porsche is currently 3m23.126s.

GARY WATKINS: Bradley's 3m41.4s in the KCMG ORECA is half a second quicker than the class best from the Test Day. That suggests that we should be expecting some quick times at the top of the order — unless the threatening dark skies yield the promised rain before that can happen.

If you are wondering what the Gibson LMP2 chassis is, it's actually an upgraded version of the Zytek Z11SN that won LMP2 at Le Mans in the hands of Jota last year.

Gibson Technology is the new name for Zytek Engineering, with the change happening late last year. Click here for more.

GARY WATKINS: That Webber time is within half a second of Nakajima's 2014 pole mark - and just over a second behind Porsche team-mate Hartley's test day best.

Track limits warning for, well everyone really. Sarrazin, Tandy, Rusinov, Minassian, K Ladygin, Bradley, Bachler and Lietz have all been warned for exceeding the bounds of the track at the final chicane.