Le Mans 24 Hours 2015 Wednesday: Practice and qualifying
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Yellow flag
A slow zone has been declared in the vicinity of Mulsanne Corner to allow the BRE to be dealt with.
This means that we are unlikely to see any improvements, with the #18 Porsche fastest on a 3m21.164s. Even though that lap is being investigated by stewards and might be deleted, it will still be Porsche up top at the end of free practice, with the #17 Porsche second fastest courtesy of Webber's 3m21.362s.
Checkered flag
The chequered flag is out. That brings the four-hour free practice session to an end. Here's the top times:
1 #18 Porsche, 3m21.164s
2 #17 Porsche, 3m21.362s
3 #8 Audi, 3m21.950s
4 #19 Porsche, 3m22.819s
5 #7 Audi, 3m23.051s
6 #9 Audi, 3m23.480s
7 #1 Toyota, 3m24.763s
8 #2 Toyota, 3m25.537s
9 #12 Rebellion, 3m28.441s
10 #13 Rebellion, 3m33.176s
11 #47 ORECA, 3m39.897s (LMP2)
12 #21 Nissan, 3m40.332s
13 #23 Nissan, 3m40.429s
14 #22 Nissan, 3m41.302s
15 #34 Ligier, 3m41.311s (LMP2)
1 #18 Porsche, 3m21.164s
2 #17 Porsche, 3m21.362s
3 #8 Audi, 3m21.950s
4 #19 Porsche, 3m22.819s
5 #7 Audi, 3m23.051s
6 #9 Audi, 3m23.480s
7 #1 Toyota, 3m24.763s
8 #2 Toyota, 3m25.537s
9 #12 Rebellion, 3m28.441s
10 #13 Rebellion, 3m33.176s
11 #47 ORECA, 3m39.897s (LMP2)
12 #21 Nissan, 3m40.332s
13 #23 Nissan, 3m40.429s
14 #22 Nissan, 3m41.302s
15 #34 Ligier, 3m41.311s (LMP2)
Breaking news
The fastest time set by Dumas in the #18 Porsche has been deleted. This relegates the car to third place and puts the #17 car up front.
A session of contrast for KCMG - its ORECA-Nissan 05 stopped in the opening minutes but finished fastest, thanks to Bradley's mid-session 3m39.897s.
Vanthoor went second-fastest late for OAK Racing in its Honda-powered entry, 1.414 seconds off the benchmark, ahead of Thiriet by TDS Racing and Greaves Motorsport.
Vanthoor went second-fastest late for OAK Racing in its Honda-powered entry, 1.414 seconds off the benchmark, ahead of Thiriet by TDS Racing and Greaves Motorsport.
Aston Martin Racing will be very happy with that, comfortably on top of both GTE categories. The Pro times:
1. #99 Aston Martin 3m55.895s
2. #64 Corvette 3m57.539s
3. #99 Aston Martin 3m58.448s
4. #92 Porsche 3m58.469s
5. #63 Corvette 3m58.501s
And in Am:
1. #98 Aston Martin 3m58.783s
2. #77 Dempsey-Proton Porsche 4m01.611s
3. #88 Abu Dhabi-Proton Racing 4m02.029s
1. #99 Aston Martin 3m55.895s
2. #64 Corvette 3m57.539s
3. #99 Aston Martin 3m58.448s
4. #92 Porsche 3m58.469s
5. #63 Corvette 3m58.501s
And in Am:
1. #98 Aston Martin 3m58.783s
2. #77 Dempsey-Proton Porsche 4m01.611s
3. #88 Abu Dhabi-Proton Racing 4m02.029s
Twitter
@CorvetteRacing: "The #63 #Corvette stopped out on course w/ no power. It is being brought back to the garage."
Here's our report from free practice at Le Mans, where Mark Webber set the pace for Porsche ahead of qualifying later tonight:
REPORT: Webber tops Le Mans practice
Qualifying starts in a little over an hour and a half (22:00 local time), and we'll be back in the run-up to that session before covering the first battle for pole across all of the classes. See you then.
REPORT: Webber tops Le Mans practice
Qualifying starts in a little over an hour and a half (22:00 local time), and we'll be back in the run-up to that session before covering the first battle for pole across all of the classes. See you then.
The sun is slowly setting at Le Mans and we are 20 minutes away from the first qualifying session of the week ahead of the 2015 edition of the 24 Hours.
The sky is clearer than it was for much of free practice earlier, so with a bit of lingering sunshine around we could have very good conditions for everyone to turn things up and see what they're really made of.
Last year's pole position time has already been beaten today, with Mark Webber's low 3m21s surpassing Kazuki Nakajima's best lap from 2014 qualifying. There's sure to be more to come from the frontrunning cars as well, so the question is how low will the laptimes be when everyone goes for it?
Romain Dumas also beat the 2014 pole in practice, but his lap was deleted after stewards investigated him for cutting the final chicane.
To be fair to Dumas he was only trying to avoid a GTE Ferrari, but it was the correct decision from officials to not let the lap stand, and it was removed from the timing screens shortly after the end of the session.
To be fair to Dumas he was only trying to avoid a GTE Ferrari, but it was the correct decision from officials to not let the lap stand, and it was removed from the timing screens shortly after the end of the session.
Nissan is very confident it will outpace all of the LMP2 cars in qualifying this year - even though it will not be going all-out for a single lap. It was ahead of all-but one of the LMP2 cars in practice, so we'll soon get an indication of how much more is in the tank when the cars head out at the top of the hour.
All signs so far seem to be pointing to any pole position battle boiling down to Porsche vs Audi.
Toyota was off the pace at the test day 10 days ago, and while it believes it has fixed some of the areas where it was losing time, neither of its cars were within three seconds of the pace in practice earlier today.
The Japanese cars will surely have slightly more in reserve, but Toyota already seems reserved to the fact that it will not be competing with its rivals for pace this weekend.
Toyota was off the pace at the test day 10 days ago, and while it believes it has fixed some of the areas where it was losing time, neither of its cars were within three seconds of the pace in practice earlier today.
The Japanese cars will surely have slightly more in reserve, but Toyota already seems reserved to the fact that it will not be competing with its rivals for pace this weekend.
Twitter
@Audi__Sport: "Marcel Fassler, @loicduval and @MarcoBonanomi will start qualifying for #Audi."
Five minutes to go until the start of first qualifying for the 2015 Le Mans 24 Hours.
In GTE, Aston Martin Racing led the way in practice. But expect a fierce challenge from Porsche, Ferrari and Corvette for Pro qualifying honours.
Richie Stanaway's time was very good in the #99 Vantage but it's difficult to read too much into practice form. While it sounds like a classic bit of fence-sitting, it really is too close to call.
In GTE Am, it's difficult to look past the #98 car in the hands of Pedro Lamy.
Richie Stanaway's time was very good in the #99 Vantage but it's difficult to read too much into practice form. While it sounds like a classic bit of fence-sitting, it really is too close to call.
In GTE Am, it's difficult to look past the #98 car in the hands of Pedro Lamy.
Green flag
Qualifying is up and running, and the cars stream out of the pits.
And who's going to be fighting for LMP2 supremacy? KCMG was comfortably on top in practice, but Bradley found a window where he had good track conditions to himself.
The Honda-powered OAK entry will be in the mix as well, while the two G-Drive entries and Jota Sport have also looked quick.
It's a tough pack, and that's by no means the full list of contenders. What odds Vanthoor's impressive prototype debut continuing with provisional pole for OAK?
The Honda-powered OAK entry will be in the mix as well, while the two G-Drive entries and Jota Sport have also looked quick.
It's a tough pack, and that's by no means the full list of contenders. What odds Vanthoor's impressive prototype debut continuing with provisional pole for OAK?
Buemi and Wurz head out for Toyota, while Audi sends out Duval and Bonanomi immediately.
At Porsche, Bernhard and Jani take to the track. So that's one Porsche (#19) and one Audi (#7) being held back for the moment.
At Porsche, Bernhard and Jani take to the track. So that's one Porsche (#19) and one Audi (#7) being held back for the moment.
Mardenborough is the first Nissan driver to emerge. The #21 and #22 cars stay in the pits.
Bernhard in the #17 Porsche (that was fastest in practice in Webber's hands) and the #8 Audi of Duval will be the first LMP1 cars to complete a flying lap.
The #18 Porsche of Jani is quickest through the first sector on these opening attempts for the big-hitters.
Jani is also quickest through the second sector, so it looks like he will be the early benchmark.
These are the drivers running in GTE Pro entries early on:
#51 Ferrari - Bruni
#71 Ferrari - Calado
#63 Corvette – Garcia
#64 Corvette – Milner
#91 Porsche – Bergmeister
#92 Porsche – Makowiecki
#95 Aston Martin – Sorensen
#97 Aston Martin – Mucke
#99 Aston Martin – Stanaway
#51 Ferrari - Bruni
#71 Ferrari - Calado
#63 Corvette – Garcia
#64 Corvette – Milner
#91 Porsche – Bergmeister
#92 Porsche – Makowiecki
#95 Aston Martin – Sorensen
#97 Aston Martin – Mucke
#99 Aston Martin – Stanaway
Stopwatch
We're in the 3m16s already! Jani blitzes Bernhard, Duval, Bonanomi and the Toyotas to set a 3m16.887s. Remarkable.
Practice pacesetter Bradley leads the first round of LMP2 laps in the KCMG entry. His 3m38.032s is almost a second clear of Lancaster or Greaves Motorsport, with Panciatici third in the Signatech Alpine.
There's 0.8s between the #18 and #17 Porsches at the front. Duval, best of the rest for Audi, is 2.9s back in third after those first attempts.
Practice pacesetter Stanaway gets on with the task at hand early on, getting down to a 3m55.063s in the #99 Aston.
Bruni's a fair way off on his first run in the #51 AF Corse Ferrari, 1.4s back. They are split by Pedro Lamy in the #98 Am-class Aston at the moment.
Bruni's a fair way off on his first run in the #51 AF Corse Ferrari, 1.4s back. They are split by Pedro Lamy in the #98 Am-class Aston at the moment.
Twitter
@Audi__Sport: "Stunning pace from the top runners: We are already down at 3m 16s!"
Were Jani's current time of 3m16.887s to stand for pole position (and there is still not far off six hours of qualifying remaining, so there's every chance there's more time to come), it would be sixth-quickest Le Mans pole position lap in history on any of the track's configuration.
The pole-position record was set by Pedro Rodriguez in a Porsche 917 in 1971.
The pole-position record was set by Pedro Rodriguez in a Porsche 917 in 1971.
Bonanomi improves in the P4 Audi, but he's still 4.1s adrift of Jani's pole time. Buemi and Wurz are lapping in the 3m25s for Toyota right now, sitting 5th and 6th.
The #61 AF Corse Ferrari, which is the GTE Am class car being piloted at present by Raffaele Giammaria, is getting too greedy with track limits. A final warning from officials for abusing the rules at Tertre Rouge.
LMP1 leaders:
1 Jani (#18 Porsche)
2 Bernhard (#17 Porsche)
3 Duval (#8 Audi)
4 Bonanomi (#9 Audi)
5 Buemi (#1 Toyota)
6 Wurz (#2 Toyota)
7 Fassler (#7 Audi)
1 Jani (#18 Porsche)
2 Bernhard (#17 Porsche)
3 Duval (#8 Audi)
4 Bonanomi (#9 Audi)
5 Buemi (#1 Toyota)
6 Wurz (#2 Toyota)
7 Fassler (#7 Audi)
Evans has slotted into third in LMP2 for Jota, ahead of Kane in the Strakka and Derani in the G-Drive OAK.
There's an interesting record that is only a couple of seconds off - that of the fastest average speed for a qualifying lap. That was set by Hans-Joachim Stuck in 1985 in a Porsche 962C at an average speed of 251.815km/h.
To break that record on the current Le Mans circuit configuration, the laptime would need to be below a 3m14.843s. Realistically, that's probably out of reach, but that record was set on a pre-chicane Mulsanne Straight.
To break that record on the current Le Mans circuit configuration, the laptime would need to be below a 3m14.843s. Realistically, that's probably out of reach, but that record was set on a pre-chicane Mulsanne Straight.
Tandy gets the #19 Porsche involved, slotting into P5 with his first attempt. It's eight seconds off the pace set by Jani for now.
Bruni's improved slightly in the AF Corse Ferrari, but it doesn't change the #51's position – second in class and third overall in GTE.
Calado's only slightly behind in the #71 Ferrari, with Garcia next in the first of the Corvette's (that's the #63).
A fair few PBs lighting up the timing screen though.
Calado's only slightly behind in the #71 Ferrari, with Garcia next in the first of the Corvette's (that's the #63).
A fair few PBs lighting up the timing screen though.
Bernhard is already out of the #17 Porsche. It's Hartley's turn. And we've seen Lotterer getting ready in the Audi garage too.
Vanthoor now goes third in LMP2, with Panciatici up to fourth and Derani fifth. They're all still more than two seconds behind Bradley, though.
Panciatici has been reported to the stewards for exceeding track limits.
Panciatici has been reported to the stewards for exceeding track limits.
By: Glenn Freeman, Edd Straw, Scott Mitchell, Mitchell Adam, AUTOSPORT staff, Gary Watkins
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