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24 Hours of Le Mans
Le Mans 24 Hours 2015 Wednesday: Practice and qualifying
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@Oreca: "#MurphyMen working hard on the car. Hope to be back before the end of qualifying session."
No change in LMP2 lately, with just over half of the runners currently on track. The KCMG entry is still 1.845 seconds clear at the top of the order, over Thiriet by TDS Racing, the #26 G-Drive Racing (OAK) entry, Extreme Speed Motorsport's #30 and the Strakka Racing entry.
Stopwatch
Dumas goes fastest on a 3m21.164s in the #18 Porsche, relegating the #17 Porsche to second. But replays show that he cut the chicane while lapping a GTE car.
Yellow flag
Race control briefly informs us of a yellow flag on the approach to the first chicane on Mulsanne. But the track is now clear.
Nothing happening in GTE Pro beyond Davide Rigon briefly emerging in the #71 AF Corse Ferrari.
Here's the sharp end of that class with half an hour left:
1. #99 Aston Martin 3m58.106s
2. #97 Aston Martin 3m58.448s
3. #63 Corvette 3m58.501s
4. #64 Corvette 3m58.880s
5. #91 Porsche 3m59.892s
And in GTE Am:
1. #98 Aston Martin 4m00.307s
2. #88 Abu Dhabi-Proton Porsche 4m02.029s
3. #53 Riley Dodge Viper 4m03.287s
Here's the sharp end of that class with half an hour left:
1. #99 Aston Martin 3m58.106s
2. #97 Aston Martin 3m58.448s
3. #63 Corvette 3m58.501s
4. #64 Corvette 3m58.880s
5. #91 Porsche 3m59.892s
And in GTE Am:
1. #98 Aston Martin 4m00.307s
2. #88 Abu Dhabi-Proton Porsche 4m02.029s
3. #53 Riley Dodge Viper 4m03.287s
Wandering around the paddock is Jonathan Cochet, once a Courage works driver here at Le Mans and a Formula 1 test driver with Renault back in the day.
He hasn't raced this year and revealed that he had a couple of deals in the offing for the World Endurance Championship this year. The problem was he was reclassified from silver to gold at the last minute over the winter, and his deals fell over.
Not a bad little pedaller was Cochet in his day. You might remember him winning the Marlboro Masters of F3 at Zandvoort back in 2000.
He hasn't raced this year and revealed that he had a couple of deals in the offing for the World Endurance Championship this year. The problem was he was reclassified from silver to gold at the last minute over the winter, and his deals fell over.
Not a bad little pedaller was Cochet in his day. You might remember him winning the Marlboro Masters of F3 at Zandvoort back in 2000.
The #26 G-Drive Racing (OAK) entry has been issued a mechanical black flag. Rusinov is behind the wheel, the car is currently third in LMP2.
Nakajima is on track at the wheel of the #1 Porsche. His participation at Le Mans was very much in doubt at the start of last month following a crash at Spa.
With Paul-Loup Chatin at the wheel, the Signatech Alpine ORECA-Nissan 03R has made a trip through one of the chicane escape roads on Mulsanne.
Rain
And now the rain has made it to the pit straight as well. Plenty of cars abandoning their runs and coming in.
Breaking news
The good news is that the monocoque of the Murphy ORECA appears to be okay — and Patterson is fine, too.
The Irish team — from Northamptonshire! — is setting to with repairs, but it's doubtful that we're going to see the car again today.
The Irish team — from Northamptonshire! — is setting to with repairs, but it's doubtful that we're going to see the car again today.
An improvement for the #63 Corvette as Garcia lowers the lead C7.R's best time to 3m58.501s to go third overall.
Rain
Rain is being reported at Arnage corner and in the Porsche Curves.
Gary Hirsch is off in the Greaves Motorsport LMP2 entry, handy bit of oversteer coming through the final chicane onto the front straight. He's managing to reverse the car away from the barriers through the gravel.
The #95 Aston improves in the hands of Nicki Thiim, and that makes the top five GTE cars all Pro entries.
Makowiecki has a decent lap in the #92 Porsche but doesn't improve and remains seventh in class.
Makowiecki has a decent lap in the #92 Porsche but doesn't improve and remains seventh in class.
Duval's first flying lap gets the #8 Audi among the Porsches. He's up to second, 0.5s adrift of Webber's best from before the most recent red flag.
Scott Sharp, the 1996 IndyCar co-champion, is on track in the #30 Extreme Speed Motorsports Ligier. It's his first appearance at Le Mans for 18 years.
Oliver Turvey is out for the first time this week Jota Sport's Gibson-Nissan 015S. This time last year he wasn't even in Le Mans, but ended the weekend as an LMP2 winner.
The McLaren F1 test driver was set to drive the ADR-Delta-run Millennium Racing entry, which eventually withdrew. However, when Loic Duval crashed on Wednesday and Audi reserve Marc Gene was summoned from Jota, Turvey received a call.
He took the class lead in the final hour and was joined on the top step of the podium by Harry Tincknell and Simon Dolan.
"Last year was amazing, especially getting called up at the last minute and then ending up on the top step of the podium as a Le Mans LMP2 winner," he said.
"It was one of the greatest moments in my career."
The McLaren F1 test driver was set to drive the ADR-Delta-run Millennium Racing entry, which eventually withdrew. However, when Loic Duval crashed on Wednesday and Audi reserve Marc Gene was summoned from Jota, Turvey received a call.
He took the class lead in the final hour and was joined on the top step of the podium by Harry Tincknell and Simon Dolan.
"Last year was amazing, especially getting called up at the last minute and then ending up on the top step of the podium as a Le Mans LMP2 winner," he said.
"It was one of the greatest moments in my career."
Audi's tweet about traffic is very accurate - all but five of the 56 cars in action have taken to the track since the restart, and we're now into the final hour of free practice.
Peter Mann has a quick spin in the #61 GTE Am AF Corse Ferrari. In more interesting (and quicker) news, there are a few personal best sectors being set. Drivers getting on with things with an hour to go.
Davidson's on-board shows just how powerful the Porsche is as Dumas becomes a dot on the horizon down the Mulsanne straight.
The Toyota driver then nearly runs into trouble at the end of the Mulsanne, very nearly running into the back of an LMP2 car and having to run wide to avoid contact.
The Toyota driver then nearly runs into trouble at the end of the Mulsanne, very nearly running into the back of an LMP2 car and having to run wide to avoid contact.
Twitter
@Audi__Sport: "Track conditions look the best they have been so far today – but a lot of traffic now."
Dumas dives down the inside of Davidson into the final chicane as they scrap for track position to start their flying laps. Both cars bounce across the first part of the chicane having gone in too hot.
Force India F1 driver Nico Hulkenberg is out in the #19 Porsche for the first time today. Here's what he has to say about Le Mans.
"I got my first taste of the track during the pre-test and I found it really cool," says Hulkenberg. "You can get yourself in a great rhythm. I'm looking forward to the long stints in the race.
"I feel comfy in the Porsche 919 Hybrid, but I’ll learn a lot more during the race week."
"I got my first taste of the track during the pre-test and I found it really cool," says Hulkenberg. "You can get yourself in a great rhythm. I'm looking forward to the long stints in the race.
"I feel comfy in the Porsche 919 Hybrid, but I’ll learn a lot more during the race week."
Green flag
And the session is back under way. Green flag. 65 minutes of the four-hour free practice session remaining.
Cars are heading down to the end of the pits for the restart, with the #2 Toyota at the head of the queue.
Quote
Some thoughts from the Toyota camp in this stoppage, with its cars seventh and eighth so far:
Sebastien Buemi: "We've experienced wet and dry conditions and completed quite a few laps, which is good to do before qualifying. We now need to work on improving the car."
Mike Conway adds: "I think we've learned a lot."
Sebastien Buemi: "We've experienced wet and dry conditions and completed quite a few laps, which is good to do before qualifying. We now need to work on improving the car."
Mike Conway adds: "I think we've learned a lot."
Race control informs us that the session is set to start at 18:55 local time - so in seven minutes.
We were promised an update on the session restart at 18:40 local time, but as the barrier repairs continue at the Porsche Curves we're still waiting.
Some more information on the Rebellion stopping - we're now hearing it was a puncture rather than a lost wheel.
There are some barrier repairs going on at the Porsche Curves, hence the delay even though the track is now clear.
As we wait for the restart after the red flag caused by Patterson's crash in the Porsche Curves in the #48 ORECA, here's a look at how silver drivers such as Patterson are classified.
In the LMP2 class, the performance of the silver driver is often decisive. Each trio of drivers must include at least one silver-rated driver.
Silver drivers are defined as amateurs who satisfy at least one of the following criteria:
- driver aged under 30 and not satisfying the criteria of categories A (Platinum) and B (Gold);
- driver satisfying the criteria of the Platinum category but aged 60 or over;
- driver who has won a non-professional drivers’ series (Ferrari Challenge, Maserati Trofeo, Lamborghini Supertrophy…);
-is a driver whose performances and achievements, despite note being covered by one of the definitions above, may be considered as silver by the Endurance Committee.
In the LMP2 class, the performance of the silver driver is often decisive. Each trio of drivers must include at least one silver-rated driver.
Silver drivers are defined as amateurs who satisfy at least one of the following criteria:
- driver aged under 30 and not satisfying the criteria of categories A (Platinum) and B (Gold);
- driver satisfying the criteria of the Platinum category but aged 60 or over;
- driver who has won a non-professional drivers’ series (Ferrari Challenge, Maserati Trofeo, Lamborghini Supertrophy…);
-is a driver whose performances and achievements, despite note being covered by one of the definitions above, may be considered as silver by the Endurance Committee.
The Rebellion is back in the pits as well, so both cars that were stranded out on track have been recovered. Race control says we will have an update in five minutes on when the session will restart.
Good that Patterson is apparently OK. But it will be a blow to his confidence, which is unfortunate because he did a great job to hold second place for the opening 10 or so laps of the ELMS race at Imola last month. As he is the silver-rated driver in the #48 Murphy car, team-mates Berthon and Chandhok need him at his best to minimise the time loss with him at the wheel.
Twitter
@MurphyPrototype: "Free Practice @24hoursoflemans ends early for #murphysmen after contact with barrier. Mark ok. Car on its way back to pits for assessment."
Looks like there is damage to both the front and the rear of the #48 ORECA, but impossible to assess the extent of the damage visually.
That's a big blow for the Murphy Prototypes team, which was the LMP2 pacesetter in the Le Mans test a couple of weeks ago and had a morale-boosting second place in the ELMS round at Imola last month.
LMP1 order:
1 #17 Porsche, 3m21.382s
2 #18 Porsche, +1.129s
3 #19 Porsche, +1.457s
4 #7 Audi, +1.814s
5 #8 Audi, +2.289s
6 #9 Audi, +3.311s
7 #1 Toyota, +3.515s
8 #2 Toyota, +4.175s
9 #12 Rebellion, +7.079s
10 #13 Rebellion, +14.028s
12 #21 Nissan, +18.970s
13 #23 Nissan, +19.067s
14 #22 Nissan, +19.940s
1 #17 Porsche, 3m21.382s
2 #18 Porsche, +1.129s
3 #19 Porsche, +1.457s
4 #7 Audi, +1.814s
5 #8 Audi, +2.289s
6 #9 Audi, +3.311s
7 #1 Toyota, +3.515s
8 #2 Toyota, +4.175s
9 #12 Rebellion, +7.079s
10 #13 Rebellion, +14.028s
12 #21 Nissan, +18.970s
13 #23 Nissan, +19.067s
14 #22 Nissan, +19.940s
The #48 Murphy ORECA is on its way back to the pits on the back of a flatbed. There's damage to the front end and the left-rear corner.
Red flag
Race control says this stoppage will last at least another 20 minutes.
By: Glenn Freeman, Edd Straw, Scott Mitchell, Mitchell Adam, AUTOSPORT staff, Gary Watkins
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