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24 Hours of Le Mans
Le Mans 24 Hours 2015 Wednesday: Practice and qualifying
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More quick work from Porsche - this time from Webber at the wheel of the #17. He goes fastest with a 3m23.126s, so we now have the top three covered by 0.089s. That'd be nice in qualifying!
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
Extreme Speed Motorsports has popped up to second in LMP2, thanks to a 3m44.518s from Dalziel in the Ligier-Honda JSP2.
Stopwatch
Fassler goes quickest with new overall best times through sectors one and three in the #7 Audi. It's still only good enough to put him on top by 0.039s ahead of the #18 Porsche with a 3m23.176s.
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.
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.
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.
Green flag
Bamber is back in the pits, and the slow zone has now ended. The track is clear.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
Yellow flag
We have a 'slow zone' in operation at the first Mulsanne chicane while there is a vehicle on track recovering Bamber's Porsche from the gravel.
Bamber had improved the #19 car's best on the lap before his off, moving it up to sixth.
Stopwatch
While one of his team-mates is in the gravel, Jani has improved again, this time getting down to a 3m23.215s - our first sub 3m24s of the day.
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.
Yellow flag
We have a Porsche off at the first Mulsanne chicane - it's Bamber in the #19.
Stopwatch
Jani goes fastest in the #18 Porsche, showing just how quickly the track has improved. He lowers the benchmark by 0.077s to a 3m24.596s.
Fassler keeps pushing the boundaries, skipping across the entry to the final chicane.
The #45 Ibanez Racing ORECA has a quick spin at the first chicane. Perret is at the wheel of that car
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.
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.
Fassler goes straight on at the first Mulsanne chicane, exploring how much grip is coming back as the track dries.
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.
Karun Chandhok has just set Murphy Prototype's first time of the session, a 3m55.413s has the entry 14th in LMP2.
Nissan watch: The only one of its LMP1s to have set a time (the #21) sits 24th overall. The #22 and #23 cars both have three laps to their name and no flying lap yet - but Mardenborough has just taken the #23 back out.
Black and orange flag for the #13 Rebellion, which is yet to join the cluster of LMP1 cars at the top of the field, and sits behind five LMP2 cars in 15th overall.
Of the three LMP2 cars on track at the moment, team owner Tracy Krohn is out in the Krohn Racing Ligier-Judd/BMW JPS2.
Krohn and Nic Jonsson will set a new record for the most starts together in the 24 Hours, their 10th moving past Tom Kristensen and Rinaldo Capello’s nine. They’re joined in the entry by current United SportsCar Championship leader Joao Barbosa.
Krohn and Nic Jonsson will set a new record for the most starts together in the 24 Hours, their 10th moving past Tom Kristensen and Rinaldo Capello’s nine. They’re joined in the entry by current United SportsCar Championship leader Joao Barbosa.
GTE laptimes can significantly improve, but that rain has extended the timeframe a bit.
These are the times so far, with an interloping GTE Am entry:
1. #64 Corvette 3m58.880s
2. #98 Aston Martin (Am) 4m00.307s
3. #92 Porsche 4m00.308s
4. #51 Ferrari 4m00.451s
5. #63 Corvette 4m01.236s
These are the times so far, with an interloping GTE Am entry:
1. #64 Corvette 3m58.880s
2. #98 Aston Martin (Am) 4m00.307s
3. #92 Porsche 4m00.308s
4. #51 Ferrari 4m00.451s
5. #63 Corvette 4m01.236s
Lotterer slips and slides his way around for a flying lap in the wet, crossing the line 20 seconds down on his best from earlier when the conditions were at their best.
We've already seen the most experienced Le Mans 24 Hours driver in the field have a run in practice. Emmanuel Collard is set to make his 21st start this year in the #83 Ferrari 458 Italia run by AF Corse in the GTE Am class. His best overall result is second in 2005 for the Pescarolo team, although he has won his class a couple of times. If he makes the start, only nine drivers will have started this race more times.
On-board shots from the #7 Audi shows that we've had plenty of rain down the Mulsanne straight as well.
With an hour in the books and rain having returned, here's how it looks at the top of LMP2:
1. #37 SMP Racing 3m44.482s
2. #41 Greaves Motorsport 3m45.194s
3. #27 SMP Racing 3m45.233s
4. #26 G-Drive Racing (OAK) 3m45.849s
5. #46 Thiriet by TDS Racing 3m47.512s
Other than the KCMG entry that stopped on its first lap, the Murphy Prototypes ORECA-Nissan 03R is the only car yet to record a time.
With Minassian currently behind the wheel, the #27 SMP BRE-Nissan BR01 has been reported to the stewards for speeding in pitlane.
1. #37 SMP Racing 3m44.482s
2. #41 Greaves Motorsport 3m45.194s
3. #27 SMP Racing 3m45.233s
4. #26 G-Drive Racing (OAK) 3m45.849s
5. #46 Thiriet by TDS Racing 3m47.512s
Other than the KCMG entry that stopped on its first lap, the Murphy Prototypes ORECA-Nissan 03R is the only car yet to record a time.
With Minassian currently behind the wheel, the #27 SMP BRE-Nissan BR01 has been reported to the stewards for speeding in pitlane.
GARY WATKINS: Buemi has already bettered Toyota's test day best in the #1 car.
That backs up TMG boss Pascal Vasselon's claims that they've found a few things back home in Cologne since they were comprehensively outpaced by Porsche and Audi back at the start of the month.
That backs up TMG boss Pascal Vasselon's claims that they've found a few things back home in Cologne since they were comprehensively outpaced by Porsche and Audi back at the start of the month.
No surprise to see seemingly every car returning to the pits at the moment. The wind has picked up, and it's bringing more rain with it as we enter the second hour of free practice.
All of the GTE Pro entries have appeared, but Gavin's benchmark in the Corvette remains the class's only sub-4m lap thus far.
Behind the #64 Corvette is the #98 Aston, the #92 Porsche, the #51 Ferrari and the #63 Corvette. Obviously we expect significant improvements from most, and it's the Pro-class Astons who will likely jump up the class order when they come.
Behind the #64 Corvette is the #98 Aston, the #92 Porsche, the #51 Ferrari and the #63 Corvette. Obviously we expect significant improvements from most, and it's the Pro-class Astons who will likely jump up the class order when they come.
Rain
We have rain on the pit straight as well now.
Twitter
@Audi__Sport: "No. 8 @LucasdiGrassi goes straight in first chicane, rejoins."
Albuquerque - currently fastest - starts his latest lap with a new fastest sector 1, but the lap trails off and he crosses the line 16 seconds down on his benchmark. He had plenty of traffic towards the end, but perhaps a tell-tale sign was the fact that his windscreen wipers were on as well when he returned from the far end of the circuit.
While there seems to be plenty of time to get on top of the track before the race, with this four-hour free practice session followed by six hours of qualifying and a 45-minute warm-up, it doesn't add up to that much running for each drive when they are sharing three-to-a-car. In total, there are 44 drivers here looking to make their Le Mans 24 Hours race debuts.
Twitter
@Audi__Sport: "Team radio to @AlbuquerqueFil: 'It's still too slippery for slicks.'"
By: Glenn Freeman, Edd Straw, Scott Mitchell, Mitchell Adam, AUTOSPORT staff, Gary Watkins
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