Le Mans 24 Hours 2015 Wednesday: Practice and qualifying
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There are some very experienced Le Mans campaigners in the field this year. Emmanuel Collard is set to start his 21st Le Mans in 2015, Olivier Beretta his 20th and Nicolas Minassian and Pedro Lamy their 16th.
Race control seems to have gained some time back - we're on course for a 23:25 restart. Three minutes to wait.
Porsche has sent some mechanics down to the end of the pits to push the #19 car back to the garage. And the #17, which was also in the queue. It looks like the other teams are doing the same.
Red flag
We're being delayed by barrier repairs for the second time today. Marshals are at work rebuilding the tyre wall at Mulsanne corner.
Race control says we've got at least another 15 minutes of work required, and it will update the teams again at 23:30 local time.
That's bad news for the handful of cars that must have thought we were getting going soon and are sat in a queue at the end of the pits, including the #19 Porsche.
Race control says we've got at least another 15 minutes of work required, and it will update the teams again at 23:30 local time.
That's bad news for the handful of cars that must have thought we were getting going soon and are sat in a queue at the end of the pits, including the #19 Porsche.
Ah - even though the clock has stopped, we've now had a message from race control saying the session must end at midnight "due to local law".
The clock has now been reset, so 47 minutes remaining. As you were.
The clock has now been reset, so 47 minutes remaining. As you were.
Gommendy, who set the time in the Thiriet by TDS Racing entry, has been summoned to the stewards. That should keep him occupied during the stoppage.
Red flag
Still under a red flag here.
GARY WATKINS: Beche's time is quicker than the Rebellion managed with Toyota power in qualifying last year, but still not as fast as Heidfeld managed in the race. The AER-engined car is half a tenth slower than the ultimate best set by its predecessor.
Here's how LMP2 looks, halfway into the session.
1. #47 KCMG - 3m38.032s
2. #41 Greaves Motorsport - 3m38.958s
3. #38 Jota Sport - 3m39.679s
4. #46 Thiriet by TDS Racing - 3m39.923s
5. #34 OAK Racing - 3m40.058s
6. #28 G-Drive Racing (OAK) - 3m40.967s
7. #36 Signatech Alpine - 3m41.115s
8. #29 Pegasus Racing - 3m42.023s
No sign yet of the Murphy Prototypes entry, team indicated we'd see it after 11pm, and we're now eight minutes past the hour.
1. #47 KCMG - 3m38.032s
2. #41 Greaves Motorsport - 3m38.958s
3. #38 Jota Sport - 3m39.679s
4. #46 Thiriet by TDS Racing - 3m39.923s
5. #34 OAK Racing - 3m40.058s
6. #28 G-Drive Racing (OAK) - 3m40.967s
7. #36 Signatech Alpine - 3m41.115s
8. #29 Pegasus Racing - 3m42.023s
No sign yet of the Murphy Prototypes entry, team indicated we'd see it after 11pm, and we're now eight minutes past the hour.
Twitter
@toni_vilander: "What is happening @FIAWEC ??? So many penalties for track limits, now red flag and everybody 80km/h. I mean the whole lap!!?? #idontlikethis"
Bizarrely, we've just had the #9 Audi spin in the hands of Rast. It's not quite clear what happened there, and if that was definitely under red flag conditions.
Just before the stoppage, Beche moved the #12 Rebellion to within three seconds of the eighth-placed #2 Toyota.
Red flag
The clock has stopped during this red flag, so the teams aren't losing out on night time running.
Word coming through that the red flag is for the Greaves LMP2 entry, with Paletou at the wheel, in the barriers at Mulsanne.
Twitter
@Toyota_Hybrid: "Nearly halfway through two-hour session. @Mikeconway26 currently on track."
Matsuda moved the #21 Nissan up to 43rd overall, and with that he was being called in even before the red flag to hand over to Ordonez.
Pretty straightforward spin for the Audi in the middle of the chicane, and after some awkward moves back and forth, he eventually rejoins without drama.
Red flag
Red flag - seems there's also a car off somewhere in the vicinity of Mulsanne Corner.
Yellow flag
Treluyer has spun the #7 Audi at the first Mulsanne chicane.
Cameron is crawling back to the pits after that spin, which appears to be the result of a puncture.
Signatech Alpine's team manager has been summoned to see the stewards "immediately".
Matsuda completes a timed lap in the #21 Nissan, but a 4m12.481s is not enough to move the car up from 55th - ahead of only the Murphy car that is yet to appear following its crash in practice.
Krumm has improved slightly in the #22, but he's still 25th. And the #23 is still agonisingly close to beating the leading LMP2 car, which sits ahead of it in 11th overall.
Krumm has improved slightly in the #22, but he's still 25th. And the #23 is still agonisingly close to beating the leading LMP2 car, which sits ahead of it in 11th overall.
Cameron gets his Ferrari moving again so the yellows at Mulsanne Corner are removed.
Looks like Duncan Cameron has come to grief at Mulsanne Corner in the #55 AF Ferrari.
The #99 Aston, now in the hands of MacDowall, is the latest to get flagged up for track limits at Tertre Rouge.
Twitter
@PorscheRaces: "#Porsche919Hybrid no 18 and 19 in the pits. New nose for no 18. @RomainDumas and @NicoHulkenberg are on the track."
Matsuda heads back out in the #21 Nissan - maybe we'll get a time from the car with this run. In the #23 that's flying the Nissan flag closer to the sharp end, Pla has taken over from Mardenborough.
Our position in the media centre is above the AF Corse GT Ferraris and LMP2's Krohn Racing. Here's a shot of the latter, United SportsCar Championship leader Barbosa is currently in its Ligier-Judd/BMW JSP2.
All change in the GTE Pro ranks as we pass the 45-minute mark.
1. #99 Aston – MacDowall in for Stanaway
2. #98 Aston – Lauda in for Lamy*
3. #51 Ferrari - Fisichella in for Bruni
4. #63 Corvette – Magnussen in for Garcia
5. #97 Aston - Turner in for Mucke
* GTE Am provisional pole
1. #99 Aston – MacDowall in for Stanaway
2. #98 Aston – Lauda in for Lamy*
3. #51 Ferrari - Fisichella in for Bruni
4. #63 Corvette – Magnussen in for Garcia
5. #97 Aston - Turner in for Mucke
* GTE Am provisional pole
Lotterer gets our hopes up with two personal best sectors in the #7 Audi, but he abandons the lap so the car stays 6th.
Another car returning to the pits is the #21 Nissan, which came back before setting a time.
Another car returning to the pits is the #21 Nissan, which came back before setting a time.
The beached SMP Racing #37 is being cleared from the gravel trap and onto the back of a truck for the journey back to the pits. That part of the track is now clear again.
More Nissan news - the #21 car is finally out on track.
Mardenborough sets the fastest Nissan lap so far: 3m38.468s moves the #23 car up to P12 overall, +21.5s off the pace.
And, for now, that's 0.4s slower than the #47 KCMG car that's leading the way in LMP2.
And, for now, that's 0.4s slower than the #47 KCMG car that's leading the way in LMP2.
Double yellow flags in sector six, the #37 SMP Racing is off. Kirill Ladygin is in the gravel, having lost the BR01 coming onto Mulsanne, he was lucky not to hit anything and damage the car in a major way.
Confirmation that Calado loses laps one to six, they've been deleted for abuse of track limits at Tertre Rouge. The #71 Ferrari drops to last, with no time. Rigon's now aboard the 458 Italia.
Tertre Rouge is close to no longer looking like a real corner name, it's been written so much in the last few minutes...
Tertre Rouge is close to no longer looking like a real corner name, it's been written so much in the last few minutes...
Remember that all four of the factory LMP1 teams are running in different hybrid subclasses:
Nissan: 2MJ
Audi: 4MJ
Toyota: 6MJ
Porsche: 8MJ
Nissan: 2MJ
Audi: 4MJ
Toyota: 6MJ
Porsche: 8MJ
Bruni reported to the stewards – that's both the Ferraris potentially in hot water.
Meanwhile, Antonio Garcia puts the #63 Corvette fifth overall and fourth in GTE Pro.
Meanwhile, Antonio Garcia puts the #63 Corvette fifth overall and fourth in GTE Pro.
Evans improves to a 3m39.679s for Jota Sport, he's up to third.
Kaffer moves the ByKolles CLM up to 15th overall, 23 seconds off the pace of the Porsches.
A warning for the #91 Porsche now for track limits at...
Tertre Rouge.
Tertre Rouge.
By: Glenn Freeman, Edd Straw, Scott Mitchell, Mitchell Adam, AUTOSPORT staff, Gary Watkins
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