Le Mans 24 Hours 2019
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LMP2
We've got an all-British battle on for sixth in LMP2, as Jordan King is coming under increasing pressure from Paul di Resta in the #22 United Autosports Ligier. Matthias Beche is taking a watching brief in eighth in the #20 High Class Racing ORECA, ready to pounce if there are any problems.
Leading LMP1 positions after two hours
LMP1
We're not likely to see the ByKolles or DragonSpeed return to the back of the LMP1 field any time soon.
Dillmann is lapping around two seconds quicker than the two LMP2 cars in front of him and is ninth overall.
Hanley is all the way down in 59th, so he's going to have to get a shift on as he's six laps down as it is.
Dillmann is lapping around two seconds quicker than the two LMP2 cars in front of him and is ninth overall.
Hanley is all the way down in 59th, so he's going to have to get a shift on as he's six laps down as it is.
Pit stop
Senna is now pitting the #1 Rebellion.
LMP1
Senna comes out in eighth after a rapid 1m8s pitstop and is behind two LMP2 runners.
GTE PRO
While Magnussen and Pilet are 10s clear of the rest of the GTE Pro field, there's a new driver in third - it's Jonathan Bomarito in the #67 Ford, who is now ahead of the Porsches of Christensen and Lietz.
LMP2
Gonzalez has fallen away from De Vries to the tune of 12 seconds in the last few laps. Stephane Richelmi will soon be on the Mexican's gearbox in the battle for P4.
LMP1
Senna is around 14s off LMP2 runner Vergne's G-Drive and the Rebellion driver remains a lap down on the LMP1 leaders.
Pit stop
Dillmann brings the ByKolles in from ninth overall for its fifth stop of the race.
LMP2
It's been a rather subdued day so far for Panis-Barthez Competition, which currently runs down in 12th with ex-F1 racer Will Stevens still behind the wheel. The Ligier squad could feasibly have won last year without a clutch problem in the early morning but is already 2m10s off the lead.
LMP1
Dillmann's stop is clocked at 1m21s, but he has made at least two stops more than most of his LMP1 rivals. He's back out in 16th overall.
LMP1
A four-minute lap for Senna - presumably caused by traffic - has put him two laps down on the Toyotas and given Vergne breathing space in seventh overall.
Crash
We've seen a replay and Senna would do well to blame traffic. He's had a spin on the approach to Tertre Rouge, skating across the grass in the process.
Not helpful for a recovery drive, is our expert take on that.
Not helpful for a recovery drive, is our expert take on that.
Information
The DragonSpeed LMP1 swansong is proving to be a bit flat - it's now been told it has a broken right-front light.
No major loss on the face of it, DragonSpeed's been told by the race director that it can make a repair at its next stop.
No major loss on the face of it, DragonSpeed's been told by the race director that it can make a repair at its next stop.
Driver Change
Speaking of pitstops, SMP's Sarrazin is heading in and he's handed over to Orudzhev. That's the first driver change in LMP1 after two hours and 17 minutes of racing.
GTE PRO
The GTE car on the move right now is Calado's Ferrari, who is up to fourth and second in that train being led by Bomarito's Ford. Out front, Magnussen's Corvette has eased 2s clear of Pilet's Porsche.
LMP2
After De Vries' stop on lap 36 from third, we've now got Beche and Pizzitola in from the raging battle for eighth. De Vries has pitted three laps earlier than the leaders on each of the last two pitstop cycles, so we can expect Lapierre - 3.6s ahead of Vergne - in around two laps' time.
Driver Change
Sarrazin handing over to Orudzhev was completed in 1m17s by the way and now Petrov has pitted an SMP car.
He hands the #11 over to Vandoorne - who gets his first Le Mans race experience - and the stop is completed in the same time as the sister machine.
He hands the #11 over to Vandoorne - who gets his first Le Mans race experience - and the stop is completed in the same time as the sister machine.
LMP1
Vandoorne heads out on track in fourth overall, ahead of Orudzhev.
That means Menezes has a healthy buffer of over two minutes to the SMP chasers.
That means Menezes has a healthy buffer of over two minutes to the SMP chasers.
Driver Change
But that buffer is going to change as Menezes brings in his #3 Rebellion and hands over to Berthon.
LMP1
Berthon's lead over Vandoorne is 1m2s and the ex-McLaren Formula 1 driver's looked good on lap pace this weekend, so that third place position is one to watch.
Driver Change
Right on cue, Lapierre and Vergne both pit on lap 39. Lapierre stays on board, but Job Van Uitert has scrambled into the #26 G-Drive ORECA to make his debut at La Sarthe.
LMP1
And no we haven't forgotten about Toyota.
Conway's holding a near-40s advantage for the #7 car, while Buemi's in a lonely second that's almost two minutes ahead of Berthon.
Conway's holding a near-40s advantage for the #7 car, while Buemi's in a lonely second that's almost two minutes ahead of Berthon.
Driver Change
Senna is pitting his Rebellion and ends his stint after almost two and a half hours, it's now Lotterer behind the wheel and he should rejoin in 22nd place overall.
GTE PRO
The top two in GTE Pro have closed up - Pilet is back within a second of Magnussen. Interesting to note it's two IMSA entries leading right now, with Pilet's #93 Porsche being one of the two Brumos-coloured cars being run by CORE Autosport.
Meanwhile, Calado continues his charge by moving up to third in the #51 Ferrari, with Bomarito's Ford having now slipped to fifth behind the #91 Porsche of Lietz.
Meanwhile, Calado continues his charge by moving up to third in the #51 Ferrari, with Bomarito's Ford having now slipped to fifth behind the #91 Porsche of Lietz.
Driver Change
Like clockwork, Buemi comes in before the leading Toyota of Conway.
It's Alonso's turn to take to the Le Mans circuit in the #8 car.
It's Alonso's turn to take to the Le Mans circuit in the #8 car.
Driver Change
Hedman is in the DragonSpeed - which is running in 57th overall - he's unlikely to make the same rate of progress as Hanley would.
LMP2
The #37 ORECA and #32 Ligier have not been setting the same pace as the two leaders, but are the only cars that have been able to run as long on fuel at every stint, which could favour them later. Jordan King has rejoined fifth in the #37, while Will Owen is now at the wheel of the #32 after just a single stint from Ryan Cullen in P13.
Driver Change
As expected, leader Conway comes into the pits to hand over to Kobayashi, who takes on a new set of tyres.
GTE PRO
Bird now has the #71 Ferrari up to fifth ahead of the fading Ford of Bomarito.
Driver Change
Jonathan Hirschi makes his fifth stop from P9 in the #39 Graff ORECA. Vincent Capillaire takes over, and will have some work to do to make up for his qualifying misdemeanour, failing to stop at the weigh-bridge, which resulted in the team losing its provisional pole time set by Tristan Gommendy.
Here's your current top five in LMP1 after just over two and a half hours of running
LMP1
Vandoorne lapped five seconds quicker than Berthon that last time around, reducing the gap to third to 47s.
Information
Race control has announced that three cars - the #26 G-Drive ORECA currently second in LMP2, the #93 Porsche currently second in GTE-Pro and the #60 GTE-Am Kessel Ferrari will have 10 seconds added to their next pitstops for violating FCY procedure.
LMP1
The team manager of ByKolles has been called to race control immediately. Which sounds like the naughty boy's step.
LMP1
Speaking of LMP1 cars in recovery drives, Lotterer has the #1 Rebellion up to 17th overall and Hedman's got the DragonSpeed to 56th.
Dillmann - who is still behind the wheel of the ByKolles - remains eighth overall.
Dillmann - who is still behind the wheel of the ByKolles - remains eighth overall.
Crash
Remember Konstantin Tereshchenko's scary GP3 practice crash at Spa in 2014? He's attempted to do something similar by getting all four wheels off the ground in his ARC Bratislava Ligier after mounting the inside kerb exiting the second chicane, but fortunately he gets away with it this time.
Full Course Yellow
Kobayashi was three seconds quicker than Alonso last time around, so the #7 car is now over 50s clear.
But there is a full-course yellow incoming.
But there is a full-course yellow incoming.
By: Geoff Creighton
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