Le Mans 24 Hours final qualifying day
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There's some slow speed speeding under investigation. Some slapped wrists on the way potentially.
Just over 20 minutes left and the slow zones are still ongoing.
Driver Change
Jose Maria Lopez has jumped into the #7 Toyota now.
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It's the Keating Ford being recovered by the crane.
Slow Zone
Slow zone is being prepared here at the exit of the Mulsanne.
LMP1
Alonso's continuing his longer run here, lapping in the 3m19s - over three seconds off the car's best time.
LMP2
The Signatech Alpine that sits third in LMP2 has been in the pits for a while now and is receiving attention from its mechanics and a Gibson employee. We'll try and find out the problem for you soon.
GTE PRO
Antonio Garcia set the quickest time in yesterday's first qualifying in GTE Pro, only to have it deleted. The Spaniard has just improved now in the #63 Corvette, but only to P14 on a 3m51.903s, more than two seconds slower than he managed yesterday.
A visual representation of the visibility problems represented by JACK COZENS. Not just drivers struggling in these conditions.
We know you're dying to find out the top six finishers from the Cleveland Champ Car race in 2004, so here they are.
Le Mans native Sebastien Bourdais was the winner for Newman-Haas Racing, ahead of team-mate Bruno Junqueira. Alex Tagliani finished third in a rare high point for Rocketsports ahead of Oriol Servia, while veteran Jimmy Vasser and rookie AJ Allmendinger rounded out the top six.
Le Mans native Sebastien Bourdais was the winner for Newman-Haas Racing, ahead of team-mate Bruno Junqueira. Alex Tagliani finished third in a rare high point for Rocketsports ahead of Oriol Servia, while veteran Jimmy Vasser and rookie AJ Allmendinger rounded out the top six.
LMP1
Team Autosport is now baffled by the blind situation as the sun lowers, but there's no danger of improvements at the moment despite the distraction.
LMP1 lap times are currently about six seconds off the best we've seen in qualifying.
LMP1 lap times are currently about six seconds off the best we've seen in qualifying.
LMP1
Hanley is reported as going slowly as he enters the Mulsanne, but he appears to be cracking on again.
GTE PRO
We have our first change in the top-six order in GTE Pro of the evening, as Richard Westbrook posts a 3m50.339s in the #69 Ford GT to move up to sixth. A short while ago Stefan Mucke set a 3m51.601s in the #66 car, but that was only enough for 13th.
Driver Change
Ben Hanley is in the #10 DragonSpeed as we edge closer to the last 30 minutes of the session.
LMP2
Speaking of Gonzalez, his time in Champ Car in the early noughties was largely forgettable, but he did have a seventh-place finish at Cleveland in a PKV Racing Lola. Can you hazard a guess at the six drivers who finished in front of him that day?
LMP1
But we can talk about the number of laps. Both Toyota's are into the 40s now and the next-best is #1 Rebellion on 39 laps.
LMP1
Just the two Toyotas and the #11 SMP machine of Vandoorne currently on track, all three rudely giving us little to talk about in terms of lap time.
Here's Vanthoor getting a little too close to comfort to the back of Van Eerd's Dallara
LMP2
Roberto Gonzalez is now out on track in the #31 DragonSpeed ORECA, which still sits quickest in LMP2. He'll be hoping for a slightly less eventful stint than his last outing yesterday evening...
Wondering how low the sun is now? It's enough for Team Autosport to consider pulling the blinds down in hope of seeing the timing screens again.
Gripping stuff in the media centre.
Gripping stuff in the media centre.
LMP1
Quite a busy track for the LMP1 runners now, only the #3 Rebellion - still being worked on in the garage - and the #17 SMP Racing machine of Orudzhev remain in the pitlane.
GTE PRO
A sharp intake of breath all round as Laurens Vanthoor closes on Van Eerd's LMP2 Dallara at a rapid rate of knots under braking for Mulsanne Corner and performs an excellent spin turn in avoidance. 10/10 for ingenuity and execution.
Driver Change
Turning away from the Xbox-related fun, Stoffel Vandoorne is #11 SMP Racing car, while Tom Dillmann's headed out in the #4 ByKolles.
Autosport
While we're watching the battle for pole position at Le Mans, the battle's already been resolved in the virtual world.
The polesitters have a great team name too, if you ask us.
The polesitters have a great team name too, if you ask us.
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While very little is going on, you may recall that Conway was involved in a bizarre crash yesterday evening.
He's now spoken on the incident and accepts the blame, having earned a suspended three-minute stop-and-hold penalty for the clash with DragonSpeed's Gonzalez.
"I just got caught out there with a late yellow flag,” said Conway. "Once I got to the corner it was kind of too late. Obviously, I have to take some blame for that.
"I should have slowed down a bit more and taken more caution, especially in a practice session. But yeah, I didn’t expect the car [Gonzalez] to be driving at me."
He's now spoken on the incident and accepts the blame, having earned a suspended three-minute stop-and-hold penalty for the clash with DragonSpeed's Gonzalez.
"I just got caught out there with a late yellow flag,” said Conway. "Once I got to the corner it was kind of too late. Obviously, I have to take some blame for that.
"I should have slowed down a bit more and taken more caution, especially in a practice session. But yeah, I didn’t expect the car [Gonzalez] to be driving at me."
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And we're also heading into the final 45 minutes.
LMP2
The top three runners in LMP2 are currently in the pits, but we've got a few of the Am drivers out getting mileage in the sunset, including Frits van Eerd in the #29 Racing Team Netherland Dallara, Paul Lafargue in the #48 IDEC Sport ORECA and Jon Falb in the Algarve Pro ORECA.
LMP1
Alonso's now in the #8 Toyota and out on track.
LMP1
Not to repeat ourselves, especially as it didn't prompt fast laps last time, but there's no improvements ongoing in LMP1 right now.
LMP1
The #3 Rebellion has appeared in the pitlane on dolly jacks. Long repairs ahead it seems to diagnose the cause of the problem.
LMP1
That means only Nakajima in the #8 Toyota and the #10 DragonSpeed of Hedman are circulating at the moment.
Although, as we type, Conway is heading out again.
Although, as we type, Conway is heading out again.
LMP1
Busy pitlane in LMP1 now, both SMP machines and the still-running Rebellion of Jani are into the pitlane.
So is Dillmann in the ByKolles.
So is Dillmann in the ByKolles.
LMP1
We're inside the final hour and we're not seeing any improvement in LMP1, but the last time we said that someone improved.
Maybe we can repeat the commentator's curse again?
Maybe we can repeat the commentator's curse again?
GTE PRO
Still not much change in GTE Pro, but there have been a couple of post-red flag improvements just now towards the foot of the top 10. The #68 Ford of Dirk Muller is now ninth, while the #51 Ferrari of Daniel Serra is up to 10th.
LMP2
The order remains unchanged in LMP2, with DragonSpeed holding firm at the top, ahead of the #38 G-Drive ORECA, #36 Signatech-Alpine and #29 Racing Team Netherland Dallara in a strong fourth.
The evening sun is a challenge for driver visibility, but it's also affecting Team Autosport's following of the timing screen.
We're powering through without complaints though.
We're powering through without complaints though.
LMP1
That seems a foolish statement to have made now, as Jani improves to fourth on a 3m17.313s in the #1 Rebellion.
LMP1
Kobayashi and Nakajima are back out again for Toyota, while it's Petrov and Sirotkin circulatin in the two SMP cars. Nobody's lighting up the timing screens right now though.
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24 hours (minus a generous sleep break, this year at least) is a long time to spend cooped up in a media centre, so going trackside during practice or qualifying is a must for our team on the ground. TOM ERRINGTON has just returned from one such trip:
"Traffic management is one of the key Le Mans buzzwords, and standing trackside at somewhere like Tertre Rouge, you realise why. Watching the difference in approach between drivers when a prototype closes on a GT car is something special."
"Traffic management is one of the key Le Mans buzzwords, and standing trackside at somewhere like Tertre Rouge, you realise why. Watching the difference in approach between drivers when a prototype closes on a GT car is something special."
Green flag
The session is back underway.
By: Geoff Creighton
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