Le Mans 24 Hours final qualifying day
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GTE PRO
Kevin Estre skates into the gravel at the Porsche Curves in the #92 'Pink Pig' Porsche, but he just keeps it out of the barriers and he's safely made it back to the pits. That car still lies second in GTE Pro.
LMP1
Half the LMP1 cars are currently in the pits, so there's a lull in improvements.
Slow Zone
We have a yellow zone, but with no reason given yet. We know it's on the approach to Tertre Rouge.
LMP1
Oh, and now Robertson has spun at the Dunlop chicane.
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Slow Zone
Matt Griffin has had an off at Indianapolis in the #61 Clearwater Ferrari, which has given us a slow zone down that end of the circuit.
GTE AM
Griffin is back in the pits, and that slow zone is now clear.
LMP1
Buemi is now aboard the #8 Toyota and on his outlap.
Giorgio Sernagiotto has posted some screengrabs on his Facebook page of his shunt from the previous qualifying session, which he says was caused by a suspension failure. The wreckage suggested it was a big shunt, and this image confirms it! (facebook.com/GiorgioSernagiotto)
GTE PRO
Makowiecki sounds confident that GTE Pro pole is secure, in part thanks to a bit of rain that's in the air.
“We really want to optimise our car for the race, and I’m not sure anyone will improve because of the drizzle," he says.
“We really want to optimise our car for the race, and I’m not sure anyone will improve because of the drizzle," he says.
The #67 Ford is having an eventful evening - Tony Kanaan goes off at the Esses, but like team-mate Andy Priaulx in the previous session he hits the wall and carries on with some bodywork damage.
LMP1
The #8 and #7 Toyota's most recent quick laps have been in the high 3m18s and 3m19s respectively, so the times aren't looking likely to tumble right now.
Slow Zone
The Dunlop Chicane has claimed a few victims today, and the latest visitor to the gravel is 2016 class winner Stephane Richelmi in the #38 Jackie Chan DC Racing ORECA. That'll be another slow zone then.
LMP2
Things have stabilised a little after that early flurry of improvements, with IDEC Sport still sitting pretty atop the charts. Former Peugeot star Nicolas Minassian joined the team from DragonSpeed over the winter and has had a profound impact in his new role as sporting director, as he told Autosport earlier today:
"I have pushed a lot with this team to change it and make it more what I know from my experience," he said.
"They have let me do it, and that’s important. If somebody doesn’t let you do that, there is no point.
"There was a good core in the team - people like the technical director, he is very good - but you gain experience when you add more people and it’s more international. That’s important because motorsport is international."
"I have pushed a lot with this team to change it and make it more what I know from my experience," he said.
"They have let me do it, and that’s important. If somebody doesn’t let you do that, there is no point.
"There was a good core in the team - people like the technical director, he is very good - but you gain experience when you add more people and it’s more international. That’s important because motorsport is international."
LMP1
Nakajima is in the #8 Toyota, taking over from Buemi.
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LMP2
Whatever the Live equivalent of commentator's curse was, we're guilty of it as Duval deposes Chatin's IDEC car for top spot in LMP2 by the tightest of margins - just 0.026s.
LMP2
It's not just a cat's whisker between first and second in LMP2 - Berthon is just 0.067s behind Duval in third!
The sun has well and truly set at Le Mans (pic: LAT)
LMP1
If anything, the LMP1 times are starting to slow down. We've had a 3m22s from the #7 Toyota and the #17 SMP Racing entry.
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LMP2
More trouble for the #35 SMP Dallara which had a lairy moment at the Porsche Curves earlier on in the hands of Norman Nato, as Harrison Newey trails slowly back to the pits with a left-rear puncture.
LMP1
We've not had a lot to say about LMP1, and that continues with eight of the 10 cars in the pits.
GTE PRO
First GTE Pro improvement in quite some time comes courtesy of Antonio Garcia. The Spaniard does a 3m50.499s in the #63 Corvette, which puts it 11th in class.
Quote
Looks the #5 Manor-Ginetta is stuck in the pits for the time being.
“We’ve had a starter motor failure, [it's the] first time we’ve seen this," says Mike Simpson. "[But] the car is getting quicker and quicker. We’re struggling with front tyre temperature, and switching it on.
"We’re not worried about performance, we’re finding that in leaps and bounds. We’re only going forwards – we just need to sort these niggles out.”
“We’ve had a starter motor failure, [it's the] first time we’ve seen this," says Mike Simpson. "[But] the car is getting quicker and quicker. We’re struggling with front tyre temperature, and switching it on.
"We’re not worried about performance, we’re finding that in leaps and bounds. We’re only going forwards – we just need to sort these niggles out.”
LMP2
An interesting point to note is that the top four in LMP2 are all inside Alex Lynn's pole time of 3m25.352s, while Will Stevens in the Panis-Barthez Competition Ligier is only two hundredths outside that, albiet 0.56s off provisional poleman Duval. That's a mighty impressive effort from Onroak, who brought substantial upgrades to its Le Mans package this year.
GTE PRO
Garcia grabs another place with a very slender improvement in the #63 Corvette, moving up to 10th ahead of the slowest of the Ford GTs.
LMP1
Speaking of reliability, it's worth a check-in on total qualifying lap count considering its likely to play a key part in determining LMP1.
Total lap order
1. #7 Toyota - 64 laps
2. #8 Toyota - 62 laps
3. #1 Rebellion R-13 - 52 laps
4. #1 Rebellion R-13 - 48 laps
5. #6 Manor-Ginetta - 42 laps
6. #5 Manor-Ginetta - 33 laps
7. #10 DragonSpeed BR1 - 32 laps
8. #4 ByKolles CLM P1/01 - 32 laps
9. #11 SMP Racing BR1 - 32 laps
10. #17 SMP Racing BR1 - 31 laps
Total lap order
1. #7 Toyota - 64 laps
2. #8 Toyota - 62 laps
3. #1 Rebellion R-13 - 52 laps
4. #1 Rebellion R-13 - 48 laps
5. #6 Manor-Ginetta - 42 laps
6. #5 Manor-Ginetta - 33 laps
7. #10 DragonSpeed BR1 - 32 laps
8. #4 ByKolles CLM P1/01 - 32 laps
9. #11 SMP Racing BR1 - 32 laps
10. #17 SMP Racing BR1 - 31 laps
GTE PRO
Garcia is at it again, grabbing another place in GTE Pro. His 3m50.242s is still 2.738s slower than Porsche man Gimmi Bruni's class benchmark from last night, though.
Rain
There are more visible spots of rain on the onboard cameras and the session has now been declared wet.
We're well and truly into the night running (Photo: LAT)
LMP1
The #11 SMP Racing BR1 has a clutch problem, restricting its running. That car is seventh in class.
Rain
The rain has been classified as "light", which always gives the Brits at Le Mans something to talk about. Small victories.
GTE AM
There's been precious little to report on the GTE Am front this session since those early improvements. Worth nothing, though, that the provisional polesitting #88 Porsche is ahead of four GTE Pro cars: the #64 Corvette, the #52 Ferrari and both of the beleaguered new-gen Aston Martins.
GTE PRO
The two Pro class Astons are still stuck on their laptimes from yesterday, which leave them 50th and 56th overall.
Rain
Keeping with the tradition of rain talk, we're now at the "light drops" level.
LMP1
But LMP1 is looking unlikely to have any major changes, so we might as well tick through the order again as we enter the final hour.
1 #8 Toyota; 2 #7 Toyota; 3 #3 Rebellion R-13; 4 #1 Rebellion R-13; 5 #17 SMP Racing BR1; 6 #10 DragonSpeed BR1; 7 #11 SMP Racing BR1; 8 #4 ByKolles CLM P1/01; 9 #6 Manor-Ginetta G60-LT-P1;10 #5 Manor-Ginetta G6-LT-P1
1 #8 Toyota; 2 #7 Toyota; 3 #3 Rebellion R-13; 4 #1 Rebellion R-13; 5 #17 SMP Racing BR1; 6 #10 DragonSpeed BR1; 7 #11 SMP Racing BR1; 8 #4 ByKolles CLM P1/01; 9 #6 Manor-Ginetta G60-LT-P1;10 #5 Manor-Ginetta G6-LT-P1
LMP1
Alonso in the Toyota garage, will we see the Spaniard do some night time, wet-ish running? (Photo: LAT)
Slow Zone
The #36 Signatech Alpine, driven by Pierre Thiriet, has come to a halt in the gravel on the Mulsanne.
LMP2
Replays show that Thiriet touched the kerb when the back end stepped out on him. Thiriet has done plenty of laps around here in the past and knows his way around, so could be a casualty of the slippery conditions.
By: Matt Beer
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