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24 Hours of Le Mans
Le Mans 24 Hours Live Commentary and Updates
Updates and live commentary throughout the 24 Hours of Le Mans.
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GTE Pro: It's hotting up again in the fight for the class lead. Calado has just 9.3s in hand over Catsburg as it stands...
Pit stop
LMP2: Just had another class pitstop sequence, main changes being Robin Frijns taking over the leading #31 Team WRT car. Will Stevens is also back in the #65 Panis Racing entry, which looks like it's lost third place in class to the #28 JOTA currently driven by Sean Gelael.
Pit stop
GTE Am: Keating brings in the TF Sport Aston from second and stays on board for another stint. It's fair to say though he'll be more focussed on the threat from Ilott behind than catching Rovera in front, as the former is now a little over a minute in arrears.
Pit stop
LMH: Vaxiviere pits the Alpine, and hands over to Lapierre. Both of them have suffered spins today, but neither of which is likely to have cost them a place in the grand scheme of things.
Pit stop
GTE Pro: Catsburg brings in the Corvette from second after another cracking stint and Antonio Garcia takes over at the wheel.
Stopwatch
LMH: Nakajima has cut Lopez's lead to under one minute.
Quote
LMP2: Kevin Magnussen has just laid it on the line in his summation of his High Class car's powerplant: "The engine is dead. I was behind a Porsche and it was pulling away. In one minute this engine goes boom."
Pit stop
GTE Am: Rovera pits in the #83 AF Corse Ferrari from the lead of the class. Now it's Francois Perrodo at the wheel, the car's designated 'Am', but thanks to the hard work of his teammates, he's got a nice buffer over fellow gentleman racer Keating of 2m26s.
Sun
Ooh, it's definitely starting to get light... it's just coming up for 7am in Le Mans.
LMP2: An update on the #22 United Autosports entry, and it's not good news. After replacing lots of parts, they still can't get the battery to take any charge – so now the loom is being changed. Agonizing for a car that was top three not so long ago.
LMP2: Best battle on track is Gelael v Stevens for third place, with just a couple of seconds between them – but now with the Briscoe Glickenhaus in the mix to confuse the matter.
LMH: Briscoe has passed Gelael for seventh overall, but is now under investigation.
Penalty
LMH: Briscoe will get a 10-second penalty for a pitstop infringement.
Pit stop
GTE Pro: Calado brings in the #51 Ferrari from the lead. Soon we'll know the real gap to Garcia's Corvette...
Pit stop
LMH: Nakajima pits the #8 Toyota from second place. His pace dropped off at the end of that stint a little.
GTE Pro: Calado's bought himself some time, as the gap back to Garcia is a relatively comfortable 28s. Estre has just brought in the third-placed #92 Porsche for a stop, but is still some three minutes down on the top two.
Quote
LMP2: Alex Brundle sounds off about being hit at the end of his stint, that required a new rear body section for the fifth-placed #34 Inter Europol entry: "I got hit directly from behind at the first chicane, it was a big hit, he completely locked up and I was his brakes basically. It didn't feel great coming in. It's frustrating, some people need one or two more club races before they do Le Mans."
Pit stop
LMH: Lopez pits the leading Toyota to hand over to Conway, and it looks like he had a big slide at Mulsanne Corner on his in-lap. New tyres for Conway, but looked like there was a problem with the left-rear wheelgun.
So, now we're into the daylight hours here at Le Mans, it's time for myself, Jamie, and Charles to sign off. Taking you through the next portion of the race will be Stephen Lickorish and Megan White. Thanks for sticking with us!
My thanks go to Jamie and Charles for doing a great stint during the night, now the sun's getting brighter and brighter and we have less than nine hours to go.
LMH: With just over a third of the race to go, there's just 26s between the two Toyotas in the lead after that slower stop for Conway in the #7. The Alpine has just dived into the pits and remains in third, four laps further back.
LMP2: It's still WRT domination in LMP2 with the #31 of Frijns leading the #41 of Deletraz by 25s, but the battle is on third between Gelael in the #28 Jota ORECA and Stevens in the #65 Panis machine.
LMH: That stop for the Alpine has promoted the leading Glickenhaus of Derani up to third - but Lapierre is only 20 or so seconds behind.
GTE Pro: AF Corse's Calado leads from the 63 Corvette by 23.582s with just over eight-and-a-half hours to go.
LMP2: The battle for third is getting REALLY close now but still Stevens can't find a way by Gelael. Stevens in the Panis machine is clearly quicker but just can't get ahead.
LMP2: But, just as we type that, Stevens massively loses out in traffic - such is the nature of Le Mans - and has instantly dropped 2.5s back.
Pit stop
LMH: The Glickenhaus has now pitted from third, promoting the Alpine back to the place.
LMP2: One of the cars struggling in the class is #49 High Class machine, with Fjordbach asking the team to check the engine. It's down in 44th place overall.
GTE Am: AF Corse's Perrodo leads from Keating in the #33 TF Sport by over three minutes.
Pit stop
LMP2: Deletraz is now in for a driver change with the #41 WRT machine that was second in class. Kubica emerges from the pits without losing a place.
GTE Pro: Calado now leads by 1:35 from Garcia, with Estre 30 seconds behind him.
Night is well and truly over now and the drivers have a different battle on their hands: the sun is shining directly into their faces down at Terte Rouge, as if there aren't enough challenges for the competitors in this race.
LMP2: Inter Europol is on the search for a podium in this class. As others have hit strife, van der Zande has just emerged from the pits and keeps the car fifth in LMP2, around a lap behind the close battle for third.
Pit stop
LMH: Nakajima dives into the pits from second place in the #8 Toyota, which was around half a minute behind the leader.
LMP2: After getting baulked by the backmarkers, Stevens has regrouped and is starting to close back in on Gelael in the fight for third. He's got the gap down to 1.7s.
Pit stop
LMP2: And it's now a battle of the pit crews as both cars dive in!
GTE Am: The #83 of Perrodo has been handed a drive-through penalty for speeding in the pitlane.
LMP2: And there has indeed been a change for third. Stevens in the #65 Panis car takes the place as the #28 Jota machine has a longer stop with Gelael handing over to Blomqvist. It's likely Stevens will now continue to pull away.
It's sunrise at Le Mans and we've got eight hours to go.
Pit stop
LMP2: While focusing on the third and fourth-placed cars pitting, the leading #31 WRT also stops and keeps a lead of around a minute over the sister car.
By: Loris Capirossi
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