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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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LMH: Nakajima's not happy in the #8 Toyota! "Something's funny with the engine or gearbox," he reports. The team tells him they know about the problem - but doesn't reveal any details.
LMH: The #8 Toyota's possible gearbox issue is borne out by the lap times. Nakajima's last was about 3.5s slower than Conway in the lead.
GTE Pro: Calado has now built up a 1:37 lead in the #51 AF Corse, leading from Garcia's #63 Corvette.
Pit stop
LMH: And now Conway pits from the lead. The #7 car takes on fuel and is on his way, still with a gap.
Cloud
We don't have a weather logo for mist, but that's what we've got at Le Mans! The bright sunshine has been replaced around the pit area and the skies are far gloomier.
GTE Pro: Driver swap for the class leaders, with Alessandro Pier Guidi taking over from James Calado in the #51 AF Corse.
GTE Am: Perrodo still leads from Keating in the #83 AF Corse by 1:42.
GTE Pro: Estre pits to swap with Christensen in third.
Pit stop
LMH: Next into the pits is Lapierre in the Alpine. That had been running just over a minute clear of the lead Glickenhaus in third.
Cloud
We're not sure when mist becomes fog but, regardless of the technicalities, it's getting gloomier at Le Mans as the damp in the air gets thicker.
LMH: The Alpine emerges still in third, just ahead of the top Glickenhaus car in the hands of Pla, which it's worth noting is lapping at the same pace as the Toyotas at the front at this stage of the race. Yes, Toyota may not exactly be under much pressure right now, but it's still a significant achievement for Glickenhaus.
Stopwatch
LMP2: Blomqvist just sets a personal best in the #28 Jota. That battle for third place may be about to get close again as he's got the gap down to 4.6s to Stevens in the Panis machine.
GTE Pro: Pier Guidi leads from Garcia by almost 20 seconds, with Porsche's Christensen in third.
GTE Am: Perrodo is in the lead, with Keating in second and Cressoni in third.
Cloud
It's looking pretty foggy out there at the Circuit de la Sarthe...
Pit stop
LMP2: Kubica brings the #41 WRT ORECA back into the pits and keeps second place. The WRT team would certainly rather there were seven and a half minutes rather than seven and a half hours to go, given its commanding current position.
Pit stop
LMH: Another second-placed car arrives in the pits, and this time it's the #8 Toyota. Nakajima hands over to Buemi and he'll no doubt want to close the gap to the lead machine.
Pit stop
LMH: Pla also pits from fourth in the lead Glickenhaus. It wasn't the best of starts with the car colliding with the #8 Toyota on the very first lap but it's been running solidly of late.
LMP2: We have a battle for third in class again! It's roles reversed from earlier as Blomqvist in the #28 Jota-run car is all over the rear of Stevens' #65 Panis ORECA.
LMP2: Stevens just sets the fastest lap of the #65 ORECA's race but it's not enough to keep Blomqvist behind, as the Jota car retakes third!
Stopwatch
LMP2: In fact, that lap from Stevens of 3m33.060s is the fastest in the class so far this race - and is almost a second quicker than Frijns' new personal best in the leading #31 WRT ORECA.
Yellow flag
GTE Pro: The #72 HubAuto Porsche has come to a stop on the circuit, prompting a yellow flag.
Stopwatch
LMP2: But, just as we type that, newly crowned Formula E champion de Vries smashes that benchmark with a 3m32.148s in the #26 G-Drive Racing Aurus-badged ORECA, which had been in lead contention early on before crashing in the rain earlier in the race. It's now eighth in class.
Pit stop
The overall leader and LMP2-leading #31 WRT ORECA both stop during this yellow-flag period.
Pit stop
LMP2: We have another change for third during the pitstops while this slow zone is taking place. Stevens is back to third in the #65 Panis-run car, ahead of Blomqvist in the #28 Jota ORECA.
Green flag
The Hub Auto Porsche is now cleared from the track after a possible brake problem brought the car's race to a halt, and the slow zone has come to an end.
Pit stop
LMP2: During that latest stop, Frijns in the leading WRT entry handed over to Milesi for this next stint.
LMH: A while back, we had those gearbox concerns for the #8 Toyota but it hasn't yet developed into anything further and Buemi in that car is now lapping slightly faster than Conway in the lead.
LMH: The second Glickenhaus car is steadily making progress up the overall leaderboard after its tricky start to the race. Now in the hands of Westbrook, it's up to seventh place but is still two laps behind the sister machine in fourth.
Pit stop
LMH: Buemi now stops from second place, having been around a minute behind the lead #7 Toyota, although it was only 20 or so minutes ago that the car last pitted. He emerges almost two minutes back and it's starting to look increasingly difficult for the #8 to continue its strong recent Le Mans record.
Pit stop
LMH: Now it's Lapierre in the pits and the Alpine drops to fourth place as Negrao takes to the wheel.
LMP2: We've been saying this regularly for the past couple of hours, but the battle for third in class is back under a second again as Blomqvist seeks to pass Stevens for a second time.
LMP2: And Blomqvist's done in it again! The #28 Jota ORECA is up to third place with a move at Indianapolis.
LMH: Negrao goes round the outside of Pla in a brilliant move at the final corner as Pla's Glickenhaus is baulked by the GT traffic, meaning the Alpine is now back up to third.
GTE Pro: The #91 Porsche of Richard Lietz has pitted for fuel with just over seven hours to go.
LMH: But Negrao enjoyed third place for all of a half a lap as Pla surges back past in the Glickenhaus! A great battle to be best of the rest behind Toyota.
Stopwatch
LMP2: There's a personal best for LMP2 leader Milesi, whose lead is temporarily extended over WRT team-mate Kubica, who has just made a stop.
GTE Pro: The #92 Porsche, sitting in third and driven by Christensen, has pitted.
Pit stop
LMH: Buemi pits again in the #8 Toyota, just 25 minutes after his last stop. Is this a sign of the possible troubles this car is facing?
GTE Am: Big lock up from Cressoni's #80 Iron Lynx Ferrari!
By: Loris Capirossi
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