Le Mans 24 Hours practice and first qualifying
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Autosport
We're calling it a night, so we'll leave you with our report from this evening's first session. Join us again tomorrow from 1745 UK time for coverage of second qualifying 
GTE PRO
Bruni's mega first lap proved enough to top the charts in GTE-Pro - although Manthey Racing would no doubt have preferred the extra track time, they will be encouraged to see the 1.593s gap to the rest of the pack. While Porsche as all four of its cars in the top seven, Aston Martin will be disappointed to be a long way off the pace, the #92 car almost five seconds off the pace and rebuilt #95 car even further off. Expect much more on that front tomorrow...
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LMP2
Well, hands up who had IDEC Sport as your provisional polesitter in LMP2? The team has undergone a major transformation over the winter with ex-Peugeot ace Nicolas Minassian coming on board in a management capacity and team patron Patrice Lafargue stepping back from driving duties. It remains to be seen if the team can hold on to the top spot tomorrow, but with rain expected, we could well have a surprise name at the front of the pack on Saturday.
Checkered flag
That's it. Chequered flag is out, qualifying (session one) is complete.
Information
The #5 Ginetta has been reported to the stewards for speeding in the pitlane.
LMP2
Paul di Resta's #22 United Autosports car is reported as being slow on track - looks like he's had an off at Mulsanne Corner. He certainly wouldn't be the first one today!
LMP1
Roussel's got the bit between his teeth and shaves another second off the #5's best time to jump up to 11th. He's still 3.7s off the eighth-placed ByKolles, mind.
LMP2
Juan-Pablo Montoya is now aboard the #32 United Autosports Ligier and sets that the quickest time of the session for that car, but the Colombian is still down in 14th, some 5.3 seconds off the pace.
Information
Looks like the #8 Toyota's had a number of its laps chalked off for exceeding its allotted fuel consumption, although none of those affect its place at the top of the pile.
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LMP1
Big improvement for the #5 Manor, which rockets up to 15th. Roussel drags a 3m26.883s out of the Ginetta. That's still the best part of 10s off the pace and there are six LMP2 cars to clear before it reaches the tail of the LMP1 pack, but that's at least a sign of progress now its drivers have completed their mandatory laps.
LMP1
Just under 15 minutes to go. It looks unlikely we're going to get any meaningful improvements at the front of the field.
Conway pits the #7 to hand it back over to Kobayashi.
Conway pits the #7 to hand it back over to Kobayashi.
GTE PRO
Movement in GTE Pro: Patrick Pilet gets the #94 Porsche up to seventh in class with a time 2.899s slower than Bruni.
GTE AM
Couple of fastest laptimes have been scrubbed in GTE Am, the #84 JMW Ferrari and the #70 MR Racing Ferrari both attracting the wrath of the stewards.
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LMP1
Night qualifying laps? Complete. Alonso returns to the pits and hands the #8 back over to Nakajima.
GTE AM
Porsche are still sitting pretty in Pro courtesy of Bruni's first-lap effort, and could be on for double celebrations tonight with the top three spots in Am. Matteo Cairoli's early flier in the #88 Proton car has him ahead of both GTE Pro Corvettes, while both he and the second-placed #77 Proton Porsche of Julien Andlauer are ahead of the works #93 Porsche, currently being driven by Patrick Pilet.
LMP1
Alonso is still chugging around in the leading #8 Toyota, while Conway is back out for a second stint in the #7 car. Sarrazin has also returned to the track in the #17 SMP car with the third place he achieved still intact.
LMP1
Little in the way of updates to bring you in LMP1. The #5 Ginetta has improved slightly to 21st with a fastest time of 3m29.925s. Leo Roussel is currently at the wheel.
LMP2
There could be trouble ahead for Eurasia Motorsport's Niclas Jonsson - the Swede has been reported to the stewards for not stopping at the pit entry scrutineering lights.
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Porsche may be in control of GTE Pro, but it's not all plain sailing for the 911 RSRs - the #93 car is down in 14th in class after a spin for Romain Dumas at Mulsanne.
“We have a really unstable rear. In the Mulsanne corner it is a little bit bumpy, that doesn’t help us. It was a good slide! We tried different things on the rear damper, it’s our main issue: rear stability under braking. For the rest, the car is great.”
“We have a really unstable rear. In the Mulsanne corner it is a little bit bumpy, that doesn’t help us. It was a good slide! We tried different things on the rear damper, it’s our main issue: rear stability under braking. For the rest, the car is great.”
LMP2
Wobbly moment for Andrea Pizzitola in the #26 G-Drive ORECA through traffic at the Dunlop Curve - he's forced off-line and has to take to the run-off, but no damage done.
GTE PRO
A rare improvement in GTE Pro, as Antonio Felix da Costa sets the best time yet for the BMW M8, three seconds off the pace. The two Bavarian cars are eighth and 10th in class as things stand.
LMP2
Times remain unchanged at the top in LMP2 - but we could have a late flourish in store. Just three tenths separate Chatin's #48 IDEC Sport ORECA from Duval's #28 TDS ORECA in second, but from third placed Jean-Eric Vergne (#26 G-Drive Racing ORECA) down to eighth placed Giedo van der Garde (#29 Racing Team Netherland Dallara), none have improved on their very first flyer of the session, set on lap two.
Radio Comms
Alonso gives similar feedback to Buemi in the #8 Toyota, saying: “[The feeling is] better than free practice. Maybe only higher speed is OK, but low and medium speed, [there is still] too much oversteer.”
Green flag
With the DragonSpeed car recovered, the slow zone has been removed.
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LMP1
Previously unrecorded, Rowland has dragged the second Manor-Ginetta up to 23rd, and is exactly four tenths slower than the sister #5 car one place further up the order. He's completed four laps now in the #6.
Slow Zone
Sure enough, a slow zone is thrown for the first time in half an hour or so.
GTE PRO
Brief spin for Tony Kanaan's Ford at Arnage, but he's made it back to the pits unscathed.
Yellow flag
The #10 DragonSpeed car has stopped just before the Dunlop Chicane with Renger van der Zande at the wheel. There's a yellow out at the moment to cover it, but looks like we're heading for a slow zone.
LMP1
Alonso's first lap was a 3m25.547s.
LMP1
Bad news for the ByKolles team, which has had its third and fourth laps deleted for excessive fuel consumption. That drops it to eighth and five seconds off the pace, having been around 3.6s down before those times were removed.
GTE AM
Still no change in GTE Am, with most teams now focused on giving night-time running to their silver or bronze-rated drivers. Dempsey-Proton continues to lock out the top two spots.
LMP1
Alonso's on his first flying lap and two seconds down on Nakajima's benchmark through the first sector.
GTE PRO
Dirk Muller moves up a place in the #68 Ford, giving us a Noah's Ark formation of Porsches and Fords at the head of the GTE Pro table.
LMP1
Robertson stops just after exiting the pits! He can't have made it more than 50 metres before coming to a standstill, although he has managed to get going again.
LMP1
Having completed five laps, Simpson has returned the #5 Manor to the pits and handed over to Charlie Robertson.
LMP1
Did we overhype that process? There's not loads going on at the moment, but it is Fernando Alonso. Qualifying. At Le Mans.
By: Matt Beer
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