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24 Hours of Le Mans
Le Mans 24 Hours practice and first qualifying
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LMP2
We mentioned there being few movers, but ex-Caterham and Manor F1 driver Will Stevens has just crept in at the tail end of the top 10 with the #23 Panis-Barthez Ligier. That makes four non-ORECAs in the top 10, although they still have a stranglehold on the leading five positions, with Paul-Loup Chatin's IDEC Sport car sitting pretty on top.
LMP1
And out he goes - Alonso takes to the track for his first qualifying run in the #8 Toyota.
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ALONSO ALERT. The two-time F1 world champion steps into the #8 Toyota as he prepares to head out for his first qualifying run.
GTE PRO
Dirk Muller has hauled the #68 Ford up to fifth in the GTE Pro rankings with a lap 2.5s off the pace. That means it's Porsche-Porsche-Ford-Ferrari-Ford in the top five now.
GTE PRO
News from Porsche - the #91 Porsche has 'retired' from this session. But it's still holding provisional pole thanks to that spectacular Bruni lap.
LMP1
After two improvements in the first two sectors, Simpson drops a heap of time in the final sector and doesn't improve. Rowland in the second Manor-Ginetta has returned to the pits.
LMP2
Very few movers at the moment as teams take the opportunity to bed in their non-professional drivers, but F2 stalwart Norman Nato is now at the wheel of the #35 SMP Dallara. The Frenchman won his very first sportscar race in the European Le Mans Series at Paul Ricard with Racing Engineering, who didn't get an entry to the race.
LMP1
First lap on the board for a Ginetta, and it's a 3m31.477s in the #5. That's in the middle of the LMP2 cars for now, and about 9.5 seconds off the next slowest LMP1 car, but he is improving again on this next lap.
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Bit of feedback from Buemi on the #8's handling: “Less instability [than in practice]. It seems better with the track temperature coming down, just a little bit of understeer in the high speed and in the very low speed. It seems better, a lot more support.”
GTE AM
The #90 TF Sport Aston Martin has suffered a left-rear puncture, but Salih Yoluc manages to coax the stricken Vantage back to the pits.
LMP1
Good news for Manor fans - Simpson has taken to the track in the #5, and Oliver Rowland is out in the #6. The key for both crews will be to get all six drivers to complete their mandatory five night qualifying laps.
GTE PRO
Update on the new-car GTE Pro teams: BMW is holding a respectable eighth place thanks to a 3m50.596s from Nicky Catsburg, but Aston Martin's lead car is down in 13th, nearly 5s off the pace.
Green flag
And sure enough, we're back to green.
Slow Zone
While Boulle's Ligier is recovered from that hapless spin, we've got a slow zone. Several teams take the opportunity to pit and perform a mandatory driver change.
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With a bit of a lull in the LMP1 action, here's a quick word from Nakajima, who's put the #8 Toyota on an early provisional pole.
“It’s a big jump for me in terms of lap time, I never had a clear lap in practice," he says of his lap. "I was lucky, I had a bit of traffic but I managed to pass in an OK way. Qualifying here is always a triumph of luck!
"It’s very close, both cars have drivers of a similar level, so it’s going to be tight. We shouldn’t forget about the non-hybrid cars as well.”
“It’s a big jump for me in terms of lap time, I never had a clear lap in practice," he says of his lap. "I was lucky, I had a bit of traffic but I managed to pass in an OK way. Qualifying here is always a triumph of luck!
"It’s very close, both cars have drivers of a similar level, so it’s going to be tight. We shouldn’t forget about the non-hybrid cars as well.”
LMP2
Harmless spin at the Dunlop Chicane for Nicholas Boulle in the #33 Jackie Chan DC Racing Ligier. But he allows the car to roll back out of the way of the oncoming traffic and has got the rear wheels beached in the gravel. Whoops...
GTE PRO
Olivier Pla moves up to third in GTE Pro in the #66 Ford, fractionally behind the #92 Porsche but still some way off Bruni's provisional pole time.
GTE AM
No change in GTE-Am since the opening runs. It's still the #88 Dempsey-Proton Porsche (courtesy of Cairoli) from the sister #77 car, then the Gulf Porsche in third. Giancarlo Fisichella is once again leading the charge against the Porsches in the Spirit of Race Ferrari.
LMP2
The #28 TDS Racing ORECA is currently second in class, but the lap that put it there by 2013 event winner Loic Duval is currently being investigated by the stewards. More on that when we have it.
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GTE PRO
Sven Muller puts the #94 Porsche up to fourth in GTE Pro with a time 2.9s shy of Bruni's best.
LMP2
While we were notifying you about that very important development, Paul-Loup Chatin in the #48 IDEC Sport ORECA has jumped to the top of the times with a 3m24.956s - the fastest lap of the weekend so far.
LMP2
Jonathan Hirschi is now aboard the #39 Graf car, which is notable because that car only did 10 laps in practice earlier, all in the hands of former Champ Car racer Tristan Gommendy - who put it an excellent P5.
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Doesn't look like the Manor-Ginettas are going anywhere too soon. Mike Simpson is sat in the #5, but the engine cover is off the car.
GTE PRO
A few more improvements trickling in in GTE Pro, but Bruni's time is still miles faster than anyone else's at this stage. Behind the lead Porsche duo lie the #51 Ferrari, the #67 Ford and the #69 Ford.
LMP1
A few drivers swaps are taking place now. Conway has stepped aboard the #7 Toyota, Orudzhev is in for Sarrazin in the third-placed SMP car and, among others, Jenson Button has headed out for his first qualifying lap in the second SMP car.
LMP1
Both Manor-Ginettas are still in the pits without having turned a lap.
LMP2
After setting the pace on his first run, Duval has hopped out of the #28 TDS car, with Matthieu Vaxiviere taking over the reigns. The Frenchman achieved notoriety last year for shoving Pierre Kaffer's Risi Ferrari into the wall at the first chicane during the race, but is a very quick pedaller - he beat Pierre Gasly to the 2011 French F4 championship.
LMP1
Just as we say that, the #1 Rebellion improves up to fourth with Senna at the wheel.
LMP1
Doesn't look as though we're going to get any immediate improvements in LMP1, though, so here's a quick look at the leading order: 1 #8 Toyota; 2 #7 Toyota; 3 #17 SMP BR1; 4 #3 Rebellion R-13; 5 #4 ByKolles CLM; 6 #10 DragonSpeed; 7 #11 SMP BR1; 8 #1 Rebellion R-13
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Porsche works driver Kevin Estre is shown on screen swapping notes with compatriot Come Ledogar, who is making his Le Mans debut in the #34 Jackie Chan DC Racing Ligier. Interestingly, Ledogar is the man who replaced Estre as a McLaren factory driver in 2016, going on to win that year's Blancpain GT Endurance Series title with Shane van Gisbergen and Rob Bell.
LMP1
While the #7 Toyota has carried on, the #8 has stopped. Nakajima hands over to Buemi, who promptly heads back out on track.
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A few cars have yet to appear after those first runs - among them the two Ginettas, the #93 Porsche in GTE-Pro and two of the Am class Porsches - the #11 Project 1 and #99 Proton Competition entries.
Green flag
Cars are streaming past the pits nice and fast again - the slow zone has been removed.
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LMP1
Menezes had gone third fastest overall in the #3 Rebellion, but Sarrazin improves on his second lap and dips below the 3m20s mark with a 3m19.483s to reclaim best of the rest spot. He's still 2.2s behind the Toyotas, though.
GTE AM
Porsche has the best time in GTE-Am too courtesy of Matteo Cairoli on a 3m50.728s.
Crash
And just as he sets that mega time, Bruni goes off at the Dunlop chicane! Slow zone coming up.
GTE PRO
First GTE Pro times are in - and Gianmaria Bruni has absolutely crushed the benchmark in practice with a storming lap of 3m47.504s in the #91 Porsche. That's 1.5s up on Michael Christensen in the #92 car.
LMP2
It's tight at the top in LMP2 after the first runs, Loic Duval goes top in the #28 TDS ORECA on a 3m26.137, just over a tenth ahead of Paul-Loup Chatin in the #48 IDEC Sport machine. Vergne is third, three tenths back in the #26 car that topped practice, with Le Mans rookie Pastor Maldonado fourth in the #31 Dragonspeed.
By: Matt Beer
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