Le Mans 24 Hours race day
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Green flag
And the slow zone has now ended.
LMP2
We predicted the IDEC car's problems completing 10-lap stints could be problematic, and so it has proven. Lafargue is now 3m30 behind Vergne and in danger of going a lap down.
LMP1
Laurent pits from third in his Rebellion Racing R-13, but he's fairly isolated so it won't hurt his position.
The misery continues for Isaakyan and SMP following his crash
Autosport
LMP1
By the end of the hour, we may see Brundle take the #6 Manor-Ginetta to fifth in LMP1, albeit way down the overall order.
Manor-Ginetta would have snapped your hand off for that pre-race.
Manor-Ginetta would have snapped your hand off for that pre-race.
The overall top five, featuring the LMP2 leader for the first time in this race
LMP1
Aleshin has made a stop in the #11 SMP Racing machine and in seven laps will climb two places up the order to 57th, by virtue of attrition.
GTE PRO
Not too much to report in GTE Pro right now, but it is worth noting that the #92 car's advantage is being steadily chipped away at. Makowiecki has reduced Vanthoor's lead to 2m04s in the #91.
LMP1
Isaakyan is behind the Porsche Curves tyre barrier with bits of the car disassembled and the SMP driver is closely looking into the problems with the aid of his team.
LMP1
We've not talked a whole lot about the Toyota battle, but it's now close again. Buemi is 0.4s off Kobayashi on lap 135.
LMP2
With the problems for SMP, LMP2 leader Jean-Eric Vergne is now fifth overall in the #26 G-Drive ORECA. He has a 2m34s lead over Andre Negrao in the #36 Signatech-Alpine, with Will Stevens a further 40s back in third for Panis-Barthez Competition, gunning for a second class win in as many years after his GTE-Am success with JMW last year.
Race order (and gaps) at the head of the GTE Pro fight
LMP1
But Buemi has pitted and Kobayashi can breathe easy again.
Crash
Isaakyan is now in the SMP Racing BR1, with most of the rear bodywork removed. It's quite the sight...
And now it's caught fire.
And now it's caught fire.
LMP1
Smoke pouring from the rear, Isaakyan has made a hasty retreat from the car.
It might look comical, certainly, a few laughed in the media centre, but it's a genuine shame to see SMP Racing's credible challenge to Rebellion end as cruelly as this.
It might look comical, certainly, a few laughed in the media centre, but it's a genuine shame to see SMP Racing's credible challenge to Rebellion end as cruelly as this.
Slow Zone
And a slow zone has now been called, unsurprisingly.
A view of the SMP car shortly before it went up in smoke
LMP1
Conway is now in the Toyota and Buemi has also made a stop too.
LMP2
Loic Duval is back in the #28 TDS Oreca for the first time since his opening quadruple stint. That pitstop drops him two laps down, but Francois Perrodo presumably won't drive again now until morning with Duval and Matthieu Vaxiviere going back-to-back, which should see that car climb back up the order again.
Information
The SMP Racing #17 team manager has been called to race control.
GTE PRO
Porsche has confirmed that the #94 car that Romain Dumas pitted a couple of hours ago with a suspension problem is unrepairable, so it looks like we have our first retirement of the night in the GTE Pro class.
LMP1
Conway's got a nice lead of over a minute now, that's likely been influenced by the slow zone.
One last look at the #17 SMP car, if you can see the smoking remains through the darkness
LMP1
Laurent continues to run a race by himself, stopping again but keeping the Rebellion in third.
LMP1
#The 5 Manor-Ginetta is in the garage, with the mechanics working on the front of the car. That's got Simpson down in 24th at the moment.
Overall leaders, with the gap ballooning between the top two thanks to that slow zone
The #5 Manor-Ginetta had initially come in for a slow puncture, so perhaps there's been a knock-on effect.
Green flag
The slow zone has now been cleared.
LMP1
Back green and the Toyota of Conway has a 27s lead.
That slow zone cleared while the leading car was driving through it, costing it time to the chasing #8 that didn't have to back off at all on that lap
GTE PRO
There's been another round of stops in GTE Pro, and #92's lead has been slashed significantly due to that earlier slow zone. Vanthoor runs 1m20s clear of Makowiecki now, while Tandy has lost a place to Philipp Eng in the best of the BMWs.
LMP1
Brundle's Manor-Ginetta is in the garage now too, with mechanics looking under the nose of the car. Not a fine few minutes for the team.
LMP1
Buemi's last lap was 3m31s compared to Conway's 3m22.896s. Buemi has made two stops close to each other in the last 15 or so minutes, which makes the #8 Toyota one to watch.
LMP1
The first two sectors of the next lap suggest that perhaps it was a momentary blip for Buemi, who's 36s behind Conway now on lap 141.
LMP1
Laurent had a five minute pitstop for a clutch sensor issue on his last stop, but that safety net the #3 Rebellion car has built up means it wasn't a significant loss.
GTE PRO
The #93 Porsche of Tandy, which had been running fourth in GTE Pro, has pitted and is being rolled into the garage. Not a good night for the IMSA side of the four-car Porsche operation.
LMP1
Ginetta says the #5 and #6 Manor-Ginettas have "unrelated issues".
Here's the GTE Pro order, although that #93 Porsche is losing time in the garage
By: Matt Beer
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