Le Mans 24 Hours race day
Live Text
Sort by
GTE PRO
Aston Martin and Corvette are both having tough races and Jonny Adam's #97 Vantage and Tommy Milner in the #64 'Vette over 14th really wasn't what either was hoping for. Still, Spirit of Le Mans being what it is, neither is giving up.
LMP2
In case you missed it, like we did, Weiron Tan has been pointed in the right direction by the marshals' crane and rejoined the race, albiet down in 12th, eight laps off the G-Drive car. They've certainly had an eventful one.
LMP1
That's a fuel only stop for Nakaima who heads out in second, a surprisingly early stop that puts him 1m behind.
Pit stop
Nakajima pits though, ending that battle.
Nakajima can see Lopez as he follows through the Porsche Curves.
LMP2
Terminal engine failure has claimed the #34 Jackie Chan DC Racing Ligier which was engrossed in a battle for seventh earlier on with the #22 United Autosports car.
LMP1
Nakajima is now 4s off Lopez! We could have a lead battle very shortly...
LMP1
Lopez is 7.640s up on Nakajima now, he was almost 4s off the #8 car's pace. Toyota should surely consider ending Lopez's stint soon.
LMP2
Tristan Gommendy has been given a slap on the wrist in the form of a one minute stop and go penalty for speeding in a slow zone. That will almost certainly cost the #39 ORECA sixth in LMP2. Naughty boy.
LMP1
And Menezes now goes third in LMP1.
LMP1
Considering Menezes spent some time in the garage recently, Rebellion should be a bit concerned.
Pit stop
And Jani is in the garage, there's a problem with #1 Rebellion Racing R-13.
LMP1
More improvements ahead of lap 222, Nakajima's 11s off Lopez.
Crash
Momentary loss of concentration from Andy Priaulx in the #67 Ford at the Mulsanne Corner, as he scatters gravel into the path of our LMP2 leaders G-Drive. No harm, no foul, etc etc.
LMP1
Nakajima gained 10s on Lopez on that last lap (the 221st for those who are counting) as the leading Toyota was hampered by the slow zone. It's not been going the #7 crew's way during the night, has it?
LMP1
Just 12s between Lopez and Nakajima now. Who would have seen such a recovery from the #8 when Buemi had that stop/go? Remarkable.
Green flag
And we've moved on from the slow zone and Tan's off. As you were.
Slow Zone
The recovery crane is there to collect Tan with his Jota ORECA facing the wrong way, and the slow zone is in operation.
You'd have a better chance of surviving Boxing Day on Oxford Street than turning around there.
You'd have a better chance of surviving Boxing Day on Oxford Street than turning around there.
Yellow flag
Jota's miserable race continues as we've got Weiron Tan's #37 ORECA facing the wrong way on the exit of the Porsche Curves. Not a place you'd want to be, especially in the dark...
GTE PRO
Bruni was unable to match Christensen towards the end of that stint, so he'll be hoping that Fred Makowiecki will have more luck against Laurens Vanthoor. The gap between the #92 and #91 is 2m31s after Muller hands over the #68 Ford to local hero Sebastien Bourdais, with Pipo Derani still just about keeping the #52 Ferrari on the lead lap in fourth.
LMP1
And there we are. Nakajima is under 30s behind Lopez having taken 3s out of the Argentinian.
A 3m22.8s for Lopez on that last lap, he must be coming towards the end of a quadruple, having spent the majority of his time in the car against Alonso.
A 3m22.8s for Lopez on that last lap, he must be coming towards the end of a quadruple, having spent the majority of his time in the car against Alonso.
Porsche is sitting pretty in GTE Am too
LMP2
Vergne's pace at the front of LMP2 is just relentless. He set a 3m28.7s on lap 207 - that's four seconds faster than Negrao in third, who is gradually slipping back from Stevens' Ligier.
LMP1
Nakajima's about to bring the lead gap down to under 30s.
Quote
And Alonso has discussed his latest stint now Nakajima's in the car: “We had to push, obviously.
“We lost time with the penalty, the stop/go, so we had an unlucky situation with the safety car and things like that, so it was time to recover.
“I felt good at night, into the zone, and I tried to push and recover – and I think it was one minute and a half. Part of the job is done, it’s still a long race ahead of us and we still need to recover a couple more seconds there.
“It was OK, sometimes you get frustrated with traffic, sometimes you get lucky. Also my laps when I got lucky, so it’s a nice feeling!”
“We lost time with the penalty, the stop/go, so we had an unlucky situation with the safety car and things like that, so it was time to recover.
“I felt good at night, into the zone, and I tried to push and recover – and I think it was one minute and a half. Part of the job is done, it’s still a long race ahead of us and we still need to recover a couple more seconds there.
“It was OK, sometimes you get frustrated with traffic, sometimes you get lucky. Also my laps when I got lucky, so it’s a nice feeling!”
Is there anyone capable of catching the leading Porsches in GTE Pro?
The overall top 10 has a distinct LMP2 flavour to it now...
LMP1
Nakajima has picked up where Alonso left off, running five seconds quicker on the last lap. Lopez's lead is now 34s.
LMP2
After the latest round of driver changes in LMP2, Stevens is back ahead of Negrao. Nicolas Lapierre will be groaning in the Signatech-Alpine hospitality after his efforts to pass Buret have been wiped out.
LMP1
Alonso jumped into the #8 Toyota on lap 171 and exited on lap 215. Just how pivotal could that stretch of the race be? Time will tell...
Autosport
Lopez got a brief reprieve from the chasing Alonso after 13 hours, along with all the action in the last hour at Le Mans: 
LMP1
Amid that excitement, Alonso has finsihed his quadruple stint to allow Nakajima in the car. The Japanese is 37s behind Lopez following the slow zone.
Slow Zone
Thankfully, Gutierrez is out of the car, but we've got ourselves a slow zone ladies and gents.
Crash
Big hit for Jose Gutierrez in the #40 Graf-run G-Drive ORECA at the Porsche Curves. He'd been enjoying a terrific battle with Phil Hanson over ninth when he lost the back end and smacked the wall.
LMP2
Sure enough, Van der Garde comes into the pits where his mechanics have the rear deck off the Dallara in a jiffy.
LMP1
And Alonso's gone 5s quicker on his latest lap. Unbelievable.
Quote
So Alonso's happy to crack on.
“Tell me if you want another stint, eh? I’ve got into the rhythm of the night.”
Might see if he fancies a crack at Autosport Live.
“Tell me if you want another stint, eh? I’ve got into the rhythm of the night.”
Might see if he fancies a crack at Autosport Live.
LMP2
Looks like there could be a fire on-board the #29 Racing Team Netherland Dallara. Either that, or Giedo van der Garde has used the De-Lorean 88mph expansion pack on the Mulsanne...
GTE AM
Giancarlo Fisichella has rejoined the fray in the #54 Ferrari and is hot on the heels of Patrick Lindsey's Project 1 Porsche. The three-time Grand Prix winner will have to go some to get among the podium places though, he's a shade under a minute and 20 seconds behind third-placed Liam Griffin in the JMW Ferrari.
LMP1
Alonso's still on it, just 51s between him and Lopez now.
By: Matt Beer
Published:
Page:
