Le Mans 24 Hours race day
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LMP1
We've had a flurry of LMP1 stops - the two Rebelllions and Van der Zande in the DragonSpeed.
No position changes though - although Van der Zande's stop means that was a short stint.
No position changes though - although Van der Zande's stop means that was a short stint.
Pit stop
Nakajima pits from the lead and the #8 Toyota has another bodywork change, with Lopez now leading.
Slow Zone
It's now been confirmed as a slow zone.
Crash
And that's because Juan-Pablo Montoya has gone straight on and nosed into the tyre wall. He was running eighth a few minutes ago, one lap off the lead in LMP2.
Yellow flag
We have double yellows at Indianapolis.
LMP2
Paul di Resta has just deposed Frits van Eerd to move up to 11th in LMP2, but is still the first car two laps down after repairs to the GPS tracker cost his #22 United Autosports Ligier seven minutes. But for that, that car would be in the thick of the fight.
LMP2
LMP2 polesitter Paul-Loup Chatin has just taken over from Memo Rojas at the wheel of the #48 IDEC Sport ORECA and comes under pressure for his fourth place from Matthieu Vaxiviere, but cleverly uses the tail-end Algarve-Pro Ligier to give himself a breather. In any case, Vaxiviere is due a pitstop soon.
GTE PRO
Christensen climbs aboard the 'Pink Pig' for his second stint behind the wheel, while Catsburg has pitted the second-place BMW, handing over to ex-DTM champion Martin Tomczyk.
LMP1
Van der Zande's pitted from sixth, there's likely to be some gravel sweeping there at the very least. He has a good reserve in hand compared to the LMP2 runners behind, so he should return in the same position.
Driver Change
Orudzhev's taken the third place SMP Racing BR1 into the pits and handed over to Isaakyan.
GTE PRO
GTE Pro leader Kevin Estre is in the pits. He's got such a huge advantage now (1m40s) that the #92 Porsche should be able to resume in the lead.
Quote
Fernando Alonso has told us that he is "happy with the start of the 24".
"Both cars are pulling away from the third car - so far it has been a very good start," he added. "We’re leading with a good margin and hopefully we’ll keep this for Toyota."
Alonso revealed that the second change of rear end for the #8 car was to put the original one back on. It was checked for damage and found to be fine. That suggests there might have been a slight difference in aero configuration.
"Both cars are pulling away from the third car - so far it has been a very good start," he added. "We’re leading with a good margin and hopefully we’ll keep this for Toyota."
Alonso revealed that the second change of rear end for the #8 car was to put the original one back on. It was checked for damage and found to be fine. That suggests there might have been a slight difference in aero configuration.
LMP1
Nakajima's one-lap pace is as impressive as it has been all week. His latest time is a 3m21.853, two seconds quicker than Lopez and helps grow the #8 Toyota's lead to 12.621s.
Leading positions in GTE Pro
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LMP1
Jani's showing why he was a Porsche LMP1 driver, he's just done a 3m21.065 - that's over a second quicker than Orudzhev's last lap in third overall.
The Rebellion driver is in fifth overall and making up ground on the sister car of Beche.
The Rebellion driver is in fifth overall and making up ground on the sister car of Beche.
GTE PRO
No stopping BMW man Felix da Costa, he's just cleared Giovinazzi's Ferrari for fifth in GTE Pro.
LMP1
Button's laptimes are on a par with the privateer LMP1 hybrids, despite running in last place and 48 laps off the leaders.
LMP2
The Panis-Barthez Ligier's stop means the #26 G-Drive ORECA now has a lead of almost a minute and a half over the Signatech-Alpine. Rojas is the best part of 40s further back in the IDEC Sport ORECA that started on pole.
Crash
Van der Zande has basically taken a straight line through the Dunlop Curve, doing some rallycross, but continues in seventh and six seconds behind the LMP2 leader Rusinov.
Overall standings, as the gap goes up a little bit between the two leaders
Pit stop
The second-placed LMP2 runner of Buret in the Panis-Barthez Competition Ligier has pitted.
LMP1
Alonso's total stint time was two hours and 43 minutes, meaning he has driven slightly longer than Buemi did in the opening stint.
LMP1
Nakajima's lead in the #8 Toyota is holding at a stable five seconds.
LMP1
That Rusinov stop will help Van der Zande get back to the LMP1 runners, he's less than 20s off the LMP2 leader in sixth place overall.
LMP2
The LMP2 leader is in the pits. Rusinov takes on fuel in the G-Drive ORECA but no tyres and rejoins with plenty in hand over the Panis-Barthez Competition Ligier.
GTE PRO
Besides runaway leader Estre, Felix da Costa is one of the quickest cars in GTE Pro right now. He's just sliced ahead of Joey Hand's Ford for sixth in class, with Giovinazzi's Ferrari next on his hit-list.
LMP1
Lopez, who's been in the #7 Toyota for around three hours, is still around 5s behind Nakajima's #8 car.
GTE PRO
Change for third in GTE Pro; the Rothmans-liveried Porsche of Lietz is back ahead of Bamber's rather more lacklustre-looking 911 RSR.
LMP1
Van der Zande's currently in eighth with 10s to reel in to catch Thiriet in the LMP2 Signatech Alpine - seventh overall.
LMP1
Nakajima has now got a 6s lead over Lopez following the #7 driver's stop.
LMP1
Robertson stops from 19th, with Turvey still 21st.
LMP1
Lopez has also made a stop, as has the #3 Rebellion of Menezes.
LMP1
Senna brings the Rebellion in to hand over to Jani, with new tyres fitted and returns to the track in fifth.
Information
The #98 Aston, the #67 Ford and the #44 Eurasia Ligier have all been handed drive through penalties for overtaking before the end of the safety car procedure.
LMP2
As expected, Vaxiviere is setting a very good pace aboard the #28 TDS Oreca. He's 3m10 off the lead, having taken 20s out of race-leader Rusinov in the last four laps.
Driver Change
Alonso stops and hands the car over to Nakajima, fitting him with new tyres.
GTE AM
Now the latest round of GTE Am stops has shaken out, Campbell's lead over Griffin is back out to more than two minutes.
LMP1
SMP driver Stephane Sarrazin reckons it's pretty equal between his BRE and the Rebellion. He thinks the R-13 is quicker in the fast stuff and the BR1 has an advantage on the brakes.
LMP2
The #48 IDEC Sport and #39 Graff So24 Racing ORECAs have become the first two pit-callers of each cycle, and both begin their eighth sequence of pitstops on lap 77 from fourth and fifth places.
By: Matt Beer
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