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24 Hours of Le Mans
The 76th Le Mans 24 Hours
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The No.1 Audi has also taken wet tyres and rejoined.
The No.9 Peugeot comes into the pits and they exchange the intermediates for full wet tyres.
The No.8 car is also expected to pit for full wets soon.
The No.8 car is also expected to pit for full wets soon.
The No.33 Speedy Lola has stopped on the pit entry lane. The car is in a tricky position as cars continue to sprint in to the pits for rain tyres.
The rain continues to fall at start-finish as the Speedy Lola continues to be pushed in the entrance to pitlane by a few brave marshals.
Marshals are now pushing the stricken No.33 up the pit lane. The car appears to have lost its nose section in the gravel approaching the pit lane.
The No.33 Speedy Lola was push-started by the marshals successfully and the car makes its way slowly down the pitroad with extensive front end damage - particularly to the nose section, which is gone and the front left wheel and suspension.
Jacques Villeneuve leads by 50 seconds from Tom Kristensen.
Kristensen closed Villeneuve by six seconds on the latest lap, trimming the gap to the leader.
Mike Rockenfeller has overtaken the Peugeot of Ricardo Zonta, putting the Audis up to second and third.
The rain has become much lighter than it was a few minutes ago, but continues to fall on the circuit. The track surface is damp, but not in a wet condition - yet.
Conditions remain tricky as the addition of water to the track mixes with the oil, marbles of rubber and various other debris to make a very tricky racing surface.
The Peugeot No.7 continues to lead at a damp Le Mans circuit. The gap is down to 35.5 seconds as Tom Kristensen continues to haul in the leader in the No.2 Audi.
Kristensen's last lap around was timed at 4 minutes 02 seconds.
Mike Rockenfeller runs in third place in the No.3 Audi, with Ricardo Zonta in fourth place in the No.9 Audi R10.
Kristensen's last lap around was timed at 4 minutes 02 seconds.
Mike Rockenfeller runs in third place in the No.3 Audi, with Ricardo Zonta in fourth place in the No.9 Audi R10.
Villeneuve Peugeot No.7 - 4:08
Kristensen Audi No.2 - 4:06
The gap is trimmed down to 33.5 seconds.
Kristensen Audi No.2 - 4:06
The gap is trimmed down to 33.5 seconds.
The No.20 Epsilon Euskadi is finally back out of the garage after many hours under repair. The team are readying the car to resume with Adrian Valles at the wheel.
Tom Kristensen is homing in on the leader, cutting the gap to 27 seconds after a lap seven seconds quicker than Villeneuve's Peugeot.
Mike Rockenfeller in third is matching Kristensen for pace and is sprinting away from Zonta's Peugeot as the Audis revel in the greasy conditions.
The light rain continues to fall, ensuring that the track surface stays in a damp condition.
The No.8 Peugeot comes into the pits and finally takes on those full wet tyres that we mentioned earlier.
Stephane Sarrazin is at the wheel, and runs in position six.
Stephane Sarrazin is at the wheel, and runs in position six.
That No.8 car was running laps around 4 minutes 14 seconds , and so a change to full wets was the sensible decision.
The leader Villeneuve continues to be under severe pressure from Kristensen. The Audi is now 20.2 seconds away from the leader and closing fast.
The 007 Aston Martin DBR9 comes into the pitlane, and is wheeled into the garage. Andrea Piccini had been at the wheel for the last stint.
The 007 was in third position in its class.
The lead in the GT1 category is held by the sister Aston Martin 009, with the No.63 Corvette just 11 seconds behind it. These two cars have been racing eachother closely for hours.
The 007 was in third position in its class.
The lead in the GT1 category is held by the sister Aston Martin 009, with the No.63 Corvette just 11 seconds behind it. These two cars have been racing eachother closely for hours.
Radio Le Mans reports battery trouble on the 007 Aston Martin.
The No.11 dome is in a tyre wall with Daisuke Ito at the wheel ...
Rain continues to fall and the lead is down to 17.2 seconds with Kristensen closing at around three seconds per lap.
Replays of the incident involving the No.11 Dome show that Ito speared straight on, crunching into the barrier with the nose of the Judd-powered car.
The lead gap is slashed to 10.7 seconds as Villeneuve loses seven seconds to the flying Audi of Kristensen.
The No.11 Dome Judd that nosed straight on into the barriers a little earlier, has eventually found its way back to the pits. The mechanics will now go to work attempting to repair the damage.
The lead gap only falls by a second to 9.8 as Villeneuve sets a better lap in the Peugeot.
The rain continues to fall and if anything is a little heavier in the last few minutes. The track surface is becoming gradually wetter as conditions deteriorate.
Kristensen continues his pursuit of the lead, slashing the gap to 6.4 seconds.
The No.40 Quifel ASM-run Lola AER comes into the pits ... and is wheeled into the garage by the machanics.
Pit stops near for the leading cars as they have almost completed a full stint since the rain began.
Villeneuve has responded, lapping half a second faster than Kristensen, to stabilise the gap around seven seconds.
Jacques Villeneuve continues to lead in the No.7 Peugeot, but the gap is reducing all the time, as the second-placed car - the Audi No.2 of Tom Kristensen continues to lap quicker.
Mike Rockenfeller is third, one lap down on the leaders with Ricardo Zonta 53 seconds behind the Audi No.3 in fourth place.
Mike Rockenfeller is third, one lap down on the leaders with Ricardo Zonta 53 seconds behind the Audi No.3 in fourth place.
The No.9 Peugeot crew are ready in the pit lane for their car.
The No.3 Audi comes into the pitlane for regular service. The tyres are changed, fuel in. Rockenfeller stays in the car and he gets away.
Ricardo Zonta pits his Peugeot from fourth. The team fit new wet tyres to the car and Zonta stays in the car.
The Kristensen Audi is also in with Tom staying in the car and taking the lead as the No.7 Peugeot changes drivers.
Tom Kristensen leads the 2008 Le Mans 24 hours for Audi.
Tom Kristensen leads the 2008 Le Mans 24 hours for Audi.
Jacques Villeneuve brings the leading No.7 Peugeot into the pits. Driver change this time as Jacques climbs out after a stint of around two-and-a-half hours.
Marc Gene climbs aboard and takes over the steering wheel. The No.7 rejoins the race.
Marc Gene climbs aboard and takes over the steering wheel. The No.7 rejoins the race.
Tom Kristensen in the lead Audi has a scare on his first lap out of the pits, getting the back end out of shape as he put the power down out of a chicane on the Mulsanne.
By: Geoff Creighton, Emlyn Hughes
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