Live text
WEC
24 Hours of Le Mans
The 76th Le Mans 24 Hours
Live Standings
presented by
Stopped
Summary
Live Text
Sort by
The No.59 Team Modena Aston has a left rear puncture and is crawling around Mulsanne corner. The tread of the tyre has fallen off on the road and the car continues slowly back to the pits.
The fourth and fifth placed Audi machines (No.1 and No.3) have both pitted. The No.3 takes on fuel only and Alexandre Premat stays on board.
Up front Marc Gene in Peugeot No.7 continues to close the gap to the leader. The gap is now under 30 seconds as Rinaldo Capello maintains the lead of the race for Audi.
Rinaldo Capello rounds out the Audi stops and is back out on track in the leading car.
Marc Gene brings the No.7 Peugeot into the pits from the lead, which he held for all of a lap after Capello's pitstop.
Gene climbs out of the car and Nicolas Minassian is now on board.
The Audi retakes the lead and we will soon see if the gap has closed or extended between the two cars.
Gene climbs out of the car and Nicolas Minassian is now on board.
The Audi retakes the lead and we will soon see if the gap has closed or extended between the two cars.
Alex Wurz continues to fight back in the No.8 car, delayed earlier by trouble with downshifting the gearbox.
He is now 19th and setting very fast times in the late 1:20s.
He is now 19th and setting very fast times in the late 1:20s.
Peugeot now pit the No.9 car with Ricardo Zonta handing over to Nicolas Minassian.
The No.19 Chamberlain Synergie car has spun, having only just left the pits with Amanda Stretton on board. The Lola AER spun and nudged the armco, and there is light damage to the car, but she is having a nightmare trying to steer the car slowly back to the pits, with smoke now pouring out of it.
The No.21 Epsilon-Euskadi has been garaged for attention of the team. Shinji Nakano was driving before the car pulled in.
Alex Wurz is continuing to fight on with excellent laptimes and a charge through the field. The No.8 908 HDi is now in 16th position and moving towards the top ten at a rapid rate.
Rinaldo Capello is once again up front in the Audi as the two heavyweight teams remain out of phase in the pit stops.
Nicolas Minassian is at the wheel of the best Peugeot in second, ahead of the sister car driven by Franck Montagny.
Alexandre Premat runs fourth in the No.3 Audi, with Marco Werner in the No.1 holding fifth.
Nicolas Minassian is at the wheel of the best Peugeot in second, ahead of the sister car driven by Franck Montagny.
Alexandre Premat runs fourth in the No.3 Audi, with Marco Werner in the No.1 holding fifth.
The GT1 battle is still in its infancy of course. It has been known for a long time that the Corvette versus Aston Martin battle will be close, interesting and probably go down to the last hour or two.
It is playing out exactly as expected, with the top three cars in GT1 separated by just ten seconds.
Darren Turner is now on board the 009 Aston (20th overall), and is three seconds ahead of Olivier Beretta in the No.64 Corvette.
The No.63 is a few seconds behind the leading pair with Ron Fellows driving.
These three are well over two minutes ahead of Heinz Harald Frentzen, who is fourth in class in the 007 Aston Martin.
It is playing out exactly as expected, with the top three cars in GT1 separated by just ten seconds.
Darren Turner is now on board the 009 Aston (20th overall), and is three seconds ahead of Olivier Beretta in the No.64 Corvette.
The No.63 is a few seconds behind the leading pair with Ron Fellows driving.
These three are well over two minutes ahead of Heinz Harald Frentzen, who is fourth in class in the 007 Aston Martin.
After a dramatic first four hours, the race is beginning to settle down now with respect to incidents.
It has been an action packed opening sixth of the race - the most notable incident without doubt was the No.8 Peugeot being pulled into the garage with a mechanical problem.
Audi are leading with the two Peugeots in second and third chasing them hard.
It has been an action packed opening sixth of the race - the most notable incident without doubt was the No.8 Peugeot being pulled into the garage with a mechanical problem.
Audi are leading with the two Peugeots in second and third chasing them hard.
The No.1 and No.3 Audi cars pit together again. The No.1 takes on tyres, fuel, and no driver change - Werner staying in the car.
Premat similarly stays in the No.3 machine.
Both cars rejoin the race after routine stops, still in comfortable fourth and fifth positions.
Premat similarly stays in the No.3 machine.
Both cars rejoin the race after routine stops, still in comfortable fourth and fifth positions.
The leading No.2 Audi pits and Rinaldo Capello stays in the car. Fuel is taken on as well as tyres. Capello rejoins, handing the lead to Nicolas Minassian in the No.7.
Before Capello's stop the gap had closed to under 18 seconds, as this battle for the lead gets closer.
Once again the No.7 pits the lap following the lead Audi. Nicolas Minassian stays on board.
The No.7 took on fuel only and managed to sneak out of the pits just ahead of Capello.
Capello never repassed the No.7 and Minassian leads at Le Mans.
Capello never repassed the No.7 and Minassian leads at Le Mans.
The No.9 Peugeot is now in the pits, with Montagny remaining onboard.
Minassian leads by 10.6 seconds from Capello with 74 laps now complete.
The third-placed Peugeot, driven by Franck Montagny, is now over a minute behind the best Audi after that recent stop.
The third-placed Peugeot, driven by Franck Montagny, is now over a minute behind the best Audi after that recent stop.
The No.14 Creation AIM car is touring slowly on the racetrack. This car has already been in the wars this week. Stuart Hall suffered a nasty crash in qualifying, halting the session. The car was rebuilt, passed for scrutineering and started the race today.
Johnny Mowlem was running in 27th position overall, but will now drop down the order as he limps back to the pits with a puncture.
Johnny Mowlem was running in 27th position overall, but will now drop down the order as he limps back to the pits with a puncture.
With Pedro Lamy on board, the No.8 Peugeot is continuing to climb through the field, albeit a bit slower than the pace that Alex Wurz was running a short time ago.
Lamy has the car up into 15th position and 42 seconds behind the Euskadi Judd.
Lamy has the car up into 15th position and 42 seconds behind the Euskadi Judd.
In the LMP2 class, the Team Essex Porsche RS Spyder now leads by over half a minute from the similar Van Merksteijn entry. The Team Essex car is 10th overall.
We mentioned the unfortunate incident that befell Amanda Stretton in the No.19 Chamberlain Synergies car earlier. Stretton somehow managed to coax the car all the way back to the pits - no mean feat given the circumstances.
The troubled Creation AIM is pushed back in to the garage after a very slow lap. The team go to work on a technical problem.
At the front after 78 laps the No.7 Peugeot with Nicolas Minassian currently driving leads the race by an increasing margin. The gap is now up to 20 seconds over the No.2 Audi driven by Rinaldo Capello.
In third place is the No.9 Peugeot, Franck Montagny still at the wheel. He is 76 seconds behind the leader.
Alexandre Premat lies fourth in the No.3 Audi, 2 minutes 49 seconds adrift, but he is the last car on the lead lap.
The fifth placed No.1 Audi is a lap down and around 1 minute behind Premat.
It is two Peugeots versus three Audis in the diesel race as the third Peugeot continues to work its way up the order.
In third place is the No.9 Peugeot, Franck Montagny still at the wheel. He is 76 seconds behind the leader.
Alexandre Premat lies fourth in the No.3 Audi, 2 minutes 49 seconds adrift, but he is the last car on the lead lap.
The fifth placed No.1 Audi is a lap down and around 1 minute behind Premat.
It is two Peugeots versus three Audis in the diesel race as the third Peugeot continues to work its way up the order.
The Van Merksteijn Porsche RS has pitted, with the owner-driver handing over the car to Dutch A1GP driver Jeroen Bleekemolen.
The Audis, first No.3 and then No.1 have both been in for stops, without change to the drivers.
The No.8 Peugeot has taken 14th position away from the Euskadi Judd.
Pedro Lamy is running laps consistently in the low-to-mid 3:20s on this run. The next target is the 13th placed Van Merksteijn Porsche Spyder, which runs second in LMP2 However that car is around two minutes up the road, so Lamy and the No.7 will remain in 14th for some time unless there are problems ahead of them.
Pedro Lamy is running laps consistently in the low-to-mid 3:20s on this run. The next target is the 13th placed Van Merksteijn Porsche Spyder, which runs second in LMP2 However that car is around two minutes up the road, so Lamy and the No.7 will remain in 14th for some time unless there are problems ahead of them.
The leading No.7 Peugeot and the No.2 Audi pit together. Rinaldo Capello remains aboard the Audi.
The No.7 changed drivers in their stop. Minassian out, Villeneuve in.
There were no position changes and so Jacques Villeneuve leads the Le Mans 24 hour race for Peugeot.
There were no position changes and so Jacques Villeneuve leads the Le Mans 24 hour race for Peugeot.
The No.44 Kruse Lola Mazda, crashed heavily by Noda in qualifying, has been pulled in to the garage for attention of the team.
A concern for the French manufacturer in these next few laps will be the pace of the French-Canadian. Villeneuve tends to take his time getting up to the required pace.
With the race as close as it is currently, Peugeot will not want to lose any un-necessary laptime, therefore they will be anxious for the driver to get on the pace swiftly.
With the race as close as it is currently, Peugeot will not want to lose any un-necessary laptime, therefore they will be anxious for the driver to get on the pace swiftly.
Outside the top five, the petrol leader is the No.5 Courage Oreca with Laurent Groppi at the wheel. The No.17 Pescarolo Judd runs seventh, followed on the same lap by a close scrap between the Dome and the No.6 Courage over eighth.
We continue to track the progress of Peugeot No.8 in 14th position. Far from taking a while to erode a two minute gap to the 13th placed Porsche Spyder, Lamy is lapping some 18 seconds per lap quicker, with the Rollcentre Pescarolo Judd in 12th a further 17 seconds up the road.
The No.26 Radical SR9 has pulled up on the the side of the road with Marc Rostan at the wheel.
The race is closing up at the front of the field.
With five hours gone the No.7 Peugeot continues to lead. Driver Jacques Villeneuve is running laps around the 3:27 mark. The No.2 Audi in second place is still within striking distance, now just 19 seconds behind.
But behind the front two Franck Montagny is flying in third place in the No.9 Peugeot. He just set the fastest lap of the race so far with a stunning 3:20.600, and is catching the leading duo at over seven seconds per lap.
With five hours gone the No.7 Peugeot continues to lead. Driver Jacques Villeneuve is running laps around the 3:27 mark. The No.2 Audi in second place is still within striking distance, now just 19 seconds behind.
But behind the front two Franck Montagny is flying in third place in the No.9 Peugeot. He just set the fastest lap of the race so far with a stunning 3:20.600, and is catching the leading duo at over seven seconds per lap.
Completing the 88th lap Montagny continues to close on the front two.
Franck sets a 3:23, compared to Villeneuve's 3:24 and Capello's 3:27.
Franck sets a 3:23, compared to Villeneuve's 3:24 and Capello's 3:27.
The Team Essex Porsche RS has pitted. They rejoin just ahead of the Van Merksteijn entry, with the No.8 Peugeot slipping by in the pair of them.
The lead battle is very much on with Villeneuve 20.6 seconds up on Capello's Audi and setting a similar time on lap 89.
Montagny is now just eight seconds behind the Audi and is closing extremely rapidly, taking over five seconds out of the gap on that last lap.
Montagny is now just eight seconds behind the Audi and is closing extremely rapidly, taking over five seconds out of the gap on that last lap.
By: Geoff Creighton, Emlyn Hughes
Published:
Page:
