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24 Hours of Le Mans
The 76th Le Mans 24 Hours
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The gap extends slightly in the last couple of laps, as Christian Klien now has a 6.8 second gap over Marc Gene.
The No.7 pits, fuel only, no driver change and Gene rejoins the race.
The No.7 pits, fuel only, no driver change and Gene rejoins the race.
Mike Rockenfeller pits the No.3 Audi. He takes fuel and new Michelins and is back on track.
The leading car is in and Christian Klien brings the No.9 onto pitroad. He will stay in the car and rejoins the race.
Darkness draws in over the Circuit de la Sarthe, with little daylight remaining as we approach the end of the seventh hour.
In GT1 the 009 Aston Martin DBR9 has pitted. There has been a driver change as well and Andy Garcia is back out in that car.
The No.63 Corvette retakes the lead in class and currently has a 65 second lead over Garcia.
The Magnussen Corvette has also moved up in general classification, and runs in 19th overall.
The No.63 Corvette retakes the lead in class and currently has a 65 second lead over Garcia.
The Magnussen Corvette has also moved up in general classification, and runs in 19th overall.
The No. 32 Barazi Epsilon is slow on the circuit in the latter half of the lap. Michael Vergers is at the wheel and is trying to get the car back to the pits.
Down in LMGT2, the No. 82 Risi Competizione F430 leads in the hands of Jaime Melo. The No.77 Porsche, driven by Alex Davison, is running second, on the same lap as the leading Ferrari, around 25 seconds behind.
The No.8 Peugeot in the hands of Stephane Sarrazin has continued its relentless charge through the lower order.
Sarrazin has recently overtaken the all-Japanese Dome Judd entry and is now seventh in the race.
Next on the Frenchman's list is the leading petrol car - the Team Oreca Matmut car which has performed excellent and is leading the petrol race by over two minutes.
Sarrazin has recently overtaken the all-Japanese Dome Judd entry and is now seventh in the race.
Next on the Frenchman's list is the leading petrol car - the Team Oreca Matmut car which has performed excellent and is leading the petrol race by over two minutes.
The No.9 leader is in the gravel trap ...
Christian Klien has dropped the leading Peugeot in the Ford Chicane, handing the advantage to Marc Gene in the No.7.
Christian Klien has spun off in the No.9 Peugeot. The car is beached in the gravel and Christian is clearly frustrated, banging his fists together in the cockpit.
Three marshals are there immediately and are attempting to push the car out of the trap.
A tractor unit is now on the scene and ready to fish the stricken machine out.
Three marshals are there immediately and are attempting to push the car out of the trap.
A tractor unit is now on the scene and ready to fish the stricken machine out.
The tractor is attached and pulling the ex-leader of the race out of the gravel.
Klien gets going again after making a three-point-turn.
Klien gets going again after making a three-point-turn.
As drama breaks out once again in Le Mans, Marc Gene is the new leader from Tom Kristensen in the No.2 Audi.
The Peugeot team are ready to receive the No.9 car of Klien in the pits.
Klien choses not to pit for clean-up, setting a 3:36 lap. The Peugeot team head back in to the garage.
On the lap that he spun, Christian Klien eventually cut the beam with a mighty 6:59.252 once he was retrieved from the gravel.
As you can see he is immediately back on the pace after that incident, but has dropped to third place.
As you can see he is immediately back on the pace after that incident, but has dropped to third place.
Klien is back on the pace again, setting a 3:25, two seconds quicker than leader Gene.
With the demise of Klien, the lead of the race passed over to Marc Gene in the No.7 Peugeot.
The Audi R10 No.2 with Tom Kristensen at the wheel is promoted to second place - just over two minutes back.
The No.9 Christian Klien Peugeot is now a lap down in third, with the No.3 Audi over 90 seconds behind Klien in fourth.
The third Audi R10 lies in fifth position. Earlier these two Audis spent a long time running in tandem. The gap has drifted out to 17 seconds between them now.
Loic Duval continues to lead the petrol race in the Courage-Oreca Judd (sixth overall), with the all-Japanese Dome now seventh - promoted up a place after the Peugeot No.8 pitted a short time ago.
The Audi R10 No.2 with Tom Kristensen at the wheel is promoted to second place - just over two minutes back.
The No.9 Christian Klien Peugeot is now a lap down in third, with the No.3 Audi over 90 seconds behind Klien in fourth.
The third Audi R10 lies in fifth position. Earlier these two Audis spent a long time running in tandem. The gap has drifted out to 17 seconds between them now.
Loic Duval continues to lead the petrol race in the Courage-Oreca Judd (sixth overall), with the all-Japanese Dome now seventh - promoted up a place after the Peugeot No.8 pitted a short time ago.
In LMP2, Jos Verstappen continues to hold a one lap lead over the Team Essex car after the latter was forced to pit with a puncture in the last hour.
With recent pitstops for the leading petrol-powered cars, Stephane Sarrazin makes it all the diesels in the top six again, passing both the Courage and the Dome Judd.
The leader pits for the 13th time in the race. Marc Gene brings the No.7 Peugeot 908 HDI down pitroad, takes on fuel and fresh tyres. No driver change and Gene rejoins still in the lead.
Jan Magnussen recently brought the leading Corvette into the pits in GT1. Magnusse climbs out, handing the controls to Johnny O'Connell.
The 009 Aston Martin DBR9 retakes the lead in class, and has a 24 second advantage over the No.63 Corvette.
The 009 Aston Martin DBR9 retakes the lead in class, and has a 24 second advantage over the No.63 Corvette.
Darkness is now completely enveloping the circuit, and the blaze of headlights heading down the Mulsanne straight is an evocative sight for racing fans around the world.
The No.3 Audi is in the pits from fourth on the road. Mike Rockenfeller stays at the wheel and the car is quickly underway again with the full tank of diesel.
In the Peugeot pit we can see the crew of the No.9 car (Klien) readying a front wing section.
Whether or not the decision has already been made to change the front section, time will tell. We will see when Klien brings the car into the pits the next time.
Whether or not the decision has already been made to change the front section, time will tell. We will see when Klien brings the car into the pits the next time.
Christian Klien brings the No.9 car to the attention of the Peugeot crew. The keam do not change the nose section but do put Ricardo Zonta at the controls.
The 009 Aston Martin DBR9 is in the pits again, relinquishing the lead of the GT1 category.
The No.63 Corvette retakes the lead, as Andy Garcia drives out of the pits.
The No.63 Corvette retakes the lead, as Andy Garcia drives out of the pits.
Prodrive boss David Richards, running the Aston Martins in the GT1 class, has told Radio Le Mans that he expects the Aston versus Corvette battle to go down to the wire. He also states that the Corvettes can run a lap longer than his cars during each stint, and that he is expecting the rain to arrive in the next hour.
Frank Biela pits the No.1 Audi and is out once again with some more fuel but the same tyres.
The No.25 RML MG Lola is reported to be in the gravel trap at marshal post 115.
Stephane Sarrazin brings the No.8 Peugeot into the pits. Relentless quick pace from that car has brought them back into the top six.
No driver change and Sarrazin gets away after taking fuel only this time.
They had over one minutes' lead over the Courage in seventh, and so should retain that sixth place.
No driver change and Sarrazin gets away after taking fuel only this time.
They had over one minutes' lead over the Courage in seventh, and so should retain that sixth place.
The No.2 Audi is next to pit from second on the road. Tom Krisensen remains at the controls, taking a drink and a clean of the visor while the crew fill the car with diesel.
The No.78 AF Corse Ferrari has stopped under the Dunlop Bridge. Christian Montanari is trying to move the car, that was third in GT2, from the grass beside the road.
The No.4 Saulnier Pescarolo has pitted from 23rd and was quickly wheeled in to the garage.
The No.25 RML MG Lola has made it back to the pits and is also going in to the garage.
As we approach one third race distance, the No.7 Peugeot continues to lead the race with Marc Gene at the wheel. Tom Kristensen in the first of the Audis - No.2 - is just over two minutes behind but still comfortably on the lead lap.
The No.9 Peugeot is third, a lap down, with Ricardo Zonta now driving that one. The No.3 and No.1 Audis continue in fourth and fifth. They have closed up again in recent laps and are running closely again, with the No.8 Peugeot in sixth. That No.8 car is still comfortably the quickest car on the circuit, but lies at least two laps behind the tandem Audis.
The No.9 Peugeot is third, a lap down, with Ricardo Zonta now driving that one. The No.3 and No.1 Audis continue in fourth and fifth. They have closed up again in recent laps and are running closely again, with the No.8 Peugeot in sixth. That No.8 car is still comfortably the quickest car on the circuit, but lies at least two laps behind the tandem Audis.
The No.32 Barazi Epsilon car is in trouble again. The machine came to a halt at the pit lane entrance and the team have run down to push the car back to the pit box.
The GT1 leader pits. The No.63 Corvette led the class before the stop. Andy Garcia in the 009 Aston Martin has now closed the gap considerably.
The Team Essex car is back in the pits, and was running almost two minutes behind the LMP2-leading Van Merksteijn RS Spyder before that stop.
The latest on the threat of rain varies depending on who you speak to.
The rainfall radar suggests that rain will arrive sometime soon.
The autosport.com team onsite have spoken to Audi driver Allan Mcnish, and the Scot reckons that rain is due in the next three hours, while Aston Martin boss David Richards said some time ago that the rain would arrive within the hour.
The rainfall radar suggests that rain will arrive sometime soon.
The autosport.com team onsite have spoken to Audi driver Allan Mcnish, and the Scot reckons that rain is due in the next three hours, while Aston Martin boss David Richards said some time ago that the rain would arrive within the hour.
By: Geoff Creighton, Emlyn Hughes
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