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24 Hours of Le Mans
The 76th Le Mans 24 Hours
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The No.1 Audi is the next visitor to pit late. Marco Werner stays in the car and takes fuel only.
At the front the Peugeot No.7 continues to lead, but the pace has unsurprisingly dropped off since the arrival of Jacques Villeneuve in the cockpit. His most recent lap was a 3:40, with the No.2 Audi in second running 3:29s before their latest pitstop.
The No.2 Audi pits, with Dindo Capello continuing for another stint.
Through the darkness the cameras focus as best as possible on the No.44 Kruse Schiller Motorsport entry, which is steaming away merrily at the side of the track in the Mulsanne corner area.
Jean de Pourtales was in the car at the time. This is the car that Hideki Noda comprehensively smashed when he suffered that horrific airborne incident on Wednesday night in qualifying.
Jean de Pourtales was in the car at the time. This is the car that Hideki Noda comprehensively smashed when he suffered that horrific airborne incident on Wednesday night in qualifying.
The No.9 Peugeot has been in for service, continuing in third with Christian Klien at the wheel.
The leading car comes into the pits. The No.7 Peugeot has maintained a two minute advantage over the No.2 Audi.
Nicolas Minassian climbs out and Jacques Villeneuve gets into the car. New tyres are taken, a tank of gas and the Canadian takes the No.7 into the night.
Nicolas Minassian climbs out and Jacques Villeneuve gets into the car. New tyres are taken, a tank of gas and the Canadian takes the No.7 into the night.
The No.3 Audi comes into the pitlane, and the pitbox is obstructed by one of the Ferraris that is located in the box directly behind the Audi stable. The machanics have to push the car back before they can give it the regular service.
Alexandre Premat stays in the car and gets away without too much trouble.
Alexandre Premat stays in the car and gets away without too much trouble.
In LMGT2, the No.82 Ferrari with Gianmaria Bruni continues to hold over a lap in the lead over the No.96 F430.
David Brabham has now taken the wheel of the 009 Aston, Darren Turner having vacated the chair, as the No.63 Corvette now enters pitlane.
Jan Magnussen stays inside the yellow machine, takes on fuel and tyres. The Corvette briefly took over the lead in class of course after the 009 Aston pitted, but now the status quo is resumed as the Aston retakes the top spot.
Jan Magnussen stays inside the yellow machine, takes on fuel and tyres. The Corvette briefly took over the lead in class of course after the 009 Aston pitted, but now the status quo is resumed as the Aston retakes the top spot.
Meanwhile in LMP2, the battle is hotting up with Sascha Maassen in the Team Essex Porsche RS Spyder closing in on the Van Merksteijn machine with Jeroen Bleekemolen at the wheel.
The leading GT1 car - the 009 Aston Martin DBR9 comes into the pits for regular service. Darren Turner was in the car and had increased the gap over the No.63 Corvette to around 45 seconds before the stop.
In the Peugeot No.7 pit we can see Jacques Villeneuve is awake, alert and watching the action intently as he is receiving information from his team. It is likely that the French-Canadaian will get another stint in the car soon.
In the 2007 event, at this time of night Villeneuve successfully completed a reasonably swift triple stint. It is possible that Peugeot will put Villeneuve in the car for the same length of time this year too.
In the 2007 event, at this time of night Villeneuve successfully completed a reasonably swift triple stint. It is possible that Peugeot will put Villeneuve in the car for the same length of time this year too.
Allan McNish, fresh from a run in the No.2 Audi, has spoken with the autosort.com team at the track, telling them that the track is now cleaning up well after the earlier problems with oil on the circuit.
The No.12 Charouz Lola has been forced to retire with a broken piston in the Judd engine, taking the total retirements to 11.
The No.12 Charouz Lola has been forced to retire with a broken piston in the Judd engine, taking the total retirements to 11.
The pace of the front runners has dropped a touch over recent laps. The top 5 are running laps in and around the 3:30 mark.
Meantime the No.8 Peugeot is back to its searing pace in comparison with those at the top of the order. Pedro Lamy's last lap was timed at 3:27 and that car is once again the quickest on the track and closing down the Team Oreca Marmut car in P7 at a rate of over eight seconds per lap.
Meantime the No.8 Peugeot is back to its searing pace in comparison with those at the top of the order. Pedro Lamy's last lap was timed at 3:27 and that car is once again the quickest on the track and closing down the Team Oreca Marmut car in P7 at a rate of over eight seconds per lap.
The No.7 Peugeot has had a spin at the exit of the Ford Chicane. Nicolas Minassian lost the car over the kerbs and had a quick but harmeless loop around on to the pit straight.
The No.1 Audi is next to stop, with Marco Werner taking over in the fifth-place car.
The delayed No.8 Peugeot pits for a routine stop and Pedro Lamy continues to chase the petrol cars ahead of him.
Earlier we reported that the No.25 RML machine was in mechanical trouble. This is the Tommy Erdos / Andy Wallace / Mike Newton MG Lola AER entry.
The autosport.com team at the circuit tell us that the team have sadly been forced to retire the car, after floor damage made it unsafe to continue.
The autosport.com team at the circuit tell us that the team have sadly been forced to retire the car, after floor damage made it unsafe to continue.
Rinaldo Capello jumps in to the second-placed Audi as Allan McNish ends his run.
The No.9 Peugeot comes into the pits for routine service from third place.
Driver change this time for that car, as Franck Montagny climbs out and Christian Klien gets in.
Driver change this time for that car, as Franck Montagny climbs out and Christian Klien gets in.
The leading No.7 Peugeot has stopped, with Nicolas Minassian staying on for another stint.
The GT1 cars have reordered themselves after the last round of stops a short time ago.
The 009 Aston Martin running in 15th in overall classification, leads the class by 40 seconds now over the No.64 Corvette. Jan Magnussen is back in the Corvette and running a second slower than the Aston.
The 007 Aston DBR9 is third in class (19th overall). Karl Wendlinger is back at the wheel there, with the No.64 Corvette running fourth.
The 009 Aston Martin running in 15th in overall classification, leads the class by 40 seconds now over the No.64 Corvette. Jan Magnussen is back in the Corvette and running a second slower than the Aston.
The 007 Aston DBR9 is third in class (19th overall). Karl Wendlinger is back at the wheel there, with the No.64 Corvette running fourth.
The No.82 Risi Competizione Ferrari F430 continues to lead LMGT2. Gianmaria Bruni is currently at the wheel and runs a lap ahead of Tim Mullen in the No.96 Virgo Motorsport Ferrari.
The No.3 Audi is in the pit lane for the change from Luhr to Premat.
We hear that the ACO who run the race expect no rain to occur until at least 09:00 local time. It is 01:42 at the moment. They go on to say that any rain in the morning will be in the form of isolated showers, and that the end of the race will be dry.
Alexandre Premat is ready to receive the No.3 car from Lucas Luhr.
Up front Nicolas Minassian continues to lead the race in the No.7 Peugeot. He has a 2 minute 20 second lead over the No.2 Audi driven by Allan Mcnish.
The No.9 Peugeot with Franck Montagny at the wheel runs third, a lap off the lead. The No.3 and No.1 Audis continue to run in fourth and fifth places, with the Pescarolo Sport machine No.17, being driven at the moment by Benoit Treluyer leading the petrol cars in sixth place.
The No.8 Peugeot runs in the ninth position after recent mechanical problems.
The No.9 Peugeot with Franck Montagny at the wheel runs third, a lap off the lead. The No.3 and No.1 Audis continue to run in fourth and fifth places, with the Pescarolo Sport machine No.17, being driven at the moment by Benoit Treluyer leading the petrol cars in sixth place.
The No.8 Peugeot runs in the ninth position after recent mechanical problems.
The No.10 Lola Aston Martin is back in the garage once again. After running well since the last round of repairs, the team are once again at work with bodywork off both front and rear.
The autosport.com news team in Le Mans tell us that it was a battery problem that caused the No.8 Peugeot to be garaged for repairs.
Lucas Luhr has had an off-track moment in the No.3 Audi. He is spotted coming back on to the track at Mulsanne corner after a spin.
Jeroen Bleekemolen continues to lead in LMP2, almost three minutes ahead of the Team Essex car, now driven by Sascha Maassen.
With almost all cars stopping under the safety car, the pit stops are now coming in tightly-bunched groups.
The GT1 leaders come into the pits. The No.64 Corvette is serviced and rejoins. The 007 Aston Martin also comes in at the same time and goes back out.
The 009 Aston was leading the class before the latest round of stops, and had a 19 second lead over the Corvette No.63.
The 007 Aston and the No.63 Corvette pit on the next lap (first and second in class) and both leave the pitlane without problem.
The 009 Aston was leading the class before the latest round of stops, and had a 19 second lead over the Corvette No.63.
The 007 Aston and the No.63 Corvette pit on the next lap (first and second in class) and both leave the pitlane without problem.
The No.17 Pescarolo now runs sixth with Benoit Treluyer at the wheel. The No.5 Courage-Oreca Judd is seventh, ahead of the No.8 Peugeot, despite clutch repairs during the safety car.
The No.1 Audi with Emanuele Pirro driving comes into the pits for routine service. No driver change and Pirro rejoins the race.
The No.8 has fallen to eighth behind two petrol cars as they are hauled out of the garage and Wurz thunders off to rejoin the race.
The No.25 RML Lola AER has now rejoined the race, after repairs. That car has dropped down the order to 44th in the overal classification.
Frantic work continues in the No.8 Peugeot garage. The team have the slave battery plugged in to the car and are now attaching umbilical cables from the gantry overhead.
The No.9 Peugeot in third position comes into the pits. Fuel only, no tyres. Franck Montagny remains in the cockpit and he's away.
Allan McNish is another to pit, staying on board the No.2 Audi in second place.
By: Geoff Creighton, Emlyn Hughes
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