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WEC
24 Hours of Le Mans
The 76th Le Mans 24 Hours
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Once again the No.7 pits the lap following the lead Audi. Nicolas Minassian stays on board.
Before Capello's stop the gap had closed to under 18 seconds, as this battle for the lead gets closer.
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.
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.
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 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.
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.
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.
The No.21 Epsilon-Euskadi has been garaged for attention of the team. Shinji Nakano was driving before the car pulled in.
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.
Peugeot now pit the No.9 car with Ricardo Zonta handing over to Nicolas Minassian.
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.
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.
Rinaldo Capello rounds out the Audi stops and is back out on track in the leading car.
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.
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.
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 GT1 battle continues with pitstops for the leading group of four.- all except Johnny O'Connell in the No.63 who has a 35 second lead for Corvette. The leader is due in soon and O'Connell is expected to hand over to Le Mans veteran Ron Fellows.
The LMP2 leaders continue to scrap in the pair of RS Spyders, with the team Team Essex car driven by John Nielsen now pulling away from team owner Peter van Merksteijn in his car.
Alex Wurz in the No.8 Peugeot is now working his way through the GT1 leading battle. The Austrian moves that car up to 23rd position.
The No.5 Oreca Courage now takes over sixth from the Dome, with Laurent Groppi at the wheel, but will be due a stop shortly.
The No.11 Dome Judd now pits from that sixth place, and Tatsuya Kataoka takes over at the wheel.
Rinaldo Capello leads the 24 hours for Audi in the No.2. Marc Gene is chasing after him in the Peugeot No.7. The gap is now 32 seconds.
Riocardo Zonta makes it a Peugeot two-three. He is 92 seconds off the lead, with Alexandre Premat running fourth for Audi, 36 seconds behind Zonta.
Marco Werner is fifth in the Audi No.1 car, with the Japanese Dome Judd running superbly in sixth place.
Riocardo Zonta makes it a Peugeot two-three. He is 92 seconds off the lead, with Alexandre Premat running fourth for Audi, 36 seconds behind Zonta.
Marco Werner is fifth in the Audi No.1 car, with the Japanese Dome Judd running superbly in sixth place.
The No.11 factory Dome Judd pits from sixth overall, two laps behind the diesel leaders.
Alex Wurz in the repaired No.8 Peugeot is now in 27th position overall and setting consistent laptimes around the 3 minute 25 second mark.
He is catching the magnificent GT1 battle that we mentioned a few laps ago hand over fist. If Wurz continues his current pace he could make it into the top 20 by the end of the fourth hour.
He is catching the magnificent GT1 battle that we mentioned a few laps ago hand over fist. If Wurz continues his current pace he could make it into the top 20 by the end of the fourth hour.
The No.50 Saleen is now back to the pits, having lost a wheel early in the lap a few minutes ago. The car is backed in to the garage for repairs.
Zonta's No.9 Peugeot has pitted from second, with the French cars still running shorter fuel stints than their Audi rivals
Gene's temporary lead come to an end as the Peugeot makes its fifth stop. Dindo Capello leads again in the No.2 Audi.
The No.50 Saleen with Christophe Bouchut has come off the track in the Dunlop curves.
Replays show that the right rear wheel became dislodged at speed, pitching the Frenchman immediately into the gravel.
The recovery team are at the scene and fishing the Saleen away from danger.
Replays show that the right rear wheel became dislodged at speed, pitching the Frenchman immediately into the gravel.
The recovery team are at the scene and fishing the Saleen away from danger.
Marc Gene now resumes the lead in the No.7, 21 seconds ahead of the first Audi.
Ricardo Zonta is third in the No.9 car, 52 seconds down on the leader.
Ricardo Zonta is third in the No.9 car, 52 seconds down on the leader.
The leader pits as Allan Mcnish brings the No.2 Audi down pitroad.
Mcnish climbs out of the car after almost three hours at the wheel, handing over to Rinaldo Capello.
Mcnish climbs out of the car after almost three hours at the wheel, handing over to Rinaldo Capello.
The No.3 Audi is also in the pits with a driver change to Alexandre Premat.
In GT1 it's all change as the 009 with Andy Garcia at the controls leads the class. He is in 22nd position overall and is embroiled in a dogfight with the Corvettes, who are catching him.
Johnny O'connell in the No.63 is just nine seconds behind the leading Aston, with Olivier Beretta in the sister Corvette No.64 six seconds further back.
Johnny O'connell in the No.63 is just nine seconds behind the leading Aston, with Olivier Beretta in the sister Corvette No.64 six seconds further back.
The No.1 Audi has pitted from fifth and is underway again with Marco Werner at the wheel.
Alex Wurz in Peugeot No.8 is shown in 29th overall, six laps behind the leader.
At the front of the field the chase is on as the No.7 leads the charge after Mcnish's current lead for Audi. The gap between them is just over a minute, but Gene is running one second per lap faster than the No.2 Audi.
The No.11 Dome has pitted from sixth, handing that position to Loic Duval in the No.5 Oreca Courage.
Alex Wurz is now driving the No.8 Peugeot back out of the pit lane after over 20 minutes in the garage.
Spins, incidents, broken rules and mechanical trouble have distracted us from the battles in the other classes recently.
In LMP2 it is Porsche-Spyders leading the way. The No.31 Team Essex car is 12th overall, and leading it's class, ahead of Jos Verstappen in the No.34 Van Merksteijn car. These two cars are separated by over a minute, and are well ahead of their LMP2 competition.
In LMP2 it is Porsche-Spyders leading the way. The No.31 Team Essex car is 12th overall, and leading it's class, ahead of Jos Verstappen in the No.34 Van Merksteijn car. These two cars are separated by over a minute, and are well ahead of their LMP2 competition.
The Peugeot challenge hits a bumpy spell as all three cars have had problems in recent minutes.
The No.7 has recovered from an early stop with a puncture and is now underway again with Marc Gene at the wheel in second overall.
The No.8 remains in the garage with technical trouble.
The No.9 is running again in fourth, with working lights and Ricardo Zonta driving, after being called in for mandatory repairs.
The No.7 has recovered from an early stop with a puncture and is now underway again with Marc Gene at the wheel in second overall.
The No.8 remains in the garage with technical trouble.
The No.9 is running again in fourth, with working lights and Ricardo Zonta driving, after being called in for mandatory repairs.
By: Geoff Creighton, Emlyn Hughes
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