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24 Hours of Le Mans
The 76th Le Mans 24 Hours
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This is tricky for Capello now as parts of the circuit remain wet and care must be taken when passing cars off line.
The No.2 Audi is in from the lead and appeared to take intermediate rubber along with his tank of fuel.
Alexandre Premat is the man setting the best lap times at the moment with intermediate tyres on his Audi. The track is very dry on the racing line and full wet tyres will rapidly overheat in these conditions.
The No.8 Peugeot with Alex Wurz at the wheel has spun. Alex quickly gets the car pointed the right way and rejoins.
Wurz continues to run in sixth, but will pass Werner for fifth unless the No.1 Audi has its clutch repaired within the next two laps.
Wurz continues to run in sixth, but will pass Werner for fifth unless the No.1 Audi has its clutch repaired within the next two laps.
We hear that the Audi No.1 has a clutch problem. This is the Marco Werner car that crawled back to the pits a short time ago after spinning.
Four hours left to go and it's game on at La Sarthe!
If both cars run reliably until the end of the race, then one factor will determine the outcome of the race - the weather.
Through the dry period of the race yesterday Peugeot demonstrated that they could run quicker than the Audis, yet in the wet conditions the pendulum swung and the Audi seems to be a more predictable and forgiving car to drive. The Peugeots have struggled in the wet in terms of laptime.
If the showers clear then we have a race on our hands. It comes down to whether there is any more rain or not.
If it is dry, we could be in for a classic.
If it rains again, Audi will hold on and maintain the gap.
If both cars run reliably until the end of the race, then one factor will determine the outcome of the race - the weather.
Through the dry period of the race yesterday Peugeot demonstrated that they could run quicker than the Audis, yet in the wet conditions the pendulum swung and the Audi seems to be a more predictable and forgiving car to drive. The Peugeots have struggled in the wet in terms of laptime.
If the showers clear then we have a race on our hands. It comes down to whether there is any more rain or not.
If it is dry, we could be in for a classic.
If it rains again, Audi will hold on and maintain the gap.
The No.8 Peugeot is pitted by Alex Wurz and takes a set of intermediate tyres.
Villeneuve is through under the Dunlop Bridge and there is less than a lap between himself and the No.2 Audi in the lead.
Christian Klien brings the No.9 Peugeot into the pits for routine service.
Dindo Capello is now losing several seconds per lap to Villeneuve as the Peugeot again tries to get back on the lead lap.
The Audi No.1 car can still afford a number of laps in the pits before being overtaken by the No.8 Peugeot for fifth.
The Dome Judd No.11 that headbutted the armco on the Mulsanne has made it back into the pitlane. The Dome mechanics are frantically trying to get the car into the pit garage.
The No.11 Dome Judd has once again returned to the pits for repairs from the crew.
The Marco Werner Audi No.1 car is still in the garage, following that spin at the Ford chicane and a slow lap back to the pits. The car is up on stands and there is a small army of Audi mechanics trying to fix the car as quickly as possible so that it can rejoin the race.
Out on the track there has been a shunt involving the mobile warzone that is the No.11 Dome Judd, that has had so many minor incidents during the course of this race.
Coming out of the second chicane on the Mulsanne straight, Daisuke Ito lost control of the rear of the car and was pitched into the armco on the drivers' left.
There is front end damage to the car, but it is slowly making its way back to the pits under its own power.
Coming out of the second chicane on the Mulsanne straight, Daisuke Ito lost control of the rear of the car and was pitched into the armco on the drivers' left.
There is front end damage to the car, but it is slowly making its way back to the pits under its own power.
Hurried work is underway on the No.1 car as the first garage visit for an Audi continues. Some light smoke could be seen coming from the car as Werner finally pulled in the pit lane.
The crawling No.1 Audi has made it into the pitlane and the mechanics go to work. They instantly wheel him into the garage.
Car No.1, fifth placed Audi in the garage for repairs.
Car No.1, fifth placed Audi in the garage for repairs.
The No.8 Peugeot pits for routine service and is delayed at the pit entrance by the crawling No.1 Audi.
Rinaldo Capello is now searching for wetter parts of the track away from the racing line to cool down his very warm wet tyres.
With the No.2 car still on wet tyres, Dindo Capello continues to lead by over a lap from the No.7 Peugeot of Villeneuve.
Werner is almost certainly coming back into the pits for a change to the wet tyres. However he was crawling, prompting suspicions that there is some minor damage to that No.1 car.
The No.1 Audi is now slowly returning to the pits after that spin in the Ford Chicane.
Marco Werner in the No.1 Audi has spun in the Ford Chicane as the track proves it is not quite ready for the intermediate tyre just yet.
Werner rejoins without damage and continues round on these tyres.
Werner rejoins without damage and continues round on these tyres.
The fourth and fifth placed Audis are now experimenting on the intermediate rubber. The track is tricky in places for those tyres, especially if forced to pass slower cars off the racing line.
Marco Werner brings the No.1 Audi into pitlane. He too takes on intermediate tyres, no driver change and Werner rejoins the circuit still in fifth position.
The class-leading Porsche RS Spyder has had a harmless spin approaching the Ford Chicane. Jos Verstappen looped the car around and got going again from the kerbs on the inside.
The No.3 Audi is in the pits for routine service. Intermediates for Alexandre Premat and he rejoins the race still in fourth position.
The time taken to change the No.7 driver to Villeneuve meant a longer stop than the unchanged Audi, dropping the Peugeot a lap down once again.
Nicolas Minassian brings the No.7 Peugeot onto pitroad.
Minassian as expected hands over to Jacques Villeneuve who climbs aboard. Fresh tyres go on the Peugeot as well as a tankful of diesel.
The Peugeot is dropped down and Villeneuve is away.
Minassian as expected hands over to Jacques Villeneuve who climbs aboard. Fresh tyres go on the Peugeot as well as a tankful of diesel.
The Peugeot is dropped down and Villeneuve is away.
The lead No.2 Audi is also in the pits at the same time as the No.7. The Audi is away first with no driver change.
Minassian is already pulling away from the No.2 Audi. The car has almost four minutes to make up for the lead but there are still over four-and-a-half hours remaining.
The No.11 Dome Judd has made it back into the pits, having been recovered from the gravel trap.
In the Peugeot No.7 pit we can see Jacques Villeneuve is ready to take over from Nicolas Minassian at the next pitstop, which is due imminently.
The latest in this morning's series of light showers has passed over, and the drying out process on the track surface begins once again.
The No.11 Dome Judd has been in the wars again as we see the all-white machine in the gravel, beached. This car was in 25th position overall, but Tatsuya Kataoka has run wide into the kitty litter.
Nicolas Minassian flys around the outside of the Audi on the run the the first chicane and the lead battle is now on the same lap.
The No.7 of Nicolas Minassian has been flying and is once again on the tail of Capello's Audi in an attempt to get back on the lead lap.
The No.8 Peugeot with Stephane Sarrazin at the wheel comes into the pits. Sarrizin overshoots the pitbox and the pit crew have to push him back slightly.
It's a tyre change as well as fuel on this occasion. Also the drivers swap places. Sarrazin out, Wurz now in the car and he makes his way out onto the racetrack.
It's a tyre change as well as fuel on this occasion. Also the drivers swap places. Sarrazin out, Wurz now in the car and he makes his way out onto the racetrack.
The rainfall has quickly increased to moderate. The laptimes will soon begin to increase again.
The No.9 Peugeot has made a routine stop for fuel and tyres.
By: Geoff Creighton, Emlyn Hughes
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