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24 Hours of Le Mans
The 76th Le Mans 24 Hours
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Lamy looped the No.8 machine exiting the right-hander. After several seconds the Portuguese driver was able to get going again, but has lost more time, and is now a full 10 laps - 84 miles - off the lead.
The No.8 Peugeot has spun at Arnarge with Pedro Lamy at the wheel ...
At the front of the field Allan Mcnish continues to hold the lead in the No.2 Audi R10, over two minutes ahead of the No.7 Peugeot which is driven by Nicolas Minassian.
Franck Montagny is third in the No.9 Peugeot, one lap down.
Lucas Luhr is fourth in the No.3 Audi, two laps adrift.
Emanuele Pirro is in the fifth position in the No.1 Audi, with Pedro Lamy sixth in the troublesome Peugeot No.8.
Franck Montagny is third in the No.9 Peugeot, one lap down.
Lucas Luhr is fourth in the No.3 Audi, two laps adrift.
Emanuele Pirro is in the fifth position in the No.1 Audi, with Pedro Lamy sixth in the troublesome Peugeot No.8.
Light rain is falling once again in Le Mans.
The seventh-placed Pescarolo Judd with Benoit Treluyer driving it has gone up the escape road at Mulsanne corner. After a helping hand from the marshals to push the No.17 car, he is able to get going again.
Allan McNish is now almost two minutes up the road on the chasing Peugeot after that surprise stop for the No.7.
The No.7 Peugeot has pitted after a short stint of five laps. Nicolas Minassian has climbed aboard the second-placed car and is off in pursuit of the lead Audi.
In LMP2, the Van Merksteijn Porsche RS Spyder is comfortable in the lead of the class by eight laps. The Team Essex RS Spyder has now fallen to third in the class, behind the No.35 Saulnier Racing Pescarolo Judd.
23.4 seconds is the gap between McNish and Gene for the lead as the latest round of pit stops has played in the Peugeot's favour.
Allan McNish brings the leading car into the pits. The No.2 Audi R10 was maintaining a 46 second lead over the No.7 Peugeot before the latest round of stops.
No driver change - McNish carrying on, fresh wet tyres bolted on, tankful of fuel and autosport.com's guest photographer for the weekend is back on the road again.
No driver change - McNish carrying on, fresh wet tyres bolted on, tankful of fuel and autosport.com's guest photographer for the weekend is back on the road again.
McNish is pressing on in the Audi, slicing past traffic on the pit straight. He is using the advantage of Audi's relative fuel economy to stay out longer than his Peugeot rival.
The No.24 Terramos Courage Mugen entry has spun off entering the Mulsanne straight. Kazuho Takahashi lost control of the rear of the car, spun and looks to have avaoided all the armco barriers.
The Japanese driver makes a meal of recovering the car, but eventually sorts out the situation and gets going again.
The Japanese driver makes a meal of recovering the car, but eventually sorts out the situation and gets going again.
Marc Gene has pitted the No.7 Peugeot from second. He stays in the car and is away with a new tank of fuel.
The No.10 Lola Aston has pitted from 11th overall. Once again they have problems with the car and the rear bodywork is off for attention in the pit lane.
Franck Montagny brings the Peugeot into the pits. The No.9 machine takes on a fresh set of full wet tyres, a tankful of fuel and the car leaves the pit stall with the Frenchman still at the wheel.
Marc Gene has upped his pace to a 3:53, taking time out of McNish after the 3:58 lap for the Audi.
The rain has stopped in the last few minutes. The track surface is damp. The Racing line continues to dry slowly and no longer is spray visible from the ear of the cars.
The No.63 Corvette - second in GT1 - has pitted and Ron Fellows vacates the cockpit after a very long stint at the wheel. The 009 Aston Martin now leads it by a lap.
Jan Magnussen has taken over the Corvette and will aim to keep the pressure on the leading Aston as much as possible.
Jan Magnussen has taken over the Corvette and will aim to keep the pressure on the leading Aston as much as possible.
With yet more traffic coming in to play, Gene has lost some time recently and the gap is back out to 46 seconds.
Lucas Luhr is the new man at the wheel of Audi No.3, running in fourth overall after a recent pit stop.
The laptimes of the front runners are coming down under the four minute barrier again, as the rain has all-but stopped.
The racing line is drying all the while and the general track condition is now damp.
The racing line is drying all the while and the general track condition is now damp.
The lead gap is down to 40 seconds as Gene begins to close in on McNish once again.
In the GT1 race, the 009 Aston Martin continues to hold the lead over the No.63 Corvette. The race in this class has bee between these two cars since before nightfall - that seems like an age ago now.
The gap between the two cars is 2 minutes 12 seconds. Darren Turner for Aston and Ron Fellows for Corvette have been behind the wheels of those cars for some time.
On the last lap Fellows takes a couple of seconds out of Turner's lead, reducing it down to 2 minutes 10 seconds.
The gap between the two cars is 2 minutes 12 seconds. Darren Turner for Aston and Ron Fellows for Corvette have been behind the wheels of those cars for some time.
On the last lap Fellows takes a couple of seconds out of Turner's lead, reducing it down to 2 minutes 10 seconds.
With the rain easing off significantly, the track is getting ever drier.
The Risi Competizione Ferrari with Mika Salo continues to lead in LMGT2, one lap up on the No.96 currently driven by Tim Sugden.
McNish's lead is clocked at 46.023 seconds over the No.7 Peugeot.
The No.8 Peugeot is in the pits and this is not routine service. Pedro Lamy now takes the seat as Alex Wurz climbs out. However the team are taking the opportunity to change the front nose section of the car.
The sixth-placed car is dropped to the floor and Lamy makes his way back out onto the track.
The sixth-placed car is dropped to the floor and Lamy makes his way back out onto the track.
The No.8 Peugeot is in the pits and it is not going to be a quick stop ...
Weatherwise it is still raining at La Sarthe, albeit lightly.
The latest rain radar suggests that these dull, damp conditions could remain in play for another hour or two yet. The track condition is just wet enough to cause surface spray to be thrown up from the cars on the racing line. Offline the track is properly wet.
The latest rain radar suggests that these dull, damp conditions could remain in play for another hour or two yet. The track condition is just wet enough to cause surface spray to be thrown up from the cars on the racing line. Offline the track is properly wet.
Allan McNish has the significantly drawn out the gap to the No.7 Peugeot - now over 40 seconds. The leading Audi has had a better run through that last pit stop sequence.
Marc Gene is replayed having a moment in the Dunlop Chicane. The No.7 ran a bit deep under braking and was forced to take the run off area but continued without damage.
Ron Fellows has locked up and gone straight on at Mulsanne corner. This is a gift for the leading Aston Martin DBR9 in GT1.
Fellows in the second-in-class No.63 Corvette gets going again, but has lost some time. Darren Turner - a magnificent 12th overall now has a one lap advantage over Fellows.
The Luc Alphand adventures No.73 entry which we have hardly mentioned throughout the race, now lies third in the GT1 class, demoting the 007 Aston Martin into fourth in class.
Fellows in the second-in-class No.63 Corvette gets going again, but has lost some time. Darren Turner - a magnificent 12th overall now has a one lap advantage over Fellows.
The Luc Alphand adventures No.73 entry which we have hardly mentioned throughout the race, now lies third in the GT1 class, demoting the 007 Aston Martin into fourth in class.
The pit stop sequence is underway again with the No.7 and No.9 Peugeots having already been in for service.
Allan McNish now comes to the attention of Audi and the No.2 resumes in the lead.
Allan McNish now comes to the attention of Audi and the No.2 resumes in the lead.
Richard Hein has spun the No.4 on the run to Tetre Rouge. Although the car is running, he is struggling to get the car pointing in the right direction in an armco-lined section of circuit.
We tick through 16 hours completed in the 24 Heures du Mans.
Allan Mcnish driving Audi R10 No.2 leads the race. The car has completed 256 laps and is embroiled in a huge fight with the second-placed No.7 Peugeot 908 HDi which is currently piloted by Marc Gene. The gap stands at 18 seconds, and has been close over the last three-to-four hours.
Franck Montagny runs in third in the No.9 Peugeot, two laps behind the leader.
The No.3 Audi is in fourth position, just over a minute behind Montagny. Mike Rockenfeller is behind the wheel in that car.
Frank Biela runs in fifth place in the No.1 Audi, three laps off the pace, with Alex Wurz driving in the No.8 Peugeot, which has been beset by minor problems throughout the event, in sixth.
Allan Mcnish driving Audi R10 No.2 leads the race. The car has completed 256 laps and is embroiled in a huge fight with the second-placed No.7 Peugeot 908 HDi which is currently piloted by Marc Gene. The gap stands at 18 seconds, and has been close over the last three-to-four hours.
Franck Montagny runs in third in the No.9 Peugeot, two laps behind the leader.
The No.3 Audi is in fourth position, just over a minute behind Montagny. Mike Rockenfeller is behind the wheel in that car.
Frank Biela runs in fifth place in the No.1 Audi, three laps off the pace, with Alex Wurz driving in the No.8 Peugeot, which has been beset by minor problems throughout the event, in sixth.
The No.4 Saulnier car has collided with the barriers ...
The No.97 Ferrari, third in LMGT2, has had another spin. Both were harmless and the car is laps ahead of its closest rival.
Ferrari No.82 continues to lead the class with Mika Salo driving.
Ferrari No.82 continues to lead the class with Mika Salo driving.
The Charouz Lola Aston No.10 is running well again with Stefan Mucke at the wheel. They are now up to 12th overall.
The No.45 Embassy Racing Zytek machine has made it all the way back to the pits in the hands of Joey Foster. The mechanics immediately wheel the car into the garage and they will set to work on the necessary repairs.
The track remains lightly wet on the racing line and fully wet with patches of standing water off the line. The rain has eased again. We will let you know when the track condition changes from wet to a damp condition.
By: Geoff Creighton, Emlyn Hughes
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