Live text
WEC
24 Hours of Le Mans
The 76th Le Mans 24 Hours
Live AppleTV Race Audio
Live Standings
presented by
Stopped
Summary
Live Text
Sort by
The No.21 Epsilon Euskadi has mechanical trouble yet again. The team are attempting to fix it with the engine cover off on pit lane.
As light levels continue to increase, balls of spray can be seen coming off the cars and visibility is very poor in traffic.
The deadlock is showing signs of breaking in the GT1 category.
Andy Garcia in the leading Aston Martin 009 had alsmost a three minute lead over the No.63 Corvette. These two cars have been fighting tooth and nail for many hours, never more than 90 seconds apart.
The gap was up to 2 minutes 50 seconds but Garcia has just been into the pits . We will monitor the gap and update when the positions sort themselves out.
Andy Garcia in the leading Aston Martin 009 had alsmost a three minute lead over the No.63 Corvette. These two cars have been fighting tooth and nail for many hours, never more than 90 seconds apart.
The gap was up to 2 minutes 50 seconds but Garcia has just been into the pits . We will monitor the gap and update when the positions sort themselves out.
The Team Essex car of John Nielsen is struggling to get up to speed after the stop and may still be struggling with the misfire we reported earlier.
Jos Verstappen is at the wheel of the Van Merksteijn Porshe RS Spyder in the LMP2 lead. Team Essex continue to run second in class and pit for a change of driver to John Nielsen.
Tom Kristensen is pushing hard and now has the No.2 Audi over 50 seconds in the lead over Gene in the No.7 Peugeot.
The sky begins to brighten as dawn nears in Le Mans.
The No.11 Dome Judd is finally repaired and it too rejoins the race. However it has dropped so far down the field that it is currently in the 31st position.
Jaime Melo pits the No.82 Ferrari from the LMGT2 lead and is away once again. They still have over a lap on the Tim Sugden No.96.
The No.8 does indeed come into the pits and Alex Wurz takes it out onto the circuit.
In the Peugeot No.8 pit we see Alex Wurz with his helmet on. The Austrian will take over the sixth placed car from Stephane Sarrazin when the Frenchman pits soon.
Tom Kristensen is sprinting off in to the distance and already has a lead of 30 seconds from Marc Gene.
Heavy rain is falling around the circuit as conditions get wetter by the lap.
Repairs are almost complete on the No.11 Dome Judd that went straight on into the tyre barrier a short time ago. In the next few minutes the car should be able to rejoin the race.
The No.1 Audi of Beila has pitted and is underway again in fifth.
Jacques Villeneuve tells Radio Le Mans that he spent the first two stints going slowly to protect the temperatures, and then after the quick stop to cool everything down with the liquid nitrogen that the car ran much better. He also states that the car was very difficult to drive when the team fitted the full wet tyres to the car.
So it is Tom Kristensen leading from Marc Gene and Mike Rockenfeller as the race takes a dramatic turn in the rain with under ten hours remaining.
Tom Kristensen in the lead Audi has a scare on his first lap out of the pits, getting the back end out of shape as he put the power down out of a chicane on the Mulsanne.
Jacques Villeneuve brings the leading No.7 Peugeot into the pits. Driver change this time as Jacques climbs out after a stint of around two-and-a-half hours.
Marc Gene climbs aboard and takes over the steering wheel. The No.7 rejoins the race.
Marc Gene climbs aboard and takes over the steering wheel. The No.7 rejoins the race.
The Kristensen Audi is also in with Tom staying in the car and taking the lead as the No.7 Peugeot changes drivers.
Tom Kristensen leads the 2008 Le Mans 24 hours for Audi.
Tom Kristensen leads the 2008 Le Mans 24 hours for Audi.
Ricardo Zonta pits his Peugeot from fourth. The team fit new wet tyres to the car and Zonta stays in the car.
The No.3 Audi comes into the pitlane for regular service. The tyres are changed, fuel in. Rockenfeller stays in the car and he gets away.
The No.9 Peugeot crew are ready in the pit lane for their car.
Jacques Villeneuve continues to lead in the No.7 Peugeot, but the gap is reducing all the time, as the second-placed car - the Audi No.2 of Tom Kristensen continues to lap quicker.
Mike Rockenfeller is third, one lap down on the leaders with Ricardo Zonta 53 seconds behind the Audi No.3 in fourth place.
Mike Rockenfeller is third, one lap down on the leaders with Ricardo Zonta 53 seconds behind the Audi No.3 in fourth place.
Villeneuve has responded, lapping half a second faster than Kristensen, to stabilise the gap around seven seconds.
Pit stops near for the leading cars as they have almost completed a full stint since the rain began.
The No.40 Quifel ASM-run Lola AER comes into the pits ... and is wheeled into the garage by the machanics.
Kristensen continues his pursuit of the lead, slashing the gap to 6.4 seconds.
The rain continues to fall and if anything is a little heavier in the last few minutes. The track surface is becoming gradually wetter as conditions deteriorate.
The lead gap only falls by a second to 9.8 as Villeneuve sets a better lap in the Peugeot.
The No.11 Dome Judd that nosed straight on into the barriers a little earlier, has eventually found its way back to the pits. The mechanics will now go to work attempting to repair the damage.
The lead gap is slashed to 10.7 seconds as Villeneuve loses seven seconds to the flying Audi of Kristensen.
Replays of the incident involving the No.11 Dome show that Ito speared straight on, crunching into the barrier with the nose of the Judd-powered car.
Rain continues to fall and the lead is down to 17.2 seconds with Kristensen closing at around three seconds per lap.
The No.11 dome is in a tyre wall with Daisuke Ito at the wheel ...
Radio Le Mans reports battery trouble on the 007 Aston Martin.
The 007 Aston Martin DBR9 comes into the pitlane, and is wheeled into the garage. Andrea Piccini had been at the wheel for the last stint.
The 007 was in third position in its class.
The lead in the GT1 category is held by the sister Aston Martin 009, with the No.63 Corvette just 11 seconds behind it. These two cars have been racing eachother closely for hours.
The 007 was in third position in its class.
The lead in the GT1 category is held by the sister Aston Martin 009, with the No.63 Corvette just 11 seconds behind it. These two cars have been racing eachother closely for hours.
The leader Villeneuve continues to be under severe pressure from Kristensen. The Audi is now 20.2 seconds away from the leader and closing fast.
That No.8 car was running laps around 4 minutes 14 seconds , and so a change to full wets was the sensible decision.
The No.8 Peugeot comes into the pits and finally takes on those full wet tyres that we mentioned earlier.
Stephane Sarrazin is at the wheel, and runs in position six.
Stephane Sarrazin is at the wheel, and runs in position six.
By: Geoff Creighton, Emlyn Hughes
Published:
Page:
