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WEC 24 Hours of Le Mans

The 78th Le Mans 24 Hours

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16h38m The #39 KSM Lola-Judd is finally trailing back into the pits after that off at Arnarge around half an hour ago.
16h39m Corvette's Doug Fehan on 63 Corvette retirement: "Our first engine problem in 11 years at #LeMans. No indication leading up to it."
16h39m Suddenly the #009 Aston Martin is recovering from a moment early in the lap. That car is in seventh position.
16h40m Benoit Treluyer is in the pits with the second placed #8 Audi. He hands over control to Marcel Faessler and it roars off back into the action.
16h43m The #64 Corvette holds a lead of over a lap in GT2, with the #77 Felbermayr-Proton Porsche now heading the chase with Marc Lieb at the wheel.
16h43m Marc Gene is continuing to lap extremely quickly in car #1. The remaining factory Peugeot has consistently been the fastest car in the field for the last six hours. Gene clocks 3m21.005s.
16h45m No such drama in GT1 as the #50 Larbre Competition holds - as it has done for about five hours now - a two lap lead over the #73 Luc Alphand Aventures Corvette.

The #52 Young Driver AMR entry is still third and now ten laps behind.
16h46m Car #1 peels into the pits as Gene slows down the rip-roaring pace. He climbs out of the Peugeot after another good stint and hands over to Anthony Davidson.
16h46m Richard Westbrook in the #97 BMS Scuderia Porsche trails down the pitlane with a puncture.
16h47m Tyres and fuel for the #1 car and Davidson heads off to try and chase down the Audis. He will hope to avoid another spin like he suffered a few laps into his night-time stint.
16h48m Miguel Amaral is the next man to run straight on into the welcoming tyre wall at Arnarge in the #40 Quifel ASM Racing Ginetta.
16h50m Amaral has extracted the #40 from the fence at Arnarge but was too quick through the Porsche Curves and has now done much more damage to the Ginetta.
16h51m The #40 was fifth in LMP2 before that series of incidents for Amaral, who has now made it back to the pits and in to the garage.
16h52m More problems at the front of the field - this time for the sixth placed #007 Aston Martin piloted by Harold Primat. He has toured slowly back to the pits and has spent several minutes in the garage.
16h54m Aston say it is a gearbox issue for the garaged car: "007 been taken into garage - checks being made to gearbox"
16h56m Interesting action on the circuit - the third placed #1 Peugeot has caught the #7 Audi to put another lap on it.

Suddenly there is a lot of team radio chatter to Dindo Capello ... but it's to no avail as Davidson moves past the #7 and can now continue charging after the leading two Audi cars unhindered.
16h59m Davidson is instantly on the pace and posts 3m22.836s - five seconds faster than the #8 Audi in second and two seconds faster than the #9 leading car.
17h00m The #4 Oreca Peugeot pits from fifth position in the race.
17h00m The #76 IMSA Performance Porsche has been garaged in recent minutes.
17h02m We tick through the 17 hour mark and the #007 Aston Martin is still in the garage with gearbox problems. It is shown as still in sixth position, but will surely be sliding down the order towards ninth or tenth at this time.
17h02m In further GT2 action, the #75 has just about survived a wild spin on the run down to Tetre Rouge. Niek Hommerson is driving that Porsche at the moment and may need to pit to check the radiators after pranging the Armco.
17h05m Anthony Davidson continues his stunning pace in the #1 Peugeot but in the pits we see the leader is in. Timo Bernhard hands over to Romain Dumas. Tyres and fuel this time and he's away still in the lead.
17h07m

The #2 Peugeot about to retire © LAT
Here's a shot of the #2 Peugeot expiring from the lead an hour ago, which is the big overnight development from Le Mans.
17h07m The #9 Audi rejoins still in charge at La Sarthe with the #8 Audi in second and Davidson charging as hard as he can for Peugeot in third. The #1 908 is two laps down still, but lapping on average two to three seconds faster than the leaders.
17h12m Allan McNish is down in the #7 Audi pit waiting to receive Dindo Capello. Indeed, he comes in and the Scot climbs aboard. Capello straps him into the fourth placed car as the tyres are changed.
17h12m Tyres, fuel and a driver change for the #7 Audi and McNish rolls away.
17h13m Meantime, the #2 Peugeot that went up in smoke and flames while leading the race is finally back with the team in the pits.
17h14m Immediately the mechanics jack the car up and wheel it into the garage. The door comes down and the investigation into the engine bay will take place in private.
17h15m But while the post mortem begins on the #2 car, Davidson sets the fastest lap of the race in the third placed #1 machine - 3m19.527s.
17h15m That lap is a full five seconds quicker than Marcel Faessler's 3m24s in second place in the #8 Audi.
17h18m Anthony Davidson is driving like a man possessed as he chases down the gap to the two Audi cars up front. It's another 3m19.789s from the Briton. He is flying!
17h18m The #73 Luc Alphand Aventures GT1 Corvette is crawling very slowly down the circuit on the approach to Indianapolis.
17h19m That #73 car was second in GT1 but looks to be in serious mechanical trouble with Julien Jousse at the controls.
17h20m Another lap and another stunning time from Anthony Davidson in the third placed Peugeot - 3m20.067s is four seconds quicker than the #8 Audi in second place and six seconds faster than the leader.
17h22m Marcel Faessler brings the second placed #8 Audi into the pits. No driver change on this occasion and he is quickly back into the action.
17h23m The #42 Strakka HPD continues in the LMP2 lead by over a lap from the similar Highcroft entry, which has just been in the pits for a routine stop.
17h24m The Audi drivers are having to respond to the challenge from the #1 Peugeot. Both Romain Dumas and Marcel Faessler (before that stop) raised their game with 3m22s laps.
17h25m Disaster for the #64 Corvette class leader after contact with Davidson's charging Peugeot in the Porsche Curves!
17h25m Davidson leaves absolutely no quarter to anyone and slices past the GT2 leading Corvette as immense speed.
17h26m Davidson emerged unscathed from the contact and is seemingly without damage on the circuit.

By: Emlyn Hughes, Geoff Creighton, Steven English, Sam Tremayne

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