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WEC
24 Hours of Le Mans
The 79th Le Mans 24 Hours
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FIA president Jean Todt is standing by with the flag on the starter's gantry.
The #2 Audi leads the field around the lap, with the snake heading through Mulsanne corner.
AUTOSPORT's Kevin Turner: 'This is what it is all about'. One has to agree.
Cars heading into the Porsche Curves with under two minutes to go. What an incredible atmosphere on the start/finish straight.
Heading to the Ford Chicane now...
0h00m Jean Todt drops the French flag and we are racing at Le Mans!
0h01m Treluyer leads into the Dunlop Chicane. With McNish up to fourth, after a frenetic start.
0h01m The pack thundering into the first racing lap down the Mulsanne with 24 hours of racing ahead.
0h01m Three abreast through the first three corners.
0h02m The JMB racing Ferrari has been in the pits for a top up on fuel and resumes some distance behind the pack.
0h02m Treluyer has a gap to Bernhard in the lead, but McNish has gone around the outside of Monatagny for third out of the second chicane. Doesn't have the power to pull off the move though and dips in behind the Peugeot.
0h03m The #51 AF Corse Ferrari has an early lead in GTE Pro with Gianmaria Bruni at the wheel.
0h04m Oliver Gavin is giving chase to the #51 in his Corvette, with Farfus in the BMW down to third in class by the end of the first lap.
0h05m At the end of the opening lap Treluyer leads by 1.5s from Audi team-mate Bernhard. Montagny is the leading Peugeot in third ahead of McNish, Bourdais (Peugeot) and Wurz (Peugeot). Nicolas Lapierre is seventh in the Oreca Peugeot.
0h05m Marco Cioci has kept the #61 Ferrari in an early GTE AM lead, with a couple of Pro cars sandwiched between the chasing pack.
0h06m After a rather racey first lap things are slightly calmer this time around as focus falls on McNish's chase of Montagny for the third.
0h07m Franck Mailleux is in the LMP2 lead by the way in the Signatech Nissan.
0h08m Treluyer records a 3m28.617s lap as he extends his lead to over 2s. Just over 7s cover the top six.
0h09m As predicted the factory turbodiesels are disappearing in to the distance.
0h10m #007 Aston Martin has spun at the first chicane, and Darren Turner is in the gravel.
0h10m At the same the #009 car has stopped on the Mulsanne.
0h11m Could it be that Adrian Fernandez's AMR-One has dropped something slippery for Darren to trip over.
0h11m Standing next to David Richards or George Howard-Chappel would be an unwise decision right now.
0h13m Treluyer now 2.3s ahead of the #1 Audi at the front of the field, with Montagny now 4s off the lead as he contains McNish in fourth. Bourdais is further 2s back with Wurz still sixth.
0h13m The #89 Ferrari has been for a minor exploration of the gravel trap, falling down behind Priaulx in the BMW.
0h14m The other BMW is on the move as Farfus tries to challenge Gavin in the Corvette down the Mulsanne.
0h14m Farfus tries again with a bold move at the second chicane but Gavin keeps the door closed as the top three in GTE Pro lock in battle.
0h15m McNish now all over Montagny as the Peugeot is slowed lapping the #83 Ferrari GTE in to the Dunlop Chicane.
0h15m They are side-by-side down the Mulsanne, but once again the Peugeot outpowers the Audi in to the first chicane.
0h16m #007 Aston of Turner is now running again and trundling slowly back to the pits.
0h17m The GTE Pro battle thunders past the pits with around a second between Bruni, Gavin and Farfus.
0h17m The Aston may also have a puncture.
0h18m The #80 Flying Lizard car with Jorg Bergmeister at the wheel has been in the pits for fresh rubber after trailing back with a puncture.
0h18m Across the line to start lap 6 McNish squeezed against the wall by the #8 Pug. All this activity has allowed Bourdais to catch this pair. So it's now a three-car battle for third.
0h20m Information trickling up from our pit pounder is that #009 Aston could have had an oil filter problem. No confirmation though.
0h21m Bruni has pulled a slight gap on his pursuers as Farfus continues his efforts to pass Gavin in the Corvette.
0h21m Treluyer and Bernhard still running 2s apart at the front of the field ahead of this massive scrap for third. Wurz quietly watching it all from sixth position within striking distance.
0h21m #007 is now back in the pits with Turner out of the car.
0h22m Aston working on the car and it looks as if the team is settling in for a long bout of practical engineering.
0h22m McNish finally passes Montagny around the outside in to the first chicane.
By: Emlyn Hughes, Geoff Creighton, Simon Strang
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