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WEC
24 Hours of Le Mans
The 79th Le Mans 24 Hours
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0h22m Do you think he's in a hurry?
0h23m So it's now Audis 1-2-3, Peugeots 4-5-6. Not likely to stay that way though we reckon.
0h24m The leaders now in traffic which has cost Treluyer 1.5s to the #1 car.
0h25m Chrisophe Tinseau is eighth overall and at the front of the unofficial petrol class for Pescarolo ahead of Andrea Belicchi and Jeroen Bleekemolen in the two Rebellion Lola-Toyotas.
0h26m We are on to lap 8 now and McNish has closed to within 4s of the two leading Audis.
0h28m Three Peugeots very racey as Bourdais is pushing Montagny, the Champ Car champion getting very close to traffic on the Mulsanne. Peugeot team principal Olivier Quesnel pulls a look that suggests his wardobe man needs to prepare new overalls.
0h28m Farfus is finally past Gavin in the leading GTE Pro battle and is now chasing down early class leader Bruni in the #51 Ferrari.
0h30m Treluyer has re-established his slight lead at the front as the gaps begin to concertina through traffic. Still only 15s from first to sixth though.
0h31m Mailleux's Signatech Oreca has a 10s lead in LMP2 from Alex Premat's Matmut Oreca.
0h32m The #5 Hope Racing Oreca hybrid makes its first stop.
0h32m The #1 and #3 Audis, ie. the second and third cars have just both pitted. So that's nine laps for stint one.
0h33m Neither car takes on new tyres, but just fuel. Interesting strategy. It means Treluyer gets an extra lap.
0h34m A message has appeared in red on the timing screens which reads: '#44 Please check your mail' ! He needs to switch his lights on apparently.
0h34m Mailleux has got a puncture, which means he is lost the LMP2 lead to Premat.
0h35m Mailleux has made it into the pits but he has dropped to eighth in class. The Strakka HPD of Jonny Kane is now leading the class.
0h36m The leading #2 Audi is now pitting, as is the Montagny #8 Peugeot.
0h37m The Kronos Aston Martin is running slowly with Vanina Ickx at the wheel now. Phew. It's busy at the moment!
0h38m Interestingly the #9 and #7 Peugeots have now are on the 11th lap of their stints as they lead the field through the stops.
0h38m The LMP-2-leading Strakka is now in the pits.
0h39m #9 and #7 pit at the same time from first and second.
0h40m Television screens show Peugeot engineers mucking about with a nosecone that has #8 on it. Not sure what that means.
0h41m Aston Martin has confirmed to our pit pounder that the problem for the #007 car was mechanical rather than driver related. Not likely to cheer up Mr Turner however.
0h42m The #73 Corvette is in for its first stop of the race with Oliver Beretta at the wheel. The tank is full and it rumbles off on to the track.
0h43m So now we have cycled through the first stints, the #1 Audi has moved ahead of Treluyer's #2 car during the stops and now leads. McNish is third in the #3 car.
0h44m The Audis appear to be slightly faster at this stage, though they did pit earlier with the Peugeots able to do one more lap on average. The French cars are running 4-5-6 in the order of #8, #7, #9.
0h45m In comes Gavin in the #74 Corvette for a tank of fuel before heading off to resume his battle with Bruni and Farfus.
0h46m Nicolas Lappiere only 8s behind the factory cars in the Oreca Peugeot.
0h47m Alex Premat leads the LMP2 category following the stop shakeout.
0h49m Thomas Kimber-Smith takes fourth place in LMP2 for Greaves Motorsport after a clean pass on Jean Christophe Bouchut at the exit of Tertre Rouge.
0h49m Bruni is up to 24th overall in his GTE Pro leading Ferrari but has yet to stop. The BMWs run second and third in class after Corvette stops.
0h51m The safety car has been deployed.
0h51m Allan McNish has collected the #58 Ferrari. An enormous accident after the Dunlop Bridge.
0h52m The safety car has been deployed.
0h52m McNish clipped the rear of Anthony Beltoise's Ferrari and spun sideways into the gravel. The car rolled after that and destroyed itself against the barrier.
0h53m The Scot has climbed from the car by himself. Looks shaken, but thankfully he is okay.
0h53m The rest of the field is coming under control of the safety cars.
0h53m The #3 Audi is utterly destroyed.
0h54m McNish is very, very lucky to be okay. But there is some concern for the level of debris that flow over the barriers.
0h55m There is a huge queue of cars waiting in the pitlane now, with a red light holding them until a safety car arrives.
0h57m Scary moments then up and down the pitlane and a massive sigh of relief when McNish climbed unscathed from the car.
By: Emlyn Hughes, Geoff Creighton, Simon Strang
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