Le Mans hour 22: Nakajima takes over leading Toyota from Alonso
Kazuki Nakajima is in the in the leading #8 TS050 HYBRID with a buffer of more than 90 seconds in his run to the chequered flag at the Le Mans 24 Hours
Kamui Kobayashi is in the seat of the #7 Toyota, and there will not be another driver change for either of the Japanese manufacturer's cars before the end of the race if everything goes to plan.
The battle for best privateer took another twist when Neel Jani was forced to abandon a stint early after his door flew open, which allowed the sister #3 car of Gustavo Menezes to pass for third.
Jani then pitted again at the close of the hour and the #1 Rebellion R-13 trails the other car by just over 90 seconds.
Vitaly Petrov has continued to make progress in the #11 SMP Racing BR1 and is now 41st overall, with his lap times on a par with the two Rebellion LMP1 cars ahead of him in the class.
Charlie Robertson continues to lap in the sole remaining Manor-Ginetta that has no chance of finishing above sixth - the last running LMP1 machine.
G-Drive holds firm in LMP2
A terminal gearbox problem has forced the retirement of the polesitting IDEC Sport ORECA as the #26 G-Drive crew continues its march to LMP2 class honours.
Roman Rusinov took over the TDS-run ORECA on lap 333 from Andrea Pizzitola and retains the car's two-lap lead over Andre Negrao in the #36 Signatech-Alpine.
The battle for third swung in favour of the #39 Graff-So24 ORECA driven by Jonathan Hirschi in the 21st hour after a cracked gearbox casing cost Paul Lafargue two laps in the #48 IDEC car, which subsequently returned to the circuit to complete two slow laps before returning to the pits.
Hirschi was challenged by Juan-Pablo Montoya in the #32 United Autosports Ligier, but the two-time Indianapolis 500 winner's pace faded late in the stint, leaving team-mate Hugo de Sadeleer a 36s deficit to make up.
Matthieu Vaxiviere remains fifth in the #28 TDS Racing ORECA, a minute behind Hirschi, while the #37 Jackie Chan DC Racing ORECA has taken advantage of others' problems to hold down a top six berth, albeit eight laps behind Rusinov.
Porsche holds one-two again
Porsche edged closer to GTE Pro victory with two hours to go, with the #92 car maintaining a lead of over two minutes.
Kevin Estre took over the wheel of the 'Pink Pig' retro-themed car from Michael Christensen, and was 2m09s clear of team-mate Richard Lietz in the #91 Rothmans-coloured machine at the top of the hour after the Austrian took over from Frederic Makowiecki.
The two leading Fords continue to hold third and fourth, with Joey Hand trailing the #91 Porsche by just under eight seconds and Harry Tincknell a further minute back.
Behind the fifth-placed #63 Corvette lie the #51 and #52 AF Corse Ferraris, the latter of which was hit by a two minute stop-and-go penalty for speeding in a slow zone.
Electrical issues for the #69 Ford meant the #52 Ferrari didn't drop a place, though, having already slipped behind the sister #51 machine in the previous hour.
Dempsey-Proton continued its domination of GTE Am, with Matt Campbell taking over the #77 Porsche from Julien Andlauer and extending the lead gap to 3m47s.
A spin for Ben Keating at Mulsanne corner in the #85 Ferrari means the #54 Spirit of Race 488 GTE is now looking a strong bet for second, with nearly two minutes in hand.
Positions after 22 hours
Pos | Class | Car | Drivers | Laps | Gap |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | LMP1 | #8 Toyota | Buemi, Nakajima, Alonso | 353 | |
2 | LMP1 | #7 Toyota | Conway, Kobayashi, Lopez | 353 | + 1m33.338s |
3 | LMP1 | #3 Rebellion | Laurent, Beche, Menezes | 341 | + 12 Laps |
4 | LMP1 | #1 Rebellion | Lotterer, Jani, Senna | 341 | + 1m28.902s |
5 | LMP2 | #26 Oreca | Rusinov, Pizzitola, Vergne | 336 | + 17 Laps |
6 | LMP2 | #36 Alpine | Lapierre, Negrao, Thiriet | 333 | + 20 Laps |
7 | LMP2 | #39 Oreca | Capillaire, Hirschi, Gommendy | 332 | + 21 Laps |
8 | LMP2 | #32 Ligier | De Sadeleer, Owen, Montoya | 332 | + 34.961s |
9 | LMP2 | #28 Oreca | Perrodo, Vaxiviere, Duval | 332 | + 1m35.738s |
10 | LMP2 | #37 Oreca | Jaafar, Jeffri, Tan | 327 | + 26 Laps |
11 | LMP2 | #31 Oreca | Gonzalez, Maldonado, Berthon | 327 | + 1m49.754s |
12 | LMP2 | #29 Dallara | Van Eerd, Van Der Garde, Lammers | 324 | + 29 Laps |
13 | LMP2 | #44 Ligier | Bertolini, Jonsson, Krohn | 323 | + 30 Laps |
14 | LMP2 | #33 Ligier | Cheng, Boulle, Nicolet | 322 | + 31 Laps |
15 | LMP2 | #38 Oreca | Tung, Richelmi, Aubry | 322 | + 1m07.557s |
16 | LMP2 | #23 Ligier | Buret, Canal, Stevens | 318 | + 35 Laps |
17 | LMP2 | #35 Dallara | Shaitar, Newey, Nato | 317 | + 36 Laps |
18 | GTE Pro | #92 Porsche | Christensen, Estre, Vanthoor | 312 | + 41 Laps |
19 | GTE Pro | #91 Porsche | Lietz, Bruni, Makowiecki | 312 | + 2m09.919s |
20 | GTE Pro | #68 Ford | Hand, Muller, Bourdais | 312 | + 2m18.070s |
21 | GTE Pro | #67 Ford | Priaulx, Tincknell, Kanaan | 311 | + 42 Laps |
22 | GTE Pro | #63 Chevrolet | Magnussen, Garcia, Rockenfeller | 311 | + 1m34.192s |
23 | GTE Pro | #51 Ferrari | Pier Guidi, Calado, Serra | 311 | + 4m31.927s |
24 | GTE Pro | #69 Ford | Briscoe, Westbrook, Dixon | 310 | + 43 Laps |
25 | GTE Pro | #52 Ferrari | Vilander, Giovinazzi, Derani | 310 | + 2m39.876s |
26 | LMP2 | #47 Dallara | Lacorte, Sernagiotto, Nasr | 309 | + 44 Laps |
27 | GTE Pro | #66 Ford | Mucke, Pla, Johnson | 309 | + 1m33.378s |
28 | GTE Pro | #95 Aston | Sorensen, Thiim, Turner | 308 | + 45 Laps |
29 | GTE Pro | #71 Ferrari | Rigon, Bird, Molina | 307 | + 46 Laps |
30 | GTE Am | #77 Porsche | Campbell, Ried, Andlauer | 305 | + 48 Laps |
31 | GTE Am | #54 Ferrari | Flohr, Castellacci, Fisichella | 304 | + 49 Laps |
32 | GTE Am | #85 Ferrari | Keating, Bleekemolen, Stolz | 303 | + 50 Laps |
33 | GTE Pro | #81 BMW | Tomczyk, Catsburg, Eng | 303 | + 32.564s |
34 | GTE Am | #56 Porsche | Bergmeister, Lindsey, Perfetti | 303 | + 34.609s |
35 | GTE Am | #99 Porsche | Long, Pappas, Pumpelly | 303 | + 1m04.945s |
36 | GTE Pro | #93 Porsche | Pilet, Tandy, Bamber | 303 | + 1m50.262s |
37 | GTE Am | #61 Ferrari | Mok, Griffin, Sawa | 302 | + 51 Laps |
38 | GTE Am | #80 Porsche | Babini, Nielsen, Maris | 302 | + 1m29.816s |
39 | GTE Am | #84 Ferrari | Griffin, Macneil, Segal | 302 | + 3m18.212s |
40 | LMP2 | #50 Ligier | Creed, Ricci, Dagoneau | 300 | + 53 Laps |
41 | LMP1 | #11 BR | Petrov, Aleshin, Button | 297 | + 56 Laps |
42 | GTE Am | #90 Aston | Yoluc, Hankey, Eastwood | 297 | + 2m40.150s |
43 | GTE Pro | #97 Aston | Lynn, Martin, Adam | 296 | + 57 Laps |
44 | GTE Am | #70 Ferrari | Ishikawa, Beretta, Cheever | 294 | + 59 Laps |
45 | GTE Am | #86 Porsche | Wainwright, Barker, Davison | 279 | + 74 Laps |
46 | LMP1 | #5 Ginetta | Robertson, Simpson, Roussel | 271 | + 82 Laps |
47 | LMP2 | #48 Oreca | Lafargue, Chatin, Rojas | 312 | Retired |
48 | LMP2 | #22 Ligier | Hanson, Albuquerque, Di Resta | 288 | Retired |
49 | GTE Pro | #64 Chevrolet | Gavin, Milner, Fassler | 259 | Retired |
50 | LMP1 | #10 BR | Hedman, Hanley, Van Der Zande | 244 | Retired |
51 | LMP2 | #25 Ligier | Patterson, De Jong, Kim | 237 | Retired |
52 | GTE Am | #88 Porsche | Cairoli, Al Qubaisi, Roda | 225 | Retired |
53 | GTE Pro | #82 BMW | Farfus, Felix Da Costa, Sims | 223 | Retired |
54 | LMP2 | #40 Oreca | Allen, Gutierrez, Guibbert | 197 | Retired |
55 | LMP2 | #34 Ligier | Taylor, Ledogar, Heinemeier-Hansson | 195 | Retired |
56 | LMP1 | #6 Ginetta | Rowland, Brundle, Turvey | 137 | Retired |
57 | LMP1 | #17 BR | Sarrazin, Orudzhev, Isaakyan | 123 | Retired |
58 | GTE Pro | #94 Porsche | Dumas, Bernhard, Muller | 92 | Retired |
59 | GTE Am | #98 Aston | Dalla Lana, Lamy, Lauda | 92 | Retired |
60 | LMP1 | #4 Enso | Webb, Kraihamer, Dillmann | 65 | Retired |
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