Le Mans 24 Hours: #5 Toyota takes control in 21st hour
The #5 Toyota took control of the Le Mans 24 Hours in the 21st hour, with Anthony Davidson gaining more than one minute over the #2 Porsche in second place
Davidson ended the previous hour by passing Marc Lieb on track for the lead, before the Porsche pitted from right behind the Toyota's rear wing.
But over the stint that followed Lieb lost time, initially through bad luck with a slow zone that Davidson missed on his inlap.
That cost the Porsche around 15 seconds, but by the time Lieb pitted to hand over to Neel Jani he was more than 40 seconds adrift.
The time lost to changing driver and tyres meant the Porsche ended the hour more than one minute off the lead.
The #6 Toyota also lost time, predominantly due to a spin for Kamui Kobayashi in the Porsche Curves.
The ex-F1 driver somehow managed to drive the car out of the gravel without getting stuck, but it cost him around half a minute, with more time lost when Toyota patched up some floor damage on the left-hand side of the car at its next pitstop, where Stephane Sarrazin took over.
Audi's bad 2016 Le Mans continued, with its #8 car rejoining after a 39-minute stay in the garage to change a brake disc.
That put the lead Audi in striking distance of its troubled #7 car, but it also had to stop for new brake discs and pads, losing more time in fifth place.
LMP2 - RICHELMI BACK IN CONTROL
By Mitchell Adam
The Signatech Alpine still controls LMP2 with three hours remaining, with Stephane Richelmi back in the car after Gustavo Menezes' stint.
Will Stevens in the G-Drive ORECA is 2m16s behind Richelmi after Signatech's latest pitstop and three laps ahead of the SMP Racing BR01, which now has Victor Shaytar behind the wheel after Vitaly Petrov took it to third.
Strakka remains fourth with Nick Leventis the best part of a lap behind Shaytar, but also three laps clear of the fifth-placed Eurasia Motorsport ORECA.
The #31 Extreme Speed Motorsports Ligier is yet to re-emerge after suffering mechanical problems in hour 20, but Manor's maiden Le Mans is over.
Matt Rao went off at Indianapolis but rejoined, only for the nose of the ORECA to fold under the front wheels, sending Rao straight on when he got to the Porsche Curves.
GTE - FERRARI SPIN HANDS FORD THE EDGE
By Scott Mitchell and Jack Cozens
Ford is in control of the GTE battle heading into the final three hours after Risi Competizione driver Toni Vilander spun in pursuit.
Joey Hand was managing a small gap to Vilander when the #82 Ferrari 488 GTE drifted through the exit of Porsche Curves and swapped ends.
Vilander lost more than half a minute with the spin, allowing the #68 Ford to take a firm grip on the lead fight.
The Risi Ferrari is now at risk of a late attack from the #69 Ford, which has Ryan Briscoe at the wheel.
Ford currently holds a 1-3-4 thanks to a puncture for the #95 Aston Martin Racing Vantage.
Darren Turner slowed exiting Indianapolis with a left-rear puncture, dropping the car to fifth behind the #66 Ford.
The #62 Scuderia Corsa of Townsend Bell remained trouble free in the 21st hour as the American consolidated his GTE Am lead.
Bell remained a lap to the good of his nearest challenger Patrick Long (#88 Abu Dhabi-Proton Porsche) for most of the hour before Long pitted, handing second to Rui Aguas in the #83 AF Corse Ferrari.
POSITIONS AFTER 21 HOURS
Pos | Class | Car | Drivers | Laps | Gap |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | LMP1 | #5 Toyota | Davidson, Buemi, Nakajima | 333 | |
2 | LMP1 | #2 Porsche | Dumas, Jani, Lieb | 333 | + 1m03.425s |
3 | LMP1 | #6 Toyota | Sarrazin, Conway, Kobayashi | 333 | + 1m48.157s |
4 | LMP1 | #8 Audi | Di Grassi, Duval, Jarvis | 320 | + 13 Laps |
5 | LMP1 | #7 Audi | Fassler, Lotterer, Treluyer | 317 | + 16 Laps |
6 | LMP2 | #36 Alpine | Menezes, Lapierre, Richelmi | 310 | + 23 Laps |
7 | LMP2 | #26 Oreca | Rusinov, Stevens, Rast | 309 | + 24 Laps |
8 | LMP2 | #37 BR01 | Petrov, Shaytar, Ladygin | 305 | + 28 Laps |
9 | LMP2 | #42 Gibson | Leventis, Watts, Kane | 305 | + 3m17.888s |
10 | LMP2 | #33 Oreca | Pu, Gommendy, De Bruijn | 302 | + 31 Laps |
11 | LMP2 | #41 Ligier | Rojas, Canal, Berthon | 301 | + 32 Laps |
12 | LMP2 | #23 Ligier | Barthez, Chatin, Buret | 300 | + 33 Laps |
13 | LMP2 | #27 BR01 | Minassian, Mediani, Aleshin | 300 | + 18.623s |
14 | LMP2 | #49 Ligier | Pew, Negri Jr, Vanthoor | 298 | + 35 Laps |
15 | LMP2 | #43 Ligier | Gonzalez, Senna, Albuquerque | 297 | + 36 Laps |
16 | LMP2 | #30 Ligier | Sharp, Brown, Van Overbeek | 296 | + 37 Laps |
17 | LMP1 | #1 Porsche | Bernhard, Webber, Hartley | 295 | + 38 Laps |
18 | GTE Pro | #68 Ford | Hand, Muller, Bourdais | 295 | + 14.756s |
19 | GTE Pro | #82 Ferrari | Fisichella, Vilander, Malucelli | 295 | + 49.934s |
20 | LMP2 | #25 Ligier | Munemann, Hoy, Pizzitola | 295 | + 59.363s |
21 | GTE Pro | #69 Ford | Briscoe, Westbrook, Dixon | 294 | + 39 Laps |
22 | GTE Pro | #66 Ford | Pla, Mucke, Johnson | 293 | + 40 Laps |
23 | GTE Pro | #95 Aston | Thiim, Sorensen, Turner | 293 | + 2m33.769s |
24 | GTE Pro | #97 Aston | Stanaway, Rees, Adam | 292 | + 41 Laps |
25 | LMP2 | #40 Ligier | Krohn, Jonsson, Barbosa | 292 | + 2m09.239s |
26 | GTE Pro | #63 Chevrolet | Magnussen, Garcia, Taylor | 291 | + 42 Laps |
27 | GTE Am | #62 Ferrari | Sweedler, Bell, Segal | 287 | + 46 Laps |
28 | GTE Am | #83 Ferrari | Perrodo, Collard, Aguas | 286 | + 47 Laps |
29 | GTE Am | #88 Porsche | Al Qubaisi, Heinemeier Hansson, Long | 286 | + 9.519s |
30 | GTE Am | #61 Ferrari | Mok, Sawa, Bell | 285 | + 48 Laps |
31 | LMP2 | #22 Ligier | Capillaire, Maris, Coleman | 285 | + 32.402s |
32 | GTE Pro | #77 Porsche | Lietz, Christensen, Eng | 284 | + 49 Laps |
33 | LMP1 | #12 Rebellion | Prost, Heidfeld, Piquet Jr | 284 | + 2m59.964s |
34 | LMP2 | #48 Oreca | Keating, Bleekemolen, Goossens | 283 | + 50 Laps |
35 | LMP2 | #31 Ligier | Dalziel, Derani, Cumming | 283 | + 1m14.950s |
36 | GTE Am | #86 Porsche | Wainwright, Carroll, Barker | 283 | + 33m22.137s |
37 | GTE Am | #60 Ferrari | Laursen, Mac, Nielsen | 281 | + 52 Laps |
38 | GTE Am | #98 Aston | Dalla Lana, Lamy, Lauda | 281 | + 3m59.192s |
39 | GTE Am | #99 Aston | Howard, Griffin, Hirsch | 275 | + 58 Laps |
40 | GTE Am | #55 Ferrari | Cameron, Griffin, Scott | 274 | + 59 Laps |
41 | GTE Am | #50 Chevrolet | Yamagishi, Ragues, Belloc | 272 | + 61 Laps |
42 | CDNT | #84 Morgan | Sausset, Tinseau, Bouvet | 271 | + 62 Laps |
43 | LMP2 | #28 Morgan | Taittinger, Striebig, Roussel | 270 | + 63 Laps |
44 | GTE Pro | #67 Ford | Franchitti, Priaulx, Tincknell | 267 | + 66 Laps |
45 | GTE Am | #57 Chevrolet | O'Connel, Bryant, Patterson | 263 | + 70 Laps |
46 | GTE Am | #78 Porsche | Ried, Henzler, Camathias | 257 | + 76 Laps |
47 | LMP2 | #34 Oreca | Leutwiler, Nakano, Winslow | 253 | + 80 Laps |
48 | LMP2 | #38 Gibson | Dolan, Dennis, Van Der Garde | 222 | + 111 Laps |
49 | LMP1 | #13 Rebellion | Tuscher, Imperatori, Kraihamer | 200 | + 133 Laps |
50 | LMP2 | #44 Oreca | Graves, Rao, Merhi | 283 | Retired |
51 | LMP2 | #46 Oreca | Thiriet, Beche, Hirakawa | 241 | Retired |
52 | LMP2 | #35 Alpine | Cheng, Tung, Panciatici | 234 | Retired |
53 | GTE Pro | #64 Chevrolet | Gavin, Milner, Taylor | 219 | Retired |
54 | LMP1 | #4 CLM | Trummer, Webb, Kaffer | 206 | Retired |
55 | GTE Pro | #51 Ferrari | Bruni, Calado, Pier Guidi | 179 | Retired |
56 | GTE Pro | #71 Ferrari | Rigon, Bird, Bertolini | 143 | Retired |
57 | GTE Pro | #92 Porsche | Makowiecki, Bamber, Bergmeister | 140 | Retired |
58 | GTE Pro | #91 Porsche | Pilet, Estre, Tandy | 135 | Retired |
59 | LMP2 | #47 Oreca | Matsuda, Howson, Bradley | 116 | Retired |
60 | GTE Am | #89 Porsche | Macneil, Keen, Miller | 50 | Retired |
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