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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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