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Le Mans 24 Hours: Kobayashi stabilises #7 Toyota's lead in hour 15

Kamui Kobayashi has stabilised the #7 Toyota's long-time lead in the Le Mans 24 Hours

The Japanese diver was around 10-12 seconds ahead of team-mate Kazuki Nakajima for much of the 15th hour in the TS050 HYBRID he shares with Mike Conway and Jose Maria Lopez.

The gap between the two Toyotas briefly came down to under 10s before Kobayashi edged away towards the top of the hour.

The #7 car was approximately 12s up when Nakajima pitted just before 6am

The two Rebellion R-13s were still ensconced in third and fourth positions with Gustavo Menezes and Neel Jani respectively at the wheel.

LMP2: G-Drive maintains cushion

G-Drive Racing maintained its one-lap advantage at the head of LMP2 with Andrea Pizzitola at the wheel of its lead ORECA-Gibson 07.

The Panis-Barthez Ligier held second, by 45s from the Signatech Alpine squad's solo entry.

Vanthoor pulls away again in GTE

There was little change in the GTE Pro order, with #92 Porsche driver Fred Makowiecki losing time to class-leading team-mate Laurens Vanthoor in the #91 911 RSR having nibbled into his advantage in the previous hour.

Vanthoor retains a comfortable lead at the head of the order, with 2m22s in hand over the #92.

The #68 and #67 Ford GTs remain third and fourth in the GTE Pro order, with Sebastien Bourdais in the #68 40s behind the second Porsche.

Andy Priaulx remains at the wheel of the #67 - which is a lap down on the class leader - and has 28s in hand over the leading AF Corse Ferrari of Pipo Derani that served a 60-second stop/go penalty.

The Dempsey Proton Porsche continues to lead in GTE Am, with Christian Reid enjoying an advantage of more than 90s over Giancarlo Fisichella in the Spirit of Race Ferrari.

Positions after 15 hours

Pos Class Car Drivers Laps Gap
1 LMP1 #7 Toyota Conway, Kobayashi, Lopez 246
2 LMP1 #8 Toyota Buemi, Nakajima, Alonso 246 + 18.982s
3 LMP1 #3 Rebellion Laurent, Beche, Menezes 238 + 8 Laps
4 LMP1 #1 Rebellion Lotterer, Jani, Senna 236 + 10 Laps
5 LMP2 #26 Oreca Rusinov, Pizzitola, Vergne 234 + 12 Laps
6 LMP2 #23 Ligier Buret, Canal, Stevens 233 + 13 Laps
7 LMP2 #36 Alpine Lapierre, Negrao, Thiriet 233 + 45.655s
8 LMP2 #48 Oreca Lafargue, Chatin, Rojas 232 + 14 Laps
9 LMP2 #22 Ligier Hanson, Albuquerque, Di Resta 231 + 15 Laps
10 LMP2 #39 Oreca Capillaire, Hirschi, Gommendy 231 + 41.604s
11 LMP2 #28 Oreca Perrodo, Vaxiviere, Duval 231 + 2m27.678s
12 LMP2 #32 Ligier De Sadeleer, Owen, Montoya 230 + 16 Laps
13 LMP2 #29 Dallara Van Eerd, Van Der Garde, Lammers 226 + 20 Laps
14 LMP2 #37 Oreca Jaafar, Jeffri, Tan 226 + 1m07.897s
15 LMP2 #31 Oreca Gonzalez, Maldonado, Berthon 225 + 21 Laps
16 LMP2 #44 Ligier Bertolini, Jonsson, Krohn 225 + 5m49.282s
17 LMP2 #47 Dallara Lacorte, Sernagiotto, Nasr 225 + 7m43.824s
18 LMP2 #33 Ligier Cheng, Boulle, Nicolet 224 + 22 Laps
19 LMP2 #35 Dallara Shaitar, Newey, Nato 224 + 1m47.420s
20 LMP1 #10 BR Hedman, Hanley, Van Der Zande 223 + 23 Laps
21 LMP2 #38 Oreca Tung, Richelmi, Aubry 221 + 25 Laps
22 GTE Pro #92 Porsche Christensen, Estre, Vanthoor 218 + 28 Laps
23 GTE Pro #91 Porsche Lietz, Bruni, Makowiecki 217 + 29 Laps
24 GTE Pro #68 Ford Hand, Muller, Bourdais 217 + 40.973s
25 GTE Pro #67 Ford Priaulx, Tincknell, Kanaan 217 + 2m21.283s
26 GTE Pro #52 Ferrari Vilander, Giovinazzi, Derani 217 + 2m50.407s
27 GTE Pro #69 Ford Briscoe, Westbrook, Dixon 217 + 2m52.630s
28 GTE Pro #63 Chevrolet Magnussen, Garcia, Rockenfeller 216 + 30 Laps
29 GTE Pro #51 Ferrari Pier Guidi, Calado, Serra 216 + 1m33.436s
30 GTE Pro #82 BMW Farfus, Felix Da Costa, Sims 215 + 31 Laps
31 GTE Pro #95 Aston Sorensen, Thiim, Turner 214 + 32 Laps
32 GTE Pro #66 Ford Mucke, Pla, Johnson 214 + 1m42.037s
33 GTE Pro #81 BMW Tomczyk, Catsburg, Eng 214 + 2m06.746s
34 LMP1 #5 Ginetta Robertson, Simpson, Roussel 214 + 3m20.202s
35 GTE Pro #71 Ferrari Rigon, Bird, Molina 213 + 33 Laps
36 GTE Pro #64 Chevrolet Gavin, Milner, Fassler 212 + 34 Laps
37 GTE Am #77 Porsche Campbell, Ried, Andlauer 212 + 20.327s
38 LMP2 #50 Ligier Creed, Ricci, Dagoneau 212 + 31.361s
39 GTE Pro #97 Aston Lynn, Martin, Adam 212 + 50.260s
40 GTE Am #54 Ferrari Flohr, Castellacci, Fisichella 211 + 35 Laps
41 GTE Am #85 Ferrari Keating, Bleekemolen, Stolz 211 + 17.574s
42 GTE Am #84 Ferrari Griffin, Macneil, Segal 211 + 2m10.428s
43 GTE Am #99 Porsche Long, Pappas, Pumpelly 211 + 2m29.452s
44 GTE Am #56 Porsche Bergmeister, Lindsey, Perfetti 211 + 2m59.602s
45 GTE Am #88 Porsche Cairoli, Al Qubaisi, Roda 211 + 3m07.809s
46 GTE Pro #93 Porsche Pilet, Tandy, Bamber 210 + 36 Laps
47 GTE Am #80 Porsche Babini, Nielsen, Maris 210 + 1m07.392s
48 GTE Am #61 Ferrari Mok, Griffin, Sawa 210 + 1m48.006s
49 GTE Am #86 Porsche Wainwright, Barker, Davison 207 + 39 Laps
50 GTE Am #90 Aston Yoluc, Hankey, Eastwood 207 + 1m20.859s
51 GTE Am #70 Ferrari Ishikawa, Beretta, Cheever 204 + 42 Laps
52 LMP1 #11 BR Petrov, Aleshin, Button 193 + 53 Laps
53 LMP2 #25 Ligier Patterson, De Jong, Kim 164 + 82 Laps
54 LMP1 #6 Ginetta Rowland, Brundle, Turvey 137 + 109 Laps
55 LMP1 #17 BR Sarrazin, Orudzhev, Isaakyan 123 + 123 Laps
56 GTE Pro #94 Porsche Dumas, Bernhard, Muller 92 + 154 Laps
57 GTE Am #98 Aston Dalla Lana, Lamy, Lauda 92 + 6m08.912s
58 LMP1 #4 Enso Webb, Kraihamer, Dillmann 65 + 181 Laps
59 LMP2 #40 Oreca Allen, Gutierrez, Guibbert 197 Retired
60 LMP2 #34 Ligier Taylor, Ledogar, Heinemeier-Hansson 195 Retired

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