Le Mans latest (10)

45 cars still running at almost half distance. Perry McCarthy in the all British Audi No 10 had a stone stuck in his wheel causing vibration and a puncture. The car suffered a second gearbox failure.


02:51 (CET) Race leader, No 17 BMW into pits. Kristensen stays in car for refuelling. Almost stalls and loses a little time. The second placed Toyota has un-lapped itself.

02:45 (CET) No 8 Audi in, Didier Theys, from fifth position. Clean quick pitstop, followed by No 7 Audi, Aiello, from eighth place slight delay but slick pitwork from the Audi team.

02:40 (CET) BMW lap second place Toyota which Boutsen has just taken over but Kristensen's leading car due into pits.

02:36 (CET) Boutsen takes over from Kelleners in the second place Toyota. He says the team are pacing themselves and are happy that they can find a second and a half a lap to catch BMW.

02.30: (CET) Leading positions after ten and a half hours:

1 17 BMW (Kristensen, Lehto, Muller)

2 02 Toyota (Boutsen, Kelleners, McNish)

3 15 BMW (Winkelhock, Martini, Dalmas)

4 03 Toyota (Katayama, Tsuchiya, Suzuki)

5 08 Audi (Pirro, Theys, Biela)

6 18 BMW (Bscher,Auberlen, Soper)

7 21 Nissan (Cottaz, Goosens, Ekblom)

8 07 Audi (Alboreto, Capello, Aiello)

9 13 Courage (Montermini, Caffi, Schiattarella)

10 12 Panoz (Brabham, Bernard, Leitzinger)


02.30 The number 19 BMW returns to the track after a pitstop to bleed its brakes.

02.25 Jo Winkelhock hands over the number 15 BMW V12 LMR to team mate Yannik Dalmas in a routine stop. As he got out of the car he spoke to Radio Le Mans, saying: 'I am experienced here, but during the night, it's quite tough. The car is really reliable and I have found a rhythm. Now I'm going to have a cigarette.'

02.20 The leading car in the GTS second class, the number 51 Chrysler Viper, comes into the pits after it spun trying to let a lapping car through. Dominique Dupuy hands over to chief driver Olivier Beretta, while the team clear out gravel from the car. It looses the lead to the number 52 Chrysler Viper, but that car is expected to pit on the next lap.

02.15 The number 18 BMW V12 LM98 currently running in sixth, puts in its fastest lap of the race with a 3.42.408, with Steve Soper at the wheel.

02.10 The all-British Audi number 10 again rejoins the race after yet another long pitstop with gearbox problems.

02.05 The number 14 Courage, which had been running in 13th, finally leaves the pits, dropping three places to 16th after a long pitstop, letting three Vipers through.

02.00 - Ukyo Katayama takes over in the number three Toyota, but takes a long time to get up to racing speed on cold tyres. Whilst the number 2 Toyota is running a consistant race in second place, Katayama's car is currently running in 35th position.