24 Hours of Le Mans

Planetlemans coverage of the Le Mans 24 Hours (4)

© Fernandez racing

Still a bright sun for the start of the 7th hour here at Le Mans
We will continue through the night and into the early hours reporting for you.

21.04- Pescarolo 17 gets into the garage…. and Charouz is now 5th overall as a consequence

21.15- Small technical problem again, but we’re back!

21.16- McNish sets the fastest lap of the race, a 3.27.684!

21.17- The 17 Pescarolo is still in the pitbox, the number 8 Peugeot has made a pitstop

21.23- In to the pitlane comes the old Ferrari 550 Maranello of Convers MenX. While it returns after this regular stop, the 17 Pescarolo is still stuck in the pit

21.24- The Courage of Alexander Frei went off at the Playstation, but managed to get out of the gravel and has meanwhile rejoined the race

21.28- Kruse Motorsports misery is not over yet it seems. The speed is not there and the number 44 is overtaken by the 55 Oreca Saleen

21.30- Marco Werner sets the fastest lap of the number 1 Audi today, a 3:29.118. Fabio Babini sets the fastest lap for the number 100 Aston Martin, 3:55.103. With the sun slowly but steadily disappearing the time start to drop

21.32- Pescarolo number 17 has rejoined the track after being in the pitlane for 15 minutes. The 12 Courage made a pitstop

21.35- The Courage 12 is still in the pitbox with a suspected suspension problem

21.36- Kruse Motorsport once again in the pitbox – they keep getting back

21.40- McNish has completed 100 laps…a 3:28.072 is his latest time, but he is on a flyer again

21.42- In LMP2 the Bruneau Pilbeam is once again pushed back into the box

21.43- A pitstop for the number 13 Courage again. At the front both Audi’s are lapping 3:29’s, several seconds quicker than their main opponents

21.45- The PSI Corvette is in the gravel trap at the Porsche Curves

21.47- White flags are shown around the track as the 006 Larbre Aston Martin is going slow

21.51- Audi number 2 makes a pitstop, and heads out on the track again.

21.53- The 006 Aston Martin has made it to the pitlane. It has been pushed back into the box and the mechanics are checking the left rear suspension.

21.56- Jan Magnussen hits the number 1 Audi, which damages its rear bodywork. The 63 Corvette goes off-road through the gravel at the Dunlop Chicane and nearly collides with the 97 Risi Ferrari!!!

21.57- Creation CA09 in the tyre wall at the Porsche Curves, same place as the RML Lola was before. Damaged rear.

21.58- The Safety Car is out on the track…

21.59- (SC situation) Both Peugeots have gone in the pitlane to use the safety car situation and make their regular pitstops.

22.00- (SC situation) Audi number 1 is back in, the car is pushed backwards and the mechanics start to check the rear.

22.01- (SC situation) The number 17 Pescarolo is in the pit box again.

22.04- (SC situation) Frank Biela has taken the wheel of the number 1 Audi and returns to the track. The number 9 Creation has rejoined

22.05- (SC situation) More drama for Kruse Motorsport as the car spins on the pit entry. Several cars have to make evasive moves to get around the stranded car

22.08- (SC situation) The marshalls have put the Kruse Pescarolo in the right direction and it returns to the pit. Bourdais is preparing for his stint in the Peugeot

22.09- (SC situation) Audi R10 number 1 is already back in the pitlane…after a quick check it goes out again

22.11- (SC situation) Bourdais takes over from Sarrazin and takes the number 8 Peugeot back to the track

22.18- (SC situation) Pescarolo number 17 is still in the pitlane

22.20- (SC situation) What a race it is so far…most teams have had problems and we’re only on almost one third of the race. Latest victim was the 33 Zytek, it was in the pit box and is now back in the pit lane. It has lost the LMP2 lead to the Quifel ASM Lola. The Binnie Motorsport Lola has also passed the Fernandez Zytek, which has now dropped to third in LMP2

22.23- GREEN FLAG, we are once again racing. The Modena Aston Martin came in for a pitstop the moment the lights went green

22.26- Christophe Tinseau has stepped out of the Pescarolo, it seems like it’s all over for the 17 as driver and mechanics shake their head

22.31- Nearly 40 minutes after it arrived in the pitlane the 006 is out in the pitlane, after two attempts it fires up and the car rejoins the race

22.34- The Bruneau team is still working on the Pilbeam MP93 puzzle. The car is taken apart as the team is trying to fix several problems, including a faulty gearbox

22.45- The race seems to settle for now… the top three overall is still Audi 2-Audi 1-Peugeot 7. Quifel ASM is leading LMP2, the 007 Aston Martin Racing DBR9 is the GT1 leader while Risi Competizione leads GT2 with the number 97

22.49- Minassians clocks the fastest time for the Peugeot number 7. His time of 3:31.705 is seven seconds quicker than the Audi in second place (and four seconds than the leading Audi)

22.51- Jan Magnussen sets the fastest LM GT1 lap of the race, a 3:52.127!

The race goes into its nightly hours now…and continues here