24 Hours of Le Mans

Le Mans 24 Hours LIVE at Planetlemans - Chapter 8

© Planetlemans - Gabriel Portos

As the track is becoming wet things are mixing up at Le Mans. As usual nothing is predictable here and the weather is starting to play a fundamental role in the definition of the race. Peugeot and Audi still asking and giving no quarter while van Merksteijn are building a bit of a gap ahead of the Essex Porsche. GT1 still very much undecided with Aston and Corvette in a close race while Risi is ahead on GT2 but gets no relief from the other Ferraris.

05:00-Kristensen continues to get closer and closer to Villeneuve, now only 17 seconds separate them

05:02- The Dome is crawling back to the pits, a real shame if the race ends this way for them

05:03-10 seconds only between the Peugeot and the Audi, TomK lapped in 4.05 compared with 4.12 of Villeneuve!!!!

05:04-Zonta and Rockenfeller only 1 lap behind the leaders and lapping in 4.03!

05:05- The Dome has made it to its garage while the 007 Aston is still inside its own quarters

05:06- Villeneuve pushing now, lapping in 4.03 but TomK goes quicker still in 4.02, the difference is 9.8 seconds

05:08- In LMP2 Verstappen is now 7 laps ahead of Elgaard, the Dutch team has a considerable gap now ahead of the Danes

05:09 GT1 is still 009 Aston 40 seconds ahead of the 63 Corvette, the 64 Corvette is 3 laps behind. Kristensen laps in 4.06.867 compared to 4.10.321 of Villeneuve, the Peugeot leads now just bt 6.441 seconds….

05:11- In GT2 Melo on the Risi car leads 1 lp ahead of Virgo which in trn is 1 lap ahead of BMS Scuderia Italia

05:12-Behind the Porsches LMP2 has the 35 Saulnier Pescarolo just 1 lap behind Essex now. Behind them Quifel ASM is still 4th and Embassy is 5th even when they are at the pits now

05.14- Villeneuve defends his position, 6.957 between him and Kristensen

05:16- Rockenfeller brings Audi number 3 to a regular stop from 3rd place

05:17- Both Peugeots 7 and 9 come in for pit stops, Gené ready to replace Villeneuve, Zonta stays on number 9

05:18- the van Merksteijn Porsche comes into the garage with a problem in a wheel while Kristensen pits in right behind Villeneuve, the difference between these two is 2.972 seconds

05:22- Audi leads at Le Mans!!! Kristensen overtook Gené in the pits for the overall lead and is now 32 seconds ahead. Audi needs to take maximum advantage of this rain situation.

05:25- Biela brings Audi 1 in and out while Verstappen rejoins, the LMP2 leader is back running

05:27- The Modena Aston has been for a long time in the garage. The two cars trailing the pack are the Epsilons, 135 and 118 laps completed respectively, the overall leader is at 236, the LMP2 leader at 219, GT1 leader at 213 and GT2 top has 202.

05:29- Rockenfeller the fastest man on track (lapping in 4.00), Audi 2 is pulling way from peugeot 7, the difference i 38.860 seconds now

05:33- The lead Audi has opened a gap of over 43 seconds to the leading Peugeot

05:37- And now it is up to 50 seconds. Rockenfeller is quickest on the track however lapping in 4.03 but now Kristensen manages a 4.01 !!!!

05:40- Pit stop for Essex, Elgaard leaves the wheel to Big John Nielsen.

05:41- The track is pretty wet o the drivers need t concentrate on not making any mistakes.

05:44- The rain will last still for a couple of hours so this will still be a factor as the race continues all the way until 15.00 hours,

05:47- Both Biela and Kristesen are quick, lapping in 4.00 against 4.05 of Gené and roughly 4.02 of the rest of the diesels

05:48- The 21 Epsilon is back in the pits, rear engine cover is off….

05:50- All the Audis lapping now in 4.00

05:51- Pit stop for Corvette 64, everything works fine. The Modena Aston still in the garage and being worked on.

05:53- It’s not so dark anymore but the skies are not clear, heavy clouds and rain which should continue for some time still.

05:54- Audi 2 leads by 1.07 minutes….

05:55- Rockenfeller lapped in 3.58.668

06:00- The Embassy car is coming back slowly to the pits

06:02- As the track dries, Peugeot gets quicker and quicker, while Audi is lapping just under 4 minutes, Gené manages a 3.54 which gets the gap back to 1.00 minutes

06:03- Peugeot is ready for a pit stop of number 9

06:05- Let’s recap on positions, LMP1 is 2 Audi, 7 Peugeot (1 min), 3 Audi (1 lap), 9 Peugeot (1 lap) and 1 Audi (3 mins)

06:06- LMP2 is 34 van Merksteijn Porsche, 31 Essex Porsche ( 5 laps), 35 Saulnier Pescarolo (2 laps), 40 Quifel ASM Lola (4 laps), Embassy (13 laps)

06:08- GT1 is 009 Aston, 63 Corvette (2.04 minutes), 64 Corvette (2 laps), 72 Luc Alphand Corvette (3 laps) and 007 Aston (1 lap, finally back to the race)

06:10- In GT2 82 Risi ahead of 96 Virgo (2 laps), 97 BMS (4 minutes), 90 Farnbacher (3 laps) and 99 JMB (1 lap) all on Ferraris

06:12- Montagny is on number 9 now and McNish has taken over from Kristensen on the 2 Audi

06:14- Warning for car 73 for not running within the track limits

06:15- All 6 diesels are on the top 6 so the top 5 petrol cars in LMP1 are 17 Pescarolo (2 laps behind the 8 Peugeot that is in 5th), 16 Pescarolo, 5 Oreca, 18 Rollcentre and 10 Charouz Lola

06:17- Pit stop from Audi 1 a the rain intensifies a bit

06:20- The difference has dropped now to 35 seconds from the 2 Audi to the 7 Peugeot

06:21- The 16 Pescarolo goes into its garage….

06:22- The Embassy car is back on the track, good news for them as they are 5th in class

06:23- The Dome is also back on the track

06:24- The gap from the Audi to the Peugeot is down to 27.4 seconds

06:25- The Oreca also comes into the pits and right into the garage

06:27- Audi 2 leads by just 22.8 seconds now

06:28- Audi 3 into the pit as well as the Quifel ASM Lola

06:35- The 5 Oreca is back to the track but is way back, 3 laps behind the Pescarolo 16 . And Essex is also back in the garage….

06:37- Pit stop for the 17 Pescarolo

06:38- Mc Nish in the lead just 17 seconds ahead of Gené now while Montagny on Peugeot 9 has overtaken Rockenfeller after the last pit stop of Audi number 3

06:40- The Saulnier pescarolo is catching up with the Essex Porsche which is still in the garage,

06:43- And Foster lost the Embassy and hit the barriers hard… heartbreaking for Jonathan France’s team….

06:45- Gené keeps getting closer to the Audi, only 18.5 seconds between them on lap 255

06:46- The 16 pescarolo still in its garage…

06:48- Joey Foster has managed to get the car to the pits , it could be recoverable, good news for Embassy! And the Saulnier Pescarolo is now second in LMP2 as Essex rejoins one lap behind them.

06:53 The Essex Porsche rturns to the pits while Autocon is going very very slow

06:55- 16.2 second is the difference between the leader, the 2 Audi and the 7 Peugeot

06:57- Peugeot number 9 comes ito th pits.

06:57- And now is the turn of number 7!!!

06:58 - A shunt by the 4 Saulnier Pescarolo, there’s damage but it might continue

06:59- Mc Nish manages to extend the lead to 21.375 secs