24 Hours of Le Mans

24 Hours of Le Mans 2010 : Hours 13-15

© Planetlemans – Brecht Decancq

As we passed the halfway point of the race the single Peugeot at the front was rejoined by the Team Oreca Matmut Peugeot, having spent almost a quarter of an hour in the pit.

More cars hit trouble as the race progressed. The WR Salini came in with trouble, the Audi R10 of Manu Rodrigues stopped at Karting, after clipping the wall (and retired), the #8 Audi hit trouble just after leaving the pit (puncture) and the remaining Rebellion Racing Lola stopped just before the Ford Chicane…and was then pushed to safety by the marshals. The Drayson Racing Lola went into its box for a fuel cell replacement and the Lamborghini had a gearbox problem.

Some thirty minutes after it came into the box the Oreca 01 AIM was back on track.

Standings after 13 hours:
P1: Peugeot (2) – Audi (8) – Audi (9)
P2: HPD (42) – HPD (26) – Pescarolo (35)
GT1: Saleen (50) – Corvette (73) – Ford GT (60)
GT2: Corvette (64) – Corvette (63) – Porsche (77)

Into the fourteenth hour Tom Kristensen was still onboard the R15…he would only hand over the Audi to Capello after completing 74 laps (!).
Behind them it was the #60 Matech Ford GT that got into the pit for a routine stop, but never made it out again. The engine did not restart and despite efforts to get it running it never did and the last of the Ford GT’s retired from the race.

At half past four the Quifel ASM Team Ginetta-Zytek was spotted driving slowy. It returned to the box where the engineers started working on the driveshaft. As a result the RML Lola moved to fourth in class.

The only remaining BMW also hit trouble as it was in the pit at the end of the fourteenth hour. The #79 already on display in the paddock at the BMW hospitality (replacing the Nurburgring 24 Hours winner).

Standings after 14 hours:
P1: Peugeot (2) – Audi (9) – Audi (8)
P2: HPD (42) – HPD (26) – Pescarolo (35)
GT1: Saleen (50) – Corvette (73) – Aston Martin (52)
GT2: Corvette (64) – Corvette (63) – Porsche (77)

Early in the fifteenth hour the Highcroft HPD came in for a rear wing change. Behind them the #78 BMW and #69 JLOC Lamborghini returned to the track.

Fourty minutes after it came in the Quifel ASM Team Ginetta also came out again, its driveshaft being replaced by a new one.

In GT1 Tomas Enge was on a flyer and was chasing David Hart, within 3 laps he had closed a 20+ second gap and moved ahead of the Corvette into third place, leading the Corvette by 4.5 seconds.

KSM went into the gravel..

Minassian did not care about other people’s problems and after fifteen hours he was still leading the Le Mans 24 Hours. Two Audi R15s were trailing him.

After 15 hours:
P1: Peugeot (2) – Audi (9) – Audi (8)
P2: HPD (42) – HPD (26) – Pescarolo (35)
GT1: Saleen (50) – Corvette (73) – Aston Martin (52)
GT2: Corvette (64) – Corvette (63) – Porsche (77)