Experience the unforgettable 2016 24 Hours of Le Mans — a race that delivered one of the most dramatic finishes in endurance racing history. Toyota, Porsche, and Audi fought relentlessly for 24 hours at the legendary Circuit de la Sarthe, showcasing the peak of hybrid technology, strategy, and human endurance. From high-speed battles to heartbreaking twists in the final moments, Le Mans 2016 stands as a true modern classic. Relive every lap, every duel, and every emotion of this extraordinary race.
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SportsTranscript
00:00:00It's on a huge charge in that number seven car. Lotter of course three times winner,
00:00:04Lena Gade, their race engineer, her last ever Le Mans 24 hours before she's moved across
00:00:09in-house to Bentley to look after customer racing. Well, never discount Audi no matter
00:00:14what their problems. They've said no curbs. They must not take the heaviest of the curves here
00:00:20because of a connector issue. It's part of the drivetrain retrieval system and they can shear
00:00:26the connecting gear if they get airborne. Essentially, the wheels spin up and it causes
00:00:31a technical issue. So they may well be going quieter, you might say, but it's very, very
00:00:36loud performance at the moment. And check this out. Toyota trapped on the inside of this
00:00:40curb. Yeah, takes it back from Lotterer. Lovely move there. Beautiful. Great racing, isn't
00:00:46there, in the early stages here. Neil Jarny's got a little bit of a lead there, but second,
00:00:51third, fourth and fifth absolutely tied together. Very circumspect start, though, from
00:00:56Spastu Gwemi. He's fallen back a little bit in the sixth place. I haven't said that. He's
00:01:00just got purple in the first sector. Fastest of all, then, this is just the second lap of
00:01:05racing. We've got eight laps completed in the race, but this is just our second lap under
00:01:08green flag conditions. You can see there how dry this track is becoming and how quickly
00:01:13this track is becoming dry because there's a dry weather line through there. And it'll be...
00:01:19These teams, the tyres are incredibly durable these days, even the wet weather tyres. And,
00:01:26you know, I wonder whether they might even think about going directly from the full wet weather
00:01:30tyres to the slicks. Because I don't think you're going to... The track is going to drive
00:01:34so quickly. You come in and put on intermediates, and then they're going to be done in a lap or
00:01:38two. Then you're going to make another pit stop for slicks. They won't want to do that.
00:01:42They want to make a minimum number of pit stops as they possibly can. Mark, some of the off-line running, you saw Dixie and the Dempsey
00:01:48Porsche coming through, doing a great move there, taking a spot. Some of the off-line
00:01:52line running is the search for water with those wet tyres. That's a very good point.
00:01:56Yeah, a lot of the straight sections, certainly, just to keep them cool. They overheat very, very
00:02:01quickly. Otherwise, we've got a problem. Bernhardt's dropped back to third. Where did that happen?
00:02:06Must have happened in the... Conway's jumped up into second, split the Porsches a moment ago.
00:02:11Oh, yeah, it was on that second section, somewhere around that down.
00:02:14Wow. Look at these Porsches here in GTE Pro. They were outclassed, apparently, in the qualifying
00:02:20session. But boy, they're not now, because they are flying through the field up into, are they
00:02:24second and third now, or third and fourth? But, Jeremy, in the wet running, it's all about traction.
00:02:29Absolutely. The Porsches have an engine sitting over those back wheels.
00:02:31Absolutely. And that's what's great about this category. It's horses for courses and or different
00:02:38conditions. So wonderful to see those Porsches right there in contention. As you suggest, then,
00:02:43when the track is fully dry, we would expect the balance of power, not performance, to shift
00:02:48back in favor of the Ford to Ferraris. And, of course, you know, the Astons and the Corvettes,
00:02:54they're running a little bit bigger engine restrictor in the race with a little bit more
00:02:58straight line speed. Fantastic battle here between Sam Bernhardt and Richard Westbrook.
00:03:02This is for position six within the GT Pro class. Super work. And a great battle raging up front here.
00:03:09They take the lead. Toyota leads Le Mans. Wow. Where did that come from?
00:03:13Amazing. Fourth to first in one lap. Well, they've got the range as well, apparently, comfortably within
00:03:19the 14. And look at how twitchy the Audi's are as they come out of the last curve.
00:03:24Wow. That was something, wasn't it? We saw that Conway had taken Bernhardt early. We didn't see where
00:03:28because we're watching GTs, but just went back to the Ford chicane at the end of that ninth lap.
00:03:34And Mike just took it with both hands. Thank you very much.
00:03:38I'll tell you something, guys. We may well have been waiting for an hour for the drama.
00:03:4350 minutes it was, but this has been spectacular. What a start.
00:03:47Yeah, and Sebastian Buemi there, back in the sixth place, remember, he's just turned a one minute,
00:03:53three minutes, 44.5, so a whole second quicker than our race leader, Mike Conway,
00:03:58who, as he was just saying, had passed three cars on that last lap to go from fourth to first.
00:04:03But the quickest car on track right now is that number five car, the system machine from Toyota,
00:04:08of Sebastian Buemi. Yeah, and that number seven car that's just going to come into your picture in a moment.
00:04:13He's been given a track warning going wide at 33, which is where we saw happen throughout the road to Le Mans race.
00:04:20Oh, and he's going to make the pass here. Beautiful piece of drafting, and that's a spectacular shot.
00:04:24Absolutely superb. You can't keep a good man down, and Lothra is a very good man.
00:04:2922 hours and 58 minutes then remaining, and finally we get a dry strip.
00:04:36Here's the Jeep driver machine in a driver change as well, and tyres are on top, I'll be bound.
00:04:42So the number one car then having another little Bernhardt all over the back of new Jani now,
00:04:48or Jani I should say, and here we are, we are on board with Timo Bernhardt.
00:04:52Can he doing about it on the run down to the second chicane?
00:04:55I don't know, I don't know if it's on the rear already, but it's nice.
00:04:58OK, copy, try that car as you can. What do you think about slicks?
00:05:02What do you think about slicks? Maybe one or two laps?
00:05:04Oh, I'll see your car away.
00:05:06Wow, that was, who was that? Timo Bernhardt on the radio to his engineer,
00:05:12saying that he's losing performance to his rear tyres already.
00:05:15We heard Jeremy say, will they make this jump from wet to slicks?
00:05:19Well, the engineer just asked him that, and Timo said it's far away, it's far away.
00:05:24So they've obviously got a choice of intermediates, or they've got the slick immediates also.
00:05:29Yeah, and the slick immediates, those are, they are very slick tyres.
00:05:34They're an intermediate tyre, but they have no tread pattern, which is quite remarkable.
00:05:38So it doesn't move the water out of the way like a grooved tyre would.
00:05:43But they do have incredible grip in these conditions.
00:05:46But my point is that with the track drying so quickly, it won't be long before it's good enough for slicks.
00:05:52And it's going to be a brave man that goes directly onto slick tyres.
00:05:55That was the change for third, you just saw there Bernhardt got monster by Lotra, got caught up in traffic,
00:06:00and the Audi went straight past.
00:06:02So you've got Toyota, Porsche, Audi, now one, two, three.
00:06:05Isn't that great?
00:06:06And Mike Colmway, just fastest of all in the middle sector on that lap.
00:06:09Of course the track is drying out, so we would expect times to come down, to be going faster,
00:06:15as they went past one of the, that was a Ferrari Corvette, I think.
00:06:20And look at Bramie coming through now.
00:06:21Bramie's going to make the jump as well, possibly by the Ford chicane.
00:06:24And here he comes.
00:06:25Obviously, Damien, the wets are working better on the Toyotas than the other cars.
00:06:29It looks like Toyota, the Toyotas love these conditions.
00:06:32It's very interesting to see, they're quicker.
00:06:34And as you just rightly said, Mike Colmway's done a fantastic sector,
00:06:38it's like two seconds quicker than sector two alone.
00:06:41And here's another, that's the, actually that's the Conway, I think, gone through the LMP2.
00:06:47That's Bramie, isn't it?
00:06:50Just catching, no Bramie's still stuck there behind the number eight now.
00:06:53That was the ESM of the LMP2 there.
00:06:55Yeah, it was your right.
00:06:56Yes, it wasn't a pass, that was just a lapping move.
00:06:58But here we are, all climbing over each other, monstering each other.
00:07:00He's shouting on pit lane.
00:07:02Oh, so, are you the first to blink?
00:07:05Yeah, which one is that coming in?
00:07:06Seven.
00:07:07Seven car coming in, that's Lottero.
00:07:11And the number one Porsche as well.
00:07:13No, no, it's not the bit lane, sorry.
00:07:14Number one Porsche goes past Bernhardt, so he takes that place back.
00:07:18So there's a pass now, Bramie has passed.
00:07:20Yeah.
00:07:21That's going up the hill, wasn't it?
00:07:22I don't know what happened there.
00:07:23If Bernhardt back off, he just went past like he's standing.
00:07:26Yeah.
00:07:27I think the Toyota's are just coming into their own, aren't they?
00:07:29Yeah.
00:07:30What's this race up there for Mike Conway?
00:07:32What's three minutes, 41.64 seconds quicker than Neil Jarny on that last lap.
00:07:39That's pretty amazing, isn't it?
00:07:41Tremendous effort here by Mike Conway.
00:07:44And, you know, it's very, very early stages.
00:07:47It's very difficult conditions.
00:07:48You want to make sure you don't make a mistake certainly at this part of the game.
00:07:51But what a great effort this has been from Mike Conway to lead this motor race.
00:07:56Was that slick immediates or a slick I saw going on to an Audi?
00:07:59Yeah.
00:08:00We'll keep you up to date to that.
00:08:02To tell.
00:08:03I'd be surprised if it wasn't a slick, quite frankly, because I think the track is drying
00:08:06out.
00:08:07And the slick immediates, these non-tread kind of wet weather tires that they're good for
00:08:14these sort of conditions or a little bit as the track is drying out.
00:08:18Lotter has taken slicks.
00:08:19Yeah.
00:08:20It's such a long track here at Le Mans that it's very easy to lose a lot of time if you're
00:08:24on the wrong sort of tire.
00:08:26We'll have to watch the lap time now of Andre Lotto to see how quickly he can get this
00:08:31car up to speed.
00:08:32The 91 of Patrick Peeley there going, having a little bit of a scary moment.
00:08:35Here we go.
00:08:36Here comes Bwemi then.
00:08:37Bwemi's on a charge, comes down the inside.
00:08:39Oh, it's a P2 car.
00:08:40I just thought for a moment that was one of the Audi's from the background.
00:08:43No, but he's still just there stuck isn't he behind the, is that the number?
00:08:47It's the number eight Audi, the one that stayed out.
00:08:52Bwemi's still in fourth.
00:08:53It's only a matter of time.
00:08:54He's getting a great run on him now.
00:08:55There you go.
00:08:56It's going to be a Toyota 1-2 before long, isn't it?
00:08:59And that's bragging rights as we go into the second hour of the Le Mans 24.
00:09:03And we've got the best of the GT cars now up inside the top 12.
00:09:07Isn't that amazing?
00:09:08A lot of the LMP2 cars already been on two pit lane.
00:09:11There's another purple sector, by the way, for our race leader in the middle part of this race track.
00:09:15And that is a section from the beginning of the Mulsanne straight to just after Mulsanne corner.
00:09:21Yeah.
00:09:22But Jeremy, critically Ford have not yet called in for drives.
00:09:25We've got Ferrari, Chevrolet, Aston Martin all in the pits and the pros for, for dry tires,
00:09:31but they have not yet called the Fords in.
00:09:34Got to pass again.
00:09:35That is Johnny Teich taking to a valve for second.
00:09:38So it is now that Toyota 1-2.
00:09:41That came so, so quickly.
00:09:43He just couldn't make the pass on the inside of Indianapolis because he was on the wet line.
00:09:48So the Audi was able to brake a lot later, but he finally made the pass just before the Porsche curves.
00:09:54And he's on his way.
00:09:55Conway again setting fastest first sector of anyone by miles.
00:09:591.2 seconds faster than anyone else, sir.
00:10:05It's very exciting to see Toyota so competitive, isn't it?
00:10:08Well, we've seen it coming all year.
00:10:09We saw it at Spa.
00:10:10Unfortunately, they lost two engines at Spa because the ride height was so low.
00:10:14The cars are bottoming out in Eau Rouge and the shock shockwaves destroyed those engines.
00:10:18Here they know better than that.
00:10:19One of their things, one of the mantras is do not ride the kerbs, which Audi were doing all weekend.
00:10:25Yeah, well, Audi's have been, drivers have been banned from doing that because of the problem they had, the reliability problem they had in practice, where a gear between the MGU and the driveshaft fell down.
00:10:40So here we go then.
00:10:41It's Conway.
00:10:42It's Johnny.
00:10:43It's Duval.
00:10:44It's Bramie.
00:10:45No.
00:10:46What's that?
00:10:47Where's Bramie gone?
00:10:48Here's number eight cars onto pit lane.
00:10:51Oh, he's in pit lane now.
00:10:52That's why he suddenly dropped out of the second place.
00:10:54And the number one car.
00:10:55Yep.
00:10:56Bernhardt follows him in.
00:10:57So Mike Conway stays out.
00:10:59He just sets a new fastest lap of the race in car number six.
00:11:05And that lap time just two tenths quicker than his teammate.
00:11:10And we're just looking further down, 19th place, Wolf Hensler in the number 78 AM car.
00:11:16He is now leading AM and he's in 19th place overall.
00:11:19We didn't see that one coming either.
00:11:21That, of course, as Jeremy said, is because of all the recycling in the pits.
00:11:24And that's the KCMG car, which Christian Reid runs.
00:11:28And Wolf Hensler and Joe Kamathias are sharing with them this weekend.
00:11:33So, sunshine now in the pits, as you can see.
00:11:37Full slicks going on, Damien.
00:11:40Yeah, that's what we think.
00:11:43It could be the slick immediate because...
00:11:45Well, we know that Audi have taken full slicks on.
00:11:47We've told that by Audi here. Full slicks.
00:11:49Oh, well, then...
00:11:51It's got to be slicks, Damien.
00:11:53We've got the sun out now.
00:11:54The sun's pretty dandy.
00:11:55It's quite warm out there now.
00:11:56And the track is going to dry, I believe, very, very quickly.
00:11:59It's certainly going to be very, very slippery out there, isn't it?
00:12:01Because you know here, particularly under the trees,
00:12:04along the most sand, the run to Indianapolis,
00:12:07there's trees very close to the edge of the track.
00:12:09And there, of course, it doesn't dry quite so quickly.
00:12:11Right, we've got gravel on the track at 7.35.
00:12:13But more importantly, more rain is expected in 15 minutes.
00:12:17Levels one to two, north end of the circuit.
00:12:20So, it's all going to change again.
00:12:22We're going to be taking a break in just a moment.
00:12:24And we will have some new voices on when we come back.
00:12:27So, enjoy this.
00:12:29Eurosport Live at Le Mans.
00:12:31Doesn't get any better than this, guys.
00:12:33Yeah, it's great, isn't it?
00:12:34And we've got the Porsche now leading in GTE Pro.
00:12:37And we will take a commercial break and be back very soon.
00:12:41We'll be back.
00:12:43We'll be back.
00:12:45We'll be back.
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00:16:49what we heard after the qualifying days.
00:16:51Jeremy Shaw, the driver, said that once the track starts to dry,
00:16:55it drives very quickly, and a wet-weather tyre lasts barely a lap.
00:16:58Really, too, if you have to try and hang on.
00:17:01But you don't want to because you're just giving away time
00:17:04that you'll never get back.
00:17:05That is exactly right.
00:17:07And we saw that Mike Conway and you're hanging on there an extra lap
00:17:12before he brought the Toyota onto pit lane.
00:17:14We'll have to see when the cars come around again at the end of this lap
00:17:18to see how much that has cost them
00:17:19because already right away out on the track on slick tyres,
00:17:24the guys that made their pit stops were going faster already.
00:17:27So we'll see now on the next lap how much that has cost the Toyotas.
00:17:31Sam, 11 or 12 seconds faster on a slick than on a wet-weather tyre,
00:17:35so that could be, you know, half a pit stop time.
00:17:39Yeah, it was a fantastic gamble by Andre Lotterer
00:17:42who made the first call to come in for slick tyres,
00:17:44and he immediately started to gain that advantage,
00:17:48as you rightly say, of about 10 seconds or more per lap
00:17:52over the guys that hung on out there
00:17:54despite the fantastic job that we saw Conway doing
00:17:56who, at times there, was four seconds quicker
00:17:59than anybody in those slippery conditions.
00:18:02Well, there's no question Conway has got the speed
00:18:06to see the number one car, Brendan Hartley,
00:18:08going by the Beach Dean Aston Martin.
00:18:11Obviously, we're watching the front of the field
00:18:13because our race is being led,
00:18:15but, Jeremy, for all four classes, the deal is the same.
00:18:18The wet-weather tyre is the wrong tyre for the weather,
00:18:21but on our screen we are warned that rain level 1 to 2,
00:18:27which is light to really quite hard,
00:18:30is expected in five minutes at the north of the circuit,
00:18:34and that's pretty much where we are,
00:18:36the pit lane and the first few corners.
00:18:38So, they've had to react to the weather, start on wets,
00:18:42they've had to react to the weather, change onto a slick
00:18:44because it's now so warm and dry,
00:18:46and they're going to have to react to the weather again
00:18:48even when the rain shower comes.
00:18:50Yeah, it's really tricky to make that call at this stage,
00:18:53but as Sam was saying there, you know,
00:18:54the wet-weather tyres, as soon as the track has dried out,
00:18:57you're losing an awful lot of time.
00:18:59On the previous lap, before we came out of the pits,
00:19:02Mike Conway set the fastest lap at the 3 minutes 38.
00:19:05Next time around, having made the stop one lap earlier,
00:19:09Andre Lutterer turns a 3.29,
00:19:11and now Brendan Hartley in a number one Porsche,
00:19:15to just reduce that lap on lap 13 to a 3 minutes 26.
00:19:20Oli Gavin's Corvette lying in fourth place in the GTE Pro class,
00:19:25battling with Patrick Pille's Porsche,
00:19:27which is going by him,
00:19:29and towing up behind him is the number 82 Ferrari Fisichella,
00:19:33and that is Giancarlo Fisichella.
00:19:35So, Gav being jumped by the Porsche.
00:19:37Now, I was talking to the Porsche GT drivers,
00:19:40the pro-class cars,
00:19:41Fred McAvici, Ilban,
00:19:42but just before we came up to the booth to start our programme,
00:19:46and they were just in the depths, really, of...
00:19:49Right, this is just going to be a horrible 24 hours.
00:19:51First and second in GTE Pro at the moment,
00:19:55Fred Macco in a Porsche,
00:19:57and the Ferrari of...
00:19:58Sorry, the Ford of Richard Westbrook in second.
00:20:00But again, you can see the Ferrari and the Porsche
00:20:02both have a slight upper hand over the Corvette.
00:20:06Now, has that Corvette of Oli Gavin already made a stop?
00:20:10And the answer is yes, it has.
00:20:11So that is on slicks,
00:20:12and so too is Pille,
00:20:14and so too is Fisichella,
00:20:16pretty much so too is everybody else,
00:20:18but Gavin finding it hard to match the Porsche even on pace.
00:20:23Well, it's a fantastic display of incredible racecraft
00:20:26by three of the world's top factory drivers,
00:20:28all here in the same part of the track at the same time.
00:20:32Now, when you have a slip-streaming effect like this,
00:20:35whoever is in front faces a huge disadvantage
00:20:37because they have to punch a hole in the air first.
00:20:40The guys behind get a gradually better slip-stream,
00:20:43so you'll see a lot of track position...
00:20:45Sorry, a lot of position changes as they go around the lap.
00:20:49But what's interesting is we've got the perfect illustration
00:20:52of what those late tweaks to the balance of performance have done.
00:20:56You would have thought, wouldn't you,
00:20:58based on qualifying,
00:20:59that the Ferrari would be able to tow by
00:21:01and disappear off into the distance,
00:21:03but it's not.
00:21:04The Porsche was leading the train there.
00:21:06The Corvette is holding on to the back of it.
00:21:08This is arguably a great display
00:21:12from the regulators' latest decisions
00:21:15to equalise the balance of performance before the race.
00:21:18I would say just the opposite.
00:21:20When we picked this battle up,
00:21:21the Corvette was in front,
00:21:22it's now at the back,
00:21:23and the Ferrari has just towed past,
00:21:25in a straight line,
00:21:26side by side,
00:21:27on pace,
00:21:28past the Corvette,
00:21:29and past the Porsche.
00:21:30Exactly what Porsche and Corvette said would happen,
00:21:33and the balance of performance has not worked.
00:21:35The Ferrari is now driving away from them,
00:21:38despite the fact that at nearly 200 miles an hour,
00:21:41it's giving them the benefit of a tow.
00:21:43And, of course,
00:21:43it has still got more power than the Porsche and the Corvette.
00:21:48And now, of course,
00:21:49I wish I held my tongue.
00:21:51Just another 20 seconds.
00:21:52That's all right.
00:21:52I allowed you to embark on that run down the rapids
00:21:55before I pointed out the hole in your canoe.
00:21:57Before you threw you under the bus.
00:21:59Yeah, threw you under the bus.
00:22:00Going around the outside of them,
00:22:01the number 36 Alpine.
00:22:04And this is one of our LMP2 Alpine Nissans.
00:22:07Gustavo Menezes,
00:22:08Nico Lapierre.
00:22:09Yeah, the only word I picked out
00:22:14of that station announcement was Ferrari.
00:22:17I picked out exactly what he said.
00:22:19The Ferrari is in another category.
00:22:21Yeah, it is.
00:22:23It's in GTE Pro Plus.
00:22:25Yeah, it is, isn't it?
00:22:26Second pit stopper.
00:22:27Third pit stopper this car, is it, I think?
00:22:29They made one earlier.
00:22:30The leader just came into the pits,
00:22:32Andre Lotterer.
00:22:33Does that feel too soon, Jeremy?
00:22:35Well, his fuel...
00:22:36Yes, I would have thought so.
00:22:38They've completed 14 laps,
00:22:40but most of that was under...
00:22:42Yeah.
00:22:42...the, uh, behind the safety car.
00:22:44So I'm not surprised it looked as soon as that.
00:22:47Yeah, well, he was just about holding his own
00:22:49in terms of pace in the number eight,
00:22:51number seven Audi.
00:22:52Then Harley leads the race for Porsche.
00:22:55Car number one, position number one.
00:22:57Leuchte Duval in second place
00:22:58in the number eight Audi,
00:22:59tucking down the inside there
00:23:01of one of the GT.
00:23:02That's the Proton Competition Porsche,
00:23:04Dempsey Proton Racing.
00:23:06And here's the car that is now sagged to third
00:23:08with this stop going back in the garage.
00:23:10It's on the trolley, Dolly's.
00:23:11Oh.
00:23:13Oh, well, because, I mean,
00:23:14they would have topped it up with fuel
00:23:15when it came in just four laps ago.
00:23:18So clearly, totally out of schedule.
00:23:20A very, very early...
00:23:21Back end.
00:23:22Yeah, really, just sort of seven or eight laps
00:23:24into the race, really, isn't it,
00:23:25since we got going.
00:23:26Okay, back end, bodywork's off,
00:23:27wheel arches are off,
00:23:28so something engine transmission.
00:23:30It's not the front-end drop gear
00:23:31which caused them problems
00:23:33on both cars in qualifying.
00:23:35Look, when the weather was the way it was
00:23:37on Wednesday,
00:23:38we kind of went,
00:23:39do you know what?
00:23:39This is going to be a weird, wacky Le Mans,
00:23:42and somebody is going to get
00:23:43the biggest rub of the green,
00:23:44and that's what's going to win the race,
00:23:46because you're going to need luck,
00:23:48perhaps almost more than anything else
00:23:50in this race this year.
00:23:51Oh, but that is a rotten time to lose it.
00:23:53That was our race leader
00:23:55who'd made a fantastic early call
00:23:57to take slicks before anybody else.
00:23:59He was reaping the advantage.
00:24:01He navigated his outlap
00:24:03in the following one
00:24:03when the circuit was still damp superbly,
00:24:06and it was about to pay off.
00:24:08Andre Lotterer getting a tough
00:24:10roll of the dice there.
00:24:12Slow car on track being reported,
00:24:14and it's the Dane train Ferrari,
00:24:17the one with Christina Nielsen driving it,
00:24:19and that is after zone 30,
00:24:21which is, I have no idea,
00:24:24somewhere anyway there's a slow Ferrari circulating,
00:24:26but it hasn't stopped yet,
00:24:28and the rain's still expected at 16.20,
00:24:31which is two minutes ago.
00:24:32It is getting increasingly dark here,
00:24:34and the Ferrari makes its way into pit road,
00:24:36so the number 60 car makes its way back in.
00:24:40That's the Formula Racing Ferrari,
00:24:41a Le Mans series regular,
00:24:42but the drama surrounding Audi,
00:24:44they didn't look their normal state of preparedness.
00:24:48They were not the first two cars on pit road
00:24:50at the start of any session like they normally are.
00:24:53They barely had a car out when everybody else
00:24:55was doing lapping at the start of almost any session, Sam,
00:24:57and that's the most un-Audi-Audi couple of days
00:25:02I think we've ever seen.
00:25:03Meanwhile, we've seen Porsche have more of a clean run
00:25:06through the week,
00:25:07the likes of which we're normally accustomed
00:25:09to seeing Audi have.
00:25:10They've had everything go to plan,
00:25:12and currently Brennan Hartley is storming it
00:25:14as we look at the Ferrari.
00:25:15There's got the front-left wheel off.
00:25:17Now, has it shed a wheel?
00:25:19I think that's why it was going so slowly.
00:25:21It looked like it was down on the left front.
00:25:23I assumed a puncture,
00:25:24but there is no wheel unless the...
00:25:25I know, Mishina,
00:25:27there is one tire off,
00:25:28so they have taken one off,
00:25:29so maybe it wasn't a puncture,
00:25:30maybe it was a...
00:25:31I was just talking to Marco Werner
00:25:44before we came on air after our last break,
00:25:48and he was saying,
00:25:49ah, they should have started
00:25:50a couple of laps earlier at least,
00:25:52and everybody who wasn't in a car
00:25:56thought exactly the same,
00:25:58but there are a few drivers already saying,
00:26:00if I was in one of the cars
00:26:01and they went green
00:26:02when the fans wanted them to,
00:26:04I would have boxed.
00:26:06Now, we're just looking at the duel here
00:26:08between the LMP2 drivers.
00:26:11You've got Britain's Johnny Kane
00:26:12and the Stracker Racing Gibson chassis
00:26:15leading, I think it was Richard Bradley...
00:26:18It is.
00:26:18...in the Orica just behind.
00:26:20That is in the LMP2 category,
00:26:22and that's the fight for fifth position.
00:26:24Yeah, fourth position,
00:26:25because Roberto Meri,
00:26:27in a Manor Motorsport entry,
00:26:28he made his pit stop
00:26:29before everybody else in LMP2,
00:26:31and he is out there.
00:26:32He's got a huge lead now
00:26:34of about 14 seconds
00:26:35over Matthias Bersh
00:26:37in that count number 46
00:26:38for TDS Terrier.
00:26:39So, is that John Manor's
00:26:40Formula 1 strategy brain
00:26:42going ching, ching, ching,
00:26:42and getting Roberto out in front?
00:26:44KCMG, of course,
00:26:45last year's LMP2 cars' winners.
00:26:47So, Richard Bradley,
00:26:48Matt House,
00:26:48and back here,
00:26:49they're not doing
00:26:49a full World Endurance Series
00:26:51this year,
00:26:51as they did last year
00:26:52with the LMP2 car.
00:26:53So, this is sort of
00:26:55their big deal for the year,
00:26:57and deals don't get much bigger,
00:26:59but as you see,
00:27:00very competitive still.
00:27:02Audi,
00:27:03with one car already
00:27:04in the garage,
00:27:05but the other one
00:27:06setting the pace out front
00:27:07with the number eight car
00:27:08of Leutte Duval.
00:27:09Leutte Duval,
00:27:10who took the lead,
00:27:11and we didn't see it.
00:27:12We're looking at
00:27:12an on-board replay now
00:27:13on the start-finish straight.
00:27:15Leutte Duval
00:27:15taking advantage
00:27:16of what looked like
00:27:17Hartley getting held up
00:27:19behind,
00:27:20was it one of the GT cars?
00:27:22Yeah, it was a P2 car,
00:27:24wasn't it?
00:27:24In fact,
00:27:25a pair of P2 cars.
00:27:26That's Mikel Alisson
00:27:26on the extreme left
00:27:27getting out of the way
00:27:28in the BR-01 Nissan,
00:27:30but it was,
00:27:30yeah,
00:27:31that was,
00:27:32you know when he
00:27:33tightened the lap belts
00:27:33and it cinches a bit,
00:27:35he was breathing in,
00:27:36it would not have
00:27:37cinched a bit there.
00:27:38There would be no chafing.
00:27:39He was breathing everything in
00:27:40to get around the outside there.
00:27:42But again,
00:27:43you know,
00:27:43we're halfway through
00:27:45the second hour of 24,
00:27:47and they have to race each other
00:27:49like it's the final lap
00:27:51at the Formula Ford Festival.
00:27:52And genuinely they do.
00:27:54Because of the way
00:27:55the hybrid energy system works,
00:27:57you have a maximum amount
00:27:59of energy you're allowed to use.
00:28:01You don't have to,
00:28:02but why would you not use
00:28:04full throttle in a racing car?
00:28:05Why would you not use
00:28:06all the power available,
00:28:07all the grip available to you?
00:28:08So of course,
00:28:09you do have to,
00:28:10but you can't exceed it,
00:28:11which means, Sam,
00:28:13effectively you have to
00:28:14drive these cars
00:28:15every single lap,
00:28:16as if it's a qualifying lap,
00:28:18to the maximum
00:28:18of its allowed performance.
00:28:21And that means
00:28:22phenomenal pressure.
00:28:23The endurance in this race
00:28:24is driver endurance.
00:28:26Just a reminder,
00:28:26the sector one,
00:28:27just a reminder,
00:28:28the sector one,
00:28:28the drizzle.
00:28:29There's a bit of margin.
00:28:31We're going to a good pace.
00:28:31We're going to a good pace, mate.
00:28:34Right,
00:28:35a little bit of drizzle
00:28:36is the worry
00:28:36for the number one Porsche.
00:28:38There is a bit more worry
00:28:39for the number seven Audi.
00:28:40That had all the hallmarks
00:28:42of an extinguisher going off.
00:28:43It wasn't a lot of mess.
00:28:45There's maybe that an airline
00:28:46they're using to blow
00:28:47something out,
00:28:48but what can we say
00:28:50about the number seven Audi?
00:28:53Possibly in another
00:28:53couple of laps,
00:28:54we can say it's not
00:28:55going to win this race,
00:28:56but we can't say that yet
00:28:58because it's only
00:28:59a couple of laps back
00:29:00and Audi have done bigger,
00:29:03have turned around
00:29:04bigger problems before,
00:29:06but also with the weather
00:29:07the way that it might be
00:29:08before tomorrow morning,
00:29:10you know,
00:29:10all bets are off.
00:29:11We're not going to
00:29:11predict anything here
00:29:12because we're just going
00:29:13to look even bigger fools
00:29:14than we normally do.
00:29:15Predicting this race
00:29:16is a mugs game.
00:29:18I still haven't learned
00:29:19that after 30 years.
00:29:21And the new purple sector
00:29:22therefore,
00:29:22Lloyd Duval,
00:29:23having taken the lead
00:29:24from Brendan Hartley
00:29:25on this lap,
00:29:27he now has made
00:29:30full advantage of that.
00:29:32So even while Brendan Hartley
00:29:33was held up a little bit
00:29:34going up towards
00:29:34the Dunlap S's,
00:29:36Lloyd Duval clearly was not
00:29:37and he won a charge
00:29:38here in the top.
00:29:39Two cars have come now
00:29:40to complete lap 16.
00:29:42Less than a second
00:29:43between them
00:29:43about eight seconds
00:29:45back to the third place
00:29:46car of Mike Conway
00:29:47and Sebastian Buemi
00:29:49is a similar distance
00:29:50to not more than behind.
00:29:51What's interesting to me
00:29:53is that the Audi
00:29:54and Porsche
00:29:55do 10-step bets
00:29:56join those first pitchers
00:29:57so both came
00:29:58and put their cars
00:29:59in one lap apart
00:30:00whereas both Toyota
00:30:01came in on the same lap.
00:30:03We talked about this
00:30:04at lunchtime,
00:30:05didn't we?
00:30:05And I was saying
00:30:05I wouldn't be surprised
00:30:07if we'd started green
00:30:08for each team to bring in
00:30:09because they've only got
00:30:10two, not three,
00:30:11which they usually have
00:30:12to bring one team
00:30:13in a lap early
00:30:14because we've had
00:30:15a lot of wet running.
00:30:16We had a dry test weekend
00:30:18but that's not enough
00:30:19to guarantee
00:30:20you've got your maths
00:30:21right on the fuel.
00:30:22I wouldn't have been surprised
00:30:23to see one coming in a lap
00:30:24earlier than safe
00:30:26and another one a lap
00:30:27at where they thought
00:30:28was safe just in case
00:30:29but as you said
00:30:30Toyota quite often
00:30:30pit both together
00:30:31and they are both together.
00:30:33The other thing
00:30:33that I'm going to question now
00:30:35and this is very old-fashioned thinking
00:30:38this is Sterling Moss thinking
00:30:40has each team got a rabbit
00:30:42and a hare?
00:30:44At the moment
00:30:44we've got three hares out front
00:30:46we'll answer that one
00:30:48in the next 22 hours.
00:30:50The three weeks
00:30:52our intense effort
00:30:53we need a great training
00:30:56and a great dedication
00:30:57and it's a very complicated
00:31:00and it's very difficult
00:31:01to face
00:31:01because if there's a lot of wind
00:31:04even if you're in the back
00:31:05it's a lot of fatigue.
00:31:08I think that for the Tour de France
00:31:10the most beautiful feeling
00:31:11that of the last day
00:31:13that final
00:31:13and Champs-Erisse.
00:31:15Monument Iстины
00:31:17приближается.
00:33:18Welcome back to Le Mans Live on Eurosport
00:33:33fantastic lead battle
00:33:35and on the left of your screen
00:33:36Audi number 8
00:33:36Lloyd Duval behind him
00:33:38Brendan Hartley
00:33:39came across the line
00:33:40just a second behind
00:33:42and up into the Dunlop Curves
00:33:43was barely two car lengths
00:33:45behind the Porsche
00:33:45making up under braking
00:33:47on the Audi
00:33:47and the Audi
00:33:48just stretching its legs
00:33:50as it picks up
00:33:51as it picks up
00:33:51as he picks up speed
00:33:52along the track.
00:33:53Mike Conway now
00:33:54in third place
00:33:55fastest race lap
00:33:57at 325.8
00:33:58that is nearly four seconds
00:34:01quicker than the leader
00:34:02exactly what he was doing
00:34:04before he came in
00:34:05for a fuel stop.
00:34:06Rain has arrived
00:34:08at our commentary box window
00:34:09at the Porsche curves
00:34:10Lloyd Duval reported it
00:34:11and it has now arrived.
00:34:13Johnny Kane
00:34:13in the LMP2 class
00:34:15dives into the pits
00:34:16in front of us
00:34:16from third place
00:34:17that wasn't Johnny Kane
00:34:19in fact
00:34:19he's still battling
00:34:20Jake Dennis
00:34:21in a all Gibson battle
00:34:23for third place
00:34:24but the lead battle
00:34:25again
00:34:26he's on
00:34:26Hartley down the inside
00:34:28into the second chicane
00:34:29how did he do that?
00:34:30He got the run
00:34:31on low
00:34:31to fail
00:34:32somewhere between
00:34:32the first and second
00:34:34chicane
00:34:34made a very clean pass
00:34:36how did he make up
00:34:37a second on him?
00:34:38That's insane
00:34:40on the beginning
00:34:40of the Monson
00:34:41that's ridiculous
00:34:42Lloyd Duval
00:34:44flashing his headlights
00:34:45aggressively
00:34:45letting the LMP2 drivers
00:34:47around him know
00:34:48that under no circumstances
00:34:50must they get
00:34:50in the way
00:34:51of this battle
00:34:52they are
00:34:53absolutely
00:34:54neck and neck
00:34:56there's nothing
00:34:56to speak
00:34:57between these two guys
00:34:58at the moment
00:34:58and meanwhile
00:34:59in the background
00:35:00Mike Conway
00:35:01still banging in
00:35:03fantastically quick
00:35:04centre times
00:35:04he's half
00:35:06what was
00:35:06a 10 second deficit
00:35:07between the leading
00:35:08back
00:35:09and it's now
00:35:095.9 seconds
00:35:11that course
00:35:11he's going to
00:35:12catch traffic
00:35:13and that will
00:35:13slow him up
00:35:14the traffic
00:35:14that these guys
00:35:15have just cleared
00:35:16then I sense
00:35:16perhaps
00:35:17that Lloyd Duval
00:35:18into the first
00:35:19chicane
00:35:19when we weren't
00:35:20seeing them
00:35:21got held up
00:35:21in some slower cars
00:35:23they've just cleared
00:35:23all those LMP2's
00:35:24machines
00:35:25let's take a look
00:35:26at what else is going
00:35:26as you mentioned
00:35:27at Mano Motorsport
00:35:28leading in LMP2
00:35:29Jeremy Roberto
00:35:30Mary
00:35:31ahead of Matthias Besch
00:35:32so it's an
00:35:32Orica chassis 1-2
00:35:34Johnny Kane
00:35:35third Jake Dennis
00:35:35Ford Richard Bradley
00:35:36fifth
00:35:37Brit Brit Brit
00:35:37ahead of René Rast
00:35:39the pole sitter
00:35:39in sixth position
00:35:40in the GTE Pro
00:35:42class Porsche
00:35:43still have the lead
00:35:44Fred Macavici's Porsche
00:35:46the Ford of Richard
00:35:47Westbrook second
00:35:48the Ferrari of James
00:35:49Collado third
00:35:50so we've got
00:35:50three big manufacturers
00:35:52in the top three
00:35:53and the AM class
00:35:55a big change
00:35:55around there as well
00:35:56Porsche was struggling
00:35:58for pace
00:35:58at the beginning
00:35:59in qualifying
00:36:00but Lee Keane
00:36:01leads in a car
00:36:03that is now
00:36:03a two driver car
00:36:05and Patrick Long
00:36:07in second
00:36:07and Volp Hensler
00:36:09in third
00:36:09Porsche
00:36:10Porsche
00:36:11Porsche
00:36:11that rain
00:36:12is what Porsche
00:36:13need in both
00:36:14GT classes
00:36:15but again
00:36:15look at the lead
00:36:16battle
00:36:17they get around
00:36:17the G drive
00:36:18Ligier
00:36:19and suddenly
00:36:20you couldn't fit
00:36:21a fag paper
00:36:22between the front two
00:36:23in our race
00:36:24after an hour and a half
00:36:25there is so much
00:36:26going on
00:36:27this is absolutely
00:36:28fantastic
00:36:29and in that GTE
00:36:30and back
00:36:31let's just talk about
00:36:31very briefly
00:36:32Lee Keane leads
00:36:33but Patrick Long
00:36:34is closing really
00:36:35quickly
00:36:35on the last lap
00:36:36he pulled up
00:36:37two and a half
00:36:38seconds
00:36:39on Lee Keane
00:36:40and Volp Hensler
00:36:41there
00:36:41in the third position
00:36:42in car number 78
00:36:43the third of the Porsches
00:36:45still running very well
00:36:47Adam Carroll running
00:36:47now fourth face
00:36:48also in a Porsche
00:36:50one, two, three, four
00:36:51in GTE
00:36:52and four Porsche
00:36:53yeah that's the golf car
00:36:54and rain also in the S's
00:36:56now those of you
00:36:57who have been coming here
00:36:58as long as I have
00:36:59can remember the S's
00:37:00that you see in pictures
00:37:01of the GT40s
00:37:02and the Porsche 956s
00:37:04and the Alpines
00:37:04and everything else
00:37:05with the big high walls
00:37:07around them
00:37:08that have been smoothed out
00:37:09and completely reprofiled
00:37:11to make this
00:37:11a motorcycle Grand Prix
00:37:13circuit as well
00:37:14it's actually
00:37:14well it's added a different
00:37:17challenge to the challenge
00:37:18that was there before
00:37:19and it is just as demanding
00:37:21a bit of racetrack
00:37:22headlights flashing
00:37:22on car number six
00:37:23this is Great Britain's
00:37:25Mike Conway
00:37:25pulling out behind
00:37:27companion Richard Bradley
00:37:28in the KCMG
00:37:30number 47 Orica
00:37:31that's the car
00:37:32that won the race
00:37:33in LMP2 last year
00:37:34currently lies
00:37:35in fifth place
00:37:36in the class
00:37:37and pit stop
00:37:38for Michele Leach
00:37:39in the red, white and blue
00:37:40S&P Racing
00:37:41BR01
00:37:42which has been
00:37:43right at the tail
00:37:44of the field
00:37:44since the start of the race
00:37:45yeah it's the second stop
00:37:47for that car
00:37:48during this race
00:37:49and Mike Conway
00:37:49there really is
00:37:50charging along
00:37:51interesting to me
00:37:52that Romain Dumas
00:37:53in the
00:37:53well the sole remaining
00:37:55oh sorry
00:37:55yeah Romain Dumas
00:37:57in the second
00:37:57of the Porsches
00:37:58is not running
00:37:59in the central pace
00:38:00as the other guys
00:38:01are falling back
00:38:03in the fifth position
00:38:04great view there
00:38:06of what a thousand
00:38:07horsepower
00:38:08in a Porsche
00:38:09prototype does
00:38:10compared to
00:38:10600 horsepower
00:38:11in an Aston Martin
00:38:12GT car
00:38:13and these prototypes
00:38:14use the hybrid power
00:38:16off the slow corners
00:38:17down here at Mulsanne
00:38:18corner will be
00:38:19another example
00:38:19harvesting harvesting
00:38:20harvesting harvesting
00:38:21harvesting
00:38:22hit the throttle
00:38:23and whoosh
00:38:24a thousand horsepower
00:38:25fires you like
00:38:26an aircraft
00:38:27after aircraft
00:38:28carrier deck
00:38:28out of the corner
00:38:29and still the Porsche
00:38:30can't escape the Audi
00:38:31and the Audi
00:38:32can't get any closer
00:38:34to the Porsche
00:38:34they are so tightly matched
00:38:36yeah and we saw
00:38:37Loic Duval
00:38:38using that thousand
00:38:39or so horsepower
00:38:40to quite scary effect
00:38:42as they came
00:38:43out of the second
00:38:44chicane there
00:38:45on the Mulsanne
00:38:46straight
00:38:46he got bulked
00:38:48by the GT
00:38:49Aston Martin
00:38:49in front of him
00:38:50not wanting to lose
00:38:51any time
00:38:51he committed
00:38:52all four tyres
00:38:54around the outside
00:38:55beyond the white line
00:38:56that limits
00:38:57the edge of the circuit
00:38:59and that is
00:39:00it's quite rough
00:39:02over there
00:39:02there's some loose stones
00:39:04it's totally drivable
00:39:05but you do increase
00:39:07the risk of getting punctures
00:39:08so if we were
00:39:09in any doubt
00:39:10whatsoever
00:39:11which of course
00:39:11we haven't been
00:39:12these guys are leaving
00:39:13nothing on the table
00:39:14this is flat out
00:39:15at the front of the field
00:39:16it is 24 hours
00:39:18of non-stop qualifying laps
00:39:19they are driving
00:39:20these cars
00:39:21within
00:39:22not even an ounce
00:39:24of their lives
00:39:24with no margin
00:39:26for error whatsoever
00:39:27now that
00:39:27is the sort of
00:39:29critical area
00:39:30on this track
00:39:31the Porsche curves
00:39:32more than any other
00:39:33where that could
00:39:34easily cost you
00:39:35a full second
00:39:36that might take you
00:39:37an entire stint
00:39:39to make back up
00:39:40just catching
00:39:40one car
00:39:41in the wrong place
00:39:42now we're hearing
00:39:43it's a turbocharger
00:39:44change on the number
00:39:457 Audi
00:39:46of course
00:39:46it's a diesel engine
00:39:48in the Audi's
00:39:48petrol engine
00:39:49in their Porsche
00:39:50and Toyota rivals
00:39:51all turbocharged
00:39:53all using
00:39:54various different
00:39:55energy recovery units
00:39:57and then converting
00:39:58all of that
00:39:59recovered energy
00:40:00into electricity
00:40:00to drive motors
00:40:01at the front
00:40:02and the rear
00:40:02so all cars
00:40:04go into quote
00:40:04quattro mode
00:40:06or four wheel drive
00:40:06as they are
00:40:07fired off the corner
00:40:08to handle
00:40:09all that horsepower
00:40:10especially in the rain
00:40:12Loic Duval
00:40:13taking a chunk
00:40:14out of Brendan
00:40:14Harley's Porsche
00:40:16cushion
00:40:16as they came
00:40:17in front of
00:40:18our commentary booth
00:40:18on the brakes
00:40:19into the very tight
00:40:21left right
00:40:21final chicane
00:40:22but Brendan
00:40:23getting the jump
00:40:24out of the corner
00:40:25it seems that
00:40:26the Porsche
00:40:27has a bit more
00:40:29punch
00:40:29on the way
00:40:30out of the slow
00:40:31corners
00:40:31than the Audi
00:40:32but the Audi
00:40:33has the ability
00:40:33into them
00:40:34to brake
00:40:35just a little later
00:40:36Mike Conway
00:40:37from 3.1 seconds
00:40:40behind on the last lap
00:40:41down to 2.2
00:40:42on this lap
00:40:43there he is
00:40:44that's your one
00:40:45that's your two
00:40:47that is your three
00:40:48that is your top three
00:40:49within sight of each other
00:40:51and Conway
00:40:52at these speeds
00:40:53is starting to pick up
00:40:55an aerodynamic tow
00:40:56from those two cars
00:40:57within a
00:40:57maybe within a lap
00:40:59he'll be within
00:40:59a second of them
00:41:00and the speed
00:41:01on the straight
00:41:02and on the way
00:41:02down to Indianapolis
00:41:03he will be starting
00:41:05to be hoovered along
00:41:06by the cars in front
00:41:07and his pace
00:41:08will continue
00:41:09to increase
00:41:10and that gap
00:41:11has come down
00:41:11from 9.7 seconds
00:41:13to about 6.5
00:41:14to 5.7
00:41:15to 2.2
00:41:16last time around
00:41:17Mike Conway
00:41:17is coming
00:41:18in that car number 6
00:41:20yeah
00:41:20Brendan Mike Conway
00:41:21by far and away
00:41:21my star of the race
00:41:22so far
00:41:23there's an inevitability
00:41:24isn't there
00:41:25from what we've seen
00:41:26already
00:41:26about him catching
00:41:27that leading pair
00:41:28and hopefully
00:41:29slicing through
00:41:30and pulling away
00:41:32it's what he did
00:41:32earlier in the race
00:41:33in mixed conditions
00:41:34now we're in the dry
00:41:35I thought that the
00:41:36Toyota might be
00:41:38dropped a little
00:41:38by the leading duo
00:41:39but far from it
00:41:40Conway is reeling
00:41:42them in
00:41:42ok here's the way
00:41:43it works
00:41:44last lap round
00:41:45leader Brendan Hartley
00:41:463 minutes 29.7
00:41:482nd place
00:41:49Leuchte Duval
00:41:503 minutes 29.8
00:41:514th place
00:41:53Sebastian Buemi
00:41:53the 2nd Toyota
00:41:543 minutes 29.6
00:41:56they're doing
00:41:57the same lap times
00:41:583rd place
00:42:00Mike Conway
00:42:003 minutes 26.7
00:42:04the top 4 cars
00:42:05are all doing
00:42:06the same lap times
00:42:07except for Conway
00:42:08who can't help
00:42:09himself but go
00:42:10at least 3 seconds
00:42:11a lap quicker
00:42:12so it's not the car
00:42:13right now
00:42:15it's the star
00:42:16it's the nut loose
00:42:17behind the wheel
00:42:18who is absolutely
00:42:19tearing into our leaders
00:42:22Brendan Hartley
00:42:22from New Zealand
00:42:23and Francis
00:42:24Leuchte Duval
00:42:25and there is always
00:42:26the question
00:42:27at Le Mans
00:42:28with such a long lap
00:42:29and so many cars
00:42:30of different categories
00:42:31on it
00:42:31of who gets
00:42:32the more favourable
00:42:33traffic brakes
00:42:35that dictate
00:42:36whether or not
00:42:37you do a really
00:42:37quick lap time
00:42:38but we're seeing
00:42:39consistently from Conway
00:42:40that he is that
00:42:41chunk quicker
00:42:41so it doesn't
00:42:42necessarily mean
00:42:43he or the car
00:42:43are that much quicker
00:42:44than the leading
00:42:44Duval
00:42:45it means that
00:42:45perhaps he's been
00:42:46more aggressive
00:42:47or just more skillful
00:42:48in how he's carving
00:42:50his way through
00:42:50the traffic
00:42:51the number 7 Audi
00:42:53is back out
00:42:54on pit road
00:42:55it is not even
00:42:56on page 2
00:42:58of our timing screen
00:42:59it has fallen out
00:43:00of the top 50 places
00:43:03Jeremy needs to
00:43:05flick over onto page 3
00:43:06to see how many laps
00:43:07it is behind
00:43:07they will go out
00:43:09and they will continue
00:43:10to try and bring
00:43:11the car to the back
00:43:12or to the end
00:43:13of the race
00:43:13but there's your race
00:43:15leader Brendan Hartley
00:43:16held up behind
00:43:17another LMP2 car
00:43:19and is that going
00:43:20to cost him the lead
00:43:21Leut Duval was less
00:43:23than half a second
00:43:24behind him
00:43:24and is now
00:43:25right with him
00:43:26another open LMP
00:43:28class
00:43:28one of four LMP2
00:43:30cars without a roof
00:43:32over it
00:43:32and that is the
00:43:33Pegasus Racing Machine
00:43:34Lego streaming by him
00:43:36and Brendan Hartley
00:43:38got through
00:43:39but Leut Duval
00:43:40just caught him
00:43:41in the double up curve
00:43:42and Duval
00:43:42has a big moment
00:43:44getting it stopped
00:43:44into the Dunlach
00:43:45chicane
00:43:45in that number 8 car
00:43:47and now the gap
00:43:48Mike Conway
00:43:50was 1.9
00:43:51behind the leader
00:43:52at the line
00:43:53and Leut Duval
00:43:54was 0.69
00:43:56behind the leader
00:43:57so Conway
00:43:58Duval
00:43:59and
00:43:59well
00:44:00Brendan Hartley
00:44:01they were all
00:44:02equidistant
00:44:02but now
00:44:03the Toyota
00:44:04is closing in
00:44:05in the pit lane
00:44:07Simakoppa is down
00:44:09in the pit lane
00:44:09let's try and catch up
00:44:10with Dr. Ulrich
00:44:11and find out
00:44:12exactly what happened
00:44:13to the Audi
00:44:14that is now
00:44:15second to last
00:44:1620 minutes in the box
00:44:2620 minutes in the box
00:44:27what was the problem
00:44:28turbocharger
00:44:30turbocharger
00:44:31unfortunately we had to change it
00:44:34weren't expecting this
00:44:37at all
00:44:38can't tell you
00:44:40the last time
00:44:40we had a turbo
00:44:41problem with the car
00:44:42it's just
00:44:43it's not something
00:44:44you ever think of
00:44:45the crew have done
00:44:45a fantastic job
00:44:46to do it in 20 minutes
00:44:48but
00:44:48unfortunately
00:44:51it's a disaster
00:44:53for the race
00:44:54really not helping at all
00:44:56number 7 car
00:44:57was leading at the time
00:44:58and now it is
00:44:59in fact
00:45:00he says a long way down
00:45:01it's 59th
00:45:02of our 60 cars
00:45:03but the team
00:45:05have the motivation
00:45:05now to try and bring it
00:45:07to the finish line
00:45:08any chance
00:45:13that the same problem
00:45:14might afflict car number 8
00:45:15well we say
00:45:18generally the devil
00:45:18never sleeps
00:45:19but
00:45:19we don't expect
00:45:21the turbos
00:45:21ever to be a problem
00:45:22so we hope
00:45:23it won't be
00:45:24on the number 8 car
00:45:25well
00:45:25Sam Hancock
00:45:27you know
00:45:27as a racing driver
00:45:28if your sister car
00:45:29disappears from the lead
00:45:31and then you never
00:45:31see it again
00:45:32you immediately
00:45:34start to worry
00:45:34about your own car
00:45:35because they're the same
00:45:36they're built to the same
00:45:37unbelievably exacting standard
00:45:40and of course
00:45:41you can have
00:45:41one freak failure
00:45:42but you then
00:45:44have
00:45:44you've got 22 and a quarter hours
00:45:46to worry about
00:45:47the 100 million
00:45:49to one chance
00:45:50happening to your car
00:45:51as well
00:45:51yeah and of course
00:45:52we've seen it plenty
00:45:52oh as we just see
00:45:53a replay here
00:45:55Brendan having to go
00:45:56really defensive
00:45:57as he gets balls
00:45:58passing the LMP2 traffic
00:45:59coming down into the
00:46:00forward chicane
00:46:01Loic Duval
00:46:02desperately trying to
00:46:03seize the moment
00:46:05to get by
00:46:05well that was a lap
00:46:06ago wasn't it
00:46:07we were on board
00:46:08with Hartley at that
00:46:08stage and this is
00:46:09what it looked like
00:46:10from behind
00:46:11from on board
00:46:12Brendan Hartley
00:46:13once he cleared
00:46:13the P2 car
00:46:14we saw nothing
00:46:15he will have known
00:46:16what was in the mirrors
00:46:17and that was
00:46:17Loic Duval's view
00:46:18and you also saw
00:46:19Mike Conway
00:46:20getting held up there
00:46:21and that has dropped
00:46:22him a little behind
00:46:23our lead duo
00:46:24but the top two
00:46:26after two hours
00:46:28of racing
00:46:29very nearly
00:46:29are covered
00:46:30by six seconds
00:46:32conspiracy theorists
00:46:34probably
00:46:34well there is no
00:46:36conspiracy
00:46:37the whole idea
00:46:38of all the rules
00:46:39at the ACO
00:46:40is to try
00:46:41and make
00:46:42as level
00:46:42a playing field
00:46:43in each of the classes
00:46:44as you can
00:46:45and they have
00:46:46balanced
00:46:47different ways
00:46:48of generating
00:46:49carbon fuel energy
00:46:50with different ways
00:46:52of regeneration
00:46:53to try and make sure
00:46:54that everybody
00:46:55has a set maximum
00:46:56and if you do
00:46:57a great engineering
00:46:58job you can use
00:46:58all of it
00:46:59and these are both
00:47:00teams run by
00:47:01great engineers
00:47:02and so they're all
00:47:02using all of it
00:47:03and so it shouldn't
00:47:05be a surprise
00:47:05that they are
00:47:07as good as each other
00:47:08and as good as they are
00:47:09our man on the mission
00:47:10there Conway
00:47:11right up there
00:47:12in the slipstream
00:47:13behind Loic Duval
00:47:14in the number 8 Audi
00:47:15Martin
00:47:15what I was actually
00:47:16referring to
00:47:16was the fact
00:47:17that the Audi
00:47:18ironically
00:47:19got heavily held
00:47:20back and bolt
00:47:20by the GT class Porsche
00:47:22allowing Brendan's Porsche
00:47:23to pull a bit of a cushion
00:47:25as they enter the Porsche curves
00:47:27and not only that
00:47:27Sam Hancock
00:47:28but Brendan Hartley
00:47:29just took the fastest lap
00:47:30of the race
00:47:30as well
00:47:31at 3 minutes 25
00:47:32now 0.779
00:47:34for Brendan Hartley
00:47:35so all of a sudden
00:47:36that gap has gone
00:47:37up to 5 seconds
00:47:38that's a cushion
00:47:39that he will be
00:47:39very happy with
00:47:40at this stage
00:47:41the answer
00:47:42to how far behind
00:47:44is the number 7 Audi
00:47:45is 15 laps completed
00:47:49compared to 21 laps
00:47:51completed by the leader
00:47:52more pit stops
00:47:53in the LMP2 class
00:47:55that's the race leader
00:47:57Rene Rast came in
00:47:58and that is indeed
00:48:00the race leader
00:48:01because the other leaders
00:48:02came in last time around
00:48:04Rene Rast has completed
00:48:05one more lap
00:48:06than Roberto Meri
00:48:08and Mathias Besch
00:48:09and various other guys
00:48:10in the P2 class
00:48:12so
00:48:12which is cycling through
00:48:13now in P2
00:48:14more trouble for Ford
00:48:15which has all cycled
00:48:16Vitaly Petrov
00:48:18to the top
00:48:18of the LMP2 pile
00:48:19in the BR-01 Nissan
00:48:21and which of the Fords
00:48:23is in the garage
00:48:24it's 67
00:48:25it's Andy Prio's car
00:48:26that came in
00:48:27under the yellow flags
00:48:29under the safety car
00:48:30earlier on
00:48:31so 67 Ford
00:48:33has gone into the garage
00:48:34that's the car
00:48:35he shares with
00:48:36Harry Tignall
00:48:36and Marino Franchitti
00:48:38it's an all British entry
00:48:39a Guernseyman
00:48:40a Scott
00:48:41and a Devonian
00:48:43so not an Englishman
00:48:44amongst them
00:48:44but nevertheless
00:48:45that is an all British entry
00:48:47and they have had trouble
00:48:48right from the beginning
00:48:49Conway can't quite
00:48:50get close enough
00:48:51in the braking zone
00:48:52to take a lunge
00:48:53up the inside
00:48:54if it were a sprint race
00:48:56a single seater race
00:48:57you might consider
00:48:58taking that risk
00:48:59but with Nihon
00:49:0122 hours still to go
00:49:03that's probably
00:49:04a risk too far
00:49:05better to hold back
00:49:06sit in the slipstream
00:49:07put the pressure on
00:49:08as he's doing now
00:49:09as they're on the
00:49:10flat out run
00:49:11at 320 km per hour
00:49:13towards Indianapolis
00:49:15slicing through the forest
00:49:17there's no chance
00:49:18to get through here
00:49:19but look out
00:49:20for a position change
00:49:22on the run
00:49:22out of Arnage corner
00:49:23this tight 90 degree
00:49:25first gear right hander
00:49:26that's coming up
00:49:27feels a little bit like ice
00:49:28as you hit the brakes
00:49:29in there
00:49:29the downforce
00:49:30just not working
00:49:31at the slow speed
00:49:32but now he's got a chance
00:49:34heading up
00:49:34into the Porsche curves
00:49:35GT car
00:49:37and a P2 car
00:49:38in front of them
00:49:39and all of these
00:49:40lead drivers
00:49:41have stellar
00:49:42single seater careers
00:49:43behind them
00:49:44and as a result
00:49:45you are seeing them
00:49:46racing as if it is
00:49:48the final stages
00:49:49of a single seater race
00:49:50wheel to wheel
00:49:51no quarter given
00:49:53none asked
00:49:53they're going by
00:49:54the GTE
00:49:56AM class car
00:49:57is that the 98 car
00:49:58isn't it
00:49:59as they lighted up
00:50:01through the Porsche curves
00:50:02stunning battling
00:50:04between these guys
00:50:05and the number 7 car
00:50:06just came past here
00:50:07out on the race track
00:50:08six laps down now
00:50:10to the race leaders
00:50:11so they have a huge amount
00:50:15of work to do
00:50:16even the delayed rebellion
00:50:18and even the bicollars
00:50:20racing car
00:50:20are in front of that
00:50:21number 7 Audi
00:50:22it has got pace
00:50:23but it's not going to win
00:50:25unless something
00:50:26incredibly fortuitous
00:50:29happens to them now
00:50:30and befalls
00:50:31everybody else
00:50:32well just breaking free
00:50:34Brendan Hartley
00:50:34the leader
00:50:35then Loic Duval
00:50:36is now nearly a second
00:50:38in front of Mike Conway
00:50:39who again catches traffic
00:50:41the Dempsey Proton Porsche
00:50:42that really dark black sky
00:50:45in front of them
00:50:46should have passed them by
00:50:49the rain has gone
00:50:51the track is relatively dry
00:50:53and the pressure rising here
00:50:56at Le Mans
00:50:56Rawr
00:51:09Только избранным
00:51:11дано управлять
00:51:12миром
00:51:13наслаждаться
00:51:14непревзойденным
00:51:14уровнем комфорта
00:51:16где самые изысканные
00:51:18материалы
00:51:19сочетаются
00:51:20с передовыми
00:51:20технологиями
00:51:22The new BMW 7 series. The most innovative BMW.
00:52:04Come here and visit my world, hit us trees, shining stars, our love is the only way, don't get lost cause I'm winning, summer feelings I'm waiting for, you and me it's more than 100 more.
00:52:25Лето – это момент. Наслассим. Пепси.
00:52:34Звучит, как спорткар.
00:52:38Дарит чувство спорткара.
00:52:41Маневренный, как спорткар.
00:52:44И герб на нем – свидетельство спорткара.
00:52:47Porsche Macan. Для тех, кто верит, что каждый автомобиль Porsche – это спорткар.
00:52:52Все, что нужно, чтобы быть готовым к приключениям, которые вам и не снились.
00:53:04Аутвенчер. Приключение начинается.
00:53:07Звучит, как спорткар.
00:53:18Дарит чувство спорткара.
00:53:21Маневренный, как спорткар.
00:53:24И герб на нем – свидетельство спорткара.
00:53:27Porsche Macan. Для тех, кто верит, что каждый автомобиль Porsche – это спорткар.
00:53:32Дарит чувство спорткара.
00:54:02На одной из величайших гонок в мире.
00:54:0924 часа Лимана.
00:54:11В прямом эфире на Евроспорт 1 и Евроспорт Плеер.
00:54:32Игорь Прио.
00:54:33Диана.
00:54:33Игорь Прио.
00:54:35Игорь Прио.
00:54:37Игорь Прио.
00:54:39lap stint is that as much as we anticipate getting out of an Audi I think it might be
00:54:43it's it's interesting to see how long they they can manage but certainly that car is coming in
00:54:50now it last pitted on the same lap as car number one so the Porsche the race leader is certainly
00:54:56doing one more lap than the number eight car I think that's what we expected I think we expected
00:55:03that Toyota could do 14 on the stint Mike Conway in the Toyota in second number five there you're
00:55:08looking at Sebastian Buemi in third as the number 64 Corvette of Ollie Gavin gets dumped by yet
00:55:14another car in fact no he's gone in front of pole sit in the GTE pro class Dirk Moller on board with
00:55:1968 now all of the talk this morning was about the ACO not taking enough performance away from Ford
00:55:27and Ferrari in the GT classes and suddenly we've got one Ford making another garage visit the pole
00:55:34sitting Ford GT just being passed by Ollie Gaff's ostensibly slower Corvette so has it made a
00:55:41difference is the increasing temperature bringing up the ambient barometric pressure to rob Ford of
00:55:47some of its boost level it looks like it's going to be maybe more of a straight fight than we had
00:55:53anticipated well they lost they were they lost some boost through the midsection of their rev range but
00:55:59the boost pressure allowed remained untouched at the very top end so when they're flat out down the
00:56:04straights there's not really any difference the problem is everybody else had less power than them
00:56:10off the corners so headlights flashing from behind is that our race leader car number one Brendan Hartley
00:56:17it's about the right place for him to be on board with Oliver Gavin Yardley Hastings finest Corvette racer
00:56:24yeah and in GTE pro Fred Makovicki in car number 92 still leads but that gap now to Richard Westbrook in the best of the
00:56:31Ford's car number 69 is down to just two and a half seconds so Richard Westbrook has really been closing in there in the second place
00:56:38and not too far back either are both James Collado and in the car number 51 and the other Ferrari
00:56:46Chuccarlo Fisichella that's number 82 car for Easy Competizione in the LMP2 by the way Roberta Meri leads once again for
00:56:53Manor Motorsport after that round of pit stops but the deficit or the gap between those two uh went from uh 10 seconds to 22 seconds down to
00:57:0314 now leader in here comes the Porsche down pit road Brendan Hartley from Palmerston North in the
00:57:10the lion of the long white cloud the Kiwi brings the car onto pit road and unless Mike Conway follows him
00:57:17in and he does not we will have a Toyota 1-2 Mike Conway takes the lead also on pit road for Jeremy's information
00:57:25I was at 61 uh missed out of that I was 41 coming in in the LMP2 class and that is the Greaves Motorsport
00:57:34Lugier Nissan but here is the car that was our race leader Kiwi Brendan Hartley door open
00:57:41but not drivers door open so they're just changing and topping up that'll be oil uh pressurized oil
00:57:48canister and pressurized drinks canister as well Hartley stays in our overall and LMP1 hybrid race leader
00:57:56and so Toyota now one two Mike Conway ahead of teammate Sebastian Buemi by 21 and a half seconds
00:58:06as the Porsche rolls out of pit road it's strange that Sebastian Buemi hasn't really been able to show
00:58:13the same sort of pace as Conway and it seems to be a situation mirrored somewhat in the Porsche camp with
00:58:19Dumas pace just quite apparently lacking compared to what Harley's been able to do so far
00:58:26we were discussing off air if the teams are playing a tortoise and hare strategy what is it really
00:58:32that they would do to either allow one of them to go a bit quicker or with help withhold the other and
00:58:37the only thing that I can really think that might be prevalent is setting the cars up to be more
00:58:43friend one of the cars up to be more friendly in the rain which will make it a little bit slower in the dry
00:58:50the problem is the forecast is for a predominantly dry race which means it's going to murder its dry
00:58:56weather tires even if it is a little bit better and if it's only going to be a quarter wet and you're
00:59:02giving away performance for three quarters of the race that doesn't sound to be like much of a trade-off
00:59:08you're right though you can't add more performance to the car because that's illegal so the only thing
00:59:14you can do is to have one that's going at maximum 100 percent and one that's going at less than
00:59:19maximum and i'm not sure that you want to do that either a 67 ford gt prototype is in the pit lane
00:59:27let's get down and talk to its chief engineer and find out what's the story
00:59:33yeah dave perisica you had the problems with the gearbox before is it the same problem again it is the
00:59:38same problem we uh we thought it was temperature related so we thought we had it fixed apparently it's
00:59:42more than that so we're going to have to tear the gearbox apart right now and see what we can do so
00:59:46we're taking the side of it off and we're going to rebuild it we'll get it back out on the track
00:59:50so you're getting back out of the track uh you want to finish this race no matter what
00:59:53we are going to finish this race so it might take us about a half hour 45 minutes i don't know yet
00:59:58but we will be back out there thank you very much thank you and in the insats
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