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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#LeMans2016
#24hLeMans
#EnduranceRacing
#MotorsportHistory
#ToyotaVsPorsche
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SportsTranscript
00:00:00Richard Westbrook gets in front of Fred Makovici, you also saw the race leader almost falling over the Algarve Pro Racing, Lugier Nissan, Chris Hoy is driving, and Antonio Pizzitola who's driving that on board in the Porsche, and Fred Mako was a bit disparaging about the balance of performance at lunchtime, and that's exactly what he was saying, he said they just drive past you and go away.
00:00:27Comprehensively blown away on the straightaway there was Fred in the Porsche, and you can see the difference there from on board that Porsche.
00:00:36Also talking about Porsches in GTE-AM, it's Patrick Long who leads now in car number 78, from number 78 of Wolf Hensler, and Adam Carroll now up into third place in car number 86, that's the Golf Racing Machine, and behind him in fourth now is number 55, of course a Ferrari, Matt Griffin, currently at the wheel of that car.
00:00:58Jeremy will want to make a note to the fact that Paulus Chattin has just stopped in the number 23, Lugier Nissan, that's the new team to Le Mans, Panis Barthes, with Olivier Panis and Fabien Barthes, France's World Cup winning goalkeeper, not only owner but also driver.
00:01:15In two come number 40, the Krone Racing, Lugier Nissan, not Lugier Chattin anymore, and number 2, Romain Dumas in the Porsche from third place, leaving both Toyotas still out, 1-2 on the racetrack, and yet to match their rivals by making a second stop.
00:01:33And the GTE Pro class leader, Richard Westbrook's Ford GT, coming into the pit lane right in front of our booth, allowing Mack Vicky, who he's just displaced, back into the lead of that class.
00:01:44Yeah, so Fred Marko stays out a lap longer at least, and you know, this is generally the balance in a road car, isn't it?
00:01:51If you've got an Aston Martin V12, it's going to go faster, but less far on the same tank as fuel as a 2-litre Ford Focus, so that's the deal here as well.
00:02:03The faster you want to go, the harder you have to force your car through the air, and the more energy you need, and each car is only allowed a certain amount of fuel in the tank, and therefore, if you're going quicker, you tend to stop more frequently.
00:02:16It is that balance.
00:02:18Now, having just seen the Ford GT in the pit garage, we just heard from the team there that they had a gearbox problem.
00:02:24Is that, do we think, what Andy Priot was referring to under the safety car laps before the race went green, when he said to the guys over the radio,
00:02:32don't panic, nothing to be worried about, but just for your information, there is a slight harshness that I'm hearing and feeling from the rear of the car.
00:02:41Yeah, every time he's pulling the shifter and it's going up a gear, clang, clang, I mean, it's not like that, but it's not exactly the way it should be.
00:02:54Yeah, it should be okay.
00:02:55There you go, Mike Conway succinct.
00:03:01That's kind of the polite Mike Conway version of leave me alone, I know what I'm doing.
00:03:06But that was a genuine question, that wasn't a time waster, that wasn't for race control, that was a genuine, do you want fresh rubber?
00:03:14No, I think we're good to go.
00:03:16It's not very hot, and it's not damp, and so therefore, if he's feeling the love, bear in mind that the allocation per prototype car is not enough to single stint all the way through.
00:03:30You must double stint the tyres in the dry, if you assume it's going to be a dry race all the way through.
00:03:35Of course, we already know it hasn't been, but there's not enough to keep going, and so that's a genuine question.
00:03:41Are we good to double stint on those?
00:03:43Yeah, we're good to go.
00:03:44Yeah, indeed, Martin Havener, and furthermore, we're expecting the teams here to triple stint their tyres through this race, if not even quadruple stint, so that'll be two pitstops, if not three, between each time they change tyres.
00:03:56Ten's poised, because the Toyota team are poised, and this will be Mike Conway when he comes in as the race leader.
00:04:02Now, behind him, Sebastian Mbwemi, who appears to have been asleep, has just set the purple sector time in sector two.
00:04:09So, down the Mulsanne Strait and up towards Indianapolis sector to the race, he is the fastest car so far in the race in that sector, which suggests that, A, it's very good in terms of overall grip level.
00:04:21His tyres are good to go, and he's in his last dregs of fuel.
00:04:25Now, he might come in this lap, he might come in in one more lap, they're ready for him there, so he's going to come in now as well.
00:04:30He does come down pit road, Toyota are stopping in sync, car number five, car number six, both in the pit lane together, as they did at their first stop.
00:04:39And they, therefore, have done 26 laps each, so that was a 14-lap stint on this fuel tank for both cars, which is what we anticipated would be the case.
00:04:52Yeah, compared to the 13 for each of the Porsches, and 12 only for the Audi.
00:05:01For the Audi.
00:05:02Yeah.
00:05:03How often do we say that?
00:05:04We haven't even had a cup of tea and a piece of cake yet.
00:05:07It's five o'clock in the evening, we're down to the Audi, and I'm not sure...
00:05:12Well, the other one's out there, but it's six laps down.
00:05:14Yeah, it's on a timing screen that we never look to, because that's for the cars that have retired.
00:05:18We have yet to wield the marker of doom.
00:05:21I have the purple pentail pound of mild disappointment, with which I'm circling number seven, but the marker of doom has yet to be raised.
00:05:29Now, still a very, very threatening-looking sky.
00:05:33Predominantly, the weather is still coming from the pit lane back towards that part of the circuit, but it could turn.
00:05:40We just had the leaders from the GTE Pro-Class.
00:05:45Fred McAviki come into the pit, followed immediately by James Collado's Ferrari, the second-place car.
00:05:51And Giancarlo Fisichella's third-place Ferrari, and Sandburg's fourth-place Ferrari.
00:05:56So, that's how far the Ferraris can go on fuel, I think we can assume.
00:06:01Porsche 2.
00:06:02The gap between the top four cars in a GTE Pro-Class, just seconds.
00:06:08Yeah.
00:06:09The biggest gap between any of the top four is three seconds, seven seconds, actually, from third down to fourth-place Dirk Muller.
00:06:18So, there is one of your Ferrari, that's the 51 car, so that's James Collado, who brought the car in from second place in the GTE Pro-Class, behind Fred McAvici's Porsche, who in turn are taking it over from Dirk Muller's Ford, which stopped a little earlier, and now pops back to the top of the Pro-Class.
00:06:37Nottingham, Anglia.
00:06:44За неделю до Wimbledon'a, устроитесь поудобнее и наслаждайтесь красивой игрой.
00:06:50С понедельника в прямом эфире на Евроспорт-1.
00:06:53ATP Nottingham.
00:07:07Where can we break get?
00:07:08Where can we break?
00:07:10Where can we lick?
00:07:11Where can we break?
00:07:13Where can we break?
00:07:13There you go, youille.
00:07:16Where can we cut?
00:07:18Where can we break?
00:07:18Or will all be a tree cert jeeperd Салимов.
00:07:22RING James ending this year's death?
00:07:25The future I'll be back to you.
00:07:29Where can we break this wrestlers high because its first man's스테 pais perde?
00:07:31At least thenenstholm, who monts gymnastics is up there, and with a variety of other things we catch in action against the 유�usz ???
00:08:05Oh my God.
00:08:35Oh my God.
00:09:05Oh my God.
00:09:35Oh my God.
00:10:05Oh my God.
00:10:07Oh my God.
00:10:09Oh my God.
00:10:11Oh my God.
00:10:15Oh my God.
00:10:17Oh my God.
00:10:19Oh my God.
00:10:21Oh my God.
00:10:23Oh my God.
00:10:25Oh my God.
00:10:29Oh my God.
00:10:31Oh my God.
00:10:33Oh my God.
00:10:35Oh my God.
00:10:37Oh my God.
00:10:39Oh my God.
00:10:41Oh my God.
00:10:43Oh my God.
00:10:45Oh my God.
00:10:47Oh my God.
00:10:49Oh my God.
00:10:51Oh my God.
00:10:55Oh my God.
00:10:57Oh my God.
00:10:59Oh my God.
00:11:01Oh my God.
00:11:05Oh my God.
00:11:07Oh my God.
00:11:09a Gibson chassis driven by Jake Dennis making his Le Mans debut today he only just turned 21 years
00:11:15old and in front of him as a sort of benchmark if you will the car we're looking at now René Rast
00:11:20he is one of the world's top drivers he's Audi's backup driver he's in terms of sports car racing
00:11:27absolutely at the pinnacle Jake meanwhile just a few feet behind him down the road and between them
00:11:34number 47 Richard Bradley so that is a battle for position René Rast is fourth in LMP2 Richard Bradley
00:11:40fifth Jake Dennis in sixth position they can see each other one Aston Martin in between them in front
00:11:48of them the LMP2 class leader is Roberto Mary in the Manor motorsport car Matthias Bession second
00:11:53and another Gibson chassis Elsterman Johnny Kane in third now he's just missed the kickoff of Northern
00:11:59Ireland Ukraine I sort of expected him half half expected him to pit and get out and go in and
00:12:06watch the footy however he's a football fan second even though it's been a while since he's had
00:12:13Northern Ireland team in a major championship to uh to cheer and uh just note here last time around
00:12:19Brendan Hartley turned his best lap of the race at a 325.2 that and he had you remember a little while
00:12:26again he said the fastest lap of the race well the fastest lap has been said a couple of laps ago
00:12:30by Benoit Trillier in car number seven so that repaired Audi is the fastest car out there at 325.008
00:12:38for Benoit Trillier but he is six laps behind and not yet even on the uh second page of our timing
00:12:45system here now the other Audi which is currently lying in third place Leutte Duval's number eight
00:12:50machine which has been up and down in the lead group 326.4 on the last lap the leader did a 28.2
00:12:57second place Mike Conway a 29.6 now all of that some of that most of that is where you catch slower
00:13:04cars and with a 60 car entry 58 of which at least are running healthily still there's a lot of cars
00:13:11to catch Sam there is and speaking of cars trying to catch each other we're riding on board and
00:13:16the meat in the sandwich of the battle for fourth place in GTE pro right now that was on board with
00:13:22Dirk Mueller in the 4GT as he chases down Sam Bird's AF Corsa Ferrari and being dropped actually just
00:13:32behind them last year's outright race winner Earl Bamber moved from the prototype categories to GTs for
00:13:38this year's race he was holding his own but as it's starting to become an all too frequent sight
00:13:46the Porsche just being dropped quite visibly by the Ferrari and the Ford GT yeah I misled Jeremy by
00:13:54the way last lap it was 63 that came in that was the uh car uh the 63 Corvette of Antonio Garcia
00:14:03and Ollie Gavin still out in the 64 car and Ford and Ferrari certainly have the performance upper
00:14:10hand in the GTE pro class well the whole idea again of the ACO's rule makers is to allow you to bring
00:14:17any kind of car and then to try and balance power weight speed across the class and it doesn't seem
00:14:25as though they've quite managed to get it right because Ford and Ferrari whenever they have the
00:14:31opportunity can leave the Porsche as the Corvettes and the Aston Martins behind you just got a good
00:14:36illustration there we saw Sam Bird's Ferrari coming out of the Porsche cars running very wide beyond the
00:14:42white line onto what is deeply corrugated tarmac it sends a awful vibration that ricochets through the
00:14:50whole car shaking your teeth and what happened there is he was passed in the middle of the corner by the
00:14:57LMP2 car in front and that even to a GT car that you know they have less downforce than the prototypes
00:15:03but they still rely on downforce quite a lot and when you follow so closely behind you lose that so
00:15:09it will have come through the left-hander with an arm full of understeer unable to keep the car on the line
00:15:15he was aiming for well again more LMP2 battles this is the Panis Bartes car that's been lapped in fact so
00:15:23number 23 car or was it was that no that's 25 behind so this is the battle for 10th place Paul
00:15:29Luchatain ahead of Andrea Pizzitola and Nico Lapierre in 36 in fact was not lapping them he's jumped both of them
00:15:36that darker blue car is the Alpine Nissan of yeah 36 cars just moved up two spots now our GT pro battle
00:15:46who's saying Sam Bird in fourth position in the Ferrari the classes have been led by Richard Westbrook's Ford
00:15:52James Collado and Giancarlo Fisichella second and third for Ferrari Birdie in fourth place for the
00:15:58Ferrari team Dirk Muller's Ford and Earl Bamba's Porsche fifth and sixth and of course this is very different
00:16:03from what his day job is Sam Birdo it's a bit questionable to argue what his day job is
00:16:08is his day job racing an AF course a Ferrari in the world insurance championship or is his day job
00:16:13racing for DS Virgin in Formula E but you can hardly imagine two more different kind of atmospheres to be
00:16:21in in terms of the noise and the feeling of the car yeah that's what I love about the career of so
00:16:26many guys that are able to be oh just we look down at the bird's eye view now there's a spill and there's
00:16:31that was that the fire was is that the fire they were worried about has fuel spilled on the red hot
00:16:36brakes or was that just a stab of flame from the side exhaust whatever they're trying to get the
00:16:41Beach Dean car Andrew Howard and crew oh that's not a good camera shot even though after only two hours
00:16:47of the race that really gives you the willies the Beach Dean Aston Martin heads back out that's an
00:16:53AM class car Andrew Howard reigning British GT champion sharing with Liam Griffin and Gary Hirsch
00:16:59and in fact his British GT champion partner is also in the race also racing in an Aston Martin just not in
00:17:09the same team Paul Ushatan just holding off Antonio Pizzitola but you can see the car the Alpine that was
00:17:17behind is now just vamoost absolutely cleared off yeah and that was Nico Lapierre which is hardly a surprise
00:17:24he was one of Peugeot's works drivers he raced Peugeot's for Ooglu Shonak as well Lapierre is an absolutely
00:17:31a grade platinum plus plus driver you could put him in a Toyota a Porsche or an Audi and he certainly
00:17:39would match anything they've got in terms of driver lineup yeah and Pizzitola there just in that that
00:17:45light of blue Ligier running behind in the shop we're looking at he is teammates to Britain's greatest
00:17:52ever Olympian Sir Chris Hoy who I was chatting to earlier on looking cool as a cucumber as he just
00:17:58made a few final changes to his seat insert Pizzitola charges down the inside in the braking zone down into
00:18:06Molsan Corner a nice clean textbook move there no defensive driving from the Bartos car in front
00:18:13everybody wanting to keep as clean as possible at this early race because we've got an awful long way to go
00:18:22and go through tires
00:18:33and go through tires
00:21:10And still highly A, sexy, and B, very, very competitive.
00:21:14He lies third in class behind Matthias Besch and Roberto Mary, who are both in Orica chassis, built by Oudu Shonak's team here at Le Mans.
00:21:22In fact, almost all the LMP2 cars are built here in Le Mans because the Ligiers are built by Oudu Shonak Engineering, which is the sort of remains of Pescarolo here.
00:21:33And they are also based at the Technopark at Le Mans.
00:21:37I don't want to harp on about it too much.
00:21:39You do.
00:21:39Fantastic.
00:21:40Fantastic.
00:21:41I'm going to anyway.
00:21:42I'm just keeping an eye on Jake Dennis because he's in the midst of traffic there.
00:21:46It won't be something that he's experienced previously in his single seater career, as successful as he's been.
00:21:51And to find yourself making your Le Mans debut, he took the start of the race.
00:21:55He had to face the most challenging mixed conditions, including horrendous rain.
00:22:00And he's there in the middle of multi-class battles, multi-class traffic, and he was working it very cleverly, getting out of the way of the prototypes without impeding his own progress,
00:22:11and just ever so subtly wafting the car across the road to make it clear to the GT cars that the line was very much his into the next corners.
00:22:21This is a hell of a debut, and so far he and Mike Conway are my standout drivers of the race.
00:22:26Well, you can hardly imagine looking at the track now that at 3 o'clock this afternoon it was barely survivable, never mind raceable.
00:22:35We had the safety car out for 50 minutes.
00:22:37We had one green flag lap in the first hour of, quote, racing, and suddenly the track has become dry and very raceable, and the pace is really reflecting that.
00:22:49We're down into the, with our race leaders, 3 minutes 27, Brendan Hartley leading for Porsche, Mike Conway second for Toyota, Lloyd Duval third for Audi.
00:22:58In the LMP2 class, just as tight a battle.
00:23:01And talking to fast lap times, Brendan Trullier has reset the fastest lap of the race, six laps down he may be, but a 3.24.363 last time around for the Frenchman in car number seven.
00:23:17So still a three-second lap lead now for Brendan Hartley in car number one over for Porsche, over the Toyota of Mike Conway.
00:23:26Lloyd Duval is closing in a little bit over the last couple of lapses, within a couple of seconds again now, in third place in car number eight.
00:23:34And a big, big gap, 22 seconds still back to Sebastian Buemi in the second of the Toyotas, and then another 12 seconds back to the second of the Porsches, Roma Dumas.
00:23:45And I'm certainly surprised to see how the differential has been between each of those two teammates.
00:23:51Sorry to interrupt you there, Jeremy.
00:23:52Just again, Loic Duval was doing what we've seen him do a couple of times already this race, putting the whole car off onto the side of the road.
00:24:01And it looks like it's tarmac and it should be no problem.
00:24:03You're just going over a painted white line, but it's not.
00:24:05It's coarse surface over there with loose stones.
00:24:08If he continues to do that, I really feel he is rolling the dice and upping the risk of getting a puncture.
00:24:17Well, you have to, though, don't you?
00:24:18You can't avoid using the runoff areas when there is this much traffic.
00:24:24You just have to kind of hope that it's all going to be okay.
00:24:27Well, during the course of the race, obviously a lot of people do it, and eventually it clears up and it's quite a clean surface to use.
00:24:34But right now, he is just 2.4 seconds behind Conway's Toyota and having to take every opportunity he can to keep in touch.
00:24:49Earl Bamber towing up behind the number 71 Ferrari of Sam Bird.
00:24:53Pulls out of the slipstream with a speed advantage.
00:24:56Hits the air.
00:24:57Has to tuck back in again.
00:24:58Didn't quite have enough speed or room, but he's all over Birdie's Ferrari at the moment.
00:25:03Earl Bamber, one of last year's race winners.
00:25:06Nick Tandy is here as well.
00:25:07And their partner in the car is in Baku in Azerbaijan because that's what he has to do for his day job.
00:25:14Amazing, isn't it?
00:25:15Even in the slipstream, I mean, wow, am I having to eat humble pie for my words earlier on.
00:25:22As he pulls out of the slipstream, is he able to have, does he have the crumb?
00:25:25He does.
00:25:26Wow, yeah.
00:25:27Just when I was about to say that he can't make the pass on the Ferrari, he can.
00:25:31Ah, but this isn't a 4-8-8.
00:25:34It is.
00:25:35It's a pro car.
00:25:36He had the line and he had the grip under him and Sam was offline going into Indianapolis.
00:25:42Do you want to go into Indianapolis offline?
00:25:44No.
00:25:45You have to roll off the throttle.
00:25:46Because Earl got on the outside going into the corner.
00:25:51He had the grip on the road.
00:25:53He had the line.
00:25:54He had the only survivable line at full speed.
00:25:56And so, Birdie, OK, let him go.
00:25:59I'll sit behind him and we'll go and have another go at it.
00:26:02Curious to know, though, what's happening to Sam Bird.
00:26:04Because, right, his last lap around was a 3 minutes 58.
00:26:08The best, the last lap around for Earl Bam was a 3.57.3, which is his best lap of the race so far.
00:26:14The leaders, meanwhile, in GTE Pro, Richard Westbrook, that would be right now, in 69.
00:26:19He's just at his best lap of the race at 3.54.7 last time.
00:26:24And a 56 this time and a 55 for James Collado, who's second.
00:26:28Could we venture the option that perhaps they haven't got the ideal slick on for these conditions?
00:26:35Because the track was probably, I don't know, at least 10, maybe 15 degrees cooler when it started going wet to dry.
00:26:42Would they have gone for a hard slick if it had been dry all the way and they went for a soft slick,
00:26:49which is maybe starting to yield a little in its second stint?
00:26:53I mean, the sun is out and the temperature is definitely picking up.
00:26:56If they went for the harder slick tyre compound, you know, a stint and a half ago.
00:27:02Well, the hard would be better now, but the soft, I'm saying, if they went for the soft because the track temperature was so low,
00:27:08maybe now it's just actually starting to give up more than a hard would have done.
00:27:13But maybe a hard wouldn't have survived because the track temperature was so low when they made the call to slicks.
00:27:20Well, we're seeing a lot of fastest laps of each individual car's race panning out at the moment.
00:27:26The timing screens are peppered with blue.
00:27:29That means it's the fastest lap that that car has set so far, especially so in the LMP2 category.
00:27:35And a slew of driver changes as well.
00:27:37Well, Ryan DL, first stint for him in the 31 car, I think.
00:27:41Hope Pintung is out in 35.
00:27:43Your own Blake and Merlin at a 48.
00:27:45Nick Jonson, this is the Baikola's racing car that caught fire in the first night's qualifying session.
00:27:53Nick Minasio now in the BR01, the SMP Racing LMP2 car.
00:27:57So he's also, I think, doing his first stint.
00:28:00And on pit road, number seven Audi, the very, very, very, very delayed car that has yet to trouble the top 50, Jeremy.
00:28:08And very, very, very, very fast as well.
00:28:10Because Brendan O'Trullier just sent another fastest lap of the race before he comes into the pit lane.
00:28:16We're now at a 3.23.524.
00:28:20That compares to our race leader last time around.
00:28:23We turned a 3.30 in traffic there for Brendan Hartley.
00:28:27But Brendan O'Trullier doesn't seem to be finding any traffic these last three or four laps
00:28:31because he's set a new fastest lap of the race in, what, three of the last six laps.
00:28:37That's quite some drop-off of pace at the front of the field, isn't it?
00:28:40Although Brendan Hartley, as I say that, just punches in his fastest sector two time.
00:28:46Where has the number seven car been for six laps?
00:28:49Not on the same set of tyres, whereas all the leaders have been on the same set of slicks since it went wet to dry.
00:28:57That car was in the garage.
00:29:00Guaranteed it's on the right tyres for a hot track, not a cold, damp track.
00:29:04And the right set of tyres.
00:29:05So he's got better tyres.
00:29:07And he's got turbochargers to work, which he didn't have before.
00:29:10But I guarantee if they are on a softer wet for the wet to dry period, he's not.
00:29:17He's on a harder wet for the hotter track.
00:29:19And that is why he's using the car to such great effect.
00:29:24Yeah, and also, you know, they're sitting in the garage with time to make small setup tweaks if they want to
00:29:30whilst they're also repairing the car.
00:29:32And they might just say, well, let's take a gamble.
00:29:34We're going full, aggressive, dry race setup.
00:29:37And that in itself is worth probably a couple of seconds, a lap, over a compromise setup that has to deal with some inevitable rain that we knew before the race started we were going to have at some point.
00:29:49And, Sam, you were just talking about blue lap times showing up.
00:29:52We've just done that, exactly that, for each of the top three cars.
00:29:56Brendan Hartley just had his best lap of the race at 3.24.9.
00:30:01Second place car of Mike Conway, 3.24.8.
00:30:04And the third place car of Lloyd Duval in the Audi, 3.25.4.
00:30:09That is his best lap also.
00:30:11And look at this.
00:30:12Three wide behind Conway because here comes Lloyd Duval in the number eight Audi.
00:30:17He's not hanging around, is he?
00:30:20There's an LMP2 battle still wheel to wheel down the straight.
00:30:23And Mike Conway down into the first chicane, just inches in front of Lloyd Duval.
00:30:30There was less than a second between the blind.
00:30:32Those red lights on the side of the car, that denotes that it's an LMP1 class car.
00:30:38One light for your class leader.
00:30:40Two for second.
00:30:41Three for third.
00:30:42Well, Mike Conway setting the timing screens.
00:30:45The lights trying to close down race leader Brendan Hartley.
00:30:48Let's get down to the Toyota pit catch-up with Conway's teammate, Komui Kobayashi.
00:30:55Komui, you've had a lot of experience in Formula One.
00:30:58But this is your first time at Le Mans in an LMP1 car.
00:31:02How are you finding it?
00:31:04Yeah, I'm not still racing yet for today.
00:31:06But I think actually we're looking pretty good.
00:31:10So, you know, I think it's just so we keep going and we see what happens.
00:31:13It's still a long way to go.
00:31:15So you cannot say it to an early moment.
00:31:16But I think, I'd say we're in good shape.
00:31:19Well, definitely Mike Conway was doing some very impressive times in the changeable conditions.
00:31:24Do you feel you have a good, balanced car for this race?
00:31:27Yeah, I think any control we have from practice, I think we are quite strong.
00:31:30So I think we have confidence for it.
00:31:32From Komui Kobayashi, we saw a change for second in the GTE class between the two Ferraris.
00:31:46The red car of Giancarlo Fisichella right in front of us now as we ride on board with Britain's James Collado.
00:31:51Dirk Muller lies fourth for Ford.
00:31:53Sam Bird fifth for Ferrari.
00:31:55Earl Bamba still can't get back past Birdie's car.
00:31:58He is sixth in the Porsche.
00:32:00But it is Richard Westbrook's number 69 Ford that is the class leader in the GTE Pro class.
00:32:06And he is the better part of a minute in front of this all-Ferrari battle for second place.
00:32:13And, of course, that reflects 50 years ago when Ford brought GT40s to Le Mans to beat Ferrari,
00:32:18to wipe the smile off Enzo's face when he refused to sell the company to Henry Ford.
00:32:24And it is those numbers on the Fords, 66, 67, 68, 69,
00:32:29that reflect the years in which Ford won Le Mans outright with the GT40s.
00:32:34Well, there is yellow highlights.
00:32:37Is that 69?
00:32:39Which of the Fords has got the yellow highlights?
00:32:41We've got a spinner.
00:32:42Oh, we've got a spinner.
00:32:43It's 69.
00:32:44That was the race leader in.
00:32:45So they have closed a lot on the Ford because he was supposed to be a minute in front.
00:32:50Who was the spinner?
00:32:51That was, I didn't quite see the side of the car,
00:32:54so it was one of the LMP2 cars down at Mulsanne.
00:32:57Well, these two Ferraris battling for second in the GTE Pro class.
00:33:01You see the Ferrari in front, the red car runs up over the curbs,
00:33:04loses a bit of grip, not enough room down into Arnage for James Collado to get back past.
00:33:10But the Ford in front of that shot, that last shot,
00:33:13that was the class leader that started the lap a minute in front.
00:33:17So there may be drama boiling there.
00:33:19Battle for second.
00:33:20We saw the 8 of Lloyd Duval closing in on car number 6 of Mike Conway.
00:33:25Remember before the pit stops, the engineer coming on and saying to Mike,
00:33:29are the tyres good for another stint?
00:33:31He said, yes, I think so.
00:33:33Well, they're going to survive, but they do seem to be losing a bit of pace.
00:33:36Here's the number 60 Ferrari that came in with that left front corner problem earlier on
00:33:42and is down in, I think it's about 59th place or 60th place.
00:33:48And that battle we were watching here for the second place overall
00:33:52between number 6, Toyota Mike Conway and Lloyd Duval in the Audi Carnival 8.
00:33:58They are inching closer and closer and closer to our race leader, Brendan Hartley.
00:34:03You can't quite see him in that picture there.
00:34:06But the gap has come down.
00:34:07There he is.
00:34:08Five laps ago, it was five seconds between first and second.
00:34:11Now it's less than two.
00:34:13Yeah, I'm intrigued as to why Brendan's cushions keeps fluctuating.
00:34:17His pace has been fluctuating by as much as five, six, seven seconds a lap.
00:34:22And I just wonder if they've got an issue perhaps with a hybrid system
00:34:26where they have to manage perhaps a battery or an issue or something in the recovery system.
00:34:32Well, I think it might be traffic related,
00:34:35but on the other hand, it could be down to tyres as traffic as well.
00:34:52I think it might be traffic related, but on the other hand, it could be down to tyres as well.
00:35:22Oh, my God.
00:35:52Oh, my God.
00:35:53Oh, my God.
00:36:04Oh, my God.
00:39:39And he was just so chilled out.
00:39:42There's a number eight Audi of Loic Duval robbing us from a fantastic on-screen duel between the top three that was separated by just three seconds.
00:39:50Loic Duval into pit lane now for a stop.
00:39:54Will this also be a driver change and, I guess, a tyre change?
00:40:00This is the second stop, so this is the end of his second stint, so he could well stay in.
00:40:08We were asked on Twitter, now that it's not raining, why are the rain lights on?
00:40:12Clearly, Eduardo Freitas is reading our Twitter feed because on the race director's screen, it now says, as race was declared wet, race lights must stay on as per regulations, which means if you turn them off, they're going to black flag you and put you into the pits to turn them back on, or they give you a black and white flag.
00:40:32So what happens when you have a 24-hour race that just happens to start in the pouring rain, but an hour later is bright sunshine and continues to be bright sunshine for the next 23 hours?
00:40:41It means that the race director doesn't have to red flag the race for rain, should it rain.
00:40:47He also doesn't have to tell you to turn your red lights on because they're on already, so that's one less piece of homework to do.
00:40:53Looking at the battle for first, second and third in the GTE Pro Class with an L&P2 car in it.
00:40:58Third is the multicoloured Ferrari, that's Great Britain's James Collado.
00:41:02Second in the, of course, Rosso Corsa red Ferrari is Giancarlo Fisichella because an Italian wouldn't drive any other colour Ferrari.
00:41:09But the leader is Richard Westbrook, and he is now 1.8 seconds in front of the Ferrari.
00:41:15He was 10 seconds clear of anybody, and James, Richard Westbrook, after the pit stops, was nearly 20 seconds clear of the rest of the field.
00:41:24That's a massive margin the Ford has lost.
00:41:26Well, it's been fairly constant over the last half-dozen laps or so.
00:41:31It's just come down a little bit now.
00:41:32It was about two and a half seconds, certainly less than that right now.
00:41:34But certainly those three cars are edging well away from Dirk Mühle of the Polsitter, now in car number 68.
00:41:43I was just going to say, Brendan Hartley there, a new Purple Sector time in lap, in the middle sector on this lap.
00:41:51That is the main straight, all the way down to Mulsanne.
00:41:54And also, just to make a note, the Audi there was on pit lane on lap 36.
00:41:59So this time it ran 13 laps between pit stops, whereas the last sequence, it managed only 12 laps.
00:42:05Yeah, and we just had the third-place GTE pro car, James Collado.
00:42:09We're rightly on board with him now, coming into pit lane.
00:42:13Kind of incredible racing.
00:42:15We've been going for two and a half-odd hours in the overall rankings.
00:42:20The top two are separated by just 2.096 seconds.
00:42:25And in the GTE pro class, the top two are separated by 1.7 seconds.
00:42:31Really, really close racing all the way through the field.
00:42:33James Collado gets out, double stinting the GT car.
00:42:37And didn't see whose helmet was getting in, but it will tell us in a moment or two.
00:42:41Ford leading, Ferrari second, and now Ford up to third with Dirk Miller.
00:42:46Sam Burns, Ferrari in fourth, head of Earl Bamber.
00:42:49And the 66 car of Olivier Playa behind.
00:42:52Well, that's early for kind of a 51, certainly because he was last in either kind of lap 23,
00:42:59so that's only 10 laps.
00:43:01Number one car, Brendan Hartley on pit road.
00:43:04Your leader is in after setting a fastest second sector of the race.
00:43:08And that means Mike Conway did not do him before the pit stop, but does now take the lead.
00:43:13Conway leads again for Toyota.
00:43:15This is, what, our fifth, sixth, seventh or something change of lead in the first couple of hours of the race.
00:43:23And this will be a full service.
00:43:25Driver's door still not open, so triple stint for the Porsche driver.
00:43:29Eighth change of lead, goodness me.
00:43:31And don't forget the first hour of the race, there were no changes of lead because we had one, count them, one lap of green flag racing.
00:43:38So, staying in.
00:43:40Brendan looking pretty fresh.
00:43:41Yep.
00:43:42Not even a sign of a feed of sweat, let alone any stress or panic on his face.
00:43:46Eyes wide open, clearly super focused.
00:43:50But I spoke to him earlier on, he seems pretty chilled.
00:43:52He's a chilled out guy at the best of times.
00:43:54I've never seen him anything other than chilled, even when he was really under stress.
00:44:00There's the Crone racing at Ligier Nissan in front of him, car number 40.
00:44:04Tracy Crone shares with Nick Johnson and Joao Barbosa.
00:44:09Tracy Crone didn't really look like he was particularly enthused by the parade last night, I have to say.
00:44:14He couldn't get out of there fast enough, but the other two were having enough fun.
00:44:18Loretta Valle just came by our commentary booth, hammering the curbs at the forward chicane.
00:44:24The particular corner that we're sat here in front of is the last tight left-right.
00:44:30And it's changed in recent years from being a very soft, wafting kind of corner that you just float the car over
00:44:37to very aggressively corrugated curbs that can raffle the suspension and ultimately cause fatigue and potential failure late in the race.
00:44:54As we sit riding with the number one car, Brendan Hartley, down the straight, showing you just exactly what sort of traffic you have to deal with.
00:45:08One of the ESM LMP2 cars finally had to turn into the corner.
00:45:13He didn't cut him off, but he had to get around.
00:45:16And Brendan Hartley was aware that that was going to happen.
00:45:18Liz Halliday is in the pit lane.
00:45:20We're going to catch up with her and chat to Nico Prost.
00:45:24See what his thoughts are on the race so far.
00:45:31Well, Nico, I'm sure this year with the WORX teams fielding just two cars each,
00:45:35there must have been some hope that maybe you guys would get on the podium.
00:45:39Unfortunately, that's been held up for your team.
00:45:41Can you talk to us about that?
00:45:44I mean, it's only the beginning, so let's wait.
00:45:46But we had a small issue with a sensor on the engine.
00:45:51So we had to beat and lost about three laps.
00:45:54It could have been worse if it had not been under safety cars.
00:45:57So, you know, let's keep going and we can still make up some ground.
00:46:02And how do you feel the cars are compared to last year?
00:46:05I know it's always a struggle as a privacy team against the WORX cars.
00:46:09But how do you feel you compare this year?
00:46:11I think we've made some improvement.
00:46:15Obviously, the relationship with Dunab is very new, so there's still a lot to learn.
00:46:20But I think the pace is okay.
00:46:23You know, we just need to keep going and not have problems.
00:46:25Okay, well, we wish you a lot more luck.
00:46:33Well, it's always tough when you start the race and you are immediately on the back foot.
00:46:39And so Nico Frost and his teammates are going to have to be as sympathetic to the car as humanly possible
00:46:44because they're going to have to flog the living daylights out of it
00:46:48in a race where everything is already being driven at 110%.
00:46:53Martin Haven, Sam Hancock in the booth.
00:49:10GT and Giancarlo Fisichella all over him in the Ferrari and here we've been talking about the
00:49:1650th anniversary of Ford coming here with the GT40 winning the first of four consecutive races
00:49:21that was Ford versus Ferrari and we're back here half a century later with the same battle
00:49:29yeah good isn't it it is good isn't it it really is very good um it's very exciting having Ford
00:49:35back um and with a thing that looks remarkably like a car we knew 50 years ago well doesn't it
00:49:41that is a stunning looking weapon of course they could have made the 488 look a bit more like a 250
00:49:46LM but it's not that far away really is it no no no it isn't Fisichella on the gravel exiting the
00:49:52final corner that's how hard he's pushing he does not want Westbrook to get away in traffic but
00:49:57Westbrook got the brakes there and the traffic Fisichella in the Ford curve in the Porsche curves
00:50:02rather being dive bombed by prototypes which just made him change his line they're going by the
00:50:09Beach Dean Aston that's an AM class Aston Martin in the GTE cars and Westbrook and again you know
00:50:16we talk about drivers breaking cars they they often break it on other cars and this is the this is why
00:50:22the drivers now are so much of a part of it because you've got to avoid traffic in real pressure
00:50:27situations like that yeah for sure what I was saying earlier was the biggest change these days
00:50:33is the gearbox because we always have problems with gearboxes but that was when they had gear
00:50:39changes and drivers had to be correct in their gear change and of course they never were but now
00:50:45technology does it for them and they click it and you rarely hear I mean you do hear obviously of
00:50:50gearbox failures but compared with the time that which one been in the 80s it was a permanent happening
00:50:56well from from time immemorial and indeed of course the race was set up in 1923 to prove that cars
00:51:02could continue for more than the random 20 minutes and you didn't need a chauffeur to fix it every time
00:51:08you wanted to take it out it's always been a test of machinery a test of man and machine an endurance
00:51:14element now definitely in most cars keeping it off the barriers and off other traffic is one of the
00:51:21pre well the overriding concerns for all the drives again looking at the gt lead battle the forwarder
00:51:28Richard Westbrook it's almost as if Fisi Keller can cast his line and just reel himself in onto the back
00:51:35of the Ford the Ferrari has the pace it hasn't found the brake in the traffic but now Sam he is getting
00:51:42close he's in the tow and he will gradually start to pick up pace from the Ford slipstream as well as
00:51:50the Jota sport car of Jake Dennis tries to go by and there's a salient indication of how hard it is
00:51:57for LMP2 drivers they've got better brakes they've got better aero but you get along a gt car at top
00:52:03speed and it's all but impossible to get by him you really have to out brake somebody in quote a slower
00:52:10car well we've been saying that the Ford GT looks a little bit like the Ford GT slash prototype car
00:52:16both in the way it's aesthetics and also in the way it seems to handle some of the longer quicker
00:52:22corners like the Porsche curves and you've just seen how not exactly easy Jake made it look to get past it
00:52:29Fisi Keller dropping back a little bit he'll be hoping to pull that back in soon enough
00:52:36and go to tires
00:52:48so
00:52:54so
00:56:10It is the equivalent of behind the wall.
00:56:12It is in the gas.
00:56:14Jacob at Jakeface picks me up and says,
00:56:16apparently we can't have 23 hours of bright sunshine at Le Mans.
00:56:18What do the road lights in the Porsche 919 signify?
00:56:24Jason Green wanted to know.
00:56:26Well, there are colors on the numbers of the cars coming towards us, the number one Porsche, red background to the number.
00:56:32You can see the Ford coming towards us, the GTE Pro leader, green background to the number, red backgrounds to the number on the door panel and on the nose, LMP1, blue backgrounds, LMP2, green backgrounds, GTE Pro, orange backgrounds to the numbers, GTE Am class.
00:56:49So each class has a different color.
00:56:51On the side of the car, there are little LEDs, the leader in each class will have one single light in its class color.
00:57:01So red for LMP1, blue for LMP2 and so on.
00:57:04Two lights for second place, three lights for third place, none illuminated if you're outside the top three.
00:57:11So the Audi there, number eight, third in its class, red lights signify LMP1, third in LMP1.
00:57:18So you can see from the track side, day or night, the car you're looking at is in the top three of which class it's in or not.
00:57:25Now, if you're asking about other lights, vertically down the tail of the Porsche and the Audi and the Toyota in the tail, that's where they have their rear lights.
00:57:33And those are flashing because you had to have your rain lights on at the beginning of the race.
00:57:38And the regulations then state you must keep your rain lights on as our GTE Pro leader has come down pit road.
00:57:44Richard Westbrook is in.
00:57:46And our overall race leader, Brendan Hartley, continues through the Ford chicane.
00:57:49So Westbrook is in in the Ford.
00:57:51And Giancarlo Fisichella now leads the race for Ferrari.
00:57:55Following Richard Westbrook into the pits was the LMP2 car.
00:57:59That is the Murphy prototypes with Bleakermode and Ben Keating and Mark Goossens.
00:58:05They are currently trying to find them.
00:58:10Yeah.
00:58:11There has been a fire.
00:58:13Quite far down the order.
00:58:14Oof.
00:58:15There has been a fire at the front of that.
00:58:17Oh, no, there hasn't.
00:58:18There's just been somebody who didn't quite have their F-stop set correctly.
00:58:21But that looked like it was covered in extinguishing because it was bright white.
00:58:25It wasn't.
00:58:26It was overexposed.
00:58:27So which of the LMP2 cars was that?
00:58:32Was that 43, Felipe Albuquerque's car?
00:58:36I didn't see.
00:58:37Was that pushed back in?
00:58:39It was.
00:58:39I think that was the RGR Moran sport cars using Nissan Ricciardo Gonzalez, Bruno Senna and Felipe Albuquerque.
00:58:45They had trouble in qualifying as well.
00:58:48And that looks their top three LMP2 run might be taking a bit of a hit.
00:58:52We've got an intra-team battle here between two teammates from last year.
00:58:57Two of them that won the race outright as we see the spinning LMP2 car.
00:59:02Because we're looking at the Ford's pit stop.
00:59:04There is trouble for the number 49 car.
00:59:07That's another Lugier on these stunning-looking LMP2 cars.
00:59:11And he's looped it around on the run out of Arnage or on a run down to Arnage, whatever.
00:59:17He's looped it around and was waiting for a gap in traffic.
00:59:21And that's the Michael Schagg racing Lugier with his HPD Honda.
00:59:24Now, that's a very unusual engine combination in the LMP2 class, at least in world endurance racing rather than in IMSA racing.
00:59:33And here we've got our two pro-class Porsches nose-to-tail.
00:59:37Battle for fourth in class.
00:59:39That's Earl Bamber and Nick Tandy.
00:59:42So, these guys won the race outright overall in LMP1 last year.
00:59:46They've been moved to the GT-class cars.
00:59:49This is not really Porsche's full-on factory team effort, but it is a heavily supported factory, yeah, factory supported effort.
00:59:58Is that correct to say?
00:59:59It's as factory as you can.
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