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24H Le Mans - Hour Five : Big accident for No.8 Toyota

Just as the clock ticked over into hour six, the biggest incident so far in the 80th 24 Hours of Le Mans took place. Anthony Davidson, in the No.8 Toyota TS 030 Hybrid was overtaking the No.81 AF Corse Ferrari GTE Am of Perazzini when the two cars touched going into the Mulsanne Corner. The Toyota took off and hit the barrier at considerable speed, while the Ferrari also hit hard and was turned onto its roof.

Piergiuseppe Perazzini climbed out unaided, as did Davidson and both drivers will be taken to the Medical Centre for examination. The three safety cars employed to hold the field are out while the tyre wall is being repaired and the debris cleared from the track.

Just before the incident, there had been some of the most exciting track action so far between the two leading hybrids, with the lead being exchanged several times. The No.7 Toyota TS 030 Hybrid still holds the lead, while the leading non-diesel car, the No.12 Rebellion Lola Toyota is now in 5th position overall and running well.

In LMP2 the No.35 Oak Racing Morgan Nissan has swapped with its sister car for the lead in class but it remains close. The No.44 HPD-ARX 03b Honda of Starworks Motorsport is now in third, just ahead of the No.48 Murphy Prototypes Oreca Nissan.

GTE Pro has continued to provide plenty of action, excitement and good racing. The No.74 Corvette is back in the lead, although it has relinquished that to the AF Corse No.51 Ferrari for much of the last hour. After leading the GTE Am class for so long, the No.79 Flying Lizard Porsche lost its lead of over 70 seconds when it went off at Indianapolis and briefly caught fire. It returned to the pits for repairs, and it is now the No.50 Larbre Competition which holds the class lead.

19:00:18 Morgans 1st and 2nd in LM P2 No 24 leads No 35

#24 MORGAN JUDD
#25 ORECA 03-NISSAN
#35 MORGAN MORGAN - NISSAN (Bas LEINDERS)
19:08:10 No 1 Audi e-tron continues to lead No 8 Toyota by 75 seconds
#1 AUDI R18 E-TRON QUATTRO (Benoit TRÉLUYER)
19:13:41 No 79 Porsche leads GTE Am by 71 seconds
#79 PORSCHE 911 RSR (997) (Seth NEIMAN)
19:22:51 Toyota team manager called to see Race Control
#7 TOYOTA TS 030 - HYBRID
#8 TOYOTA TS 030 - HYBRID
19:27:55 No 8 Toyota within 3 secs of lead Audi but now pitting
#8 TOYOTA TS 030 - HYBRID (Sébastien BUEMI)
19:33:39 No 7 Toyota into pits Lapierre stays in and tyres not changed - both go on to 5th stints
#7 TOYOTA TS 030 - HYBRID (Nicolas LAPIERRE)
19:36:45 No 21 HPD after losing 6 laps at start now up to 24th overall
#21 HPD ARX 03A - HONDA (Danny WATTS)
19:38:00 No 3 Audi ultra into tyres at Forza Chicane
#3 AUDI R18 ULTRA (Romain DUMAS)
19:41:14 No 79 Porsche off at Indianapolis and on fire at rear- was leading GTE Am - No 58 Ferrari now leads
#58 FERRARI 458 ITALIA (Frankie MONTECALVO)
#79 PORSCHE 911 RSR (997) (Seth NEIMAN)
19:43:03 No 79 Porsche makes it to pit
#79 PORSCHE 911 RSR (997) (Seth NEIMAN)
19:46:36 No 61 Ferrari scatters gravel on pit straight
#61 FERRARI 458 ITALIA (Brian VICKERS)
19:49:58 No 3 Audi ultra back to pits but lost 7mins and 40secs now in 8th place
#3 AUDI R18 ULTRA (Romain DUMAS)
19:57:59 No 1 Audi into pits No 7 Toyota almost takes the lead now 0.8 sec behind
#1 AUDI R18 E-TRON QUATTRO (Benoit TRÉLUYER)
#7 TOYOTA TS 030 - HYBRID (Nicolas LAPIERRE)

Photo: CIRCUIT DES 24 HEURES DU MANS (LE MANS, SARTHE), 24 HOURS OF LE MANS, 16TH JUNE 2012. The aftermath of the accident between the No.8 Toyota TS 030 Hybrid and the No.81 AF Corse Ferrari 458 Italia.