Autosportfoto

24H Le Mans - Hour Ten

As Sunday arrives, so do problems for one of the most consistent teams in the race to date. Oak Racing, which has the No.15 LM P1 Pescarolo Judd and the two Morgans - the No.24 powered by a Judd engine and the No.35 with a Nissan power plant - has run into problems, dropping them down the order.

Andre Lotterer remains in the lead of the race in the No.1 Audi R18 e-tron quattro, with the delayed No.3 Audi now back in full healthy and lapping well. In LM P2 the Starworks Motorsport No.44 HPD ARX 03b has taken the class lead for the first time, chased hard by the two Oreca Nissans of Pecom Racing and Signatech Nissan.

Pit stops and driver changes are the only thing which seems to be shaking up the GTE Pro class as it is still Corvette who holds the top spot with the No.74. AF Corse's lead car is still in touch and is being pursued by the Luxury Racing Ferrari and the No.73 Corvette. A notable retirement is the No.80, Flying Lizard Motorsport's Porsche.

Tommy Sadler, Flying Lizard Crew Chief said, "No.80 is done. Someone went through the first chicane and dropped gravel all over it and there were no flags out. Patrick got to the chicane and hit the gravel, went off and impacted the wall. The steering rack broke from the subframe most likely and we had an electric failure after fighting with the marshalls to restart the car. We kept stopping and starting and basically the battery has run down."

In GTE Am the No.67 IMSA Performance Matmut Porsche leads.

00:09:40 No 43 exits into gravel at second (Michelin) Mulsanne chicane and rejoins.
#43 NORMA MP 2000 - JUDD (Phillippe THIRION)
00:12:45 Former class leader No 48 Oreca - Nissan: puncture right rear - into pits
#48 ORECA 03-NISSAN (Warren HUGHES)
00:17:48 Warren Hughes the driver of No 48 Murphy Prototypes Oreca - Nissan; "It let go after Arnage"
#48 ORECA 03-NISSAN (Warren HUGHES)
00:19:54 No 80 Flying Lizard Porsche stopped at second (Michelin) chicane
#80 PORSCHE 911 RSR (997) (Patrick LONG)
00:22:52 No 26 Oreca - Nissan 3rd in class - off into gravel at Indianapolis
#26 ORECA 03-NISSAN (Pierre RAGUES)
00:24:47 No 45 Boutsen Ginion Oreca - Nissan stopped in Porsche curves
#45 ORECA 03-NISSAN (Jens PETERSEN)
00:25:47 Cars No 45 and No 26 rejoin circuit.
#26 ORECA 03-NISSAN
#45 ORECA 03-NISSAN
00:27:45 Team manager of car No 80 Flying Lizard Porsche is summoned to Race Control
#80 PORSCHE 911 RSR (997) (Patrick LONG)
00:30:35 No 45 Boutsen Ginion Oreca - Nissan - in gravel at 1st chicane - local yellow flag
#45 ORECA 03-NISSAN (Jens PETERSEN)
00:33:58 No 45 Boutsen Ginion Oreca-Nissan rejoins circuit
#45 ORECA 03-NISSAN (Jens PETERSEN)
00:37:38 Second placed No 24 Morgan-Judd pushed back into pit box
#24 MORGAN JUDD (Olivier PLA)
00:42:05 No 41 Zytek - Nissan of Greaves Motorsports off circuit
#41 ZYTEK Z11SN - NISSAN (RICARDO GONZALEZ)
00:44:11 No 41 Zytek - Nissan of Greaves Motorsports rejoins at Indianapolis
#41 ZYTEK Z11SN - NISSAN (RICARDO GONZALEZ)
00:59:36 No 35 Morgan - Nissan rejoins after suffering electrical problems
#35 MORGAN MORGAN - NISSAN (Bas LEINDERS)

Photo: CIRCUIT DES 24 HEURES (LE MANS, SARTHE), 24 HOURS OF LE MANS, 17TH JUNE 2012. The No.80 Flying Lizard Porsche 911 is a retirement after accident damage.