Club Arnage the Le Mans 24 hours LIVE coverage

Live Updates
Saturday 20:00hrs-21:00hrs
By: Jock Simpson and Mathew Coutard

The safety car came in at 19:45 hrs and at last we are sort of racing again, it is still very wet out there, huge puddles and standing water add to the fun. Several of the closed cars are having serious window misting problems. The Bentley is one of them. The more perceptive of you might have looked at the weather forecast we were given earlier…. So much for the' no thunderstorms' and simply the odd showers…. It is starting to rain heavily again

20:00 hrs the #3 Audi overtakes the #7 Bentley.. so we now have Audi 1,2,3 and thoughtfully the numbers are #1#2#3 .. makes life easier for us.

#14 spins at Indianapolis and just, only just misses the Armco. Bentley electrics are underwater and the gear shift mechanism and electronics are all out of sync, hence Guy Smiths rather dignified pace. This will not be doing the gearbox much good. These cars were not designed to run underwater!

20:03 #9 in the pits Jan Lammers takes over. Using oil a afir bit of oil which may be the beginning of problems

It is raining big time again.

#12 Panoz into its garage yet again. They are getting depressed, this is becoming a bit monotonous for the team..

20:06 #15 Chrysler has a nice elegant spin at Dunlop .. this means that #17 is now running fifth having passed Bentley in the pits.

Bentley #7 back out racing.

#15 Chrysler is back racing after his pirouette , when he was passed by #17, the Pescarolo car is now fourth, not bad behind that herd of Audis.

20:08 Bad news for Audi lovers .. #4 Audi officially withdrawn
.
20:13 #7 Bentley in pits routine and rejoins

20:13 #71 Porsche spins at Hunaudieres and stops in the murk out there. It has hit wall quite hard.

#34 Warren Hughes big spin at Dunlop and seems to have rejoined, hard to tell in the murk.

#12 Panoz is out of pits and on its way again

20:14 # 62 Saleen into the gravel at Terte Rouge

20:16 #17 pits Pescarolo routine check

20:17 #16 Chrysler routine pits.

Bentley #8 has passed #15 Chrysler after it spun

#70 Calloway Corvette in for refuel etc seems routine.

20:21 #3 Audi in routine mop up, pump out and service!

#18 Pescarolo had a problem at Dunlop now coming in slowly. Damage to tail and wing missing. Rear hub etc stuffed.

20:22 Saleen #62 .. due for a full valet and into the garage …

20:23 Chrysler #14 in.

#38 in Reynard routine stop and back out at 20:26.

So far 750 kms and 56 laps have passed and the leading car average is 173.577 kms

#34 Warren Hughes MG is being pushed maybe part of that spin earlier at Dunlop, but it doesn't look well.

Dome #9 back in for a stop go penalty for overtaking under yellows

20:27 WR #30 spins

#16 Chrysler with Pedro Lamy driving spins on his out lap

#18 Pescarolo Courage has plenty of work going on here after the back end fell off. (actually it got knocked off !)

20:29 #15 Chrysler back in after three laps , seems to have a steering problem

Bentley #8 running fourth.

#5 The Cadillac of Marc Goosens spins just before the Dunlop Chicane, and might have hit the wall.

Make no mistake .. it is still very wet out there. All the same the #7 Bentley is losing time hand over fist and slipping down the order.. remember this was the one with the electronics gremlins.

20:33 #60 and #20 both into pits and they both look a bit routine

#12 Panoz emerges from its garage for about four seconds and then pushed back again.

#33 MG is running but MG#34 is a worry after its spin, still not got home yet!

20:37 #2 Audi in for routine stop. Fuel, driver didn't seem to want a cup of cocoa to keep him warm and back out, no change of tyres.

#5 Cadillac back out after a spin at Dunlop

#62 Saleen has electrical problems

#55 Porsche in routine stop.

#80 Labre Porsche spins at Dunlop.

#34 is stuck out there with dead engine, Hugh tells us that the telemetry went down due to the water. They were then working blind and doing fuel calculations using mathematics and it may be out of fuel. Not looking too good.

#7 Bentley slowing with Guy Smith at the wheel .. maybe the gearbox and those wet electronics ..

#5 Cadillac. Marc Goosens got out of the gravel and he has now stuffed it again, but it made it back to the pits.

20:44 #7 Bentley as expired and is on fire… that is it for 2001. It led the race and is now smoking away refusing to be extinguished.

#18 Pescarolo problems are serious, they are short of spare parts so will try and cobble it together but it looks a bit unlikely.

20:47 #5 Cadillac in the pits with a badly damaged front left corner. Marc was lifted out of the car and may have hurt himself when he hit the wall.

20:49 MG #33 this should be a routine stop.

20:50 #6 Cadillac in for routine stop has a new front end .. maybe aerodynamic because there didn't look to much wrong with the old one.

#62 pits has only done four laps since its last visit

20:52 #60 Saleen pits and nobody appears to be particularly interested.. most odd .

#62 Saleen is now back out, maybe the problem is cured.

#56 Viper pits, fuel … looking at side windows they are totally misted up. Back out with a fair amount of yellow tape holding it together

20:55 '#82 Porsche in for a somewhat relaxed pit stop.
#60 Saleen out again.

20:57 #21 locked up, went straight on at Arnage, missed everything solid and was pushed out by marshals.

It is still raining by the way, but a bit less heavily.. this could be along miserable night for the drivers

20:58 #56 Viper has a brief off at Arnage and back again after a push, no need for more yellow tank tape for the moment.

#72 Porsche routine stop

21:00 hrs Positions

1.2.3.8.17.15.16.33.14.38.63.64.20.6.21.83.7.5.74.

77.70.62.75.76.36.80.82.72.60.55.9.79.30.19.10.56.71.18.32.11.12.58.34.37.61