No. 8 Bentley is still
out there even though he seems to be expected.
No. 14 Chrysler with Kondo at the wheel is in again for new tyres and
a change of set up. They are having trouble getting it sorted because
of the contact on the Mulsanne Straight during the previous hour.
The No. 76 PK Sports Porsche comes in for a stop.
The Bentley finally comes in and changes drivers. Wallace replaces Leitzinger.
The No. 80 Larbre Porsche has a stop too.
The Bentley only has half its lights working now (the right hand one doesn't
work) but the radio is still working which must be a relief to the team.
There's just been a rather alarming moment involving the No. 75 car and
the No. 77 car. No. 75 has just pitted briefly after his scare.
No. 83 comes in for a routine stop for fuel and tyres. The No. 6 Cadillac
now has its place back again at the expense of the No. 14 Chrysler and
has gone a lap ahead. Nos. 79 and 80 go out pretty much together. Maybe
it gets lonely out there
It's beginning to feel oddly quiet now.
There's a feeling that there isn't long to go which is ridiculous actually
- there are over four hours left and all sorts of things could happen.
The No. 6 Cadillac is in and Angelelli gets in but the car is in the garage
with the front cover off this time. They keep advertising the road going
version but they don't say anything about how difficult it is to start
them again once you stop 'em! The Cadillac loses its place to the No.
14 Chrysler again but they manage to get it going again 2 laps down on
the Chrysler.
No. 82 and No. 72 came in together.
There are still technically 24 runners out there even though two of them
are not running at present and haven't been for a while (No. 21 Ascari
and the local heroes in the No. 18 Courage).
No. 2 Audi comes in for a pit stop, with a change of tyres to hand-cut
slicks as well as a fuel load.
The sun is trying to struggle out but there are still lots of clouds.
The No. 16 Playstation Chrysler comes in for a stop. It's currently running
4th overall and has been given a set of hand cut slicks. Karl Wendlinger
stays in the car.
Luc Alphand's No. 74 Porsche has had a stop and is now out again.
No. 63 Corvette takes a pit stop. It's still leading the GTS class and
is running in 6th overall. They send it back out on intermediate tyres.
The No. 17 car is back out after a routine stop.
The lead Audi comes in for another stop. They refuel and send Kristensen
back out on new tyres.
The No. 60 Saleen comes in for a stop. The No. 58 Larbre Chrysler is also
in for fuel and tyres. Christophe Bouchut is out in the car.
No. 64 comes in for a stop from 3rd place in class - from the remaining
four cars. They change drivers (Freon is replaced by Andy Pilgrim) and
they put intermediates on instead of wet weather tyres. It takes three
attempts to start the car.
No. 14 makes a stop. Kondo hands over to Ara and they refuel. Will it
start? They change to intermediates from wets. It won't start. The crew
push the car into the garage again. Then it fires up and gets out having
lost a lap to the Cadillac, which is now only one lap down and still has
Angelelli at the wheel.
No. 74 is bouncing off the kerbs.
No. 77 has a spin just behind another car but manages to avoid hitting
anything. He has less than a minute advantage over second in class
No. 30 has another pit stop.
The rain is falling again on the straight just as most people have gone
from wets to intermediates or slicks.
The Bentley stops for fuel and a spot of data downloading. They change
tyres too and he gets out smoothly.
Placings at 12:00:
1, Audi Sport Team Joest (LMP900), Frank Biela (D), Tom Kristensen (DK),
Emmanuele Pirro (I)
2, Audi Sport Team Joest (LMP900), Laurent Aiello (F), Rinaldo Capello
(I), Christian Pescatori (I)
8, Team Bentley (LMGTP), Andy Wallace (GB), Eric Van De Poele (B), Butch
Leitzinger (USA)
16, Team Playstation (LMP900), Olivier Beretta (F), Karl Wendlinger (A),
Pedro Lamy (P)
17, Pescarolo Sport (LMP900), Sebastien Bourdais (F), Jean-Christophe
Boullion (F), Laurent Redon (F)
63, Corvette Racing Gary Pratt (LMGTS), Ron Fellows (USA), Scott Pruett
(USA), Johnny O'Connell (USA)
38, Roc Auto (LMP675), Jordi Gene (E), Pascal Fabre (F), Jean-Denis Deletraz
(CH)
14, Viper Team Oreca (LMP900), Ni Amorim (P), Seiji Ara (J), Masahiko
Kondo (J)
6, DAMS (LMP900), Wayne Taylor (USA), Massimo Angelelli (I), Christophe
Tinseau (F)
60, Saleen (LMGTS), Franz Konrad (D), Oliver Gavin (GB), Terry Borcheller
(USA)
77, Freisinger Motorsport (LMGT), Gunnar Jeannette (USA), Romain Dumas
(F), Philippe Haezebrouck (F)
83, Seikel Motorsport (LMGT), Gabrio Rosa (I), Fabio Babini (I), Luca
Drudi (I)
64, Corvette Racing Gary Pratt (LMGTS), Andy Pilgrim (USA), Franck Freon
(F), Kelly Collins (USA)
75, Perspective Racing (LMGT), Thierry Perrier (F), Michel Neugarten (B),
Nigel Smith (GB)
80, Larbre Competition (LMGT), Patrice Goueslard (F), Jean Luc Chereau
(F), Sebastien Dumez (F)
82, Seikel Motorsport (LMGT), Tony Burgess (CAN), Max Cohen-Olivar (MAR),
Andrew Bagnall (NZ)
72, Team Taisan Advan (LMGT), Hideo Fukuyama (J), Atsushi Yogo (J), Kazuyuki
Nishizawa (J)
74, Warmup Luc Alphand Adventures (LMGT), Luc Alphand (F), Michel Ligonnet
(F), Luis Marques (F)
76, PK Sport Ltd (LMGT), Mike Youles (GB), Stephen Day (GB), Dave Warnock
(GB)
30, Welter Gerard (LMP675), Yojiro Terada (J), Jean-Rene De Fournoux (F),
Stephane Daoudi (F)
58, Larbre Competition (LMGTS), Christophe Bouchut (F), Jean-Philippe
Belloc (F), Tiago Monteiro (P)
79, Noel del Bello (LMGT), Sylvain Noel (F), Georges Forgeois (USA), Jean
Luc Maury Laribiere (F)
Not running but still
not officially retired:
21, Team Ascari (LMP900), Scott Maxwell (CAN), Klaas Zwart (NL), Xavier
Pompidou (F)
18, Pescarolo Sport (LMP900), Didier Cottaz (F), Boris Derichebourg (F),
Emmanuel Clerico (F)
Retirements:
62, RML (LMGTS), Bruno Lambert (B), Ian McKellar (GB), Johnny Mowlem (GB)
9, Racing For Holland (LMP900), Jan Lammers (NL), Val Hillebrand (NL),
Donny Crevels (NL)
20, Team Ascari (LMP900), Werner Lupberger (RSA), Ben Collins (GB), Harri
Toivonen (SF)
15, Viper Team Oreca (LMP900), Yannick Dalmas (F), Franck Montagny (F),
Stephane Sarrazin (F)
70, Aspen Knolls (LMGT), Cort Wagner (USA), Bob Mazzuoccola (USA), Vic
Rice (USA)
36, Dick Barbour (LMP675), Didier de Radigues (B), Sascha Maassen (D),
Hideshi Matsuda (J)
32, Roock-Knight Hawk Racing (LMP675), Claudia Hürtgen (D), Christopher
Gleason (USA), Rick Fairbanks (USA)
33, MG Sport & Racing Ltd (LMP675), Mark Blundell (GB), Julian Bailey
(GB), Kevin McGarrity (GB)
11, Panoz Motor Sports (LMP900), Klaus Graf (D), Jamie Davis (GB), Gary
Formato (RSA)
12, Panoz Motor Sports (LMP900), Jan Magnussen (DK), David Brabham (AUS),
Franck Lagorce (F)
3, Champion Racing (LMP900), Johnny Herbert (GB), Ralf Kelleners (D),
Didier Theys (B)
10, Team Den Bla Avis (LMP900), John Nielsen (DK), Hiroki Katoh (J), Casper
Elgaard (DK)
55, Paul Belmondo Racing (LMGTS), Vincent Vosse (B), Vanina Ickx (B),
Carl Rosenblad (S)
7, Team Bentley (LMGTP), Martin Brundle (GB), Stephane Ortelli (F), Guy
Smith (GB)
5, DAMS (LMP900), Eric Bernard (F), Emmanuel Collard (F), Marc Goossens
(B)
19, SMG (LMP900), Philippe Gache (F), Anthony Beltoise (F), Jerome Policand
(F)
56, Paul Belmondo Racing (LMGTS), Anthony Kumpen (B), Gregoire de Galzian
(F), Jean-Claude Lagniez (F)
71, Racing Engineering (LMGT), Robin Donovan (GB), Chris MacAllister (USA),
Terry Linger (USA)
4, Johansson Motorsport (LMP900), Tom Coronel (NL), Stephan Johansson
(S), Patrick Lemarie (F)
34, MG Sport & Racing Ltd (LMP675), Anthony Reid (GB), Warren Hughes
(GB), Johnny Kane (GB)
37, Dick Barbour (LMP675), John Graham (CAN), Milka Duno (VEN), David
Murry (USA)
61, Konrad Motorsport (LMGTS), Walter Brun (CH), Toni Seiler (CH), Charles
Slater (USA)
57, Equipe De France FFSA (LMGTS), Davide Terrien (F), Jonathan Cochet
(F), Jean-Philippe Dayraut (F)
35, S+R Rowan Racing Ltd (LMP675), Martin O'Connell (GB), Warren Carway
(IRL), Francois Migault (F)
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