By: Stella Maria Thomas
The no. 17 BMW is expected in anytime now and will probably lose its lead. It is ahead by 36 seconds at the moment and that isn't enough to make a pitstop and get back out. Kristensen is still at the wheel and as the weather becomes increasingly dubious looking, it may be that they intend to send Lehto out in the early morning hours. In the dark, if it rains, look for him to put in an amazing performance.
With the Mercedes having withdrawn after Peter Dumbreck's horrific accident, the lead trio are now BMW, No. 2 Toyota and No. 15 BMW. Kristensen has just set the fastest lap of the race as well, a 3.35.870, when no one else has been able to get below 3.37.
No. 8 Pirro is in and will lose its 5th place.
No. 17 in for fuel only.
No. 2 also came in for fuel while it was in the lead. Boutsen is driving. As the air cools off to a level that suits these cars far better, times are dropping down quite dramatically.
No. 15 came in for a pit stop and nearly hit a GT Porsche.
No. 17 is back in the lead.
The Autoexe is in again and has now lost over two hours having a second clutch replaced.
GTS class - still 51, 52 and 53. It's unusual to find such a tidy line up. The leading Porsche is still the no. 81 and is now in 20th overall. It may even be on for a top 10 finish.
The no. 1 Toyota in and is being checked over by mechanics with torches.
The lead BMW is now 44 seconds ahead and no one else is even on the same lap. But there is a long way to go yet.
Latest news: Peter Dumbreck has been checked over in the medical unit and is bruised but otherwise OK. Mercedes are about to hold a press conference.
No. 22 came in for what should have been a scheduled stop but has dived into the garage taking the team completely by surprise. Panic in the pits!
The weather forecast is for rain and 6 degrees tonight.
The Courage pit-signalling team seem to have just zipped themselves into a giant plastic bag, presumably against the cold...
No. 10 (with Andy Wallace at the wheel) seems to be expected in anytime now for refuelling.
No. 22 has just gone back out.
No. 18 has moved up a place.
No. 28 in for a driver change from Peter Kox to Tom Coronel.
As night arrived, the Goodyear airship was circulating around looking rather impressive and the crowd stayed glued to the stands, watching the action.
No. 12 in and Bernard takes over.
At 22:33, the No. 1 Toyota spun big time as Brundle braked for the first chicane on the Mulsanne straight. It hit the armco shedding bits of bodywork everywhere and then Martin began to try and limp back very slowly trailing sparks from the rear as the bodywork dragged along the tarmac. He didn't make it and parked on the kerb. The marshals are now trying to drag it out of the way.
David Brabham in the Panoz: "I just lost the front end through a few corners. I was trying to keep an eye on it when the rear tyre just exploded. We must have picked up a slow puncture or something."
No. 57 (Viper) A Hugh Chamberlain moment.. "is spending more time in here than anywhere else".
No. 22 is now back out but lapping more slowly than before and has dropped to 9th from 6th.
No. 3 in for refuelling and a driver change. Katayama gets out now and is replaced by Tsuchiya. New tyres are fitted too.
No. 11 is in for a pit stop. Driver remains the same (O'Connell) and they are refuelling and changing tyres.
The Japanese seem to have been joined by the Michael Krumm fan club, who are holding up a large banner.
Perry McCarthy: "I can't for the life of me think what happened..."
No. 17 in for a driver change (Kristensen out, Muller in), refuelling and new tyres.
No. 2 is temporarily in the lead but will be in soon for McNish to get in again.
No. 18 and 19 have also been in, with Soper and Nakaya going back out. The No. 19 car left large amounts of gravel behind.
No. 84 in for fuel.
No. 53 Viper in.
The leading BMW has had one less pit stop than the leading Toyota and are now pitting just ahead of it. The lead has swapped again.
2, 17, 15, 8, 3, 21, 12, 18, 22, 13, 7, 19, 11, 14, 27, 51, 52, 53, 26, 55, 61, 81, 67, 56, 50, 10, 1, 64, 54, 63, 84, 80, 66, 62, 32, 57, 24, 65, 31No. 17 is now back in the lead though it remains to be seen how long it will be able to stay that far ahead. The gap at present is 1:14.610.
Peter Dumbreck has been taken to hospital for a complete checkup.
No. 15 in for a driver change, with Martini taking over again.
No. 52 in for a driver change.
No. 11 has just pulled into the garage again as the team think there may be an oil leak. Angelelli will take over from O'Connell afterwards.
Only the no. 17 car is lapping inside the 1.40s (in fact it is down in the 3.37s-38s). Perhaps Jorg enjoys the party atmosphere, even if he's not allowed to get out and try to drink the bar dry. Suddenly McNish started to go much faster, perhaps realising that he needed to claw some time back before the next pitstops.
No. 26 is in and Coronel should be going back out. However, the car has just been wheeled back into the garage.
No. 10 Audi in. It's in 24th, and is about 15 laps back, but at least it hasn't needed another gearbox... yet... Wallace is getting out and Weaver will go out, which probably wouldn't be his favourite way of spending this part of the night.
There is a marshal in the pit lane with a candle stuck on the top of his helmet, presumably as some sort of emergency lighting...
Suddenly McNish is lapping in the 3.36s and is beginning to catch the No. 17 car. If all goes as we expect these two cars should both pit at the same time.
No. 26 is still in the pits.
Andy Wallace: "The car's going very well. The balance is pretty good, and we'll probably pick up the pace again when it gets light. The gearbox feels great now... It'll probably break down no I've said that! We think the car lost some cornerweight because I flat-spotted a tyre the same as Perry did. We changed the tyre and switched the brake balance to the rear."
No. 19 in for a normal stop.
No. 8 is expected in soon and Frank Biela is waiting to take over from Emmanuele Pirro.
No. 80 has coasted past, smoke billowing from the back end,after a nasty puncture.
McNish has just set the fastest race lap (3:35.591) so far. Rumours that it is slowing down seem to be vastly exagerrated.
No. 27 in for a driver change.
No. 3 in for a routine stop. On lap 119 the Muller BMW is also due in for a routine stop.
Mark Goossens is out in car 21 at present.
One of the Riley and Scott cars is having pedals and similar things adjusted.
No. 10 had an unscheduled stop for a flat tyre.
No. 18 in for a refuelling stop.
No. 2 in for a normal stop, fuel only.
The gap was down below 1 minute when McNish pitted. No. 17 then pitted for fuel and made a blindingly quick pitstop.
No. 7 Audi with Capello at the wheel is due in very soon. They refuel but don't change drivers or tyres.
No. 17 still leads by just a fraction over 1 minute.
No. 10 in again and there are mechanics looking at the rear end of the car. Something seems to be loose and may be associated with the gearbox so maybe Andy Wallace should have kept quiet...
No. 15 in for a standard refuelling stop.
Just before midnight the No. 10 Audi went back out to play.
No. 51 and 52 are leading the GTS category and are now 15th and 16th overall.
17, 2, 15, 3, 8, 21, 12, 18, 27, 14, 22, 51, 52, 53, 61, 81, 55, 67, 56, 10, 50, 64, 11, 54, 61, 26, 84, 80, 1, 66, 62, 25, 6, 5, 29, 57, 32, 9, 24, 65, 31, 60.