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WEC 24 Hours of Le Mans

Le Mans 24 Hours – Race

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The outright lead has ballooned to nine seconds, as Buemi keeps nailing those 3m23s laps.

But Conway responds with a 3min23. Jani is 12sec off the lead.

Car #68 - that's the second-placed Ford of Dirk Muller - is under investigation for its last pitstop.
By the way, the #84 'Garage 56' entry of quadruple amputee Frederic Sausset is still ploughing on, 45th overall and 220 laps complete. Le Mans veteran Christophe Tinseau is at the wheel.
Pit Stop
The class-leading LMP2 car of Richelmi is in and out of the pits, still leading the way.
We haven't talked about him much, but Marco Sorensen in the #95 Aston Martin Vantage is doing an excellent job in fourth place in GTE Pro, matching the pace of the top three. So should any of them falter, they aren't going to get their podium slot back easily.
Buemi dips into the 3m22s as he stretches the lead to over 12 seconds. Also gets a track-limit warning. Did he take a shortcut? ;-)

Muller in the #68 Ford gradually reeling in Malucelli for the lead in GTE Pro, 15 seconds currently between the pair.
Pit Stop
Conway pits in the #6 Toyota.
That leaves the #5 Toyota 18 seconds clear of Neel Jani in the Porsche at the front.
Penalty
Disaster for the #68 Ford! Drive-through penalty for having the engine running while refuelling!
That could prove a costly error indeed by the Blue Oval, as it will give the #82 Risi Ferrari a comfortable lead heading into the final quarter of this race.
Pit Stop
Buemi meanwhile has pitted the #5 Toyota, giving Jani a cushion of 42s up front.
Lieb is getting ready to jump in the #2 Porsche.
Pit Stop
And the leader is in the pits.
More bad news for Ford as Westbrook in the #69 gets a black and white flag for exceeding track limits.
Pit Stop
In comes Rast from second in LMP2, the German having (barely) clawed his way back onto the lead lap.
The #8 Audi LMP1 entry pits as well. They're running fourth, but a couple of laps down on the Top 3.
Muller has served his penalty in the #68, and now Malucelli is 40 seconds to the good.
With the next round of stops done and dusted, here is how it looks at the front – the #5 Toyota leads the #6 Toyota by 25 seconds. The #2 Porsche is 51s behind the lead.
After that stop, Rast is a lap down on Richelmi once again but chasing down the #36 Alpine hard.
Lieb was a fraction quicker than the Toyotas on the last lap, but there's still 24 seconds to make up to catch Conway.
Mechanical problem
We have our 10th official retirement of the race, the #35 DC Racing Alpine.
The gap between Buemi and Lieb is more or less holding constant at around 50s, but Conway is a little off the pace right now and edging back towards the #2 Porsche.

Leading positions after 18 Hours:

1) #5 Toyota
2) #6 Toyota
3) #2 Porsche
4) #8 Audi
5) #7 Audi

LMP2:

1) #36 Alpine (P6 overall)
2) #26 Oreca
3) #37 BR01

GTE Pro:

1) #82 Ferrari
2) #68 Ford
3) #69 Ford

GTE Am:

1) #62 Ferrari
2) #88 Porsche
3) #83 Ferrari
Following his penalty, Muller is running strong 3min52sec laps but he's over half a minute off Risi's Matteo Malucelli.
Pit Stop
The leading two cars in GTE Pro, Malucelli and Muller, in the pits.
The pair resume 34 seconds apart, no driver changes, Ferrari leading Ford. The #69 Ford is still third.
Pit Stop
LMP2 leader Richelmi brings in the #36 Alpine for its 25th stop of the race.
Bit of a slow stop there, as Menezes takes over from Richelmi, but the car's comfortable lead is maintained.
Yellow Flag
Spin for Chris Cumming in the #31 ESM Ligier at the Porsche Curves exit, got shoved wide by one of the Audis as it was coming through.
Pit Stop
The #1 Porsche has just been through the pits. Not that it really matters; the car is 29th outright and a long, long way off the lead.
Pit Stop
The #7 Audi into the pits. That's the Audi that's well and truly out of contention, 12 laps behind the leaders.
Mechanical problem
The car has now been pushed into the garage.
Muller continues to chip away at Malucelli's advantage in GTE Pro, 28s now the gap.
Good battle shaping up for P3 in LMP2 - Jonny Kane in the #42 Strakka Gibson has the #27 BR01 of Viktor Shaitar in his sights, the pair less than a second apart.
Kane right on the Russian's tail as they head towards Tertre Rouge!
Pit Stop
Conway pits the #6 Audi from second place.

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