LM24: Aston Martin lead in LMGTE Pro and Am at quarter distance
A quarter of the Le Mans 24 Hours 2015 has now been completed and it’s been an all-action six hours in the LMGTE categories – as we have come to expect from the World Endurance Championship and, in particular, its third round in France.
The ceremonial start for the race was given at 15h00 by Bill Ford, Executive Chairman of Ford Motor Company, who yesterday revealed the LMGTE car which will join the Aston Martin, Ferrari and Porsche entries in the category in the 2016 WEC. Seeing three GTE Pro cars going three abreast down the Hunaudières can only have whetted the appetite of Ford!
As the race started its 17th hour, it was the No.99 Aston Martin Vantage of Fernando Rees in the lead of the LMGTE Pro class, holding a 25s lead over the No.64 Corvette of Jordan Taylor. The No.51 AF Corse Ferrari 458 Italia of 2014 class winners Bruni-Vilander-Fisichella had also been in the midst of the battle until the start of the fourth hour but unfortunately Fisichella was caught up in the No.8 LMP1 Audi’s accident. The Ferrari picked up a puncture and lost a lap for repairs to the wheel arch, but Vilander, in the car at the start of the seventh hour, was pressing hard to make up time.
Third in GTE Pro was the No.97 Aston Martin of Darren Turner, hot on the heels of his team mate with just two seconds separating the British cars, and the Porsche 911 RSR of Jörg Bergmeister (No.91) is in close attendance behind.
The LMGTE Am lead was in the hands of Pedro Lamy and his team mates Paul Dalla Lana and Mathias Lauda, winners in class of the first two rounds of the 2015 WEC. The No.98 Aston Martin Vantage thus held a lead of 30s over the No.72 SMP Racing Ferrari 458 Italia of Bertolini-Basov-Shaytar and a further 10 seconds to third place in class, the No.83 AF Corse entry of Aguas-Perrodo-Collard.
One of the big stories of the first quarter of the race was the fiery demise of the No.92 Porsche Team Manthey 911 RSR. Patrick Pilet was forced to pull the LMGTE Pro car over to the side of the track at the first chicane along the Hunaudières as his Porsche first lost oil – on which two LMP cars spun and made contact with each other – and then erupted in flames. Pilet made a speedy exit and the car was an instant retirement. Unfortunately the same fate befell another Porsche two hours and 25 minutes into the race, with Christian Ried’s Le Mans 24 Hours in the No.88 Abu Dhabi Proton Racing Porsche 911 RSR coming to a smoky end while under the second safety car.
Other cars to run into trouble include the No.96 Aston Martin Vantage V8 which made contact with the wall at the Ford Chicane while LMGTE Am driver Roald Goethe was at the wheel. He made it back to the pits but the Gulf-liveried car sustained heavy damage to the left front corner which entailed a long stop in the pits for repairs.
A further update will be given at the half way mark and all results can be found HERE
