Pit news, infos, retirements, accidents and more

The #26 Team Bruichladdich Radical, Radical AER SR9, has been in the pits for around twenty minutes. There are two problems, the car is over heating and it also picked up some body damage after getting a puncture. It is still in the pits.  

- 03h21 #8 and #7 Peugeot also suffer from overheating

The #8 Team Peugeot Total, Peugeot 908 HDI FAP has been in the pits due to overheating. They pumped dry ice through the system to cool it all down, cleaned the radiators, and the car is now back out with Sarrazin at the wheel and it is currently the fastest of the Peugeots, although only running 8th, 9 laps behind the #7 Peugeot 908, but only 1 lap down from the 6th place #17 Pescarolo.

Shortly after #8, the #9 Peugeot of Zonta and #7 car of Villeneuve undergo the same quick fix of the cooling system.  

#4 Saulnier Racing, Pescarolo went into the pits and straight into its garage. The Team then set about changing the front left wheel bearing. This is a big job and it was not until 03:23hrs that they got the car back out. This was a long delay of around 29 minutes.  

- 03h37 #22 Courage-Oreca YGK in the heat of the night

#22 Tokai University - YGK Power, Courage-Oreca Ygk in its garage while the team set about fitting new, larger diameter coolant hoses for the brakes which are overheating. It is back out again  

- 03h40 Fuel leak on #20 Epsilon Euskadi

The #20 Epsilon Euskadi, Epsilon Euskadi has been in the pits for at around three hours while the team changes the fuel tank. The car had suffered from a fuel leak earlier.This is a major job! 

- 03h58 #32 Zytek in the pits with driveshaft trouble

The #32 Barazi Epsilon, Zytek 07S has been in its pit for 42 minutes so far. They are replacing the right hand side drive shaft. The car has dropped to 8th place in LM P2 class.  

Just as it started to rain more heavily the #5 Team Oreca Matmut, Courage-Oreca Judd driven by Ayari spun as it arrived on the pit straight. The car was in a rather dangerous position as Ayari tried to get the car started.

Eventually he got going again and he will no doubt pit for wet tyres on the next lap like everybody else. The #5 Team Oreca Matmut, Courage-Oreca Judd had just spent some time in the pits with a gearbox problem. The team sorted it all out and the car was back out again losing twelve minutes in the pits.  

The #34 Van Merksteijn Motorsport, Porsche RS Spyder pits with the bodywork rubbing the front tyre. This indicated a problem with the front suspension. The team sorted it out and the #34 car returned to the race without losing the lead in LMP2  

- 04h20 #31 Porsche RS Spyder spins at Playstation

#31 Team Essex, Porsche RS Spyder with Elgaard at the wheel spun at the Playstation chicane and damaged the rear end of the car. Elgaard was able to bring the car back to the pits, where the team fitted a new rear diffuser and rear wing.  

At 04:30 the #33 Speedy Racing Team Sebah, Lola Judd, driven by Pompidou, had an incident at Indianapolis Corner and went off and hit the Armco hard. As a result of the impact he damaged the front of the car badly. He then managed to limp back around the track but the car stopped just where the pit-lane leaves the main circuit, effectively blocking the pit lane.

Just after this the #63 Corvette Racing, Corvette C6.R with O'Connell at the wheel tried to come into the pits; he couldn't avoid the #33 car and he hit it hard. This was enough to push the #33 car it out of his way. Luckily the #63 was largely undamaged, and came in for a routine stop. The #33 finally made it into the pits, where it went straight into the garage and retired.  

The #007 Aston Martin Racing, Aston Martin DBR9 has a problem. The car won't restart. The team tried plugging a ‘slave’ battery but the car doesn't want to fire up under its own power. They have moved it into the garage to investigate. According to their team chief the problem is the alternator and it will take 5-10 mins to change. The #007 car was running 3rd LMGT1.  

- 05h26 Interview with Jacques Villeneuve

Jacques Villeneuve told us in a TV interview that"We had an overheating problem, so we had to get our braking done early and then 'roll' the car into the corners. We solved that, but then it started raining.

Our car is difficult - you get the power down coming out of corners and it snaps around, which makes it harder to overtake the slower cars. Tom Kristensen was my team-mate in Formula Three, and even back then he was bl**dy quick in the wet!" 

- 05h30 #2 Audi takes the lead with Kristensen at the wheel

The #2 Audi Sport North America, Audi R10 with Kristensen at the wheel takes the lead while the rain continues to dictate the pace. Krsitensen, as usual, seems very much at ease in the dark and the rain. On the 234th lap he took the lead from Villeneuve’s #7 Team Peugeot Total, Peugeot 908 HDI FAP while it was in the pits refueling. The #2 Audi, thanks to a faster pitstop (because only the tyres were changed) came out first. The Peugeot spent longer in the pits carrying out a tyre and driver change.

This was when Kristensen took the lead. Currently Gené is 38 seconds behind the #2 Audi. As the track showed signs of drying out the two cars began to match each others pace.  

The #45 Embassy Racing, Embassy Zytek with Foster at the wheel had an accident, all on his own, and damaged the nose cone. He made it back to the pits where the team replaced the front end and at the same time fitted a new alternator. The car is back in the race with Foster still at the wheel having lost about twelve minutes  

- 06h26 #5 Courage-Oreca overheating and troublesome to restart

#5 Team Oreca Matmut, Courage-Oreca is in its pit garage with overheating problems. It also has a problem with its starter motor and are changing it.It is back out again after spending ten minutes in the pits  

#23 Autocon, Creation Judd driven by McMurry got a puncture between the two chicanes on the Mulsanne Straight. It damaged the rear bodywork and is on its way to the pits.

At the same time the #45 Embassy Racing, Embassy Zytek driven by had a huge moment at The Michelin Chicane. The car hit the barriers hard. It is making its way slowly back to the pits.  

At 6:33am Jean Christophe Boullion brings the #16 Pecarolo back into its pit garage. The team reckon that the engine is down on power. So the mechanics set about removing the airbox and filters. There is no real need to rush the job since the #5 Team Oreca Matmut, Courage-Oreca Judd that is behind them is also in the garage changing its starter motor. But sadly at 6:40am the #16 garage door came down, this is the traditional way of showing that a car has retired.

This car was eight laps ahead in LMP2 and had been ahead for ages. Now it‘s the #34 Porsche RS Spyder of the #34 Van Merksteijn Motorsport which threatens to take the lead in LM P2, and 8th place overall. 
 

- 07h10 #4 Pescarolo Judd damaged at Tertre Rouge

At 6:58am the #4 Saulnier Racing, Pescarolo Judd hit the barriers at Tertre Rouge but they got the badly damaged car back to the pits but the car was still there 30mins later. When the incident happened, the car was running in 23rd position.  

The #24 Terramos, Courage Mugen driven by Takahashi spun at the Michelin Chicane and rejoins.  

The #10 Charouz Racing System, Lola Aston Martin has had a new ECU fitted during its pit stop and is out again 11th overall. Meanwhile the #21 Epsilon Euskadi, Epsilon Euskadi Judd is in the pits having a new starter motor fitted.  

The #21 Epsilon Euskadi, Epsilon Euskadi Judd is in the pits having a new starter motor fitted, and the suspension setup is being changed.  

The #45 Embassy Racing, Embassy Zytek driven by Hughes, Kane and Foster has retired after hitting the barriers very hard about an hour ago.

At 8:30am Lamy spins the #8 Peugeot, the car that has had to bear most of the Peugeot mishaps so far. No damage is was to the car, and the Portuguese driver can continue the race without even paying a visit to the pits.  

- 08h26 #26 Radical rear damage after spin in Porsche curves

08:26 #26 Bruichladdich Radical sustains rear damage after Gunnar Jeannette spins into guardrail at Porsche curves (virage Pont). Front left corner also damaged.

- 09h02 Courage Mugen #24 changes shock absorber

Takahach takes his Courage Mugen #24 to the pits and the team is busy changing a rear shock absorber.

Luc Alphand Corvette #73 hit the fence at 8:44 and the car suffered slight damage that was rapidly repaired in the pits. #73 was back on track with Pasquali at the wheel but spun a few minutes later on the wet track.  

Three more cars have retired during the past hour. The Lola Judd #33 of Speedy Racing Team Sebah retired on its 193rd lap after a contact with the Corvette C6.R #69 in the pit lane. The Zytek #45 retired a little later (07:51) after it went of the track at the Michelin chicane and the Pescarolo Judd #16 of Collard- Bouillon-Dumas retired as well because of the engine overheating. 

- 10h07 Gearbox problem on the Lola Quifel ASM Team #40

The Lola #40 has encountered problems on the gear change paddles during the past hour. It came back to the pits at 09:10 and the mechanics fit a gear lever. Following the first stop the Lola comes back again at 09:19 for pinion gear change. The repair took 33 minutes and Guy Smith left the pit in the 4th place behind the two Porsche Spyders and the Pescarolo #35 of Saulnier Racing. 

Piccini and his Aston Martin #007 get a warning for Ford chicane 'cutting' transgression.  

#1 Audi Sport North America, Audi R10 - Werner - Going slowly after incident at Ford chicane.  

- 10h52 Dome #11 off the track.

The #11 Dome Racing Team, Dome Judd S102 of Ito, Tachikawa and Kataoka goes into the gravel at 10:16 in the Ford curve and comes back to the pit afterwards for checking.

It goes off the track again at 10:46 and hits the tyres after the Michelin curve. It suffers damage on the front and comes back to the pit for repairs at 10:52.

- A.C.O -