Raceday in the Belgian Ardennes

What a change! The forecasters suggest it won't last, but the Spa circuit came to life again this morning, bathed in glorious sunshine. It was enough to melt the ice off the car windscreens and burn the mist away from amongst the trees. Spring comes late to the Ardennes, but Sunday morning displayed this beautiful region at its best. In previous years the Spa 1000 Kilometres has seen fog, torrential rain, bright sunshine, and the occasional mix of all three. Fingers crossed here for a dry race, a least.

The overnight news in LMP2 is sparse. The Bruichladdich Ginetta Zytek, which failed to complete a lap in qualifying on Saturday, will be permitted to take the start from the pitlane. The car "lunched" its engine on the out-lap with Tim Greaves in the cockpit. The car could have been expected to qualify in the top five.

Warm up

Tommy was first out for RML, as usual, and making the most of the unexpectedly bright sunshine. RML has a very established routine for warm-up, and only unexpected issues or incidents will deter them from that course. Today was no exception, and everything went like clockwork. The Brazilian completed his out, single flyer and return, heading into the pits at 09:07 to go through a full driver-change simulation with Mike Newton. Refuelled, and after a quick radio check, Mike headed back out "nice and steady", as Team Manager Phil Barker instructed.

Times are never an issue in warm-up. Tommy's laps were purely exploratory - just making sure that everything was still right with the car after some overnight tweaks and component rebuilds. Mike very nearly had an incident of his own, however, when the Hankook GT2 Ferrari appeared to make some kind of an overtaking move into the first element at Les Combes, but Mike held to his racing line, and Dominik Farnbacher spun out behind him. There was no touch, and Mike may not even have been aware that the Ferrari had over-stretched its abilities into the corner.

Mike completed his remaining laps without further incident, and returned to the pitlane to hand on to Andy Wallace. Meanwhile, Nick Leventis was going off backwards into the tyre walls at Les Combes. The Strakka HPD appeared to go heavily into the barriers and there was undoubtedly a significant amount of rear-end damage. The car will remain there until the end of warm-up, and will then have to be trailered back to the paddock, leaving the crew perhaps just ninety minutes to repair it before the start. Until then Leventis had been setting quickest times in LMP2.

Andy Wallace just managed to get out onto the circuit before the chequered flag was waved. He completed his lap, returned to the pitlane, and he too carried out the simulated driver change, with Tommy getting back in as the crew refuelled the car. That done, the car was hauled back into the garage, job done.

Warm Up - LMP2 Times

The news from Strakka is that the car will be ready for the race start, and Nick Leventis is OK. The #42 will begin the race from the pitlane.

The paddock autograph session followed on swiftly after the end of warm-up, with the area packed with spectators eager to add to their collection of mementos. The weather remains dry, and with a hazy brightness, but there are definitely some grey clouds massing on the horizon. The latest forecast predicts rain for the first hour of the race . . .

The cars started to form up on the grid from just before eleven. For RML, the pitlane start for the #42 Strakka Racing HPD meant, effectively, pole position and an empty space on the grid immediately in front of the #25 Lola. With ten minutes to go, the drivers started to pull on their helmets and gloves, and climb aboard their respective cars. Tommy Erdos was scheduled as first driver in the RML AD Group Lola HPD, and would start from the outside position on row 5, lined up directly alongside the #.13 Rebellion Racing LMP1 Lola.

As the track was cleared of spectators, news came through that the Strakka Racing HPD #42 would not be rebuilt in time to take the start, but would join in as soon as possible.

Race Start

At dot on the half-hour, the Audi pace car moved off the grid, followed like a concertina'd caterpillar by wave after wave of prototypes and GT cars.

Drama even on the warm-up laps as the #8 Audi spins off at Les Combes and hits the rear three-quarters. There's superficial damage. Lotterer gets the car going again and rejoins the stream, heading back to the pits trailing a plume of tyre smoke. He went off at exactly the same position as Nick Leventis.

Stirring music blares out across the public address system as the cars gather up on the approach through to the Bus Stop. Then the Oreca Matmut Peugeot also spins off, somewhere through the area of Blanchimont. The rest are onto the pit straight and massing for the start.

Clean start, but the leading Peugeot spins at La Source and ends up right in front of Tommy and blocks him, allowing Lahaye through in the #35 Oak Racing Pescarolo. Clean through Eau Rouge, where there appears to be rain! Everyone's on slicks, so it's hard to keep these cars on the track when the conditions are so variable.

At the top of Eau Rouge, the #29 Racing Box Lola is off, and into the barriers.

The timing screens suggest that Lahaye jumped the start,and was ahead of Tommy as they crossed the line. Later, however, it transpires that Tommy was balked by the spinning Peugeot, and Lahaye was able to slip down the inside at La Source.

Five minutes into the race, and the Safety Car is deployed.

11:39 SAFETY CAR
Strakka Racing joins the race! They have only lost one lap, thanks to the safety car and planned re-start. If wise, they ma have fitted inters, in which case they may have an advantage on the restart. However, there is some debate on whether they will be allowed to exit the pitlane.

11:44
The pitlane is opened and the #42 joins the race, Jonny Kane in the cockpit. They have lost two laps.

Tommy Erdos lies second behind Lahaye in the #24, with Pla third (#40) and Moreau fourth in the second Oak Pescarolo. Kennard is fifth for KSM, with Piccini (which one? Ah, it's Andrea) sixth. This LMP2 group is running 10th through fifteenth overall. The #2 Peugeot leads overall from Panis in the #4 and the #7 Audi R15 third.

11:49 RACING RESUMES

The race gets back underway. The rain has almost stopped, but not enough to prevent the next accident, within seconds of the re-start, when one of the Rebellion Lolas, the #13 with Jean Christophe Boullion at the wheel, tags the #4 Team Oreca Peugeot on the run through Raidillon The Pug is off and into the tyres. Oliver Panis is totally distraught, and with good reason. That was not the best display of driving from Boullion.

11:50
Once again, the pitlane is blocked, but no safety car this time - just waved yellows at the pit exit. During this, Tommy has suffered, and dropped back to fifth in class. No explanation for that yet. Lahaye still leads the class, now from Pla and Moreau.

11:55
No update on Tommy, as yet, but the #25 Lola is now running sixth in LMP2, and has been overtaken by all the leading group.

12:00
At last the race seems to be settling down to something approaching sensible. The weather is still unpredictable, but at least the track is now universally damp-ish, and everyone's coping with it. Kennard has pitted the KSM Lola from a healthy fifth, allowing Tommy through to have a crack at Piccini in the #30 Racing Box Lola. The gap is currently six seconds.

Lamy passes McNish into La Source, and then they're side-by-side on the run down to Eau Rouge. It's nail-biting stuff, but Lamy perseveres, and holds the line through the bottom and comes out at the top in third.

12:02
Pla and Moreau have both got the jump on Lahaye - perhaps the Oak #24 driver made an error, but it's now ASM leading LMP2 from Oak #35, and Piccini in the #30 in fourth. The leading Formula Le Mans runner the #48 Hope PoleVision Racing Oreca FLM, is now 14th overall and just 16 seconds behind Erdos.

12:04
Erdos has closed now to within two seconds of Lahaye, who has continued to slip backwards through the order. Another making up ground rapidly is Thor Ebbesvik. The Dane has got the hammer down, and from a back-row start is already through to 19th overall, 7th in LMP2.

12:05
Piccini pits the #30 Lola from fourth place in LMP2. Erdos and Lahaye move through to take up positions as third and fourth in class. Tommy is now pushing hard and is right on Lahaye's tail as they run up towards Les Source. He closes again through the complex, and then takes the position. So, the Brazilian is back up to third.

12:10
It has been a frantic first half-hour in the Spa 1000 Kilometres and there are still some surprises in store. Jonny Kane is turning in very quick times aboard the Strakka Racing HPD, just setting 2:09 on his last lap to be fastest in LMP2, but has so much ground to make up. He's currently 47th overall.

12:11
Tommy is now on to the tail of Moreau in the #35 Oak Racing Pescarolo, dicing through traffic and looking for an opportunity to pass.

12:12
Tommy starts his 14th lap in style, with a monstrous out-braking move on Moreau into La Source. The Pescarolo has no response, and the Lola is through and away. Moreau flashes his headlights as the two cars plummet down the hill towards Eau Rouge, but there's no catching the Brazilian, who starts to ease away rapidly. The gap ahead to Pla is thirteen seconds, and the times are comparable.

12:15
For a while LMP2 looks as if it has entered settled territory. Pla leads fairly comfortably from Erdos, and these two are pulling clear of the paired Oak Racing Pescarolos in third and fourth. The only big mover on the horizon is Ebbesvik in the #41 Bruichladdich Ginetta Zytek, who has just overtaken Meichtry in the Race Performance Radical for fifth.

12:17
Spoke too soon. Ebbesvik took a nudge from the GT2 Aston on the run into the Bus Stop, and then pole-axed the concrete wall. It was a very heavy impact, and Ebbesvik appears to have been knocked unconscious by the impact. The medics are in attendance.

12:18 SAFETY CAR
Ebbesvik is out of the car and apparently OK, but the car is stranded on the exit of the Bus Stop.

Pitstop. (Erdos remains in; fuel, tyres and bodywork repairs)
Many cars are taking the safety car as an opportunity to make an early pitstop. The #7 Audi is in, and so too Thomas Erdos, who is not only going to take on fuel and tyres, but the engineers are also replacing the right rear legality panel. Tommy is not aware of any impact, but somehow the panel has been dislodged. The team completes the essentials, then replaces the rear bumper assembly panel.

12:24
Tommy leaves the RML pitlane apron and heads off down towards the pitlane exit. He is held there for some time awaiting a gap between the two safety car processions.

12:28
Olivier Pla pits from the lead of the class. Moreau moves through, with Lahaye second. The exact position of the #25 Lola not yet clear, but Verdonc in the #48 FLM car has moved through ahead of him, and so too Julien Schell in the #36 Pegasus Courage. Kane is now registering as 39th overall in the Strakka Racing #42.

Hour 2 - 3 (12:30-13:30)

12:35 RACING RESUMES
The #41 Ginetta Zytek has finally been cleared from the track and racing can resume. Tommy's extended but well-timed pitstop has cost him several places, and he's now running 20th overall, sixth in LMP2. He's lost almost a lap on the class lead but there's still hours of this race still to go.

First hour positional roundup: Matthieu Lahaye leads LMP2 for Oak Racing from Olivier Pla in the #40 ASM Ginetta Zytek. The gap is almost a minute. Third is Hein in the #35 Oak Pescarolo, and Schell is fourth for Pegasus. Jonathan Kennard holds fifth for KSM from Tommy Erdos, but the gap is mere fractions of a second. The #27 Radical is 7th, but a distant 22nd overall. There's an even longer gap then to the #30 Racing Box Lola in 36th just a few seconds ahead now of the charging Jonny Kane.

In LMP1, Montagny leads for Team Peugeot in the #2, with Gene chasing by three seconds, and Lamy third. So, a one-two-three for Peugeot at this stage, with McNish fourth from Bernhard in the #9 Audi.

GT1 is being fronted by the #60 Ford GT, comfortably clear of the Young Drivers Aston Martin DBR9. In GT2, Marc Lieb leads fro Felbermayr in the #77 from Melo (Ferrari #96) and Pile (Porsche #76) third.

Surprise . . . shock, perhaps . . . is to se the #48 Hope PoleVision Racing Oreca FLM holding a very accomplished 10th overall, effectively second in LMP2 if the classes were combined. That's a mighty impressive run.

12:40
Tommy Erdos passes Jonathan Kennard for fourth in LMP2, and is now through to 13th overall. He is also gaining rapidly, at a rate of around 7 or 8 seconds a lap, on Hein in third. Jonny Kane is through to 28th overall, and is now occupying 8th in LMP2.

12:51
Verdonc pits the #48. Lahaye leads by around 50 seconds, but then pits. The gap then to Hein is a minute.

12:56
Erdos trails Hein now by 17 seconds, but is hauling him in moment by moment. There is an oil warning at Raidillon

The only LMP2 runner yet to pit is the #36 Pegasus Racing Courage, currently holding 15th overall as a result, 6th in class and 21 seconds behind Verdunc, who resumed there after his pitstop.

12:58
Teams are reporting very slippery conditions around several sections of the rack, thanks to oil from an as-yet unidentified car. Kane completes his first pitstop, and drops to 32nd, but then a stream of GT runners also pit, and when the order resolves, he's back in 24th.

13:03
Tommy through to third, and now a mere 28 seconds behind Lahaye, with Pla now leading LMP2 by 25 seconds. The various scheduled pitstop windows are now closing again, and it's possible to see a pattern in the field, with LMP1 occupying positions one through eight, the LMP2 class leader in 9th, and the FLM front-runner, the Applewood Seven car #49, in 18th.

Apologies for any interruption in service, but the power in the media centre has just failed . . . again.

13:12
The circuit is still without power, so all the timing screens are down, and we have no way of following the race. It doesn't help that the media centre faces the paddock! The situation is repeated in the pit garages, where there is also no power, no telemetry, and no lighting. Luckily the pit to car radio communication is still functioning.

13:20
The circuit remains without power. The interesting issue now is what happens if, or when, the power returns. If the main computer that was logging the race has also gone down, then one can just hope there's someone, somewhere, with a piece of paper and a pencil keeping tabs on what's happening on track.

13:23
We have power. Thankfully, there appears to be some kind of backup system, and we do appear to have timing screens with details we can trust. McNish was leading overall, but has just pitted.

13:25
Olivier Pla leads LMP2 . . . just as the power goes again.

13:29 Pitstop. (Erdos remains in; fuel and windscreen clean)
Very straightforward pitstop from RML, despite the circumstances. Tommy is asked to give a commentary on his whereabouts, as the team has no way of knowing where he is. Isn't technology wonderful. He gets out onto the track and radios through to confirm that he's back on track.

Hour 3- 4 (13:30-14:30)

13:35 RACE SUSPENDED
The race is red flagged. Apparently the back-up system on the timing computer has a thirty minute lifespan. That is now imminent, so race control has suspended the race. The situation is not restricted to the circuit, and much of the surrounding area is also without power.

13:52
Power resumes, although it may only be very localised. It is deemed secure enough by the race organisers, and a plan is in place to re-start the race at about 14:10.

14:00
The teams move back out towards their cars, which have been drawn up on the grid in running order. There will be a re-start. The cars are supposed to start under their own means, and since this is parc fermé conditions, engineers are not supposed to touch the cars. They must start on their own internal batteries.

14:05
The RML Lola is re-started, with Tommy Erdos back in the car.

14:10
The cars move off the grid, behind the safety car. There are still no active timing screens, so following the race will still be difficult The situation, however, is as follows:

14:16 RACING RESUMES
The lights turn green on the start-finish line. We're back and racing.

14:20
The Pegasus Racing Courage has been passed by Nick Leventis, now in the Strakka Racing HPD and running fourth.

14:22
Tommy through to lead LMP2. Still no timing screens, so hard to follow, and even harder to work out how he's managed this! Click here for live timing.

During the "break" there was an incident between the #39 KSM Lola and the #2 Team Peugeot, but both were able to continue. Montagny holds fourth, and the KSM car is running 7th in LMP2.

Hour 4- 5 (14:30-15:30)

14:35
Tommy and Oliver Pla are running nose-to-tail and battling over the class lead. The gap is about two seconds, and occasionally less. The #24 Oak Racing Pescarolo is another half-minute back. The second Oak car is almost a lap down on its team-mate, and then there's another lap to Nick Leventis in the #42 Strakka Racing HPD.

Overall, Dindo Capello leads for Audi (#7) from Bourdais in the #3 Peugeot.

14:47
Tommy moves through to take the lead in LMP2.

14:40
Tommy has managed to extend a six-second lead in LMP2, with both he and Oliver Pla stretching their advantage over the third-placed Oak Pescarolo, #24. Out at the sharp end, there's a needle battle developing between Capello and Bourdais. Capello is holding the Peugeot at bay, for now at least

14:50
Finally, we have timing screens back, and this allows us to achieve some kind of catch-up.

The duel between Capello and Bourdais continues, although for the moment,as they work through traffic, Capello has eased clear just a little. The situation is paralleled in LMP, where Erdos leads LMP2 by only three or four seconds.

14:52
One of the Rebellion Lolas pulls off at the side of the track. Can't determine yet which one it is. Pla is pushing as hard as he can, knowing that both cars are nearing the end of their opening-driver stints, and has just set a new fastest lap for the #40 or 2:09.868. Tommy's best in this first triple-stint has been a 2:09.133.

The #24 Pescarolo is third at present,with Nicolet at the wheel. These cars have just all passed the #12 Rebellion Lola, which is the one in difficulty. Fourth in class is the #35 Oak pescarolo, followed by the Strakka Racing HPD. Leventis is lapping in the 2:15s, while the leaders are clocking regular 2:10 or 2:12 laps at worse.

Capello has pitted for fuel, so Bourdais now leads overall from Anthony Davidson in the #1 Peugeot.

14:59
Tommy is preparing for the next pitstop, and has thrown down a handful of very rapid laps to ease out a ten second advantage over Pla. Leventis has responded with a 2:11.

15:00
Bourdais pits from the lead.

15:02 Pitstop. (Erdos out, Newton in; tyres, fuel and windscreen clean)
Tommy comes into the pitlane, climbs out, and MIke swaps places. It's a clean, untroubled stop, although there's a minor concern over the speed limiter. The #40 ASM Ginetta Zytek pits at the same time.

15:05
A second incident of the day for Nick Leventis in the #42 Strakka Racing. He runs wide, possibly at Stavelot, and clips the left rear. He limps back gingerly to the pits for repairs. He'd been running a strong fifth.

15:07
Nicolet now leads LMP2 for Oak Racing, in the #24. Newton is second, and Amaral, now piloting the #40, is third. They're usually fairly evenly matched, so should be interesting.

15:13
Nicolet pits the #24 Oak Racing Pescarolo from the lead of LMP2, allowing Newton and Amaral through. Then, later on that same lap, Amaral nips past Newton on the right-hander through Stavelot to steal the lead. Mike tucks in behind the #40 Ginetta Zytek, and is obviously endeavouring to stay with the Portuguese car.

15:17
Moreau has pitted the #35 from fourth. Leventis is still in the pits, and because the race is still surprisingly tightly bunched, even yet, he's tumbling rapidly down the order. The Strakka HPD is now in 38th position and still in the garage.

15:25
Despite his best efforts, and he clearly is pushing as hard as he dares, Newton is slipping back just a little from Amaral, and the gap has stretched to 8 seconds. That said, it will only take another beneficial gap in traffic to make that up again. These two are running 7th and 8th overall. The 008 Aston has been in the pits for a fair while now, and has dropped out of the top-ten.

15:28
The KSM Lola has slowed on the track at Turn 15, the second part of the Stavelot sweep. The car had been running fifth in class, 12th overall.

Hour 5- 6 (15:30-16:30)

13:30, and the #13 Rebellion Lola is into the pits again with an ongoing electrical problems. The LMP2 class leaders ave taken advantage of the situation, and moved through to 6th and 7th. Still no sign of the #42 returning to the track.

15:36
In spectacular fashion, Paul Daniels skids sideways out of Eau Rouge in the JWA Porsche, but just manages to slow the car before it hits the barriers, surrounded by smoke and mirrors. Now, that's magic.

15:39
The battle for the lead in LMP has been diminished to a minor skirmish as Amaral continues to ease, inch by inch, clear of Newton. The gap is 26 seconds, but Newton also has his mirrors full of Nicolet in the #24. Fortunately, there's a full lap between them.

15:40
Nicolet out-drags Newton on the run up Kemmel Straight to un-lap himself. Mike presses on regardless. In the overall lead, Bourdais holds a 44 second advantage over Capello, with Wurz third in the #1.

15:52
Capello pits from second overall, and Wurz moves through to take the place. In LMP2, Amaral's lead has grown to 41 seconds. On the next lap round, though, Mike finds an extra couple of seconds, and closes back a little. Moreau has just taken third from his team-mate, Nicolet, and is about ninety seconds behind.

16:00 Pitstop. (Newton stays in; tyres, fuel and windscreen clean)
Routine pitstop, smooth and untroubled. Amaral has also pitted, so the status quo is maintained. Moreau has yet to make the #35 car's fourth st, so will close on Mike.

16:06
The gap between Amaral and Mike has settled at 49 seconds, while the gap back to Moreau is a mere 8 seconds. That may, or will, increase when the Oak car makes its scheduled pitstop.

16:12
Moreau moves to within two seconds of Newton for second in LMP2.

16:15
Confirmation that the #42 Strakka Racing HPD is a retirement. After the accident this morning, the team simply ran out of spare bodywork. There is a requirement that the so-called "legality panels" are correctly positioned, and with Nick's contact with the tyre wall damaging the same rear quarter as this morning, there was no replacement available.

16:20
The #35 Oak Racing Pescarolo is slowing on track. Mike radios in to say that he thinks Moreau has problems. Sure enough, Moreau pits at the end of his next lap. Nicolet regains third.

16:25
Nicolet now in the pits, but Hein has now rejoined in Moreau's place. Maybe he had a fuel problem? Possibly not enough of it, as he was due a scheduled pitstop. Newton now second again, but almost a lap down on Amaral.

Hour 6- Finish (16:30-17:30)

16:30
The timing screen confirms a 73 second gap between Amaral and Newton.

16:31 SAFETY CAR
The Young Drivers Aston, the #52 Aston Martin DBR9, is involved in a massive accident at Blanchimont, There appear to be no other cars involved. Christian Nygaard was driving, and is out of the car and walking unaided, but the tyre wall is seriously deranged. This may take some while to sort out.

16:35
Amaral pits from the class lead. Nicolet also pits, but this can't be even remotely scheduled, as he was only in the pits a little while ago. The marshals are struggling to reinstate the tyre wall at Blanchimont, and a couple more laps at least are expected before the restart.

16:44
Mike, on what may be his last lap today, informs the team that there is light rain at Pif-Paf and through Stavelot corners. Mike is currently leading LMP2 after others have stopped.

16:48 Pitstop. (Newton out, Andy Wallace in; tyres and fuel)
Mike out of the car and Andy Wallace takes over. The car is fitted with scrubbed slicks, and Andy heads out to rejoin the race, although has to follow a Transit van and tractor unit down the pitlane exit!

16:51
Wallace emerges from the pitlane exit as the lights turn green, and he joins the queue behind one of the two safety cars. Andy confirms that it's raining more heavily at the top of the circuit.

16:53 RACING RESUMES
Racing resumes behind one of the safety cars, but not, it seems the second! One half of the grid is up to racing speed, but the est are still processing behind the safety car.

16:55
Closed cockpit cars now visibly have their windscreen wipers in operation, but it's still not too wet for slicks, although there are some skittish rear-ends in evidence. Amaral #40 currently leads LMP2 from Andy Wallace, with Hein third in the #35.

16:58
The far side of the track, from Pouhon through to Stavelot, is now under significant ran, although it remains comparatively dry around the paddock area.

The gap between Andy Wallace and the class leader is 1:26.945. It will be interesting to see how that changes over the coming laps. Overall, Pagenaud leads for Team Peugeot Total in the #3 908, with Tom Kristensen second (#7 Audi) and the #1 Peugeot third. The best-placed LMP1 petrol entry is the #13 Rebellion Lola in 13th overall, so this honour should really fall to the LMP2 class leaders in 6th and 7th.

17:03
A heart-stopping moment for Kristensen at Blanchimont, but he recovers. The #1 Peugeot is less fortunate at Rivage, and heads off across the gravel. Gene's in the cockpit, and it's not sure how easily he will regain the track.

17:04
Kristensen is not progressing at speed, and has just been overtaken by the #30 Racing Box Lola. The #1 Peugeot has rejoined.

17:05
Hein pits the #35 Oak Pescarolo from third. A tyre change is anticipated. Kristensen also pits, and takes on inters. The gap between Amaral and Wallace hasn't changed.

17:08
Having swapped tyres, Kristensen has found a new lease of life and is fairly rattling along. He's just passed Rockenfeller in the #9.

17:09
The Larbre Saleen goes cross-country, but regains the track, casting gravel far and wide. The #78 BMW has sustained a right-rear puncture and is trundling slowly back to the pits. The car wasn't running in the GT2 top-ten.

Conditions continue to be challenging. Pagenaud in the leading Peugeot heads off across the grass at Les Combes, leaving insufficient room to brake at the end of the Kemmel Straight before heading for the chicane. He regains the track, but it doesn't look tidy.

Some drivers continue to persevere with slicks, while others have pitted for inters.

17:16
The gap between Wallace and Amaral is now 1:19, so Andy has narrowed the gap, but not by a huge amount.

17:23
The rain has eased, and the skies are brighter now around some sections of the track. Pagenaud continues to hold the overall lead from Kristensen by just under a minutes. There's a similar situation in LMP2, where Amaral has just oer a minute on Wallace. In GT1, the #70 Ford GT of MarcVDS Racing leads comfortably. The situation is GT2 has Marc Lieb leading by another generous margin over Jaime Melo in the #96.

Kristensen is likely to come under some pressure shortly from Sarazin, who was a second quicker on that last lap - the 135th of this race - than the Dane, and the gap's ten seconds. There is six minutes remaining.

17:30
Just minutes from the end of the race and the #13 Rebellion Lola coasts to a halt along the pit straight.

The cars are bunching up behind the leader, as some try not to have to complete any more laps than they must. The Rebellion Lola has, perhaps inadvertently, crossed the line, so would have to complete another lapin order to be classified. Having now crossed the line before the chequered flag, it may instead be deemed a non-finisher.

17:34 TIME
The six hours is up, so this will be the last lap. Simon Pagenaud takes the chequered flag from Sarrazin, who clinched second just minues from the end, with Kristensen third. In LMP2, Amaral holds on to the win for ASM Qifel from RML AD Group - one up on their third at Paul Ricard. Third to Oak Racing's #35, with the sister car fourth. GT1 to the #70 Ford GT, and GT2 goes to the #77 Felbermayr Proton Porsche 997.

Race Result - LMP2