Le Mans 24 Hours - Hour 21

The #008 Signature Plus Lola Aston Martin is an official retirement (the 23rd).

Leventis does a slow final sector on his in-lap.  Kane gets in.  They have seven laps over the #35 Oak Pescarolo.

The seventh placed Kolles #15 is off at Indianapolis.  Bakkerud appears to have gone straight into the tyres. He rejoins with an ample cushion of seven laps back to the Oreca AIM.

GT2 is now Henzler from Keen and Scheider, all running their own races.  Then it is Alesi, Pilet, Machiels and Muller.  The #88 Porsche and the Spyker are a long way back and there are no more runners.

Leventis confirms that he has done his last stint and he brought the car in with a rear left puncture.  They also changed the legality panel at the rear.

3:21.965 for Kristensen - this car's fastest lap of the race; but he is then warned about the track limits.

Highcroft have an overheating problem and have flushed out the system.  They will now refill it and try 10 lap stints.

Lotterer goes straight into the tyres under braking at Arnage from second overall.  A new nose is readied and the car is suffering as he brings it in.  The whole bottom of the front of the car is wobbling, but the top remains static.  Wurz is sub 3:20.  The new nose goes on, new tyres too as Wurz slinks through the Porsche curves with a fastest third sector of the race of anyone.  As soon as the news broke he responded in the most dramatic fashion, setting the fastest lap for the car of 3:19.241.  Now there is a real fight for second place, 20 car lengths or so separating the cars on the Mulsanne.

By Indianapolis he is having a look, but coming out of Arnage Lotterer pulls an advantage out; Wurz  weaving the car as if he is concerned that he has a problem.  He hasn't though, closing again on the Mulsanne.  Wurz drops the Peugeot alongside Lotterer on the outside after a half dummy and takes the place at the Michelin chicane.

Wurz pits on the same lap, arriving in the pit lane practically sideways.  Rockenfeller is also in, a full lap ahead.

Wurz and Lotterer could be trading places across the remaining two or three pitstops before the end of the race.

The Bruichladdich car is now in fifth at Highcroft's expense. Oak are second and fourth, yet another very strong showing.

Pirro is rattling along as last runner, the problems seem to be fixed as he is setting car-best laptimes and sectors (#11 though is outside the qualification minimum at present).

The #26 Highcroft HPD is back underway.

PS/GG

Hour 21 Update

Does this race ever stop producing weird drama? Not this hour.

There was really one piece of drama, and it was a big one. The No. 8 Audi went straight on at Arnage. It regained the circuit but this allowed Wurz in the remaining factory Peugeot to close right up on Lotterer. The peugeot eventually got by but had to pit at the end of the same lap.

The theme has become that there is no strategy anymore. It’s all luck.

JW