ALMS, Petit Le Mans - Hour 3

13:36
Starting the third hour, and confirmation from our "pitlane reporter" Gary Horrocks that the Muscle Milk crew is "working feverishly" to have the HPD back and raceworthy as quickly as possible. They anticipated a full 40 minutes for the repair, but are nearing completion now.

My apologies for missing an earlier incident, not captured live on the monitors here, of the leader clipping Tom Kimber-Smith and the Greaves Motorsport Zytek, and sending the #1 car skipping across the uneven ground and towards the wall. Tom managed - perhaps mostly by luck - to avoid any heavy contact with the concrete, but the car did sustain enough damage to require a lengthy pitlane visit. The Zytek is still there, and has slumped to 41st and last.

13:42
The Muscle Milk HPD returns to the track. Feedback from Klaus Graf is that all is not right with the set-up, and it's not turning well, especially on cold tyres, but he can cope and will persevere anyway.

Neel Jani leads by more than a lap now, and the second-placed P2 lead is now into the pitlane for a fuel and tyre pitstop, and a driver change. David HH out after a lengthy opening stint. Not sure yet who will be taking over. Pierre Thiriet sweeps by along the main straight to take the P2 lead.

13:46
Chris Dyson brings the #16 Lola into the pitlane, and clambers out having completed everything he needs to in this race.

Dario Franchitti moves through to second overall, ahead of Pierre Thiriet. Dane Cameron is still holding on tenaciously to third in class for Dempsey Racing and now has a generous advantage over Eric Lux, taken over from David HH in the #37 Conquest Morgan Nissan.

13:49
Pitstop for Pierre Thiriet, and that allows Jody Firth to move back up to 5th overall, fourth in P2.

In GT, Johannes van Overbek continues to lead by nearly ten seconds over Jan Magnussen, with the second Corvette through to third now, in the hands of Tommy Milner.

13:52
The Greaves Zytek emerges from behind pit wall, and heads back out onto the circuit. The leader is about to start his 100th lap.

Dane Cameron continues to impress in the Dempsey Lola, and whatever the car's issues may have been in practice, there's evidently not a lot wrong with it now. He's pushing hard in second, and has 'narrowed' the gap to the leader, Dario Franchitti to 38 seconds. Confirmation that Guy Smith has taken over the #16 Dyson Lola, and is holding 11th from team-mate Chris McMurry in 12th.

In the GT battle for ELMS honours, Marco Cioci has a significant lead over Anthony Pons, with the AF Corse Ferrari almost three laps to the good. 

13:59
Dane Cameron brings the #27 Lola into the pits, and Joe Foster gets into the car. Meanwhile, the team's LMPC is running very slowly after an off for Henri Richard.

14:01
Andrew Davis is still leading GTC, but the margin is minimal - just three seconds separate the #24 Porsche from Henrique Cisneros, chasing in the #30.

14:04
A fifth pit visit for Jody Firth, who brings in the Murphy Prototypes Oreca from fifth in class, 6th overall. A driver change seems likely. The leader has also pitted, and Neel Jani completes his marathon opening stint and hands over responsibility for the rebellion Lola to Nicolas Prost.

Warren Hughes has taken over the #118 Murphy Oreca.

14:11
The #16 Dyson Lola is coasting into the pits, and Guy Smith free-wheels over the brow of the hill and just manages to make it to the pitlane entrance. No headlights, so may be an electrical or engine problem. Meanwhile, the GT leading Ferrari comes into the pits for a routine stop, allowing the two Corevttes to move through first and second. The Dyson crew is reporting a fuel pressure issue.

Lucas Ordonez moves through to 7th overall for DeltaWing, and has a full 22 seconds over Joe Foster. It will be an interesting gap to watch.

14:16
The GT leader; the #3 Corvette (Jan Magnussen) is into the pitlane. Tommy Milner becomes the new class leader with the sister Corvette, #4.

In LMPC, there's a one-two for Core, with Ryan Dalziel having a 20 second margin over team-mate Jonathan Bennett in the #05.

14:17
The second Corvette is into the pitlane, for fuel, tyres and a driver change to Richard Westbrook.

14:19
More dramas for Guy Smith in the #16 Dyson Lola, and at just the wrong time as well. He'd just completed another lap and was heading towards Turn 1 when he appeared to lose all drive. He limped up the hill, and stopped just off the track. However, frantically throwing switches, the Yorkshireman has managed to get the car going again - but very slowly.

Guy Smith gets the stricken Lola back to pit lane. He is joined shortly afterwards by Chris McMurry in the #20, but that stops appears to be fairly routine.

In GT, Martin Ragginger is up to third now in the Falken Porsche #17, and on merit too.

The #20 Dyson Lola returns to the track.

14:27
The prospect of a battle for second is now in prospect, with Eric Lux having narrowed the gap to Dario Franchitti to the tune of just six seconds, although respective lap times are fairly well matched. Traffic may be the critical factor here.

Warren Hughes now has Joe Foster within his sights - certainly along the straights, where the Dempsey Lola will be a visible target on the track ahead. Their laptimes are not so well balanced, and the Geordie should be on the Lola's tail within the next ten minutes.

The situation in GTC has altered slightly, and while Andrew Davis still leads, Sean Johnston is now holding second for JDX.

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