2017 24 Heures du Le Mans

[Alianora La Canta]

Fisico interview. There was only one question, about why the Risi was in the garage right now. The answer:

"We will wait until half an hour before the finish. We are in good shape. Before we were unlucky - double yellow on my best lap. We will try again on a different tyre. I know we are really competitive, so it would be a pity not to try. We will try to get as many positions as possible".

I am heartened by this. Risi still stands a chance of a good qualifying position (it's currently 8th out of 11, which clearly isn't the plan).

The #37 LMP2 needs Alex Brundle to do 2 more laps. All other cars have completed their full complement of minimum night laps. This is unusually relaxed by Le Mans standards.

[Alianora La Canta]

30 minutes to go and the #82 Risi remains in the pits for now.

[Alianora La Canta]

The #82 still is in the pits, and now there are only 22 minutes to go. It's now 9th in class... ...but 13 cars now show in the class, implying that 2 cars put in a qualifying time since the last update.

[Alianora La Canta]

The #97 Aston Martin (Darren Turner) is now fastest GTE-Pro. The #82 Risi remains in the pits with 18 minutes to go - not sure what the delay is.

[Alianora La Canta]

Risi got disqualified from 1st qualifying, by the way. A tyre got touched by a team member before parc fermé was done, so it lost its position. However, all its night lappery was counted, which is why it can be more relaxed now.

Here is a piece on Risi's preparations for Le Mans, and by the sound of it engine usage is having to be watched too. Finally, here is a photo of Fisico qualifying the Risi.

[Alianora La Canta]

The #51 AF Corse has risen to 2nd... ...and the #82 is still in the pits. I think it needs to leave in the next 60 seconds to have any more attempts at qualifying.

[Alianora La Canta]

The #82 is still in, so I think the best Fisico can hope for is 10th in class. He's won from last on the grid though, so we must hope the weekend goes better than qualifying.

[Alianora La Canta]

Nobody's likely to improve now because there's a Slow Zone (not sure why).

[Alianora La Canta]

Fisico and his team-mates in the #82 Risi will start in P42, 11th in their 13-car class. A tough qualifying due to the double yellow flag... ...but he's won from worse. Best wishes to Fisico, Toni, Pierre and Risi for the race!

[Alianora La Canta]

Race about to start. Forza Fisico, Toni, Pierre e Risi!

[Alianora La Canta]

The #4 ByKolles has a puncture and some damage, and the #49 Ligier pitted on the formation lap. The other cars appear to be OK.

[Alianora La Canta]

Race has started. I'm waiting to know where the #82 is positioned due to live timing not working, but I have found some pre-race items.

- A photo of Fisico and Toni having a pre-race strategy meeting.

- The team on the grid before the race.

- Fisico met the fans dressed as crusaders at some point (probably the Friday parade), and not only got "knighted" (as happened last year) but also had a chat with the fans.

Also, the #9 LMP1 Toyota has a damaged nose, and the #49 LMP2 Ligier has exited the pits (having had a sensor failure). The #4 LMP1 ByKolles remains in the pits, for a nose repair.

[Alianora La Canta]

Finally have live timing... ...and it's not pretty.

Toni is in the car, and is still in the position in which he qualified (11th in GTE-Pro, P40 overall). He is, in fairness, right behind the #91 Porsche (Frederic Makowiecki), and there's a single-file queue right the way up to class leader #95 Aston Martin (Nikki Thiim).

[Alianora La Canta]

One of the Ferrari teams (not Risi - Edit: it was the #83 GTE-Am Krohn) managed to lose a pit board by dropping it and skittering across the pit lane. It probably won't result in a penalty, but I can't rely on it.

[Alianora La Canta]

The #22 LMP2 has pitted and the #36 LMP2 Alpine has got beached in the gravel. A yellow flag has been waved in the area.