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As it happenedended

Le Mans 2019 results: Positions and standings as No 8 wins 24 Hours after Toyota changed wrong tyre on No 7

Re-live all the action from the 87th running of the Le Mans 24 Hours at the Circuit de la Sarthe

Jack de Menezes
Sunday 16 June 2019 11:51 EDT
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Le Mans 2019 winners Toyota head to the podium

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Toyota took an expected victory in the 2019 Le Mans 24 Hours, but noe was prepared for the controversial ending that saw the No 7 car lose the win an hour from the finish after the team replaced the wrong wheel during an unscheduled pit stop, leaving the car that had led for nearly 12 consecutive hours limping around the circuit with a punctured tyre.

The No 7 car of Conway/Kobayashi/Lopez lost the lead of the race to the No 8 of Buemi/Alonso/Nakajima at the start of the final hour after it picked up a puncture, only for a faulty sensor telling the team to change the wrong wheel when it pitted from the lead to gift the sister car the win, with the No 11 SMP Racing BR1 of Petrov/Aleshin/Vandoorne finishing in third. A series of safety car periods throughout the night saw the No 26 G-Drive Racing move clear in LMP2 only to suffer a 20-minute delay in the pits to leave the No 36 Signatech Alpine in the lead, while the GTE Pro lead is with the No 51 Ferrari after its nearest rival, the No 63 Corvette, spun out with three hours to go with the No 91 and 93 Porsches in second and third, while the No 85 Ford is clear in GTE Am.

However, both Aston Martins crashed out of the GTE Pro battle inside 20 minutes of each other, with the GTE Am class No 98 already out, while Corvette Racing saw the No 64 become the first official retirement after a heaving crash early on. Re-live the live updates below.

What time does it start?

The 2019 Le Mans 24 Hours starts at 2pm BST (3pm CET) on Saturday 15 June.

When is the finish?

The chequered flag will drop at the end of the first lap after 2pm on Sunday 16 June.

How to watch

The 24 Hours of Le Mans will be shown live on Eurosport, along with a number of other sessions during the week.

Twenty-four-hour race coverage will be shown from the moment the flag drops to the chequered flag on Sunday, along with pre- and post-race analysis.

Viewers can watch the race coverage online by subscribing to the Eurosport Player, which comes with the added bonus of no advert breaks for uninterrupted Le Mans coverage. Viewers can buy a monthly pass for £6.99, sign up for a monthly subscription for £4.99 a month or buy a discounted annual pass for £39.99.

There will also be regular 10-minute catch-up shows screened every two hours until 11pm on Saturday, and again from 8am on Sunday morning.

Hour 23: Bergmeister is lappung four second faster than Keating out in front, and the GTE Am lead is down to 40 seconds with an hour and 12 minutes remaining!

Jack de Menezes16 June 2019 12:47

Hour 23: Stop and go penalty for the lead GTE Am car of Ben Keating! The No 85 Ford is penalised for spinning its wheels during the last stop, and Keating comes in to serve it and gets back out in front of the No 56 Porsche!

Jack de Menezes16 June 2019 12:54

Hour 23: Keating keeps hold of the lead by 6.7s, but there's drama here as he wheelspins again leaving the pit box! Could he get yet another penalty?!

Jack de Menezes16 June 2019 12:55

Hour 23: The leader has a puncture! Lopez gets the call to come in and change just the front-right as the No 7 Toyota had a slow puncture. He's back out in the lead and well in control though.

Jack de Menezes16 June 2019 12:57

Hour 23: The leader is slow! The Toyota No 7 has a problem!

Jack de Menezes16 June 2019 12:59

Hour 24: LEAD CHANGE! The No 8 Toyota takes the overall lead!

Jack de Menezes16 June 2019 13:01

Hour 24: This is simply unbelievable. The No 7 has lefd the race since 2:10am this morning, but as Jose Maria Lopez went off the road to lap a GTE and LMP2 car, he picked up a second puncture in as many laps! The No 8 of Kazuki Nakajima sweeps past as the No 7 enters the pits, and when Lopez comes back out the gap is 56 seconds!

Jack de Menezes16 June 2019 13:04

END OF HOUR 23 STANDINGS

Jack de Menezes16 June 2019 13:06

Hour 24: You cannot help but look back at that famous 2016 race when the Toyota led throughout the race until the penultimate lap when it cruelly ground to a halt on the start/finish line, handing Porsche in scenes we thought we'd never see again. However, the No 7 looks on the verge of heartbreak, and it could be that a faulty sensor has not reset from the first puncture, causing the telemetry in the car to think it has another flat tyre.

Jack de Menezes16 June 2019 13:11

Hour 24: The conspiracy theories have begun already, with many discussing the potential for the puncture confusion to be a deliberate attempt to get the No 8 in front to win the race, the championship, give Alonso the perfect send-off and allow Kazuki Nakajima to cross the line and take the chequered flag. Conspiracy theories...as we say.

Jack de Menezes16 June 2019 13:15

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