Motor Racing: Irvine cashes in on good fortune

Eddie Irvine, driving a Toyota, took advantage of misfortune in the Dauer Porsche camp to build a lead of more than a minute as the hot sun mercifully set on the Le Mans 24-hour race here last night, writes Derick Allsop. Irvine, the Jordan-Hart Formula One driver from Northern Ireland who is taking a busman's holiday, was handed the advantage after a tyre blow-out plunged Danny Sullivan's Porsche from first to sixth place. The American spun, but although he regained control, the momentum had carried him just beyond the entrance to the pit lane and he had to crawl around the 8.5-mile circuit again before reaching the sanctuary of his garage. The lap took more than 11 minutes instead of the usual four.