2015–2017 ICC World Cricket League Championship, Matches, Round 5
The fixtures between Hong Kong and the Netherlands were announced by the Koninklijke Nederlandse Cricket Bond in December 2016. Cricket Scotland confirmed the venue for their fixtures in February 2017.


2015–2017 ICC World Cricket League Championship, Matches, Round 6
The matches between Kenya and the Netherlands were originally scheduled to be held at the Gymkhana Club Ground in Nairobi. However, they were moved to Buffalo Park, East London, South Africa, due to security concerns ahead of the re-running of the Kenyan presidential election.


2015–2017 ICC World Cricket League Championship, Matches, Round 7
The fixtures for Round 7 were announced after the conclusion of the final game in Round 6. The ICC confirmed all the squads and match officials for the fixtures on 5 December 2017.


2015–2018 Iraqi protests
The 2015–2018 Iraqi protests over deteriorating economic conditions and state corruption started in July 2018 in Baghdad and other major Iraqi cities, mainly in the central and southern provinces.


2015–2018 Iraqi protests, Background
In 2014, Iraq's election led to a fractured parliament and inability to quickly form a government. Following frustration at the lack of progress, Muqtada al-Sadr promised to lead a sit-in near parliament within the Green Zone in calling for reforms to end corruption. Despite attempts by Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi to re-shuffle his cabinet, he carried out the threat for a short period before calling on his supporters to disperse. The political instability in the country had been disconcerting to foreign governments, especially amongst rumours of former Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki political maneuvering.


2015–2018 Iraqi protests, Background
The U.S. had earlier called for the replacement of al-Maliki as prime minister as a condition for fighting ISIL. A few days before the protests, parliament failed to reach a quorum to approve new ministers to replace the current government. Al-Abadi warned that a failure to form a new government would hurt the war against ISIL.


2015–2018 Iraqi protests, Timeline, 2015 protests
On 16 July, clashes between police and demonstrators led to the death of one young man, with two others wounded.


2015–2018 Iraqi protests, Timeline, 2015 protests
On 2 August, hundreds took to the streets in the southern cities of Nasriyah and Najaf to protest over poor living conditions, including power shortages, and urged authorities to fight widespread corruption.


2015–2018 Iraqi protests, Timeline, 2015 protests
On 7 August, tens of thousands of protesters took to the streets to demand changes to the government in central Tahrir Square and jammed the main streets around it, some calling on Prime Minister Abadi to fire corrupt ministers.


2015–2018 Iraqi protests, Timeline, 2016 protests
On 30 April 2016, thousands of protesters entered the Green Zone in Baghdad and occupied the Iraqi parliament building. This happened after the Iraqi parliament did not approve new government ministers. The protesters included supporters of Shia cleric Muqtada Al Sadr. Although Iraqi security forces were present, they did not attempt to stop the protesters from entering the parliament building.


2015–2018 Iraqi protests, Timeline, 2016 protests, Breaching of Green Zone and parliament
Shorty after al-Sadr ended a news conference in Najaf where he condemned the political deadlock and warned that "either corrupt [officials] and quotas remain or the entire government will be brought down and no one will be exempt from that" and that he would take a two-month withdrawal from public life as he was "waiting for the great popular uprising and the major revolution to stop the march of the corrupt"; though he did not order his supporters to enter the Green Zone, Shia protesters breached the barricades at the Green Zone and stormed the Iraqi parliament building.


2015–2018 Iraqi protests, Timeline, 2016 protests, Breaching of Green Zone and parliament
After crossing a bridge across the Tigris River, a guard at a checkpoint reported that the protesters had not been searched before entering, while television footage showed them waving the flag of Iraq whiles some were standing on top of concrete blast walls at the outer barrier to the Green Zone. They chanted "the cowards ran away," in reference to MPs leaving parliament. While there were scenes of rioting, other protesters shouted "peacefully, peacefully" as they tried to contain the destruction.


2015–2018 Iraqi protests, Timeline, 2016 protests, Breaching of Green Zone and parliament
Some of the protesters pulled barbed wire across a road leading to one of the exits from the Green Zone, while several vehicles believed to belong to MPs were attacked and damaged. While there were no clashes with the security forces, an army special forces unit was dispatched with armoured vehicles and all entrances to the city of Baghdad were shut "as a precautionary measure to maintain the capital’s security," according to an unnamed security official, although no curfew had been imposed.


2015–2018 Iraqi protests, Timeline, 2016 protests, Breaching of Green Zone and parliament
Hundreds of protesters were seen dancing, waving Iraqi flags and chanting pro-al-Sadr slogans, while others appeared to be breaking furniture. Security was also increased at state institutions such as the headquarters for the Central Bank of Iraq and the airport. Other protesters were said to be convening at the road to Baghdad International Airport to stop politicians from leaving the city and/or the country.


2015–2018 Iraqi protests, Timeline, 2016 protests, Breaching of Green Zone and parliament
The security forces declared a state of emergency in Baghdad soon after the protesters broke through cordons to enter the Green Zone.


2015–2018 Iraqi protests, Timeline, 2016 protests, Reactions
President Fuad Masum called on the protesters to leave the parliament building but added: "Burying the regime of party and sectarian quotas cannot be delayed." Sheikh Muhanad al-Gharrawi, an al-Sadr spokesman, also said that al-Sadr had called on his supporters to evacuate the parliament building and set up tents outside. "Negotiations are ongoing between security and government officials and protesters’ representatives to make sure their demands are met."


2015–2018 Iraqi protests, Timeline, 2017 protests
On 11 February, at least five protesters and two policeman have been killed in Baghdad when thousands of people took part in a rally. At least 320 protesters and seven police officers were wounded as violence gripped the rally. Late on that day, there were reports that six or seven Katyusha-type rockets were fired at the Green Zone from within Baghdad. No people claim responsibility and there no casualties reported. Moreover, Iraqi security forces had sealed off routes leading to the capital’s fortified Green Zone after the protests.


2015–2018 Iraqi protests, Timeline, 2017 protests
On 24 March, thousands of anti-government protesters filled up the streets of downtown Baghdad with Muqtada al-Sadr threatened to boycott the upcoming provincial elections, urging followers to join a "reform revolution."


2015–2018 Iraqi protests, Timeline, 2018 protests
On 15 July 2018, protests erupted in southern and central Iraq, with protesters burning the headquarters of Kataib Hezbollah in Najaf and sacking the city's airport. Protesters in southern Iraq blockaded the border with Kuwait and occupied several oilfields. In response to the mass unrest, flights from Iran to Najaf were diverted, and the Iraqi Army redeployed forces in the north that were engaging ISIL and the White Flags group to the south to counter the rise in unrest.


2015–2018 Iraqi protests, Timeline, 2018 protests
During protests in Basra two demonstrators were killed by Iraq's security apparatus, and protesters in Sadr City stormed the headquarters of the Iranian backed Badr Organization. On the next day, protesters in Basra began burning pictures of Khomeini and continued to storm the political offices of the Islamic Dawa Party, Badr Organization, and the National Wisdom Movement, the protesters also demonstrated against Iranian drainage of the Shatt al-Arab waterway, which has caused water in southern Iraq to become saline. The government started to crack down on the increasing violence during the protests, and there were eight reported deaths among the protesters. On 21 July, a Badr Organization militiaman killed a 20-year-old protester in the city of Al Diwaniyah.


2015–2018 Iraqi protests, Timeline, 2018 protests
On 3 September, Iraqi security forces killed Makki Yassir al-Kaabi, an Iraqi tribesman protesting near the provincial capital in Basra; in response to his death many tribesmen from Banu Ka'b threatened to take up arms against the Iraqi government. A few days later, at least 7 people were killed and 30 wounded after a protest about the lack of public services in Basra was fired upon by security forces. On 8 September, an unknown group fired 4 Katyusha rockets at Basra Airport, no injuries or casualties were reported. The US consulate was situated at the airport, and it expressed concern for the developments in Iraq. No one had claimed responsibility for the rocket attack.


2015–2018 Iraqi protests, Timeline, 2018 protests
In October, two bodies of activists were found in Basra and suspected to be victims of assassinations carried out by Iranian-backed militias.


2015–2018 Iraqi protests, Timeline, 2018 protests
On 17 November, Sheikh Wessam al-Gharrawi, a leading figure during the protests against deteriorating public utilities and water contamination, was killed by unknown attackers outside his house in central Basra.


2015–2018 Iraqi protests, Timeline, 2018 protests
On 5 December, protesters demonstrating in Basra wore high-visibility vests, inspired by the French yellow vests movement. They demanded more job opportunities and better services. Iraqi security forces responded by firing live ammunition at the protesters, but no injuries were reported.


2015–present Polish constitutional crisis
The 2015–present Polish constitutional crisis, also known as the Polish rule-of-law crisis, is a political conflict where the Polish government is accused of failing to adhere to European and Polish constitutional law. The conflict was precipitated by the 2015 Polish Constitutional Court crisis where the 2015 elections allowed the Law and Justice party (Prawo i Sprawiedliwość, PiS) to take control of both the presidency and parliament. With this government trifecta as a result of its participation in the United Right, PiS used its power to appoint judges to the Constitutional Tribunal in 2015. The government of Poland continued to expand its hold on the judiciary resulting in the 2017 Supreme Court crisis, and the 2019 Polish judicial disciplinary panel law. These events have allowed the legislature and executive of the Polish government to have de facto control over judges and their appointments.


2015–present Polish constitutional crisis
These moves have been condemned by the European Union which initiated an Article 7 process against Poland. The European Commission referred Poland to the European Court of Justice (ECJ), stating in 2017,  "the executive and legislative branches have been systematically enabled to politically interfere in the composition, powers, administration and functioning of the judicial branch." In 2019 and 2020, the ECJ ruled against Poland in Commission v Poland, ordering it to suspend several laws which interfere with the independence of the judiciary, but these rulings have been largely ignored in Poland. The crisis briefly jeopardised the EU coronavirus budget which allowed funds to be made available to EU member states on the condition of "rule of law", a clause which both the Polish government and Hungarian government threatened to veto in 2020.


2015–present Polish constitutional crisis
Since the changes to the judiciary, a number of protests have taken place as a result of either the changes themselves, rulings by the new judiciary, or other legislative action deemed to break European or international human rights legislation. This includes the Black Protest and Women's Strike against restrictions to women's rights, the Polish Sejm Crisis against restrictions of press freedoms, and the 2020 LGBT protests in Poland against restrictions to LGBT rights. These rulings and legislative actions with the corresponding protest action have exacerbated the crisis in Poland.


2015–present Polish constitutional crisis, Background, Constitutional Tribunal
The Constitutional Tribunal (TC) of Poland was founded in 1982 by the government of the Polish People's Republic. It oversees the actions of government, including legislative action, to ensure compliance with the Constitution of Poland. Judges are elected to the court by the Sejm and approved by the President. The court is made up of 15 judges who serve single nine-year terms and which point they are replaced through agreement of the Sejm and President. In 2015, before the crisis, the court was made up of ten justices nominated by the centre-right Civic Platform (PO) and five justices nominated by the right-wing nationalist Law and Justice Party (PiS).


2015–present Polish constitutional crisis, Background, Abortion law in Poland
In Poland it was illegal to have an abortion except where the mother's life was at risk, the pregnancy was a result of rape or if the foetus had "severe and irreparable" impairment. The largely Christian conservative base of PiS follow the Catholic Church teaching on abortion. In 2017, a Pew Research Center poll showed 51% of Poles thought abortion should be illegal in all or most cases.


2015–present Polish constitutional crisis, Background, 2015 Polish presidential election
In May 2015 Andrzej Duda was elected as President of Poland with a radical right-wing platform, defeating incumbent Bronisław Komorowski of the Civic Platform. Prior to the election, Komorowski was believed to be the favourite to win. Duda promised to block the Constitutional Tribunal nominations of the Civic Platform-controlled Sejm until after the 2015 Polish parliamentary election. The outcome has been described as a shock in many media, as observers feared a potential conflict between Poland and the European Union as well as Duda's authoritarian tendency.


2015–present Polish constitutional crisis, Background, European migrant crisis
Following the election of Duda, relations between the European Union and Poland soured, especially in relation to the ongoing European migrant crisis, where Duda refused to be part of the European migrant quota plan managed by the European Asylum Support Office, causing the EU to initiate sanctions procedures against Poland and other Visegrád Group member states.


2015–present Polish constitutional crisis, First Duda term, 2015 Constitutional Court crisis
Between the election of Duda and the start of the 8th Sejm on 12 November 2015, 5 seats on the TC were due to expire. The 7th Sejm, controlled by PO and its allies completed its election process for replacement judges. However, Duda refused to swear in these nominees until after the sitting of the 8th Sejm. Following the 2015 Polish parliamentary election in October 2015, PiS took control of the Sejm and elected its own five replacement judges, who were elected on 2 December and sworn in on 3 December by Duda.


2015–present Polish constitutional crisis, First Duda term, 2015 Constitutional Court crisis
PO claimed this was unlawful, whereas PiS claimed that the initial election of judges by 7th Sejm was unlawful. On 3 December the TC ruled that 3 of the judges nominated by the 7th Sejm were legally elected; 2 were not. Despite the ruling, Duda did not swear in the legally elected judges.


2015–present Polish constitutional crisis, First Duda term, 2015 Constitutional Court crisis
The President of the Constitutional Tribunal dictated that the new five judges should not hear cases until the situation was settled; in order to combat this, PiS passed a series of laws through the Sejm and Senate which compelled the TC to allow the judges to hear new cases. The new legislation was signed into law on 28 December. In January 2016, the TC ruled the five new judges elected by the 8th Sejm were legally appointed, but in March 2016 ruled the new legislation unconstitutional. The latter ruling was ignored by the Polish government, which considered the ruling "advisory". The crisis provoked outrage in the European Union which began an investigation into Poland under Article 7 of the Treaty on European Union, describing the situation as threatening the rule-of-law. Protests both for and against the government of Poland occurred in Warsaw and other major Polish cities.


2015–present Polish constitutional crisis, First Duda term, 2015 Constitutional Court crisis
On 13 January 2016, the European Commission launched a formal rule-of-law assessment to determine a serious threat of a breach of Union law based on rules set out in 2014 and the provisions of Article 7 of the Treaty on European Union, regarding the amendments of the constitutional court and the public media law in Poland. A recommendation, the second step in the rule-of-law assessment, was issued on 1 June 2016.


2015–present Polish constitutional crisis, First Duda term, 2015 Constitutional Court crisis
Iverna McGowan, director of Amnesty International's European Institutes office in Brussels, commented: "The willingness of the commission to use the rule-of-law framework is a positive step towards a more serious approach by the EU to speak out and hold its own member states to account on their human rights records." Hungary declared that it will oppose any sanctions against Poland.


2015–present Polish constitutional crisis, First Duda term, 2015 Constitutional Court crisis
On 11 March 2016 the Council of Europe's Venice Commission, who had been asked for an opinion by the Polish government in December 2015, assessed the amendments as crippling the Court's effectiveness and undermining democracy, human rights and the rule of law. On 13 April 2016 the European Parliament, by 513 votes to 142 and with 30 abstentions, passed a resolution declaring that the Parliament "is seriously concerned that the effective paralysis of the Constitutional Tribunal in Poland endangers democracy, human rights and the rule of law".


2015–present Polish constitutional crisis, First Duda term, 2015 Constitutional Court crisis
In July 2016, the European Commission issued a statement outlining its recommendations regarding "the rule of law in Poland", including the swearing-in of the three judges elected by the 7th Sejm and the adherence to the March 2016 TC ruling declaring that changes to the structure and functioning of the TC were unconstitutional.


2015–present Polish constitutional crisis, First Duda term, 2016 protests, Sejm Crisis
In 2016, the government passed legislation which only allowed a small number of journalists and TV stations to report from parliament. This was seen as a continuation of PiS anti-journalistic policy, and resulted in protests. Inside the parliament building, opposition MPs staged a sit-in, forcing government legislators to pass bills elsewhere, and protestors outside the building gathered, shouting "freedom, equality, democracy".


2015–present Polish constitutional crisis, First Duda term, 2016 protests, Black Protest
The 8th Sejm held debates on reforming abortion law in Poland, in order to make them more restrictive. The votes on the new restrictive abortion legislation took place on 6 October and were voted down due to domestic and international pressure. Despite a lack of legislative changes, PiS MPs began ligation in order to see abortion become more restrictive.


2015–present Polish constitutional crisis, First Duda term, 2017 Supreme Court crisis
In 2017 the Sejm and Senate passed a law mandating retirement for all judges aged over 70, unless given an exemption by the Minister of Justice. Following widespread protests this law was vetoed by Duda. A revised bill, mandating retirement at aged 65 was eventually passed and signed by Duda, giving significant control to the government over judges and their livelihoods.


2015–present Polish constitutional crisis, First Duda term, 2017 Supreme Court crisis
In December 2017 the European Commission warned that "over a period of two years the Polish authorities have adopted more than 13 laws affecting the entire structure of the justice system in Poland", stating that "Article 7(1) of the Treaty on European Union provides for the Council, acting by a majority of four fifths of its members, to determine that there is a clear risk of a serious breach by a Member State of the common values referred to in Article 2 of the Treaty... The Commission can trigger this process by a reasoned proposal."


2015–present Polish constitutional crisis, First Duda term, 2017 Supreme Court crisis
In December 2018, a new law was signed by Duda, reinstating all judges who had been removed from their posts by the 2017 law — despite this, concerns in the European Union remained. In April 2020, the ECJ ruled that Poland had still "failed to fulfil its obligations" under the Treaties of the European Union.


2015–present Polish constitutional crisis, First Duda term, Deforestation
Białowieża Forest, an ancient woodland and World Heritage Site, has been subjected to large-scaling logging since 2017. 190,000 cubic metres (160,000-180,000 trees) of wood were felled in 2017 alone. The European Commission sued Poland at the European Court of Justice, which ruled that logging must be immediately halted as Poland had failed to fulfil its obligations under the Habitats Directive and the Birds Directive, and threatened to fine the Polish state. UNESCO also requested that the Polish government halt logging in the area. Despite this, the Polish government has continued to allow logging in Białowieża Forest, although at "lower intensity" according to Greenpeace Poland, under the pretext of a bark beetle infestation, a pretext which has been twice rejected by the ECJ.


2015–present Polish constitutional crisis, First Duda term, LGBT-free zones
In 2019 and 2020, LGBT-free zones were declared across many local authorities in Poland, with over 100 municipalities voting to declare themselves LGBT-free. Whilst without legal backing, such declaration were found by the European Commissioner for Human Rights as "stigmatisation" which "directly impact" LGBT citizens, contrary to the European Convention on Human Rights and likely prohibited by Article 34 of Constitution of Poland. The European Union broadly denounced these declarations, with the European Parliament voting overwhelming to condemn such declarations. Polish political leaders, such as Robert Biedroń, have compared the declaration to the judenfrei zones created by Nazis in Poland.


2015–present Polish constitutional crisis, First Duda term, LGBT-free zones
Due to the breach of Article 2 of the Maastricht Treaty, the European Union's Structural Funds and Cohesion Fund can no longer be used in these areas. However, the Polish government pledged to fill the gap in funding to affected areas, in opposition to the EU but supported by the Catholic Church. President Ursula von der Leyen said "LGBTQI-free zones are humanity free zones. And they have no place in our Union" during her State of the Union speech in September 2020, indicating the strength of opposition in the European Union.


2015–present Polish constitutional crisis, First Duda term, 2019 Judicial disciplinary panel law
On 20 December 2019 the Sejm voted to allow Disciplinary Chamber of the Supreme Court of Poland to remove judges deemed to be partaking in "political activity". This gave the government de facto control of entire judicial arm of the state. The law also gave government greater control over appointment to the position of head judge of the Supreme Court of Poland. The law was criticised by the UN Human Rights Commission which stated the law "risks further undermining" the Polish judiciary.


2015–present Polish constitutional crisis, First Duda term, 2019 Judicial disciplinary panel law
The European Union also criticised the bill, with Poland risking further sanctions under Article 7 and by the European Court of Justice. The EU urged Poland not to pass the bill, and to consult the Venice Commission, yet it passed. The Association of Judges of Ireland condemned the Polish legislation. Koen Lenaerts, President of the Court of Justice of the European Union, warned that "You can’t be a member of the European Union if you don’t have independent, impartial courts operating in accordance with fair trial rule, upholding union law".


2015–present Polish constitutional crisis, First Duda term, 2019 Judicial disciplinary panel law
The Polish Supreme Court stated that the bill was a "continuation of the lawlessness of the 1980s". According to the court: "Everything is there: a ban on the freedom of speech by judges, the establishment of a surveillance mechanism and a drastic reduction of their right to have profiles on social networks". The Polish Supreme Court, prior to the bill passing, said that Poland overruling the primacy of EU law may force it out of the bloc.


2015–present Polish constitutional crisis, First Duda term, 2019 Judicial disciplinary panel law
Donald Tusk, former European Council president, warned the bill might force Poland out of the EU. Ombudsman Adam Bodnar said the law "violates the Constitution and the ground rules of the rule of law" and "would definitively put Polish courts and judges under the control of the legislative and executive branches of government". Special Rapporteur of the United Nations on the Independence of Judges and Lawyers Diego García Sayán and President of the European Association of Judges José Igreja Matos warned the legislation "runs contrary to judicial independence".


2015–present Polish constitutional crisis, First Duda term, COVID-19 reporting
On 20 March 2020, the secretary of state of the Ministry of Health, Józefa Szczurek-Żelazko, sent a written statement ordering voivodeship medical consultants to not make statements about SARS-CoV-2, the epidemiological situation, the risks for medical staff or methods of protection from infection, unless they had first consulted with the Ministry of Health or Główny Inspektorat Sanitarny. Szczurek-Żelazko motivated the order by the need to provide correct, unified information and to avoid unjustified unrest in the medical community.


2015–present Polish constitutional crisis, First Duda term, COVID-19 reporting
A surgeons group, Porozumienie Chirurgów SKALPEL, described the order as blackmail and said that it risked catastrophe. The group stated that the COVID-19 pandemic showed Poland as "not at all prepared for crisis situations" with a "lack of equipment, basic personal protective gear and disinfectant materials and a lack of standards and procedures".


2015–present Polish constitutional crisis, First Duda term, COVID-19 reporting
On 25 March 2020, the Polish Ombudsman Adam Bodnar sent a letter to the Minister of Health, Szumowski, stating that medical staff's freedom of speech and is guaranteed under Articles 2 and 54 of the Polish Constitution and the right of the public to information is guaranteed under Article 61 of the constitution. Bodnar stated that firing or punishing doctors for informing the public during the pandemic could be a violation of the "obligatory standards". Bodnar asked if Szumowski was aware of the situation and requested a clarification of policy.


2015–present Polish constitutional crisis, First Duda term, 2019–20 elections
In 2019 and 2020 PiS and the United Right retained control of the parliament and presidency of Poland. In the 2019 Polish parliamentary election, which had the highest turnout since the fall of communism in Poland, PiS retained 43.59% of the popular vote for the Sejm and 44.56% of the vote for the Senate, marking a positive swing in these elections.


2015–present Polish constitutional crisis, First Duda term, 2019–20 elections
In 2020, the 2020 Polish presidential election took place, with Duda winning with 51.03% of the vote. Independent observers from the Organisation for Security and Co-operation in Europe found that Telewizja Polska, the Polish public broadcasting service, was inappropriately and "clearly biased" towards Duda and PiS in both elections.


2015–present Polish constitutional crisis, Second Duda term, LGBT rights
In August 2020, following the arrest of Margot, an LGBT activist, several mass demonstrations took place across Poland. In central Warsaw, this protest degenerated and led to a violent police response, in turn resulting in further protest action. These protested against the "LGBT-free zones", police violence and human rights rollbacks by the government. It has been described by some media outlets as "Poland's Stonewall".


2015–present Polish constitutional crisis, Second Duda term, LGBT rights
In January 2021, the trial of three Polish activists began, charged with offending religious feelings after creating and posting posters of the Black Madonna of Częstochowa with the rainbow flag, popularly known as the Rainbow Madonna.


2015–present Polish constitutional crisis, Second Duda term, Abortion rights
On 22 October 2020, the Constitutional Tribunal, with disputed judges, ruled that abortion in cases of disability or life-limiting illness were unconstitutional, further limiting abortion rights in Poland. The decision was nearly unanimous, with judges ruling 11–2 in favour of limiting abortion. The court found it violated the right to human dignity enshrined in the Polish constitution. This precipitated significant protests and civil unrest. Protests began on the day of the ruling, but have continued, especially in major cities such as Warsaw, which saw an estimated 100,000 people protest on 30 October. Protests continued throughout November and December 2020.


2015–present Polish constitutional crisis, Second Duda term, Abortion rights
On 27 January 2021, the ruling was formally published in Dziennik Ustaw and enforcement of the ruling began across Poland, precipitating further waves of unrest. Poland now has one of the most restrictive abortion laws in Europe, described as a "near-total ban" by the BBC as 98% of previous abortions in Poland took place under the laws now deemed unconstitutional.


2015–present Polish constitutional crisis, Role of the European Union
Under European Union law, the European Court of Justice may strike down member state law if the laws are incompatible with Treaties of the European Union. Examples include judicial independence, human rights (including women's rights and LGBT rights) and freedom of the press. Thus, the European Commission refers to a lack of rule of law in Poland, as Union law is not being applied.


2015–present Polish constitutional crisis, Role of the European Union
Article 7 of the Treaty on European Union allows the Union to suspend the rights of membership if a nation breaches Article 2, namely "respect for human dignity, freedom, democracy, equality, the rule of law and respect for human rights, including the rights of persons belonging to minorities". However, this would be subject to a veto by any other member state, with Hungary indicating it would veto such action. Despite this, attempts have been made to introduce sanctions or make funding conditional on the rule-of-law, such as in the Next Generation EU budget, Structural Funds and Cohesion Fund.


2016
2016 (MMXVI) was a leap year starting on Friday of the Gregorian calendar, the 2016th year of the Common Era (CE) and Anno Domini (AD) designations, the 16th  year of the 3rd millennium, the 16th  year of the 21st century, and the  7th   year of the 2010s decade.


2016 "GDD CUP" International Challenger Guangzhou
The 2016 "GDD CUP" International Challenger Guangzhou was a professional tennis tournament played on hard courts. It was the 5th edition of the tournament which was part of the 2016 ATP Challenger Tour. It took place in Guangzhou, China between 14 and 21 March 2016.


2016 "GDD CUP" International Challenger Guangzhou, Singles main draw entrants, Other entrants
The following players received wildcards into the singles main draw:


2016 "GDD CUP" International Challenger Guangzhou, Singles main draw entrants, Other entrants
The following player received entry into the singles main draw as a special exempt:


2016 "GDD CUP" International Challenger Guangzhou – Doubles
Daniel Muñoz de la Nava and Aleksandr Nedovyesov were the defending champions but they decided not to compete this year.


2016 "GDD CUP" International Challenger Guangzhou – Doubles
Alexander Kudryavtsev and Denys Molchanov won the title after defeating Sanchai and Sonchat Ratiwatana 6–2, 6–2 in the final.


2016 "GDD CUP" International Challenger Guangzhou – Singles
Kimmer Coppejans was the defending champion but lost to Go Soeda in the second round.


2016 "GDD CUP" International Challenger Guangzhou – Singles
Nikoloz Basilashvili won the title after defeating Lukáš Lacko 6–1, 6–7(6–8), 7–5 in the final.


2016 (2010 film)
2016 is a 2010 Ghanaian direct-to-video science-fiction action film directed by the pseudonymous director Ninja. The film takes place in the year 2010 and follows Ghanaians who must survive a group of hostile aliens who invade Accra in the hopes of colonizing the world by the year 2016. The movie has become known for its bizarre trailer and its low-budget visual effects.


2016 (2010 film), Release
2016 first gained notice in 2011 when a trailer for the film was uploaded to YouTube. The Huffington Post called the trailer "bizarre and wonderful", while Cyriaque Lamar of io9 described it as "basically Alien, Predator, and Terminator all rolled into one". The trailer was shown on a 2015 episode of the late-night talk show Conan, featuring guest T. J. Miller. The movie was split into two parts, as is the norm of the direct-to-video market in West Africa.


2016 (January) Patna Pirates season
2016 (January) Patna Pirates season contains information about an Indian Kabbadi team and its games in 2016.


2016 (January) Patna Pirates season
(C) Champion; (R) Runners-up; (3) Third Place; (4) Fourth Place.


2016 1. deild
The 2016 1. deild was the seventy-third season of second-tier football on the Faroe Islands.


2016 1. deild
Leif Niclasen scored 36 goals, breaking the goalscoring record in a single season, set by Brian Jacobsen in the previous year.


2016 1. deild karla
The 2016 1. deild karla (English: Men's First Division) was the 62nd season of second-tier Icelandic football. The league began on 6 May and concluded on 24 September.


2016 1. deild karla, Teams
The league will be contested by twelve clubs. Eight remained in the division from the 2015 season, while four new clubs joined the 1. deild karla:


2016 1. deild karla, Results grid
Each team plays every opponent once home and away for a total of 22 matches per club, and 132 matches altogether.


2016 1. deild kvinnur
The 2016 1. deild kvinnur was the 32nd season of women's league football in the Faroe Islands.


2016 1. deild kvinnur
The league was won by KÍ, its 17th consecutive title and 18th overall. By winning, KÍ qualified to 2017–18 UEFA Women's Champions League.


2016 1. divisjon (women)
The 2016 1. divisjon was the second tier of Norwegian women's football in 2016. The season kicked off on 16 April 2016, finishing on 6 November 2016.


2016 1. divisjon (women)
The top placed team was be promoted to next year's Toppserien. The second placed team contested a playoff against the 11th placed team from the 2016 Toppserien for the right to play in Toppserien next season.


2016 1000 Guineas
The 2016 1000 Guineas Stakes was a horse race held at Newmarket Racecourse on Sunday 1 May 2016. It was the 203rd running of the 1000 Guineas.


2016 1000 Guineas
The winner was Derrick Smith, Susan Magnier & Michael Tabor's Minding, an Irish-bred bay filly trained at Ballydoyle by Aidan O'Brien and ridden by Ryan Moore. Minding's victory was the third in the race for Moore after Homecoming Queen (2012, trained by O'Brien) and Legatissimo (2015). O'Brien had also won the race in 1996 with Virginia Waters.


2016 1000 Guineas, The contenders
The race attracted a field of sixteen runners, ten trained in the United Kingdom, five in Ireland and one in France. The favourite for the race was the Irish-trained Minding who had won the Moyglare Stud Stakes and Fillies' Mile in 2015 and had been voted Cartier Champion Two-year-old Filly. She was accompanied by her stable companions Ballydoyle, who had beaten Minding in the Debutante Stakes and won the Prix Marcel Boussac, and Alice Springs, the runner-up in the Breeders' Cup Juvenile Fillies Turf.


2016 1000 Guineas, The contenders
The other two Irish runners were Turret Rocks (May Hill Stakes) and Jet Setting (Leopardstown 1,000 Guineas Trial). France was represented by the Criquette Head-trained Midweek, who had finished second in the Prix Imprudence. The best fancied of the British contingent were Lumiere (Cheveley Park Stakes) and Nathrah (Nell Gwyn Stakes), whilst the other runners included Fireglow (Star Stakes, Montrose Stakes), Blue Bayou (Sweet Solera Stakes and Epsom Icon (Washington Singer Stakes). Minding headed the betting at odds of 11/10 ahead of Lumiere (13/2), Ballydoyle (15/2) Nathrah (8/1) and Midweek (12/1).


2016 1000 Guineas, The race
The starting stalls were positioned on the stand-side (the left-hand side from the jockeys' viewpoint) and the fillies raced in a single group on the stand-side throughout the race. Lumiere broke quickly and tracked to the rail to set the early pace, with Minding, Fireglow, Turret Rocks, Jet Setting and Sharja Queen close behind. As the fillies approached the cutaway two furlongs from the finish Lumiere began to struggle and dropped back quickly.


2016 1000 Guineas, The race
Minding, racing towards the centre of the leading group, went to the front and opened up a clear advantage as Alice Springs moved into second and Ballydoyle, who had struggled to obtain a clear run, began to make rapid progress along the rail. Most of the other runners were under pressure with only Fireglow able to stay in contention with the O'Brien trio. Minding never looked in any anger of defeat in the final furlong and won by three and a half lengths from Ballydoyle with Alice Springs completing a 1-2-3 for the trainer by beating Fireglow for third. Nathra took fifth ahead of Turret Rocks and the 50/1 outsider Mix and Mingle. Lumiere finished last.


2016 12 Hours of Sebring
The 64th Mobil 1 12 Hours of Sebring Fueled by Fresh from Florida was an endurance sports car racing event held at Sebring International Raceway near Sebring, Florida from 16 to 19 March 2016. The race was the second round of the 2016 WeatherTech SportsCar Championship, as well as the second round of the North American Endurance Cup. It was the final time that the original Daytona Prototypes participated in the race, as, for 2017, they were replaced with the new DPi cars.


2016 12 Hours of Sebring
The race was won by Tequila Patrón ESM's Ligier JS P2 driven by Scott Sharp, Johannes van Overbeek, Ed Brown, and Pipo Derani after completing a pass for the lead in the final moments of the race. The Prototype Challenge class was won by the No. 54 CORE Autosport entry driven by Colin Braun, Mark Wilkins, and Jon Bennett. GT Le Mans was won by the No. 4 Chevrolet Corvette C7.R from Corvette Racing, driven by Oliver Gavin, Tommy Milner, and Marcel Fässler. The GT Daytona class was won by the No. 63 Ferrari 488 GT3 from Scuderia Corsa, driven by Christina Nielsen, Alessandro Balzan, and Jeff Segal. The race saw a stoppage of roughly two hours and 15 minutes due to heavy rain and lightning just before the halfway-point of the event.


2016 2. deild karla
The 2016 2. deild karla (English: Men's Second Division) was the 51st season of third-tier football in Iceland. Twelve teams contest the league. Play began on 6 May and concluded on 24 September.


2016 2. deild karla, Teams
The league is contested by twelve clubs, eight of which played in the division during the 2015 season. There were four new clubs from the previous campaign:


2016 2. deild karla, Results
Each team plays every opponent once home and away for a total of 22 matches per club, and 132 matches altogether.


2016 2. divisjon
The 2016 2. divisjon (referred to as PostNord-ligaen for sponsorship reasons) was a Norwegian football third-tier league season. The league consisted of 56 teams divided into 4 groups of 14 teams.


2016 2. divisjon
In February 2016 it was announced a change in format, starting in the 2017 season, that would reduce the number of groups from four to two. Therefore, the winners of the four groups will be promoted to the 1. divisjon, while the bottom seven teams in each groups will be relegated to the 3. divisjon.


2016 2. divisjon
The league was played as a double round-robin tournament, where all teams played 26 matches. The first round was be played on 9 April 2016, while the last round was played on 22 October 2016.


2016 24 Hours of Daytona
The 2016 24 Hours of Daytona (formally the 54th Rolex 24 at Daytona) was an International Motor Sports Association (IMSA)-sanctioned 24-hour automobile endurance race for Prototype and Grand Touring sports cars held at the Daytona International Speedway combined road course in Daytona Beach, Florida, on January 30–31, 2016, before approximately 35,000 people. It was the first of twelve 2016 IMSA SportsCar Championship races, the 54th 24 Hours of Daytona, and the first of the four-round North American Endurance Cup.


2016 24 Hours of Daytona
SMP Racing began from pole position after Mikhail Aleshin set the fastest lap in the Prototype class. The lead was exchanged several times between the DeltaWing, ESM, Michael Shank Racing, Wayne Taylor Racing (WTR), Mazda Motorsport and Action Express Racing teams during the race. Ed Brown, Derani, Scott Sharp and Johannes van Overbeek recovered from a late race speeding penalty to achieve ESM's first win at Daytona and the lead of both the Prototype Drivers' and Teams' Championships. WTR's Max Angelelli, Rubens Barrichello, Jordan Taylor and Ricky Taylor finished 26 seconds later in second, and Ryan Dalziel, Marc Goossens and Ryan Hunter-Reay of VisitFlorida Racing recovered from a late race change of car component to finish third.


2016 24 Hours of Daytona
The Prototype Challenge (PC) category was won by JDC-Miller MotorSports' Oreca FLM09 car of Kenton Koch—Chris Miller, Misha Goikhberg and Stephen Simpson—after the team recovered from a significant crash damaging their car in the 15th hour. Robert Alon, Tom Kimber-Smith, Jose Gutiérrez and Nicholas Boulle finished five laps down in second, while BAR1 Motorsports' Tomy Drissi, Marc Drumwright, Brendan Gaughan, Johnny Mowlem and Ricardo Vera was third. Corvette Racing won the Grand Touring Le Mans (GTLM) class with a Chevrolet Corvette C7.R shared by Oliver Gavin.


2016 24 Hours of Daytona
Tommy Milner and Marcel Fässler beating their teammates Antonio García, Jan Magnussen and Mike Rockenfeller by the race's closest finishing margin of 0.034 seconds. Porsche took third with Earl Bamber, Michael Christensen and Frédéric Makowiecki sharing a 911 RSR. Konrad Motorsport led the final nine minutes in Grand Touring Daytona (GTD) until its lead Lamborghini Huracán made a pit stop for fuel handing the victory to Magnus Racing's Andy Lally, John Potter, René Rast and Marco Seefried. Black Swan Racing were second in class with Nicky Catsburg, Patrick Long, Tim Pappas and Andy Pilgrim, and Damien Faulkner, Eric Foss, Ben Keating, Jeff Mosing and Gar Robinson took third for Riley Motorsports.


2016 24 Hours of Daytona, Background, Preview
NASCAR founder Bill France Sr., who built the Daytona International Speedway in 1959, conceived the 24 Hours of Daytona as a race to attract European sports car endurance racing to the United States and provide international exposure to Daytona. It is informally considered part of the "Triple Crown of Endurance Racing" with the 12 Hours of Sebring and the 24 Hours of Le Mans.


2016 24 Hours of Daytona, Background, Preview
International Motor Sports Association (IMSA) president Scott Atherton confirmed the race was part of the schedule for the 2016 IMSA SportsCar Championship (IMSA SCC) in August 2015. It was the third consecutive year it was part of the IMSA SCC and the 54th 24 Hours of Daytona. The 24 Hours of Daytona was the first of twelve scheduled automobile endurance races of 2016 by IMSA, and the first in the four round North American Endurance Cup (NAEC). It occurred at the 12-turn 3.56 mi (5.73 km) Daytona International Speedway combined road course in Daytona Beach, Florida, on January 30–31.


2016 24 Hours of Daytona, Background, Entry list
There were 54 cars officially entered for the race with most of the entries in the Prototype and Grand Touring Daytona (GTD) categories. The 2015 race winners, Chip Ganassi Racing (CGR), returned to defend their title. Action Express Racing (AER) and VisitFlorida Racing (VFR) fielded two Chevrolet Corvette DP cars and Wayne Taylor Racing (WTR) one. CGR fielded two Riley MkXXVI cars with one from Highway to Help. Mazda Motorsports had two Lola B08/80 cars and both the Extreme Speed Motorsports (ESM) and Michael Shank Racing (MSR) teams entered one Ligier JS P2 each.


2016 24 Hours of Daytona, Background, Entry list
SMP Racing made its North American endurance debut at Daytona with a BR Engineering BR01. Panoz brought the DeltaWing car to Daytona for the fifth successive year. The Prototype Challenge (PC) class was composed of eight Oreca FLM09 cars: two from Starworks Motorsports and BAR1 Motorsports. CORE Autosport, JDC-Miller MotorSports, Performance Tech and PR1/Mathiasen Motorsports entered one car each.


2016 24 Hours of Daytona, Background, Entry list
Grand Touring Le Mans (GTLM) consisted of 11 cars from 5 different brands. Team RLL debuted the BMW M6 GTLM at Daytona. CGR with Felix Sabates partnered with Ford for two debuting Ford GTs. Porsche fielded two 911 RSRs, three 488 GTEs represented Ferrari with one each from Risi Competizione, Scuderia Corsa and SMP Racing, and Corvette Racing entered two C7.Rs. GTD featured 22 cars among seven different GT3 manufacturers. Lamborghini was represented by five Huracáns in its North American endurance debut: two by Konrad Motorsports and one each from Change Racing, O'Gara Motorsport and Paul Miller Racing (PMR).


2016 24 Hours of Daytona, Background, Entry list
Porsche had five 911 Rs: two for Alex Job Racing (AJR) and one each for Black Swan Racing, Frikadelli Racing and Park Place Motorsports (PPM). A mix of teams and automotive brands made up the rest of the GTD field. These included two Stevenson Motorsports Audi R8 LMS cars: one each from Magnus Racing and Flying Lizard Motorsports (FLM) with Krohn Racing for the revised car's race debut. Turner Motorsport fielded two BMW M6s, Scuderia Corsa and Spirit of Race entered two 458 Italias. There were two Aston Martin V12 Vantages from Aston Martin Racing and TRG-AMR and two Riley Motorsports Dodge Viper Rs.


2016 24 Hours of Daytona, Background, Entry list
Two full-time IMSA SCC drivers drove a car, joined by one NAEC racer and one or two extra drivers. These additional participants were recruited from a variety of racing categories, including the FIA World Endurance Championship (such as Marcel Fässler for Corvette and Richie Stanaway for Aston Martin), the IndyCar Series (such as Ryan Hunter-Reay for VFR and Scott Dixon for CGR), and the Deutsche Tourenwagen Masters (such as Augusto Farfus and Bruno Spengler for Team RLL) among others.


2016 24 Hours of Daytona, Background, Entry list
Some drivers competed at Daytona on a one-off basis in 2016 such as: European Formula Three Championship racers Lance Stroll and Felix Rosenqvist, V8 Supercars driver Shane van Gisbergen, and A. J. Allmendinger, Brendan Gaughan, Jamie McMurray, Justin Marks, and Kyle Larson from NASCAR. Jonathan Adam won the 2016 Sunoco Whelen Challenge with the 2015 British GT3 title, earning him a seat with AER. Four women entered the race: Ashley Freiberg, Katherine Legge, Christina Nielsen, and Sabine Schmitz.


2016 24 Hours of Daytona, Testing
Fifty-four entries were involved in three days of testing divided into seven sessions held at the circuit from January 8–10. Risi missed the test session because it was constructing its 488 in Italy. Oswaldo Negri Jr. set the fastest time early on the first day with a 1 minute, 39.655 seconds lap in the No. 60 MSR Ligier. His co-driver Olivier Pla improved to a 1-minute, 39.445-second lap in the second session. Pipo Derani lapped second-fastest in ESM's No. 2 Ligier and Sean Rayhall put the DeltaWing third.


2016 24 Hours of Daytona, Testing
The fastest Daytona Prototype was Jordan Taylor's No. 10 WTR Corvette in fourth. Separate crashes by Stroll at turn five soon after he left the pit lane, and João Barbosa of AER at the Bus Stop chicane due to a possible broken rear suspension, led to stoppages on the first day. Colin Braun's No. 54 CORE Autosport Oreca led in PC with a 1 minute, 42.423 seconds lap. BMWs took the first two positions in GTLM with Lucas Luhr's No. 100 car setting a 1-minute, 45.088 seconds lap with Farfus' No. 25 entry second.


2016 24 Hours of Daytona, Testing
Antonio García's No. 3 Corvette and Richard Westbrook's No. 66 Ford were third and fourth in class. A leak in an FIA-mandated fuel vent on Tommy Milner's No. 4 Corvette overheated when fuel hit it and caused the car's right-rear corner to catch fire. Raffaele Giammaria's No. 51 Spirit Ferrari led GTD from Jeroen Bleekemolen's No. 23 Riley Viper.


2016 24 Hours of Daytona, Testing
Heavy morning fog prompted IMSA to revised the second day's schedule. Pla set the day's fastest time, a 1 minute, 39.445 seconds, ahead of Legge's DeltaWing in second. Ricky Taylor improved the WTR Corvette to third. Spencer Pigot was fourth in Mazda's No. 55 Lola, with Scott Sharp's ESM Ligier fifth. Maro Engel's No. 88 Starworks Motorsport Oreca led the PC category with a 1 minute, 43.175 seconds time from Tom Kimber-Smith's No. 52 PR1 entry. Two crashes by Alex Popow and his teammate Renger van der Zande caused further stoppages to testing.


2016 24 Hours of Daytona, Testing
Mike Rockenfeller's No. 3 Corvette led GTLM with a 1-minute, 45.256 seconds lap, ahead of Alessandro Pier Guidi's No. 68 Scuderia car, Westbrook's No. 67 Ford and Jan Magnussen's No. 4 Corvette. Mirko Bortolotti's No. 48 PMR Lamborghini led in GTD with Fabio Babini's No. 28 Konrad car second. An accident with the Konrad Lamborghini and Dion von Moltke caused further disruption to testing.


2016 24 Hours of Daytona, Testing
The third and final day of testing held in cloudy and clear weather saw Daytona debutant Derani's ESM Ligier go fastest with a 1-minute, 39.438 seconds time with 15 minutes left. Derani demoted Negri's MSR Ligier, which was two-tenths of a second slower in second, and Tom Long put the No. 55 Mazda Lola third. Kirill Ladygin set the fourth-fastest lap in SMP Racing's No. 37 BR01, and Jonathan Bomarito's No. 55 Mazda was fifth.


2016 24 Hours of Daytona, Testing
Jack Hawksworth set the PC category's fastest lap for Starworks Motorsport's No. 8 team at 1 minute, 42.118 seconds, 0.340 seconds faster than his teammate Rosenqvist in second. Oliver Gavin's No. 4 Corvette recorded the day's quickest GTLM lap of 1 minute, 45.106 seconds. Dirk Müller caused damage to the front of the No. 66 Ford at turn five to stop testing again. The fastest GTD laps were set in the morning session by Leh Keen's No. 22 AJR Porsche and Damien Faulkner's No. 93 Riley Dodge.


2016 24 Hours of Daytona, Balance of performance changes
After testing, IMSA altered the balance of performance in all four categories in an attempt to achieve parity within them. The BR01, DeltaWing and Ligiers received ballast increases to affect their handling. The Rileys, Ligiers and Lolas had their turbocharger boost pressures lowered to reduce performances. The Corvette Daytona Prototypes had performance changes. The eight PC vehicles had the position of their rear wings adjusted to affect its aerodynamic efficiency. BMW. Ferrari, and Ford had their turbocharger boost pressures cut to lower top speeds.


2016 24 Hours of Daytona, Balance of performance changes
Porsche's and Corvette had fuel tank size increases of 6 l (1.3 imp gal; 1.6 US gal). The GTD, Aston Martin, Audi, Dodge and Ferrari all had 20 kg (44 lb) of weight deducted, as Lamborghini and BMW received ballast increases of the same amount. Porsche received a fuel capacity increase of 1 l (0.22 imp gal; 0.26 US gal).


2016 24 Hours of Daytona, Practice and qualifying
Four practice sessions were held before the start of the race on Saturday, three on Thursday and one on Friday. The first one-hour session on Thursday morning was followed by a half-hour session later that afternoon. The third held that evening ran for 90 minutes; the fourth on Friday morning lasted an hour.


2016 24 Hours of Daytona, Practice and qualifying
The track was wet and the sky overcast for the first practice session. The conditions lowered lap times for the GT cars by around 10 to 15 seconds and 15 to 18 seconds for Prototype vehicles. Negri led for MSR with a lap of 1 minute, 54.807 seconds. The fastest GTLM car was Toni Vilander's No. 62 Risi Ferrari in second overall and Frédéric Makowiecki's No. 912 Porsche third. Fourth was James Calado's No. 72 SMP Ferrari and Dirk Werner's No. 25 BMW came fifth.


2016 24 Hours of Daytona, Practice and qualifying
The fastest PC class car was Ryan Lewis' BAR1 No. 26 car with a 2 minutes, 0.221 seconds lap, followed by his teammate Johnny Mowlem's sister No. 20 entry. Matt McMurry's No. 73 PPM Porsche led GTD from Bleekemolen's No. 33 Riley Viper and Gianmaria's No. 51 Spirit of Race Ferrari. Spencer Pumpelly damaged the No. 16 Change Racing Lamborghini in an accident against the inside wall leaving NASCAR turn four and stopping the session five minutes early. He was checked and released from the infield care center.


2016 24 Hours of Daytona, Practice and qualifying
Due to a cold air temperature preventing the track from drying and a forecast for more rain, cars used wet-weather tires for the second practice session. Sébastien Bourdais in the No. 66 GTLM Ford led outright with a 1 minute, 56.024 seconds lap. Giancarlo Fisichella's No. 62 Risi Ferrari was second; third was Calado's No. 72 SMP Ferrari. The two Corvette cars were fourth and fifth. The fastest Prototype car was Mikhail Aleshin's No. 37 SMP BR01 in sixth overall. Mowlem's No. 20 BAR1 Oreca led the PC class, and Maxime Martin's No. 72 Turner BMW topped GTD.


2016 24 Hours of Daytona, Practice and qualifying
The session was first halted ten minutes in when Van Der Zande's No. 8 Starworks Oreca and the No. 50 Highway Riley stopped at the Bus Stop chicane. Both cars returned to the pit lane without external assistance. A second stoppage came soon after for track clearing due to right-rear tire tread coming off the wheel on Lars Viljoen's No. 007 Aston Martin on the front stretch. During the stoppage, the No. 97 Turner BMW's right-rear tire was found to be down. The debris damaged the FLM No. 45 Audi's right-front radiator grille.


2016 24 Hours of Daytona, Practice and qualifying
Thursday afternoon's 90-minute qualifying session was divided into four groups. All categories had separate 15-minute sessions, and regulations stipulated teams to nominate one qualifying driver, with the fastest lap times determining the starting order of each class. IMSA arranged the grid to put Prototypes ahead of all PC, GTLM and GTD cars. Rain fell and increased in intensity as cars lifted spray from the tarmac surface. Nick Tandy's No. 911 Porsche GTLM was fastest overall, setting a lap of 2 minutes, 1.408 seconds. His teammate Makowiecki qualified the No. 912 Porsche on the GTLM grid's front row.


2016 24 Hours of Daytona, Practice and qualifying
John Edwards qualified the No. 100 BMW third due to an error at turn six, as Pier Guidi's Scuderia Corsa and Vilander's Risi Ferrari 488 cars took fourth and fifth. Gianmaria Bruni's No. 72 SMP car hydroplaned entering turn one and struck a tire barrier, damaging the vehicle's left-rear corner and removing the rear wing. The GTLM qualifying was lengthened to allow drivers to have a minimum of ten minutes of green flag driving time.


2016 24 Hours of Daytona, Practice and qualifying
Mowlem's No. 20 BAR1 Oreca was eighth overall and the fastest PC class car with a 2 minutes, 5.708 seconds lap. Stephen Simpson's No. 85 JDC/Miller car was second and Ryan Eversley's sister BAR1 car took third. SMP were ninth overall and began from pole position with Aleshin's 2 minutes, 5.793 seconds lap in the BR01 car's first endurance pole position after avoiding the wall on his fastest lap. He was half a second faster than Derani's ESM Ligier in second.


2016 24 Hours of Daytona, Practice and qualifying
Negri took third for MSR, and Ricky Taylor in fourth was the fastest Daytona Prototype driver after failing to control the car on the sodden circuit; WTR did not drive the final 31⁄2 minutes. Daytona debutant Alexander Wurz was fifth in CGR's No. 1 Riley. In GTD, Norbert Siedler took the class pole position in PPM's Porsche with a 2 minutes, 878 seconds time. Marc Basseng put the No. 28 Konrad Lamborghini second, Keen for AJR was third and Falkuner's No. 93 Riley Viper took fourth.


2016 24 Hours of Daytona, Practice and qualifying
In the third practice session, rain continued to fall; some teams elected not to participate as 34 cars were checked as preparation for the race. Magnussen's No. 4 Corvette set the fastest overall lap of 2 minutes, 5.881 seconds, with Farfus' No. 25 BMW second and Gavin's second Corvette third. Fourth overall was René Rast's GTD-category No. 44 Magnus Audi and Van Gisbergen's AJR Porsche was fifth. The highest-placed Prototype was Dorsey Schroeder's No. 50 Highway to Help Riley in sixth overall with a lap of 2 minutes, 14.193 seconds. Simpson led the PC class with a 2 minutes, 19.275 seconds lap in JDC/Miller's Oreca, ahead of John Falb's No. 26 BAR1 car.


2016 24 Hours of Daytona, Practice and qualifying
The fourth and final practice session was the first time over the weekend drivers were able to drive on a dry track. Legge in the DeltaWing led by 1 minute, 38.590 seconds, followed by the Ligier cars of Olivier Pla of MSR and ESM's Johannes van Overbeek in second and third. Mazda were fourth after a lap from Bomarito in its No. 55 Lola. The WTR Corvette of Max Angelelli was the fastest Daytona Prototype in fifth.


2016 24 Hours of Daytona, Practice and qualifying
Ladygin's No SMP BR01 engine failed after exiting the West Horseshoe and the session was stopped briefly to allow for its recovery to the pit lane. Kimber-Smith led in PC for PR1 with a 1-minute, 43.283 seconds lap, ahead of Kenton Koch of JDC/Miller and CORE Autosport's Martin Plowman. Bill Auberlen and Luhr had the first two places in GTLM for Team RLL. Pier Guidi of Scuderia Corsa and Earl Bamber's No. 912 Porsche were third and fourth in class. PPM'sJörg Bergmeister led in GTD from the Lamborghinis of PMR's Mirko Bortolotti and O'Gara's Townsend Bell. A second stoppage was necessitated when the No. 60 Turner BMW stopped on the inside before the Bus Stop chicane.


2016 24 Hours of Daytona, Practice and qualifying, Pre-race
Due to the No. 72 SMP Ferrari causing a stoppage to qualifying, the car was sent to the back of the GTLM field. Both the No. 96 and 97 Turner BMW cars had their qualifying lap times deleted due to turbocharger boost control problems; the No. 96 was demoted to the rear of the GTD grid and the No. 97 had a one-lap penalty imposed on it.


2016 24 Hours of Daytona, Practice and qualifying, Pre-race
The No. 37 SMP BR01's engine was changed and was allowed to start from overall pole position because the team did so after qualifying for an endurance race. Riley Motorsport's No. 33 Viper had its clutch replaced after the team sidelined it from the final practice session.


2016 24 Hours of Daytona, Practice and qualifying, Qualifying results
Pole positions in each class are indicated in bold. P stands for Prototype, PC (Prototype Challenge), GTLM (Grand Touring Le Mans) and GTD (Grand Touring Daytona).


2016 24 Hours of Daytona, Race, Start and opening hours
The eeather at the start were clear and cool with a slight breeze; forecasts four days before the event indicated it would be partially cloudy with a maximum air temperature of 67 °F (19 °C). Approximately 35,000 people attended the event. Two-time 24 Hours of Daytona overall winner A. J. Foyt waved the green flag at 14:40 Eastern Standard Time (UTC−05:00) to begin proceedings. 54 cars were due to take the start, but the No. 9 Stevenson Audi was in the garage for three laps with a battery problem.


2016 24 Hours of Daytona, Race, Start and opening hours
Derani and Negri overtook Aleshin on lap one for first and second. Simpson moved the JDC/Miller Oreca and Bryce Miller in the PMR Lamborghini to the front of the PC and GTD categories, respectively, as Bell's O'Gara car progressed to second in GTD. Derani and Negri pulled away from the third-placed DeltaWing of Legge by 20 seconds before the first full course caution came out and the pace car appeared. Long stopped the No. 70 Mazda Lola at turn four with a loss of oil pressure resulting from a broken flywheel and the car was retired.


2016 24 Hours of Daytona, Race, Start and opening hours
Some cars made early pit stops during the caution. Corvette Racing adjusted the angle of the No. 3 C7.R's rear wing to raise its top speed. Several GTD-class vehicles including the category pole sitter Norbert Siedler's No. 73 PPM Porsche incurred stop-and-hold penalties to be taken in the pit lane. Derani maintained the lead from Negri and Legge at the rolling restart on lap 16, moving clear from the rest of the field with slower GT traffic behind his car.


2016 24 Hours of Daytona, Race, Start and opening hours
The lead of GTLM became a multi-manufacturer battle between Tandy's Porsche, Joey Hand of Ford, the SMP Ferrari of Bruni and Corvette Racing, which saw Tandy emerge in front. Legge overtook Negri for second overall and then the outright lead for DeltaWing before the first hour ended when Derani made a pit stop. She relinquished the lead back to Derani following a pit stop that dropped her to second.


2016 24 Hours of Daytona, Race, Start and opening hours
Hand's No. 66 Ford stopped on the apron between NASCAR turns two and three with a dislodged brake line, a faulty gearbox and an intermittent kill switch issue. A caution was required to slow the race for a second time, just as Hand restarted the car and returned to the pit lane. The leaders of the Prototype and GTLM categories made pit stops under caution. Legge stalled as she exited her pit box, and ESM lost time because Van Overbeek took over from Derani.


2016 24 Hours of Daytona, Race, Start and opening hours
Dixon's CGR Riley elected not to make a pit stop, and led at the lap 56 restart. As Barbosa was lapping slower GTLM traffic on the outside at the International Horseshoe corner, he ran deep onto sodden grass and hit the tire wall with the right front corner of his car. He continued in the No. 5 AER Corvette DP with no major problems. John Pew's MSR Ligier appeared to miss the braking point and struck the rear of Van Overbeek's car at the Bus Stop chicane. Both cars sustained bodywork damage, and Van Overbeek was sent into a spin.


2016 24 Hours of Daytona, Race, Start and opening hours
Legge used the DeltaWing's superior aerodynamic performance to retake the lead, making her the first woman to lead a lap of the race outright. She opened up a two-second lead just as the Prototype entries made another sequence of pit stops. The ESM car had its rear wing repaired and diffuser altered, as Andy Meyrick took over from Legge in the DeltaWing. This returned McMurray's No. 2 CGR Riley to first position. Bell's No. 11 O'Gara Lamborghini was forced to enter the garage with a series of electrical problems that dropped the car down the GTD order. Dane Cameron's No. 5 AER car and WTR driver Angelelli dueled for the lead and allowed the No. 55 Mazda and Meyrick to close up to the pair.


2016 24 Hours of Daytona, Race, Night
As night fell, Sean Johnston's No. 88 Starworks Oreca spun at the exit to the pit lane. He made contact with the wall and destroyed the car's front left corner. That wheel locked up and forced Johnston to return to the pit lane at a slow pace. Meyrick was later issued a stop-and-go penalty because he spun the DeltaWing's rear tires while it was suspended in the air on its jack for a tire change. Chris Cumming stalled the No. 8 Starworks vehicle on the racing line in the center before the first turn afterward.


2016 24 Hours of Daytona, Race, Night
He attempted to restart the car, and IMSA did not immediately activate the caution procedure. Almost 11⁄2 minutes later, Meyrick could not react in time, braked 150 feet (46 m) after not noticing yellow flags, and the DeltaWing front struck Cumming's car with enough force to lift it from the ground. Meyrick and Cumming were evaluated at the infield care center, and Cumming was not cleared to compete. The full course caution was activated for the third time to recover the stricken cars. In the meantime, Angelelli's WTR Corvette DP overtook Cameron's No. 31 AER car for the outright lead as they negotiated past the No. 8 Starworks Oreca. IMSA officials deemed the pass to have occurred under exceptional circumstances and changed the positions.


2016 24 Hours of Daytona, Race, Night
When racing resumed, Bomarito's No. 55 Mazda led overall with the Corvette cars of Milner and García first and second in GTLM. McMurray's No. 2 CGR Riley took the lead from Bomarito on the inside line before he experienced understeer and Milner made light contact with him. McMurray stalled the Riley just after the racing line at the International Horseshoe turn; no driver hit his car. Angelelli's WTR Corvette DP incurred a penalty for overtaking under yellow flag conditions, giving Bomarito's No. 55 Mazda with a large lead.


2016 24 Hours of Daytona, Race, Night
Konrad's GTD-leading No. 28 Lamborghini earned a penalty for failing to comply with the wave-around procedure during the caution, falling one lap behind Bryan Sellers' PMR car. Pla returned MSR to the lead shortly after. Before the fourth hour was over, a fourth full course yellow was needed to clear the track: Brandon Gdovic locked the wheels on the No. 38 Performance Tech car into the Bus Stop chicane and spun under braking.


2016 24 Hours of Daytona, Race, Night
As the safety car was recalled, the PC-class leading No. 54 CORE Oreca was brought into the garage by driver Mark Wilkins to be retired after he reported that a vibration jolted the car on NASCAR turn four due to an engine failure causing oil to leak from the engine bay. The car's retirement elevated the No. 52 PR1/Mathiasen car of José Gutiérrez to the lead of PC by two laps over the class field.


2016 24 Hours of Daytona, Race, Night
A fifth caution came out shortly after when Don Yount spun and stalled the No. 26 BAR1 Oreca following a collision with Tandy's GTLM-class leading No. 911 Porsche. During the caution, the second-placed No. 55 Mazda of Bomarito and later Pigot had its steering wheel changed in a failed attempt to repair its lighting system. Mazda changed the car's electronic control unit, and it rejoined the race two laps down in ninth. A sixth caution was necessitated for 13 minutes when Mark Kvamme crashed the No. 88 Starworks car at the Bus Stop Chicane. Two further cautions came out within 30 minutes when Ben Keating spun and damaged the No. 93 Riley Viper at the Western Horseshoe turn and the No. 21 Konrad Lamborghini required recovery shortly after.


2016 24 Hours of Daytona, Race, Night
The cautions brought the first eight cars in GTLM onto the same lap with Bamber's No. 912 Porsche leading Magnussen's No. 3 Corvette and Calado's No. 72 SMP Ferrari. The No. 1 CGR car of Tony Kanaan was required to enter the garage to replace brakes that had lost pressure when applied into the first corner. Repairs took 15 minutes to complete, and the car rejoined the race with Larson driving it 10 laps behind the race leader.


2016 24 Hours of Daytona, Race, Night
A further two cautions came when Koch stopped against a wall leaving the Bus Stop chicane, and Eversley spun and stalled the No. 26 BAR1 Oreca in the infield grass at the Western Horseshoe corner. Nine and a half hours into the race, the race-leading No. 60 MSR Ligier developed engine problems that caused it to leak oil on the track as Negri stopped on the run-off area at the Western Horseshoe turn. An 11th caution was necessitated for officials to dry the oil laid on the track, and to move Negri's car to the garage to be retired. Its retirement promoted Sharp's ESM Ligier to the outright lead before he took a stop-and-hold penalty for passing a red light at the exit of the pit lane and handing the position to Scott Pruett's No. 5 AER car.


2016 24 Hours of Daytona, Race, Night
The PMR and Change Lamborghini cars of Miller and Justin Marks, who had been dueling for the lead of GTD, collided on the entry to turn one. Both cars spun and the PMR car sustained heavy rear suspension and left-front toe link damage by striking the end of the pit lane barrier. The collision promoted Van Gisbergen's AJR Porsche to the class lead with Alex Riberas' car second. It prompted a 27-minute 12th caution. When racing resumed, Tandy returned the No. 911 Porsche to the top of GTLM and Pruett and Angelelli battled for the outright lead.


2016 24 Hours of Daytona, Race, Night
Sven Müller moved the Frikadelli Porsche to the lead of GTD before the No. 55 Mazda's retirement from a rear value train problem with Tristan Nunez caused the 13th caution. Following 19 minutes of green flag racing, the No. 50 Highway car of Thomas Gruber stopped with suspected electrical issues requiring a 14th caution to allow the car to be extricated to the pit lane. Scuderia Corsa's Pier Guidi used the caution to take the GTLM class lead, and Derani overtook Pruett's No. 5 AER car to return ESM to first position before the 12-hour mark.


2016 24 Hours of Daytona, Race, Morning to early afternoon
A suspected brake disc failure sent Luhr's No. 100 BMW into the outside barrier at turn one and caused heavy damage to the car and debris littered the area. He was sent across an access road and stopped at turn six. Luhr was uninjured, but the damage sustained to the BMW necessitated its retirement. A 13-minute 15th caution was deployed to clear the debris. After the resumption of racing, Simon Pagenaud's No. 31 AER Corvette DP took the lead from Ed Brown's ESM Ligier.


2016 24 Hours of Daytona, Race, Morning to early afternoon
The lead of GTLM changed from Scuderia Corsa to Porsche returning to first and second with Kévin Estre's No. 911 car ahead of Bamber's No. 912 entry. The fourth-placed car in GTLM of García was hit by Olivier Beretta's No. 62 Risi Ferrari. García continued without major damage to the No. 3 car. Pier Guidi separated the two Porsche cars by using a 16th caution for the SMP BR01 stopping on the circuit to take second in class. The No. 52 PR1/Mathiasen Oreca was forced to enter the garage for repairs to a malfunctioning fuel pump relay, losing the team 20 laps to the PC class-leading No. 85 JDC/Miller entry.


2016 24 Hours of Daytona, Race, Morning to early afternoon
The close of the 14th hour saw the 17th caution: the No. 007 TRG-AMR Aston Martin of Antonio Pérez and Emanuele Busnell's No. 21 Konrad Lamborghini made contact causing the Aston Martin to spin and rest against a tire barrier on the outside of the Bus Stop chicane. Both cars were retired from the event. The two GTLM class-leading Porsche cars had their brake discs changed and promoted Bill Auberlen's No. 25 BMW to the category lead.


2016 24 Hours of Daytona, Race, Morning to early afternoon
Marc Goossens led at the restart in the No. 90 VFR Corvette DP before Cameron of AER overtook him leaving the International Horseshoe corner. Five Prototype cars were within one second of each other as Goossens retook the lead from Cameron not long after. Before the 15th hour ended, the No. 31 AER Corvette DP had a flash fire when fuel hit the car's cockpit and bodywork. JDC/Miller had an anxious moment when Koch damaged the No. 85 Oreca's front bodywork and suspension against a tire barrier. Koch returned to the pit lane and repairs were fast enough for his team not to relinquish the PC class lead to Yount's No. 26 BAR1 car.


2016 24 Hours of Daytona, Race, Morning to early afternoon
The No. 67 Ford of Stefan Mücke stalled off the circuit in the center of the Bus Stop chicane in the early morning necessitating the 18th caution. Around this time, teams began to decide who would run the rest of the event. Sharp got ESM back onto the same lap as the top five and into second overall. Tracy Krohn's stall prompted the 19th caution since his Audi required recovery to the pit lane. A sequence of pit stops promoted AER' Christian Fittipaldi to the lead, which he maintained when racing resumed.


2016 24 Hours of Daytona, Race, Morning to early afternoon
One lap later, Derani overtook Jordan Taylor for second, as García ceded the No. 3 Corvette's hold on second in GTLM by taking a drive-through penalty for pit lane speeding. Derani overtook Fittipaldi of AER for the lead at the start of the 19th hour. Corvette Racing returned to first and second in GTLM with Milner and the recovering García bump drafting each other to pass Makowiecki's No. 912 Porsche. The third-placed GTLM No. 911 Porsche entered the garage with a faulty left-rear driveshaft, as the No. 85 JDC/Miller car had a change of front toe link at a pit stop.


2016 24 Hours of Daytona, Race, Morning to early afternoon
Patrick Lindsey's No. 73 PPM car had a front axle failure exiting the fifth corner and slowed en route to the pit lane. He asked a guard to open a gate for access to the infield via an exit road on the circuit to avoid a caution. Lindsey negotiated his way past stationary vehicles, temporary structures and spectators to his garage. Van Gisbergen was faster than Marco Seefried's No. 44 Magnus Audi and used a better corner exit to pass him for the GTD lead. At the front, Derani was relieved by Van Overbeek in the ESM Ligier. Angelelli for WTR caught and passed Van Overbeek in slower traffic to reclaim first position in the 20th hour. Van Overbeek was able to maintain the pace of Angelelli and prevented the latter from pulling away.


2016 24 Hours of Daytona, Race, Morning to early afternoon
The 20th caution came out when the No. 67 Ford stopped between NASCAR turns one and two with a low voltage. Bodywork from the right rear of the No. 28 Konrad Lamborghini also needed clearing. Several drivers made pit stops during the caution. Fässler in the GTLM class leading No. 4 Corvette ignored a red light at the exit of the pit lane, earning him a one-minute stop-and-hold penalty, and lost the category lead to his teammate Rockenfeller. AJR's GTD-leading No. 23 Porsche was assessed a three-minute stop-and-hold penalty for non-compliance of the wave-by procedure.


2016 24 Hours of Daytona, Race, Morning to early afternoon
Filipe Albuquerque retook the lead for AER and maintained it until he entered the garage to repair a broken left-rear driveshaft. Repairs took ten minutes to complete, and the team lost the lead to Angelelli. A drive-through penalty imposed on Van Overbeek's ESM Ligier for speeding in the pit lane allowed Angelelli to draw further away. That was nullified when braking issues sent Larson's No. 1 CGR Riley into the tire barrier at the West Horseshoe corner, triggering the 21st and final caution.


2016 24 Hours of Daytona, Race, Finish
Derani relieved Van Overbeek in the ESM Ligier and closed up to the race-leading unwell WTR driver Jordan Taylor. He overtook Taylor on the outside, leaving NASCAR turn four to reclaim the lead. The Alex Job Porsche of Shane Van Gisbergen was within a second of Rast in the No. 44 Magnus Audi at the front of GTD when the car's rear wing collapsed with 50 minutes left due to a negative camber setting creating stress. He consequently spun into the infield and lost six seconds to Rast.


2016 24 Hours of Daytona, Race, Finish
Van Gisbergen made a pit stop for repairs to the rear wing and AJR dropped out of contention for a GTD class podium. Bamber's No. 912 Porsche had moved to the front of GTLM. He maintained the position until Gavin aboard the No. 4 Corvette employed a bump and run passing technique for first in class. IMSA race control took no action over the contact between Gavin and Bamber after deeming it acceptable. Gavin's teammate García overtook Bamber for second in GTLM.


2016 24 Hours of Daytona, Race, Finish
Unchallenged in the final hour of the race after a power steering failure and rising transmission temperatures, Derani achieved victory for the ESM team, who completed 736 laps and finished 26.166 seconds ahead of the WTR Corvette DP of Angelelli in second. VFR followed 1 minute and 27 seconds later with the No. 90 Corvette DP to complete the overall podium in third after recovering from a lap down due to a switch of electronic control unit at a pit stop late on. It was Honda, Ligier and ESM's first Daytona win. The Ligier JS P2 became the first Le Mans Prototype 2 car to win outright at Daytona for its first major endurance victory.


2016 24 Hours of Daytona, Race, Finish
Once García had moved into second place in GTLM, Corvette Racing team manager Doug Fehan assured him there would be no team orders. Fehan wanted to let both cars race for the win, and spoke to Chevrolet United States vice president Jim Campbell, General Motors director of racing Mark Kent, and president of General Motors North America Mark Reuss, who all concurred with Fehan. Gavin his race engineer told him he and García could duel each other with no contact.


2016 24 Hours of Daytona, Race, Finish
García battled Gavin for the win in the final 20 minutes, losing to the No. 4 team by 0.034 seconds in the closest class finish in race history. Porsche completed the GTLM podium in third place with the No. 912 car. It was Gavin and Milner's first American endurance win since the 2013 12 Hours of Sebring.


2016 24 Hours of Daytona, Race, Finish
Rast's No. 44 Magnus Audi continued to lead in GTD by half a minute until Babini in the No. 28 Konrad Lamborghini overtook him into turn one with nine minutes to go. Babini then slowed on the back straight with a lack of fuel and gave the lead back to Rast. He conserved enough fuel over the final three minutes to win for Magnus Racing by 3.048 seconds over Nicky Catsburg's No. 540 Black Sway Porsche in second. The No. 93 Riley Viper completed the GTD podium in third position.


2016 24 Hours of Daytona, Race, Finish
It was the Audi R8 LMS' fourth major endurance victory in five starts over the past year and its first American win. JDC/Miller won in PC with Koch ahead of Kimber-Smith's No. 52 PR1/Mathiasen team by four laps in second. BAR1 took the final PC podium position in third. There were 56 overall lead changes; ten cars reached the front of the field. The ESM Ligier led 16 times for a race-high 179 laps.


2016 24 Hours of Daytona, Post-race
The ESM team appeared in Victory Lane to celebrate their victory in front of the crowd. Derani commented on the final 21⁄2 hours, "I was trying to not make any mistakes and keep the gap. To increase the gap up to the end was amazing. I need to thank my team for the amazing car they gave me." Sharp said the win made up for a poor 2015 season, "It is so good to see this come together so well with our merged team with Onroak." Van Overbeek said of ESM's success, "I was reflecting on this win here.


2016 24 Hours of Daytona, Post-race
Ed and I were responsible for two of the three P2 wins and it makes me happy. Running the P2 made me feel a bit like a red-haired step child, so to win here with a P2 makes me feel quite proud of all of our efforts." Jordan Taylor believed his team were satisfied to finish second and his brother Ricky Taylor felt the race was an example of "one of the more treacherous 24-hour races in the night" due to slower PC class cars impeding him.


2016 24 Hours of Daytona, Post-race
Doug Fehan said the battle of the two Corvette cars for the win in GTLM in the final hour was "one of those moments in my own personal career that will always stand out as being really what this sport embodies and what Corvette Racing embodies. It was a wonderful moment in time." Gavin recalled before the 2017 race he had celebrated shortly after achieving victory for the team and praised his teammate García's sportsmanship, "All I could think about was my boss, Doug Fehan and what he would say if we did touch.


2016 24 Hours of Daytona, Post-race
Then on the last lap I was thinking I had just enough on him, but then he towed up behind me. It was like the line was just going away from me. I couldn't get to the line fast enough. I've just seen a picture of it, actually, and it was pretty close." Lindsey's drive to the infield via the track received attention on social media. He said he learnt of this through a sponsor, and the public thought it was humorous.


2016 24 Hours of Daytona, Post-race
Angelelli lost lucidity, strength and awareness of events around him because a cracked exhaust header caused the cockpit of the WTR Corvette DP to fill with exhaust fumes. He stopped on the NASCAR turn one run-off area, where track marshals waved yellow flags. WTR requested medical assistance from IMSA after failing to respond to a radio message from fainting with carbon monoxide poisoning. He was hospitalized in Daytona Beach and then Orlando, where he was treated in a hyperbaric chamber. Angelelli was released on February 1 for recuperation. WTR were interviewed by police and provided data and analysis of the incident to IMSA's Safety Field Investigation team. The GTD-class winning No. 44 Magnus Audi team was investigated for a suspected violation of drivers' stints but was cleared after IMSA found no rules violation.


2016 24 Hours of Daytona, Post-race
The five Lamborghini Huracán V10 engines were impounded post-race and sent to NASCAR's research and development center in Concord, North Carolina, for dyno testing in February 2016. This came after the GTD manufacturers and IMSA communicated via e-mail about a series of requests to adjust the balance of performance before the race because Lamborghini ran an illegal air restrictor from an outdated Audi R8 LMS. 23 days after the event, Change Racing, Konrad Motorsport, O'Gara Motorsport and PMR incurred a retroactive five-minute stop-and-hold penalty for violating a regulation enacted to stop sandbagging.


2016 24 Hours of Daytona, Post-race
Lamborghini had its GTD Manufacturers' Championship and NAEC points scored in Daytona invalidated and was fined $25,000. It was the first time since its introduction in 2014 that IMSA imposed the regulation. The No. 28 Konrad car was demoted from fifth to tenth, and the O'Gara car fell from tenth to fifteenth.


2016 24 Hours of Daytona, Post-race
Because it was the first race of the season, Brown, Derani, Sharp and Van Overbeek led the Prototype Drivers' Championship with 36 points, with Angelelli, Rubens Barrichello, Jordan Taylor and Ricky Taylor second with 33 points. Misha Goikhberg, Koch, Chris Miller and Simpson led the PC points standings from Robert Alon, Nicholas Boulle, Gutiérrez and Kimber-Smith. Fässler, Gavin and Milner took the lead of the GTLM Drivers' Championship with their teammates García, Magnussen and Rockenfeller in second. In the GTD points standings, Andy Lally, John Potter, Rast and Seefried held sway over Catsburg, Patrick Long, Tim Pappas and Andy Pilgrim. ESM, JDC/Miller, Corvette Racing and Magnus Racing became the leaders of their respective class Teams' Championships. Honda, Chevrolet and Audi assumed the lead of their respective Manufacturers' Championships with 11 races left in the season.


2016 24 Hours of Daytona, Race results
Class winners are denoted in bold. P stands for Prototype, PC (Prototype Challenge), GTLM (Grand Touring Le Mans) and GTD (Grand Touring Daytona).


2016 24 Hours of Le Mans
The 84th 24 Hours of Le Mans (French: 84e 24 Heures du Mans) was a 24 hour automobile endurance racing event held for Le Mans Prototype and Le Mans Grand Touring Endurance cars from 15 to 19 June 2016 at the Circuit de la Sarthe, close to Le Mans, France. It was the 84th running of the 24 Hour race organised by the Automobile Club de l'Ouest (ACO) as well as the third and flagship round of the 2016 FIA World Endurance Championship. A test day was held two weeks prior to the race on 5 June. The event was attended by 263,500 people.


2016 24 Hours of Le Mans
Neel Jani of Porsche started from pole position for the second consecutive year, but heavy rainfall forced the organisers to start the race behind a safety car for the first time in history. Once the rain had stopped and the track sufficiently dried, the field was released from under safety car conditions. Toyota, Audi and Porsche traded off the race lead in the early hours until the No. 6 Toyota established a firm hold on first place, followed by the No. 5 Toyota and No. 2 Porsche.


2016 24 Hours of Le Mans
Issues for the No. 6 eventually allowed the No. 5 Toyota to take over the lead, maintaining a small gap from the Porsche. Kazuki Nakajima was driving the Toyota to the finish in the closing three minutes of the race when it suffered a mechanical issue and stopped on the circuit right after the finish line on his last lap. Jani overcame the one-minute gap with the ailing Toyota and passed it on the final lap, taking the race victory; It was Jani and co-driver Marc Lieb's first Le Mans win and Romain Dumas' second. The sister Toyota of Stéphane Sarrazin, Mike Conway and Kamui Kobayashi finished three laps behind in second, while the No. 8 Audi of Loïc Duval, Lucas di Grassi and Oliver Jarvis completed the race podium.


2016 24 Hours of Le Mans
The Signatech Alpine-Nissan of Gustavo Menezes, Nicolas Lapierre and Stéphane Richelmi won the Le Mans Prototype 2 (LMP2) category after it led the final 196 laps of the race. Roman Rusinov, René Rast and Will Stevens of G-Drive Racing finished on the same lap as the Alpine, while the all-Russian SMP Racing BR01-Nissan of Vitaly Petrov, Kirill Ladygin and Viktor Shaytar was four laps behind in third. On the day of the fiftieth anniversary of their first overall 24 Hours of Le Mans victory, Ford won the Le Mans Grand Touring Endurance Professional (LMGTE)


2016 24 Hours of Le Mans
Pro class with the No. 68 American entry of Joey Hand, Sébastien Bourdais and Dirk Müller. Risi Competizione Ferrari were second with Giancarlo Fisichella, Toni Vilander and Matteo Malucelli, after they and the winning Ford had led all but 26 laps of the race. Ford USA's sister car of Ryan Briscoe, Scott Dixon and Richard Westbrook was third. Americans also led the Le Mans Grand Touring Endurance Amateur (LMGTE Am) category, with Scuderia Corsa's Townsend Bell, Jeff Segal and Bill Sweedler edging out the fellow Ferrari of AF Corse, driven by Emmanuel Collard, Rui Águas and François Perrodo. Khaled Al Qubaisi, Patrick Long and David Heinemeier Hansson were third in class for Abu Dhabi-Proton.


2016 24 Hours of Le Mans
The result increased Lieb, Jani and Dumas' Drivers' Championship advantage over the new second-placed Duval, di Grassi and Jarvis to 38 points while Kobayashi, Conway and Sarrazin's second-place finish advanced them to third position. André Lotterer, Benoît Tréluyer and Marcel Fässler moved from eighth place to fourth and Alexandre Imperatori, Dominik Kraihamer and Mathéo Tuscher fell to fifth after not finishing the race. In the Manufacturers' Championship, Porsche extended their lead over Audi to 38 points while Toyota fell to third place with six races left in the season.


2016 24 Hours of Le Mans, Background
The date for the 2016 Le Mans race was officially confirmed as part of the FIA World Endurance Championship's 2016 schedule at a FIA World Motor Sport Council meeting in Paris in December 2015. It was the third of nine scheduled endurance sports car rounds of the 2016 calendar and the 84th running of the event. With the end of the race scheduled for 19 June, the event conflicted with the 2016 European Grand Prix. Force India driver Nico Hülkenberg, who won the 2015 race with Porsche would be unable to return and defend his title, leading to accusations that Formula One Management had deliberately scheduled the race to conflict with Le Mans and prevent Formula One drivers from participating.


2016 24 Hours of Le Mans, Background
Before the race Porsche drivers Marc Lieb, Neel Jani and Romain Dumas led the Drivers' Championship with 43 points, 18 ahead of nearest rivals Loïc Duval, Lucas di Grassi and Oliver Jarvis and a further three in front of Kamui Kobayashi, Mike Conway and Stéphane Sarrazin. Alexandre Imperatori, Dominik Kraihamer and Mathéo Tuscher were fourth on 15 points and their teammates Nick Heidfeld, Nico Prost and Nelson Piquet Jr. were fifth with 12 points. In the Manufacturers' Championship, Porsche lead with 55 points, 12 ahead of their nearest rivals Toyota in second position, and a further three in front of the third-placed manufacturer Audi.


2016 24 Hours of Le Mans, Circuit changes
Modifications were made to the circuit in the run-up to the race. A new entry run-off area was constructed at the Porsche Curves in response to a major accident sustained by Duval during practice for the 2014 24 Hours of Le Mans although the turn's alignment was not altered. SAFER barriers were installed on the outside of the first entry section of the turn, marking the technology's first appearance at a European motor racing venue. Vincent Beaumesnil, the Automobile Club de l'Ouest's (ACO) sporting manager, revealed was easier to install a chicane, but following discussions with the national motor racing governing body of France, the Fédération Française du Sport Automobile, the circuit's layout was allowed to remain unchanged.


2016 24 Hours of Le Mans, Entries
The ACO initially planned to expand the race entry from 56 cars to 58 in 2015. But responding to an increase in the number of "high-quality entry requests" they allowed 60 entries for the 2016 race. The Selection Committee took steps to ensure the two additional required pits would be operational in time for the 2016 race.


2016 24 Hours of Le Mans, Entries, Automatic invitations
Teams that won their class in the previous running of the 24 Hours of Le Mans, or won championships in the European Le Mans Series or the Asian Le Mans Series earned automatic entry invitations. Some championship runners-up were also granted automatic invitations in certain series. Two participants in the WeatherTech SportsCar Championship are chosen by the series to be automatic entries by the ACO regardless of their performance. All FIA World Endurance Championship full-season entries automatically earned invitations.


2016 24 Hours of Le Mans, Entries, Automatic invitations
As invitations were granted to teams, they could change their cars from the previous year to the next but were not allowed to change their category. In the European and Asian Le Mans Series, the Le Mans Grand Touring Endurance (LMGTE) class invitations are allowed to choose between the Pro and Am categories.


2016 24 Hours of Le Mans, Entries, Automatic invitations
European Le Mans Series' Le Mans Prototype 3 (LMP3) champion is required to field an entry in Le Mans Prototype 2 (LMP2) while the Asian Le Mans Series LMP3 champion may choose between LMP2 or LMGTE Am. European Le Mans Series GTC class champions are limited to the LMGTE Am category.


2016 24 Hours of Le Mans, Entries, Automatic invitations
Among the fourteen automatic invitations granted, three teams chose not to accept: Team LNT and Marc VDS did not continue their European Le Mans Series efforts in 2016 while SMP Racing opted to concentrate on their LMP2 entries and forgo defense of their Le Mans victory in LMGTE Am.


2016 24 Hours of Le Mans, Entries, Entry list
In conjunction with the announcement of entries for the FIA World Endurance Championship and the European Le Mans Series, the ACO announced the full 60 car entry list and ten car reserve list in Paris on 5 February. In addition to the 32 guaranteed entries from the World Endurance Championship, 13 entries came from the European Le Mans Series, nine from the WeatherTech SportsCar Championship, four from the Asian Le Mans Series, while one-off entries competing only at Le Mans filled the rest of the field.


2016 24 Hours of Le Mans, Entries, Reserves
The ACO named ten reserves to replace any entries which were withdrawn prior to the official test session. Greaves Motorsport, Riley Motorsports, and Proton Competition later withdrew their reserve entries. Algarve Pro Racing was promoted to the race entry when TDS Racing withdrew their LMGTE Am Aston Martin. Six reserves remained before the race, with a second entry from Pegasus Racing and Team AAI, as well as lone entries from JMW Motorsport, Courage, OAK Racing, and DragonSpeed.


2016 24 Hours of Le Mans, Entries, Garage 56
The Garage 56 entry to display new technologies returned following an absence in 2015. Frédéric Sausset, a quadruple amputee, participated in the race driving a modified Morgan LMP2 developed in conjunction with Onroak Automotive. The adapted automobile featured a throttle and braking system controlled by Sausset through his thighs while steering was achieved by attaching his right limb directly to the steering column. The car was also able to be driven in a normal fashion by his co-drivers. SRT 41 initially planned to use a new Audi engine for the programme but later changed to the ubiquitous Nissan LMP2 engine. The team participated in the Silverstone European Le Mans Series race as a precursor to Le Mans, the first Garage 56 entry to compete prior to Le Mans.


2016 24 Hours of Le Mans, Entries, Debutants
Some drivers made their first appearance in the 2016 24 Hours of Le Mans. Four-time IndyCar Series champion Scott Dixon co-drove Ford Chip Ganassi Racing's (CGR) No. 69 car, although he missed the first day of scrutineering because of a rain delay in the Firestone 600 at the Texas Motor Speedway. It was announced in March that Olympic gold medallist and multiple cycling world champion Chris Hoy would share the No. 25 Algarve Pro Racing Ligier JS P2-Nissan with Andrea Pizzitola and Michael Munemann.


2016 24 Hours of Le Mans, Entries, Debutants
Hoy was the first Summer Olympic gold medallist to compete at Le Mans, the ninth former Olympian to race there and the second Olympic champion to do so, after alpine skier Henri Oreiller. British GT Championship race winner Oliver Bryant was paired with Johnny O'Connell and Mark Patterson in the No. 57 Team AAI Chevrolet Corvette C7.R.


2016 24 Hours of Le Mans, Testing and practice
A mandatory test session for all sixty entries was held on 5 June, split into two daytime sessions. The morning session was led by Porsche, with Jani setting a lap time of 3 minutes, 22.334 seconds. The second Porsche of Mark Webber followed, ahead of the two Audis of Marcel Fässler and Duval and both Toyotas of Anthony Davidson and Kobayashi. Oreca vehicles led the LMP2 category with six cars at the top of the timing charts, with the Signatech Alpine of Nicolas Lapierre ahead of Eurasia Motorsport and Manor.


2016 24 Hours of Le Mans, Testing and practice
Porsche also led the LMGTE Pro category with a one-two, the No. 92 of Frédéric Makowiecki ahead of the No. 91 of Kévin Estre, followed by Oliver Gavin's No. 63 Chevrolet Corvette C7.R. The No. 55 AF Corse Ferrari of Matt Griffin was the fastest in LMGTE Am on his final lap, ahead of the second Ferrari of Scuderia Corsa. The session was temporarily stopped halfway through when François Perrodo beached his car in the Porsche Curves gravel trap and required extraction.


2016 24 Hours of Le Mans, Testing and practice
The second test session had Audi move to the top of the field when di Grassi set a 3-minute, 21.375-second lap time, followed by an improved time for the No. 1 Porsche of Webber. The No. 8 Audi required repairs for much of the session after issues arose with the car's suspension system. Tristan Gommendy improved the fastest lap in LMP2, moving Eurasia Motorsport ahead of the Signatech Alpine.


2016 24 Hours of Le Mans, Testing and practice
The Michael Shank Ligier-Honda of Oswaldo Negri Jr. had a heavy accident in the session's final hour at the left-hand barriers entering the second Mulsanne Chicane, bringing a premature end to the test. Negri was unhurt. Antonio García moved the No. 63 Chevrolet Corvette ahead of the pair of Porsches of Nick Tandy and Makowiecki, while another Corvette in LMGTE Am, driven by reserve driver Nick Catsburg for Larbre Compétition, overtook the fastest time from the morning session.


2016 24 Hours of Le Mans, Testing and practice
Other incidents had the No. 99 Aston Martin of Liam Griffin trigger the activation of the slow zone system when it stopped at the first chicane, and all cars slowed for Pu Jun Jin who went into the gravel trap at Mulsanne Corner. Yutaka Yamagishi impacted the tyre barrier at Tertere Rouge corner but was able to drive back to the pit lane. Tommy Milner spun his No. 64 Chevrolet Corvette at Dunlop Chicane. The safety car was deployed when Tracy Krohn beached his car in the Porsche curves entry gravel trap.


2016 24 Hours of Le Mans, Testing and practice
A single four-hour free practice session was available to the teams before the three qualifying sessions. Rain fell on parts of the circuit throughout the four hours. The No. 8 Audi led for much of the session until overtaken by the No. 2 Porsche Brendon Hartley until it too was pipped by Jani with a lap of 3 minutes, 22.011 seconds in the closing ten minutes. The session was stopped briefly when Pierre Kaffer's ByKolles CLM-AER caught fire on the Mulsanne Straight after exiting the first chicane.


2016 24 Hours of Le Mans, Testing and practice
Toyota ended the session with the No. 6 entry of Sarrazin heavily damaged at its front-end after hitting the barriers exiting the Indianapolis corner. Richard Bradley of KCMG led the LMP2 category ahead of the Signatech Alpine of Lapierre and Paul-Loup Chatin's Panis-Barthez Ligier-Nissan. Separate crashes by Bruno Senna of RGR Sport and Inès Taittinger of Pegasus Racing at the Porsche Curves and Indianapolis corner led to stoppages in the session.