Now also drama at Toyota!
The #7 stands! Jose Maria Lopez parks his GR010 Hybrid on the side of the road at the exit of Arnage – the Toyota drama is back in Le Mans. After a power cycle, everything seems to be working once more, but the lead is gone. Brendon Hartley now has a 1:10 lead over the sister car.
Porsche #92 badly damaged!
Drama for Porsche! Michael Christensen in the previously leading Porsche #92 sneaks around the course with a badly damaged front! The slow motion shows that he had previously braked in Mulsanne, had to go through the gravel bed and then the right front tire burst on the straight. This puts Corvette back in the lead in the GTE Pro.
Hairy moment for the #8
For Brendon Hartley and Toyota things were getting very tight in the pits – the New Zealander was just regarding to drive off with the #8 when the #79 WeatherTech Porsche pulled into the pits in front of it. Hartley was able to avoid a pit crash, but lost a few seconds in the process.
Meanwhile the next departure, this time from GR-Porsche #86 (Wainwright/Pera/Barker).
What’s wrong with Sebastien Buemi?
The Swiss complains once more on the pit radio. The Toyota driver seems dissatisfied throughout the race and is not quite up to the pace of his teammates. Team boss Rob Leupen already indicated a physical handicap with ‘Nitro’. Buemi would feel uncomfortable, said the Dutchman.
Punishment for Gelael
WRT’s penalty for colliding with the Vector-Oreca is immediate: Sean Gelael receives a drive-through penalty following the contact. Bitter for WRT who fought their way up so well following the crash at the start and the penalty that followed.
LMP2 incident, the next
Aaand the next of the small prototypes sneaks around the course. This time it’s the Ultimate Oreca #35 (J.-B. Lahaye/M. Lahaye/Heriau). From the Porsche curves, however, it is not far to the rescue box. After a regular-looking service, however, things continue once more.
Collision in the LMP2 field
In the Daytona chicane, the WRT Oreca #31 (Gelael/Frijns/Rast) and the Vector Oreca #10 (Müller/Cullen/Bourdais) rattled together. The incident is being investigated because it was not a battle for position. Sebastien Bourdais is already seven laps down following early problems in the Vector camp. The WRT squad, currently represented by Sean Gelael, is only one lap behind the leading Jota-Oreca.
Jota now with two cars in the top 3
In the LMP2 class, the Jota team is still clearly the dominant one. This not only applies because the Oreca with starting number 38 (Gonzalez/Felix Da Costa/Stevens) continues to lead by almost a lap. The team’s second car, the Jota-Oreca #28 (Rasmussen/Jones/Aberdein), is currently third behind the Prema-Oreca #9 (Kubica/Deletraz/Colombo).
GTE-Am leadership continues to switch back and forth
Meanwhile, the lead in the GTE-Am class has been alternating for a few hours now between the WeatherTech Porsche #79 (MacNeil/Andlauer/Merrill), the TF Aston Martin #33 (Keating/Chaves/Sörensen) and the Hardpoint -Porsche #99 (Haryanto/Picariello/Rump) back and forth. The respective pit stop window is decisive for who is currently in front.
Corvette vs. Ferrari: Lead changes on the track
And now the #64 Corvette (Milner/Tandy/Sims) leads the GTE Pro class. In the Daytona chicane, Tommy Milner went around the outside of the AF Corse Ferrari #51 (Pier Guidi/Calado/Serra) driven by Alessandro Pier Guidi. As a reminder: Due to an early, unscheduled brake change, the Corvette initially lagged behind. Whether you can get over the distance with the current set of brakes is not certain.
Departure of the Panis-Oreca
The Panis-Oreca #65 (Canal/Jamin/van Uitert) is stranded in the gravel bed of the Mulsanne corner. It was a departure that now causes a slow zone at this point on the route – which is the furthest away from the start/finish point.
Ferrari takes the lead
Due to the brake change at Porsche, the AF Corse Ferrari #51 (Pier Guidi/Calado/Serra) is now at the top of the GTE Pro class. Second is currently the Corvette #64 (Milner/Tandy/Sims). But even these two cars will hardly get over the distance without a brake change (Ferrari) or a second brake change (Corvette).
GTE-Pro-Leader in der Box
At 6:00 a.m., the #92 (Christensen/Estre/Vanthoor) leader in the GTE-Pro class is pushed backwards into the pits. Reason is a change of the brakes. That looks routine.
sunrise
5:59 a.m. in Le Mans: The sun is on the horizon once more following dawn gave way to dark night almost an hour ago. There are now 10:01 hours left in the race.
© Motorsport Images
Glackenhaus back in the top 5
In the overall classification of the race, the Glickenhaus #708 (Pla/Dumas/Derani) has meanwhile reached the top 5 once more. One fell out of these because of Olivier Pla’s spin at the beginning of the night.
In the meantime, several LMP2 cars were ahead of the 007 LMH with the starting number 708. But now this only applies to the LMP2 leader, the Jota-Oreca #38 (Gonzalez/Felix Da Costa/Stevens). He is fourth overall in the race behind the other Glickenhaus (#709 with Briscoe/Westbrook/Mailleux).
Not full throttle yet
The slow zone on the Hunaudieres, which was triggered by the Inception Ferrari #59 and slowed down the Toyota #8, has long been lifted.
But the slow zone in the Porsche curves still exists. At this point, the small parts on the route have been swept together. But when the Ultimate Oreca #35 took off, the track barrier was damaged. It is still being repaired, which is why there is still a speed limit in the Porsche curves.
