Jota still has the LMP2 clearly under control
In the LMP2 class, the Jota-Oreca #38 (Gonzalez/Felix Da Costa/Stevens) has been leading for hours. But something has shifted in the ranks of the pursuers.
In second place is currently the WRT-Oreca #31 (Gelael/Frijns/Rast), which made a great race to catch up through the field after the crash at the start. Third is currently the Prema-Oreca #9 (Kubica/Deletraz/Colombo).
Dreher des GTE-Pro-Leaders
Spin by Michael Christensen in the #92 Porsche (Christensen/Estre/Vanthoor), the leading car in the GTE Pro class. Great luck for the line-up: Christensen was able to continue driving immediately after the moment of shock in the Mulsanne curve and retained the lead.
Lead is getting smaller
From 30 seconds at the beginning of the current stint, the lead of the #8 Toyota has now shrunk to less than 20 seconds. Jose Maria Lopez in the #7 Toyota is currently faster than front-runner Brendon Hartley.
Green light for a free ride at Toyota
Regarding the duel between the two Toyotas at the front of the field, Kazuki Nakajima told Eurosport: “At the moment they have the okay to drive freely – not over the limit, but at the limit.”
Nakajima, who won the 24 Hours of Le Mans three times in a row between 2018 and 2020, is now Vice Chairman at Toyota Gazoo Racing Europe in Cologne. Of course, the Japanese is currently at Le Mans.
Now 30 seconds ahead for Toyota #8
And in one fell swoop, the gap between leader Brendon Hartley, now in the #8 Toyota, and follower Jose Maria Lopez in the #7 Toyota has grown to 30 seconds. The reason: Lopez got into a slow zone on his so-called out-lap after the most recent pit stop, Hartley didn’t.
Riding out of the GTE-Am leader
The GTE-Am class-leading WeatherTech Porsche #79 (MacNeil/Andlauer/Merrill) with Thomas Merrill at the wheel is plowing through the gravel bed in the Dunlop chicane area – just fine!
An Aston Martin is out
The end of the D’Station Aston Martin #777 (Hoshino/Fujii/Fagg) has just been officially announced. The reason is not yet clear, but could be in the area of the wheel suspension.
The fact is: It is the second retirement in the race after that of the Project 1 Porsche #46 (Cairoli/Pedersen/Leutwiler). Both cars were entered in the GTE-Am class. Two failures, that means in reverse: After almost nine hours, 60 cars are still on the road!
Buemi opens a small gap
At the head of the field, Sebastien Buemi in the #8 Toyota (Buemi/Hartley/Hirakawa) has now pulled away from teammate Mike Conway in the #7 Toyota (Conway/Kobayashi/Lopez) by more than four seconds.
Meanwhile, Porsche has restored the one-two lead in the GTE Pro class. Here, #92 (Christensen/Estre/Vanthoor) continues to lead, now again in front of #91 (Bruni/Lietz/Makowiecki) and only then the AF Corse Ferrari #51 (Pier Guidi/Calado/Serra).
Back to race pace!
All local yellow phases have been lifted, and the 13.6-kilometer route is back at full speed!
And a second incident
There is currently a local yellow phase (slow zone) not only in the Dunlop chicane, but also at the entrance to the Hunaudieres straight. A car is also stranded there.
Fassbender im Kiesbett!
The Proton Porsche #93 (Fassbender/Campbell/Robichon), which Michael Fassbender is also driving at this moment, is stuck in the gravel bed of the Dunlop chicane after a spin. He can’t get out of there on his own. There are yellow flags at this point.
Ferrari cracks Porsche double lead
There has been a change in the top 3 in the GTE Pro class. The AF Corse Ferrari #51 (Pier Guidi/Calado/Serra) is now in second place between the two Porsche 911 RSR-19 entered by the Manthey team.
Corvette is driving again
But not quite the end for the #63 Corvette (Garcia/J. Taylor/Catsburg), which initially led in the GTE-Pro class. Apparently they managed to repair the damaged left rear wheel suspension. With a deficit of 15 laps to the top of the class you are now on the road again. Jordan Taylor is behind the wheel.
Demand from Buemi over the radio
Radio message from leader Sebastien Buemi in the direction of the Toyota command post: “Guys, can you ask Mike what he thinks? We’re pushing like crazy here. I’m not sure if that’s that clever.” This of course means Buemi’s direct pursuer Mike Conway.
Change of leadership in the pits
During the eleventh pit stop of the race, the lead between the two Toyotas changed hands again. Sebastien Buemi in the #8 car had a fastest stop, including the start and exit, than Mike Conway in the #7 car.
This puts Buemi/Hartley/Hirakawa (#8), who started from pole, ahead of Conway/Kobayashi/Lopez (#7) again.
Intermediate status after 8 of 24 hours
A third of the race distance has been completed. Here is an overview of the current top 3 in each of the four classes:
Hypercar
Toyota #7 (Conway/Kobayashi/Lopez)
Toyota # 8 (Buemi / Hartley / Hirakawa)
Glickenhaus #709 (Briscoe/Westbrook/Mailleux)
LMP2
Jota-Oreca #38 (Gonzalez/Felix Da Costa/Stevens)
Prema-Oreca #9 (Kubica/Speller/Colombo)
TDS-Oreca #13 (de Vries/Beche/van der Helm)
GTE-Pro
Porsche #92 (Christensen/Estre/Vanthoor)
Porsche #91 (Bruni/Lietz/Makowiecki)
AF-Corse-Ferrari # 51 (Pier Guidi / Calado / Serra)
GTE-Am
WeatherTech-Porsche #79 (MacNeil/Andlauer/Merrill)
Dempsey-Proton-Porsche #77 (Ried/Priaulx/Tincknell)
TF-Aston-Martin # 33 (Keating / Chaves / Sörensen)
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