Peugeot have taken the lead at Le Mans after Alessandro Pier Guidi spun the race-leading Ferrari shortly before midnight.
Hours 7-8
Following the rain-hit dramas of the first quarter of the race, the seventh and eighth hours saw conditions settle down after nightfall and an uptick in green flag running.But that all changed minutes before midnight when Pier Guidi spun off shortly after the Ferrari driver pitted from a lead he had held by almost a minute. Pier Guidi appeared to have been distracted by a collision in front of him at the first chicane involving Romain Dumas in the number 708 Glickenhaus and Richard Lietz in a GTE Am class Proton Porsche.
A slow zone was declared in the area while Pier Guidi’s 499P was craned back onto the circuit and sent on it way quickly enough that it didn’t lose a lap to the new race leader, Nico Mueller in a Peugeot 9X8. But before the slow zone was cleared a multi-car collision occured on the approach to Tertre Rouge.
Kamui Kobayashi’s number seven Toyota was hit from behind as he slowed. Three other cars were involved in the incident which dealt two blows to the GR010. Kobayashi came to a stop on the Mulsanne straight, briefly resumed then came to a terminal stop, its red hybrid warning lights flashing.
“I was in the ‘Next Slow’ zone which is the preparation area ahead of the slow zone,” Kobayashi explained. “The guy ahead braked for whatever reason. If I overtake him there, I will get a penalty, so I braked and the cars behind just crashed into me.
“I had both tyres punctured on the rear and the left-rear driveshaft was broken, so I had no drive to return.”
A Full Course Yellow was deployed while the wrecked cars were cleared. A slow zone persisted over the area while other cars involved in the collision limped back to the pits, including the number 39 Graff Racing LMP2 machine.
Ferrari had edged clear of their rivals over the preceding two hours until Pier Guidi brought the number 51 machine in for service shortly before midnight, soon after logging its 100th lap. The leading trio for much of this two-hour phase comprised the number 51 Ferrari, number 94 Peugeot, and Kobayashi’s doomed Toyota.
The midnight crashes changed the complexion of the race dramatically, putting Mueller at the head of the field followed by the number 50 Ferrari with Nicklas Nielsen at the wheel, and the number two Cadillac piloted by Earl Bamber.
Porsche suffered another below during the seventh hour of the race when Mathieu Jaminet came to a stop during the car’s 85th lap with what turned out to be a terminal fuel pressure problem. Vanwall also suffered a setback, a spin in the first sector costing their sole car a significant chunk of time.
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Positions after eight hours
Pos | No. | Class | Team | Car | Drivers | Laps |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | 94 | Hypercar (H) | Peugeot Totalenergies | Peugeot 9X8 | Loic Duval/Gustavo Menezes/Nico Mueller | 104 |
2 | 50 | Hypercar (H) | Ferrari AF Corse | Ferrari 499P | Antonio Fuoco/Miguel Molina/Nicklas Nielsen | 104 |
3 | 2 | Hypercar (H) | Cadillac Racing | Cadillac V-Series.R | Earl Bamber/Alex Lynn/Richard Westbrook | 104 |
4 | 51 | Hypercar (H) | Ferrari AF Corse | Ferrari 499P | Alessandro Pier Guidi/James Calado/Antonio Giovinazzi | 104 |
5 | 8 | Hypercar (H) | Toyota Gazoo Racing | Toyota GR010 | Sebastien Buemi/Brendon Hartley/Ryo Hirakawa | 104 |
6 | 7 | Hypercar (H) | Toyota Gazoo Racing | Toyota GR010 | Mike Conway/Kamui Kobayashi/Jose Maria Lopez | 103 |
7 | 5 | Hypercar (H) | Porsche Penske Motorsport | Porsche 963 | Dane Cameron/Michael Christensen/Frederic Makowiecki | 103 |
8 | 3 | Hypercar (H) | Cadillac Racing | Cadillac V-Series.R | Sebastien Bourdais/Renger Van Der Zande/Scott Dixon | 103 |
9 | 6 | Hypercar (H) | Porsche Penske Motorsport | Porsche 963 | Kevin Estre/Andre Lotterer/Laurens Vanthoor | 103 |
10 | 93 | Hypercar (H) | Peugeot Totalenergies | Peugeot 9X8 | Paul di Resta/Mikkel Jensen/Jean-Eric Vergne | 102 |
11 | 708 | Hypercar | Glickenhaus Racing | Glickenhaus 007 | Romain Dumas/Olivier Pla/Ryan Briscoe | 101 |
12 | 709 | Hypercar | Glickenhaus Racing | Glickenhaus 007 | Franck Mailleux/Nathanael Berthon/Esteban Gutierrez | 100 |
13 | 38 | Hypercar (H) | Hertz Team JOTA | Porsche 963 | Antonio Felix Da Costa/Will Stevens/Yifei Ye | 100 |
14 | 34 | LMP2 | Inter Europol Competition | Oreca 07 – Gibson | Jakub Smiechowski/Albert Costa/Fabio Scherer | 100 |
15 | 41 | LMP2 | Team WRT | Oreca 07 – Gibson | Rui Andrade/Louis Deletraz/Robert Kubica | 99 |
16 | 80 | LMP2 Pro/Am | AF Corse | Oreca 07 – Gibson | Francois Perrodo/Ben Barnicoat/Norman Nato | 99 |
17 | 28 | LMP2 | JOTA | Oreca 07 – Gibson | David Heinemeier Hansson/Oliver Rasmussen/Pietro Fittipaldi | 99 |
18 | 45 | LMP2 Pro/Am | Algarve Pro Racing | Oreca 07 – Gibson | George Kurtz/James Allen/Colin Braun | 99 |
19 | 30 | LMP2 | Duqueine Team | Oreca 07 – Gibson | Neel Jani/Rene Binder/Nicolas Pino | 99 |
20 | 37 | LMP2 Pro/Am | Cool Racing | Oreca 07 – Gibson | Nicolas Lapierre/Alexandre Coigny/Malthe Jakobsen | 99 |
21 | 65 | LMP2 | Panis Racing | Oreca 07 – Gibson | Manuel Maldonado/Tijmen van der Helm/Job van Uitert | 99 |
22 | 35 | LMP2 | Alpine Elf Team | Oreca 07 – Gibson | Andre Negrão/Olli Caldwell/Memo Rojas | 99 |
23 | 48 | LMP2 | Idec Sport | Oreca 07 – Gibson | Paul Lafargue/Paul Loup Chatin/Laurents Horr | 98 |
24 | 36 | LMP2 | Alpine Elf Team | Oreca 07 – Gibson | Matthieu Vaxiviere/Charles Milesi/Julienal Canal | 98 |
25 | 63 | LMP2 | Prema Racing | Oreca 07 – Gibson | Doriane Pin/Daniil Kvyat/Mirko Bortolotti | 98 |
26 | 47 | LMP2 | Cool Racing | Oreca 07 – Gibson | Reshad de Gerus/Vladislav Lomko/Simon Pagenaud | 98 |
27 | 10 | LMP2 | Vector Sport | Oreca 07 – Gibson | Ryan Cullen/Gabriel Aubry/Matthias Kaiser | 98 |
28 | 31 | LMP2 | Team WRT | Oreca 07 – Gibson | Sean Gelael/Ferdinand Habsburg/Robin Frijns | 98 |
29 | 39 | LMP2 Pro/Am | Graff Racing | Oreca 07 – Gibson | Roberto Lacorte/Giedo van der Garde/Patrick Pilet | 98 |
30 | 23 | LMP2 | United Autosports | Oreca 07 – Gibson | Joshua Pierson/Tom Blomqvist/Oliver Jarvis | 97 |
31 | 56 | LMGTE Am | Project 1 – AO | Porsche 911 RSR-19 | PJ Hyett/Gunnar Jeannette/Matteo Cairoli | 96 |
32 | 85 | LMGTE Am | Iron Dames | Porsche 911 RSR-19 | Sarah Bovy/Michelle Gatting/Rahel Frey | 96 |
33 | 54 | LMGTE Am | AF Corse | Ferrari 488 GTE Evo | Thomas Flohr/Francesco Castellacci/Davide Rigon | 96 |
34 | 57 | LMGTE Am | Kessel Racing | Ferrari 488 GTE Evo | Takeshi Kimura/Scott Huffaker/Daniel Serra | 95 |
35 | 911 | LMGTE Am | Proton Competition | Porsche 911 RSR-19 | Michael Fassbender/Martin Rump/Richard Lietz | 95 |
36 | 98 | LMGTE Am | Northwest AMR | Aston Martin Vantage AMR | Ian James/Daniel Mancinelli/Alex Riberas | 95 |
37 | 24 | CDNT | Hendrick Motorsports | Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 | Jimmie Johnson/Mike Rockenfeller/Jenson Button | 95 |
38 | 4 | Hypercar | Floyd Vanwall Racing Team | Vanwall Vandervell 680 | Tom Dillmann/Esteban Guerrieri/Tristan Vautier | 95 |
39 | 25 | LMGTE Am | ORT by TF | Aston Martin Vantage AMR | Ahmad Al Harthy/Michael Dinan/Charlie Eastwood | 95 |
40 | 86 | LMGTE Am | GR Racing | Porsche 911 RSR-19 | Michael Wainwright/Benjamin Barker/Riccardo Pera | 94 |
41 | 88 | LMGTE Am | Proton Competition | Porsche 911 RSR-19 | Harry Tincknell/Donald Yount/Jonas Ried | 94 |
42 | 33 | LMGTE Am | Corvette Racing | Chevrolet Corvette C8.R | Nicky Catsburg/Ben Keating/Nicolas Varrone | 94 |
43 | 22 | LMP2 | United Autosports | Oreca 07 – Gibson | Philip Hanson/Filipe Albuquerque/Frederick Lubin | 94 |
44 | 100 | LMGTE Am | Walkenhorst Motorsport | Ferrari 488 GTE Evo | Chandler Hull/Andrew Haryanto/Jeffrey Segal | 93 |
45 | 77 | LMGTE Am | Dempsey-Proton Racing | Porsche 911 RSR-19 | Christian Ried/Mikkel Pedersen/Julien Andlauer | 93 |
46 | 74 | LMGTE Am | Kessel Racing | Ferrari 488 GTE Evo | Kei Cozzolino/Yorikatsu Tsujiko/Naoki Yokomizo | 92 |
47 | 777 | LMGTE Am | D’Station Racing | Aston Martin Vantage AMR | Satoshi Hoshino/Casper Stevenson/Tomonobu Fujii | 91 |
48 | 9 | LMP2 | Prema Racing | Oreca 07 – Gibson | Bent Viscaal/Juan Manuel Correa/Filip Ugran | 90 |
49 | 66 | LMGTE Am | JMW Motorsport | Ferrari 488 GTE Evo | Thomas Neubauer/Louis Prette/Giacomo Petrobelli | 89 |
50 | 311 | Hypercar (H) | Action Express Racing | Cadillac V-Series.R | Luis Felipe Derani/Alexander Sims/Jack Aitken | 87 |
51 | 923 | LMP2 Pro/Am | Racing Team Turkey | Oreca 07 – Gibson | Salih Yoluc/Tom Gamble/Dries Vanthoor | 87 |
52 | 32 | LMP2 | Inter Europol Competition | Oreca 07 – Gibson | Mark Kvamme/Jan Magnussen/Anders Fjordbach | 86 |
53 | 43 | LMP2 Pro/Am | DKR Engineering | Oreca 07 – Gibson | Tom Van Rompuy/Ugo de Wilde/Maxime Martin | 85 |
54 | 75 | Hypercar (H) | Porsche Penske Motorsport | Porsche 963 | Felipe Nasr/Mathieu Jaminet/Nicholas Tandy | 84 |
55 | 72 | LMGTE Am | TF Sport | Aston Martin Vantage AMR | Arnold Robin/Maxime Robin/Valentin Hasse-Clot | 58 |
56 | 83 | LMGTE Am | Richard Mille AF Corse | Ferrari 488 GTE Evo | Luis Perez Companc/Alessio Rovera/Lilou Wadoux | 33 |
57 | 16 | LMGTE Am | Proton Competition | Porsche 911 RSR-19 | Ryan Hardwick/Zacharie Robichon/Jan Heylen | 28 |
58 | 60 | LMGTE Am | Iron Lynx | Porsche 911 RSR-19 | Claudio Schiavoni/Matteo Cressoni/Alessio Picariello | 28 |
59 | 55 | LMGTE Am | GMB Motorsport | Aston Martin Vantage AMR | Gustav Dahlmann Birch/Marco Sorensen/Jens Reno Moller | 21 |
60 | 21 | LMGTE Am | AF Corse | Ferrari 488 GTE Evo | Simon Mann/Julien Piguet/Ulysse de Pauw | 21 |
61 | 13 | LMP2 Pro/Am | Tower Motorsports | Oreca 07 – Gibson | Steven Thomas/Ricky Taylor/Rene Rast | 19 |
62 | 14 | LMP2 Pro/Am | Nielsen Racing | Oreca 07 – Gibson | Rodrigo Sales/Mathias Beche/Ben Hanley | 18 |
Hours 9-10
The clean-up of the crash which eliminated the number seven Toyota required the deployment of the Safety Car so the machine could be safely craned away. It joined the number 75 Porsche as the second Hypercar-class retirement.
That meant another lengthy re-ordering process, during which many of the runners took the opportunity to pit. The entire procedure took around an hour to complete. By this time the race was in its 10th hour, of which the total duration spent behind the Safety Car was over three hours.
When the race went green again, Peugeot’s 90-second lead has been wiped out and Mueller had an aggressive Sebastien Buemi on his tail. The Cadillac driver had received a few encouraging words on his radio during the lengthy delay, and immediately set about passing the race leader to rejoin the leader lap.
Ryo Hirakawa in the number eight Toyota also pounced on the leading Peugeot in the Esses at the start of the lap. While he claimed the lead in the sole remaining GR010, the two Ferraris gave pursuit.
Fourth-placed Pier Guidi was soon lobbying to be allowed past Antonio Fuoco ahead of him, to no avail. The pair remained separated by little more than half a second for several laps through the 10th hour, before Fuoco managed to stretch a lead of just over a second.
Alex Lynn followed close behind in the first of the Cadillacs. His team mate Bourdais, who had the race-leading Toyota in his mirrors, was the last car on the lead lap.
A Full Course Yellow was triggered with 20 minutes left to the 10-hour mark when Daniil Kvyat crashed his number 63 Prema LMP2 car heavily in the Porsche curves, striking the barriers twice. Kvyat climbed from his wrecked car unaided.
Hirakawa in the race-leading Toyota had been putting around a second per lap on his pursuers, but took the opportunity to pit under the suspension, putting Mueller’s Peugeot back in front. Ferrari took the opportunity to bring Fuoco into the garage to have the front of his car looked at, but racing speed resumed before he was able to rejoin.
Much further back the Action Express-run number 311 Cadillac lost yet more time when Pipo Derani spun at the final chicane while the race was neutralised.
Pier Guidi in the second Ferrari immediately attacked the lead Peugeot when the race restarted and took the lead as they accelerated out of Mulsanne corner. However it proved only temporary, as he headed for the pits at the end of the lap, handing his car over to James Calado.
Hirakawa was also due to change over, and brought his Toyota back into the pits soon after his previous visit so Sebastien Buemi could take the wheel.
That meant as the 10th hour concluded four difference cars occupied the top four places. Mueller continued to lead for Peugeot, pursued by Lynn’s Cadillac, them Buemi and Calado as they gave chase at the beginning of their stints. Fuoco had dropped to eight place in the second Ferrari following his extended pit stops, losing places to Bourdais, Kevin Estre in the leading Penske Porsche and Mikkel Jensen in the second Peugeot.
Positions after 10 hours
Pos | No. | Class | Team | Car | Drivers | Laps |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | 94 | Hypercar (H) | Peugeot Totalenergies | Peugeot 9X8 | Loic Duval/Gustavo Menezes/Nico Mueller | 124 |
2 | 2 | Hypercar (H) | Cadillac Racing | Cadillac V-Series.R | Earl Bamber/Alex Lynn/Richard Westbrook | 124 |
3 | 8 | Hypercar (H) | Toyota Gazoo Racing | Toyota GR010 | Sebastien Buemi/Brendon Hartley/Ryo Hirakawa | 124 |
4 | 51 | Hypercar (H) | Ferrari AF Corse | Ferrari 499P | Alessandro Pier Guidi/James Calado/Antonio Giovinazzi | 124 |
5 | 3 | Hypercar (H) | Cadillac Racing | Cadillac V-Series.R | Sebastien Bourdais/Renger Van Der Zande/Scott Dixon | 123 |
6 | 6 | Hypercar (H) | Porsche Penske Motorsport | Porsche 963 | Kevin Estre/Andre Lotterer/Laurens Vanthoor | 123 |
7 | 93 | Hypercar (H) | Peugeot Totalenergies | Peugeot 9X8 | Paul di Resta/Mikkel Jensen/Jean-Eric Vergne | 122 |
8 | 50 | Hypercar (H) | Ferrari AF Corse | Ferrari 499P | Antonio Fuoco/Miguel Molina/Nicklas Nielsen | 121 |
9 | 708 | Hypercar | Glickenhaus Racing | Glickenhaus 007 | Romain Dumas/Olivier Pla/Ryan Briscoe | 121 |
10 | 709 | Hypercar | Glickenhaus Racing | Glickenhaus 007 | Franck Mailleux/Nathanael Berthon/Esteban Gutierrez | 120 |
11 | 38 | Hypercar (H) | Hertz Team JOTA | Porsche 963 | Antonio Felix Da Costa/Will Stevens/Yifei Ye | 119 |
12 | 5 | Hypercar (H) | Porsche Penske Motorsport | Porsche 963 | Dane Cameron/Michael Christensen/Frederic Makowiecki | 119 |
13 | 37 | LMP2 Pro/Am | Cool Racing | Oreca 07 – Gibson | Nicolas Lapierre/Alexandre Coigny/Malthe Jakobsen | 118 |
14 | 34 | LMP2 | Inter Europol Competition | Oreca 07 – Gibson | Jakub Smiechowski/Albert Costa/Fabio Scherer | 118 |
15 | 41 | LMP2 | Team WRT | Oreca 07 – Gibson | Rui Andrade/Louis Deletraz/Robert Kubica | 118 |
16 | 30 | LMP2 | Duqueine Team | Oreca 07 – Gibson | Neel Jani/Rene Binder/Nicolas Pino | 118 |
17 | 47 | LMP2 | Cool Racing | Oreca 07 – Gibson | Reshad de Gerus/Vladislav Lomko/Simon Pagenaud | 118 |
18 | 65 | LMP2 | Panis Racing | Oreca 07 – Gibson | Manuel Maldonado/Tijmen van der Helm/Job van Uitert | 118 |
19 | 48 | LMP2 | Idec Sport | Oreca 07 – Gibson | Paul Lafargue/Paul Loup Chatin/Laurents Horr | 118 |
20 | 28 | LMP2 | JOTA | Oreca 07 – Gibson | David Heinemeier Hansson/Oliver Rasmussen/Pietro Fittipaldi | 117 |
21 | 10 | LMP2 | Vector Sport | Oreca 07 – Gibson | Ryan Cullen/Gabriel Aubry/Matthias Kaiser | 117 |
22 | 36 | LMP2 | Alpine Elf Team | Oreca 07 – Gibson | Matthieu Vaxiviere/Charles Milesi/Julienal Canal | 117 |
23 | 31 | LMP2 | Team WRT | Oreca 07 – Gibson | Sean Gelael/Ferdinand Habsburg/Robin Frijns | 117 |
24 | 80 | LMP2 Pro/Am | AF Corse | Oreca 07 – Gibson | Francois Perrodo/Ben Barnicoat/Norman Nato | 116 |
25 | 23 | LMP2 | United Autosports | Oreca 07 – Gibson | Joshua Pierson/Tom Blomqvist/Oliver Jarvis | 116 |
26 | 45 | LMP2 Pro/Am | Algarve Pro Racing | Oreca 07 – Gibson | George Kurtz/James Allen/Colin Braun | 116 |
27 | 35 | LMP2 | Alpine Elf Team | Oreca 07 – Gibson | Andre Negrão/Olli Caldwell/Memo Rojas | 115 |
28 | 56 | LMGTE Am | Project 1 – AO | Porsche 911 RSR-19 | PJ Hyett/Gunnar Jeannette/Matteo Cairoli | 115 |
29 | 85 | LMGTE Am | Iron Dames | Porsche 911 RSR-19 | Sarah Bovy/Michelle Gatting/Rahel Frey | 115 |
30 | 911 | LMGTE Am | Proton Competition | Porsche 911 RSR-19 | Michael Fassbender/Martin Rump/Richard Lietz | 115 |
31 | 54 | LMGTE Am | AF Corse | Ferrari 488 GTE Evo | Thomas Flohr/Francesco Castellacci/Davide Rigon | 115 |
32 | 57 | LMGTE Am | Kessel Racing | Ferrari 488 GTE Evo | Takeshi Kimura/Scott Huffaker/Daniel Serra | 115 |
33 | 4 | Hypercar | Floyd Vanwall Racing Team | Vanwall Vandervell 680 | Tom Dillmann/Esteban Guerrieri/Tristan Vautier | 114 |
34 | 25 | LMGTE Am | ORT by TF | Aston Martin Vantage AMR | Ahmad Al Harthy/Michael Dinan/Charlie Eastwood | 114 |
35 | 24 | CDNT | Hendrick Motorsports | Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 | Jimmie Johnson/Mike Rockenfeller/Jenson Button | 114 |
36 | 86 | LMGTE Am | GR Racing | Porsche 911 RSR-19 | Michael Wainwright/Benjamin Barker/Riccardo Pera | 114 |
37 | 98 | LMGTE Am | Northwest AMR | Aston Martin Vantage AMR | Ian James/Daniel Mancinelli/Alex Riberas | 114 |
38 | 88 | LMGTE Am | Proton Competition | Porsche 911 RSR-19 | Harry Tincknell/Donald Yount/Jonas Ried | 114 |
39 | 33 | LMGTE Am | Corvette Racing | Chevrolet Corvette C8.R | Nicky Catsburg/Ben Keating/Nicolas Varrone | 114 |
40 | 63 | LMP2 | Prema Racing | Oreca 07 – Gibson | Doriane Pin/Daniil Kvyat/Mirko Bortolotti | 113 |
41 | 22 | LMP2 | United Autosports | Oreca 07 – Gibson | Philip Hanson/Filipe Albuquerque/Frederick Lubin | 113 |
42 | 100 | LMGTE Am | Walkenhorst Motorsport | Ferrari 488 GTE Evo | Chandler Hull/Andrew Haryanto/Jeffrey Segal | 112 |
43 | 74 | LMGTE Am | Kessel Racing | Ferrari 488 GTE Evo | Kei Cozzolino/Yorikatsu Tsujiko/Naoki Yokomizo | 112 |
44 | 77 | LMGTE Am | Dempsey-Proton Racing | Porsche 911 RSR-19 | Christian Ried/Mikkel Pedersen/Julien Andlauer | 112 |
45 | 777 | LMGTE Am | D’Station Racing | Aston Martin Vantage AMR | Satoshi Hoshino/Casper Stevenson/Tomonobu Fujii | 110 |
46 | 9 | LMP2 | Prema Racing | Oreca 07 – Gibson | Bent Viscaal/Juan Manuel Correa/Filip Ugran | 109 |
47 | 311 | Hypercar (H) | Action Express Racing | Cadillac V-Series.R | Luis Felipe Derani/Alexander Sims/Jack Aitken | 106 |
48 | 43 | LMP2 Pro/Am | DKR Engineering | Oreca 07 – Gibson | Tom Van Rompuy/Ugo de Wilde/Maxime Martin | 105 |
49 | 32 | LMP2 | Inter Europol Competition | Oreca 07 – Gibson | Mark Kvamme/Jan Magnussen/Anders Fjordbach | 104 |
50 | 39 | LMP2 Pro/Am | Graff Racing | Oreca 07 – Gibson | Roberto Lacorte/Giedo van der Garde/Patrick Pilet | 103 |
51 | 7 | Hypercar (H) | Toyota Gazoo Racing | Toyota GR010 | Mike Conway/Kamui Kobayashi/Jose Maria Lopez | 103 |
52 | 66 | LMGTE Am | JMW Motorsport | Ferrari 488 GTE Evo | Thomas Neubauer/Louis Prette/Giacomo Petrobelli | 89 |
53 | 923 | LMP2 Pro/Am | Racing Team Turkey | Oreca 07 – Gibson | Salih Yoluc/Tom Gamble/Dries Vanthoor | 87 |
54 | 75 | Hypercar (H) | Porsche Penske Motorsport | Porsche 963 | Felipe Nasr/Mathieu Jaminet/Nicholas Tandy | 84 |
55 | 72 | LMGTE Am | TF Sport | Aston Martin Vantage AMR | Arnold Robin/Maxime Robin/Valentin Hasse-Clot | 58 |
56 | 83 | LMGTE Am | Richard Mille AF Corse | Ferrari 488 GTE Evo | Luis Perez Companc/Alessio Rovera/Lilou Wadoux | 33 |
57 | 16 | LMGTE Am | Proton Competition | Porsche 911 RSR-19 | Ryan Hardwick/Zacharie Robichon/Jan Heylen | 28 |
58 | 60 | LMGTE Am | Iron Lynx | Porsche 911 RSR-19 | Claudio Schiavoni/Matteo Cressoni/Alessio Picariello | 28 |
59 | 55 | LMGTE Am | GMB Motorsport | Aston Martin Vantage AMR | Gustav Dahlmann Birch/Marco Sorensen/Jens Reno Moller | 21 |
60 | 21 | LMGTE Am | AF Corse | Ferrari 488 GTE Evo | Simon Mann/Julien Piguet/Ulysse de Pauw | 21 |
61 | 13 | LMP2 Pro/Am | Tower Motorsports | Oreca 07 – Gibson | Steven Thomas/Ricky Taylor/Rene Rast | 19 |
62 | 14 | LMP2 Pro/Am | Nielsen Racing | Oreca 07 – Gibson | Rodrigo Sales/Mathias Beche/Ben Hanley | 18 |
2023 Le Mans 24 Hours report
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World Endurance Championship
- Toyota survives chaotic start for one-two win at home
- Kobayashi leads all-Toyota front row in Fuji qualifying
- Ferrari to celebrate 2023 Le Mans win with Italian GP livery tweak
- Ferrari say they were “put at a disadvantage to their rivals” at Monza Six Hours
- Toyota returns to winning ways by beating Ferrari in Monza Six Hours
Asd
10th June 2023, 23:49
Wow, the Peugeot is leading and suddenly it’s a lap ahead of the four cars following it.
If I only understood how the pitstop exit blocking works… Confusing as hell. It seems to me that a pitstop under a full course yellow costs you a full lap… Correct??
PeterG
11th June 2023, 1:20
Under a SC the pit exit is closed until the closest of the 3 SC’s & pack behind it passes the pit exit.
This is done for safety so you don’t have cars driving fast to try and catch the pack.
They have also altered the SC procedures for this year to be more in line with what you see in the US with wave arounds to try and keep more cars on the lead lap and in the flight.
However it’s just resulting in unnecessarily long sc periods as the 3 safety car packs have to merge, Then the wave around happens and then they drop the slower classes to the back of the pack.
Was apparently a process change that was done purely for the show to try and keep more cars on the lead lap and in the lead fight.
Maybe it’s done that but the unintended consequence of absurdly long caution periods and confusion over getting everyone in the right pack and order has been a complete farce.
MichaelN
11th June 2023, 0:06
Coming up on 3 hours of safety car running in a 9 hour race.
It’ll be interesting to see how the Cadillac does in the night; they’ve had great pace so far, but perhaps not always at the right moments.
MarkWebber (@markwebber)
11th June 2023, 0:12
The 24 hours of Safety Car
Antz (@antznz)
11th June 2023, 1:28
Man I’m enjoying the race! Checking in as i have time but every time theres a lead change. Great to see as many manufacturers as there are in hypercar and all being competitive! I was expecting a Valkyrie though?? Next year?
The Nascar ain’t doing too bad! And good to see kiwis well represented!!
RandomMallard
11th June 2023, 8:37
@antznz My understanding is while Aston Martin were heavily involved in early discussions surrounding the Hypercar class with regards to creating the ruleset entering a Valkyrie, they scrapped the project after the Stroll buyout/investment in 2020 to instead focus on F1. So unfortunately I wouldn’t expect a Valkyrie any time soon. Alpine, BMW and Lamborghini, as well as a couple of smaller Italian manufacturers, do plan on bringing cars next year though.
Jonathan Parkin
11th June 2023, 5:07
This re ordering process is why I don’t like it in F1. I watched the 2008 Monaco GP recently which had such a long SC period because there was a long reorder
This was I’m sure why Kimi ran into the back of the Force India and why the race was ultimately time limited at 2 hours
Jere (@jerejj)
11th June 2023, 6:26
So you mean he rear-ended Sutil because of tyres & or brakes getting cold from a lengthy SC period?
Jere (@jerejj)
11th June 2023, 6:26
I watched the race at parts from some teams’ onboard footage on YT, mainly Toyotas, but unfortunately, the unnecessarily lengthy & repetitive SC neutralizations are ruining enjoyment for everyone.
I, like all others, just wanted to see some LM24h racing instead of a high-speed parade.
Jere (@jerejj)
11th June 2023, 6:27
Rather I’ve watched & will do more today.
William Coles
11th June 2023, 8:10
I’ve sat down and watched for probably two hours total and there has been about 20 minutes of actual racing in this time. Endless cautions, pointless full course yellows and safety car periods that last for hours. They have killed the spectical. My brother is there and he said that it has ruined it too. The coverage has also been awful. Watching the pit crews sleeping and washing their goggles is not what people tune in for…