LMP
Five hours into the race, and LMP1 was still looking fairly settled … although more on that to follow. In LMP2 the state of flux persisted, with the top five in LMP2 sharing a lap, but clear of the chasing group. The lead however had changed, with Canal having swapped his front-running #31 Rebellion with Heinemeier Hansson’s #13 just before the class began its next round of scheduled stops. Julien Canal was among the first of these, exiting the pits just ahead of Jonathan Hirschi’s Manor Oreca #24, the two tussling gamefully before the #24 car pitted. Further back, Matthieu Vaxiviere had put his #28 TDS Oreca 07 back in touch with the field after its earlier excursion.
In LMP1, Lopez’s times were coming fast and consistently as the #9 Toyota started to press on. Likewise, Anthony Davidson had started to bring down the gap to Nick Tandy’s #1 Porsche, which was making no impression on Kobayashi’s lead, then standing at a generous 45 seconds.
Just after the half-hour, Brendan Hartley was at last handed a repaired 919 Hybrid, the Porsche making a stuttery return to the tarmac after 65 minutes of repairs.
A couple of minutes or so later, and Romas Dumas was wheeled back into the garage aboard the #36 Alpine and the car swiftly dropped down the order. Jonathan Hirschi, meanwhile, was making an aggressive pass for third, out-braking Ho Pin Tung’s #38 Jackie Chan car into the Dunlop chicane.
We were twenty minutes before the hour when Toyota started their next cycle of pitstops, and this allowed Nick Tandy to take the lead at Le Mans for Porsche for the first time in this 24 Hours, but it was a brief moment of glory (albeit one recorded for posterity) because he was heading down the pitlane for fuel himself next tour round.
The #9 Toyota was noted to be circulating with the right-hand door just ajar and would presumably therefore need a further pit call to address this.
Elsewhere on track, The #47 Villorba Corse Dallara was getting out of shape at the Dunlop chicane, ending up on the right hand kerb and causing a slow zone from the pit straight through to the Dunlop Bridge. prompting the majority of the field to pit slightly early. The incident was subsequently the subject of investigation by the race stewards, as there was potential contact from the #24 Manor. TV replays showed the red Oreca in very close proximity to the rear of the Dallara.
At quarter-to Pierre Ragues in the #35 Alpine raised a few eyebrows as he tried to overtake David Cheng’s #38 JCDC Oreca at the pit lane entry. This was so nearly a serious incident; the two cars clearly not able to squeeze through the narrow pit entrance under hard braking at the same time.
Five minutes before the hour and #9 Toyota pitted for fuel, tyres and a change of driver; Yuji Kunimoto making sure the door was shut firmly after the drivers exchanged seats. Sarrazin now led by 42 seconds from Lotterer’s Porsche, who had Kaz Nakajima pegged at 22 seconds behind him. Kunimoto’s #9 Toyota was still fourth, but had dropped a chunk of time.
The hour closed with high drama, and some controversy as the charging Matthieu Vaxiviere in the #28 TDS Racing Oreca leaves his braking far too late for the first Mulsanne chicane, unsettling the car’s front end as he cut back across the front of the #82 Risi Ferrari. The Oreca swiped the Ferrari across the nose, pitching the unfortunate Pierre Kaffer hard into the Armco on the opposite side. Pieces of bodywork were flung tens of metres into the air and the barrier flexed visibly as the Ferrari piled into it like a battering ram, then continued spinning wildly down the run-off. The shards of flying carbon fibre settled more quickly than the tyre-smoke, and it was with some relief that Kaffer was seen clambering from the car, apparently unharmed. He walked away from the accident, glancing back at the stricken GT contender. The Oreca, meanwhile, continued seemingly unscathed.
The move was broadly seen as poor driving and completely unnecessary. A lengthy slow zone restriction was imposed while the barrier was repaired … and we moved into Hour 6.
At the end of the fifth hour, the standings in P1 and P2 were
LMP1
1. #7 Toyota TS050 – 84 laps. Best of 3:18.694
2. #1 Porsche 919-Hybrid – 42 seconds
3. #8 Toyota TS050 – 23 seconds
4. #9 Toyota TS050 – 3:26 minutes
5. #2 Porsche 919-Hybrid – 17 laps
LMP2
1. #13 Vaillante Rebellion Oreca – 79 laps
2. #31 Vaillante Rebellion Oreca
3. #37 Jackie Chan Racing
4. #35 Signatech Alpine
5. #24 CEFC Manor TRS Racing
GTE
The majority of hour five was uneventful for the GT runners, but there was a scary moment right at the beginning at Dunlop chicane as Jordan Taylor’s #63 Corvette and Dirk Werner’s #92 Porsche kissed tyres going up the hill. Werner’s car was unsettled and he completed a 360-degree pirouette, but managed to recover and keep going. The pair ran 11th and 12th respectively in GTE Pro as the hour passed the halfway mark.
Up front, Jonny Adam was now aboard the leading Aston and keeping Pipo Derani at bay in the chasing #67 Ford. Alessandro Pier Guidi was third, having got back aboard the #51 following a stint for James Calado. Lucas di Grassi’s stand-in Michele Rugolo has yet to drive the #51 in the race.
Behind Billy Johnson in the #66 Ford, Pier Guidi and Fassler duked it out fifth in class, meanwhile Molina got aboard the #71 Ferrari for the first time. Pier Guidi’s battle in the #51 then hit trouble as he car was reported to be losing fluid.
Disaster then struck for the #82 Risi Ferrari with Kaffer at the wheel when an LMP2 runner jinked in the braking zone and moved over on him approaching the first chicane, pitching the 488 nose-first into the barriers and ending the US team’s race on the spot.
As a slow zone came into force in the affected area, the order in the classes was as follows, with five hours on the board:
GTE Pro
1 #97 Aston
2 #67 Ford
3 #66 Ford
4 #64 Corvette
5 #51 Ferrari
6 #71 Ferrari
GTE Am
1 #98 AMR Aston
2 #84 JMW Ferrari
3 #90 TF Sport Aston
4 #55 SoR Ferrari
5 #61 Clearwater Ferrari
6 #62 WeatherTech Ferrari
