LMP
The sixth hour began with the race under the restriction of a major slow zone along the Mulsanne following the incident between Matthieu Vaxiviere in the #28 TDS Racing Oreca and Pierre Kaffer in the #82 Risi Competizione Ferrari, and while this was in force, opportunity was taken to introduce a second slow zone through the Dunlop Chicane, where a succession of lesser incidents had covered the track in gravel, and through the Esses to Tertre Rouge. Marshals were sweeping this clear, while others were making good the barriers alongside the first Mulsanne chicane.
The rest of the track was green to go, so racing went on largely as normal, although a number of trams in P1 and P2 took this as an opportunity to bring foreword scheduled pitstops. The Porsche #1 was one such, and so to the #8 and #9 Toyotas.
Despite the slow zone being in force, the race was not without further incident, and left rear damage to the #29 Racing Team Nederland Dallara appeared to correspond neatly with similar damage to the right-front of the #61 Clearwater Racing Ferrari – enough that the incident would come under investigation by the stewards.
Just after the half-past eight the first of the two yellow zones was lifted, allowing racing to extend through Dunlop and on towards the Esses. The barriers at the Forza Chicane were taking a little longer to restore, and that zone would remain in force for some while longer, extending from Tertre Rouge almost to the second Mulsanne chicane. The Risi Ferrari had been towed away from the danger zone, and Pierre Kaffer was seen to be assessing the state of the car, presumably with a view to bringing it back to the pitlane, but the extent of damage appeared far too extensive, and it became another retirement, albeit unofficial at this stage.
Just after half-eight the #31 Rebellion was trundling down the pitlane for a routine fuel, tyre and driver change, Bruno Senna taking over from Julien Canal. A little further up the track Nakajima had closed to within five seconds of the second-placed Porsche #1, Lotterer held up by traffic and losing two second to the Japanese driver on one lap.
Next to pit in LMP2 was Heinemeier Hansson pits from the lead of LMP2 in the #13. Taking on fuel and tyres, he handed over to Nelson Piquet Jr, the Rebellions continuing to have their turn and turn-about routine at class-leading the race. With Nelson taking over we had the tantalising image of Senna leading Piquet, with Prost awaiting his next stint in the #31.
Ho-Pin Tung brought the #38 Manor into the pits just before the track returned to full racing conditions, the yellow zones withdrawn just five minutes before the hour’s end … and the sight of the #37 Jackie Chan Racing spinning off-line through the final element of the Porsche Curves. The car slithered backwards and came to a halt with the rear wheels just buried in the gravel. It wasn’t entirely clear at the time, but the incident appeared to have been the result of contact with the Eurasia Motorsport #33. The marshals eventually hauled the car clear, but not before we ended the hour with yet another slow zone enforcement, and a pitstop and driver change to Tor Graves for Nicolas Hirschi from 4th in LMP2.
At the end of the sixth hour, the standings in P1 and P2 were
LMP1
1. #7 Toyota TS050 – 97 laps. Best of 3:18.694
2. #1 Porsche 919-Hybrid – 24 seconds
3. #8 Toyota TS050 – 2 seconds
4. #9 Toyota TS050 – 3:10 minutes
5. #2 Porsche 919-Hybrid – 17 laps
LMP2
1. #31 Vaillante Rebellion Oreca – 92 laps
2. #13 Vaillante Rebellion Oreca
3. #38 Jackie Chan Racing
3. #35 Signatech Alpine
4. #25 CEFC Manor TRS Racing
5. #24 CEFC Manor TRS Racing
GTE
Risi’s elimination from the race at the end of hour five took the GTE Pro contingent down to 12 runners, still lead by the #97 Aston, still in the hands of Jonny Adam, with Derani’s Ford second and Marcel Fassler having moved into third in the #64 Corvette following the fluid leak for the #51 Ferrari.
In GTE Am, Lauda in the #98 Aston opened the hour with roughly a minute in hand over the #84 JMW Ferrari, now being driven by Rob Smith. Euan Hankey had taken over the cockpit of the third-in-class TF Sport Aston from Salih Yoluc, meanwhile. Further back in the class, the #61 Clearwater Ferrari (above) picked up a puncture with Keita Sawa at the wheel.
As the pit stops cycled, the #66 Ford once again rose to third in GTE Pro, with Mucke at the wheel, leaving the top six in each class looking like this:
GTE Pro
1 #97 Aston
2 #67 Ford
3 #66 Ford
4 #51 Ferrari
5 #64 Corvette
6 #63 Corvette
GTE Am
1 #98 AMR Aston
2 #84 JMW Ferrari
3 #90 TF Sport Aston
4 #62 WeatherTech Ferrari
5 #77 Proton Porsche
6 #55 SoR Ferrari
