LMP
As the light starts to return to Le Mans, the Toyotas maintain their lead, now with a seven lap lead over the quickest Rebellion.
The gaps between the Toyotas have been ebbing and flowing as the cars go through the traffic but the #7 Toyota TS050 with Kamui Kobayashi leading the #8 with Kazuki Nakajima by around 10 seconds.
The Rebellions have continued to be in and out of the garage but continue on. The #3 Gustavo Menezes Rebellion R13 leads the #1 Neel Jani Rebellion by two laps.
Ben Hanley continues to circulate in the #10 Dragonspeed BR1 ahead of the #5 Ginetta and #11 SMP Racing on track to be classified despite its earlier trouble.
In LMP2, it is Andrea Pizzitola in the #26 G-Drive ORECA still leading. The trio of runners battling for second is still on.
Will Stevens in the #23 Panis Barthez Competition Ligier is currently in second ahead of the #36 Signatech Alpine with André Negrão and the #48 Idec Sport Paul Lafargue. Though the latter is starting to lose touch with the Alpine and the LMP2 podium.
The #37 Jackie Chan DC Racing car with Ho-Pin Tung had to be pushed down pitlane after coming to stop before its pit bay. The car was refueled and went on its way.
For the #31 Dragonspeed with Nathanaël Berthon behind the wheel, brake issues saw the car slow on track before coming into the pits. The car was pushed back into the garage with brake dust staining the concrete on pit lane. The car has continued and runs in twelfth.
Despite all the other incidents, the first “official” retirements came with the #34 Jackie Chan DC Racing and the #40 G-Drive Racing both being officially retired.
Sam Tickell
GTE-Pro & GTE-Am
The routine nature of progress in GTE was finally disrupted by the narrowing gap between Jeff Segal in the #84 JMW Ferrari and Spencer Pumpelly in the #99 Proton Competition Porsche. The metallic green 911’s advantage had been diminishing steadily for some time, and it seemed only a matter of a couple more laps, perhaps less, before the to American drivers traded places. Instead, Pumpelly headed for the pitlane at the end of his car’s 200th lap.
That let Segal through to fourth in GTE-Am.
Meanwhile, the #63 Corvette was one of several Pro cars into the pits for fuel and tyres; the rear of the Corvette warranting a cursory examination before being waved on its journey, 7th in class.
In all of many years covering this race, I can’t recall a similar period of such length when so little of consequence happened. In many ways, that’s good, since it means that the cars are proving unerringly reliable, and the drivers are not making mistakes, but the great promise that GTE offered for entertainment and action has, during the hours of darkness, failed to materialise.
At half-past five it became apparent that the first glow of dawn was rising on the eastern horizon. It coincided with a marked narrowing of the gap between the #69 Ford GT, with Richard Westbrook at the wheel, and the #52 AF Corse Ferrari in the hands of Luis-Felipe Derani. The Italian had been closing in on the Ford for the best part of half an hour, and then sealed the deal with a clean pass that secured fifth place in Pro.
Over the course of the next twenty-five minutes, Derani increased his advantage. As the race neared the close of the fifteenth hour, the Ferrari stood three seconds clear. Behind Westbrook’s Ford, Magnussen was also making up ground in the #63 Corvette, and was lapping a second or two quicker than the Briton, with the result that the margin here had narrowed to about 20 seconds.
Six o’clock marked the end of the hour, and the arrival of daylight.
Marcus Potts
