At the top of the second hour, some normality returned in the Hypercar category with the two Toyota GR010 Hybrids leading the #36 Alpine Elf Matmut A480 Gibson, the #7 Toyota in first position ahead of the #8.
The #8 Toyota Gazoo Racing GR010 regained its position in spite of a chaotic first hour. Sébastien Buemi even snatched the fastest lap of the race with a 3’27.966 on lap 21.
Behind the #8, the #36 Alpine went for 12 lap stints – it is aligned with the game plan that managing director Philippe Sinault indicated prior to the start of the race. He shared his thoughts about Lapierre’s earlier incident: “The start of the race was really chaotic. It was a race for survival during the first hour. Nicolas has a good rhythm now. We were really lucky; he span at low speed without hitting other cars. Rain is really not something one wishes at Le Mans.”
The two Glickenhaus Racing 007 LMH lied further down in the ranks, with the #708 in 9th position overall and fourth in the Hypercar class, leading the #709. Richard Westbrook was replaced by Romain Dumas in the #709. Westbrook indicated that when the green flag was waved, he would have liked the safety car to stay out longer as he felt that driving conditions weren’t safe.
In LMP2, the #38 JOTA Oreca 07-Gibson led the #26 G-Drive Racing Oreca 07-Gibson, the #29 Racing Team Nederland Oreca 07-Gibson and the #65 Panis Racing Oreca 07-Gibson. Olivier Panis shed some lights on his car’s excellent pace: “We chose intermediate tyres like most leading LMP2 teams. (Will) Stevens did a great job. We are really happy with how the car is going but it’s a long way to the chequered flag.”
At the top of third hour and only 8 laps into his stint, Mike Conway in the #7 Toyota pitted earlier than expected for only a one tyre change. Buemi in the #8 Toyota took that opportunity to take the lead of the race, but soon hit the #39 SO24 Dirob by Graff Oreca 07-Gibson driven by Arnold Robin as he reached the Dunlop chicane. Neither cars suffered significant damages.
Moments later, rain began to fall on track again – and tricked a few drivers at the Dunlop chicane, like Anthony Davidson in the leading LMP2 car. Davidson was avoiding the #18 Absolute Racing Porsche of Andrew Haryanto which had an off-track excursion. As a consequence of the time loss for the #38 JOTA Oreca, the #26 G-Drive Racing Oreca now leads LMP2 after three hours.
Takuma Aoki in the innovative #84 Association SRT41 Oreca 07-Gibson also spun off at the exit of the Dunlop chicane. While both the #38 and #84 cars lost positions, they did not suffer significant damage.
Finally, as the third hour came to an end, the #7 Toyota Gazoo Racing GR010 Hybrid undertook a driver change with pole sitter Kamui Kobayashi replacing Mike Conway. Conway provided some insights on his first stint: “That was a hard start. It was quite difficult with a lot of cars sliding around and different grip levels on the track. I just tried to stay calm and manage what we have. I can’t really explain why we had two punctures on the rear left tyre, as I have consistently tried to stay off the kerbs.”
AF Corse wrestles GTE Pro lead from Corvette Racing; #33 TF Sport Aston Martin leads GTE Am
In GTE Pro it’s a 1-2 for AF Corse, the #52 Ferrari leading the #51. The pair were involved in a battle for the class lead at the start of the third hour, as Alessandro Pier Guidi snatched P1 off Daniel Serra at Mulsanne corner, before losing the lead later in the hour. Pier Guidi is now 21 seconds behind Serra.
Earlier in the race, Miguel Molina made the move for the lead on the #64 Corvette Racing C8.R of Tommy Milner to take the top spot after a thrilling tussle which saw them run door-to-door down to the first Mulsanne Chicane before Milner relinquished the place.
Best of the rest is the #79 WeatherTech Racing Porsche, which continues to lead the German marque’s challenge. After taking over from Laurens Vanthoor, Earl Bamber is just 22 seconds off the class lead, and 15 seconds clear of the #63 Corvette which is chasing hard with Jordan Taylor aboard.
Aston Martins led GTE Am after three hours of running. The #33 TF Sport Vantage of Dylan Pereira is on top with Marcos Gomes in the #98 Aston Martin Racing entry in second.
They are out of sync though, as the No. #83 AF Corse Ferrari is now fourth behind the Cetilar Ferrari because it has made an additional stop. It will take the lead early in the fourth hour when the Astons pit for a fourth time. Also of note, the #33 Aston Martin has to serve a 10-second penalty for a pit infringement at its next stop, so will lose further time.
Editors’ Note: The GTE Am portion of this report was submitted prior to Marcos Gomes’ accident to start the fourth hour of the race.
