At the beginning of the seventh hour of racing, the #7 Toyota GR010 driven by Jose Maria Lopez led the race, some 2min 42s ahead of the #8 with Brendon Hartley at the wheel. The #36 Alpine ELF Matmut A480 Gibson driven by Mathieu Vaxiviere was third yet the gap with the leading Toyota increased beyond a lap. The #708 Glickenhaus 007 LMH was up to fourth place, two laps behind the leading Toyota
In the same lap as the #708, one could find four LMP2s in less than 10 seconds with the #41 Team WRT driven by Louis Deletraz leading Julien Canal in the #65 Panis Racing and the #31 Team WRT driven by Ferdinand Habsburg.
“Everything is working well,” said Vincent Vosse. “It’s a tough race with several incidents and several contacts amongst cars. We must go on like this. We keep an eye on the weather forecast. You know, we don’t have much experience here. It’s not easy”. The #22 United Autosport Oreca 07 Gibson driven by Fabio Scherer was fourth in class, the Swiss unfortunately lost the class lead after a spin.
Eight hours into the race, drama hit the track again as the #36 Alpine Elf Matmut Alpine A480 driven by Mathieu Vaxivière locked its rear wheels and went off in the first Mulsanne straight chicane gravel trap. Vaxivière lost some precious time and dropped out of the top five overall. This meant the #708 Glickenhaus Racing 007 LMH driven by Pipo Derani took the ‘best of the rest’ moniker, inheriting third place, though some two laps behind the fastest Toyota.
“We have to take risks” said Vaxivière “Conditions were tricky in that area. I overtook two GTs on a wet piece of track and then lost the car on my own. It’s entirely my fault. Luckily enough, I did not damage our Alpine. The race is not over”.
Meanwhile, in LMP2, the battle carried on. Team WRT locked the top two positions in the class with the #31 leading the #41. Behind the two Belgian Orecas, the #22 United Autosport driven by Fabio Scherer and Will Stevens in the #65 Panis Racing Oreca 07 kept on fighting for third position.
There was then drama at the top of the ninth hour, when the #25 G-Drive Aurus Gibson driven by Rui Andrade hit the tyre wall hard on the run up to the Dunlop Bridge. This triggered a fourth Safety Car period, the car an on-the-spot retirement.
The #8 Toyota GR010-Hybrid driven by Kazuki Nakajima returned to first position while the sister car – the #7 – undertook a driver change. The #708 Glickenhaus 007 LMH slipped to fifth position as the American car undertook a routine pit stop and was overtaken by the two Team WRT Oreca 07 Gibson. The #36 Alpine Elf Matmut A480 Gibson reached six position, ahead of the fight between the #22 United Autosport Oreca 07 Gibson driven by Filipe Albuquerque and Will Stevens in the #65 Panis Racing Oreca 07 Gibson.
AF Corse vs Corvette rages on in GTE Pro
The unpredictability of this race showed no signs of abating in the GTE classes. AF Corse still strong, Alessandro Pier Guidi’s #51 car leading from Antonio Garcia, double stinting the #63 Corvette, from Daniel Serra’s #52 Ferrari third.
Corvette Racing took its first share of misfortune as Tommy Milner in the #64 car reported the issue that dropped it from the top three: “For some reason I had an impatient driver – or someone who wasn’t paying attention – behind me and gave me a good whack. It doesn’t seem like it has done major damage but there is some there. That’s unfortunate.”
The C8.R lost a chunk of time having its rear splitter replaced, Alex Sims returning at the back of the Pro field but still in touch with the race. That was in addition to a penalty served for a safety car infringement. The #63 car was now the better of the Corvette pair, fourth place still strong but with such a long way to go.
AF Corse had looked strong in earlier 1-2 formation, the #51 Ferrari at the front. The #91 Porsche was back in contention, honing in on the #52 Ferrari for second, Bruni and Makowiecki pushing hard. The #92 Porsche was also back in the mix, Kevin Estre posting consistently solid laps to hold station in a net fourth at the midnight hour, the Corvette due a stop. With Ferrari and Porsche on roughly the same pit strategies, an element of stability seemed to finally be emerging.
Laurens Vanthoor and Maxime Martin had been pressing on to haul the #79 WeatherTech Racing Porsche back in touch with the leading group.
Meanwhile, in GTE Am, after its earlier puncture and rear splitter replacement, at the hour mark Felipe Fraga has retaken the lead in the #33 TF Sport Aston Martin Vantage. Helped by a succession of Safety Car periods, the fight back has nevertheless been spirited, though a routine stop is due.
AF Corse had the lead of both GTE classes as the race entered Sunday. Alessio Rovera had been turning consistent times in between the multitude of incidents requiring course cautions. Many of these had featured GTE-Am runners.
Callum Ilott had pushed hard in the #80 Iron Lynx Ferrari, running in second until the car had contact, the car now running third, a minute and a half adrift from the class lead, with the #54 AF Corse car on the hunt in fourth.
Incidents aplenty in the extensive GTE-Am field, notably the accident for the Cetilar Racing Ferrari, which had looked strong towards the front of the Am field before finding the tyre wall at Tertre Rouge. Contact with the Hub Auto Racing GTE-Pro tail-ender while being lapped has left the Cetilar damaged and stranded out on track. Maxime Martin had the racing line; Roberto Lacorte didn’t see the Porsche and turned in.
Further back, Le Mans GTE stalwart Duncan Cameron found the tyre wall at Indianapolis, the Spirit of Race Ferrari craned out of danger. The #55 car rejoined with Matt Griffin at the wheel but soon pulled up with mechanical issues.
The #85 Iron Dames Ferrari has stopped out on track, the car having found pace after a recent puncture.
JMW’s #66 Ferrari had been climbing through the order before Andrew Watson made contact with the Racing Team Nederland Oreca, which put both cars in the gravel. The #66 car was limping back to its pit with a puncture, dragging an undertray and assorted bodywork.
The #99 Proton Competition Porsche pit crew have called time on their suspension work: shutters down, game over…
