Four different Hypercar manufacturers – first Ferrari, then Toyota, then Cadillac, and then Porsche – have taken turns leading overall in the 2023 24 Hours of Le Mans after three hours – just what many had hoped for in anticipation of this much-hyped event.
But there were a couple more incidents to report, and also, the rain has arrived with a vengeance, making it a brutal trek through the Porsche Curves on slicks!
Just in the last few minutes, the #3 Cadillac Racing V-Series.R of Scott Dixon and the #709 Glickenhaus Racing SCG 007 of Esteban Gutierrez have spun in the torrential rain, the #31 Team WRT Oreca-07 Gibson of Ferdinand Habsburg aquaplaned out of control and into the Porsche Curves exit road, and the #35 Alpine Elf Team Oreca of Julien Canal spun exiting Arnage Corner.
Even Jan Magnussen with all his Le Mans experience couldn’t keep the #32 Inter Europol Competition Oreca out of trouble when the heavens opened, that car is now back in the garage.
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Antonio Fuoco is now aboard the #50 Ferrari AF Corse 499P and leads the race by just under ten seconds. He unleashed his speed and bravery by passing Laurens Vanthoor down Les Hunaudieres and dipping his right-side wheels into the brutally rough shoulder to do it!
Fuoco was also able to keep his composure in the wet and now runs ahead of the sister #51 Ferrari of Antonio Giovinazzi – two Ferrari Driver Academy alumni, heading a Ferrari 1-2.
And now, enter Peugeot. The #94 Peugeot TotalEnergies 9X8 has been singing in the rain with its all-wheel drive system, and Gustavo Menezes has been giving it his all behind the wheel to turn the tide of what has been best described as a “character-building” Le Mans debut for the flawed 9X8.
The #7 Toyota Gazoo Racing GR010 Hybrid of Mike Conway runs fourth. And keep an eye on the #38 Hertz Team JOTA Porsche 963, which had gone from 60th on the grid to as high as second overall in the hands of Antonio Felix da Costa – and now Yifei Ye has taken over and runs solidly in the Hypercar top five.
Julien Canal leads LMP2 aboard the #36 Alpine Elf Team Oreca by two seconds, with Gabriel Aubry running second aboard the #10 Vector Sport Oreca.
United Autosports’ #23 Oreca is third with young Josh Pierson driving it – but the #22 has had a major incident before the rain really came down.
Frederick Lubin lost control out of Tertre Rouge and into Antares, and when he spun, he slammed into the right side of an unsuspecting Mikkel Pedersen in the #77 Proton Competition Porsche 911 RSR-19.
So far, the Tower Motorsports #13 and Nielsen Racing #14 have retired after the crashes of Ricky Taylor and Rodrigo Sales, respectively. The United Autosports #22, Inter Europol Competition #32, and the DKR Engineering #43 have had extended stays in the garage.
Maxime Martin had an incident with the #708 Glickenhaus 007 of Ryan Briscoe, where Martin was hit approaching a slow zone – this necessitated suspension repairs aboard the Belgian-flagged #43, which had trouble getting started on the formation lap at the very start.
The lead in GTE-Am went into freefall as localised monsoon conditions in the Porsche Curves led the #86 GR Racing’s lead to an abrupt halt. The only car in the 3:52’s, GR’s advantage was building well, 47 seconds the advantage of his Porsche over the #85 Iron Dames Porsche of Rahel Frey.
On approach to the entry of the Porsche Curves, standing water claimed several victims, including Riccardo Pera in the GR Porsche, pirouetting several times before finding the barrier to driver’s right with the rear of the 911 RSR-19.
The car made it to the pits, leaving the field to pit for wets under a safety car and the #54 AF Corse Ferrari 488 GTE EVO driven by Davide Rigon at the top of the class. Iron Dames are placed second, Sarah Bovy now aboard, and third is currently held by P.J. Hyett, first time aboard the distinctive Dino-liveried #56 Porsche.
The hour saw plenty of drama. Claudio Schiavoni, having just taken over the top three #60 Iron Lynx Porsche, took too much kerb to drivers’ left on the run to Tertre Rouge. The yellow Porsche skewed across the track, collecting the #16 Wright Motorsport run Proton Porsche entry that was rising through the top ten, driven by Ryan Hardwick and in its own fight for position with another Proton Porsche. Both cars were retired with significant damage.
Indeed, Proton’s Porsches seem to have a target painted on their liveries. The next casualty was the #77 Dempsey Proton Racing car, on the receiving end of a skewing LMP2 prototype, again on the run to Tertre Rouge.
The #22 United Autosports LMP2 car was out of shape as it moved to pass the slower GTE car, pitching hard across the track to make heavy contact with Mikkel Pedersen, who limped the heavily damaged Porsche back towards the pits.
Jenson Button’s pace in the #24 Hendrick Motorsports Camaro ZL1 Innovative Car was carving the F1 Champion’s way up through the GTE-Am field, tackling wet conditions for the car for the first time this week. The constant stop/go nature of the race so far is in no way helping the car’s expected performance between the LMP2 and GTE pace. Currently 44th overall, the ZL1 is splitting the GTE-Am field.
