HERTZ Team JOTA has been forced to source and build up a replacement chassis for its #12 963 entry after Callum Ilott’s shunt at the end of Free Practice 2 last night.
The new chassis is believed to have come from the Porsche Penske effort, and was being prepped on when DSC visited the garage first thing this morning.
Ilott’s incident occurred on the right-hander before Tertre Rouge with under a minute to go in the session, the Briton losing control of the car and veering off nose-first into the barriers on driver’s right.
The impact was heavy, destroying the front-right corner of the car and damaging the tub beyond repair.
After a long night, JOTA’s mechanics will continue to work on prepping the car throughout the day. The expectation at this stage is that the #12 crew will be forced to skip the Hyperpole shootout as a result.
In this case, the Hypercar Hyperpole field will be reduced to seven cars and JOTA will start the race eighth.
The #12 snuck into Hyperpole as the eighth fastest car yesterday, after the #7 Toyota’s lap times set in Qualifying were all deleted for causing a red flag.
“After the accident late last night in Le Mans with Callum Ilott and the #12 Porsche 963 Hypercar, we have been carefully assessing the situation to understand our options for the remainder of the weekend,” Dieter Gass, Team Principal, Hertz Team JOTA said.
“Most importantly, Callum is unharmed and we’re very grateful for the speedy assistance of the race marshals and medical team. Unfortunately, the monocoque sustained damage so it needs to be replaced. This is now our number one priority and the team is working incredibly hard to get the car built up.
“In parallel, we are in constant communication with the ACO and the FIA to make sure that we fulfil all regulatory obligations before being able to communicate our next steps.”
