Ferrari continues to run 1-2-3 at Le Mans with five hours to go in the 93rd edition.
The gaps have grown between the leading #51 factory Ferrari 499P, the privately entered yellow #83 and the #50 factory car. All three cars have changed drivers this hour: Alessandro Pier Guidi leads, from Ye Yifei and Miguel Molina.
The positions behind them remain the same: Best of the rest is the #6 Porsche Penske Motorsport 963 of Kevin Estre in fourth, followed by the #8 Toyota GR010 Hybrid of Brendon Hartley, the #12 Cadillac Hertz Team JOTA V-Series.R of Alex Lynn, and the #15 Team WRT BMW M Hybrid V8 of Raffaele Marciello.
Tom Gamble in the #007 Aston Martin THOR Team Valkyrie had a very, very close call with the guardrail along the Mulsanne Straight as he tried to pass GT and LMP2 traffic. He grazed the grass to his right but avoided a major catastrophe.
It’s a good opportunity to mention that both Valkyries, while not featuring at the front, are trending towards finishing the race in their first attempt with minimal issues.
Besides that and a brief Full Course Yellow for debris – the second in as many hours – all is as it was before in what is trending to be a Le Mans 24 Hours defined by overwhelmingly professional dominance, but also limited drama.
That includes the lower categories to some degree. The #92 Manthey 1st Phorm Porsche 911 LMGT3 R still maintains its steady, commanding rhythm.
Richard Lietz has given way to Riccardo Pera and still leads the race, firmly ahead of the #21 Vista AF Corse Ferrari 296 with Alessio Rovera. Mattia Drudi in the #27 Heart of Racing Aston Martin Vantage continues in third, ahead of the #81 TF Sport Chevrolet Corvette and the two Akkodis ASP Team Lexus.
LMP2 could break the trend though: The #43 Inter Europol Competition ORECA 07-Gibson still leads with Nick Yelloly now aboard, but Esteban Masson has cut the gap down to within striking distance in the #48 VDS Panis Racing ORECA, less than five seconds.
It may come down to a race of ‘who blinks first’ if either of them does.
The #28 IDEC Sport ORECA and #9 Iron Lynx-Proton ORECA remain entrenched in third and fourth, while the Pro/Am leading #199 AO by TF is under no threat for Pro/Am honours, and is fifth of all P2s.
