The #83 AF Corse Ferrari 499P is bearing down on victory with just one hour left in the 93rd 24 Hours of Le Mans.
Robert Kubica is fighting through physical distress and fully focused on the task at hand, maintaining a 55-second lead up front after pitting for fuel with just a little over 80 minutes to go.
Kevin Estre is second in the #6 Porsche Penske Motorsport 963. After jumping ahead of the #51 Ferrari 499P during pit stops he fought off the #50 of Antonio Fuoco to maintain his position, even after sacrificing time in the pits to take fresh left-side tyres.
After the last round of stops, Antonio Giovinazzi in the #51 got out ahead of Fuoco on track, though the two recently switched places along the Mulsanne Straight, putting Fuoco ahead. Crucially, Giovinazzi has three laps in hand over the other Hypercars in front of him.
Will Stevens in the #12 Cadillac Hertz Team JOTA V-Series.R remains fifth.
Further down the Hypercar field, the penultimate hour has been a time of horror for BMW M Team WRT. After its two LMGT3 entries retired from the race overnight, both BMW M Hybrid V8s went to the garage: First the #20 with an engine problem, then the #15 with an alternator issue.
Both cars returned to the track after significant repair work, but the #15 eventually went back into its garage.
LMP2 is somehow still too close to call with just over an hour to go: The #43 Inter Europol Competition ORECA 07-Gibson pitted just moments ago, and Nick Yelloly maintains a slim eight-second lead over Esteban Masson in the #48 VDS Panis Racing ORECA, who came in the lap before Yelloly.
In third place is the #9 Iron Lynx-Proton car, then in fourth is the #199 AO by TF ‘Spike’ car which also leads LMP2 Pro/Am.
The #92 Manthey 1st Phorm Porsche 911 LMGT3 R continues to cruise towards victory, leading the LMGT3 class by just under a minute from the #21 Vista AF Corse Ferrari 296 and the #81 TF Sport Chevrolet Corvette, which seemingly have second and third place locked in.
Just minutes before the hour, the #59 United Autosports McLaren LMGT3 broke down before the Porsche Curves with a suspected steering issue, bringing out a Full Course Yellow that will be released just after the final hour starts. Buckle up!
