Halfway through the 28th annual Motul Petit Le Mans at Michelin Raceway Road Atlanta, and it’s the #6 Porsche Penske Motorsport 963 which leads the race with five hours to go.
Matt Campbell started the race in the GTP Championship-leading #6 Porsche and brought the car in for a pit stop at the two-hour, 50-minute mark – just as a full-course caution came out for an incident at turn five. Campbell handed the car over to co-driver Mathieu Jaminet, who took the lead and has since held onto it.
Behind him, Earl Bamber in the #31 Cadillac Whelen V-Series.R has fought his way up to second, past the #24 Team RLL BMW M Hybrid V8 of Philipp Eng (now third) and the #60 Acura Meyer Shank Racing ARX-06 of Colin Braun (now fourth).
A slow right rear puncture on the #31 Cadillac undid some of the great work by starting driver Jack Aitken, who took the lead from the #60 Acura of Tom Blomqvist with a clever pass up the inside of turn one. Bamber, meanwhile, has been reeling in race leader Jaminet as the race hit the halfway mark.
Gear selection problems for the #93 Acura have it off the lead lap in 12th, but all GTP cars are still in the race at halfway.
In LMP2, all the Bronze drivers have now completed their compulsory two and a half hours behind the wheel, and right now the #22 United Autosports USA ORECA 07-Gibson leads, currently in the hands of Silver driver Rasmus Lindh.
Lindh leads his counterpart Hunter McElrea in the #11 TDS Racing ORECA – but it’s AO Racing whose LMP2 title hopes took a significant blow with six hours and 30 minutes left.
While running third, Jonny Edgar in the #99 AO Racing ORECA was hit by the #88 AF Corse car of Nicklas Nielsen.
AO Racing’s “Spike” suffered a right-rear puncture and lost a lap after an unscheduled stop and repairs.
Nielsen received a drive-through penalty for avoidable contact.
The #99 is now running in ninth with Dane Cameron behind the wheel, no longer in position to take the title as they run, but still with plenty of race left.
In third is the #52 PR1 Mathiasen Motorsports car, currently being driven by Logan Sargeant, while the #88 AF Corse ORECA has recovered to fourth place for the moment.
The #52 ORECA had a spill through an advertising signboard after what appeared to be a tap from behind by the #99 AO Racing car at turn 12, but any supposed incident was not investigated.
The #43 Inter Europol Competition ORECA spun from the lead during Jeremy Clarke’s stint after contact with the #11 TDS ORECA, and is now trying to recover from a recent penalty for insufficient tyre pressures (“failure to adhere to tyre operational requirements”).
There were other incidents to note in recent hours: With seven hours and 10 minutes left to run of Petit Le Mans, AJ Muss in the #021 Triarsi Competizione Ferrari spun at turn five.
Several cars avoided him successfully, but Sebastian Alvarez in the #8 Tower Motorsport ORECA LMP2 broadsided the Ferrari, taking both cars out of the race – and leading to the fifth and most recent caution. The race has been green ever since.
The #2 United Autosports USA car is also trying to recover after Juan Manuel Correa ran wide on his first lap out of the pits and hit the tyre barrier at turn seven.
Over in GTD PRO, Connor De Phillippi drove the #48 Paul Miller Racing BMW M4 GT3 EVO to the lead with six hours and 45 minutes left; Max Hesse is now behind the wheel and maintaining a healthy three-second advantage.
The #14 Vasser Sullivan Racing Lexus RC F GT3 (Aaron Telitz) is now second, with the #3 Corvette Racing by Pratt Miller Motorsports Z06 GT3.R (Alexander Sims) running third, one place ahead of the #81 DragonSpeed Ferrari 296 GT3 (Giacomo Altoè) in fourth.
A slow pit stop for the #81 DragonSpeed Ferrari dropped it behind the #3 Corvette, not where the Ferrari needs to be to secure the GTD PRO title.
Alessandro Pier Guidi put in a terrific stint behind the wheel of the #21 AF Corse Ferrari and has put the car in a commanding GTD class lead, now with Simon Mann behind the wheel.
The sole surviving #023 Triarsi Competizione Ferrari (Onofrio Triarsi) is still running second, followed by the #12 Vasser Sullivan Lexus (Jack Hawksworth), and the #27 Heart of Racing Team Aston Martin Vantage GT3 Evo (Tom Gamble).
The #80 Lone Star Racing Mercedes-AMG is officially retired from Petit Le Mans after losing its left rear wheel as it came around turn one – a frustrating repeat of the way Lin Hodenius’ IMSA debut unravelled at Indianapolis.
Conquest Racing provided an update on driver Manny Franco after the first-lap incident which sent him to a nearby hospital: “Manny Franco is doing well and remains in good spirits following this morning’s incident. He is currently at a local hospital for precautionary exams. We wish to thank everyone for their kind messages and support.”
Feature image © Jack Webster / dailysportscar.com
