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LM24 Hour 5: Sun Sets Over Sarthe

Le Mans local Bourdais leads overall in #38 JOTA Cadillac, Duqueine and Akkodis ASP run up front in LMP2 and LMGT3, 13 Autosport first to retire...

Lin Hodenius brought the #79 Iron Lynx Mercedes-AMG into the garage to repair the front left brake calliper on lap 71, the Mercedes later returned to the track two laps down with Hodenius remaining in the car.

The 13 Autosports crew’s issue was damage to the torque sensor transponder after contact with a Mercedes, presumably related to the Iron Lynx issue. They would later come into the pits and retire for good, out of the race officially on lap 83 as the first retirement from the 24 Hours of Le Mans.

More bad news for the nation of Canada came when Toronto native John Farano had a hard 30 minutes, resulting in two yellow flags 15 minutes apart, the second of which occurred in the Ford Chicane during a high-speed spin.

LM24 Hour

Zacharie Robichon chased down José María López ferociously in the #27 Heart of Racing Aston Martin for the lead of LMGT3, trying to become the first Canadian in over 100 years to take a class victory since John Duff in 1924. Unfortunately, the Aston Martin was soon in need of energy, pitting on lap 67 and dropping down to eighth position.

The #8 Toyota pitted from the lead with Ryō Hirakawa in the car, taking over from Hartley on lap 70, keeping the Mediums strapped on the red Toyota for a third stint. He would take the lead when the #20 BMW came in on lap 79, with Robin Frijns taking over from Sheldon van der Linde after his six-stint marathon.

Jack Aitken continued to fly around La Sarthe, passing the #20 for the lead once again in the Ford Chicane, but would pit a few laps later on lap 75, handing the seat over to hometown hero Sébastien Bourdais, leaving the pits fifth and soon running in the leading position by the end of the hour. Frijns ran 12 seconds behind Bourdais in second, with Hirakawa reemerging from the pits in third after pitting on lap 82.

In LMP2, Doriane Pin brought the #30 Duqueine ORECA back in on lap 67, returning to the track in third position before retaking the lead ahead of the #29 Forestier Racing by Panis in second and the #37 CLX Motorsports in third, both of which pit one lap earlier than the #30 car.

LMGT3 was led by the #87 Akkodis ASP Team Lexus with the #27 Aston Martin surging up in time to finish the fifth hour in second position, followed by Hadrien David in the #78 ASP Lexus in third.

Images © dailysportscar.com