This year’s LM24 has received its first major reset, with the Safety Cars deployed following an off for the #54 Vista AF Corse Ferrari 296 LMGT3 Evo of Francesco Castellacci in the eighth hour.
The Italian made contact with the #88 Proton Competition Ford of Giammarco Levorato on the approach to the Esses with 16 hours and 22 minutes remaining, damaging his left rear wheel and ending up beached in the gravel.
The #8 Toyota Racing TR010 Hybrid of Sebastien Buemi currently leads as the race crosses into Sunday, with the Safety Cars called upon less than two laps after Earl Bamber pitted the #38 Cadillac Hertz Team JOTA V-Series.R from the head of the field.
René Rast is second aboard the #20 BMW, with the #12 Cadillac in third, whilst the #38 Cadillac has fallen to fourth after electing to join the other front runners in pitting under Safety Car conditions, instead of cycling back to the front.
Before the interruption, the Cadillac’s had been showing strong pace after being the first contenders to switch to Soft tyres, with Bamber setting a new fastest lap of the race.
14 cars remain on the lead lap, with the #009 Aston Martin and #94 Peugeot one lap down, and #93 Peugeot a further lap behind. The #15 BMW is now four laps back, with Team WRT electing to pit the car for further checks after its puncture.
In LMP2, Julien Andlauer still leads aboard the #30 Duqueine Team ORECA, despite running through the gravel at Mulsanne shortly before the Safety Cars were deployed.
Only five cars remain on the lead lap, with Duqueine joined by the pair of Inter Europol Competitions entries, as well as Vector Sport and the #9 Proton Competition ORECA.
Notably, both the #37 CLX Motorsport and #29 Forestier Racing by Panis ORECAs are currently one lap down.
In LMP2 Pro/Am, the #14 TDS Racing ORECA now leads, with the safety car eliminating the advantage held by the #99 AO by TF entry. The Anglo-American alliance has elected to insert PJ Hyett during the Safety Car, with the American currently at a drive time deficit to many of his Bronze-rated compatriots.
And in LMGT3, the pole-sitting #27 Heart of Racing Aston Martin has cycled back to the front, with Mattia Drudi currently behind the wheel. The leading Lexus’, like the #38 Cadillac, lost track position after pitting shortly before the incident, with Akkodis ASP Team also electing to pit again under Safety Car instead of cycling back to the front.
17 LMGT3 cars remain on the lead lap, with the 6 hours of Spa-winning #10 Garage 59 McLaren the most notable car to have fallen one lap behind.
The #91 Manthey DK Engineering survived a scare under the Safety Car, with Timur Boguslavskiy picking up a left-rear puncture. Thankfully for the German outfit, it has remained on the lead lap, meaning the potential loss has been kept to a minimum.
At the end of the hour, the race was still under the intervention phase of the Safety Car process, meaning a restart is not imminent.
