Into hour 17 at Le Mans, the #8 Toyota Racing TR010 Hybrid now leads, with Brendon Hartley in the car, leading from the #20 WRT BMW close behind. The #12 JOTA Cadillac served a drive-through penalty for a slow zone infringement and cycled out third overall, just after it had pitted for energy, tyres, and a driver change.
After their pit cycle on laps 263 and 264, Sheldon van der Linde had a big opportunity to pull up to and pass Brendon Hartley on fresher tyres, but ultimately could not get the move done before the end of the hour.
The #2 TF Sport Corvette and the #25 Algarve Pro Racing took drive-through penalties for slow zone procedures, and the three-time recipient of caution-infringement drive-through penalties, the #101 WTR Cadillac, made hard contact with the kerbs on its way into the pit lane on lap 262. Filipe Albuquerque was not happy behind the wheel after the car had already lost a lot of time unnecessarily.
The second official Hypercar retirement was the #17 Genesis Magma Racing GMR-001, which took severe suspension damage after jumping a kerb, getting stranded on the outside of the Forest esses, the same part of the track that the #19 Genesis had slowed previously. Young driver Mathys Jaubert knew it was the end of the day for the GMR-001, showing visible disappointment from the Hypercar’s cockpit as it waited to be towed off the track.
Another short Full Course Yellow came out for yet another bollard on the racing line, this time in the first chicane. It was cleared away in under three laps once again and did not affect the field’s strategy.
At the end of the hour, Job van Uitert in the #28 IDEC Sport ORECA spun out of the final corner and resumed. He caught a fair amount of understeer on the second-last corner, carrying momentum onto the marbled line of the track and spinning once Van Uitert got on the power.
The top three remained the same in LMP2, with Doriane Pin taking over the lead in the #30 Duqueine Team car, followed by the Inter Europol Competition cars in swapped positions since the previous pit cycle, with the #43 ahead of the #434.
In LMGT3, the #33 TF Sport, now with Jonny Edgar in the car, led by over two minutes. Jack Hawksworth in the #78 Akkodis ASP Team Lexus joined the party at the front on the same pit strategy as the #33, ahead of Zacharie Robichon in the #27 Heart of Racing car.
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