Following the contact with Rene Rast’s Audi at Les Combes, Jonathan Hirschi reported: “I had passed an Audi (the #4 of Pierre Kaffer) and was closing on another (the #28 of Rene Rast). He caught an Am car in the middle of the road coming into the corner, was slowed up and pulled to the left, but I was already there and we hit (left-rear Audi to front-right Jaguar). That sent both of us wide, where there was more contact, which sent me across the road into the Ferrari.”
Meanwhile, back on track, Guy Smith led courtesy of a pit stop just before the end of the safety car period (delayed after the car took a drive through) that saw the #7 back out on out on track and at near-full-racing speed when the caution period ended, half a lap back from the leading group, all of whom pitted after the six-hour points scoring mark. That wasn’t the case for long, though, as Alexander Sims made up lost ground and passed the Bentley soon after 11pm, pulling away relatively easily.
#22 Nissan stopped briefly at pit exit but rejoined, Ricardo Sanchez at the wheel, the car running a lowly 50th out of the 65 starters. Soon afterwards it stopped again at T4 before struggling back to the pits, the team garaging the car immediately (electrical issue) and the car rejoining after a further 10-minute delay.
The #6 Phoenix Audi ran second (Frank Stippler driving) but lost a little ground with a slightly slower pit stop than the other leading cars, ahead of Will Stevens in the #1 Audi and then the #8 Bentley (Wolfgang Reip at the wheel), but with race control summoning the team manager for both the #7 and #8.
The #63 Lamborghini had a trip into the gravel at T14, while the N-class #911 was running slow on track. Carl Rosenblad had a clash with another runner, turning the #30 Team Parker Bentley around, facing oncoming traffic in the Bus Stop before rejoining.
The #44 Oman Racing Aston Martin pitted from the Pro-Am lead (having led overall earlier in the race) but went into the garage and the engine cover came off. Up into the Pro-Am lead as the Aston pitted came the #100 Attempto Racing Huracan.
The #114 Jaguar rejoined after a 69-minute stop for repairs. The sister #14 meanwhile was still inside the top 20 overall (19th). Pierre Kaffer pitted from fifth as the #7 Bentley closed in to take the position and start a climb up the order as the other leading cars began to pit.
Reip pitted from fourth in the #8 Bentley, followed by Stevens from third in the #1 Audi and the leader, Sims, in the #99. Maxime Martin climbed aboard the BMW, then Stippler took the lead for a single lap before pitting in the #6 Audi. That left the #99 back into the lead and the #7 Bentley second, with Martin immediately pulling away.
Max Buhk meanwhile was by now up to sixth (although not closing in terms of time to the leader) in the #84 HTP AMG, before he too pitted, dropping the car back to 10th. Matt Griffin had the #52 AF Corse Ferrari 488 into the Pro-Am lead at around midnight and was beginning to move up the overall order.
At 10 minutes before the end of the eighth hour, we had the fifth full-course yellow. The #24 Team Parker Bentley, (above) with Ian Loggie at the wheel, went off at Les Combes and into the tyre wall very close to the site of the earlier incident for the sister #30 Bentley. The #24 suffering heavy front-left damage and was later confirmed as a retirement
The safety car was called for five minutes later after the Bentley had been winched onto a flatbed, and another 40 minutes of barrier repairs ensued.
Under the safety car, the #44 Aston came back into the garage due to contact that saw oil leaking onto the exhaust manifold. A new oil catch tank was fitted to remedy the issue.
Matt Griffin stepped out of the #52 AF Corse Ferrari as the car took its required five-minute ‘technical’ stop, the crew completing a brake change and despatching the car with Duncan Cameron at the wheel. Ricardo Ragazzi though is reported to be unwell and may not drive. Griffin also reported that the car had developed a possible engine issue, with fluctuating oil pressure.
At 10 minutes before the end of the ninth hour, a total of 10 team managers were summoned to race control, including that of the race-leading #6 Phoenix Audi. The Audi pitted, the #99 BMW back to the lead with the #8 Bentley leading a lap before pitting under the Safety car emerging just after the race went back to green (after 65 minutes under caution), now third behind the #99 and the #6.
The ninth hour was completed with reports of the #56 Mercedes and #14 Jaguar in the gravel and then more drama as Winkelhock pitted the second-place #6 Audi just three laps into his stint with a puncture.
