We are under the first Safety Car intervention at the 92nd annual 24 Hours of Le Mans, following a collision between the #15 Team WRT BMW M Hybrid V8 of Dries Vanthoor and the leading #83 AF Corse Ferrari 499P of Robert Kubica.
With Vanthoor a lap down, Kubica came over to clear the lapped BMW and a slower class vehicle when the two cars made side-to-side contact on the approach to Mulsanne Corner. That contact pitched Vanthoor head-on into the armco barriers, and his car eventually rolled to rest at the inside of the corner.
Vanthoor, thankfully, was not seriously injured – he clutched his chest after walking out of the car, understandably livid as he felt strongly he’d been pushed aside without reason. BMW M Team WRT’s mechanics shook hands, resigned to the #15 car’s fate.
When the race resumes, this could spell trouble for Kubica – and things were already beginning to turn sideways for the long-term Hypercar class leaders. 20 minutes past the one-quarter mark in the race, Kubica radioed into his team to report a gearbox alarm had gone off in the cockpit.
The stewards are currently investigating the collision between Kubica and Vanthoor – the Polish driver also vented his frustration with Vanthoor’s driving over the radio which may not help his case.
Kubica currently leads Frederic Makowiecki in the #5 Porsche Penske Motorsport 963 who’s running in second, and the #8 Toyota Gazoo Racing GR010 Hybrid of Ryo Hirakawa in third.
The #50 Ferrari AF Corse 499P of Nicklas Nielsen is fourth, the #6 Penske Porsche of Laurens Vanthoor has come back into the top five, in fifth ahead of the #2 Cadillac Racing V-Series.R, which is also back in the fold somewhat in sixth.
That’s good news after Sebastien Bourdais locked up the rears and slid off into the gravel at Indianapolis Corner in the yellow #3 Cadillac. The local hero was able to resume running again, however.
COOL 37 still on top of LMP2
The Cool Racing #37 ORECA 07 leads at the conclusion of the seventh hour after the safety car has neutralised the race. Malthe Jakobsen is in the car, ahead of the #22 United Autosports car of Bijoy Garg.
The leader prior to the pit stops, the #10 Vector Sport car, was in the safety car train ahead of the group, but had to take a pit stop, and as a result dropped to the end of the safety car train which now holds the top three in LMP2.
The next safety car train holds David Heinemeier-Hansson in the #24 Nielsen Racing car, which has just taken a pit stop, with the next safety car train holding the Pro-Am battle; the #14 AO by TF car of Louis Deletraz ahead of the #183 of Francois Perrodo, who was in the train ahead of the #14, but just took a pit stop themselves.
The #34 Inter Europol Competition car is the last car on the lead lap, immediately ahead of the class leader. When the safety car trains are combined, the #34 should be able to get back up to the lead group.
Before the interruption with the safety car, there was a brief drizzle that saw many cars spin in the wet conditions, including the #37 COOL Racing car.
As Lorenzo Fluxa brought the car in to complete his stint, he spun on the entry to pit lane, losing 30 seconds to the Vector Sport #10 car, which then led the race.
However, the #10 was unlucky to have not completed a pit stop before the Safety Car came out, and to have not managed to be two safety car trains ahead, with the effective 30-second lead wiped out in an instant.
WRT BMW leading after cross-class collision
Pitting on the hour under the Safety Car, Maxime Martin holds the lead for Team WRT.
The #46 car is beginning to stabilise a lead, although not without incident: The 2020 Le Mans GTE winner collected the #23 United Autosports LMP2 Oreca at the exit of the Porsche Curves, but no further action was taken besides a warning flag.
Joel Sturm is now into his fourth consecutive stint in the second place #92 Manthey PureRxcing Porsche which also took advantage of the Safety Car opportunity.
The #87 Akkodis ASP Lexus RC F is now sitting in third place, Jack Hawksworth is back in the car, and the somewhat relieved Iron Dames crew are back in play for fourth after their earlier incident, with Michelle Gatting aboard.
Just behind the Lamborghini in the Safety Car train is the #66 JMW Ferrari, back in contention in the hands of Larry ten Voorde.
Claudio Schiavoni’s struggle for grip in the wet spun the #60 Iron Lynx Lamborghini Huracan into the guard rail at the exit of the second Mulsanne chicane, triggering a short FCY. The car made it back to its pit for bodywork repairs.
The attrition was starting to show as the pole-sitting #70 Inception Racing McLaren was wheeled into its pit, steam billowing from beneath a stubborn front body panel as the crew went to work in the radiator The car had been losing pace outside the top ten.
The #77 Proton Competition Ford Mustang had briefly been back in play, steering rack damage having been repaired. The Le Mans kerbs have apparently been a tough challenge for the car which has unfortunately returned to its pit, classified last but still running!
