Just at the start of the penultimate hour at Le Mans, everything – and we do mean everything – has kicked off in a big way as it pertains to the overall lead battle! The rain came just minutes before and everyone switched over to wet tyres. The #50 Ferrari AF Corse 499P retained its lead after a driver change from Miguel Molina to Nicklas Nielsen, and actually gained time as Toyota Gazoo Racing mechanics had trouble replacing the right front wheel on the #8 GR010 Hybrid.
Just minutes later, the #8 Toyota of Hartley and the #51 Ferrari of Alessandro Pier Guidi collided at Mulsanne Corner, pitching Hartley into a spin and dropping what was Toyota’s number one challenger down the order to sixth place!
All while this was going on, the right-side door on the leading #50 Ferrari had trouble staying shut.
Fifteen minutes later, the #7 Toyota of super-sub Jose Maria Lopez had caught the #51 Ferrari of Pier Guidi for second place. The two banged wheels and wing mirrors into the Dunlop Chicane, but on the run to the first Mulsanne Chicane, Lopez tucked into the slipstream of Pier Guidi and drove the #7 Toyota through to second place!
Second place then became the lead(!) when the #50 Ferrari was ordered by Race Control to fix the door – dropping Nielsen to fifth.
Things have only just calmed down as we head into the final hour of the race. The #50 Ferrari is scored as the leader at this interval but is now running off-sequence to those behind him, and cannot make it to the end on one more stop. It did escape a penalty for an unsafe pit release on its last stop
The #7 Toyota of Lopez, Kamui Kobayashi, and Nyck de Vries is now the odds-on favourite to win the 92nd annual 24 Hours of Le Mans.
Lopez is now comfortably ahead of the #51 Ferrari of Pier Guidi, which received a five-second penalty during its most recent pit stop for causing the collision with Hartley.
Laurens Vanthoor is up to third in the #6 Porsche Penske Motorsport 963, Sebastien Buemi has relieved Hartley and will take the #8 Toyota to the finish from fourth, and Alex Palou is now aboard the #2 Cadillac Racing V-Series.R in fifth.
What more could the final hour possibly bring upon us?
United Autosports closing in on LMP2 win
The United Autosports #22 of Oliver Jarvis, Bijoy Garg, and Nolan Siegel have consolidated their lead in the LMP2 class, as the race approaches the final hour.
Oliver Jarvis, after being given the car in the wet with two hours remaining, has been unassailable in the difficult conditions, stretching the lead to over 45 seconds over second place. The #22 was able to take the lead thanks to a combination of a shorter fuel stop, and a great tyre change from the team, with just over two hours left.
There is still a vigorous battle for second, with the #34 Inter Europol, #28 IDEC Sport, and #183 AF Corse cars in a heated battle, and the #37 COOL Racing car just behind.
The run to the flag had been a mix of strategies, tyre sequencing, pit stops, driver changes, and battles on track. It was only when the rain came down in earnest with two hours remaining, bringing everyone in the lead group into the pits at the same time, that the hierarchy became clear.
At this stage, every LMP2 car requires at least one more stop, at approximately the 40-minute remaining mark. Fuel, tyres, and driver times shouldn’t be much of a worry at this stage of the race, but after a very busy race, any minor mistake could have drastic effects on the final standings.
AF Corse, in fourth overall, leads Pro-Am, with a comfortable lap advantage over the #14 AO by TF car in seventh overall. Third in Pro-Am is the #33 DKR Engineering car, a further two minutes behind, in eighth overall.
Final stretch for #91 Manthey EMA Porsche in LMGT3
The Porsche’s race seems to be under control now, as Lietz responded to the challenge of the BMW whenever it came – but Augusto Farfus has just been installed in the BMW. The wet conditions have dictated the pace in the last hour, but the Brazilian is lapping a second a lap quicker than Lietz in a final push.
“It’s looking good, but there’s an hour to go and it’s difficult conditions,” said Morris Schuring, watching his #91 Porsche from the pits, “We have to keep our feet on the ground.”
Proton Competition has a firm grip on third, albeit more than half a lap shy of the leaders. The #88 Ford Mustang of Mikkel Pedersen had been dropping Michelle Gatting’s #85 Lamborghini at a steady rate.
He’s currently joined by the sister #44 car of Christopher Mies at the close of the hour, which is due a pit stop. Gatting has pitted and currently runs in an out-of-sync fifth.
The change to report is the improvement of the #86 GR Racing Ferrari 296 LMGT3, which had shown well earlier in the race and held its own lower down the LMGT3 order through difficult conditions.
Now with its pro drivers aboard the progress has been steady and without incident, as the black and orange car is the best of the Ferrari entries where more experienced crews had struggled. Daniel Serra is pushing hard in typical style, posting quick sector times and slowly reducing the one-minute interval to the #44 Mustang.
