Jack Aitken and the No. 31 Whelen Cadillac Racing team were generally in control during the first quarter of IMSA’s Motul Petit Le Mans, but serving a drive-through penalty for a pass under yellow put them on the back foot, and the No. 24 BMW M Team RLL M Hybrid V8 with Jesse Krohn at the wheel led at the end of the first quarter of the race, although it was off sequence and due for a pit stop.
Aitken explained that he made the pass after the incident, but not after the next flag station, which is why he believed the team was given the penalty.
The No. 40 Wayne Taylor Racing with Andretti Acura ARX-06 went off strategy early and was running second in the hands of Jordan Taylor, but like the No. 24, would need a stop soon. The championship-leading No. 7 Porsche Penske Motorsport 963 was third with Felipe Nasr in the cockpit, followed by Mathieu Jaminet in the PPM No. 6. Ricky Taylor in the No. 10 WTRAndretti Acura was fifth, soon to be third.
The No. 01 Cadillac Racing V-Series.R which has shown pace all weekend received a mechanical blag flag for “Scrutineering System Requirements.” That, plus subsequent stops to replace sensors, had the car a lap down and it would later serve a drive-through after Renger van der Zande hit the No. 20.
AO Racing’s GTD PRO championship bid has been dealt a serious blow with an intermittent electrical issue that was causing a shifting problem. The car stopped on track at one point, and a reset seemed to cure the issue, but the problem reared its head again. The car spent a long time in the pits receiving some new electrical connections. The car emerged six laps down in 12th, a position that would cost Laurin Heinrich and the team the title should the No. 23 Heart of Racing Aston Martin Vantage GT3 Evo finish on the podium.
Alex Riberas was running fourth in the No. 23, while an off-sequence No. 14 Vasser Sullivan Lexus RC F GT3 in the hands of Kyle Kirkwood was leading over Mirko Bortolotti in the No. 19 Iron Lynx Lamborghini Huracan GT3 Evo2, which was looking quite strong with Jordan Pepper at the wheel earlier. Davide Rigon was third in the No. 62 Ferrari 296 for Risi Competizione, but that team was off sequence for pit stops as well.
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Disaster struck for LMP2 polesitter Ben Keating in the second hour, and that disaster took the No. 4 Corvette Racing by Pratt Miller Motorsports Z06 GT3.R with it. Keating, leading at the time, was passing the No. 20 High Class Racing ORECA LMP2 at Turn 6 and spun, possibly after contact. Tommy Milner in the No. 4 Corvette was next on the scene, hit Keating’s No. 2 United Autosports ORECA, and then went off track and hit the wall. Both Keating’s ORECA and the Corvette sustained heavy damage and were taken straight to the paddock.
Paul-Loup Chatin in the No. 99 AO Racing ORECA led LMP2 after 2.5h over Lila Wadoux Ducellier in the No. 88 Af Corse entry. Hunter McElrea had been running quite strong in the lead in the No. 11 TDS Racing ORECA, but a drive-through penalty for incident responsibility after contact with the No. 45 WTRAndretti Lamborghini Huracan pushed the No. 11 down the order.
Wright Motorsports led GTD with the No. 120 Porsche 911 GT3 R, Elliott Skeer having taken over the car from Jan Heylen. Frankie Montecalvo in the No. 12 Vasser Sullivan Lexus was chasing, ahead of Anders Fjordbach in the off-sequence No. 86 MDK Motorsports Porsche.
The first quarter of the race has had three cautions for a total of 33m. The first came for Scott Andrews putting the GTD polesitting No. 80 Lone Star Racing Mercedes AMG into the gravel at Turn 5. The second was for the incident between Keating and Milner, and the third was for Sheena Monk spinning the No. 66 Gradient Racing Acura NSX GT3 Evo22, the result of making contact with the No. 9 Pfaff Motorsports McLaren 720S right after she pitted and was on still-cold tires.
The only official retirement in the race is the No. 44 Magnus Racing Aston Martin Vantage Evo, which suffered a half-shaft failure only 30m in.