A dejected Gustavo Menezes keyed up the radio to ask his team if they wanted him to remove the heavily damaged nose of his Peugeot 9X8 before limping back to the pits after a crash at the first chicane.
“I’m so sorry,” the American said while the field passed by him, as Peugeot joined Ferrari, Porsche, and Toyota as the next Hypercar manufacturer to encounter trouble under the cover of darkness. Menezes’ crash promoted Alex Lynn and Cadillac into third, joining Toyota’s No. 8 GR010 and Ferrari’s No. 51 499P at the fore of the Le Mans field with half of the race completed.
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The racing continued into the pits as Toyota and Ferrari dived in for service nose-to-tail with the Toyota just ahead of the Ferrari. Toyota opted to take tires on the No. 8 GR010 but Ferrari elected to take fuel-only with its No. 50 499P, giving it the lead of the race once the No. 2 Cadillac of Alex Lynn came in for its service later in the stint.
Despite the fresher tires for Sebastien Buemi, James Calado was able to open up the gap between himself and Buemi with the Ferrari leading the Toyota by up to eight seconds before closing back down to 3.545s at the conclusion of the hour.
The top three in Hypercar – the No. 8 Toyota, the No. 50 Ferrari, and the No. 2 Cadillac – are clearly defined. Further behind them, the No. 6 Porsche Team Penske 963 and the No. 3 Cadillac Racing V-Series.R are hanging on to the lead lap and could join the conversation if a well-timed safety car bunches the field. After losing eight laps in the pits, Menezes returned to the track in the repaired No. 94 Peugeot 9X8.
Longtime Porsche ace Neel Jani has moved the No. 30 Duqueine Team ORECA 07 into the lead of the race in LMP2 as the No. 34 Inter Europol Competition ORECA 07 dropped down to fifth in class. The No. 65 Panis Racing ORECA 07 of Job Van Uitert is second in class.
In GTE Am, the No. 85 Iron Dames Porsche 911 RSR led for much of the hour but conceded control of the race to the No. 56 Project 1 – AO Porsche 911 RSR after a pitstop. The No. 54 AF Corse Ferrari 488 GTE is second in GTE Am.