The fourth hour of the Le Mans 24 Hours saw things settle down, but only because the safety car period called for rain and incidents in Hour 3 lasted the entire hour.
The biggest headline of the hour was the No. 94 Peugeot 9X8 holding the lead under safety car conditions after the most recent Hypercar pit stops early in the hour. Californian ace Gustavo Menezes’s efforts climbing the order on slick tires in the rain paid off, the French marque is an unlikely early leader in this race.
While the No. 94 was enjoying life at the front, it was not a good hour for the sister car. After changing to slicks under safety car, Jean-Eric Vergne in the No. 93 had a spin at Mulsanne Corner while tip-toeing and came to a stop in the gravel. The Frenchman ended up beached and required outside assistance to rejoin as Hour 5 approached. He is now two laps down and 14th in Hypercar after losing so much time being extracted by a manitou.
By the end of the hour, the No. 94 Peugeot retained the lead with Menezes still driving. The No. 6 Penske Porsche of Kevin Estre was up to second, with the No. 7 Toyota of Jose Maria Lopez third. The No. 8 Toyota and No. 75 Porsche made up the top five.
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In LMP2, it’s an Alpine 1-2 as we head into Hour 5. The No. 35 of Memo Rojas leads the No. 36 of Julien Canal. The No. 23 United Autosports ORECA of Oliver Jarvis is third.
GTE Am has the No. 85 Iron Dames Porsche now at the front. The “Rexy” Project 1 Porsche is second and continues to be an early contender. The No. 911 Proton Competition Porsche, with Martin Rump now aboard in place of Richard Lietz who took the start, is third. The Pescarolo-liveried TF Sport Aston Martin is fourth with the bright orange ORT by TF Vantage fifth.
The Hendrick Motorsports Camaro is 44th overall, behind the 10th-place GTE Am team. Jenson Button is now in the car for his first stint in the race.
Crucially, the rain has now stopped, the track is drying and the expectation is that we will go green again very soon.