Almost eight hours into the Le Mans 24 Hours, the race finally felt like it was settling into a rhythm before drama at the end of the hour brought us to one-third distance.
Much to almost everybody trackside’s surprise, it was Ferrari vs. Peugeot for the lead in Hypercar. The No. 51 AF Corse Ferrari led over the No. 94 Peugeot 9X8, preventing the 499P from extending its lead gap.
It was Alessandro Pier Guidi vs. Nico Muller, and Muller was rapid after climbing aboard, reeling in Pier Guidi gradually, bringing the gap down to just 12s from 80s at the start of the hour. It looked to be game on, but just before the ninth hour began, Pier Guidi had a spin at the first Mulsanne Chicane, just behind the No. 911 Proton Porsche. Pier Guidi was in the gravel and needed to be craned back on the track.
This handed the lead to the No. 94 Peugeot, adding to the car’s simply astonishing run so far.
Moments after the No. 51’s off that cost Ferrari the lead, there was a multi-car pile-up at Tertre Rouge on the entry to the slow zone for the stranded Ferrari.
Kamui Kobayashi in the third place No. 7 Toyota slowed for the zone, and was hit hard at the rear of the JMW Motorsport Ferrari of Louis Prette and the No. 35 Signatech Alpine ORECA. The Ferrari then cannoned off the No. 7, going airborne and into an unidentifiable LMP2 car.
The @TGR_WEC No.7 with Kamui Kobayashi at the wheel has been caught in a race incident at the Tertre Rouge corner.#WEC #LeMans24 #LeMansCentenary pic.twitter.com/bYKA5xiiVA
— FIA World Endurance Championship (@FIAWEC) June 10, 2023
The damage to the rear of the GR010 HYBRID was significant, as Kobayashi was unable to pull away and get back up to speed, the car’s battery without enough power to get the car going.
This meant the No. 94 Peugeot leads into Hour 9 by over two minutes over the No. 50 AF Corse Ferrari and the No. 2 Cadillac Racing V-Series.R.
Earlier in the hour, trouble hit the LMP2 leader also. The No. 23 United Autosports car, straight after taking the lead over the No. 34 Inter Europol ORECA, had an off when Tom Blomqvist had a brake failure. The front and rear of the car were damaged and the car has now dropped to 17th losing two laps due to the repairs.
“It seemed like a series of unfortunate events,” Blomqvist told RACER. “I went wide at Mulsanne, through the gravel, I was on slicks and it was wet. I did Indianapolis and Arnage fine, but when I got to Porsche, I had no brakes. I was a super fast corner, it was wet off line, but I had to look for an escape road. Eventually, I spun out and hit the barrier. It’s a huge shame because we were in such a good position. I’ve been through the gravel so many times in my career, not once have I had a brake failure from it.”
This means Polish team Inter Europol is back in the lead, with the No. 41 WRT ORECA and the No. 80 AF Corse example second and third.
In GTE Am, the No. 56 Project 1 AO Porsche leads the Iron Dames Porsche. The No. 54 AF Corse Ferrari is third. A rare hour with no changes to the top three in the class.