The ninth hour was held entirely under the safety car, while marshals cleaned up the mess from the multi-car incident at Tertre Rouge at the end of the previous hour.
As the hour began the No. 7 was formally retired, Kamui Kobayashi jumping out of the car, throwing in the towel after multiple attempts to restart his GR010. The No. 66 JMW Motorsport Ferrari also was also an on-the-spot retirement from its damage in the incident.
The @TGR_WEC No.7 is stopped on track.#WEC #LeMans24 #LeMansCentenary pic.twitter.com/XbNyJX7ykc
— FIA World Endurance Championship (@FIAWEC) June 10, 2023
With the race neutralized, heading into Hour 10 the race is still being led by Peugeot’s No. 94 9X8. Nico Muller will have to defend hard from the No. 8 Toyota of Ryo Hirakawa when the race resumes. The No. 8 crew, having picked up the baton from the No. 7 after its retirement, represents Toyota’s only hope of claiming a sixth victory at Le Mans in a row, and stay unbeaten this season in the FIA WEC.
There are five cars on the lead lap, though, with the No. 2 Cadillac still very much in the fight, with Alex Lynn (sporting his Derek Bell tribute helmet) now aboard. The No. 50 and No. 51 Ferraris are also still on the lead lap despite their recent setbacks and will hope to find a way back to the front as we approach the halfway mark.
In LMP2, WRT’s No. 41 ORECA has taken the lead from the No. 34 Inter Europol ORECA. The Panis Racing ORECA is third. But LMP2 is set to be a dogfight when the race returns to green — with the gaps closed, there will be a train of 10 cars on the lead lap together.
Iron Dames’ Porsche now holds the GTE Am lead after the most recent stops. The No. 54 AF Corse Ferrari has risen to second, while the ‘Rexy’ Project 1 Porsche is down to third. There will be a six-way fight for the GTE lead after the safety car pulls in.