Tag: Le Mans 24 Hour

United Autosports wins LMP2 while Porsche takes LMGT3 at Le Mans

Beyond the Hypercar headlines, the other two categories in the 2024 running of the Le Mans 24 Hours provided plenty of action for the fans trackside and at home. Inter Europol Competition made a valiant effort to defend its 2023 title in LMP2, but …

Beyond the Hypercar headlines, the other two categories in the 2024 running of the Le Mans 24 Hours provided plenty of action for the fans trackside and at home.

Inter Europol Competition made a valiant effort to defend its 2023 title in LMP2, but in the end, United Autosports’ No. 22 ORECA Gibson was just too strong in the closing hours.

Anchored by the experienced Oliver Jarvis, a previous winner, with two Le Mans rookies in Bijoy Garg and rising star Nolan Siegel, the team demonstrated its strength throughout the race. They put a stamp on it at the end with an 18.651s gap to the No. 34 Inter Europol entry of Jakub Smiechowski, Vladislav Lomko and Clement Novalak.

“It’s unbelievable! First time here, there was so much to learn, and I’m so lucky to have done it with such a great group of people,” said Siegel before Garg added: “This is the best moment of my life.”

United’s No. 22 was involved in a tangle early in the race and often struggled to separate itself from the main pack. It didn’t matter on Sunday afternoon — once the field was reset by the final safety car, a sprint race within the race broke out.

Blistering pace and strategic nous made the difference, with Oliver Jarvis enjoying a standout drive — setting the fastest race lap in the category– while Siegel looked every bit the emerging star he is and Garg enjoying a near-faultless performance in a field featuring a number of additional standout Silver-ranked drivers.

Tire choice at the end was particularly vital, but United’s gamble paid off en route to a second Le Mans 24 Hours LMP2 class win.

“It’s always an incredible feeling to be in Le Mans, but to be able to win it is an honor,” Jarvis said post-race.

“I was relieved to see the checkered flag. What a tough race. Just staying on the track was already an achievement. The conditions were so difficult. There were there were times when I wasn’t sure if we were going to win it, or stick it in the wall.

“Big thank you to my two teammates. They arrived here as rookies and they’re leaving as winners.

“United Autosport as always gave us a phenomenal car. They got everything right and we can be very proud of what we achieved today.”

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Behind the top two runners, the IDEC Sport ORECA completed the podium after spending almost the entire race firmly in the mix. Paul Lafargue, Reshad de Gerus and Job van Uitert could have won the race on another day.

Vector Sport and Nielsen Racing may have, too. Both British teams were impressive this weekend, but saw their chances of victory unravel gradually once night fell.

It was a similar story for the No. 183 AF Corse ORECA which won the Pro/Am division comfortably — by two laps — but looked capable of an even higher finish. Into Sunday morning the car led for large chunks of time and slipped out of the top three towards the end as Bronze-ranked Francois Perrodo finished off his drive time.

Nevertheless, a Pro/Am win is what AF Corse’s drivers came for, and they were rarely challenged in the second half of the race by the other seven cars in their division.

The No. 14 AO by TF ORECA — running in its “Spike The Dragon” livery — with its headline driver Louis Deletraz took second in the class with a sixth-place finish, while the DKR entry completed the sub-class podium.

There were countless incidents in LMP2 throughout the 24 hours, and so many wholesale changes to the running order as Bronze drivers completed stints in tricky conditions, rain showers caught pro drivers out and tire strategy became tough to manage.

There were, though, only a few retirements. The No. 45 Crowdstrike by APR No. 07 lost a wheel and stopped, the No. 30 Duqueine Team ORECA suffered an engine failure and the No. 9 Proton entry was abandoned with mechanical woes of its own.

Many contending cars ended up off the lead lap towards the end. The No. 37 COOL Racing ORECA, a pre-race favorite, was in the mix until an unexplained visit to the garage in the closing stages.

The No. 23 United Autosports ORECA featuring 2023 GTE Am winner Ben Keating also ended up losing precious time in pit lane after the Texan got stuck in the gravel at the Dunlop Bridge on Saturday evening.

Porsche’s Hypercar fleet may have failed to deliver a famous 20th overall win, but it wasn’t all bad news for the German manufacturer, which made history by winning the first-ever LMGT3 race at Le Mans with the Manthey EMA entry. JEP/Motorsport Images

Before the start many LMGT3 observers would have picked Pure Rxcing’s all-conquering 911 to deliver the goods this weekend, but it was the sister EMA entry of Yasser Shahin, Morris Schuring and Richard Lietz that would come out on top.

“It was so difficult this year, because I felt I was on slick tires in the wet or in mixed conditions all the time. It was a flat-out race, in which strategy was so important,” Lietz commented.

“At the end we were the chosen ones, the lucky ones, so I am thrilled to be here with Morris, Yasser and Manthey to win this for Porsche.”

After the first half of the race proved intense on a lap-to-lap basis, and particularly tricky to read, LMGT3 settled down into somewhat of a pattern in the final third, with the Manthey EMA Porsche and No. 31 WRT BMW M4 LMGT3 emerging as the two cars in contention for victory.

The pair swapped places multiple times in the run to the flag, but ultimately Lietz had the pace when it mattered and pulled away in his final stint.

It was, nevertheless, a hugely impressive run from Augusto Farfus, Darren Leung and Sean Geleal in the No. 31. Early on they struggled to feature when the weather first turned, but as the night hours approached and the second half of the race was in sight, the race came back to them.

A podium provided an extremely useful bundle of WEC championship points, but more importantly, served as a morale boost on an otherwise traumatic weekend for BMW and WRT in which both Hypercars and the No. 46 BMW M4 piloted by Valentino Rossi failed to make the finish.

Proton Competition was another team that will leave Le Mans thankful it claimed a podium finish. Its No. 99 963 had a torrid time in Hypercar and limped home, the No. 77 Mustang was crashed into and hit mechanical trouble, and its LMP2 ORECA retired with a loss of power.

 

On the flip side, Proton’s No. 88 Ford Mustang of Giorgio Roda, Mikkel Pedersen and Dennis Olsen had a rollercoaster race but proved that the Blue Oval’s new challenger can stay reliable and fast in the toughest of conditions.

The No. 44 sister car impressed too, coming home fourth after a metronomic run on John Hartshorne’s final Le Mans start.

Iron Dames’ Lamborghini completed the top five with a solid performance, but Rahel Frey, Sarah Bovy and Michelle Gatting were aiming higher. Adding to what has been a brutal start to the WEC and ELMS seasons for the all-female-crewed team, they struggled to fully recover from being side-swiped by the No. 4 Penske Porsche in the early hours of the race on the Porsche Curves.

There were a number of other storylines to follow, both good and bad.

As a whole this was a hugely impressive outing for AKKODIS ASP and its pair of Lexus RC F LMGT3s. Following a tough start to life as a Lexus customer, Jerome Policand’s team were often in the mix for a podium through the first 16 hours.

United Autosports’ first effort at Le Mans as a McLaren partner team was also head-turning. It is clear that the British LMP2-winning team is making rapid progress with the LMGT3 EVO from the Woking marque. Both cars had pace and cycled into the top three at various points — suffering mechanical dramas and retiring late in the race is simply unfortunate.

Manthey Pure Rxcing and Heart of Racing also could have won come Sunday afternoon had they not hit trouble.

The Lithuanian Porsche crew that stood out firmly from the pack in the WEC races prior to Le Mans burned through most of Alex Malykhin’s Bronze driver time by nightfall. They’d built a lead before gearbox trouble dropped the car out of contention in the early hours.

Heart of Racing, meanwhile, missed out on a chance to score the 2024 Vantage AMR its first major endurance win when Daniel Mancinelli ended up on his roof at Indianapolis after going backwards into the tires at the kink at high speed.

What about Corvette, and its new Z06 LMGT3.Rs from TF Sport? Making the finish quickly became the aim as the pace wasn’t there.

Both Vettes made it to the line and achieved their target after suffering from various ailments, the highest place of the two being the No. 82 which finished 11th.

“We made it to the end, which is an amazing accomplishment,” reflected Daniel Juncadella.

“We lost the clutch six or seven hours in, so that was quite insane. I’m very happy with the result considering some of the difficulties today. We got behind by three laps but finished two laps back, so that is encouraging.

“All in all, it was a great first experience for me at Le Mans. I had a lot of driving in all conditions, and the Corvette handled very good. It actually got better throughout the race, and I’m quite happy with that. Thanks to TF Sport, the guys at GM Corvette Racing and Pratt Miller for all their work this week. It’s such a pleasure to be part of such a big program. I’m looking forward to many more.”

RESULTS

Ferrari goes back to back with No. 50 victorious at Le Mans

Ferrari AF Corse claimed a second Le Mans 24 Hours overall victory in a row with the 499P, its No. 50 trio of Miguel Molina, Antonio Fuoco and Nicklas Nielsen triumphant after fighting through rain showers and gruelling conditions to beat the …

Ferrari AF Corse claimed a second Le Mans 24 Hours overall victory in a row with the 499P, its No. 50 trio of Miguel Molina, Antonio Fuoco and Nicklas Nielsen triumphant after fighting through rain showers and gruelling conditions to beat the Toyota, Porsche and Cadillac front-runners at the Circuit de La Sarthe

The first overall Le Mans (and WEC) win for the No. 50 crew came in front of a sellout crowd that stayed to the end to catch the conclusion of what will surely be considered an all-time classic; an epic-multi-manufacturer fight that was action-packed from lap one to 311.

In years to come this race will of course be remembered for its gripping finale, when Nielsen crossed the line running on air in the winning car, sparking tears of joy and wild celebrations in the Ferrari garage.

What will stand out most on reflection is surely the weather, and the role it played in the outcome. Rain showers came and went from the second hour all the way through to the end.

Time and time again the running order was shuffled in all three classes by sudden downpours — sometimes light, sometimes heavy — which forced all teams to make periodic gambles on tire choice. It also caused multiple safety cars which reset the field after comfortable gaps had been built by class leaders.

For everyone watching, it was a highly entertaining contest as the race ebbed and flowed through the changing conditions. It remained highly unpredictable right up to the flag and delivered on the promise that Balance of Performance racing makes.

The first half was a true battle for survival, many cars retiring or hitting trouble by nightfall before the race’s longest safety car for barrier repairs in heavy rain that lasted hours.

When the sun rose again, the field bunched up by safety cars, all three classes became a sprint in the closing hours between the cars on the lead lap. Proof of just how tight this was can be found on the final results sheet, the top nine in Hypercar finishing on the lead lap (remarkably, the first time in history more than two cars have done so), with the top four separated by less than 40s. If you ran this race again multiple times, you’d have likely seen wildly different outcomes.

The closing stages came down to a battle between four manufacturers. Porsche had its moments, and Cadillac did too, before Toyota and Ferrari became engaged in a head-to-head showdown while time ticked away.

 

In the end, Ferrari AF Corse survived the challenges of Mother Nature to defend its 2023 win and score its 11th overall victory.

With the trio of Fuoco, Nielsen and Molina prevailing, it was a stark change in fortunes after they were forced to watch from the sidelines as their teammates in the sister car claimed the historic victory in last year’s centenary edition.

Unsurprisingly, due to the conditions and the level of competition in Hypercar, this was a race that took everything out of the winning crew.

En route to victory, they overcame a late order to the pits to fix a malfunctioning door that wouldn’t stay closed, a rapidly depleting energy store and worn out rain tires on their third stint to beat the No. 7 Toyota Gazoo Racing GR010 to the line. The winners also narrowly avoided being handed a penalty for an unsafe release late in the race, and a penalty for a “technical infringement” that was investigated but not acted on by race control.

The final hour became a nail-biter with the No. 50 off sequence due to the dramas with the door. It pitted for a final time with 50 minutes remaining, forcing Nielsen to manage a lead gap and fuel save at the same time, while being chased hard by Toyota’s super sub Jose Maria Lopez.

Lopez, who got the call to replace injured Mike Conway just last week, was pushed to his limit in the run to the flag, fighting through power issues that required a control-alt-delete and recovering from a costly spin at the Dunlop Bridge. All this after the car had dropped precious time in the final hours to a pair of slow punctures that forced the car in for unscheduled tire changes.

 

Ultimately Lopez was unsuccessful in his pursuit of Nielsen — who finished with just two percent of his virtual energy tank left in the final stint — finishing 14s back in an admirable job of reminding the paddock of his talents behind the wheel of a prototype.

He, Kamui Kobayashi and Nyck De Vries can leave La Sarthe with their heads held high. They weren’t always the quickest (or even the quickest Toyota crew), but they left it all out on the field.

“There is no word at the moment,” declared Fuoco in reaction to the victory. “This is just amazing. All the team did an amazing job today and we deserve it.”

Nielsen waxed about how much of an achievement it is to have back-to-back victories shared by both Ferrari factory entries.

“It was, to be honest, a very long one,” he said. “Especially after the issue we had with the door…I actually thought everything was lost. I knew the pace was really good in the wet by the end. I mean, it was a very long last lap as well.

“I don’t even know what to say. It’s just amazing to be here, to finally win the race that I’ve always wanted to win. Seeing the sister car win it last year, was obviously a proud moment for everyone. And then, I think for us to take it this year – it’s an even greater achievement to do it back to back.”

Completing the podium was the sister factory Ferrari, which spent the closing moments trying to hold off the No. 6 Porsche Penske Motorsport 963 that Kevin Estre put on the pole Thursday night.

Laurens Vanthoor — who drove more than half the race in the No. 6 — clawed the Porsche closer to the No. 51 piloted by Pier Guidi and narrowed the gap a little over a second, but Pier Guidi held on for a third-place finish alongside James Calado and Antonio Giovinazzi.

Vanthoor, Estre and Andre Lotterer were fourth — Porsche’s wait for a 20th overall win here continues — with the No. 8 Toyota Gazoo Racing GR010 of Sebastien Buemi, Brendon Hartley and Ryo Hirakawa fifth.

One of the big question marks from the race concerns the No. 8 Toyota. The car was in the running for the win in the second half of the race, and would likely have been there or thereabouts for the victory at the end had the No. 51 Ferrari not turned it into a spin at Mulsanne Corner in the 22nd hour.

The time lost from that collision will surely be a topic of conversation in the race’s aftermath.

Buemi was captured by the TV cameras distraught after Pier Guidi and Hartley came together. He knew that was likely the moment their chances of scoring Toyota a sixth Le Mans win ended.

The No. 2 Cadillac Racing V-Series.R of Earl Bamber, Alex Lynn and Alex Palou looked in contention for a podium, but eventually finished seventh.

It was an extremely tough race for the three-pronged GM effort in the top class with Cadillac, but the No. 2, despite its finishing position, looked more likely to win than it did last year when it finished on the overall podium.

It wasn’t a fully clean race for the WEC-entered prototype, but it had pace in certain conditions and led during the final hours as the team was on a different pit strategy before fading. A detached wiper blade in heavy rain cost Lynn time and eventually dropped the car behind the No. 5 PPM 963 of Matt Campbell, Michael Christensen and Frederic Makowiecki.

Further back, JOTA’s pair of 963s came home eighth and ninth, as the final cars on the lead lap. For the plucky HERTZ Team JOTA squad, this wasn’t a barnstorming, romping victory like its most recent result in the WEC 6 Hours of Spa, but Sam Hignett, David Clarke and the whole team will leave Le Mans filled with pride.

JOTA was taxed to the extreme this week, particularly the mechanics on the No. 12 963 who had to build a car up from scratch ahead of the race after the original tub was damaged beyond repair in a practice incident. In just 24 hours the sleep-deprived team turned a bare monocoque into a fully built-up 963, in time to complete a pre-race shakedown on the airfield.

 

Remarkably, that car finished the race without any significant hiccups, coming home first of the four privateer Hypercars.

The No. 38 sister car took second in the Hypercar World Cup classification, while Proton claimed third despite a dire weekend for its privateer Porsche crew who battled a broken door and mechanical issues all the way to the end, finishing 60 laps down.

Off the lead lap, the first of Lamborghini’s SC63s came home 10th in what was an encouraging but quiet 24-hour debut for the new LMDh.

Peugeot also finished off the lead lap and outside the top 10 with its pair of 2024 9X8s. Both cars stayed reliable, though mostly invisible. It was not the performance on home soil the French marque would have hoped for when it finished the development work on its revised LMH challenger…

Due to the conditions, and the size of the Hypercar field (23 cars), there was a fair amount of attrition throughout.

For Alpine and its pair of A424s, the race was a total disaster, both cars retired with engine trouble before the 90-lap mark.

BMW’s M Hybrid V8s operated by Team WRT also had a weekend to forget — the No. 15’s performance in qualifying will seem like an age ago to the team, which now need to bounce back fast after both cars crashed out.

Ganassi’s No. 3 Cadillac was another car that showed pace pre-race, but failed to finish, the car suffering a punctured oil-tank.

Perhaps the most dramatic retirement, though, was that of the No. 83 AF Corse privately-entered 499P of Robert Kubica, Robert Shwartzman and Ye Yifei (which notably was penalized for wiping out the No. 15 BMW overnight).

The car, on occasion, looked like the strongest of the three Ferraris. Early on, as one of a few cars that stayed out on slicks during the first rain shower (the correct decision), the yellow 499P led the race on strategy and pace, only to be undone by a hybrid issue that prevented it from making the end.

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Inter Europol Competition made a valiant effort to defend its 2023 LMP2 title, but in the end, the United Autosports No. 22 ORECA Gibson was just too strong. Anchored by the experienced Oliver Jarvis, a previous winner, with two Le Mans rookies in Bijoy Garg and rising star Nolan Siegel, the team demonstrated its strength throughout the race, putting a stamp on it at the end with a 18.651s gap to the No. 34 Inter Europol ORECA of Jakub Smiechowski, Vladislav Lomko and Clement Novalak.

“It’s unbelievable! First time here, there was so much to learn, and I’m so lucky to have done it with such a great group of people,” said Siegel before Garg added: “This is the best moment of my life.”

The No. 28 IDEC Sport team finished third with Paul Lafargue, Job van Uitert and Reshad de Gerus. AF Corse won the Pro-Am sub-category of LMP2, Francois Perrodo, Ben Barnicoat and Nicolas Varrone piloting the No. 183 ORECA to fourth in LMP2 overall.

Porsche claimed the first contest for LMGT3 at the 24 Hours of Le Mans, with Yasser Shahin, Morris Schuring and Richard Lietz piloting the No. 91 Manthey EMA 911 GT3 R to victory in the class’s introduction. The team had a comfortable margin over the No. 31 Team WRT BMW M4 GT3 of Augusto Farfus, Darren Leung and Sean Geleal. It appeared early on that the sister WRT BMW was in with a shot of victory for Valentino Rossi, Maxime Martin and Ahmad Al Harthy, but the No. 46 ended its day in a gravel trap.

Proton Competition’s Fords shocked with their performance and reliability, both of which had been largely absent in previous rounds of the World Endurance Championship, to not only claim the first podium for the Mustang GT3 but back it up with a fourth-place finish as well. It was the No. 88 of Dennis Olsen, Mikkel Pedersen and Giorgio Roda claiming the podium over Christopher Mies, Ben Tuck and John Hartshorne in the No. 44 Mustang GT3.

Full reports to follow.

HOUR 24 STANDINGS

LM24 Hour 11: Toyota extends lead while LMP2s and LMGT3s clash

The Le Mans 24 Hours has finally settled into somewhat of a rhythm after the 11th hour. Up front, Sebastien Buemi in the No. 8 Toyota has turned the wick up and found a way to pull away from Andre Lotterer’s No. 6 Porsche during the hour. The Swiss …

The Le Mans 24 Hours has finally settled into somewhat of a rhythm after the 11th hour.

Up front, Sebastien Buemi in the No. 8 Toyota has turned the wick up and found a way to pull away from Andre Lotterer’s No. 6 Porsche during the hour.

The Swiss driver extended the gap from 8s to over 20s before pitting the car for a 15th time for full service.

Heading into the 12th hour, the gap is currently 16s, with Lotterer now closer with a quicker stop, taking no tires.

Third in the running is the No. 7 Toyota which lost time due to getting held into a slow zone. Kamui Kobayashi has been pushing hard but is 1m 41s off the lead now, slowly falling back.

Cadillac’s No. 2 and the No. 50 Ferrari complete the top five.

In LMP2, drama struck one of the front runners 45 minutes in.

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Just as Nielsen Racing had established itself as a contender for the class win, David Heinemeier Hansson made a clumsy error while trying to lap a slower car. The Dane, who was running second in class at the time, dived up the inside of the heavily delayed No. 77 Proton Competition Mustang at the Esses, hitting Zach Robichon into a spin, sending them both into the gravel.

The time it took to recover the ORECA saw it drop to ninth and off the lead lap. The team’s chances of glory are all but over now.

Nielsen’s misfortune promoted the No. 22 United ORECA to second, with Oliver Jarvis now 90s back from the leading No. 183 AF Corse example.

If the No. 22 drivers find a way to keep it clean, they are in strong position, as the car ahead is entered in Pro/Am and therefore needs to be driven by Bronze-rated Francois Perrodo in later in the race.

The No. 10 Vector Sport ORECA is third.

LMGT3’s running order still sees both Manthey-run Porsches occupying space in the top three through most of each hour, but the No. 91 Manthey EMA Porsche pitting late on saw it drop to fourth.

By the turn of the hour, the No. 59 United Autosports McLaren LMGT3 EVO had cycled through to the lead, holding a 7s advantage over the No. 92 Pure Rxcing Porsche, which is 6s back with Alex Malykhin in and edging closer to completing his six-hour drive time.

The next hour looks to be bringing yet more rain showers.

HOUR 11 STANDINGS TO COME

LM24 Hour 10: Lead battle heats up with Porsche running down Toyota

With 14 hours remaining in the 2024 Le Mans 24 Hours, we have ourselves a nose-to-tail lead battle to enjoy between two storied OEMs. The No. 8 Toyota, after taking the lead in the previous hour, continues to hold station up front, but for Sebastien …

With 14 hours remaining in the 2024 Le Mans 24 Hours, we have ourselves a nose-to-tail lead battle to enjoy between two storied OEMs.

The No. 8 Toyota, after taking the lead in the previous hour, continues to hold station up front, but for Sebastien Buemi, the pressure is on with Laurens Vanthoor getting within a couple of seconds in the No. 6 Porsche Penske 963.

It hasn’t come to blows just yet, but Vanthoor managed to bring the gap down from 11s to 1.3s in the hour before handing over to Andre Lotterer at the car’s 14th stop. The German is now 8s behind as he gets his tires up to temperature.

The No. 7 Toyota remains third, more than a minute adrift and unable at this stage to gain significant ground with Kamui Kobayashi in the car.

Further back, the battle for fourth came alive over the past 60 minutes, with Earl Bamber briefly getting past Antonio Fuoco’s No. 50 Ferrari in the No. 2 Cadillac.

Fuoco retook the position but couldn’t shake off the Kiwi, who is likely to be under investigation shortly for turning the Isotta Fraschini round at the Ford Chicane.

LMP2 is being led all of a sudden by the No. 813 AF Corse Pro/Am-entered ORECA, IMSA regular Ben Barnicoat and Nico Varrone proving rapid prospects as the temperature trackside drops to 12 degrees.

Nielsen Racing’s surprising rise continues as its No. 24 entry sits second, with the No. 10 Vector ORECA third. All three are within 25s of each other.

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Up front in LMGT3, mid-pit cycle at the turn of the hour, is the No. 59 United McLaren, which now leads the No. 78 AKKODIS ASP Lexus of Kelvin van der Linde and the No. 91 Manthey EMA Porsche.

Making it two Lexus RC F LMGT3s in the top four is Takeshi Kimura in the No. 87. The No. 92 Pure Rxcing Porsche will shuffle back to the top three from fifth at the start of hour 11 as cars ahead pit.

There was one car forced into retirement during the hour in the class. Salih Yoluc in the No. 66 JMW Motorsport Ferrari pulled off the circuit with no power and was promptly retired.

After such a strong week, and a metronomic run through the first nine hours, this retirement will come as a crushing disappointment for the longstanding British team.

There was also a tangle in the class — the No. 155 Spirit of Race Ferrari of Jordan Taylor and No. 59 United Autosports McLaren of Gregoire Saucy came together at the first chicane.

A hit to the rear of the Ferrari turned Taylor into a spin and into the gravel. The United McLaren continued in fourth but the Ferrari has since dropped off the lead lap, unable to get fired.

On the subject of BMW’s tough day, WRT team boss Vincent Vosse released a statement after two of his team’s four cars have been forced to retire.

“Le Mans has been very tough to us so far,” he said. “Having car No. 20 in the garage after contact with the wall, having car No. 15 out of the race, which was then followed some hours later by car No. 46 also marking-up a DNF, is a hard one to swallow.

“Luckily all drivers are okay. But how can we not be disappointed? As we all know, Le Mans is the big one, but we will fight back.

“Car No. 31 is still running and we are hoping to fight for a podium — a well-deserved one for the crew that has been working tirelessly for the past two weeks.”

HOUR 10 STANDINGS

LM24 Hour 9: Green, plus Ferrari penalty and more BMW woes

With the race returning to green in the ninth hour, the 92nd edition of the Le Mans 24 Hours has come alive, with the cars on the lead lap in each class bunched up and another bout of rain throwing a wrench in the works. The No. 83 Ferrari led at …

With the race returning to green in the ninth hour, the 92nd edition of the Le Mans 24 Hours has come alive, with the cars on the lead lap in each class bunched up and another bout of rain throwing a wrench in the works.

The No. 83 Ferrari led at the restart, but Robert Kubica and every car bar the No. 5 Porsche and No. 311 Whelen Cadillac dived straight in for wets.

Staying out on slicks proved to be a mistake. The No. 5 Porsche, after inheriting the lead, dropped down to 11th, while the No. 311 ended up falling to 12th and last of the cars on the lead lap with Pipo Derani struggling to keep the pace.

Kubica retook the lead off Fred Makowiecki for the No. 83 crew with ease on wets, but moments later was handed a 30s stop-go penalty for causing the collision that led to the No. 15 WRT BMW crashing out of the race. The infraction dropped the car to sixth.

After all this, the No. 8 Toyota Gazoo Racing GR010 HYBRID suddenly leads the race, with Ryo Hirakawa holding station with a 17s gap back to Laurens Vanthoor in the No. 6 Penske Porsche.

The No. 7 Toyota completes the top three, and for this trio, the comeback is complete after they all lost time to tire gambles early in the race.

Cadillac occupies fourth with the No. 2, with the No. 50 Ferrari completing the top five.

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LMP2, meanwhile, saw drama for Duqueine Team’s ORECA punctuate the hour. Jean-Baptiste Simmenauer stopped the car with the rear end smoking, the car’s engine seemingly overheating under the safety car — an on-the-spot retirement.

Out front, the No. 37 COOL Racing ORECA finds itself back in the lead, rapid Dane Malthe Jakobsen installed for what is easily the toughest sequence of the race yet, with the night hours underway and parts of the track drying.

The No. 24 Nielsen Racing example, since the Safety Car, has climbed to second with 2023 class winner Fabio Scherer now lapping the circuit. The No. 183 Pro/Am leading entry with Ben Barnicoat at the wheel is third.

LMGT3 saw one of the key contenders hit potentially terminal trouble.

The No. 46 Team WRT BMW, with Bronze-rated Ahmad Al Harthy at the wheel, ended up sliding off the circuit on the run down the hill after the Dunlop Bridge, hitting the tires nose first. The impact caused a water leak and the car plummeted down the order.

Al Harthy, who seemed a total passenger once the back end stepped out on him, was understandably mortified on the team radio: “It just slipped on me. Not again, oh my God, guys,” he said.

The car was retired just into the tenth hour, ending the charge for Valentino Rossi in his first Le Mans start — a crying shame after he led a portion of the opening hours. It also adds to BMW’s woes. The German marque’s only chance of success rests with the No. 31 M4 LMGT3 in 10th, as both its Hypercars have been knocked out of contention.

This leaves the Manthey Pure Rxcing Porsche out front in the lead, with the No. 88 Proton Mustang now back into the fray with Dennis Olsen trying to reel in Klaus Bachler.

Manthey EMA’s Porsche is third.

With conditions treacherous, tire choice is set to be crucial going forward as the field gradually switches back to slicks.

HOUR 9 STANDINGS

LM24 Hour 8: Continued safety car as Proton LMP2 retires

With the safety car lasting the entire hour due to barrier repairs for the No. 15 BMW shunt, there was no on-track action to report on. Under safety car, there were some items of note, though. The No. 46 WRT BMW gave up the LMGT3 lead after coming …

With the safety car lasting the entire hour due to barrier repairs for the No. 15 BMW shunt, there was no on-track action to report on.

Under safety car, there were some items of note, though.

The No. 46 WRT BMW gave up the LMGT3 lead after coming in for a brake change under the caution. This dropped Ahmad Al Harthy to second.

Proton Competition’s No. 9 ORECA retired after losing power and stopping in the Porsche Curves during the sixth hour. There are now five cars out of the race — the No. 54 AF Corse Ferrari (crash damage), No. 35 Alpine (engine failure), No. 9 Proton (mechanical), No. 36 Alpine (engine failure) and No. 15 WRT BMW (crash damage).

Once the race gets going again, the top 12 cars in Hypercar will be on the lead lap, all bunched up, as well as the top seven in LMP2 and top 12 in LMGT3.

The No. 83 AF Corse Ferrari leads overall, the No. 22 United Autosports ORECA now leads LMP2 and Pure Rxcing’s Porsche is up front in LMGT3.

The safety car period looks set to end in the ninth hour. Once it does, this race could produce more of a fireworks display than the one currently ongoing in the infield.

HOUR 8 STANDINGS

LM24 Hour 7: Safety car greets nightfall after heavy BMW incident

With rain, tire strategy gambles, crashes, mechanical issues and the first safety car period of the race, the seventh hour of the 2024 Le Mans 24 Hours had it all. The safety car made its first appearance after a big shunt on the run down to …

With rain, tire strategy gambles, crashes, mechanical issues and the first safety car period of the race, the seventh hour of the 2024 Le Mans 24 Hours had it all.

The safety car made its first appearance after a big shunt on the run down to Mulsanne Corner.

Dries Vanthoor in the No. 15 Team WRT BMW M Hybrid V8 skipped the second chicane on his out lap, struggling on cold tires. When he rejoined, he was promptly nudged while being passed by the race-leading No. 83 AF Corse Ferrari of Robert Kubica as the two cars were passing the Pure Rxcing Porsche.

The contact sent Vanthoor veering off the circuit, nose-first into the barriers, ripping the front end off the car. The Belgian briefly got going, but with the front wheels not pointing in the right direction, quickly stopped again to retire the car.

A total of three Hypercars are now out, and the safety car came out to clean up the debris and repair the barriers. As for BMW’s challenge, the “Art Car” is still technically in the running but is currently in the garage and 16 laps off the lead. The car has already had a rear driveshaft change, a rear brake change and is currently undergoing work to its rear and floor.

Under safety car, the No. 83 AF Corse leads the race, with the No. 5 Porsche of Fred Makowiecki second and the No. 8 Toyota third.

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In LMP2 the No. 37 COOL Racing ORECA leads despite suffering a spin at pit-in, costing the car precious time. The No. 22 United ORECA is up to second, while the Vector Sport car dropped from first to third after pitting under the Safety Car.

LMGT3, meanwhile, is led by the No. 46 BMW once again, with Pure Rxcing second and the Heart of Racing Aston Martin up to third after a gradual fightback following the team’s early tire gamble.

Beyond the incident for the No. 15 BMW, there was another significant incident when Claudio Schiavoni in the No. 60 Iron Lynx Lamborghini, with part of the circuit wet from a passing shower, ended up in the barriers past the second chicane after putting the power down too early on the corner exit.

Sebastian Bourdais also had an off-track excursion, at Indianapolis, though avoided contact with the barriers in the No. 3 Cadillac.

The No. 46 BMW of Maxime Martin and No. 23 United ORECA of Ben Hanley came together when the rain was at its heaviest. Both cars continued.

In pit lane, mechanical drama befell Inception Racing’s LMGT3 pole-sitting McLaren, which was pushed back into the garage with steam coming off the radiator.

Prior, in the rain, almost the entire Hypercar field came in for wet Michelins, except the No. 50 and No. 51 factory Ferraris. The team was certain the rain would pass. Unfortunately for the Italians, it didn’t before the No. 51 fell off the lead lap, struggling for pace.

With the wave-around process during the safety car, the No. 51 is back in the fight, though. The top 12 are now on the lead lap as we await the restart.

HOUR 7 STANDINGS

LM24, Hour 13: Crash shakes up the LMP2 battle; Toyota leads overall

A crash for Cool Racing’s No. 47 ORECA 07 broke up what was an otherwise quiet hour of running at the Le Mans 24 Hours. Reshad De Gerus was running third in LMP2 when he went off at the entry into the Porsche Curves, smacking the front of the car …

A crash for Cool Racing’s No. 47 ORECA 07 broke up what was an otherwise quiet hour of running at the Le Mans 24 Hours. Reshad De Gerus was running third in LMP2 when he went off at the entry into the Porsche Curves, smacking the front of the car against the tire barrier before whipping around to do even more damage to the rear.

Apart from De Gerus’ off, it was an uneventful hour as the Hypercar battle settled down with the No. 8 Toyota GR010 of Brendon Hartley in control of the race after Toyota entered its second stint on its current set of tires. The No. 2 Cadillac V-Series.R currently leads but will drop down to third once it completes its pitstop and the Toyota of Hartley we reassume the lead of the race.

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Ferrari’s No. 51 499P changed its Michelins, and driver, with Antonio Giovinazzi now behind the wheel after the latest stop and running third, although will be promoted to second once the No. 2 Cadillac completes its imminent pitstop.

In LMP2, the No. 34 Inter Europol Competition ORECA (main image) climbed back up to the lead of the class after dropping down to fifth at the end of the last hour. Like always, LMP2 remains remarkably close and hard to predict at this stage of the race.

Like the previous hour, the No. 85 Iron Dames Porsche 911 RSR of Sarah Bovy controlled the lead of GTE Am but pitted just before the top of the hour. That meant that the No. 57 Kessel Racing Ferrari 488 inherited the lead of the class.

HOUR 13 RUNNING ORDER

LM24, Hour 8: Heartbreak for No. 7 Toyota and others at Tertre Rouge

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 …

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 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.

HOUR 8 STANDINGS