Tag: Le Mans 24 Hour

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