Le Mans | 8th hour: SC protagonist, Ferrari in command but investigated

The sun has set giving way to night, one of the most exciting moments of Le Mans. The last two hours, from 10pm to midnight, were divided into two different sections, one of action on the track with the doubtful rain and one behind the Safety Cars for over an hour.

After inheriting the wheel from Yifei Ye, Robert Kubica with the #83 Ferrari returned to the track with a minute’s lead over the #5 Porsche, maintaining the lead of the race gained in the early stages of the race, but focusing on the wets due to the risk rain which, for a brief moment, seemed to be able to change the scenarios.

A risk that actually pushed several teams to try the wet tire card but, as before, the downpour proved to be rather rapid, so much so that the same Ferrari #83 then returned to the pits to fit a slick again, more in the I specify the soft one, the most suitable given the decreasing temperatures during the night.

This, however, did not affect the leadership of the AF Corse private Ferrari, which remained in front once again in front of the #5 Porsche which, in the meantime, had also made a driver change, leaving room for Frederic Makowiecki. Toyota #8 also took advantage of the confusion and, with Ryo Hirakawa, climbed up to third place, putting behind the two Ferraris #50 and #51 separated by the first Cadillac, the #2 with Alex Lynn sixth after replacing Alex Palou , protagonist of an excellent stint.

However, the twist came around 10.35pm, when a contact between Ferrari #83 and BMW #15 put the German car out of action. In an attempt to lap a Porsche GT3, which was moving towards the left side of the road, Kubica moved towards its right, but hit the BMW, which in turn ended up against the barriers with damage that forced Dries Vanthoor to abandon his car on the side of the track. Commissioners confirmed that the incident is under investigation.

However, this pushed the race direction to bring in the safety car to repair the barriers damaged by the accident, with a neutralization period still underway, even though it has reached phase 3 of 4, i.e. the pass around . The last hour and a half then flew by behind the Safety Car, waiting for the completion of the barrier and the entire procedure divided into four phases.

#15 BMW M Team WRT BMW M Hybrid V8: Dries Vanthoor, Raffaele Marciello, Marco Wittmann.

Photo by: Marc Fleury

In the top ten in the Hypercar class we also find the Jota #12 with Norman Nato at the wheel, followed by the Toyota #7 and the Cadillac 311. Outside the top ten are the Lamborghinis as well as the Peugeots, while it is a race to forget for now for BMW: beyond the withdrawal of the #15, the #20, already the protagonist despite itself of a previous accident, is still in the pits.

In the LMP2 class, United Autosport #22 is currently leading the category ahead of Nielsen Racing #24. The pit stop waltz caused Cool Racing and Vector Sport, who had previously competed for the lead in the category, to slip back. Fifth is “Spike”, the car #14 of Team AO, which in turn precedes the AF Corse #183 and the Inter Europol 134 which was trying to recover after the problem suffered before 8pm which saw Novalak return to the pits without the right front tire.

In LMGT3 Porsche took the lead again, with the #92 of Manthey Purexcing ahead of the #46 BMW WRT. Valentino Rossi, after his first stint at the 24 Hours of Le Mans, once again left the wheel to Ahmad Al Harthy, previously the author of an excellent performance which had also led him to temporarily gain the lead of the race in the GT class.

Third was the Lexus #87 of the Akkodis team, preceding the Lamborghini #85 of the Iron Dames. Fifth was the first Mustang, the #88 of the Proton team which preceded the #59 McLaren. To find the first Aston Martin you have to go down to eighth position with the #27 of the Heart Of Racing team, while the first Ferrari 296 is in a well-known position, with the #155 of Spirit of Race.

FIA WEC – 24h of Le Mans: LIVE ranking