Sixth hour completed at the 24 Hours of Le Mans, but everything is still to be experienced while the sun occasionally tries to make its way through the clouds that continue to threaten rain on the Circuit de la Sarthe.
As we prepare to enter the hours of darkness, which could also be wet according to rather uncertain forecasts, the race continues with Ferrari, Toyota and Porsche fully fighting each other for the top, while Cadillac has lost some ground.
A couple of Full Course Yellows and Slow Zones decreed in the last 120′ saw someone commit infringements, running into Drive Through: we are talking about the Toyota #7, Isotta Fraschini, Ferrari 296 #66, Mustang #77 and Duqueine #30, as well as the Porsche #4 which was subsequently punished for brutally closing the line at the ‘Porsche’ corners on the #85 Lamborghini of the Iron Dames, sending the innocent Sarah Bovy into a spin causing her to lose 3rd place in LMGT3.
In the Hypercar Class the Ferraris continue to remain in front: the private #83 of AF Corse performed a triple stint on soft tires (also suffering from a small problem which was later resolved) and has just under 20″ of margin on the official #50, which at behind him he sees the Porsche #5 of Team Penske remaining.
An excellent performance in these last laps was given by the Toyota #8 with Brendon Hartley, who also came close to the best lap in the race and recovered precious seconds from the leaders, having handed over the wheel to Ryo Hirakawa with 45″ to make up, when he had over 70 previously.
The Ferrari #51 is instead fifth with half a lap behind, followed 17″ by the Porsches #12 and #38 of Team Jota. With the penalty discounted, the Toyota #7 has instead fallen to eighth place, now fighting with the Porsche #6, while the Cadillacs #2 and #311 of CGR and AXR are in 10th and 11th place, within range of the cars in front of them.
The Lamborghinis had managed to get back on top, also involved in a double spin on cold tires with Daniil Kvyat and Matteo Cairoli, but at the moment they are back in 16th and 17th place.
Disaster instead at Alpine: on the #35 the engine literally exploded and Ferdinand Habsburg had to park and run away to ‘Arnage’, while shortly afterwards it was Nicolas Lapierre’s turn to return to the pits to fix problems on his #36.
For the moment the Peugeots in 15th and 18th place are impalpable, the Isotta Fraschini is still 20th and for now maintains its pace constantly.
#3 Cadillac Racing Cadillac V-SeriesR: Sebastien Bourdais, Renger Van Der Zande, Scott Dixon
Photo by: Alexander Trienitz
In the LMP2 Class, Cool Racing’s Oreca #37 leads with a small margin over Vector Sport #10 and United Autosports #22.
The Proton Competition #9 had instead gained fourth place against the Nielsen Racing #24, but had a problem at the end of the hour stopping at the Porsche curves, therefore ceded the Top5 to the Idec Sport #28, which was followed by the AO by TF #14 ‘Spike’ which is leader of the PRO/AM subcategory, where in second place is the #183 of AF Corse in second place and the Duqueine #30.
In LMGT3, Valentino Rossi had an excellent first stint, taking over the #46 BMW, becoming leader and keeping a constant pace without making any mistakes.
The ‘Doctor’, who made way for Maxime Martin, was ahead of the menacing Porsches of Manthey PureRxcing #92 and Manthey EMA #91, who were followed by the Aston Martin #27 of Heart of Racing and the Ferrari #55 of AF Corse .
Further behind are the McLarens of United Autosports and Inception Racing.
But be careful because another disruption is on the way and things could change quickly.
FIA WEC – 24h of Le Mans: LIVE ranking
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