The best start to a 24 Hours of Le Mans since time immemorial. Everything happens in the first quarter of the race, with duels, strategic challenges, rain, accidents and the Safety Car to continuously revolutionize the standings. With the arrival of night the race continues to see Ferrari and Toyota at the top of the standings, with the Porsche Penske #75 in comfortable third. In general, however, the great balance of pace between all the Hypercars increasingly portends an elimination Le Mans, where the winner will be whoever remains free from even the slightest inconvenience.
Hypercars: the first six hours
At the green flag the race was immediately neutralized due to the impact of Jack Aitken against the barriers, forcing the entry of the Safety Cars. Compromised race for Cadillac Action Express #311, which accumulates more than 16 laps behind. When hostilities resumed, the Toyotas, which had started on soft tyres, took the lead from the Ferraris which started on medium tyres, but as the laps went by and the initially wet stretch of track dried, the 499Ps began to make up ground. Difficult to draw any conclusions on the pace of the two expected protagonists, given that the first quarter of the race was conditioned by repeated neutralisations.
Sebastien Bourdais in the Cadillac #3 is involved in an accident with two GTEs, the Ferrari #21 of AF Corse and the Aston Martin #55 of GMB Motorsport. The two Gran Turismos have the worst, losing any chance of victory, while the Cadillac Dallara remains in the lead lap. After about three hours the rain returned to La Sarthe, causing numerous aquaplaning in the Porsche curves. In the whirlwind of the tire change the Peugeot #94 takes the lead, which in the dry still showed a pace not far from the competition. On the other hand, regret for the twin 9X8, the #93, with Jean Eric Vergne spinning under the Safety Car at Mulsanne on a damp track, getting stuck in the sand and losing two laps.
At the umpteenth return to the pits of the safety car, the Peugeot #94 lost its head, having postponed the return on slick tires as late as possible, but still managed to stay in the fight for the very first positions. He finds himself incredibly in command the Porsche Hertz Jota started from the back, but Yfei Ye hit the wall at the Porsche curves, damaging the rear end. Repairs cost the #38 four laps and, inevitably, the lead.
Hypercars, what to expect
Drawing up a ranking after six hours is impossible, given that all the teams are on completely staggered strategies regarding supplies. The two Ferraris travel side by side, followed about twenty seconds by the Peugeot #94, alternating at the head of the race with the two Toyotas based on the return to the pits. The cars at full speed are still oyyo, including the two official Cadillacs and the #75 Porsche. Drama for the Glickenhaus #709, with a respectable pace in the lead lap until 10pm when a technical failure forced her to slow down on the Hunaudieres. Regret also for the technical problem that occurred before the start of sister car #708, which was immediately relegated to a lap down.
The two Porsche Penske also show a delay. The #6 suffers from a right rear tire puncture, while the #5 experienced moments of panic, with a momentary loss of power. The #93 Peugeot is two laps down, while Vanwall shows deep pace gaps, while not accusing technical problems. Overall, however, there is a great pace balance between all the cars, especially between Toyota and Ferrari.
Lmp2
As in the premier class, even in the intermediate category the classification continues to be upset by repeated refueling at alternating times. They alternate in the top positions the WRT #41 of Deletraz-Kubica-Andrade, the #23 United Autosport of Pierson-Blomqvist-Jarvis and the #28 Jota of Rasmussen-Hanson-Fittipaldi. The positioning of the Inter Europol Competition #34 was also good, while the two Alpines led the first part of the race for a long time, showing an encouraging pace. Finally, AF Corse commands the Pro/Am classification.
GTE-Am
Immediately hit the scene in the Gran Turismo category. The super favorite Corvette is forced into an unscheduled stopa for replacing the right front shock absorber, losing two laps. An improbable but not impossible comeback begins for the Americans, so much so that after six hours the delay has already dropped to one lap. Also noteworthy is the accident in the final part of the circuit which involved the #60 Porsche of Iron Lynx and the #16 of Proton Competition, both out of the race. Drama, finally, for the Richard Mille Ferrari #83, forced to retire after a hydroplaning at the Porsche curves. With the arrival of night, the #85 Porsche of the Iron Dames, the #911 of Proton Competition and the Ferrari #54 of AF Corse alternated in the top positions.
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