Le Mans 24 Hours: Porsche ahead overall, Corvette takes GTE lead

Nick Tandy continued to lead the race by a comfortable margin in the #19 car that has led for several hours, while a rapid stint from Timo Bernhard after he jumped in the #17 car gave him a pitstop in hand over the #9 Audi driven by Rene Rast. He took that stop just before the completion of the hour.

There was a minor drama for the leading #19 Porsche when Tandy and the #7 Audi of Marcel Fassler made minor side-to-side contact while passing through a slow zone on the start/finish straight.

Tandy appeared to be moving over to give himself a clear shot past a GTE car for when the track went back to green, but Fassler had pulled almost alongside him at the start of the slow zone and the two made contact, before the Audi pulled ahead as they cleared the caution area.

The incident was only small, but it was placed under investigation by the stewards shortly before the top of the hour.

LMP2

A mystery problem for Richard Bradley in the #47 KCMG ORECA significantly reduced his LMP2 advantage.

The Briton was over four minutes ahead of the #26 G-Drive Ligier of Julien Canal before the ORECA ground to a halt for two-and-a-half minutes.

Bradley has now returned to the track and is lapping at a pace similar to his LMP2 rivals, suggesting the problem has been rectified. A recent pitstop means his current advantage is just 30 seconds.

Behind Canal, Oliver Turvey and then Mitch Evans in the #38 Jota Gibson have closed in on the second-placed car as they have consistently set quicker times.

Further back, there have been gearbox-related troubles for the seventh-placed #42 Strakka Dome, which has twice ground to a halt at the side of the track.

GTE

Corvette beat Ferrari in a wheel-to-wheel battle in the pitlane to snatch the lead of GTE Pro.

Having started the hour behind the #71 AF Corse-run 458 Italia, Oliver Gavin handed the C7.R over to Tommy Milner and the American was released alongside the Toni Vilander in the pitlane.

Milner edged it, and proceeded to build a 10-second lead over the Finn in the Ferrari behind - surviving an investigation into the pit release in the process.

The #91 Porsche remains a lonely third, while Nicki Thiim's strong pace in the #95 Aston has moved it to within touching distance of the #71 Ferrari in the fight for fourth.

In GTE Am, Paul Dalla Lana got away with a trip across the gravel at the start of the hour.

Mathias Lauda is now in the #98 Aston, which leads the #72 SMP Ferrari by a minute and a half.

POSITIONS AFTER 19 HOURS