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24 Hours of Le Mans
Le Mans 24 Hours Live Commentary and Updates
Minute-by-minute updates for the 2023 Le Mans 24 Hours.
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The eagerly-anticipated centenary edition of the Le Mans 24 Hours is the first in which cars built to the new-for-2023 LMDh ruleset have been eligible to compete.
Toyota is seeking a sixth consecutive victory at the world's most famous endurance race, while Ferrari on its first factory effort in the top class in half a century and fellow returnee Porsche are gunning for their 10th and 20th victories respectively.
A field of 62 cars, including the Garage 56 NASCAR entry and 21 GTE Am machines on the category's Le Mans swansong, will take the start at the Circuit de la Sarthe at 4pm local time and race through the night.
Join us here for live updates throughout the race.
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It's tight in LMP2 at the minute, with Nicolas Pinot just over a second ahead of Reshad de Gerus, with Louis Deletraz just behind de Gerus. That's Duqueine leading Cool Racing leading Team WRT.
A round of pitstops had just been completed at the head of the field, along with driver changes. Those likely charged with handling the rising sun are Brendon Hartley in Toyota #8 and Antonio Giovinazzi in Ferrari #51. Richard Westbrook remains at the wheel of the #2 Cadillac.
I can report a little greyness in the sky over in Eastern Austria. That means new day will show its face over in Pays de la Loire soon!
Hartley is flying compared to the other leading Hypercars...he has pulled out 17 seconds on Giovinazzi! His last lap was three seconds quicker than the Italian's...
The #23 United Autosports car will get 5 seconds added at its next pitstop, having committed an infringement at a recent one. That's a car that's had enough trouble in the night - Olly Jarvis is currently at the wheel, 14th in class.
Crash
Whoops, the #47 LMP2 Cool Racing car of Reshad de Gerus has hit something hard - namely a barrier at the Porsche Curves! It's just arrived back in the pits with one light shining, thanks to much of the left side being smashed in. Into the garage it goes: so much for that car's time in the top three.
The gap is stable between Toyota and Ferrari at the front, with times now dropping into the low 3m30s. Happy Hour is very close...
That was a short-lived lead for Iron Dames in GTE Am, as they've just stopped and dropped to fourth. Scott Huffaker leads the fellow Ferrari of Davide Rigon at the front for the moment, but Rigon is charging...
The third-placed Cadillac currently driven by Richard Westbrook will get 5 seconds at its next stop for a 'technical infringement'
The leading Hypercars are in again - how fast a stint goes by in that class! It's still dark at La Sarthe for the moment, as Hartley and Giovinazzi head out to resume battle.
Rigon has indeed taken the lead from Huffaker in GTE Am - and the AF Corse man has now stretched it to 3 seconds. Iron Dames are up to third.
Albert Costa now leads the way in LMP2 for Inter Europol, with Tijmen van der Helm a couple of seconds back for Panis Racing.
Hartley's lead over Giovinazzi has been slashed to under 10s following the latest stops. There's not much in it on green flag lap times however, just a couple of tenths last time around.
Davide Rigon has handed back over to Thomas Flohr in GTE Am, which will halt that car's charge for the foreseeable future.
Albert Costa is stretching the #34 car's lead in LMP2. It's almost 10 seconds now, but he's not the fastest car on track. Paul Loup Chatin, currently 5th for IDEC Sport, is turning quick laps below the 3m40s mark at the moment.
We've just had a dip in lap times - right on cue with the dawn! Both Hartley and Giovinazzi are into the 3m29s bracket. The gap between them is 7 seconds - game on!
Giovanazzi is beginning to shade Hartley now. He's cut the Kiwi's lead to 3.5s. Earl Bamber is keeping an eye on all this in the third-placed Cadillac, which is still on the lead lap.
Daniel Serra has jumped into the #57 GTE Am Kessel Racing Ferrari, which drops the car to second behind Iron Dames for the moment. Meanwhile there is a flurry of stops in LMP2, where Fabio Scherer has taken over the #34 car from Albert Costa.
Having just handed over to Laurens Vanthoor following a triple stint, Andre Lotterer reports no major issues for the #6 Porsche. They're just hoping for a safety car to help them get back on the lead lap.
There's a spin! It's Nicolas Varrone in the troubled C#33 Chevrolet Corvette. He gets the yellow American car going again however.
Antonio Giovinazzi out, Alessandro Pier Guidi in! That's the news from Ferrari's leading contender, but there's no driver change at that round of stops for Toyota. Brendon Hartley now holds a 24s lead.
There's a yellow flag out in the woods as the #777 Aston Martin has stopped next to the track.
That yellow flag is now a slow zone.
Serra leads Michelle Gatting in GTE Am following the pink Porsche's latest stop, which saw Sarah Bovy jump out.
It's currently Louis Deletraz versus Fabio Scherer at the front of LMP2, the Team WRT and Inter Europol entries covered by under 10 seconds.
One slow zone gives way to another as there's a big crash for Jonas Ried in the #88 GTE Am Porsche. He lost it under braking for Indianapolis.
As the cleanup at Indianapolis goes on, Davide Rigon is back in the fourth-placed AF Corse GTE Am Ferrari. Serra still leads Gatting at the front of the class.
Ooh, some good welding footage! They're fixing the barrier at Indianapolis, producing a shower of sparks with their power tool.
Here's a look at the Ried crash that necessitated the work to the barriers.
Good battle on track for third in LMP2 at the moment. Paul Chatin Loup is trying to find a way around Nicolas Pino.
We understand that Ried is okay following his crash.
As that duo battling over third in LMP2 come into the pits, Robert Kubica has taken over the Team WRT car. Fabio Scherer (Inter Europol) currently leads him.
The Kubica car now leads LMP2 again following Scherer's latest stop, but the Team WRT entry will have a 10-second penalty at its next stop for causing an earlier collision with the #3 Cadillac.
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Ben Barnicoat has gotten the #80 AF Corse LMP2 entry onto the kerbs and speared into the barrier at Porsche Curves. He's out of the car and sitting with his head in his hands - it's going to be another retirement and a new slow zone.
Ryo Hirakawa is now aboard the lead Hypercar - he's just taken over fthe Toyota #8 from Brendon Hartley. Alessandro Pier Guidi continues in the second-placed #51 Ferrari, with a 17s deficit.
Kubica and Scherer are fighting hard for the lead in LMP2! You could barely have fitted a baguette between the two as they crawled their way impatiently through the last slow zone in the Porsche Curves.
The fight for third also goes on in LMP2: Chatin v Pino are neck-and-neck. This class is where the on-track entertainment is at the moment!
The #6 Porsche Hypercar has picked up a penalty following a pit stop infringement. It gets five seconds on its next pit visit.
By: Autosport Staff
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