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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.
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 all happening in the pits for the Hypercar class. The #3 Cadillac stops and has its front bodywork replaced, while the #93 Peugeot has rejoined still in P5 after that quick visit to the garage.
Before Scherer can serve his penalty, Deletraz pits his WRT and is replaced in the cockpit by Kubica.
In comes the GTE leader. Varrone stays in the cars but is passed by the Iron Dames entry, with Bovy at the wheel.
Pit stop
Hartley pits again for the #8 Toyota. No new tyres, though, which means they are triple-stinting the current set. Could that be crucial come the end of the race in just over three hours?
The Inter Europol entry pits as Scherer gets out to handover to Costa. The #34 returns to the track still in the lead of LMP2 but must still serve the penalty.
Pit stop
On schedule, the #51 Ferrari pits with Calado still at the wheel and rejoins back in the lead.
There is now confusion as to whether Inter Europol has served its penalty correctly, with the suggestion being that this should have happened instead of a full pitstop on that trip through the lane.
With the GTE pit shuffle completed once more, it is the Corvette that leads the Iron Dames by 10s. The ORT Aston Martin is 30s further back.
Hartley told by his engineer that the gap to Calado is 10s. An incredibly small gap given we've done nearly 21 hours of racing.
Inter Europol has now taken its penalty, with the lead down to 16s.
Pit stop
Alex Lynn pits the #2 Cadillac from third. It has been an impressive run for the car, which is just one lap down on the leaders but well clear of the sister #3 machine.
The Corvette is making its claim for GTE class victory with Varrone steadily extending his lead over Bovy. The margin is now 18.5s.
Pit stop
The #94 Peugeot, which was running P10 overall, is wheeled back into the garage. Hopefully a quick fix as we'd seen from the sister machine earlier.
The #65 Panis Racing LMP2 entry currently driven by Manuel Maldonado has been warned for abusing track limits. With three hours remaining, there is a strong potential for a penalty.
Approaching the final three hours of this amazing race, Calado in the #51 Ferrari has a lead of some 13s over the #8 Toyota of Hartley.
The GTE gap has extended to 20s. With the margin back to P3 remaining steady, this is only highlighting the impressive job of Varrone in the Corvette.
Hartley replies with a simple "yes" when asked if he could do four stints behind the wheel. He's committed to chasing down the Ferrari as much as possible.
Three hours to go, and the leading Hypercar order is:
1. #51 Ferrari
2. #8 Toyota
3. #2 Cadillac
4. #3 Cadillac
5. #93 Peugeot
1. #51 Ferrari
2. #8 Toyota
3. #2 Cadillac
4. #3 Cadillac
5. #93 Peugeot
The LMP2 order with three hours remaining:
- #34 Inter Europol
- #41 WRT
- #48 IDEC Sport
- #Duqueine Team
- #31 WRT
And in GTE:
- #33 Corvette Racing
- #85 Iron Dames
- #25 ORT by TF
- #56 Project 1-AO
- #54 AF Corse
Information on the #34 Inter Europol penalty. It appears this penalty was awarded for something that happened at 8pm last night!
Another change of control now, as Stefan and I bid farewell and hand you over to Haydn Cobb and Richard Asher.
Afternoon all, thanks Sam and Stefan for that wonderful stint. So, three hours to go in this intriguing Le Mans 24 Hours and the fight for victory in every class is still very much alive.
Thanks guys, Richard here on LMP2 and GTE Am duty. Expecting next round of GTE Am stops shortly. Pink before yellow, if everything stays on schedule. Current gap between the Corvette and the Porsche is 23 seconds.
The gap at the front between Calado and Hartley is at 15s, as the cat and mouse game continues between the two heavyweights Ferrari and Toyota.
Very similar story in LMP2 as far as the lead fight is concerned, we have a gap of 23s in the scrap between Albert Costa and Robert Kubica. Hopefully it's a straight duel to the flag no, with no further drive-throughs intervening!
Dame Sarah Bovy is in on schedule as the pink Porsche chases history at Le Mans. Michelle Gatting climbs aboard.
Mechanical problem
The #93 Peugeot is back in the garage with further issues, it hasn't been a smooth run at Le Mans for that car but, amazingly, it is still fifth overall - for the time being at least.
Robert Kubica (Team WRT) and Manuel Maldonado (Panis Racing) are in to kick off the latest set of LMP2 stops for the front-runners.
Having lost touch with the leaders, it has been a low-key couple of hours for the #2 Cadillac sitting in third with a lap advantage over the sister #3 car, which has just pitted. Assume it holds station, it will be Caddy's first podium of the season, so that'll provide a silver lining.
Pit stop
Van der Zande has a rear-end change for the #3 Cadillac in its pitstop and loses a few seconds but is still able to get going back in fourth place.
Pit stop
The Toyota stops for fuel and new medium tyres as Hartley stays put in the car for an additional stint as expected.
Albert Costa (Inter Europol), Paul Loup Chatin (IDEC Sport) and Neel Jani (Duqueine) also complete their LMP2 stops. No big change to the lead gap after that set of stops, with Costa heading Robert Kubica by 22s.
Charlie Eastwood, the fastest driver in the ORT by TF Aston Martin, has jumped into the mustard-coloured #25 car. Can he get on terms with the Corvette and the Iron Dames Porsche up ahead?
Pit stop
A lap later the lead Ferrari pits for fuel, new medium tyres and a driver change, as Calado hops out to make way for Giovinazzi. This could be the biggest stint of the Italian's career.
After the pitstops for the leaders the gap has moulded into 14.8s between Giovinazzi out front and the chasing Hartley. The battles continues.
The Corvette pits from the lead of GTE Am, handing over to Nicky Catsburg. That completes this round of GTE Am stops. All the front-runners should easily get home with two stops from here, but the 'Vette is pitting about five laps later than the Iron Dames and three laps after the ORT by TF Aston. What implications might that have if there's a safety car or similar?
Pit stop
The #2 Cadillac makes a regulation pitstop from a lonely third place - a lap behind the leaders and a lap ahead of its sister car in fourth.
A shoutout to the Glickenhaus runners, circulating in seventh and eighth and haven't had too many major troubles so far. They are currently ahead of both Peugeots and on for a very respectable result.
The GTE Am lead has swollen significantly since it became Catsburg versus Gatting. It's out to 54 seconds. Things look good for the Corvette as it looks to beat the Iron Dames Porsche and complete an outstanding comeback.
By: Autosport Staff
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