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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In a dangerous development, Autosport has broken out the first of the Toblerone triple pack.
Mechanical problem
Problems for Corvette! Catsburg is wheeled into the garage.
Pit stop
It's good news for Cadillac as Aitken's stricken V-Series.R returns to the fray after about an hour and 15 minutes in the pits following his first-lap crash. But he's some 16 laps down on the leaders so it's going to be a long old race from here.
The front-right corner appears to be the issue on the GTE Am points-leading C8.R. We believe it's a damper issue.
Crash
Heavy crash for the Nielsen LMP2 of Rodrigo Sales into the first chicane. He speared off to the right of the road as the Bamber-driven Cadillac closed up behind him.
Incredibly, Sales has kept the engine running. He reverses a few metres, but the right-front corner is completely gone. Surely, he won't be able to get that back will he?
Yellow flag
No sign of a safety car just yet, but there is a slow zone in place.
We have a slow zone at the scene of that crash and things have closed up at the front of the overall order as Bourdais closes on Nielsen.
Pit stop
And the two leaders now use this slow zone to make a pitstop and Nielsen hands over to Hyperpole star Fuoco.
The Garage 56 NASCAR has made its first pitstop, with Jimmie Johnson getting in. The lengthier stop means it has dropped back into the GTE Am pack.
Riberas has jumped back into the Heart of Racing/Northwest AMR Aston that Ian James took over during the safety car. But bonnet damage means he's coming slowly back to the pits.
To confirm our suspicions, it's day done for Nielsen, as Sales's car is lifted off the track with right-front wheel missing and fluids gushing from its underbelly.
After those stops, it's now the #8 Toyota of Buemi that has moved back into the lead from the #51 Ferrari of Calado with Bamber third in the #2 Cadillac. Vanthoor in the #6 Porsche means it's currently four different manufacturers in the top four.
Crash
Another crash, and it's a big hit for Ricky Taylor in the delayed Tower Motorsports ORECA. He's into the barriers on the approach to the first Mulsanne Chicane.
Pit stop
Buemi now pits from the lead in the #8 Toyota during this slow zone, while the sister #7 also dives in as does the #6 Porsche of Vanthoor.
Corvette is back into the race after spending 9 minutes and 45 seconds in the pits, at a cost of two laps.
Calado is now the leader in the #51 Ferrari having only pitted once, from the Cadillac of Earl Bamber and the two factory Porsches yet to stop for a second time.
At the last round of stops in GTE Am, Picariello climbed out of the Iron Lynx Porsche that had been running second and handed over to bronze Claudio Schiavone. Tincknell also handed over to Don Yount, with both dropping back as a result. It's a Porsche top four at the moment, with Cairoli's Project 1 example heading Ben Barker (GR), Rahel Frey (Dames) and Richard Lietz (Proton).
Jimmie Johnson in the Camaro is behind the top four GTE Am runners after his first stop, then it's the best of the Ferraris - the Kessel example with Cozzolino at the wheel. He's followed by Rigon, Yount (Proton Porsche) and Jeff Segal's Walkenhorst Ferrari.
Following a six minute delay in the pits addressing its broken bonnet, the NorthWest Aston has rejoined the circuit and is like the Corvette two laps down on the GTE Am leaders.
No new Michelins there for either Toyota. They got fresh rubber last time when the team reacted to the rising temperatures and change tyre strategy.
Pit stop
Calado is now pitting from the lead in the #51 Ferrari as much of the circuit is currently being covered by slow zones. The #93 Peugeot of di Resta also stops.
Crash
Goodness, another accident exiting the Dunlop Chicane. It's a two-car incident with Ulysse de Pauw's #21 GTE Am Ferrari involved.
Replays show Bourdais in the #3 Caddy was thumped from behind and spun around. But its not yet clear whether Bourdais was hit by de Pauw or the #55 GMB Aston of Gustav Birch which is also stopped by the side of the road. Bourdais has continued but has damage to the rear of his car.
While Bourdais' Caddy is in strife, one of the others - the #2 in the hands of Bamber - is now the leader following that flurry of Hypercar stops.
We've not updated the LMP2 order for a little while. Kubica leads Milesi, who now appears to be back on sequence in the Signatech car. Fittipaldi has moved up to third, while early leader Chatin lost 20 seconds in the pits and has dropped to eighth.
Pit stop
Sure enough, Bourdais now pits and has the damage assessed on the Cadillac. And it is rolled back into the garage with Bourdais exiting the car.
This episode is showing the value of the Slow Zones that the ACO introduced a few years back. They are essentially temporary virtual safety cars in which the cars are limited to 80km/h that do away with the need for a safety car proper.
We've not seen a replay of what happened to cause Bourdais to come into the pits, other than from a forward camera on the Caddy that was rear-ended by either de Pauw or Birch. Both the Ferrari and Aston remain stranded by the roadside with heavy frontal damage.
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"It was a tricky stint with the first chicane down in Mulsanne completely wet," says Mike Rockenfeller of his first stint in the Garage 56 NASCAR. He reports that "the car feels good" but is struggling for balance as Hendrick predicted there would be more rain.
The Porsches continue to squabble among themselves in Hypercar with the Jota car of da Costa just blasting past Vanthoor for fifth.
Scott Dixon has now taken over from Bourdais as the Caddy that was caught up in that GTE Am crash returns to the track.
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It's a gutting early end to the race for the Nielsen team that ran fifth in LMP2 during the the early laps with Beche at the wheel. The team confirms Sales is okay after this clash with the barriers.
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Renger van der Zande has blasted de Pauw for crashing into the Bourdais' Cadillac during that recent incident entering the slow zone, describing the Ferrari driver's actions as "unacceptable".
Rigon has claimed fifth in GTE Am from Cozzolino, but has some ground to make up on the battle for third up ahead between Frey and Lietz.
Here's an image showing the damage on the #3 Cadillac after that GTE Am hit.
Damage to the #3 Cadillac Racing Cadillac V-Series.R of Sebastien Bourdais, Renger Van Der Zande, Scott Dixon
Photo by: Rainier Ehrhardt
Da Costa has a big lock-up into Mulsanne Corner but is able to maintain that lead over Vanthoor after passing the fellow Porsche a few laps ago.
One to keep an eye on in the GTE Am class, the pitstop of AF Corse's #83 Ferrari during the handover from Alessio Rovera to Luis Perez-Companc is under investigation.
Pit stop
Further back in the Hypercar class, there is trouble for one of the garagiste cars as the Vanwall has entered the garage with a possible rear suspension. Yet another of the cars in this race to have hit trouble.
Pit stop
Having spent quite a while in the lead, Bamber now pits the #2 Caddy so joins the majority of the Hypercar runners in having made two stops. The two cars that haven't, the #5 and #75 Porsches, now lead. But Buemi in the #8 Toyota in effect has the lead.
By: Autosport Staff
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