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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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This safety car has come as a terrible blow for Muller in the #94 Peugeot as its 90-second lead will now be reduced to nothing. The #50 Ferrari, the #2 Caddy and then the #51 Ferrari are the next cars with the sole remaining #8 Toyota the last remaining car on the lead lap.
Before the safety car Scherer had an 8s lead in LMP2 over Kubica, but that will evaporate now. Barnicoat runs third, with Fittipaldi (Jota) fourth, Binder (Duqueine) fifth, then Jakobsen sixth (Cool), Allen (Algarve Pro) and Maldonado the last man on the lead lap for Panis Racing.
Pit stop
Gatting has stayed aboard the Iron Dames Porsche that runs second in GTE Am, while Rigon has also pitted and swapped back to Castelacci. Martin Rump takes over again from Richard Lietz.
Safety car
And now we have a safety car - presumably to recover the stricken Toyota! So this could be quite a while before racing gets back under way.
We're barely a third of the way through this race and already there's been more drama today than there has been in the whole 24 hours for some editions.
There is huge damage on the Graff car, which has wheelmarks visible on the tub. Meanwhile Gatting pits from second in GTE Am.
Resigned faces in the Toyota garage as the #7's victory hopes are now over - this is the first time one of the Japanese machines hasn't made the finish at Le Mans for six years!
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It appears it was the #39 Graff ORECA of Giedo van der Garde that was running slowly on the outside of the Esses, and Kobayashi was hesitant to pass him - that meant there was nowhere to go for the fast approaching JMW Ferrari of Prette, who vaulted over the Graff car, and for Rojas who struck Kobayashi.
So the order is now the #94 Peugeot leading the #50 Ferrari and the #2 Caddy but both Nielsen and Bamber are over a minute behind leader Pier Guidi.
Crash
Kobayashi is out of the car! And the race for another of the favourites is seemingly over!
Pit stop
The #35 Signatech that half an hour ago was running in the top four has made it back to the pits and has been wheeled back into the garage for rapid repairs.
Replays show Rojas was also coming in hot behind the incident as it unfolded and he was unable to avoid clipping one of the cars blocking the road ahead of him.
Kobayashi has got the Toyota going again now but it's only a crawl and this could be another retirement for a leading contender!
Rojas is crawling back with damage on his left-front including a broken light.
Kobayashi is stopped on the Mulsanne straight! It seems the engine has cut out and his engineer is trying to help him get the Toyota going again.
Crash
Replays suggest Prette charged into the back of the slowing #7 Toyota and #35 Alpine on the exit of the Esses.
And there's trouble for the #7 Toyota as well as three cars have come together approaching Tertre Rouge! We're now under full course yellow.
Mechanical problem
Drama, the JMW Ferrari is smoking and stranded on track before Tertre Rouge!
It looks like the #911 Porsche of Lietz and the Glickenhaus of #708 tangled in front of the Ferrari and Pier Guidi was left with nowhere to go.
Pit stop
It's of little consequence relative to the overall leader but Binder has pitted from fourth in LMP2.
Pier Guidi is told to make sure he "shakes off the rocks" before he drives back and his car is very quickly recovered by the rescue crews. But the Ferrari has already dropped to fifth.
The Ferrari is beached in the gravel at the Daytona chicane on the Mulsanne and there seemed to have been contact from cars in front of him.
Off track
And there's trouble for long-time leader Pier Guidi! He's spun at the first chicane and we've now got a Peugeot leading!
After passing the Alpine rookie on track, Barnicoat had dropped behind Caldwell in the previous stint. But when his Signatech LMP2 team inserted Memo Rojas, Barnicoat moved back ahead into third in the leading pro-am entry. Scherer remains in the lead after his stop by 12s over Kubica, while Binder (Duqueine) has moved ahead of Rojas into fourth.
Pit stop
Kobayashi also stops in the #7 Toyota that had moved up to second following the other pit visits, while the #5 and #6 Porsches are serviced as well from lower down in the top 10.
Pit stop
And now it's leader Pier Guidi's turn to bring the #51 in for its 10th stop of the race.
Pit stop
Scherer pits from the lead of LMP2 with 90s in hand over Kubica, who had already stopped.
Pit stop
More cars pit as the Hypercars are now running similar strategies and it's the #2 Cadillac of Bamber.
Pit stop
Muller is the next of the Hypercars to pit as he brings the #94 Peugeot in from second - the 9X8 continues to defy expectations with a competitive run to date.
D'station's Aston has been in the pits for a little while now and is tumbling back down the GTE Am order. Cairoli now leads by 1m10s from Gatting, with Rigon still 2m28s down in third. Huffaker in the Kessel Ferrari has dropped a lap down in fourth and is 39s up on Lietz in fifth.
Yellow flag
We've now got a slow zone in place to retrieve some debris from the track, not too sure who or what is responsible.
Nielsen has brought the #50 Ferrari in from fourth for its latest stop, while Pier Guidi has upped his pace a little at the front and has extended the gap over Muller's Peugeot in second again.
Comfortably the fastest LMP2 driver on track right now is Bortolotti in the #63 Prema car which was badly delayed early on by debris from Aitken's opening lap crash. Its 12th right now, monstering up behind the #36 Signatech in which Julien Canal led early on before spinning into the barriers exiting the second Mulsanne Chicane.
There's a brief spin for the #311 Action Express Cadillac that was in strife on the very first lap of the race but it now gets back on its way and remains 17 laps down.
Muller in the second-placed Peugeot is continuing to close the gap to the leading Ferrari and it now stands at 43s.
Vanthoor has returned to the track in the TF Sport-run Team Turkey ORECA that Yoluc was driving when he encountered Urgan in his path at Indianapolis. It was a half hour delay for the British squad, which now is down to just two cars in the Am division.
Blomqvist is fine, according to United Autosport, but protocol dictated by his in-car G-sensor required him to pay a visit to the medical centre. His car is still running with Pierson aboard in P17.
It's been a long old slog for Corvette Racing after its early damper delay. Catsburg is 11th, still two laps down on the GTE Am leader and behind the GR Porsche which pounded the Porsche Curves barriers backwards when the first chaotic rain fell.
Up in the fully dark skies over Le Mans, the fans in the grandstands and spectator banks are being treated to a tremendous drone light display that celebrates the 100th anniversary of the famous race.
We haven't mentioned the overall leaders for a little while and that's because they're continuing to pound around at this stage of the race. Pier Guidi continues to lead in the #51 Ferrari and is 48s ahead of the #94 Peugeot, which continues to impress in second. Next up is Kobayashi in the first of the Toyotas and then it's the second Ferrari.
By: Autosport Staff
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