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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The Jota and Inter Europol cars that were heading the way in LMP2 have both pitted. Rasmussen remains at the wheel of #28, but Costa has handed over to Jakub Smiechowski. Oliver Jarvis thus accepts a five-second class lead for United Autosports, as LMP2 also settles into a pattern following the mad opening hours of this centenary 24 Heures du Mans.
Toyota reports possible rain coming over the team radio to Hartley... given the carnage it caused three hours ago, this could be trouble!
Pit stop
Giovinazzi pits from the lead, having pushed in the #51 Ferrari to pull out a 5s advantage, to release Molina back out in front in the sister car.
Duval gets in hot at the first chicane on the Mulsanne straight but gets away with it, running into the runoff, in the #94 Peugeot. He's still got a 20s gap to the chasing Lynn in the #2 Cadillac.
After a solid stint at the front of GTE Am, the Proton Competition and Iron Dames cars have pitted together: this category is positively settled compared to some others! Michael Fassbender and Michelle Gatting will take those cars forward, separated by three seconds on their out laps.
Albert Costa has just set the best lap for the #34 Inter Europol LMP2 car, as he works on a 11.4s deficit to leader Oliver Rasmussen (Jota). It's sunset and the track appears fully dry, so there's likely to be more green and purple flashing up on the timing screens...
Another hint a Ferrari pitstop is coming is the switch for the lead, as the #51 gets waved by the #50. Its pitstop position is in front of the sister car so this will make their way into the pits more efficient and easier. But they continue for another lap, blasting by the pitstraight.
Silver driver Francesco Castellacci has just handed over the fading #54 AF Corse Ferrari 488 to bronze driver Thomas Flohr...
Nielsen is primed and ready in the Ferrari garage, to give us a hint the pitstops aren't far away for the two leaders. The Dane will take over the #50 from Molina.
Porsche has revealed that Cameron's problem was a sensor issue, He had to bring the car to a complete stop and undertake an electronics recycle. He appears to be back up to speed now.
As Bovy also moves past Castellacci for second in GTE Am, we've got some quotes from Nicky Catsburg, who tells us more about the damper issue that has resulted in the #33 Corvette currently languishing near the bottom of the leaderboard:
"The car was moving around a lot and it wouldn't disappear. The car was moving around a lot under braking and at all speeds. So I told the guys that I think we had an issue. When we got it into the pitlane, it was the damper and we lost two laps. The crew still did an awesome job and couldn't have done it quicker. It's really tough, though, to come back from this spot. It seems like a disastrous race with the safety cars. But our main competitors in the championship are out of the race, so even with zero points we will still lead the championship."
Arnold Robin was doing rather well in GTE Am, but he's just given the barrier in the middle of the Porsche Curves a hefty whack. We've seen worse at that left-hander, given he went in side-on, but it looks enough to have stopped him in his tracks after he spun across to the other side of the track. There's consequently a slow zone there too at the moment.
Whisper it quietly, especially with so far to go in this race, but things are shaping up nicely for Ferrari as the sun starts to set at Le Mans. The leading pair have 22s in hand on the closest chaser, the #94 Peugeot, while trouble in some shape or form has hit many of its rivals.
We've got a beached LMP2 car at the first chicane, namely the DKR Engineering #43 machine of Tom van Rompuy. That will be covered with a slow zone.
The #25 GTE Am Ort by TF Aston of Michael Dinan just enjoyed a light brush with the tyre barrier. And while that was going on, Rump passed Castellacci for the class lead! The only shame about Hypercar being so competitive as that you won't see much of this on the television broadcast...
Pit stop
Tandy pits and that restores the Ferrari 1-2, Molina leading Giovinazzi, with the #94 Peugeot back up to third. The #75 Porsche comes back out in sixth, right in between the Toyotas.
The Toyotas pit together to drop to sixth and seventh, giving Tandy in the #75 Porsche a breather as he now has a 10s lead over the Ferraris.
It's tight in GTE Am, with just a couple of seconds splitting leader Francesco Castellacci and second-placed Martin Rump. The Iron Dames, Sarah Bovy at the wheel, are 1.5s further back.
It hasn't been a good hour or so for Porsche, as the #5 is now crawling on the Mulsanne straight. At the same time the #38 Jota Porsche is repaired and back out on track with Stevens at the wheel - but in 14th in class and four laps down.
Oliver Jarvis has just pitted for United Autosports. He'll remain in the car for the next stint in what happen to be fairly reasonable conditions - the air temperature is at a comfortable 23 degrees. Deletraz comes in next lap around, promoting Rasmussen to the lead.
Quote
Dixon on his opening stint in the #3 Caddy: “Definitely a tough first stint just with weather and a lot of slow zones. That was pretty much the only drive time I had was in slow zones. With that massive downpour, I actually spun the car and was worried I was going to get hit from behind like two or three other cars behind me. Luckily, I just grazed the wall and I had a flat tyre. We had to pit that lap anyway.”
We've not spoken about the Toyotas since they both pitted on the safety car restart, but they are up to 2-3 tucked behind the #75 Porsche as the #94 Peugeot pits from second.
In GTE Am it's still AF Corse (Castellacci), Proton Competition (Rump) and Iron Dames (Bovy) leading the way for the moment. Meanwhile the #923 Racing Team Turkey LMP2 car has had a little off, as Louis Deletraz continues to hold a narrow class lead over Oliver Jarvis.
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Pit stop
Just before the Full Course Yellow gets withdrawn, both Ferraris pit together to cycle back into the pack and now the #75 Porsche heads the field driven by Tandy.
Ye is out of the #38 Jota as his crew gets to work on repairs. The Chinese driver looks devastated, glaring at the ground while reflecting on what's just happened.
The #51 Ferrari has duly picked up the lead after Ye's off. It is a Ferrari 1-2, Giovinazzi leading from Molina in the sister car.
Yellow flag
Ye gets going again but in his haste is hitting kerbs and throwing more debris all over the track. He makes it back to the pits as a Full Course Yellow is called.
Crash
Oh no! Ye has crashed from the lead in the #38 Jota! He's gone off at the Porsche curves and hit the wall, taking off the rear wing and sustaining a lot of damage.
The #30 LMP2 car of Nicolas Pino has taken a trip through the gravel. Meanwhile Julien Canal's #36 Alpine, which clouted the barrier not so long ago, is running, 16th in class, but not turning in particularly good lap times.
Penalty
That earlier investigation on the #5 Porsche has been concluded and it is bad news for the German squad, as the car has been given a drive-through penalty for overtaking under the safety car.
Bovy has brought the Iron Dames Porsche back into the top three, passing Robin Arnold on track - where the sun is shining in places.
Stopwatch
Ye is on it, oh yes Ye is. The #38 Jota Porsche driver puts in a 3m28.979s to set his car's fastest lap of the race and push his lead to 14s.
Oliver Rasmussen's LMP2-leading #28 Jota car has pulled out 10 seconds on AF Corse's Norman Nato on the tricky, drying circuit. But Nato is responding already...
The #5 Porsche has been reported to the stewards for overtaking the #100 Walkenhorst Ferrari under the safety car.
The #6 Porsche makes it back to the pitlane and the crew get to work on repairs. At the front, Ye is stretching his lead and is 13.5s clear of Molina in the #50 Ferrari.
The #6 Porsche is crawling back to the pits due to its puncture and has been put a lap down on the leaders.
Cameron's early charge has been checked, as he gets loose in the Daytona chicane and is shuffled back to fourth by the #51 Ferrari of Giovinazzi, who makes the easiest overtake of his career.
Iron Dames and Proton have promptly brought their cars in from the first two spots in GTE Am. The latest leader is Thomas Neubauer for JMW Motorsport...but now he's in as well! This puts AF Corse back in front with its #54 car. And with that car having pitted for slicks shortly before the green, you could argue that the strategies in GTE Am are starting to align and settle. Castellacci now leads Rump, with Iron Dames fourth.
A slow zone has been called for an advertising board which has found its way on to the track. Elsewhere, on the Mulsanne straight, Estre has picked up a right-rear puncture on his #6 Porsche.
By: Autosport Staff
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