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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Ye in the #38 Jota continues to lead but is now being chased by the #50 Ferrari, which has Molina at the wheel, who has just got by Cameron in the #5 Porsche. We were critical of the safety car procedure but it has guaranteed restart action everywhere you look.
Iron Dames have held onto their lead in GTE Am since the restart, with Sarah Bovy pulling over five seconds clear of Martin Rump in the #911 Proton Competition car.
Penalty
The #3 Cadillac has been give a one-minute stop and go penalty for a technical infringement. The car, currently driven by van der Zande, is currently 12th in class and at risk of dropping off the lead lap.
Canal has made it back to the pits. Also in LMP2, we have a three-minute stop and go penalty for the #22 United Autosports car. That's for Frederick Lubin's role in the earlier incident with the #77 Porsche.
Yellow flag
It hasn't been a great showing for the #311 Action Express Racing Caddy so far. Sims has spun at the Daytona chicane to trigger a brief yellow flag but he gets going again.
The #36 Alpine has had a spin in the hands of Julien Canal! He lost the front-running LMP2 Alpine exiting the chicane on the Mulsanne and hit the barrier nose-first. But he's on the move again, hopefully without too much damage...
At the end of that frantic restart lap the #94 Peugeot pits - so maybe it was all for the glory of leading at the restart...
A change for the lead! The #38 Jota Porsche driven by Ye overtakes Menezes in the #94 Peugeot and then Cameron in the #5 Porsche zips by to take second.
The top three in LMP2, along with several other cars, have pitted just as the race went green again. That puts the Jota #28 car, which Pietro Fittipaldi gave up to Oliver Rasmussen in the middle of the SC period, into the lead. Liechtenstein's leading Le Mans racer Matthias Kaiser is second for Vector Sport.
Cameron in the #5 Porsche wins that almighty battle to move up to third at the end of the Mulsanne straight.
As Gary predicts, a host of Hypercars pit on the restart. The #94 Peugeot stays out so continues to lead chased by the #38 Jota - behind them it is two Ferraris, two Porsches and a Cadillac all fighting for the same part of track!
Green flag
Here we go again!
The payoff for all this safety car shuffling is the frontrunners are nose to tail for the recommencing of green flag racing, with the top 12 all on the lead lap.
So, racing will be getting back under way very soon as this safety car shuffle heads to its conclusion. Given the length of this entire process on top of the long safety car period for the incidents anyway, this may need a rethink for next year.
Further to the Wadoux incident, we've heard Ferdinand Habsburg's Team WRT LMP2 entry has a broken toe link from the square-on rear impact. But at least this car is still going, albeit 19th in class.
The pass around order is finally complete, and the running order is now being constructed by the race director.
Given the amount of delays, the records for most laps and longest distance covered can be tucked away for another year.
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While it has been a bad day out for the #83 Richard Mille AF Corse GTE Am Ferrari, we can report that Lilou Wadoux is out of the car and uninjured after her crash. The car ended up at the roundabout beyond the Porsche Curves and is officially listed as stopped.
The pass around behind the safety car has begun, so it means most of the Hypercar runners who were a lap down will get it back now.
All quiet in the LMP2 and GTE Am classes (and pitlanes) as this hour-old safety car period goes on.
The #94 Peugeot still leads having stayed out behind the safety car, so next is #6 Porsche with both Toyotas tucked up behind it. This safety car period has lasted an hour now.
The track marshals have got a tractor to Vergne to free him from the gravel trap. A very minor off but it looks set to lose the #93 Peugeot a full lap under the safety car.
Oh dear - the #93 Peugeot that had just pitted has spun and got beached in the gravel at Mulsanne corner. Vergne is at the wheel and it appears the car lets go on him spinning on new, cold tyres.
Pit stop
The pitlane is full of Hypercars - as the #38 Jota, #50 Ferrari, #51 Ferrari and #2 Cadillac all come in together for fuel and dry tyres.
Fittipaldi has given up the LMP2 lead with a pitstop behind the safety car...and switched to slicks in anticipation of a dryish (or dry enough) restart at some point...that leaves an Alpine 1-2 in the class for the moment.
Rigon is finally out of the #54 Ferrari, handing over to former British Formula 3 racer Francesco Castellacci. They've retained grooved tyres and Iron Dames move up into the GTE Am lead.
Pit stop
The #93 Peugeot and #5 Porsche both pit to switch for slick tyres as track conditions are improving all the time. Given the race is still under the safety car, it seems a sensible call to not lose much time.
The track marshals are sweeping the circuit trying to clear the standing water at the first chicane on the Mulsanne straight as we continue still behind the safety car.
Speaking to TV, Duval says he thinks Peugeot doesn't have the pure pace in the dry, but they come to the fore in the wet, while operationally he feels they've been able to make gains during the safety car periods. Chaos is Peugeot's friend, it seems.
Among the current front-runners in GTE Am, only the leading #54 AF Corse Ferrari still has its starting driver at the wheel. That's Italian Davide Rigon.
For all those tuning in from Liechtenstein - and fans of sportscar trivia! - Matthias Kaiser has taken over the Vector Sport LMP2 from Gabriel Aubry. You'll know he's only the second driver from the little principality to race at Le Mans. All being well, he will take the restart in fifth place behind Pietro Fittipaldi, Memo Rojas, Julien Canal and the #23 United Autosports car of Oliver Jarvis.
The pack is still following the safety car at present, so no change to the order at the front. The contrast of track conditions is captured on the Mulsanne straight, as just into the braking zone the track goes from fully dry to fully wet. That'll be scary at racing speed.
Pietro Fittipaldi remained out during the last flurry of stops when the rain came, hence a large lead in LMP2. But the drop-back procedure should soon be initiated.
Breaking news
Need to quick round-up of what's been happening? Look no further: https://www.autosport.com/le-mans/news/le-mans-24h-h3-/10481259/
The #22 United Autosports LMP2 car, which was involved in an incident with the #77 Porsche GTE Am car a little before the three-hour mark, is back out and running. 26 minutes were lost to the repair job, and Philip Hanson has jumped in for his first stint.
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"It is pretty wild out there, when the rain came down it was aquaplaning all the way. One car went off in front of me," Conway reports, after just hopping out of his Toyota having handed over to Lopez.
By: Autosport Staff
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