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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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Gatting (still struggling not to picture a bearded England cricketer...) neatly kicks off the next round of GTE Am stops. She hands over to Rahel Frey, who may be involved in a close fight for second with Charlie Eastwood once the stops are done...
Stopwatch
Fuoco pops in a new fastest lap of the race in the #50 Ferrari, a 3m26.984s, to demonstrate his one-lap class having taken pole for the race earlier in the week.
It's still Costa v Kubica at the top in LMP2, with the gap now out to 27s. But Nicolas Pino has taken over the Duqueine entry from Neel Jani, and his immediate job will be defending third place from the still-flying Robin Frijns. That second WRT car is the quickest on track right now, and just 11s off a podium spot.
Pit stop
The #51 Ferrari pits as expected a lap later than the Toyota for fuel and a touch up before its next stint.
Pit stop
Hartley pits for Toyota and after a mega effort trying to close the gap to Ferrari, that task is now Hirakawa's, who has been given the nod over Buemi with just under two hours to go.
As the LMP2 brigade complete another round of pitstops, things are strategically quite interesting if the race stays green to the flag. Making it home with two stops from here might be a tight business - but nothing a slow zone or two won't solve...
After a lengthy stop in the garage with a driveline issue, the #24 NASCAR effort is back out on the track and currently 39th overall.
Pit stop
The answer is not much. The #50 Ferrari pits on schedule to give the Toyota a clear track ahead. Nielsen jumps out of the Ferrari to give way to Fuoco.
Just like earlier this morning, the joker in the pack is the #50 Ferrari which is between Hartley and Giovinazzi on the track but is six laps down. How much will Ferrari use the sister car to hold up the Toyota and aid its leading effort?
The Corvette's lead in GTE Am is now north of 70 seconds! Michelle Gatting may soon need to worry about defending second place from Charlie Eastwood, who is now within 20 seconds of the Iron Dames driver and lapping faster.
Stopwatch
Another lap, another Hartley personal best lap in the Toyota. A 3m27.549s pulls Giovinazzi ever closer, the gap down to 9.5s.
Robin Frijns is among the LMP2 chasers setting a roaring pace, having just set the fastest lap for the second WRT entry - three seconds faster than Kubica in the team's lead car! They're second and fifth in the class - and while Kubica chases Albert Costa, Frijns will have his eye on at least Neel Jani in the Duqueine up ahead.
Hartley improves on his lap time again to cut the gap down to 11.5s. The Toyota remains in striking range, but can it carve out an opportunity to pass on track or through strategy?
Pit stop
Makowiecki in the #5 Porsche pits and comes out behind the #50 Ferrari which it is now fighting for fifth place. It hasn't been a great race for any of the Porsche runners in the top category, the #38 Jota's brief time leading the standout moment.
Meanwhile Kubica is struggling to make an impression on Costa in LMP2. The gap is hovering around the 22s mark, though the Pole's last lap was a second slower than the Spaniard's.
Stopwatch
Hartley is chiselling away at Giovinazzi's lead. Last time around he set the #8 Toyota's fastest lap of the race of 3m27.855s to bring the gap down to 12.6s.
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.
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.
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.
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?
After the pitstops for the leaders the gap has moulded into 14.8s between Giovinazzi out front and the chasing Hartley. The battles continues.
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.
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?
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.
Pit stop
The Toyota stops for fuel and new medium tyres as Hartley stays put in the car for an additional stint as expected.
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.
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.
Robert Kubica (Team WRT) and Manuel Maldonado (Panis Racing) are in to kick off the latest set of LMP2 stops for the front-runners.
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.
Dame Sarah Bovy is in on schedule as the pink Porsche chases history at Le Mans. Michelle Gatting climbs aboard.
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!
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.
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.
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.
Another change of control now, as Stefan and I bid farewell and hand you over to Haydn Cobb and Richard Asher.
Information on the #34 Inter Europol penalty. It appears this penalty was awarded for something that happened at 8pm last night!
And in GTE:
- #33 Corvette Racing
- #85 Iron Dames
- #25 ORT by TF
- #56 Project 1-AO
- #54 AF Corse
The LMP2 order with three hours remaining:
- #34 Inter Europol
- #41 WRT
- #48 IDEC Sport
- #Duqueine Team
- #31 WRT
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
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.
By: Autosport Staff
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