Le Mans 24 Hours Live Commentary and Updates
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Another drama in LMGT3 that happened at the same time almost as the #88's crash saw the #10 Aston lose three laps.
An engine system issue has been resolved but that's taken one of the early class leaders out of contention, barring a minor miracle.
The gap between the #50 Ferrari in first and the #6 PPM is now up to almost 22 seconds, with the #51 and #83 Ferraris now on the back of Laurens Vanthoor.
Three seconds further back, the #5 Porsche is leading a train that extends to the #4 team-mate in 11th - with the #8 Toyota, the #20 and #15 BMWs and the #38 Cadillac in tow.
We are back green! Not the timing, nor the length of FCY that Peugeot was really hoping for...
Here's the incident that began the chain of events leading to the FCY:
The #25 car's damage has thrown a spanner in the works - debris has led to the first full course yellow!
Kaiser hit the #16 RLR M Sport car as they slowed for the slow zone - that could lead to a penalty to compound his misery, even having remained on the LMP2 lead lap.
The traffic seems never-ending for the Hypercars and Kobayashi uses all his experience to mug the #35 Alpine to put the #7 Toyota into 14th. That begins to make up for his off at Mulsanne earlier.
Great work from the marshals down at the site of the #88's incident as the slow zone is already removed. That didn't take too long at all, and we are back to a full-track green.
BMW makes a position swap as it instructs the #15 to cede eighth to #20. Robin Frijns has been on some mission since taking his place behind the wheel.
The first slow zone of the race! The Mustang is going nowhere with all of that damage. Replays showed the left-rear wheel detach on entry to Tertre Rouge and gave Levorato no chance. There's also damage to the #25 Algarve Pro LMP2 car, with Kaiser trying to get back to the pits for a service.
That happened just in front of the battle for third in Hypercar and gave Jaminet the chance to leap Giovinazzi on the run to the Daytona chicane.
The #51 got back through before the second chicane to retake third!
A huge impact for the #88 LMGT3 Ford, driven by Levorato, who loses it at Tertre Rouge and finds the tyre barrier to bring out localised yellows.
The #51 and #83 Ferrari's leapfrogged the Action Express Caddy at that round of pitstops. All three cars spent similar time on pitroad. Intriguing.
All of a sudden the #5 of Jaminet looks all the more competitive again after a lull in the third hour. The PPM is now back on the hunt for third from the #51 Ferrari.
The #94 Peugeot finally makes its latest stop and drops right down the order. That's 17th in Hypercar now and the French manufacturer is in desperate need of a full-course yellow or two.
The #43 is continuing at the head of the LMP2 field but any suspicion of a gremlin at this stage will fill the team with fright. Just under 21 hours is a long way to go when you have complained of an issue, especially with something as major as a gearbox.
Disaster for the LMP2-leading #43 Inter Europol car as Smiechowski complains of a gearbox issue. Meanwhile, Kubica makes a stunning move on his outlap in the #83 Ferrari to move past Drugovich in the #311 Whelen Cadillac.
Such is the lack of pace of the Peugeot, exacerbated by its fuel strategy, that the #94 car with Malthe Jakobsen at the wheel is behind the leading Ferrari even though it has yet to make its fourth stop.
Thank you James! Well, it has been a fascinating three hours with track conditions starting to swing the advantage from one marque to another - and that is only going to continue as the sun sets in a few hours.
As Laurens Vanthoor comes into the pits from the lead in Hypercar, cycling Fuoco back to the front, I too shall take my leave and pass the baton on to Ewan Gale. Thanks for joining thus far, and I'll be back from 3am BST.
Arnold Robin now pits from the lead in LMGT3, and is followed by Bernardo Sousa's Ford, which cycles Ahmad al Harthy back to the top in the #46 BMW. He's got half a minute in hand over Alessio Rovera in the #21 Ferrari which started second but lost time earlier with its bronze Francious Heriau at the wheel - and had that big spin on the run to Indianapolis.
Jaminet was complaining earlier about not being able to brake or steer as he wished, and now comes into the box. Can those issues be remedied? He is followed in by Giovinazzi and Drugovich.
Change for second in LMP2, as Perera deposes the recently-installed Jensen (in for Pilet). Smiechowski has 25s in hand at the head of the field, the 2023 LMP2 winner having extended his advantage through that last pit sequence.
Fuoco has pitted from the lead, meanwhile Giovinazzi moves ahead of Drugovich for a net fourth place. For the time being, he's up to third behind the two Porsches of Vanthoor and Jaminet. All owe us a pit visit too.
Well that's a detour you don't see too often. Kobayashi has a huge right-front lock-up into Mulsanne Corner and elects to take to the run-off, via the roundabout. Gymkhana at Le Mans, anybody?
After almost three hours in the car, Ryan Hardwick does now come into the pits. Bravo sir. He is relayed by Richard Lietz, who won this race last year and is starting his 19th Le Mans 24 Hours.
It's been an eventful opening to the race of the WTR Cadillac, as Ricky Taylor explains:
“Not the start we wanted so far. At the start, I think we got hit at the back and the side at the same time. We have damage to the floor, the wing and the tail. So, the car was a lot at the beginning, along with a tyre issue. There was also a bollard in the road that I didn’t see and it got wedged under the car, which led to a lockup that led to a flat spot. When we pitted, we probably should have changed tyres in the subsequent stint, so we lost a lot of time. Again, not the start we wanted but we have a long way to go so hopefully we can adapt as we go and continue to make changes to the car.”
Jaminet is coming under real pressure now for his second place, and coming into the Porsche Curves gets boxed in behind the Kessel Racing Ferrari. Laurens Vanthoor doesn't need to be asked twice and slices cleanly by on the outside line as Jaminet jams on the anchors.
Pilet now pits from the lead in LMP2, having been in from the start. The pro-am line-up's bronze, Michael Jensen, now takes over, as Smiechowski cycles ahead to lead.
It's been a good few minutes for Ferrari, as Giovinazzi moves ahead of Hartley into fifth. Will Stevens has continued to get dusted up by the cars around him and falls back another two spots behind Robin Frijns and Robert Kubica's Ferrari to run P11 overall in the polesitting car.
Now then, Vanthoor has cruised up behind Jaminet too and looks like he wants a piece of the action. Will the #5 Porsche that dominated the opening hours be bumped back to third before too long?
Now Fuoco gets it done after a wheel-to-wheel battle down to Indianapolis. Jaminet had no option but to cede. Ferrari leads Le Mans.
Jaminet gets caught behind an LMP2 car in the Dunlop Curve, and Fuoco doesn't waste the invitation to latch onto his tail. The Ferrari driver forces the leader to go defensive into both Mulsanne Chicanes.
Over in LMP2, Perera is closing bit by bit on Smiechowski, although has to have his wits about him as Giovinazzi comes steaming down his inside into the Ford Chicane. That looks set to become a proper battle for second before too long.
There's not much in it at the front, with Jaminet holding a 2s advantage over Fuoco, while Vanthoor is less than 5s off the lead in the car that started right at the back of the Hypercar field. Similarly close is the battle over fifth, with Hartley having to get his elbows out to hold Giovinazzi behind through traffic.
Catching back up with LMGT3, the #46 BMW is back in front with al Harthy re-taking the #10 Aston in which Derek DeBoer is just starting to find his way. Arnold Robin is third in the #78 Lexus, ahead of Tom van Rompuy's #81 TF Corvette, the #77 Ford of Sousa and the second Lexus of Razvan Umbrarescu. Remarkably, Hardwick is still in the #92 Porsche for a fourth stint and still holds seventh. An excellent effort there from a bronze driver.
Jakobsen's belated trip to the pits cycles Jaminet's #5 Porsche back to the lead, ahead of Antonio Fuoco's #50 Ferrari and Laurens Vanthoor in Porsche #6. Although the Jota Caddys have fallen back, the #311 Action Express Caddy holds station in fourth with Felipe Drugovich now aboard, ahead of Brendon Hartley's #8 Toyota and the #51 Ferrari of Giovinazzi in sixth. Then we have Dries Vanthoor's BMW, Bamber, Stevens and the second BMW of Frijns in 10th.
Bamber now moves ahead of Stevens in what appeared to be an orchestrated swap. What can the two-time Le Mans winner with Porsche do in clear air?
I make that a 14-lap stint from the #94 Peugeot. That's gonna have required an awful lot of fuel save. It looks the French manufacturer's strategy, given its lack of pace, is to go long on the fuel and hope for a few lucky breaks.
Jonathan Hui's LMGT3 Ferrari was moving very slowly on the approach to the second Mulsanne Chicane, which just caught out Stevens slightly. He locked up and darted left to avoid running into the back of Dries Vanthoor's BMW, and as he took up a normal line then got a clout on the rear from Antonio Giovinazzi who then moved ahead. An exciting few seconds that will have done no good for the Jota team's blood pressure.
The Jota Cadillacs have lost out a little bit through the last round of stops. The #8 Toyota, #15 BMW and #51 Ferrari have all edged past Stevens and Bamber, who still run line astern as they have done for much of the race. The duo that locked out the front row have been sliding back however and currently sit 10th and 11th.
By: Autosport staff
