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24 Hours of Le Mans
Le Mans 24 Hours Live Commentary and Updates
Updates and live commentary throughout the 24 Hours of Le Mans.
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LMP2: The Risi issue was a gearbox cooler leak, but it's been patched up and Olly Jarvis is about to return to battle. The car has dropped to 22nd overall.
GTE Am: Quick update on the lead gap, which now stands at 1m06s in favour of the #83 Ferrari of Alessio Rovera. That means Felipe Fraga (TF Sport Aston Martin) has taken around 10s out of his opposite number during this stint.
GTE Pro: For the first time in, err, a while, the class-leading #51 Ferrari's cushion is down to 20s, as Catsburg chips away at Ledogar's advantage. Molina is likewise still catching Catsburg, and is now just 4s down. Game on.
Pit stop
GTE Pro: Just I write that, Molina's dived for the pits. Catsburg however is still closing down the lead gap; he's now 17s down on Ledogar.
Stopwatch
LMH: Lopez just banged in a 3m29.3s laptime. He's wide awake in there! He just put 4.3s on Hartley on that lap alone.
Pit stop
LMH: Right on cue, Lopez pits for more gas. And is soon on his way.
Pit stop
LMP2: Deletraz kicks off the P2 pitstop cycle from second in class.
Pit stop
GTE Pro: Catsburg pits the #63 Corvette from second in class, which will take the pressure off Ledogar in the #51 Ferrari somewhat.
GTE Am: The #71 Inception Ferrari is back on track after its earlier misadventures. Barnicoat is now nine laps off the class lead.
LMH: Just 15 minutes away from 10 hours remaining, who would've bet on all five Hypercars running reliably – and all in the top nine places?
GTE Pro: Change for second after that round of stops, as Molina has jumped ahead of Catsburg. We're still waiting for leader Ledogar to come in.
GTE Am: Ben Keating has taken over at the helm of the #33 TF Sport Aston Martin. That means we have a mismatch in terms of driver rankings at the head of the class - Keating may be rapid for a bronze, but expect silver-rated Alessio Rovera to pull away in the #83 Ferrari.
Stopwatch
LMH: Even with a full fuel load on board, Lopez continues to lap in the 3m30s out front for Toyota. Another 4s added to his lead over Hartley, which is up to 23s.
Pit stop
GTE Pro: Ah, the #52 Ferrari of Molina is back in the pits. That definitely wasn't scheduled. More as we hear it...
Quote
LMH: "I'm struggling" complains Hartley over the radio – he's told he has lost 2% aero balance and 10 points of downforce.
GTE Pro: The #52's woes have promoted the factory Porsches (haven't mentioned them for a while!) to third and fourth in class. Neel Jani, who knows his way around this place, is third in the #92, while Fred Makowiecki is fourth in the sister #91.
Pit stop
LMP2: Pitstop sequence completed, so it's still the #31 leading the sister #41 for Team WRT. The #65 Panis Racing car is third, ahead of JOTA's #28 car – that suffered such a costly penalty double-whammy earlier.
Speaking of teams who've suffered a 'mare, the #23 United Autosports has rejoined the fray after a long time in the pits.
Stopwatch
GTE Pro: Catsburg is really flying now in that #63 'Vette, as he posts a new fastest lap of 3m48.429s. Ledogar is still yet to stop, but the gap will surely be less than 20s when he brings in the #51 Ferrari.
Pit stop
LMH: Vaxiviere pits in the Alpine, and rejoins right behind the #708 Glickenhaus that it passed for third place a couple of hours ago. The Glickenhaus should stop in a couple of laps' time.
Mechanical problem
GTE Am: Another Am runner in strife, it's the #86 GR Racing Porsche of Tom Gamble. That's gone into the garage.
Pit stop
LMH: The #708 Glickhaus pits, dropping back to fourth behind the Alpine.
Pit stop
GTE Pro: Ledogar finally brings in the class-leading #51 Ferrari, which is now the only Prancing Horse still in realistic contention for the win. James Calado takes over the controls, and he's got a reduced margin of 14s ahead of Catsburg's Corvette.
LMH: In other Glickenhaus news, the #709 has passed the #28 JOTA P2 car for eighth place overall.
GTE Am: Remember a while ago we said Rovera was going to pull away from Keating? Well, the gap has gone out to a massive 1m53s now. In fact, Callum Ilott in third is (slightly) closer to Keating than Keating is to Rovera.
Pit stop
GTE Pro: Both Porsches have been in the pits and now both have new drivers installed. In the #92 it's Kevin Estre, in the #91 it's Gianmaria Bruni. Estre has a daunting 2m52s to make up to Catsburg in second.
Crash
The Innovative-class #84 car of Aoki has skidded to a halt at Arnage. He is underway again.
GTE Pro: Furious work is going on in the AF Corse garage on that stricken #52 Ferrari. Both the front-left and rear-left corners are being attended to, but still no word on the exact issue yet.
Stopwatch
LMH: Lopez is back under the 3m30s laptime barrier, and Hartley is poised for another pitstop – be interesting to see if any bodywork gets changed or cleaned on the #8.
Mechanical problem
GTE Pro: It's a left-rear suspension failure for the #52, according to the WEC's official commentary, and it sounds like Ferrari is also changing the brakes while they are at it.
Pit stop
LMH: Hartley pits and he relays to Nakajima. And, unsurprisingly, the front bodywork section is replaced.
LMH: Sounds like Lopez has suffered a similar problem in Toyota #7 to Kobayashi earlier, in that he's had a moment due to the brakes getting too cold. No video evidence of anything yet, certainly not the huge scare that Kamui had when he almost fenced the car at Indianapolis!
LMH: Ryan Briscoe has claimed another P2 scalp, this time the #65 Panis Racing ORECA, and Glickenhaus #709 is now up to seventh overall.
GTE Pro: Calado has stemmed the advance of Catsburg's Corvette. In what's shaping up to be a replay of that ferocious 2019 battle between Ferrari and Corvette, it's 15s between the two leading cars right now.
GTE Pro: Good news, Ferrari fans! The #52 is finally back out after that long delay, now with Daniel Serra installed at the wheel. That suspension issue cost the car eight laps in relation to the sister #51 machine, though.
Stopwatch
LMH: The long stop for the #8 to get that new bodywork has dropped it over two minutes behind the leading #7. A far cry from when they were racing nose-to-tail not so long ago.
Pit stop
LMH: The leader, Toyota #7, is in the pits. Lopez stays in the car, so that's a triple stint for the Argentinian. He's done a great job, and once again it's fuel-only.
Stopwatch
LMH: After that stop, the #7 car's lead is 1m05s over the #8.
GTE Am: It's still all looking good for AF Corse - Rovera is now 2m16s to the good ahead of Keating's TF Sport Aston.
LMH: All is not lost for the #8, however, as Nakajima has rattled off a 3m29.489s lap – by far the quickest lap it's produced in a long time. So we can perhaps assume that aero balance/downforce loss has been solved?
Mechanical problem
GTE Am: The #88 Dempsey-Proton Porsche is wheeled into the garage following a reported puncture. It's been a rough time for the Weissach marque in both GTE classes, but especially in Am - the best 911 RSR-19, the #77 Proton car, is sixth class behind no fewer than four Ferraris and the TF Aston.
By: Loris Capirossi
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