Skip to main content

Sign up for free

  • Get quick access to your favorite articles

  • Manage alerts on breaking news and favorite drivers

  • Make your voice heard with article commenting.

Autosport Plus

Discover premium content
Subscribe
Live text
WEC 24 Hours of Le Mans

Le Mans 24 Hours Live Commentary and Updates

Updates and live commentary throughout the 24 Hours of Le Mans.

#8 Toyota Gazoo Racing Toyota GR010 - Hybrid Hypercar, Sébastien Buemi, Kazuki Nakajima, Brendon Hartley

Live Text

Sort by
Newest first
Penalty
LMH: The #708 Glickenhaus has a 10-second penalty for causing the first-lap collision with Buemi.
LMP2: Da Costa is well ahead of his class rivals in the #38 Jota, 11.5s clear of Stevens in the #65 Panis Racing ORECA. Kubica is third in the #41 WRT car, with de Vries in the #26 G-Drive close for company.
Stopwatch
LMH: Conway is legging it at the front, with a 4m02.779s his most recent lap. He's now 32s clear of the Glickenhaus pair.
GTE Am: Lead change. Cetilar Racing leads the class. Antonio Fuoco has put the Ferrari 488 GTE Evo on top after passing #88 Dempsey Proton Porsche (Andlauer).
LMH: Lapierre is also seeking to make up ground after his spin earlier, and has hurled the #36 Alpine up to P11 for now.
Seems to be starting to calm down now after that mad incident-packed start.
LMH: Buemi is charging through the GTE order now, looking to atone for a miserable start to the race for the #8 squad.
LMP2: The #20 High Class is in the wars AGAIN, having a spin. It'd currently be Bottom Class if the #48 IDEC car wasn't also having a mare.
LMH: Conway in the #7 Toyota is now 20s clear of the #708 Glickenhaus.
LMP2: A small skirmish between the #20 High Class of Andersen and the #39 SO24 Graff car of Arnold Robin, with Andersen managing to get away from the French driver.
GTE Pro - The reason the Hub Auto Porsche is down the order is due to a spin at the Dunlop Chicane on the opening lap. There was contact from Ligier LMP2.
GTE Pro: The pole-sitting Hub Auto Porsche 911 RSR has dropped to eighth in class. Maxime Martin in the hot seat currently.
Off track
LMH: That's the #36 Alpine! He's had a spin at the Indianapolis corner, and Lapierre goes around. He's dropped deep into the LMP2 pack now.
GTE Pro: Kevin Estre has a spin in the #92 factory Porsche but has got going again. Hectic opening lap up and down the field in slippery conditions .
LMP2: The #48 IDEC car got out of the gravel, but is now a lap down. Pilet having a difficult start to the race.
LMH: So it was the #708 Glickenhaus that got into Buemi at the opening corners, Olivier Pla currently driving that entry.
GTE AM: The pole sitting Dempsey Porsche leads. Andlauer at the wheel.
LMH: That's Buemi again! He was off the track at Arnage, with the #74 LMP2 car too. Westbrook in the #709 Glickenhaus also had an off later in the lap.
GTE Pro: #64 Corvette leads with Tommy Milner at the wheel. There is a fierce fight going on the GT ranks.
Yellow flag
LMP2: Pilet's stuck in the gravel at the second chicane on the back straights, bringing out a yellow. The nightmare continues for the #48 squad.
LMH: Buemi had to pull to one side on the straight, but he's got going again after a quick power-cycle. But he's well-down the order...
Off track
LMP2: The #48 IDEC car of Pilet was also off at the Tertre Rouge corners too.
Off track
LMH: The #8 is already put into a spin at the first corner! Lapierre in the Alpine got past, and Buemi might have got touched by one of the Glickenhauses!
Green flag
Here we go!
We are about to go racing proper! No more formation laps.
LMP2: There's only one non-ORECA chassis in the second-tier prototype class; the #74 Racing Team India Eurasia is running in a Ligier. The Aurus-branded G-Drive duo are both ORECAs in disguise.
We have another formation lap. Race director has asked the leading car to increase the speed.
Visibility is a bit...iffy at the moment. More spray than a Lynx Africa gift set.
Quote
LMH: "Is it going to rain again?", asks Buemi. "Some slight rain expected, but no more than that," he's told by his Toyota team.
GTE: The field has dropped a fair way back from the pack. Rain has stopped which should help the drivers a tad.
Decent crowd packed into the circuit despite the weather. Let's hope we get a belter of a race.
Lights out
The 2021 Le Mans 24 Hours has officially begun!
Extra formation lap called. The 61 car field will go around again but technically the race has started.
Some familiar faces in attendance; FIA president Jean Todt is watching on, while two-time Le Mans winner Fernando Alonso is also casting an eye on events.

GTE - The battle for honours in GTE Pro and GTE Am is likely to be a closely fought affair.

Factory squads from Porsche, Corvette and Ferrari feature in an eight car tussle for the Pro victory. However, privateer squad Hub Auto Racing (Porsche 911 RSR) upset its works rivals by snaring pole position in qualifying following a stunning 3m46.882s lap from Dries Vanthoor.

Meanwhile, 23 cars will feature in GTE Am with Ferrari, Porsche and Aston Martin represented.

The Dempsey-Proton Racing Porsche 911 RSR of Juilien Andlauer, Dominque Bastian and Lance David Arnold will start from pole.    

LMP2: The #20 High Class car is stuck in the blocks as the cars get away! That's the Andersen/Taylor/Sorensen car.
Green flag
The formation lap is away.

GTE Starting drivers:

GTE Pro: Martin, Molina, Milner, Calado, Bruni, Estre, Vanthoor, Garcia.

GTE Am: Andlauer, Barker, Cairoli, Fuoco, Barnicoat, Fraga, Cressoni, Jensen, Tincknell, Fisichella, Nielsen. Ried the first Bronze starting in P12, then Seefried, Bleekemolen, Gunn, Thiim, Gatting, Schiavoni, Watson, Olsen, Griffin, Fannin, Renauer.

In LMP2, Antonio Felix da Costa will take the reins first for the #38 Jota team on pole, with Robert Kubica first up for the #41 WRT squad.

Stevens, de Vries, Jamin, Lynn, Gelael, Nato, Trummer, Pilet, Frijns, Albuquerque, Hanley, Jarvis, Rojas, van der Garde, Brundle, Merhi, K. Magnussen, Andersen, Webb, Calderon, Lahaye, A. Robin and Cloet kick off the other LMP2 runners.

Rain
It's been declared a wet start, so we're anticipating a rolling start.

By: Loris Capirossi

Published: