#5 Toyota leads Porsche in Le Mans 24 Hours with two hours to go
Toyota enjoyed a lead of roughly half a minute over Porsche with two hours remaining in the Le Mans 24 Hours, although its second car has dropped out of contention
After extending the #5 TS050's lead over the #2 919 during his stint, Anthony Davidson handed over to Kazuki Nakajima, who should be able to take the race-leading car to the finish.
However, the #6 Toyota, which was also on the lead lap throughout Sunday morning in a three-way scrap for victory, lost three laps when repairs were carried out on damage picked up in the night.
The second car clipped a backmarker during the night, suffering floor damage, and following a spin into the gravel for Kamui Kobayashi in the 21st hour, Toyota decided to fix the bodywork damage and also carry out precautionary checks on cooling systems to make sure the car reaches the finish.
The #6 machine is under no threat from behind, as the leading #8 Audi is 10 laps adrift in fourth place.
The race-leading car's lead was trimmed during the most recent round of pitstops as Toyota changed driver and tyres, but Porsche could have a similar delay to come before the finish.
LMP2 - SIGNATECH EDGES CLOSER
By Mitchell Adam
G-Drive ORECA was fighting to keep its slim hopes of LMP2 victory alive by staying on the lead lap as the 22nd hour concluded.
Stephane Richelmi in the Signatech Alpine was running nearly three minutes ahead of Roman Rusinov, but when the G-Drive pilot emerged from his latest fuel stop at the end of the hour, he was directly ahead of Richelmi on the road, trying to avoid being lapped.
Vitaly Petrov is back in the third-placed SMP Racing BR01 for the run home, with Danny Watts also back behind the wheel for Strakka in fourth.
Eurasia Motorsport and Greaves Motorsport still complete the top six, while Extreme Speed Motorsports' #31 Ligier did return to the track after spending a significant amount of time in pitlane but now 16th in the order.
GTE PRO - FORD CHASES ONE-TWO
By Scott Mitchell
Ford's focus has switched to attempting to secure a one-two finish on its return to Le Mans.
While the #68 car enjoys a strong lead of more than half a minute following Toni Vilander's spin towards the end of the previous hour, the #69 Ford GT has come into contention for second.
Scott Dixon is driving the #69 and is 22 seconds behind Giancarlo Fisichella, who has taken over from Vilander in the #82 Risi Competizione Ferrari 488 GTE.
Fuel mileage is a key question heading into the final two hours, with the #68 stopping a lap later than the two chasing cars and therefore having more in reserve.
It could make one stop and run to the end, whereas the others may require a splash and dash.
GTE AM - FERRARI LEADS THE WAY
By Jack Cozens
Jeff Segal returned to the cockpit of GTE Am-leading #62 Scuderia Corsa Ferrari as the team closes in on class victory.
Pitting to swap Segal in for Townsend Bell did put an end to the lap-long lead the Ferrari had enjoyed over the rest of the field.
But with second-placed Rui Aguas more than two minutes behind in the #83 AF Corse Ferrari the #62's lead is a comfortable one, with David Heinemeier Hansson third in the #88 Porsche.
POSITIONS AFTER 22 HOURS:
Pos | Class | Car | Drivers | Laps | Gap |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | LMP1 | #5 Toyota | Davidson, Buemi, Nakajima | 352 | |
2 | LMP1 | #2 Porsche | Dumas, Jani, Lieb | 352 | + 29.076s |
3 | LMP1 | #6 Toyota | Sarrazin, Conway, Kobayashi | 349 | + 3 Laps |
4 | LMP1 | #8 Audi | Di Grassi, Duval, Jarvis | 339 | + 13 Laps |
5 | LMP1 | #7 Audi | Fassler, Lotterer, Treluyer | 335 | + 17 Laps |
6 | LMP2 | #36 Alpine | Menezes, Lapierre, Richelmi | 327 | + 25 Laps |
7 | LMP2 | #26 Oreca | Rusinov, Stevens, Rast | 326 | + 26 Laps |
8 | LMP2 | #37 BR01 | Petrov, Shaytar, Ladygin | 322 | + 30 Laps |
9 | LMP2 | #42 Gibson | Leventis, Watts, Kane | 321 | + 31 Laps |
10 | LMP2 | #33 Oreca | Pu, Gommendy, De Bruijn | 319 | + 33 Laps |
11 | LMP2 | #41 Ligier | Rojas, Canal, Berthon | 318 | + 34 Laps |
12 | LMP2 | #27 BR01 | Minassian, Mediani, Aleshin | 317 | + 35 Laps |
13 | LMP2 | #23 Ligier | Barthez, Chatin, Buret | 316 | + 36 Laps |
14 | LMP2 | #49 Ligier | Pew, Negri Jr, Vanthoor | 315 | + 37 Laps |
15 | LMP2 | #43 Ligier | Gonzalez, Senna, Albuquerque | 314 | + 38 Laps |
16 | LMP1 | #1 Porsche | Bernhard, Webber, Hartley | 313 | + 39 Laps |
17 | LMP2 | #30 Ligier | Sharp, Brown, Van Overbeek | 313 | + 2m12.605s |
18 | GTE Pro | #68 Ford | Hand, Muller, Bourdais | 311 | + 41 Laps |
19 | LMP2 | #25 Ligier | Munemann, Hoy, Pizzitola | 311 | + 18.769s |
20 | GTE Pro | #82 Ferrari | Fisichella, Vilander, Malucelli | 311 | + 40.062s |
21 | GTE Pro | #69 Ford | Briscoe, Westbrook, Dixon | 311 | + 1m02.258s |
22 | GTE Pro | #66 Ford | Pla, Mucke, Johnson | 310 | + 42 Laps |
23 | GTE Pro | #95 Aston | Thiim, Sorensen, Turner | 309 | + 43 Laps |
24 | LMP2 | #40 Ligier | Krohn, Jonsson, Barbosa | 308 | + 44 Laps |
25 | GTE Pro | #97 Aston | Stanaway, Rees, Adam | 308 | + 1m38.335s |
26 | GTE Pro | #63 Chevrolet | Magnussen, Garcia, Taylor | 307 | + 45 Laps |
27 | GTE Am | #62 Ferrari | Sweedler, Bell, Segal | 303 | + 49 Laps |
28 | GTE Am | #88 Porsche | Al Qubaisi, Heinemeier Hansson, Long | 302 | + 50 Laps |
29 | GTE Am | #83 Ferrari | Perrodo, Collard, Aguas | 302 | + 45.243s |
30 | LMP2 | #22 Ligier | Capillaire, Maris, Coleman | 301 | + 51 Laps |
31 | GTE Am | #61 Ferrari | Mok, Sawa, Bell | 301 | + 1m29.899s |
32 | LMP1 | #12 Rebellion | Prost, Heidfeld, Piquet Jr | 301 | + 2m21.910s |
33 | GTE Pro | #77 Porsche | Lietz, Christensen, Eng | 300 | + 52 Laps |
34 | GTE Am | #86 Porsche | Wainwright, Carroll, Barker | 299 | + 53 Laps |
35 | LMP2 | #48 Oreca | Keating, Bleekemolen, Goossens | 295 | + 57 Laps |
36 | GTE Am | #60 Ferrari | Laursen, Mac, Nielsen | 291 | + 61 Laps |
37 | GTE Am | #99 Aston | Howard, Griffin, Hirsch | 290 | + 62 Laps |
38 | LMP2 | #31 Ligier | Dalziel, Derani, Cumming | 288 | + 64 Laps |
39 | GTE Am | #50 Chevrolet | Yamagishi, Ragues, Belloc | 288 | + 1m57.281s |
40 | CDNT | #84 Morgan | Sausset, Tinseau, Bouvet | 287 | + 65 Laps |
41 | LMP2 | #28 Morgan | Taittinger, Striebig, Roussel | 286 | + 66 Laps |
42 | GTE Pro | #67 Ford | Franchitti, Priaulx, Tincknell | 284 | + 68 Laps |
43 | GTE Am | #98 Aston | Dalla Lana, Lamy, Lauda | 281 | + 71 Laps |
44 | GTE Am | #57 Chevrolet | O'Connel, Bryant, Patterson | 278 | + 74 Laps |
45 | GTE Am | #55 Ferrari | Cameron, Griffin, Scott | 274 | + 78 Laps |
46 | GTE Am | #78 Porsche | Ried, Henzler, Camathias | 272 | + 80 Laps |
47 | LMP2 | #34 Oreca | Leutwiler, Nakano, Winslow | 267 | + 85 Laps |
48 | LMP2 | #38 Gibson | Dolan, Dennis, Van Der Garde | 222 | + 130 Laps |
49 | LMP1 | #13 Rebellion | Tuscher, Imperatori, Kraihamer | 200 | + 152 Laps |
50 | LMP2 | #44 Oreca | Graves, Rao, Merhi | 283 | Retired |
51 | LMP2 | #46 Oreca | Thiriet, Beche, Hirakawa | 241 | Retired |
52 | LMP2 | #35 Alpine | Cheng, Tung, Panciatici | 234 | Retired |
53 | GTE Pro | #64 Chevrolet | Gavin, Milner, Taylor | 219 | Retired |
54 | LMP1 | #4 CLM | Trummer, Webb, Kaffer | 206 | Retired |
55 | GTE Pro | #51 Ferrari | Bruni, Calado, Pier Guidi | 179 | Retired |
56 | GTE Pro | #71 Ferrari | Rigon, Bird, Bertolini | 143 | Retired |
57 | GTE Pro | #92 Porsche | Makowiecki, Bamber, Bergmeister | 140 | Retired |
58 | GTE Pro | #91 Porsche | Pilet, Estre, Tandy | 135 | Retired |
59 | LMP2 | #47 Oreca | Matsuda, Howson, Bradley | 116 | Retired |
60 | GTE Am | #89 Porsche | Macneil, Keen, Miller | 50 | Retired |
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