Le Mans 24 Hours: Kamui Kobayashi holds lead over Fernando Alonso
Kamui Kobayashi edged the #7 Toyota crew closer to a maiden Le Mans 24 Hours victory by maintaining a 2m10s advantage over the sister #8 car of Fernando Alonso
The car Kobayashi shares with Mike Conway and Jose Maria Lopez has led the vast majority of this year's race, and ended the 22nd hour still with more than two minutes in hand.
Both TS050s made two scheduled stops during the 22nd hour, as Toyota closes in on a second successive one-two finish at Le Mans.
SMP's #11 car retained a comfortable three-lap advantage over the #1 Rebellion-Gibson R-13 in the battle for the final podium position.
Vitaly Petrov replaced Mikhail Aleshin in the car that started the race fifth in the first 10 minutes of the hour.
The #3 Rebellion - the final LMP1 car still running - was fifth at the end of the hour with Thomas Laurent at the wheel.
LMP2 - Signatech-Alpine one lap clear
Signatech-Alpine retains its one lap advantage in LMP2 with two hours remaining, Andre Negrao continuing to lead Gabriel Aubry's #38 Jackie Chan DC Racing ORECA.
Matthieu Vaxiviere was 1m46s behind Aubry in the #28 TDS Racing ORECA at the hour mark in a comfortable third place, with the crew's Bronze-graded gentleman driver Francois Perrodo having completed his minimum drive-time by the mid-way point in the hour.
Vaxiviere is a further lap ahead of the battle for fourth, which ebbed and flowed between the #22 United Autosports Ligier and #30 Duquiene Engineering ORECA.
Paul di Resta replaced Filipe Albuquerque aboard the Ligier and was promptly passed by Romain Dumas, but regained the place when Dumas handed over to Pierre Ragues.
IDEC Sport's #48 ORECA continues to hold sixth with Paul Lafargue at the wheel, two minutes ahead of Jean-Eric Vergne in the recovering #26 G-Drive Racing ORECA - which had been comfortably in the lead until it lost 20 minutes in the pits struggling to restart following a routine pitstop in the 19th hour.
GTE - Ferrari in charge
The GTE Pro field continued to be led by the AF Corse Ferrari of Daniel Serra, who holds a commanding lead of over a minute.
The Ferrari made its decisive move in the previous hour after the Corvette crash and a well-timed safety car, meaning Serra has only had to manage the gap back to the #91 Porsche of Frederic Makowiecki and the #93 Porsche of Patrick Pilet.
Ford continues to lock out fourth to seventh positions.
The Keating Motorsports privateer Ford continues to lead GTE Am, although the gap is now just over a minute back to Jorg Bergmeister in the #56 Team Project 1 Porsche.
Positions after 22 hours
-
Le Mans 24 Hours: De Vries crash safety car shakes up GTE fight
Le Mans 24 Hours: Alonso's Toyota into lead as sister car slows
Ekstrom defeats Schumacher for fourth Race of Champions victory
Two-time DTM champion Mattias Ekstrom took his fourth Race of Champions title at Pite Havsbad in Sweden after defeating Mercedes Formula 1 reserve driver Mick Schumacher in the final.
Ogier eyes WRC Monte Carlo rematch with Loeb
Sebastien Ogier is keen for a Rally Monte Carlo rematch against Sebastien Loeb in next year's World Rally Championship after becoming the most successful driver in event history.
Webber: Red Bull will remain "dangerous" threat in F1 2023 title fight
Mark Webber believes Red Bull will remain the “most dangerous team” in Formula 1 in 2023 despite facing penalties for its cost cap breach.
Daytona 24, Hour 18: Cadillac in command with six hours to go
Chip Ganassi held a commanding net lead in the Daytona 24 Hours as dawn broke, while Meyer Shank Racing recovered to second to set up a Cadillac vs Acura battle.
Why the WEC should make space for modern garagistes in 2023
OPINION: There is plenty of excitement over the glut of manufacturers tackling the Hypercar class of the World Endurance Championship this season. The selection committee is set to face headaches over who it decides to admit and who gets turned away from the 2023 entry list, but history tells us that the smaller entrants have a place
Autosport writers' most memorable moments of 2022
The season just gone was a memorable one for many of our staff writers, who are fortunate enough to cover motorsport around the world. Here are our picks of the best (and in some cases, most eventful) from 2022
Is Qatar the price motorsport fans have to pay?
OPINION: Fresh from hosting a controversial 2022 football World Cup, Qatar has added its name to the 2024 World Endurance Championship calendar. Although questions may be asked about its presence on the calendar, is it simply the price to pay for having a healthy racing championship?
How Toyota defeated Alpine for the 2022 WEC title
Toyota #8 trio Brendon Hartley, Sebastien Buemi and Ryo Hirakawa outscored their rivals in the last season before the World Endurance Championship’s top class gets ultra-competitive. Here's how their Hypercar battle with Alpine and the remaining class tussles played out in LMP2, GTE Pro and GTE Am
The long road to convergence for sportscar racing's new golden age
The organisers of the World Endurance Championship and IMSA SportsCar Championship worked together to devise the popular new LMDh rule set. But to turn it from an idea into reality, some serious compromises were involved - both from the prospective LMDh entrants and those with existing Le Mans Hypercar projects...
How Porsche's Le Mans legend changed the game
The 956 set the bar at the dawn of Group C 40 years ago, and that mark only rose higher through the 1980s, both in the world championship and in the US. It and its successor, the longer-wheelbase 962, were voted as Autosport's greatest sportscar in 2020 - here's why
Why BMW shouldn't be overlooked on its return to prototypes
OPINION: While the focus has been on the exciting prospect of Ferrari vs Porsche at the Le Mans 24 Hours next year, BMW’s factory return to endurance racing should not be ignored. It won't be at the French classic next year as it focuses efforts on the IMSA SportsCar Championship, but could be a dark horse in 2024 when it returns to La Sarthe with the crack WRT squad
The problem sausage kerbs continue to cause
Track limits are the problem that motorsport doesn't seem to be able to rid itself of. But the use of so-called 'sausage kerbs' as a deterrent has in several instances only served to worsen the problem, and a growing number of voices want to see action taken
Subscribe and access Autosport.com with your ad-blocker.
From Formula 1 to MotoGP we report straight from the paddock because we love our sport, just like you. In order to keep delivering our expert journalism, our website uses advertising. Still, we want to give you the opportunity to enjoy an ad-free and tracker-free website and to continue using your adblocker.