Le Mans hour 10: Penalty setback for #8 Toyota in second
The #7 Toyota enjoys a two-minute Le Mans 24 Hours lead in the 10th hour after the sister #8 car picked up a penalty for speeding in a slow zone
Sebastien Buemi ended the ninth hour half a minute behind leader Mike Conway, with Toyota suggesting that Buemi lost out during a slow zone.
Then early in the 10th hour race control issued the #8 car with a 60-second stop/go penalty for speeding in a slow zone, which Buemi served on lap 150. Toyota was not allowed to service the car during this time.
The additional 35 seconds Buemi spent in the pitlane meant he returned to the circuit two minutes and 10 seconds behind Conway and made little progress in bringing that gap down thereafter.
The #3 Rebellion is now four laps down on the lead Toyota but a comfortable third and three minutes clear of the sister #1 car, with the two Gibson-powered R-13s the only remaining privateer LMP1 cars yet to have encountered any major issues.
The #10 DragonSpeed BR1 that stopped for an hour earlier in the race is now the next highest-placed LMP1 car in 32nd overall thanks to the #6 Manor-Ginetta stopping out on track midway through the hour.
Williams Formula 1 young driver Oliver Rowland was in the car when he slowed exiting Tertre Rouge, before pulling up by a gap in the barriers heading on to the Mulsanne Straight.
G-Drive in command of LMP2
Andrea Pizzitola has stabilised his lead over the chasing Signatech-Alpine as the #26 G-Drive Racing ORECA continues to lead the LMP2 field after 10 hours.
Pizzitola emerged from the 15th round of stops after 153 laps with a 2m58s lead over the chasing Signatech-Alpine of Pierre Thiriet, who returned to the cockpit on lap 149 for the first time since a spin on his in-lap at the end of the sixth hour.
Julien Canal is 3m22s off the lead in third in the Panis-Barthez Competition Ligier, and the last car on the lead lap.
Fellow Michelin runner Memo Rojas has struggled in the pole-sitting IDEC Sport Ligier since taking over from Paul Lafargue on lap 140 and seen his advantage over the Dunlop-shod Loic Duval (TDS Racing ORECA) cut by 40s to a little over half a minute.
Duval caught Jonathan Hirschi (Graff-So24 Racing ORECA) hand over fist in the battle over fifth before they pitted together on lap 147, where Duval's crew was six seconds quicker than the Graff crew to get their man out ahead.
Trouble for BMW in GTE Pro
Porsche has strengthened its grip on the GTE Pro class with Kevin Estre leading the class in the #92 entry, 90 seconds up on sister #91 driven by Richard Lietz.
Their closest rival was the MTEK BMW M6 of Phillip Eng, but the DTM driver was forced into the pits and spent 11 minutes in the garage before Nicky Catsburg returned it to the track.
Those problems promoted the Porsche's expected rival, Ford, into third with the #68 machine driven by Joey Hand.
Ferrari Formula 1 third driver Antonio Giovinazzi has the AF Corse #52 Ferrari in fourth, ahead of IndyCar points leader Scott Dixon in the #69 Ford.
The first Corvette in the class is the #63 driven by Mike Rockenfeller, running sixth in class, and the Aston Martins continue to struggle compared to its rivals.
Darren Turner has the #95 Aston Martin 10th in class, Alex Lynn's #97 is four places further down.
GTE Am continues to be led by the Dempsey-Proton Racing Porsche of Matt Campbell.
Positions after 10 hours
Pos | Class | Car | Drivers | Laps | Gap |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | LMP1 | #7 Toyota | Conway, Kobayashi, Lopez | 161 | |
2 | LMP1 | #8 Toyota | Buemi, Nakajima, Alonso | 161 | + 2m09.242s |
3 | LMP1 | #3 Rebellion | Laurent, Beche, Menezes | 157 | + 4 Laps |
4 | LMP1 | #1 Rebellion | Lotterer, Jani, Senna | 156 | + 5 Laps |
5 | LMP2 | #26 Oreca | Rusinov, Pizzitola, Vergne | 153 | + 8 Laps |
6 | LMP2 | #36 Alpine | Lapierre, Negrao, Thiriet | 153 | + 2m58.217s |
7 | LMP2 | #23 Ligier | Buret, Canal, Stevens | 152 | + 9 Laps |
8 | LMP2 | #48 Oreca | Lafargue, Chatin, Rojas | 152 | + 1m37.092s |
9 | LMP2 | #28 Oreca | Perrodo, Vaxiviere, Duval | 152 | + 2m08.404s |
10 | LMP2 | #39 Oreca | Capillaire, Hirschi, Gommendy | 152 | + 2m24.487s |
11 | LMP2 | #22 Ligier | Hanson, Albuquerque, Di Resta | 151 | + 10 Laps |
12 | LMP2 | #34 Ligier | Taylor, Ledogar, Heinemeier-Hansson | 151 | + 4.271s |
13 | LMP2 | #40 Oreca | Allen, Gutierrez, Guibbert | 151 | + 38.678s |
14 | LMP2 | #32 Ligier | De Sadeleer, Owen, Montoya | 150 | + 11 Laps |
15 | LMP2 | #29 Dallara | Van Eerd, Van Der Garde, Lammers | 150 | + 3.111s |
16 | LMP2 | #31 Oreca | Gonzalez, Maldonado, Berthon | 149 | + 12 Laps |
17 | LMP2 | #35 Dallara | Shaitar, Newey, Nato | 149 | + 1m18.656s |
18 | LMP2 | #33 Ligier | Cheng, Boulle, Nicolet | 147 | + 14 Laps |
19 | LMP2 | #44 Ligier | Bertolini, Jonsson, Krohn | 147 | + 1m08.473s |
20 | LMP2 | #37 Oreca | Jaafar, Jeffri, Tan | 147 | + 1m15.525s |
21 | LMP2 | #50 Ligier | Creed, Ricci, Dagoneau | 145 | + 16 Laps |
22 | LMP2 | #47 Dallara | Lacorte, Sernagiotto, Nasr | 145 | + 55.953s |
23 | GTE Pro | #92 Porsche | Christensen, Estre, Vanthoor | 143 | + 18 Laps |
24 | GTE Pro | #91 Porsche | Lietz, Bruni, Makowiecki | 142 | + 19 Laps |
25 | GTE Pro | #68 Ford | Hand, Muller, Bourdais | 142 | + 52.606s |
26 | GTE Pro | #52 Ferrari | Vilander, Giovinazzi, Derani | 142 | + 1m36.001s |
27 | GTE Pro | #69 Ford | Briscoe, Westbrook, Dixon | 142 | + 1m43.154s |
28 | GTE Pro | #63 Chevrolet | Magnussen, Garcia, Rockenfeller | 142 | + 2m19.166s |
29 | LMP2 | #38 Oreca | Tung, Richelmi, Aubry | 142 | + 2m28.474s |
30 | GTE Pro | #67 Ford | Priaulx, Tincknell, Kanaan | 142 | + 2m32.692s |
31 | GTE Pro | #51 Ferrari | Pier Guidi, Calado, Serra | 141 | + 20 Laps |
32 | LMP1 | #10 BR | Hedman, Hanley, Van Der Zande | 141 | + 35.551s |
33 | GTE Pro | #82 BMW | Farfus, Felix Da Costa, Sims | 141 | + 3m02.057s |
34 | GTE Pro | #95 Aston | Sorensen, Thiim, Turner | 140 | + 21 Laps |
35 | GTE Pro | #66 Ford | Mucke, Pla, Johnson | 140 | + 2m43.917s |
36 | GTE Pro | #81 BMW | Tomczyk, Catsburg, Eng | 139 | + 22 Laps |
37 | GTE Am | #77 Porsche | Campbell, Ried, Andlauer | 139 | + 1m05.602s |
38 | GTE Am | #84 Ferrari | Griffin, Macneil, Segal | 139 | + 2m01.192s |
39 | GTE Am | #85 Ferrari | Keating, Bleekemolen, Stolz | 138 | + 23 Laps |
40 | GTE Am | #88 Porsche | Cairoli, Al Qubaisi, Roda | 138 | + 1m16.588s |
41 | GTE Pro | #71 Ferrari | Rigon, Bird, Molina | 138 | + 1m27.872s |
42 | GTE Pro | #97 Aston | Lynn, Martin, Adam | 138 | + 1m55.711s |
43 | GTE Am | #54 Ferrari | Flohr, Castellacci, Fisichella | 138 | + 2m12.995s |
44 | GTE Am | #56 Porsche | Bergmeister, Lindsey, Perfetti | 138 | + 2m15.322s |
45 | GTE Pro | #64 Chevrolet | Gavin, Milner, Fassler | 138 | + 2m57.375s |
46 | GTE Am | #80 Porsche | Babini, Nielsen, Maris | 138 | + 4m04.277s |
47 | GTE Am | #99 Porsche | Long, Pappas, Pumpelly | 138 | + 4m26.846s |
48 | GTE Am | #90 Aston | Yoluc, Hankey, Eastwood | 138 | + 4m38.357s |
49 | LMP1 | #6 Ginetta | Rowland, Brundle, Turvey | 137 | + 24 Laps |
50 | GTE Am | #61 Ferrari | Mok, Griffin, Sawa | 137 | + 14m44.580s |
51 | GTE Pro | #93 Porsche | Pilet, Tandy, Bamber | 136 | + 25 Laps |
52 | LMP1 | #5 Ginetta | Robertson, Simpson, Roussel | 135 | + 26 Laps |
53 | GTE Am | #86 Porsche | Wainwright, Barker, Davison | 134 | + 27 Laps |
54 | GTE Am | #70 Ferrari | Ishikawa, Beretta, Cheever | 131 | + 30 Laps |
55 | LMP1 | #17 BR | Sarrazin, Orudzhev, Isaakyan | 123 | + 38 Laps |
56 | LMP1 | #11 BR | Petrov, Aleshin, Button | 111 | + 50 Laps |
57 | LMP2 | #25 Ligier | Patterson, De Jong, Kim | 105 | + 56 Laps |
58 | GTE Pro | #94 Porsche | Dumas, Bernhard, Muller | 92 | + 69 Laps |
59 | GTE Am | #98 Aston | Dalla Lana, Lamy, Lauda | 92 | + 6m08.912s |
60 | LMP1 | #4 Enso | Webb, Kraihamer, Dillmann | 65 | + 96 Laps |
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