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LM24 Hour 2: Back to slicks as conditions improve

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emailBy Stephen Kilbey | August 21, 2021 12:11 PM ET

With the track drying and everyone back on slick tires, the 89th running of the Le Mans 24 Hours began to settle down in the second hour. Toyota now sits 1-2 with its GR010s, the No. 8 completing a drive from dead last to second in just over an hour.

Mike Conway still leads the way in No. 7, by a margin of 43 seconds, which has come down after a small scare for the team, which changed the car’s left-rear tire at its second stop due to a slow puncture. Buemi is still chasing, but has a comfortable 30-second lead over the Signatech Alpine, which has recovered to third but is now almost two minutes back from the No. 7 Toyota.

The two Glickenhaus 007s are still among the LMP2s after a tough time so far. Olivier Pla in the No. 708 is ninth overall, and the sister car with Romain Dumas at the wheel sits 14th, down the order after Richard Westbrook had a spin.

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In LMP2 it’s been static since the opening hour, Antonio Felix da Costa in JOTA’s “Mighty 38” (pictured above) leading the No. 26 G-Drive Aurus of Nyck de Vries. Giedo van der Garde still sits third and leads the way in the Pro/Am sub class.

The best racing of Hour 2 was found in GTE Pro. Tommy Milner in the No. 64 Corvette led the class after a quick pit stop after the end of the opening hour, but struggled with tire wear, lost a lot of time due to being short-filled at its first stop and is down to sixth, two places behind Antonio Garcia in the sister car, which is up to fourth.

AF Corse now sits 1-2 with Daniel Serra in the No. 52, in for Miguel Molina who made the move on Milner to take the top spot after a thrilling tussle which saw them run door-to-door down to the first Mulsanne Chicane before Milner relinquished the place. The No. 51 is second and has Alessandro Pier Guidi installed for his first stint.

The WeatherTech Racing Porsche is perhaps the surprise of the opening 120 minutes of this one. Laurens Vanthoor steered the customer car to third, before handing over to Earl Bamber.

In GTE Am, it’s still the No. 83 AF Corse Ferrari leading the race, ensuring the Italian team is in control of both classes. Nicklas Nielsen currently sits 21 seconds ahead of the No. 33 TF Sport Aston Martin of Felipe Fraga, which has moved up the order as the track conditions has changed.

The Rinaldi Racing Ferrari sits third, while the No. 98 Aston Martin is just outside the top three with Nick Thiim at the wheel. The Cetilar Ferrari which led in Hour 1 is now down to sixth after its second stop.