LM 24, Hour 13

LM24, Hour 13: Battle brewing between the Toyotas

Rainier Ehrhardt/Motorsport Images
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emailBy RJ O’Connell | June 11, 2022 11:26 PM ET

Just before the sun is due to rise at Le Mans, ‘Coach Kamui’ Kobayashi is in hot pursuit of his junior teammate Ryo Hirakawa for the overall lead.

A blistering night stint for Kobayashi plus a slow pit stop for the No.7 Toyota GR010 Hybrid ahead of him has whittled Hirakawa’s lead in Hypercar down to less than five seconds at the end of this 13th hour of racing.

The No.709 Glickenhaus Racing SCG 007 LMH, now being driven by Franck Mailleux, remains third, and the No.708 Glickenhaus driven by Pipo Derani has nearly fought its way back past the LMP2 field in the overall order.

There’s been no change at the front of the running order in LMP2, but the No.27 CD Sport Ligier JSP217-Gibson had a scary moment when the left-front wheel came off while Steven Palette was rounding Mulsanne corner. Palette was able to limp back to the pits, where 15 minutes in the garage allowed them to continue their race.

The No.38 JOTA Oreca 07-Gibson of António Felix da Costa leads LMP2 from the No.9 Prema Orlen Team Oreca of Lorenzo Colombo in second and the No. 65 Panis Racing Oreca of Job van Uitert, which has moved its way up into third place in class, followed by the No.5 Team Penske Oreca of the ageless Emmanuel Collard in fourth, and the No.28 JOTA Oreca of Jonathan Aberdein in fifth.

Tristan Vautier is now at the wheel of the No.44 ARC Bratislava Oreca, which leads LMP2 Pro-Am. The No.30 Duquiene Engineering Oreca, last driven by Memo Rojas, has spent upwards of a half-hour in the garage undergoing extensive repairs.

Porsche continues to lead the way in GTE Pro via the No.92 Porsche 911 RSR now driven by Kevin Estre. They continue to lead the No.64 Corvette Racing C8.R of Nick Tandy by nearly two minutes, while the Corvette has a 24 second advantage over the No.51 AF Corse Ferrari 488 GTE Evo of Alessandro Pier Guidi in third.

The No.91 Porsche, now driven by Gianmaria Bruni, continues to disrupt the top of the order with Porsche splitting their strategies.

TF Sport’s No.33 Aston Martin Vantage AMR continues to lead, with a 55 second advantage over the No.79 WeatherTech Racing Porsche of Julian Andlauer, who has the No.99 Hardpoint Motorsport Porsche of Alessio Picariello right behind him.

HOUR 13 STANDINGS

 

LM 24, Hour 14

LM24, Hour 14: Dawn brings lead changes

Rainier Ehrhardt/Motorsport Images
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emailBy RJ O’Connell | June 12, 2022 12:14 AM ET

A reversal of fortunes within the Toyota Gazoo Racing camp has given the overall lead of the 24 Hours of Le Mans back to the reigning champions’ No.7 Toyota GR010 Hybrid.

The No.7 car took the lead shortly after a pit stop on lap 215, when the team changed drivers from Kamui Kobayashi to Mike Conway. A lap later, the No.8 Toyota of Ryo Hirakawa pitted, and Sebastien Buemi took the wheel.

Buemi was caught out by a Slow Zone for the stopped GTE Am class No.59 Inception Racing Ferrari 488 GTE Evo on both its in-lap and its out-lap, while Conway was only interrupted during his out-lap. This resulted in a swing of nearly half a minute, and the No.7 Toyota of Conway, Kobayashi, and Jose Maria Lopez now leads by 26 seconds.

The No.709 Glickenhaus Racing SCG 007 LMH of Franck Mailleux remains third overall and also in the Hypercar class, while the No.708 Glickenhaus of Pipo Derani has moved up to fifth overall and fourth in class, just behind the LMP2 leading No.38 JOTA Oreca 07-Gibson.

After pro drivers Will Stevens and Antonio Felix da Costa carried the bulk of night-time driving, Roberto Gonzalez got on board for just his second stint of the race. He inherits a three-minute lead over the No.9 Prema Orlen Team Oreca of Lorenzo Colombo in second, followed by the No.31 WRT Oreca of Rene Rast in third.

Jean-Baptiste Lahaye had a spin and a spill through the Porsche Curves, spinning through the fast left-handers and hitting the Armco barriers on his left. He brought the No.35 Ultimate Oreca back to the garage, where they soon returned to the race after 10 minutes of repairs. A Slow Zone was declared to clear the carbon fiber and Styrofoam signboard debris left behind.

In GTE Pro, the No.92 Porsche GT Team 911 RSR of Kevin Estre was leading through most of the hour, but the No.51 AF Corse Ferrari 488 GTE Evo of Alessandro Pier Guidi had jumped ahead of the No.64 Corvette Racing C8.R of Tommy Milner for second in class.

Behind them, the No.91 works Porsche of Gianmaria Bruni has now truly settled into fourth, potentially losing out under the Slow Zones. However just before the end of the hour, the No.92 Porsche was wheeled back into the garage for emergency service. It took the Porsche mechanics just three minutes to perform routine service and then change all four brakes.

That quick service prevented a total catastrophe, but the race lead did change hands just after the start of the hour – the No.51 AF Corse Ferrari is now leading from the No.64 Corvette, with the No.92 Porsche third.

And in GTE Am, the No.33 TF Sport Aston Martin Vantage AMR piloted by Marco Sorensen still leads. Behind them, the No.99 Hardpoint Motorsport Porsche of Alessio Picariello has taken second place from the No.79 WeatherTech Racing Porsche of Julian Andlauer.

The break of dawn over Circuit de La Sarthe has once again given us one of the most beautiful sights in endurance racing. The Grand Prix d’Endurance forges on…

HOUR 14 STANDINGS

 

LM 24, Hour 15

 

LM 24, Hour 16

 

LM 24, Hour 17
LM24 Hour 17: Calm for leaders while Project 1 Porsche crashes hard Rainier Ehrhardt/Motorsport Images
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emailBy RJ O’Connell | June 12, 2022 3:11 AM ET

Seven hours remain in the 90th running of the 24 Hours of Le Mans. Toyota Gazoo Racing continues to lead overall and in the Hypercar class.

As before, the No.8 Toyota GR010 Hybrid of Brendon Hartley leads by one lap from the No.7 Toyota of José Maria López, after the No.7 Toyota was afflicted with a hybrid issue in the previous hour.

Behind them, the No.709 Glickenhaus Racing SCG 007 LMH now driven by Ryan Briscoe is carrying on in third place overall. All of the Hypercars are in the overall top 20, with the No.708 Glickenhaus of Olivier Pla running sixth overall, and the No.36 Alpine Elf Team A480-Gibson back in 17th overall.

JOTA have their two cars running in the top three in LMP2, led by the No.38 Oreca 07-Gibson of Will Stevens, and the No.28 of Ed Jones third behind the No.9 Prema Orlen Team Oreca of Louis Delétraz in second. Algarve Pro Racing’s No.45 Oreca leads LMP2 Pro-Am with Steven Thomas on board.

Alexander Sims still has the No.64 Corvette Racing C8.R running at the front in GTE Pro, punctuated with him setting the fastest lap in class for the race during this stint. James Calado is second in class aboard the No.51 AF Corse Ferrari 488 GTE Evo, and Frédéric Makowiecki is third in the No.91 Porsche GT Team 911 RSR.

After their puncture and front-end damage, the No.92 Porsche GT Team car was able to return to the race, but is now sixth in class and two laps off the lead.

Brendan Iribe was running as high as third place in the GTE Am class, but his No.56 Team Project 1 Porsche 911 RSR crashed hard on the approach to the Daytona chicane. Iribe was thankfully uninjured in a crash eerily similar to the one Michael Fassbender had in Qualifying Practice, but this likely will mean that both of Team Project 1’s cars will be retired from the race.
🟨 Slow Zone 🟨

Big off for the #56 Team @Project1_93 Porsche. Driver Brendan Iribe and the marshals are all ok.

Game over for the team?

⏱️https://t.co/4J3q5Z45q3#LeMans24 | @FIAWEC pic.twitter.com/shqTQuiPSq

— 24 Hours of Le Mans (@24hoursoflemans)

The incident resulted in a Slow Zone across the Mulsanne straight.

The No.33 TF Sport Aston Martin Vantage AMR still leads GTE Am, piloted by Ben Keating. After a spin in the Karting esses in the last hour, the No.79 WeatherTech Racing Porsche of Cooper MacNeil is back up to second, followed by the No.77 Dempsey-Proton Racing Porsche of Christian Ried in third.

HOUR 17 STANDINGS

 

LM24 Hour 18: Devastation for Corvette Racing

Nick Dungan/Motorsport Images
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emailBy Stephen Kilbey | June 12, 2022 4:22 AM ET

We are three quarters into the race and the GTE Pro class continues to make headlines, with more drama in the battle for the win during Hour 18.

Corvette Racing’s chances of winning GTE Pro in its final year came to an abrupt end in the final minutes of the hour, when AF Corse LMP2 driver Francois Perrodo made contact with the No. 64 Pro-leading C8.R of Alex Sims. Perrodo hadn’t cleared the C8.R when he was running side-by-side with another LMP2 runner down the Mulsanne Straight. He moved over on Sims, the Briton sent veering off into the Armco after the contact.

It was a heavy impact that caused a retirement on the spot for Corvette. To make matters worse, it came just moments after the team announced the retirement of the long-delayed No. 63 sister car.
💔Heartbreak for the #64 Corvette

It was all getting abit tight down the Mulsanne – with the prototype pushing the LMGTE Pro leaders into the barriers.
Gut wrenching!

⏱️https://t.co/4J3q5Z45q3@CorvetteRacing | #LeMans24 | @FIAWEC pic.twitter.com/w9d6KQDsMy

— 24 Hours of Le Mans (@24hoursoflemans)

The contact also caused rear suspension damage to the No. 83 AF Corse ORECA which crabbed its way back to the pits. Perrodo looked visibly shaken and upset when he arrived in the pits and climbed from the car.

The incident shook up the Pro class yet again. The No. 51 AF Corse Ferrari of James Calado now leads by 20 seconds over Fred Makowiecki in the No. 91 Porsche. The No. 51 hadn’t shown pace pre-race, but, in this race of attrition, a clean run has proved fruitful.Also during the hour, GR Racing’s Mike Wainwright moved across on Matthieu Vaxiviere (No. 36 Alpine) at the start of the Porsche Curves, sending the Frenchman through the gravel and into the barriers, damaging the front end heavily.

Vaxiviere was able to rejoin the race and get back to pit lane for repairs, but it was a further, lengthy delay for the team.

“I went to overtake as we do every time and he just moved when I arrived next to him. I think he didn’t see me and only saw the LMP2 behind. It’s a shame because we aren’t taking any risks; we are just trying to finish. It’s a difficult race for us,” Vaxiviere said.

Up front in Le Mans Hypercar, little has changed. The No. 8 still leads by over a lap over the No. 7. The No. 709 Glickenhaus continues to circulate in third.

In LMP2, the No. 38 JOTA ORECA has a full lap lead over the No. 9 PREMA ORECA — which falls to third every time it pits out of sequence with the No. 28 JOTA behind — making it a 1-2 for the British team in the middle portion of each hour.

GTE Am is still led by TF Sport. Henrique Chaves is on board and pushing to maintain a healthy lead over the fast charging Nicki Thiim in the Northwest AMR Vantage behind.

“I just did three stints and offered to stay in for a fourth because I felt really good,” Ben Keating said on WEC TV after handing over to Chaves during the hour.

“In the early morning hours, I got passed by Ben Barker and I got to follow him around. With all the slow zones, they were worried I would go over four hours of drive time. I’ll be in for another triple stint after a three hour break now.” he said.

The TF Sport Aston leads the race by just over three minutes.

HOUR 18 STANDINGS

 

LM24 Hour 19: First safety car as LMP2 pole sitter WRT crashes out

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emailBy Stephen Kilbey | June 12, 2022 5:10 AM ET

The 19th hour of the race, remarkably, saw the safety car make its first appearance. The neutralisation of the race was called for an incident from Robin Frijns in the No. 31 WRT ORECA.

Frijns made an error on the exit of Indianapolis 40 minutes into the hour, putting a wheel on the gravel, losing the rear and darting into the Armco barriers on driver’s left. The impact caused an on-the-spot retirement for the No. 31 — the car which won the class last year.
🚨 Safety Car 🚨

For the first time, the Safety Car is out as the marshals recover the #31 @followWRT Oreca.

⏱️https://t.co/4J3q5Z45q3@goodyear | #LeMans24 | @FIAWEC pic.twitter.com/8aE088ILjm

— 24 Hours of Le Mans (@24hoursoflemans)

The body language in the WRT pits said it all — heartbreak for the Belgian outfit. It’s been a tough run for the No. 31 crew. After taking pole, the car was penalized for the crash in the opening seconds of the race, and ever since has been playing catch up.

The No. 31 retired from sixth in class; Frijns forced to abandon the car after the blue impact light turned on following the hit, meaning he must head to the medical centre.

More Le Mans/WEC!

There were more scenes of despair from the pits earlier in the hour as the WEC TV cameras followed Francois Perrodo into the Corvette Racing pit box following his mistake which led to the retirement of the GTE Pro-leading No. 64 C8.RPerrodo, along with AF Corse boss Amato Ferrari, in a moment of humility, apologized to everyone in the Corvette garage. In what was a rather emotional moment, Perrodo took the time to shake the hands of the team management.

“I have made mistakes, but nothing like that,” he said to the broadcast. “There are no words. I ruined their weekend. It was a stupid mistake from me and I feel absolutely awful.”

The safety car period continued into the 20th hour, with multiple teams opting to dive into the pits to take advantage of the situation.

It’s not yet clear just how this has affected the key battles in each class. It has wiped the lead margin for the No. 51 AF Corse Ferrari of Alessendro Pier Guidi, as Fred Makowiecki in the No. 91 is now right behind in the safety car queue. This means we have a GTE Pro dog fight to look forward to in the next hour.

As we go racing again, the No. 8 Toyota leads LMH by over a lap to the No. 7. JOTA sits one-two in LMP2 with the No. 38 holding a huge lead. In GTE Am, the No. 33 TF Sport Aston Martin heads the field.

HOUR 19 STANDINGS

 

LM24 Hour 20: GTE Pro battle sees drama after safety car period

Motorsport Images
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emailBy Stephen Kilbey | June 12, 2022 6:15 AM ET

There are just four hours to go in the 90th running of the Le Mans 24 Hours, and GTE Pro continues to provide drama at the Circuit de la Sarthe.

The Safety Car period for the WRT incident in Hour 19 ended at the very start of the hour and created a nose-to-tail battle for the lead between Alessandro Pier Guidi in the No. 51 AF Corse Ferrari and Fred Makowiecki in the No. 91 Porsche.

The pair fought hard through traffic; Pier Guidi defending from the hard-charging Frenchman all the way to the next round of pit stops. It was then that a gamble in strategy was taken by the Italian team. The AF Corse 488 would just take fuel, while Porsche opted to change drivers — Makowiecki making way for Gianmaria Bruni — and take four tires. This gave the No. 51 track position, but it would be short lived.
Me and my shadow

🔴🟢⚪
⚪🔴⚫

⏱️https://t.co/4J3q5Z45q3@TotalEnergies | #LeMans24 | @FIAWEC pic.twitter.com/kvFS4foq4R

— 24 Hours of Le Mans (@24hoursoflemans)

June 12, 2022

All the breathing room evaporated when Pier Guidi suffered a slow puncture and required an unscheduled stop which cost the No. 51 the lead. This saw the No. 91 Porsche take control of the race with a 39-second advantage. It may yet grow, as the No. 51 is under investigation for gaining an advantage when Pier Guidi skipped the chicane at the Dunlop Bridge.

Meanwhile, in LMP2, a battle may well emerge for the lead in the coming hours, as the No. 38 JOTA ORECA lost a considerable amount of time under safety car conditions — getting held in pit lane. This reduced the crew’s lead from over a lap to just half a lap and brings the PREMA ORECA back into play.

The only other notable incident in the hour was the No. 22 United Autosports ORECA stopping on track with Phil Hanson at the wheel. After a full power cycle, Hanson was able to rejoin the race having lost significant time.

LMH and GTE Am remain quiet. The No. 8 Toyota and No. 33 TF Sport Aston Martin are both working on maintaining their healthy class leads.

HOUR 20 STANDINGS

 

LM24, Hour 21: Toyota consolidates lead Christopher Lee/Motorsport Images
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emailBy Stephen Kilbey | June 12, 2022 7:23 AM ET

Hour 21 at the 24 Hours of Le Mans was a rather metronomic affair, with no major incidents of passes for position to report until the very end of the hour when Claudio Schiavoni in the Iron Lynx Ferrari GTE Pro, was hit by an LMP2 car while exiting the Porsche Curves with four minutes remaining in the hour, sending him flying into the tire barriers. It looks like a retirement but that is not yet confirmed. The team has however confirmed that Schiavoni is OK.
🟨 Slow Zone 🟨

It's a slow zone in the final sector as the officials recover the @IronLynx_ Ferrari. Crew ok 👌

⏱️https://t.co/4J3q5Z45q3@DHL_Motorsports | #LeMans24 | @FIAWEC pic.twitter.com/bvid54NSIR

— 24 Hours of Le Mans (@24hoursoflemans)

The class leaders are as follows as we head into the final three hours: No. 8 Toyota Gazoo Racing GR010, No. 38 JOTA ORECA 07 Gibson, No. 91 Porsche GT Team 911 RSR 19, No. 33 TF Sport Aston Martin Vantage AMR.

With that in mind it’s a good time to go through the list of official retirements to this point, which is remarkably small.

Just one prototype has been withdrawn from the race — the No. 31 WRT ORECA 07 Gibson, after Robin Frijn’s error this morning at Indianapolis, the Dutchman forced to head to the medical center after a head-on impact with the barriers. He did climb out of the car unassisted, though.

In GTE Pro, there have been two casualties, both from the same team, with the pair of Corvette Racing C8.Rs officially retired within moments of each other. The No. 63 suffered terminal suspension issues after leading many of the opening hours, the No. 64 then also hit trouble while leading the class, Alex Sims being side-swiped by the No. 83 AF Corse ORECA while running three-wide down Mulsanne, the contact sending him into the barriers at high speed.

The class with the most casualties is Am, with five confirmed retirements. The No. 777 D Station Racing Vantage suffered chassis and wishbone damage. The No. 46 Project 1 911 had steering issues following an off. The No. 56 sister Project 1 Porsche met a dramatic end when Brendan Iribe had a hard impact down Mulsanne this morning, hitting the barriers head on after losing the rear under braking.

The No. 59 Inception Racing Ferrari lost drive down the Mulsanne straight, and the No. 71 Spirit of Race Ferrari also retired with mechanical woes.

HOUR 21 STANDINGS

 

Looking Back: Cunninghams at Le Mans

Cadillacs had the biggest engines "stock" in the world, so you could run the biggest stock engine in a lightweight chassis same as everyone else in 1954.

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emailBy Vintage Motorsport | June 10, 2022 2:40 PM ET Follow @http://twitter.com/VMMagazine

Briggs Cunningham’s efforts to win the 24 Hours of Le Mans landed him on the cover of TIME magazine in April 1954. The range of automobiles the B.S. Cunningham Co. designed and built for Le Mans was extraordinary.

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From a stock Cadillac Series 61 coupe, to an aerodynamic body on a Cadillac chassis, to creating his own marque using Chrysler Hemi engines, Cunningham birthed a legend celebrated to this day.