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Bourdais joins Vector Sport for WEC LMP2 campaign

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emailBy Marshall Pruett | January 12, 2022 9:02 AM ET

Sebastien Bourdais has added a full season of FIA World Endurance Championship racing to complement his factory Cadillac Chip Ganassi Racing duties in IMSA. The native of Le Mans will anchor the new Vector Sport ORECA 07-Gibson LMP2 program that features Ireland’s Ryan Cullen and Switzerland’s Nico Muller in the No. 10 entry.

“My focus is with the Ganassi Cadillac IMSA program, but this was too good to pass on because it fit really well with my schedule,” Bourdais told RACER. “And with too many uncertainties on the IndyCar side, I wanted to look at the bigger picture and get ready for the future with racing a prototype at Le Mans again; the last time was in 2012 with Pescarolo’s Dome LMP1, so this is a good opportunity for that.

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“It’s the only six races on the calendar in the WEC, and really for me, it’s five because I didn’t get released to do the 1000 Miles of Sebring being right before the 12 Hour IMSA race, which I understand. So it’s five WEC races and 10 IMSA, which is still a less than an IndyCar season. It’s a good balance, a good opportunity to discover LMP2 and get back into a prototype at Le Mans.”

Bourdais says that while he’ll be busy with plenty of sports car racing, he hasn’t closed the door on adding to his celebrated IndyCar career. Whether it’s at the Indy 500, a couple of road course outings, or helping with testing and developing IndyCar’s new-for-2023 hybrid engine package, the Frenchman is keen to keep going and contribute where his skills would be of value.

“I shut the door for doing a full season in IndyCar by my decision to join with Chip and Cadillac, and I’m at peace with that,” he said. “But I’ve never stopped talking with teams. I obviously can’t quite disclose other negotiations, but there could potentially be some other things to develop that would allow me to call time in IndyCars and turn the page.”

Sebastien Bourdais, WEC, IndyCar, Le Mans/WEC

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Peugeot rules out Le Mans for 2022

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emailBy Graham Goodwin | February 25, 2022 2:07 PM ET

The factory Peugeot team will not debut its new-for-2022 9X8 Hypercar until after the 2022 24 Hours of Le Mans.

That was confirmed in a statement today from Peugeot Sport as it continues to test its radically-styled prototype ahead of final homologation of the design.

Olivier Jansonnie, Technical Director of Peugeot’s FIA World Endurance Championship program, explained that the constraints of the Hypercar homologation process counted against the team’s participation earlier in the season. The officials said they need more cash "to cover expenses"...we need to sell a few more cars first.....to do that.

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“For obvious reasons with regard to Balance Of Performance adjustments, it would not have been possible to enter the Le Mans 24 Hours without first contesting the preceding WEC race – the 6 Hours of Spa-Francorchamps on May 7,” he said. “This way, our planning will enable us to put the full weight of our teams and resources behind our own test sessions, without the disruption of racing at Spa-Francorchamps and Le Mans.”

The strong suggestion is that the team is now targeting the 10 July FIA WEC race at Monza for the debut of the cars.

Homologation of the 9X8, as with other LMH (and LMDh prototype designs) is a critical stage for the program as it freezes the car’s technical characteristics until 2025.

The Peugeot team will instead utilize its factory driver roster of Loic Duval, Kevin Magnussen, Mikkel Jensen, Gustavo Menezes, Jean-Eric Vergne and Paul di Resta, plus test driver James Rossiter in further testing ahead of the final homologation sign-off.

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ACO reopens LM24 entries following Russian withdrawals

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emailBy Graham Goodwin | March 7, 2022 10:47 AM ET

Entry applications for the 2022 24 Hours of Le Mans, FIA World Endurance Championship and European Le Mans Series have all been re-opened for a 48 hour period in the wake of the withdrawal of Russian-flagged G-Drive Racing.

The move from the GazProm-backed outfit came after a number of Russian drivers and teams refused to sign an FIA undertaking in relation to the sport’s required code of conduct for Russian nationals in the wake of the country’s ongoing invasion of Ukraine.

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That move resulted in the removal from competition of one LMP2 entry from the FIA WEC, and two LMP2s and an LMP3 from the European Le Mans Series.

At least one of the LMP2s would have featured on the entry list for the 2022 Le Mans 24 Hours, the release of which was delayed from last week due to the ongoing sanctions-led processes.

All three LMP2 efforts were to have been operated by Portugal-based Algarve Pro Racing, with the LMP3 effort operated by ex-IMSA team Eurointernational.

The re-opening of the entries will now allow the teams, which are understood by RACER to have found replacements for the three Russian drivers involved – ex-F1 racer Dani Kvyat, long-time endurance racer Roman Rusinov and LMP3 driver Evgeny Kireev – to race under their own team names.

In the case of Algarve Pro Racing, the decision cannot come soon enough, as the car is already in Florida ahead of this coming weekend’s FIA WEC ‘Prologue’ Test, with the opening round of the World Championship set to take place on Friday 18 March.

There is also the prospect of other teams stepping up to post last-minute entries. Both the WEC and ELMS are known to have been over-subscribed, and in the immediate aftermath of the announcement by the ACO of the Le Mans entry re-opening, Scuderia Cameron Glickenhaus owner Jim Glickenhaus was swift to offer a ‘once in a lifetime opportunity’ for potential customers to enter a third SCG 007 LMH ‘Hypercar’

The revised entry process closes at 15:00 CET on Wednesday 9 March.

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IMSA talent added to 2022 Le Mans entry list

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emailBy Graham Goodwin | April 29, 2022 9:31 AM ET

The 186-driver line-up for the 2022 24 Hours of Le Mans was confirmed today with a number of previously unannounced additions, including a significant influx of IMSA talent to both the LMP2 and GTE AM rosters:

In LMP2, Swiss team Cool Racing has added Ricky Taylor to its No. 37 ORECA line-up alongside their regular European Le Mans Series pairing of Yifei Ye and Nikles Krutten.

Tristan Vautier joins the No. 44 ARC Bratislava crew alongside team owner Miro Konopka and young Dutch up and comer Bent Viscaal.

The No. 47 Algarve Pro Racing ORECA crew is confirmed as reigning ELMS LMP2 Pro-Am champion John Falb, German racer Sophia Floersch and Williams F1 race starter Jack Aitken.

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In GTE Am, Iron Lynx fields ex-IMSA GTD champion Alessandro Balzan in its No. 60 Ferrari while Richard Heistand joins Matteo Cressoni and Giancarlo Fisichella in the No. 80 488 GTE.

Longtime Le Mans regular JMW Motorsport will field Renger van der Zande, Mark Kvamme and Jason Hart in its No. 66 Ferrari.

The No. 93 Proton Competition Porsche fields Hollywood star Michael Fassbender in his first start at Le Mans, supported by Matt Campbell and Zacharie Robichon.

Adrian de Leener completes the No. 99 Hardpoint Porsche line-up with Katherine Legge and Rob Ferriol, this an entry earned via an automatic invitation awarded by IMSA.

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Hartley wins Le Mans pole for Toyota; Corvette 1-2 in GTE-Pro

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emailBy Stephen Kilbey | June 9, 2022 3:21 PM ET

Brendon Hartley was the star of the Le Mans 24 Hours Hyperpole shootout, securing the outright pole position for Toyota Gazoo Racing with its No. 8 GR010 HYBRID. In what was a thrilling, frantic session full of fast times and many deleted laps, the Kiwi set a 3m24.408s to beat the sister No. 7 GR010 of Kamui Kobayashi to the top spot in the final moments of the session.

In the end both Toyotas were left with one final chance to take pole and stole the show in formation. Kobayashi set a 3m24.585s right after Hartley’s best effort, but while it wasn’t good enough for pole, it was enough to lock the front row for the weekend’s 24 Hours.

Prior to the final times set by the Toyotas, it looked like Alpine had secured pole position. The French make’s A480 was atop the times after a blistering 3m24.850s set by Nicolas Lapierre. The Frenchman pushed the Alpine to the limit to fight for pole and managed a stunning time in the 3m24s, aided by a late BoP change which saw the car handed a power increase ahead of the session. But it wasn’t enough, despite the Toyotas losing time in Sector 3 after being held up by a factory Porsche on their penultimate tours of the circuit.

“It feels awesome,” said Hartley. “I came close to pole last year. Sorry to Kamui who was looking for his fifth pole, but the car felt amazing. It was the best feeling to experience a clear track. Now we focus on the race.”

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The pair of Glickenhaus 007 LMHs slotted in fourth and fifth, Ryan Briscoe and Olivier Pla not quite able to produce raw times to challenge the Toyotas, setting laps 1.4 and 1.9s off the ultimate pace. It should be noted, though, that on multiple occasions, Briscoe in the No. 709 — like many other drivers in the session — had fast laps deleted for track limit violations at the final chicane.

In LMP2, WRT took the top spot, with the No. 31 ORECA leading the way courtesy of a 3m28.394s from Robin Frijns. Norman Nato took second in the No. 41 Realteam WRT entry to make it a 1-2 for WRT-run 07 Gibsons.

“I’m very happy with the lap I did. I had one deleted for track limits so the pressure was on. But I’m really pleased to have put a lap together at the end,” related Frijns.

Best of the rest was the No. 22 United Autosports example of Filipe Albuquerque. Alex Lynn in the sister No. 23 United ORECA briefly slipped into the top three but he had a lap deleted and slipped to sixth behind the No. 38 JOTA and No. 9 Prema ORECAs.
Corvette Racing’s C8.Rs have been the stars of the GTE Pro show thus far at Le Mans, with Nick Tandy taking top honors in the pole shootout. Motorsport Images

The story of GTE Pro was domination from Corvette Racing. Its C8.Rs locked out the class front row after strong performances from Nick Tandy and Antonio Garcia. Tandy set the pole time in the No. 64, with a 3m49.985s, the Briton the only driver in a GTE car to set a sub 3m50s time.

“It feels fantastic to have taken pole,” Tandy said. “I’m seeing lots of Corvette flags at the circuit, it’s great for everyone who is here to support us. Let’s hope we can keep these cars out front for 24 hours. The GTE cars are so fun to drive with fresh tires and low fuel.”

A late improvement from Garcia in the No. 63 was good enough for second, pushing the No. 91 Porsche of Fred Makowiecki to third after he and teammate Laurens Vanthoor in the No. 92 opted to sit out the first half of the 30-minute shootout.

It was a rather quiet run for AF Corse, its pair of Ferraris only capable of fifth and sixth, setting times in the 3:51s.

It was better news for Ferrari in Am, however, Vincent Abril put the No. 61 AF Corse 488 GTE on class pole with a 3m52.594s. Mikkel Jensen made it a Ferrari 1-2 in the No. 57 Kessel example, while Harry Tincknell set a late flyer to put the No. 77 Dempsey Proton Porsche into the top three. The Northwest AMR Aston Martin will start fourth, with the No. 54 AF Corse and No. 85 Iron Dames Ferraris fifth and sixth.

FULL QUALIFYING RESULTS

UP NEXT: Track action continues later this evening with the final practice session that’s set to get underway at 10:00 p.m. local time.

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Toyota, Corvette pace third Le Mans practice

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emailBy RJ O’Connell | June 9, 2022 1:07 PM ET

Toyota Gazoo Racing led Free Practice 3 for the 90th 24 Hours of Le Mans, but it wasn’t without difficulty as the No. 8 Toyota GR010 HYBRID of Sebastien Buemi, Brendon Hartley, and Ryo Hirakawa ran into a hybrid drivetrain issue in the middle of the three-hour session.

Hirakawa was in the middle of his first stint of the session when his car came to a halt at Indianapolis corner. He was able to get the car going again and bring the car back to the pits, where the hybrid issue was diagnosed. The No. 8 Toyota returned to the track after 30 minutes of repairs, but there are worries that the GR010 HYBRID’s drivetrain reliability could be a factor in the outcome of the race — as it was when the Buemi/Hartley/Hirakawa crew were knocked out of the most recent 6 Hours of Spa-Francorchamps.

In contrast, the No. 7 Toyota GR010 HYBRID of defending champions Mike Conway, Jose Maria Lopez and Kamui Kobayashi was able to complete a relatively trouble-free session, completing 38 laps. Driver and team principal Kobayashi recorded the best time of the session at 3m26.796s in his first stint in the car, a half-second improvement on his fastest time from qualifying. Hartley was second quickest in the No. 8 Toyota, with a 3m27.115s.
The Toyotas clearly have the speed, but is reliability an Achilles heel? Motorsport Images

The pair of Glickenhaus Racing SCG 007 LMHs were third and fourth, led by the No. 708 of Olivier Pla, Romain Dumas and Pipo Derani, ahead of the No. 709 of Ryan Briscoe, Richard Westbrook and Franck Mailleux. After receiving a Balance of Performance adjustment to give them an additional nine horsepower, the No. 36 Alpine Elf Team A480 Gibson of Andre Negrao, Nicolas Lapierre, and Matthieu Vaxiviere was fifth fastest. Vaxiviere’s top time of 3m29.259s was faster than their Qualifying Practice time.

Three significant incidents marred the running in the LMP2 class. In the first hour, the No. 30 Duquiene Engineering ORECA 07-Gibson of Reshad de Gerus went off and crashed into the tire barrier at Indianapolis corner, damaging the right-front quarter panel of the car. A Slow Zone was declared to clear the car, which did not return for the remainder of the session.

With 75 minutes left, the No. 13 TDS Racing x Vaillante ORECA of Philippe Cimadomo and the No. 31 WRT ORECA of Sean Gelael sideswiped one another at the Karting Esses, which pitched Cimadomo head-on into the tire barriers at high speed. Cimadomo was able to climb out of the No. 13 ORECA under his own power, despite the heavy impact which destroyed the front end of his car. But the session was red-flagged for 20 minutes to repair the barriers.

Half an hour after Cimadomo’s incident, the No. 39 Graff Racing ORECA of Sebastien Page clipped the gravel at the exit of Indianapolis corner, and spun head-on into the barriers, tearing apart the front and rear bodywork. Page was unhurt after his accident, which only necessitated a Slow Zone to clear away the damaged vehicle and repair the barriers.

When the session settled down, United Autosport USA had a 1-2 in class. It was the No. 22 United Autosports ORECA of Philip Hanson, Filipe Albuquerque and Will Owen that was quickest, courtesy of Albuquerque’s best lap of 3m30.964s. The No. 23 of Alex Lynn, Oliver Jarvis and Josh Pierson was less than a tenth of a second behind, as Lynn set a 3m31.025s. And the aforementioned No. 31 WRT ORECA of Gelael, Robin Frijns, and Rene Rast finished third, with Frijns’ best lap coming in just 0.005s behind Lynn’s best in the No. 23.

The No. 45 Algarve Pro Racing ORECA, completely rebuilt around a brand-new monocoque, was able to complete 24 laps as it returned to track just 24 hours after their primary car was written off.

Corvette Racing and Porsche GT Team alternated the top places in LMGTE Pro, led by the No. 64 Chevrolet Corvette C8.R of Tommy Milner, Nick Tandy and Alexander Sims. Tandy set a best lap of 3m52.307 in the first hour, which stood as the top time.

Just behind them was the No. 91 Porsche 911 RSR of Gianmaria Bruni, Richard Lietz, and Frederic Makowiecki in second, the No. 63 Corvette of Antonio Garcia, Jordan Taylor and Nicky Catsburg in third, and the No. 92 Michael Christensen, Kevin Estre and Laurens Vanthoor in fourth. The two AF Corse Ferrari 488 GTE Evos remained fifth and sixth – while the No. 74 Riley Motorsports Ferrari only completed seven laps.

In LMGTE Am, the No. 46 Team Project 1 Porsche 911 RSR of Matteo Cairoli, Mikkel Pedersen and Nicolas Leutwiler was the sixth-fastest GTE car overall and the top of the Pro-Am category. Pedersen’s class-leading time was a 3m54.386.

Second quickest was the No. 33 TF Sport Aston Martin Vantage AMR of Ben Keating, Henrique Chaves and Marco Sorensen, followed by the No. 99 Hardpoint Motorsport Porsche of Andrew Haryanto, Alessio Picariello and Martin Rump.

There were only a few notable incidents to report in GTE Am: D’station Racing’s owner/driver Satoshi Hoshino went off in the Porsche Curves halfway into the session, and a Slow Zone was declared to retrieve his stranded No. 777 Aston Martin out of the gravel.

Then with two minutes left in the session, Alexander West in the No. 59 Inception Racing Ferrari lost control entering Motul (Ford) Chicane, and broadsided the tire barrier to bring an end to the session, West also was uninjured.

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Glickenhaus sets the pace in night practice at Le Mans

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emailBy Stephen Kilbey | June 8, 2022 7:30 PM ET

Glickenhaus’s No. 708 007 LMH topped Free Practice 2 on Wednesday evening at La Sarthe with a 3m28.900s from Frenchman Romain Dumas, who was the fastest driver in the field in what the first chance for the teams and drivers to get night laps in ahead of this weekend’s Le Mans 24 Hours.

Dumas’ fastest lap was 0.264 quicker than the first of the Toyotas, the No. 7, which slotted in second after Kamui Kobayashi set a 3m29.164s at the end of the session to better the 3m29.248s from Brendon Hartley in the sister car, which fell to third. It will have come as a relief for the Toyota crew to see the No. 8 car complete 31 laps after missing much of the qualifying session earlier due to a lengthy repair.

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The second Glickenhaus and the Alpine ended up fourth and fifth, 2.5 and 3.6 seconds back.

In LMP2 WRT’s No. 31 ORECA set the pace; Rene Rast the fastest driver in the team with a 3m33.119s. The No. 22 United Autosports ORECA came closest with a 3m33.382s set by Filipe Albuquerque, who topped the times early in the two-hour session. Cool Racing’s No. 37 07 Gibson looked set to complete the top three, but the No. 32 Team WRT ORECA snatched third after a late hot lap.

GTE was headlined by the No. 63 Corvette Racing C8.R, Nicky Catsburg’s 3m53.492s the best time in the Pro class. Both C8.Rs featured in the top three, with the No. 64 third, the pair split by the No. 91 Porsche that took second with a 3m53.669s.

Am was topped by a Porsche, the No. 46 Team Project 1 Porsche leading the No. 88 Dempsey Proton example following a 3m55.143 from Mikkel Pedersen. The first of the teams from the other manufacturers was the Northwest AMR Vantage, which ended up third.

Thought it was a relatively quiet session, a handful of cars did hit trouble. The No. 77 Dempsey Proton Porsche and Car Guy Ferrari both suffered punctures and had to limp back to the pits. The No. 43 Inter Europol Competition ORECA stopped on the pit straight after Fabio Scherer caused heavy damage to the front-right suspension of the car on the curbs at the Ford Chicane, and the No. 8 Toyota had a brief off-track excursion with Brendon Hartley at the wheel.

Elsewhere, in pit lane, the No. 93 Proton Porsche was undergoing a full rebuild after Michael Fassbender’s qualifying shunt. The No. 83 AF Corse and No. 45 Algarve Pro Racing ORECAs were, too. Steward Cox from APR confirmed on WEC TV that the No. 45 is being built up from a new chassis after its impact in the first practice session earlier today.

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LM 24, Hour 1: Toyotas ahead, early drama in LMP2

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emailBy Stephen Kilbey | June 11, 2022 11:20 AM ET

We’re only one hour into the Le Mans 24 Hours and already there’s been plenty of drama up and down the field. The huge returning crowd trackside has been treated to a thrilling start to this one.

Up front, perhaps unsurprisingly it’s a 1-2 for Toyota, with the No. 8 GR010 HYBRID of Sebastien Buemi holding the lead from pole position until the first stops, when the No. 7 of Mike Conway managed to leapfrog the sister car into the lead. Buemi was unable to build any sort of lead in the opening stint, complaining of oversteer on the radio which saw him have a moment in the Porsche Curves, touching the gravel a few laps before the car’s first stop.
So, about this race start…💯#WEC #LeMans24 pic.twitter.com/9JTJuDFE7I

— FIA World Endurance Championship (@FIAWEC)

Behind, the two Glickenhaus 007 LMHs are running in formation in third and fourth, the No. 708 leading the No. 709, the pair getting past the Alpine, which after another pre-race BoP change is struggling for pace and actually fell behind the early LMP2-leading PREMA ORECA on the opening lap. Heading into Hour 2 though, Lapierre is back up to P5.

LMP2 is the class that has seen the most drama so far. And it began right at the start of the race, with a collision involving the No. 22 United ORECA and the No. 31 and No. 41 WRT ORECAs as the cars headed through the kink before the Dunlop bridge. The three cars (while running four wide) made contact, Rene Rast swiping Will Owen in the No. 22, damaging the nose of the car and sending him flying into the gravel.
An early handicap for United Autosports’ No. 22… Rainier Ehrhardt/Motorsports Images

The stewards eventually penalized Rast and the No. 31 crew with a one-minute stop-go penalty. This had made for a tough start to the race for WRT, as the No. 41 also received damage from the contact and needed to pit for a tire change and rear-end change.

“At the start there was a lot of confusion — difficult to say what happened. There was no contact. Rene didn’t do anything wrong but we have to respect the decision of the stewards,” Vincent Vosse, WRT’s team boss, said when asked about the penalty.

As well as WRT’s race being hampered already, this incident also cost United Autosports dearly. The No. 22 is now two laps down after being extracted from the gravel, limping back to the pits and undergoing a service. To make matters worse for Richard Dean and Zak Brown’s team, the No. 23, which was running in and around the top 5 during the hour, also hit trouble. The car had to make an unscheduled stop shortly after Alex Lynn pitted for the first time for a puncture, the team taking the chance to add more fuel and change all four tires. The car is now down to 20th in class and out of sync in the pit cycle.

With multiple contenders already in trouble, the running order looks like this. The No. 38 JOTA ORECA of Antonio Felix da Costa is leading after a clean, strong first 60-minutes, the team leapfrogging the No. 9 PREMA ORECA at the first stops.

Robert Kubica, tasked with driving the PREMA car in the opening hour, is now down to second after a rocket start, which saw him take the class lead on lap 1 from row 3 on the LMP2 grid, even squeezing past Lapierre in the Alpine for a brief time.

The top three is completed by the second JOTA ORECA, the No. 28 of Jonathan Aberdein. Just outside the top three, meanwhile, is Penske’s ORECA which has quietly risen up the order under the control of Felipe Nasr, who climbed all the way to third but fell to fourth right at the end of the hour, after a battle with Aberdein.

WRT’s No. 32 entry of Mirko Bortolotti is fifth.

Further down the order, the No. 47 Algarve Pro 07 Gibson also hit trouble. Stewart Cox’s team, which have been working around the clock to rebuild a car from scratch for much of the week, were forced into action right after the start yet again, after the temperatures trackside and a slow formation lap combined to cook the No. 47’s gearbox actuator, causing Sophia Floersch to stop out on track after the start and limp back to the pits for repairs. It’s going to be a long race now for the No. 47 crew, for while it is back running, it is now laps down on the leader.

The GTE Pro class, in its final year at Le Mans, unlike the LMP2 division, was static and quiet in the opening hour, with the cars on the entry all ending up relatively spread out in GTE terms as the hour wore on.

Into Hour 2 it remains a Corvette 1-2, with the No. 64 of Nick Tandy holding a 2.6-second lead over Antonio Garcia in the No. 63 C8.R The No. 92 Porsche, with Kevin Estre at the wheel, is third, and a further four seconds adrift after the seven cars in the class all made their first tops.

GTE Am, on the other hand, was frantic. The pole-sitting No. 61 AF Corse Ferrari of Vincent Abril was unable to maintain the lead at the start and had to make way for the gaggle of Porsches behind which made their way to the front and made it a Porsche 1-2-3-4-6 by the end of the opening stint.

Leading the race is Alessio Picariello in the Hardpoint 911 after the first stops, the Belgian keeping it clean and picking off multiple drivers in the opening laps en route to the lead. The No. 46 Team Project 1 Porsche is second after a strong drive by Matteo Cairoli in the opening laps which saw him reel in early leader Harry Tincknell (No. 77 Dempsey Proton) and make a nice pass for the lead.

The No. 79 WeatherTech Porsche is third, with Tincknell down to fourth after struggling for pace and losing multiple places before the first stops. The first of the other manufacturer teams is the Northwest AMR Vantage of Nicki Thiim, which is fifth and splitting up the five-car Porsche train. The No. 88 Dempsey Proton Porsche is sixth, with the pole-sitting No. 61 AF Corse Ferrari of Abril now down to P7.

There were no major incidents in Am during the hour, although the No. 85 Iron Dames Ferrari was the first car in the class to hit trouble, with Michelle Gatting suffering a puncture, forcing an early unscheduled stop.

HOUR 1 STANDINGS

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LM 24, Hour 2: Leaders settling in

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emailBy Stephen Kilbey | June 11, 2022 12:19 PM ET

Hour 2 of the Le Mans 24 Hours wasn’t as frantic as the opening hour, but as the race begins to settle down it’s becoming slightly clearer who the early contenders in each class are.

Up front, Toyota’s 1-2 at the front in Le Mans Hypercar continues, with the No. 7 ahead of the No. 8. Mike Conway has established a comfortable lead of 13 seconds. Sebastien Buemi, at this stage of the race, is unable to keep pace with the No. 7, continuing to complain of oversteer.

Behind, the No. 708 Glickenhaus remains third, Olivier Pla 46 seconds back. It wasn’t a totally trouble-free hour for the U.S.-flagged team, though, as the No. 709 sister car had to make an unscheduled trip to the garage from fourth place, dropping down to 10th after spending just under three minutes in pit lane. Richard Westbrook is now aboard and working on climbing back up the order, though the car is now off the lead lap. Alpine has therefore risen to fourth overall.

“We detected a bad sensor. To be on the safe side we brought the car in and changed the sensor. We are in good shape and wanted to be safe.” Glickenhaus team owner Jim Glickenhaus said of the No. 709’s delay.

In LMP2, there were plenty of changes in the running order. The No. 38 JOTA ORECA of Antonio Felix da Costa still leads, by 22 seconds over Mirko Bortolotti. The Lamborghini ace went on a charge in the hour in the No. 32 WRT example, climbing to second from fifth.

The PREMA ORECA that led early in the race is third, Lorenzo Colombo spending much of the final laps of the hour piling the pressure on Jonathan Aberdein in the No. 28 JOTA car, which pitted just before the turn of the hour.

The No. 5 Penske ORECA is fourth with the No. 65 Panis Racing entry up into fifth — a quiet but strong run up the order thus far for that one.

GTE Pro, after the second round of stops, has seen some changes to the running order. The No. 63 Corvette now leads with Jordan Taylor now aboard; the No. 64 which led the opening hour is down to third with Tommy Milner now installed. Gianmaria Bruni is up to second as a result in the No. 91 Porsche, the team opting to keep the Italian in the car for a third stint. Michael Christensen in the sister No. 92, meanwhile, is in for Kevin Estre and down to fifth, behind the No. 52 AF Corse Ferrari which has had Antonio Fuoco aboard since the start.

GTE Am was the most entertaining class of the hour, with a thrilling battle for the lead being the highlight. Julien Andlauer charged from third to the lead in the No. 79 WeatherTech Ferrari, sneaking past Matteo Cairoli to take the top spot into Indianapolis to cap off his storming run.

The running order then changed again after the second stops, with Sebastien Priaulx climbing in after Harry Tincknell’s opening run and finding himself up to second in the No. 77 Dempsey Proton Porsche. The No. 46 team Project 1 Porsche, which led with Cairoli driving, fell to second behind Andlauer, and is now third with Nicolas Leutwiler driving.

The No. 99 Hardpoint Porsche is fourth, Andrew Haryanto in for Alessio Picariello. The best of the other marques is Aston Martin still, with the Northwest AMR Vantage fifth. The first of the Ferraris, the No. 54 AF Corse 488, is sixth.

HOUR 2 STANDINGS

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LM 24, Hour 3: Lead Toyota ups pace, Penske surging in LMP2

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emailBy Stephen Kilbey | June 11, 2022 1:19 PM ET

Three hours into this year’s Le Mans 24 Hours and the pace is beginning to pick up at the head of the field.

The 1-2 for Toyota remains strong and comfortable, though the No. 7 continued to slowly edge away from the No. 8. After Sebastien Buemi struggled for pace from the start due to oversteer, the car No. 7 has begun to pull away. Jose Maria Lopez is now in after Mike Conway’s first stint, with Brendon Hartley in for Buemi. Hartley has been quick but not consistent enough to reel in Lopez.

Towards the end of the hour Lopez set the fastest lap of the race so far, a 3m28.809s, but that accolade would only last a short time, as Hartley immediately responded with a 3m28.232s of his own. That flash of pace hasn’t resulted in a closer battle for the lead, as the No. 8 was 26s back by the time Lopez pitted just before the end of the hour.

Third is the No. 708 Glickenhaus, which is nearly two minutes off the lead. But Romain Dumas, like the two Toyotas, was able to find pace in the hour, and bettered both Lopez and Hartley’s best time with a 3m28.110s. The No. 708 clearly has front-running pace. Over a stint though, it doesn’t have the consistency to keep up with the metronomic GR010s, it is also slower in the pits.

Just outside the top three sits the Alpine, which continues to fall back and is now off the lead lap following a drive-through penalty being handed to the French marque for a slow zone infringement.

Glickenhaus’ delayed sister car, which had a sensor change in the garage during the previous hour, is now within shouting distance, Richard Westbrook up to P5 and just 37 seconds off the A480.

In LMP2, the No. 38 JOTA continues to lead the way. Will Stevens has continued the form of Antonio Felix da Costa from the opening hours, and holds a 36s advantage over Dane Cameron in the Penske ORECA. Penske’s run, in what is its final WEC race of the season before it returns with a top class program next year, has been impressive so far.

Team Penske’s ORECA started ninth in class, and is now second after clean, fast stints from Felipe Nasr and Cameron. As the hour came to a close, though, a battle for second was brewing, as Lorenzo Colombo in the PREMA car was closing in and within a second.

Cool Racing also had a strong hour, with Yifei Ye steering the No. 37 to P4. Panis Racing’s No. 65 completes the top five, after the No. 28 JOTA began to fall away, with Ed Jones not quite quick enough to keep the British-run entry in the top five. He is however, still ahead of the first of Team WRT’s entries, as the No. 32 of Dries Vanthoor — which did climb as high as fourth two hours ago — is now seventh.

GTE Pro has undergone a reset as the race heads into Hour 4. Corvette’s 1-2 at the head of the field has been re-instated, after Tommy Milner steered the No. 64 C8.R past the No. 91 Porsche of Gianmaria Bruni early in the hour.

Later on, the two Porsches then swapped places, with the No. 92 getting back ahead of the No. 91 down the Mulsanne Straight. Michael Christensen, now just five seconds off Milner, with Richard Lietz in the No. 91 down to fourth and 11 seconds behind.
Porsche v Ferrari at Le Mans 🤩

The #92 @PorscheRaces machine is on the move 💨

⏱️https://t.co/4J3q5Z45q3#LeMans24 | @FIAWEC pic.twitter.com/Gm9MhE12xy

— 24 Hours of Le Mans (@24hoursoflemans)

AF Corse’s quiet run continues, its two 488 GTEs are, at this stage at least, no match for the cars ahead, and sit fifth and sixth.

In GTE Am. WeatherTech Racing appears to have taken control, as its No. 79 Porsche is comfortably ahead of the second place No. 77 Dempsey Proton Porsche, and even ahead of the last of the Pro runners, the Riley Ferrari.

Heading into Hour 4, it will be interesting to see if Thomas Merrill can hold off Le Mans debutant Sebastian Priaulx, who despite his lack of experience, is mighty quick.

Up to third and making real progress is the Northwest AMR Vantage. David Pittard has climbed in for Nicki Thiim, and has continued to rise up the field. The team now sits third and lead the No. 33 TF Sport example, which has had a quiet race thus far but has now given Aston Martin renewed hope of a strong result, with Vantage AMRs now sitting third and fourth.

Further down the order, the first Ferrari is the No. 57 Kessel 488 down in fifth, although just before the end of the hour Frederik Schandorff had a scary moment at Tetre Rouge, going off track and narrowly avoiding the armco.

The class pole-sitting No. 61 AF Corse Ferrari has fallen further down the order after a penalty was handed to the team for speeding in pit lane. It is now down to eighth.

HOUR 3 STANDINGS