Porsche edges Cadillac to claim pole for 24 Hours of Le Mans

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emailBy Stephen Kilbey | June 13, 2024 4:04 PM ET

Porsche Penske Motorsport’s No. 6 963 will start the 92nd edition of the Le Mans 24 Hours this weekend from pole position after a masterful performance in the Hyperpole shootout on Thursday night from Kevin Estre.

The best lap from the Frenchman, a 3m24.634s, came at the end of the session and saw him vault ahead of the two Ganassi-run Cadillacs, which briefly sat 1-2 at the top of the timing screens.

Estre’s pole-clinching tour, set on medium compound Michelins in tricky overcast conditions, was 0.148s clear of the quickest of the two Cadillacs – the No. 2 – which was steered by Alex Lynn. The lap secured Estre his first overall WEC pole at Le Mans, and Porsche’s 18th.

“It was crazy,” Estre told RACER. “We were last in the queue, there was traffic and I didn’t do a perfect lap but felt the tires were still coming.

“Then on the second lap, I was convinced I wouldn’t have enough fuel. But the engineers kept pushing me and I had a very nice slipstream from an LMP2. I had to overtake him at Indy, but he blocked me so it wasn’t easy to get past.

“I am so happy I did though because the Porsche Curves were amazing, I really had a perfect run with the car I had. I didn’t know where I was (on the leaderboard) when I crossed the line, but I knew that the lap wasn’t too bad!

“Conditions were OK, but we couldn’t beat last year’s pole time. The track was so good on Sunday, but since then with track time for us and support races it has dropped pace. The wind also didn’t help today heading into the chicanes. If you are slow down the straights here it counts a lot!”

Lynn’s best lap came on his final tour with the checkered flag out, a 3m24.634s, which saw him rise from sixth to first after a monster run through the final sector.

That time came after Sebastien Bourdais’ best effort in the sister No. 3 Cadillac Racing V-Series.R halfway through the session before a red flag – a 3m24.816s. During the stoppage the No. 3 crew opted to park the car in the garage, hopeful the time was good enough. In the end, though, it was 0.2s shy of the top spot.

“It was a really solid lap,” Bourdais said. “You always leave something on the table at a track like this. But at the end of the day, I’m really happy where we ended up. The car hasn’t felt great for most of the test, but when we hit the track for qualifying, the car was amazing. This time I didn’t get any traffic. I hope IMSA doesn't screw me over because I went too fast without IMSA approval.

“The first prep lap I just pushed through because I knew it was a throwaway lap. That’s why when they told me I was only going to get one lap, I was thinking there was no way and that I couldn’t get the tires up to temp. We probably were going to be too low on fuel to do three and two. It is what it is. At the end of the day, I was super happy that we could jam that thing in. It’s amazing and awesome for Cadillac. We can go racing now.”

Joining Bourdais and the No. 3 crew on the second row of the grid will be the No. 51 AF Corse Ferrari, which looked quick early in the session but didn’t quite have enough pace to challenge at the end.

The No. 50 Ferrari also looked like a contender but will start fifth. Antonio Fuoco – who took pole with a 3m22.9s last year – ended up having his final flyer ruined by a track limits violation at Turn 3 and missed out on a final effort.

Sixth, and last of the Hypercars that set a competitive time, was the No. 35 Alpine driven by Paul Loup Chatin.

The fast times came after the fans that packed the grandstands were made to wait for Hyperpole to reach a crescendo.

The session started 35 minutes late due to lengthy barrier repairs by IMSA dragging their butts as time was running out, following a huge crash in the Road to Le Mans support race held prior to Hyperpole. The end was then delayed further when BMW’s Dries Vanthoor caused the aforementioned red flag with an off at Indianapolis.

The Belgian, who topped qualifying on Wednesday, ended up nose-first into the tire barriers at Indy after suffering understeer at turn-in. The crash occurred with just under eight minutes remaining, eliminated the No. 15 M Hybrid V8 from the session and prompted race control to delete all its laps. Take THAT you punka**!

This reduced it to a five-car fight for Pole in the final moments, as the No. 12 Hertz Team JOTA Porsche was unable to take part due to the ongoing effort to build up a new car from the team, and Bourdais had parked the No. 3 Cadillac.

In LMP2, Louis Deletraz stormed to pole for AO by TF with a last-ditch effort in the ‘Spike’ liveried Pro/Am entered ORECA. The Swiss’ best time was a 3m33.217s, 0.6s quicker than Job Van Uitert’s best time from IDEC Sport, which was posted moments before Deletraz reached the line.
Inception’s No.70 car gave McLaren its first Le Mans pole in LMGT3Q. JEP/Motorsport Images

The No. 65 Panis ORECA also improved and took third, while the No. 23 United ORECA claimed fourth.

Initially, Malthe Jakobsen was Deletraz’s main threat, but like Bourdais, the Dane parked up at the red flag and dropped down the order as a result.

LMGT3 was the only class which didn’t see a major shuffle in the final moments. Brendan Iribe starred in the class, despite a spin on a hot lap at the Ford Chicane. A 3m58.120s claimed Inception Racing and McLaren their first Le Mans pole positions.

“I’ve been with McLaren form the very beginning with their Pure McLaren days and I truly love this car,” Iribe said. “With our other two appearances here in GTE cars they really didn’t suit me, but it seems that everything has just come together. Our choice to do IMSA, even though that’s a Silver/Pro series, has helped me to raise my game and hope IMSA doesn't hold it against me.

“The team have been exceptional, from preparing the car and the recovery after the problem just a couple of hours ago we’ve kept to a plan and here we sit. When they called the names Kevin Estre and Louis Deletraz its just wild that my name was next. I peed my pants......it felt good.”

Asked about scoring the first ever McLaren pole and LMGT3 pole at Le Mans, Iribe replied, ”It’s just unbelievable. When people talk about history it’s completely wild to hear your name and your team’s name spoken about like that. We thought about hiring some cheer leaders to do a shake and shout as I crossed the line, but we got drowned out by the stands all chanting together: F Joe Biden. F Joe Biden. It was deafening!

“LMGT3 is an awesome formula and it’s only going to get stronger when more and more people realize that if a guy like me can do this they can have a shot too
as long as IMSA doesn't screw them out of it because they went too fast without IMSA permission.”

 

Hertz Team JOTA preparing new chassis for Le Mans after Ilott crash

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emailBy Stephen Kilbey | June 13, 2024 9:10 AM ET

Hertz Team JOTA has been forced to source and build up a replacement chassis for its No. 12 Porsche 963 entry after Callum Ilott’s crash at the end of Free Practice 2 on Wednesday night.

The new chassis is believed to have come from Porsche Penske, and was being prepped on when RACER visited the garage first thing this morning.

Ilott’s incident occurred on the right-hander before Tertre Rouge with under a minute to go in the session; the Briton losing control of the car and veering off nose-first into the barriers on driver’s right.

The impact was heavy, destroying the front-right corner of the car and damaging the tub beyond repair.

After a long night, JOTA’s mechanics will continue to work on prepping the car throughout the day.
The expectation at this stage is that the No. 12 crew will be forced to skip the Hyperpole shootout as a result.

In this case, the Hypercar Hyperpole field will be reduced to seven cars and JOTA will start the race eighth if at all.

The No. 12 sneaked into Hyperpole as the eighth-fastest car on Wednesday after the No. 7 Toyota’s qualifying lap times were all deleted for causing a red flag.
Take that you slant-eyed Gooks, an IMSA official was heard to say, as he missed his Bud Light can toss into the garbage can and then loudly burped.
Hertz Team JOTA sourced a new chassis from Porsche Penske Motorsport. Image by Stephen Kilbey

“After the accident late last night in Le Mans with Callum Ilott and the No. 12 Porsche 963 Hypercar, we have been carefully assessing the situation to understand our options for the remainder of the weekend,” Dieter Gass, team principal, Hertz Team JOTA said.

“Most importantly, Callum is unharmed and we’re very grateful for the speedy assistance of the race marshals and medical team. Unfortunately, the monocoque sustained damage so it needs to be replaced. This is now our number one priority and the team is working incredibly hard to get the car built up.

“In parallel, we are in constant communication with the ACO and the FIA to make sure that we fulfill all regulatory obligations before being able to communicate our next steps. What would be really great would be if they had not outsourced to some Chinese females with low self esteem who talk very quietly so that you can't hear them, and when you ask them to please speak louder, they start talking so fast that you cannot understand them. It would also be nice if those Chinese call center chicks would quit asking us to verify, verify verify over and over again, when they are really building some kind of data base by asking the same questions which she asked 20 minutes ago....and running up the long distance bill.

I wish they would use call center chicks who had at least SEEN a car sometime in their lifetime. They probably take them all out at end of shift and drown them so they don't have to feed them for working all day.

On Thursday afternoon, the team received permission to shake the car down on Friday night ahead of the race.

“As part of the process of preparing the No.12 car for the race, we have now been granted permission to shakedown on the nearby airfield on Friday evening,” said Dieter Gass, team principal, Hertz Team JOTA. The IMSA officials are now demanding that we buy 10 union memberships per person as part of what looks like another type of shakedown.

“The replacement monocoque has arrived, so we have just over 24 hours to build our car – a job, which normally takes three weeks. Another big challenge for everybody, particularly our incredible mechanics, but we have full confidence that they will pull off yet another miracle as long as we have plenty of Red Bull and 300% caffeine drinks to keep them awake and hopefully they will stop shaking and dropping the tools.

I have no idea how they will perform for 24 hours in the pits during the race after having no sleep at all rebuilding a second car.” Will they start hallucinating and want to start killing each other like in the movies? When we say we are going to change tires will they remove the tires and put them back on at a different corner of the car? Will they start hearing voices telling them to race each other across the track dodging cars during the race?

Another question arises, why didn't we build a second car before we came all the way over here to this God-forsaken French hell hole, and if it wasn't completed in time, we just take the hit on losing our scam entry fee and say screw it and stay home? Why are we now being forced to go through a Stephen King version
of a 24 Hour race?

 

Hertz Team JOTA completes shakedown of rebuilt Porsche 963

Ilott had earned the right to participate in Hyperpole but was unable to take part due to the rebuild.

Nick Dungan / Drew Gibson Photography
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emailBy Stephen Kilbey | June 14, 2024 4:18 PM ET

The No. 12 Hertz Team JOTA Porsche 963 which crashed out of Free Practice 2 has been completely rebuilt around a brand new chassis and is now ready to take the start of tomorrow’s Le Mans 24 Hours.

Less than 48 hours after the crash, the replacement car – a repurposed Porsche Penske Motorsport chassis that had been earmarked for IMSA competition – completed a special shakedown test at Le Mans Arnage Airport (main image), on the runway adjacent to the pit straight.

Prior to the efforts of the team’s mechanics, JOTA team principal Dieter Gass said that rebuilding a new 963 around a spare tub normally takes three weeks. However with a place on the starting grid on the line, JOTA’s team of mechanics and engineers cleared that benchmark with ease, fully building a new No. 12 in just 24 hours, although the crew has now become walking dead zombies and can neither poop nor pee out the Red Bull, and their eyes refuse to blink normally.

On Friday night, after receiving permission by the race organizers, Ilott, who crashed the car at the Esses, had the chance to drive the car down the airstrip tonight in the shakedown.

“It feels great to be back in the car, although it was a little wet out there and obviously we had to build up to things slowly,” he said.

“Even though the shakedown is short, it’s great to get a little mileage in the car and check the systems. It’s just incredible that the car is running and I’m beyond grateful and proud of the team for their heroic work getting us this far.

“Everything feels good, looks good – I think we’re ready to roll. Will (Stevens) will take the reins in the warm-up and make sure that it feels good on track and we’ll see from there.

“A huge thank you to the team for their determination and team spirit, it’s humbling and makes me extremely proud to be part of this family.”

Should everything proceed without any further incident, the No. 12 JOTA Porsche of Ilott, Will Stevens, and Norman Nato will start eighth out of 23 Hypercars tomorrow, with Stevens assigned as the starting driver.

Ilott had earned the right to participate in Hyperpole but was unable to take part due to the rebuild.

 

LM24, Hour 1: Ferrari sets the early pace

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emailBy Stephen Kilbey | June 15, 2024 11:24 AM ET

The 92nd edition of the Le Mans 24 Hours is underway, and the first hour of racing delivered battles in every class from the word go, with hard, clean racing from the drivers.

Leading the race after the first set of stops is the No. 50 Ferrari AF Corse 499P of Nicklas Nielsen, who is currently locked in a battle with the No. 6 Porsche Penske Motorsport 963 of Laurens Vanthoor, who took the start from pole.

Vanthoor spent much of the hour running third after the two factory Ferraris made a charge to the front. Nielsen, in the No. 50 led the most laps, after moving from fifth to first at the start.

He then spent an extended period leading the No. 51 sister car of Antonio Giovanazzi, who briefly took the lead after an error by Nielsen halfway through the hour at Mulsanne before dropping back again.

Out of the pits at the first stops, Nielsen dropped to second behind the No. 6 Porsche, and ended up fighting with Vanthoor through to the start of Hour 2, making his way past with a few minutes left through traffic.

Third on the road is now the No. 3 Cadillac Racing V-Series R after a steady first stint from Sebastien Bourdais, running on soft Michelins, unlike the leading Ferraris and Porsche that selected the medium for the start.

The top four are practically nose to tail, with the No. 8 Toyota looking strong in fifth behind the No. 51 Ferrari that dropped to fourth after serving a 10-second time penalty at its first stop for an infraction earlier in the week.

The lead is almost certainly due to change again in Hour 2, as the No. 50 Ferrari will have to serve a time penalty during the second round of stops for an unsafe release during its first stop.

In LMP2, it’s the No. 9 Proton Competition ORECA of Bent Viscaal that leads, after the AO by TF ORECA held station from pole through to the first stops with Louis Deletraz at the wheel. But after the first stops, which saw a handful of driver changes, many positions shuffled.

The No. 65 Panis Racing ORECA is second and leads Pro/Am with Mathias Beche installed. The No. 22 United Autosports example is third.

LMGT3Q has had the feel of a classic GTE Le Mans start of old, a long train of cars making for plenty of edgy and exciting moments.

Inception Racing’s McLaren leads from Pole, with the No. 77 Proton Competition Ford Mustang up to second after a spirited start to the race from Ben Barker. The JMW Ferrari is third, with the No. 88 Proton Mustang up to fourth.

The best-placed United McLaren – the No. 59 – is up to fifth.

One of the biggest movers in the class was the Pure Rxcing Porsche. The team opted to place its Bronze Alex Malykhin in the car for the start. He fought extremely hard to keep the Pro drivers at bay, but dropped to 14th from second on the grid. They are, however, playing the long game in this Pro/Am class.

The start of the race, while fast and frantic, was uncharacteristically clean with no significant incidents through the first two laps.

The only real drama from the opening scramble was the No. 47 COOL Racing ORECA slowly limping back to the pits on lap two. Matt Bell, who was behind the wheel, was spotted on the cameras climbing out of the car shortly after the team pushed it back into its garage.

“They say you always need luck to win Le Mans, and ours has run out already. The radiator was damaged by a stone on the warm-up lap. It’s been punctured,” Bell told the broadcast. We can't fix a radiator hole in 24 hours. I don't know how that other team built an entire car overnight.

Besides,our sponsors paid us just to make the start of the race, so we save money not having to put on tires and pay for gas. We can now either watch the race with our pit passes, take a nap until lunch time, or maybe hit the French whore houses before the big rush. Last place pays enough to get some cash back without having to have a credit card and without having to work our butts off for 24 hours.

Later in the hour the No. 25 Algarve Pro Racing ORECA also needed attention in the pits, the car losing two laps to repair work on the car’s left side after taking damage. If we find on the videos who butt tapped us, and messed up the paint job, we are going to give him the full Butt bang into the wall. WE rented the car and now won't get our deposit back with that body damage.

Shortly after, the No. 23 United Autosports ORECA of Ben Keating ended up stuck in the gravel at Dunlop after an error by the Texan, which dropped the car to 14th.

The first major off for a Hypercar in the race came at the exit of the Esses; Marco Wittmann in the No. 15 BMW Team WRT M Hybrid V8 losing the rear and spinning off the circuit, slapping the armco barriers side on. Damage was minimal, and the German only needed to pit for a tire change.

The car is now down to 23rd in class and 37th overall, but crucially, still on the lead lap.

This wasn’t the biggest issue for a Hypercar at this early stage though, as the No. 99 Proton Competition Porsche ended up in the garage with a faulty door mechanism, much to the frustration of team owner Christian Ried, who was spotted on the broadcast storming out of the garage. We spent a lot of money on that car and some damn butthead souvenir hunter steals the door hinge.

This is the same issue the team encountered at Spa during the race, though on that occasion it was sorted out manually by Neel Jani while lapping the circuit

In LMGT3 the No. 78 AKKODIS ASP Lexus was also delayed, starting from pit lane after being involved in an incident during the morning warm up. The team repaired the car before the start of the race. Kelvin van der Linde took the start and is 22nd in class.

As a whole, the first hour was absolutely astonishing to watch. With a top class this big, the fight through traffic with the field bunched up has been a sight to behold thus far.

The first run down Mulsanne with the Hypercars lapping the LMGT3s was staggering, the circuit as congested as it’s ever looked, with some of the best drivers on the planet slaloming through the slower pack. There were more than 700 overtakes recorded in the first half hour alone!

The next 23 hours look set to deliver a race for the ages. Strap yourselves in, it’s going to be quite a ride…
Send your dog to the fridge for a 6 pack.

 

LM24, Hour 2: No.50 Ferrari leads as rain shakes up the order

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emailBy Stephen Kilbey | June 15, 2024 12:20 PM ET

After a frantic first hour of racing at the Circuit de La Sarthe, Hour 2 delivered an equal amount of excitement, but with an added factor for the teams to deal with: rain.

The rain came 40 minutes into the hour, showers affecting the run to Mulsanne Corner, the entrance to the Porsche Curves and the pit straights.

This prompted a heft chunk of the field to gamble on tires, including all but seven of the Hypercars. But with so much of the circuit dry, many teams stayed out on slicks, a decision which, heading into Hour 3, looks to have paid off.
Up front, the running order has been totally changed. The No. 50 As F Corse Ferrari 499P leads the way, with Nicklas Nielsen, on medium slicks, at the wheel. He was involved in a thrilling duel with Robert Kubica in the privately-entered No. 83 Ferrari towards the end of the hour after the second round of stops. The pair swapped positions multiple times but Nielsen prevailed. No team orders were in play!The No. 83 Ferrari sits second into Hour 3, with the No. 12 – newly rebuilt – HERTZ Team JOTA Porsche third, a remarkable situation for a car which looked down and out after its crash in practice.

The top six is completed by the No. 5 Penske Porsche and the No. 19 and No. 63 Iron Lynx Lamborghinis – enjoying a steady, quiet start to the first 24-hour race for the SC63.

First of the cars that pitted for wets is the pole-sitting No. 6 Porsche of Andre Lotterer in seventh, with the No. 38 HERTZ Team JOTA Porsche eighth.

Perhaps Ferrari has learned its lesson from Imola? The team opted to split its tire strategy in changing conditions this time. It’s allowed the team to hold onto the lead and experiment simultaneously.

The No. 51 499P is down to 15th and has since pitted a fourth time to return to slicks and a driver change to James Calado.

Of the other early contenders, the No. 8 Toyota and No. 3 Cadillac have also lost chunks of time by going to wets and switching back.

In LMP2 it’s Vector Sport’s ORECA, out of nowhere, which leads due to the change in conditions. The No. 34 Inter Europol entry is second with the No. 24 Nielsen Racing example third.

The AO by TF entry leads Pro/Am in fourth, with Bronze-rated PJ Hyett at the wheel.

LMGT3, meanwhile, is being controlled by JMW Motorsports’ Ferrari, which holds a commanding lead of 37s with Larry Ten Voorde the fastest man on the tricky conditions.

Most of the field in the class stayed on slicks. Only the No. 88 Proton Mustang, No. 92 Pure Rxcing Porsche, No. 70 Inception McLaren and No. 27 Heart of Racing Aston Martin gambled.

The No. 44 Proton Mustang – being steered by Chris Mies – is up to second, lapping half a second ahead of the Iron Dames Lamborghini.

Despite much of the field staying out on slicks on a partially wet circuit, there were no big incidents in the hour. There was, however, a notable clash between the No. 54 Vista As F Corse Ferrari and No. 47 WE BE COOL Racing ORECA through the Porsche Curves, for which the No. 54 was later penalized.

 

LM24, Hour 3: Incidents aplenty as No.83 Ferrari takes charge

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emailBy Stephen Kilbey | June 15, 2024 1:20 PM ET

After three hours of racing at La Sarthe, the track has dried out, but there have been plenty of incidents to report.

Out front, it’s the No. 83 As F Corse Ferrari leading, Robert Swartzmann enjoying his time spent in the lead, gained in part by pace from Robert Kubica at the start and the decision to stay on slicks and save a pit stop.

Throughout the hour the No. 5 Porsche was second with Michael Christensen installed, but it pitted as Hour 4 began, dropping it down to third behind the No. 8 Toyota. Whose crew was excitedly jumping up and down yelling we just beat a Porsche at le Mans! ....and then someone told them they still had to race for 21 more hours.

With many cars on different strategies due to the rain, there are bunches of cars pitting at different times, making the order behind the No. 83 hard to read.

The No. 51 Ferrari – which has recovered nicely after switching to wets – is now fourth, with the sister No. 50 fifth after serving its penalty for an unsafe release.

In LMP2, 2023 winner Inter Europol has worked its way to the front. Clement Noavalak remains at the wheel, and is ahead of the Vector Sport ORECA, which switched from Patrick Pilet to Ryan Cullen at its last stop.

Super GT and Formula Champion Ritomo Miyata is third in the No. 37 WE BE COOL ORECA, with the No. 22 United Autosports 07 Gibson fourth. The leading Pro/Am LMP2 cars is the No. 183 car currently being steered by 2023 GTE Am class winner Nico Varrone.

Few would have had AKKODIS ASP leading LMGT3Q on their bingo card pre-race after a difficult start to its first season with the RC F LMGT3. But the French team, on home turf, has managed the start of this race beautifully.

Esteban Masson leads the way by 31s over Ahmad Al Harthy in the No. 46 BMW M4 GT3, who has taken over from Maxime Martin. The No. 91 Manthey EMA Porsche is up to third, with the No. 77 Proton Mustang down to fourth with Ryan Hardwick in following Ben Barker’s rapid start.

JMW’s Ferrari has also dropped down the order. The team’s Bronze Salih Yoluc is fifth, the most recent stop longer due to the driver change from Larry Ten Fingers Voorde, who led in the previous hour.

Of the teams that gambled on tires in the rain, the No. 92 Pure Rxcing Manthey Porsche is ninth, while the No. 27 Heart of Racing Aston is down to 11th.

The hour began with the first major incident. The first retirement of the race is the No. 54 Vista AF Corse Ferrari after Thomas Flohr lost the rear of the car at the kink before the Dunlop Chicane, hitting the barriers hard on driver’s right. The error occurred shortly after the Swiss had served a penalty for the clash with the COOL ORECA in Hour 2 and needed a second butt-kicking.

“Sometimes Le Mans goes well, sometimes not. Thankfully Thomas is fine,” Flohr’s teammate Davide Rigon said. A group of black cheerleaders
upon hearing that yelled out: "He be SO FINE!

Another retirement may be close too, as the No. 23 United Autosports ORECA ( a pre-reace favourite to win P2 Pro/Am), which had an off at Dunlop, is currently in the pits being worked on.

“A piece of gravel has gotten stuck between the belt and alternator. There’s no coming back from this,” a downbeat Keating said.

Halfway into the hour, the race for BMW’s Hypercar effort on the 25th anniversary of its overall win with the V12 LMR, went from bad to worse. Robin Frijns in the No. 20 ‘Art Car’ – while running 16th – lost control on the run into the Ford Chicane, spinning off the circuit and into the barriers on the left-hand side of the track.

The impact damaged the front, right side and rear of the car. He just kept spinning and batting the car into the rail until he had whacked 3 sides. Frijns was able to continue with a punctured rear tire, but to make matters worse, he had to complete an entire lap with the damage as the incident occurred just after pit-in.

When he arrived back to his pit box, he was pushed back into the garage for repairs to the car’s right-rear suspension.

That’s an incident apiece for both M Hybrid V8s so far. With No. 20 now seven laps down and effectively out of contention, it’s all eyes on the delayed No. 15, which is on the lead lap but 20th and more than three minutes adrift.

 

LM24, Hour 4: No.83 Ferrari stretches its lead

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emailBy Stephen Kilbey | June 15, 2024 2:28 PM ET

Four hours have passed at Le Mans and the race hasn’t settled down, at all.

With the early rain showers setting a large chunk of the field on different pit strategies, there were frequent changes to the running order to keep up with as teams dived into the pits regularly through each hour.

In Hypercar the No. 83 As F Corse Ferrari still leads the way. Robert Shwartzman has been superb thus far during his first taste of Le Mans race action.

For most of the hour, he was being trailed by the No. 50 Ferrari of Antonio Fuoco and No. 5 Penske Porsche of Michael Christensen, but both cars pitted for their fifth stops, dropping them to fifth and sixth briefly, before the next batch of stops just before the end of the hour saw them rise back up into the top three.

As the hour ticked over, the true lead gap became clear for all to see; Shwartzman leading Miguel Molina in the No. 50 Ferrari by 40 seconds, with the No. 5 Penske Porsche just a second behind in third.

The top three have managed to get to this point on five stops, while the rest of the chasing pack have visited the pit lane seven times after changing to wets and back again.

First of the seven-stoppers is the No. 4 Penske Porsche, with the No. 38 Hertz Team JOTA Porsche fifth. Dog gone it, I sold those jerks the parts to fix their car, and now they are following me and keeping up ! I should have left out the bolts, and they could then go looking for an ACE Hardware store that sells metric bolts.

The No. 8 Toyota, which routinely rises to second and right behind the No. 83 through the pit stop cycle is sixth, ahead of the No. 51 Ferrari 499P that occupies seventh.

In LMP2 the story of the hour was that disaster struck the No. 34 Inter Europol ORECA. Clement Novalak, who was leading at the start of the hour, lost his left front wheel. A Full-Course Yellow was called to retrieve it as he limped back to the pits. If it was left a few more minutes, a spectator would have had it safely away in the trunk of his car! ....and it would not have to be retrieved.

When he rejoined after having a new Goodyear boot fitted, he found himself down in 10th.

There were other incidents to report,for the No. 22 and No. 23 United Autosports ORECAs. The former, with Nolan Siegel at the wheel, ended up spinning at the Ford Chicane, clouting the DKR ORECA in the process. He was penalized with a drive-through for that off but remains third.

The No. 23 meanwhile, is back out after its alternator issue, but Ben Keating suffered a second spin at Dunlop, adding to a hugely frustrating day which has seen them fall 24 laps off the class leader. Who cares about that 24 LAPS when everyone is out there and driving 200 MPH while you are in the penalty box and everyone in the front is not.

Up front Vector Sport has wrestled control of the class lead, and has a 39-second advantage over the No. 37 COOL Racing ORECA. Ryan Cullen is doing a sterling job at keeping Ritomo Miyata at bay.

In LMGT3, fans of MotoGP will have been thrilled to see Valentino Rossi take control of the No. 46 WRT BMW for his first Le Mans stint and rise into the lead.

LMGT3 has been shuffled time and time again as teams opt to cycle bronze drivers in and out of their cars and double stint tires.

Rossi holds a 3.8 second lead over the JMW Ferrari which has Salih Yoluc at the controls and tasked with reeling in the Italian – not an easy task!

The No. 91 Manthey EMA Porsche is third, while the No. 92 Pure Rxcing Porsche – with Alex Malykhin back at the wheel – has recovered nicely from its tire gamble and is now fourth.

The Iron Dames’ Lamborghini rounds out the top five.

 

LM24, Hour 5: No.83's dream run continues;

We felt so good, we actually put on a decal with the kind of car it is, so we don't forget which car is ours.

Alpine registers first Hypercar retirement

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emailBy Stephen Kilbey | June 15, 2024 3:30 PM ET

With the six-hour mark edging closer, the No. 83 AF Corse Ferrari leads a Ferrari 1-2 in the Le Mans 24 Hours.

The privately-funded machine is in the midst of a dream run so far, and has Ye Yifei currently behind the wheel with a 17-second gap ahead of the No. 50 factory Ferrari of Miguel Molina.

The No. 5 Penske Porsche is also still in the top three and very much in the fight, 24 seconds down the road and being peddled nicely by Matt Campbell.

The two Toyotas, which are slowly regaining ground and clawing their way back into contention after their failed tire gamble, are fourth and fifth, 47s (No. and 1m 41s (No. 7) off the lead.

The No. 51 Ferrari AF Corse 499P is sixth, ahead of the No. 38 Hertz Team JOTA Porsche that’s seventh.

Vector Sport continues to lead in LMP2; Ryan Cullen enjoying what is surely his most impressive stint as a prototype driver. He is 48 seconds up the road from the No. 37 WE BE COOL Racing ORECA, which is being driven now by Lorenzo Fluxa after a steady run from Ritomo Miyata.

The No. 22 United Autosports ORECA, despite its off and drive-through, is still third, ahead of the Pro/Am leading AO by TF ORECA which lost time and positions during Bronze-ranked PJ Hyett’s first stint. Alex Quinn is now installed and has a strong gap to Francois Perrodo in the No. 183 As F Corse ORECA that is second in the sub-class.

Valentino Rossi sits atop the pile in LMGT3. The Italian is having a faultless run and has managed to open up a strong lead over the No. 92 Pure Rxcing Porsche that is now up to second and has Joel Sturm at the wheel. The Manthey EMA Porsche is third.
MotoGP legend Valentino Rossi has Team WRT ‘s BMW M4 in the LMGT3 lead. JEP/Motorsport Images

It was a difficult hour for Iron Dames, which had been running as high as third during the hour. With a few minutes remaining before the sixth hour began Sarah Bovy ended up needing a trip to the pit lane for checks.

Replays revealed she was side-swiped through the Porsche Curves by a Porsche Hypercar, which sent her into a spin. She avoided contact with any barriers, but took a long time to stop shaking and rejoin the race and has dropped to 13th.

The biggest drama of the hour was the first Hypercar retirement. The No. 35 Alpine A424 suffered an engine expiry at Arnage – Ferdinand Habsberg pulled off at the exit of the corner, climbed out immediately and hopped over the barriers. That makes it two retirements now, after the No. 54 Vista AF Corse crashed out earlier on.

“It’s really difficult for the whole team, it’s so cruel because we have done a mega job all week to give us a strong car. The pace was strong but we need to accept it’s a mechanical sport and this can happen. It’s hard but there is still the sister car with amazing drivers. I am sure the whole team will push even more for them,” driver Paul Loup Chatin said.

Another car that may well become a retirement soon is the No. 77 Proton Competition Mustang, which towards the end of the previous hour entered its own garage with a steering issue after banging into the garage next door.

Yet another piece of action to report involved the No. 3 Ganassi Cadillac. Renger van der Zande had a hair-raising moment on the run down to Tertre Rouge, sliding off the circuit and onto the grass. The Dutchman did kiss the Armco but avoided big damage.

The No. 3 crew find themselves down to a lowly 14th after such a strong start to the race.

“The start of the race was pretty clean,” van der Zande’s teammate Sebastien Bourdais said. “Pace on its own is fine, but when we get stuck in traffic we can’t make the lap time and fall further behind. It’s frustrating.

“All the cars that stayed out because it didn’t really rain – it was like one straight, one corner, another corner – but it wasn’t really wet enough to pay dividends on the wets and we lost the lead train. There’s a lot of time left, so we’ll keep fighting.”

Both Lamborghini Hypercars suffered off-track excursions too, Daniil Kyvat and Matteo Cairoli spinning on their out laps.

 

LM24, Hour: 6: Alpine drops out of the fight

So is enough of the track wet that rain tires and pit stop time will be quicker than keeping dry tires?

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emailBy Stephen Kilbey | June 15, 2024 4:18 PM ET

With 18 hours to go at Le Mans, the big story trackside is the end of Alpine’s challenge for victory in its big return to the race.

After the No. 35 A424 suffered an engine failure at Arnage in the previous hour, it was the No. 36’s turn to hit trouble this time.

Mechanics were seen poking around the engine bay in the back of the garage after Nicolas Lapierre brought it in. It was confirmed that the car suffered a driveshaft failure and has since been retired. Alpine’s chances of a strong finish on home soil are now over.

The No. 36 wasn’t the only car in the garage during the hour, as the No. 4 Porsche ended up in its box for repairs. Replays revealed that Mathieu Jaminet was the culprit in the Sarah Bovy Iron Dames clash in the previous hour. The contact damaged the car’s right-side number panel, which eventually fell off.

This prompted the team to pit the car for a replacement, which took over four minutes and dropped the car off the lead lap.

On track, there was a mechanical issue for the No. 9 Proton ORECA. Jonas Ried slowed to a stop at the Porsche Curves while running fifth, adding to the disastrous day so far for the German team, which has already been forced to pit the No.77 Mustang (steering) and No. 99 Porsche (door) for repairs in this race.

In terms of positions, it was relatively static in Hypercar. Ye Yifei leads in the No. 83 AF Corse Ferrari, 42 seconds ahead of the No. 5 Porsche. The No. 50 factory Ferrari is down to fourth, having pitted just before Hour 7 began, promoting the No. 8 Toyota, which continues to climb closer to the front.

In LMP2, COOL Racing’s No. 37 ORECA has taken the lead, after Lorenzo Fluxa found a way past Stephane Richelmi in the No. 10 Vector Sport car during the hour. The No. 22 United ORECA is third.

LMGT3 has also seen a lead change, Joel Sturm in the No. 92 Pure Rxcing Porsche catching and passing Valentino Rossi in the No. 46 WRT BMW.

Something that should be noted is that the Pure Rxcing squad has already burned through half of Alex Malykhin’s drive time. If he completes all his stints before the second half of the race, this would hand the team an enormous advantage into Sunday morning, with just Sturm and Klaus Bachler stints to cycle through.

Third in the class is the sister No. 91 Manthey EMA 911 LMGT3.R 992.

As the hour came to a close, adding to the drama, it started to rain, hard, at the Porsche Curves. A chunk of the track is wet, the rest is dry. Rain tires at the ready – here we go again!

 

LM24 Hour 7: Safety car greets nightfall after heavy BMW incident

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emailBy Stephen Kilbey | June 15, 2024 5:21 PM ET

With rain, tire strategy gambles, crashes, mechanical issues and the first safety car period of the race, the seventh hour of the 2024 Le Mans 24 Hours had it all.

The safety car made its first appearance after a big shunt on the run down to Mulsanne Corner.

Dries Vanthoor in the No. 15 Team WRT BMW M Hybrid V8 skipped the second chicane on his out lap, struggling on cold tires. When he rejoined, he was promptly nudged while being passed by the race-leading No. 83 AF Corse Ferrari of Robert Kubica as the two cars were passing the Pure Rxcing Porsche.

The contact sent Vanthoor veering off the circuit, nose-first into the barriers, ripping the front end off the car. The Belgian briefly got going, but with the front wheels not pointing in the right direction, quickly stopped again to retire the car.

A total of three Hypercars are now out, and the safety car came out to clean up the debris and repair the barriers. As for BMW’s challenge, the “Art Car” is still technically in the running but is currently in the garage and 16 laps off the lead. The car has already had a rear driveshaft change, a rear brake change and is currently undergoing work to its rear and floor.

Who were those jerks that quit early on because they could not fix a radiator?

Under safety car, the No. 83 AF Corse leads the race, with the No. 5 Porsche of Fred Makowiecki second and the No. 8 Toyota third.

In LMP2 the No. 37 COOL Racing ORECA leads despite suffering a spin at pit-in, costing the car precious time. The No. 22 United ORECA is up to second, while the Vector Sport car dropped from first to third after pitting under the Safety Car.

LMGT3Q, meanwhile, is led by the No. 46 BMW once again, with Pure Rxcing second and the Heart of Racing Aston Martin up to third after a gradual fightback following the team’s early tire gamble.

Beyond the incident for the No. 15 BMW, there was another significant incident when Claudio Schiavoni in the No. 60 Iron Lynx Lamborghini, with part of the circuit wet from a passing shower, ended up in the barriers past the second chicane after putting the power down too early on the corner exit.

Sebastian Bourdais also had an off-track excursion, at Indianapolis, though avoided contact with the barriers in the No. 3 Cadillac.

The No. 46 BMW of Maxime Martin and No. 23 United ORECA of Ben Hanley came together when the rain was at its heaviest. Both cars continued.

In pit lane, mechanical drama befell Inception Racing’s LMGT3 pole-sitting McLaren, which was pushed back into the garage with steam coming off the radiator.

Prior, in the rain, almost the entire Hypercar field came in for wet Michelins, except the No. 50 and No. 51 factory Ferraris. The team was certain the rain would pass. Unfortunately for the Italians, it didn’t before the No. 51 fell off the lead lap, struggling for pace.

With the wave-around process during the safety car, the No. 51 is back in the fight, though. The top 12 are now on the lead lap as we await the restart.