LM24 Hour 23: Crunch time

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emailBy Ryan Kish | September 20, 2020 5:07 AM

The hours have wound down to the final 60 minutes of racing in the Le Mans 24 Hours and Toyota looks well on its way to a win with the No. 8 TS050. This team knows better than anyone, of course, the cruelties that can occur in the final hour of this race, though.

Rebellion is finding out now. The No. 3 R13 of Louis Deletraz went wide at Indianapolis and needed to pit. The team completed the pit stop, but the car would not fire. They placed the car on the dollies to push it into the garage only for the engine to finally fire and the wheels spin while the car was in the air.


The No. 7 Toyota, meanwhile, overtook the No. 3 Rebellion for the final podium spot. A penalty is likely for the No. 3 Rebellion for its wheels spinning while the car was in the air.

Unlike in LMP1, the win in LMP2, and GTE Pro is still up for grabs in the final hour of the race. For now, the No. 22 United Autosports ORECA has control of the LMP2 race with Paul Di Resta on board. The No. 22 ORECA and the No. 38 JOTA Sport ORECA have been in a separate realm from their competitors and the winner in class will likely be one of those two runners.

For GTE Pro, it’s still the No. 97 Aston Martin Vantage and the No. 51 AF Corse Ferrari, a sentence we could’ve just copied and pasted from any of the previous 18 reports. The No. 97 Vantage has not done a brake change, which has contributed to the lead it has on the No. 51 Ferrari. Alex Lynn is carefully nursing the brakes home and trying to manage his roughly one-minute lead.

The No. 90 TF Sport Aston Martin Vantage looks set to take its first Le Mans win. It is still running with a sizeable gap that was built up during the night. The No. 90 TF Sport frontloaded the drive time of Salih Yoluc and ran their two more experienced drivers through the night while other teams used their Am-rated drivers.

The No. 56 Team Project 1 Porsche 911 RSR of Matteo Cairoli is chasing the No. 90 Aston Martin but his efforts are fleeting as time runs down.

HOUR 23 STANDINGS

Le Mans, Toyota, Le Mans/WEC