2023 LM24, Hour 1: Toyota Seizes The Lead!

Jack Aitken's crash during a damp first lap brings out Safety Car - IDEC Sport and AF Corse #54 lead their classes at the top of the hour!

10 June 2023, 4:20 PM
The two Ferrari 499P Hypercars led the first corner of the Centenary Edition of the 24 Hours of Le Mans, but at the end of the first hour, it’s the Toyota Gazoo Racing GR010 HYBRIDs that run first and second overall and in the Hypercar class.

Four-time winner Sebastien Buemi in the #8 Toyota overtook young Dane Nicklas Nielsen in the pole-winning #50 Ferrari on the run to Indianapolis before a first-lap Safety Car intervention for multiple incidents.



Buemi has sprinted off to a healthy 4.5 second lead, despite the high-strung Swiss’ worries about a brake system issue after light contact with the #75 Porsche Penske Motorsports 963 at the first lap.

Meanwhile Mike Conway in the #7 Toyota spent the time after the Safety Car restart fending off the Ferraris of Nielsen and James Calado, aboard the #51.

At the top of the hour, Calado has taken second place from Conway with the medium compound tyres up to temperature. Nielsen had overtaken Conway on track but pitted rather early to take fuel, doing just ten laps in his opening stint.

Calado and Conway are followed closely by the three factory Penske Porsches led by Nasr in the #75 , and they’re ahead of the #2 Cadillac Racing V-Series.R of Earl Bamber.

Similarly in LMP2, Frenchman Paul-Loup Chatin has broken out to a 2.7 second lead in his class, aboard the French team IDEC Sport’s French-constructed #48 Oreca-07 Gibson, sponsored by French heritage manufacturer Delage.

Behind the class polesitter Chatin in his blue #48, Robert Kubica is now second aboard Team WRT’s red and black #41 Oreca, followed by Pietro Fittipaldi in the gold Jota #28. Daniil Kvyat was running with the leaders, but he brought the #63 Prema Racing Oreca into the pits after dropping down the order on the restart.



Under cloudy skies, a crowd of over 300,000 fans gathered at Circuit de la Sarthe in France for the 91st running of the Grand Prix d’Endurance.

The sea of humanity in the grandstands, in every campground, and on the grid for the pit walk was beyond what even hardened veterans of this race had experienced.

Le Mans grand champion Tom Kristensen presented the winner’s trophy in a replica of the famous 1923 Chenard-Walcker Type U3 that won the first race, awaiting its rightful holder. Then, when the field of 62 cars completed their formation lap, basketball legend and two-time Olympic gold medalist LeBron James waved the French tricolore – and the great race a century in the making had begun!



No sooner did it begin, however, than it effectively ended for Action Express Racing. Rain showers down Les Hunaudieres led to a slippery track for everyone to deal with – especially on slick tyres and Jack Aitken couldn’t get any traction out of the Mulsanne Chicane. His red #311 Cadillac V-Series.R crashed into the armco barrier, nearly knocking his front-left wheel off along with all of his front bodywork. The Safety Car was deployed for the first time.

Gentleman driver Mark Kvamme also had trouble getting to grips with the damp tarmac and spun off behind Aitken. The #32 Inter Europol Competition Oreca 07-Gibson had to be hoisted out of the gravel.

The new Safety Car procedure was demonstrated immediately, sorting out the three classes evenly for the ensuing restart. Including the time spent repairing the damaged section of guardrail, the Safety Car intervention took 35 minutes before racing resumed. Action has been hot and heavy ever since, and now the sun has burst through the clouds!
In GTE, the order is wholly shuffled, as a lot of teams, including the pole-sitting #33 Corvette Racing Chevrolet Corvette C8.R, pitted under the safety car.

The #54 AF Corse Ferrari 488 GTE Evo of Davide Rigon stayed out and inherited the lead, while the #57 Kessel Racing and #83 Richard Mille AF Corse Ferraris ensured it was a 1-2-3 for the Italian marque in the category.