LM24, Hour 21

2023 LM24, Hour 21: LMP2 & GTE Am Battles Heating Up

#51 Ferrari 499P maintains ten-second advantage overall as Corvette Racing, Inter Europol lead their classes

11 June 2023, 12:13 PM
The #51 Ferrari AF Corse 499P continues to lead overall and in the Hypercar class. James Calado has a lead of 13.8 seconds to the #8 Toyota Gazoo Racing GR010 HYBRID which is currently being driven by Brendon Hartley.

Hartley spent much of this past hour trying to drive away from the #50 Ferrari, which is no longer a factor for the win – but Miguel Molina was driving at enough of a pace to not only get a lap back, but also put pressure on the Toyota and potentially disrupt Hartley’s pursuit of Calado.

In a steady third is the #2 Cadillac Racing V-Series.R, with Alex Lynn in the cockpit.

There wasn’t much drama in the Hypercar ranks, but some teams still have work to do just to get to the chequered flag. The #93 Peugeot TotalEnergies 9X8 had to go back to the garage but it was a quick repair and Jean-Eric Vergne is still fifth overall, behind the #3 Cadillac of Renger van der Zande.

The #94 Peugeot has also been taken back to the garage at the top of the hour, to replace the steering rack.

Hertz Team JOTA’s #38 Porsche 963 has spent several hours in and out of the garage and is now trying just to be ready to take the chequered flag.

It’s a bit more spirited in LMP2, where Inter Europol Competition is potentially three hours away from its biggest-ever win as a privateer team – the only LMP2 team in the FIA World Endurance Championship that has no ties to any prospective hypercar programme!

But that win was put into mild jeopardy when the green and yellow #34 Oreca 07-Gibson was given a drive-through penalty for overtaking two cars under the Safety Car.

This cut the lead down from 47 to 15 seconds to the #41 Team WRT Oreca, which is running second and pounding on the door of a come-from-behind victory if it can continue to keep the pressure on the Turbo Bakers’ Oreca.

Fabio Scherer, whose foot was run over after the first pit stop of the race, has gotten out of the cockpit and Albert Costa now leads with Robert Kubica trailing him in the Team WRT #41.

Either way, unless there’s a disaster that strikes either of the top two in LMP2, the racing fans of Poland will have a winner to be proud of – either a national racing hero who’s achieved success at the pinnacle of motorsport, or one of endurance racing’s most spirited and determined underdog teams!

There’s also been a change for third: LMP2 polesitter Paul Loup Chatin has caught and passed Neel Jani, putting the Delage-sponsored IDEC Sport #48 Oreca ahead of the black and green #30 of Team Duqueine, now fourth.


Corvette Racing, once down and out, lead GTE-Am with three hours to go.

A stellar 3:50.439 was Nicolas Varrone’s best lap time as he forged ahead to gap the rest of the GTE-Am field and neutralise any time required for the #33 Corvette’s final fuel stop.

The time was quicker than the fastest GTE-Am qualifying time for the car, a 3:51.8 set by Nicky Catsburg on Wednesday evening. The cycle of the top three runners’ strategy suggested that the Iron Dames Porsche would not require a final fuel stop, but the pace of the #85 Porsche seems simply unable to match that of the charging Corvette.

Having pitted to swap Michael Dinan for Ahmad Al-Harthy, the ORT by TF Aston Martin appears to be the trailing car of the top three, Al-Harthy now working out his minimum seat time – he is quick among his peers, at the very least, but he’ll need to dig deep.

Matteo Cairolli’s Project 1-AO Porsche still runs fourth, and although there is half a WEC round left to run, ‘Rexy’ is looking like she will need some luck now to stand a chance of making the GTE-Am podium.

The rate of attrition in class now extends to Daniel Serra, who parked the fluorescent yellow #57 Kessel Racing Ferrari. It’s not yet classified as a retirement, but it hasn’t resumed since Serra went off.

After a run that seemed to be bullet-proof, the Garage 56 entry has finally succumbed to its first issue.

Jenson Button parked the #24 Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 with a suspected gearbox failure. “We have a drive line issue and the team is working to repair it now. The goal remains to finish the race,” said Garage 56 Project Leader, Chad Knaus.

The Hendrick Motorsports team has time to replace the gearbox to make the finish of the race, but it’s taking some time and the car is in the garage for nearly 50 minutes as of this report.

But to make it 20 hours before suffering any significant mechanical drama – that’s to be commended from the Garage 56 NASCAR project!

LM24 Hour 21: No 51. Ferrari once again pulling away

Rainier Ehrhardt/Motorsport Images
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emailBy Stephen Kilbey | June 11, 2023 7:31 AM ET

Into the 22nd hour we go, and in every class this race continues to deliver the goods. The Ferrari vs Toyota battle in Hypercar is ongoing, with the leading No. 51 499P of James Calado edging away from Brendon Hartley in the No. 8 GR010 during the hour.

The gap is now 13 seconds, in part because Hartley had to deal with the No. 50 sister Ferrari of Miguel Molina, multiple laps down, putting the pressure on from behind. Brendon Hartley was asked by the team on the pit wall if he is physically capable of doing a quad stint. Without hesitation, the answer was “yes!”LMP2 meanwhile, has seen drama hit the leading No. 34 Inter Europol ORECA. The team was handed a drive-through for overtaking under yellow, which brought the lead gap down from over 50 seconds to 21 by the end of the hour. Can Robert Kubica in the No. 41 WRT ORECA respond and find a way to catch and pass the No. 34?

GTE Am is now Corvette’s race to lose. Since regaining the two laps lost early in the race, the driving has been outstanding all day so far. Nico Varonne in particular has played a huge role in getting Corvette back in the race. The young Argentinan in the hour set a blistering 3m40.439 as part of a string of fast laps as part of his attempt to create a lead gap larger than the length of a pit stop How fast is that? It was the fastest GTE lap of the event, including Qualifying and Hyperpole. A staggering lap from the Corvette newcomer, a perfect response to his incident in practice.

Behind Varrone, Sarah Bovy is second and losing seconds each lap to the C8.R in the Iron Dames Porsche. Ahmad Al Harthy, another Bronze, is also losing time in the ORT by TF Vantage to Varrone. It’s nevertheless been a superb performance from Bovy and Al Harthy so far, keeping their teams in the running while so many of the other teams in the class faulted.

There were multiple mechanical woes for cars in the hour. Both Peugeots spent time in the garage, the No. 93 for a nose change and to fix a lack of hydraulic pressure. The sister car meanwhile, ended up in its garage for a steering rack change.

The Garage 56 NASCAR Cup Camaro has also spent much of the last hour in its pit box, the Hendrick Team replacing the car’s gearbox. After 20 hours of racing, it was the first notable mechanical issue for the car.

HOUR 21 RUNNING ORDER