24h Le Mans
An incident-packed morning at the 90th 24 Hours of Le Mans reached cataclysmic proportions as the LMGTE Pro class-leading #64 Chevrolet Corvette C8.R was nudged into the crash barrier at high speed on the Mulsanne Straight, wrecking the American manufacturer’s hopes of a first win since 2015. The reigning LMP2 champion is also out of the race.
After coming to a halt just before the 16th hour was up, the #7 Toyota GR010-Hybrid returned to the pits for a complete engine reset. Although the Toyota Gazoo Racing’s #8 Hypercar appeared to have tightened its grip at the top of the overall standings, Kamui Kobayashi had not given up hope of catching his stablemates, putting in the fastest lap of the race with a new benchmark of 3:27.762 on lap 294.
The #36 Alpine A480-Gibson had gradually clambered its way back up to 17th place overall, but Mathieu Vaxiviere came a cropper in the Porsche Curves as a result of a breakdown in communication with Michael Wainwright in the GR Racing #86 Porsche. The Frenchman made a valiant attempt to control the excursion across the gravel but struck the tyre wall. He did, however, manage to return to the pits. André Negrão took over driving duties when the car returned to action after 20 minutes in the pits.
The #709 Glickenhaus007 LMH remains in third, four laps down on the Japanese frontunners, while the #708 sister is racing among the LMP2 podium contenders.
It has been a dramatic morning for the LMGTE Pro class. The #64 Chevrolet Corvette C8.R’s battle with the #51 Ferrari turned to the Americans’ advantage when the AF Corse crew garaged the second-placed 488 GTE Evo for brake repairs during the slow zones caused by a spate of incidents at the Daytona Chicane and Mulsanne Corner.
Gavin will undoubtedly have been as shocked as the Corvette mechanics to see François Perrodo in the AF Corse #83 Oreca 07-Gibson make contact with the #64 Chevrolet Corvette C8.R, sending Alexander Sims into the barrier on the Mulsanne Straight.
Shortly before the accident, the team had announced the official retirement of the #63 sister car due to mechanical issues.
Heartbreak for Sims, Milner, Tandy and the whole Corvette Racing team. A 3-minute stop-and-go penalty for the #83 Oreca for Perrodo’s part in the incident.
Stripped of the Corvettes, the LMGTE Pro class is now a two-way scrap between Ferrari and Porsche. Hit by a slow puncture after 19½ hours, the #51 Ferrari made an unscheduled pit stop, conceding the lead to the #91 Porsche but it remains a very close affair.
The JOTA team is showing remarkable consistency with two cars at the front of the LMP2 field. The #38 Oreca 07-Gibson in the hands of Roberto González, António Félix da Costa and Will Stevens has led from the first hour of the race, while the #28 driven by Oliver Rasmussen, Ed Jones and Jonathan Aberdein has been there or thereabouts since Saturday evening. The Prema Orlen Team’s #9 Oreca (Kubica/Delétraz/Colombo) that led for a while in the very early stages is also still in the mix.
At 8:45 on this Sunday morning, Laurents Hörr in the DKR Engineering prototype locked up entering Mulsanne Corner and ran into the barrier. The #3 Oreca 07-Gibson needed to be hoisted back onto the track but was able to restart. Shortly afterwards, François Perrodo ran off at Arnage but the AF Corse #83 was able to restart under its own steam and pit.
After almost 19 hours of racing, the 2021 LMP2 title-winning Team WRT #31 car, lying in sixth position in the class, lost all hope of making the top five when Robin Frijns encroached into the gravel at Indianapolis flinging the Oreca 07-Gibson into the barrier. For the first time in the race, the safety cars made an appearance while debris was removed from the track.
After 19½ hours, United Autosports’ Phil Hanson ground to a halt on the approach to Indianapolis. The #22 Oreca 07-Gibson, on the ninth lap of its stint, lost power according to Hanson.
The #75 Ferrari 488 GTE Evo of Iron Lynx lost a tyre in an almost identical scenario to the one that put the #92 Porsche out of action for a time just before the end of the 16th hour.
Brendan Iribe hit the left-hand barrier hard on braking into the Daytona Chicane. Although the Team Project 1 #56 Porsche 911 RSR-19 suffered severe front-end damage in the crash, the driver and the onlooking marshals were largely unscathed.
The crane was called back into action on the stroke of nine o’clock as GR Racing’s Riccardo Pera (#86 Porsche 911 RSR-19) careered into the Indianapolis barrier.
The #33 Aston Martin of TF Sport, that started from 19th on the grid, leads from the Porsche 911 RSR-19s of Hardpoint Motorsport an WeatherTech Racing. Jim Trueman award winner Ben Keating is currently at the wheel of the class leader.
LMGTE Pro
#91 Porsche 911 RSR-19 - Porsche GT Team - Bruni/Lietz/Makowiecki 289 laps
LMP2
#38 Oreca 07-Gibson - JOTA - González/da Costa/Stevens - 306 laps
LMGTE Am
#33 Aston Martin Vantage AMR - TF Sport - Keating/Chaves/Sørensen - 284 laps
#31 Oreca 07-Gibson - Team WRT - Gelael/Rast/Frijns - Accident damage - 285 laps
#64 Chevrolet Corvette C8.R - Corvette Racing - Milner/Tandy/Sims - Accident damage - 260 laps
#56 Porsche 911 RSR-19 - Team Project 1 - Iribe/Millroy/Barnicoat - Accident damage - 241 laps
#63 Chevrolet Corvette C8.R - Corvette Racing - García/Taylor/Catsburg - Mechanical failure - 214 laps
#59 Ferrari 488 GTE Evo - Inception Racing - West/Ledogar/Klein - Mechanical failure - 190 laps
#71 Ferrari 488 GTE Evo - Spirit of Race - Ragues/Dezoteux/Aubry - Engine failure - 127 laps
#777 Aston Martin Vantage AMR - D'Station Racing – Hoshino/Fujii/Fagg - Chassis damage - 112 laps
#46 Porsche 911 RSR-19 - Team Project 1 - Cairoli/Pedersen/Leutwiler - Engine failure - 77 laps
