24h Le Mans
It was a wet start to the 89th 24 Hours of Le Mans with the safety car out for a couple of unplanned laps. At 20:00, after four hours of racing, Toyota dominates. There have been no early retirements so far, but there has been plenty of drama since the start of the race.
Just seconds into the race, Olivier Pla (Glickenhaus #708) slid while braking and clipped Sébastien Buemi’s #8 Toyota. The Japanese car had trouble getting back on track and came to a halt on the Mulsanne Straight but managed to set off again shortly after. The irritated Swiss driver then had a skirmish with an LMP2 car before settling down and recording a couple of fast times, with 3:28.726 on his 19th lap, then 3:27.766 two laps later. Four hours into the race, only three Hypercars were still on the same lap – the #7 and #8 Toyota GR010 Hybrids (in that order), ahead of the #36 Alpine A480-Gibson.
The unfavourable track conditions at the start of the race saw the LMP2s give the Hypercars a run for their money in the overall standings. Things settled down however once the circuit dried out. At 20:00, the leading LMP2 was just one lap behind the #7 Toyota. Da Costa had made his way to the front in the #38 Oreca 07 – Gibson by the time he handed over to Davidson. The British driver, however, went straight into the gravel at the Dunlop curve. Robert Kubica in the #41 Oreca 07 - Gibson pounced on the opportunity to close ranks before pitting to refuel. After the setbacks encountered by its sister car, the #28 Oreca 07 – Gibson was in the lead after the first four hours of the race.
Kévin Estre was the first to slip up in the tricky conditions in the early stages of the race, but his #92 Porsche did not suffer and he was soon back in the running. The two Corvettes took advantage of the situation to move to the top of the class standings but, as the tarmac dried out, the Ferraris stepped up to regain control. The two AF Corse cars were almost wheel-to-wheel, taking turns in the lead until Daniel Serra (Ferrari #52) finally created a comfortable gap and settled into P1 in the class. In the Porsche camp, the #72 Hub Auto Racing has all but scuppered its chances after a track limit violation for which Martin/Parente/Vanthoor picked up a drive-through penalty. Earl Bamber (Porsche #79) was the most successful representative of the German marque four hours into the race, holding third place in class.
After an uneventful start to the race, LMGTEAm driver Marcos Gomes sent his Aston Martin Racing #98 Aston Martin Vantage AMR hard into the tyre wall at the Indianapolis corner. The Brazilian driver came off at high speed, causing a massive impact. He walked away dazed but unharmed. Given the state of the car, the chances of seeing it back on the track are slim.
