LM24 16 hour report: Ferrari leads Hypercars following slow puncture for Toyota
Photo: WEC
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LM24 16 hour report: Ferrari leads Hypercars following slow puncture for Toyota

Below are the main headlines from 24 Hours of Le Mans, round four of FIA WEC, following 16 hours of racing at the Circuit de la Sarthe.

Hypercar:

  • No. 51 Ferrari AF Corse takes overall race lead in race's 16 th hour as Alessandro Pier Guidi hands Ferrari 499P over to James Calado
  • No.8 Toyota Gazoo GR010 Hybrid Hypercar driven by Ryo Hirakawa suffers from a slow rear right puncture allowing Pier Guidi to catch the No. 8 as both cars pit at the same time
  • No.2 and No. 3 Cadillac V Series.R cars currently running third and fourth, the No. 3 driven by Alex Lynn just over two minutes down from second-placed Toyota
  • No. 3 Cadillac now has local driver Sebastien Bourdais at the wheel – the Frenchman still with the fastest laptime of the race so far after clocking 3:28.298
  • The No.6 Porsche Penske driven by Kevin Estre was running fifth but is now in the pits getting repairs after an off-track excursion for the Frenchman resulted in some under-carriage damage for the Porsche Penske 963. The same car was also penalized with a 5 second penalty the hour previous after a pit stop infringement
  • Fifth place now falls to No. 93 Peugeot TotalEnergies 9X8 car currently driven by Mikkel Jensen
  • Glickenhaus Racing's pair of Glickenhaus 007 Hypercars currently running sixth and seventh
  • No.5 Porsche Penske 963 in eighth, one lap ahead of No. 50 AF Corse Ferrari – both cars fighting back after earlier setbacks
  • Nico Muller currently driving the No. 94 Peugeot TotalEnergies, the Peugeot 9X8 clawing back time after a middle of the night collison with Gustavo Menzes at the wheel
  • Hertz Team JOTA place 12th  after losing time in early hours after long pit stop. 
  • No. 4 Floyd Vanwall Racing Team retires after completing 165 laps – a new record for the team. Tristan Vautier was at the wheel when the Vanwall Vandervell stopped on track with smoke visible from the rear

LMP2

  • The No.34 Inter Europol Competition saw Albert Costa hand over to Fabio Scherer, who is fighting through the pain barrier after hurting his foot hurt at an earlier pit stop
  • Scherer putting in a heroic effort to fend off fellow Polish driver Robert Kubica in the No 41 WRT who briefly led before Scherer took back the lead in the race's 16th  hour
  • Less than seven seconds currently separate top two cars in LMP2
  • The Duqueine Oreca-Gibson with Rene Binder at the wheel is currently third in category, one spot ahead of No. 48 IDEC Racing in fourth place
  • Rounding out the top five is the No.65 Panis Racing entry, 34s ​​adrift of Paul Lafargue in fourth
  • No. 36 Alpine Elf Team with Charles Milesi driving is currently sixth, one lap ahead of Robin Frijns in the second WRT entry
  • No.47 Cool Racing crashes heavily at Porsche Curves at 04.30 as Reshad de Gerus hits the wall and severely damages the car he shares with Simon Pagenaud and Vlad Lomko
  • In the race's 15th  hour, No. 80 AF Corse driven by Ben Barnicoat crashes at Porsche Curves and retires from the race

LMGTE AM

  • LMGTE Am lead is currently being fought between Kessel Racing and all-female trio of Iron Dames who are currently less than a second apart
  • Rahel Frey in the No. 85 Porsche 911 RSR-19, closing in fast on Bronze drive Takeshi Kimura who has had a lengthy stint at the wheel
  • Project 1 AO Racing Porsche 911 RSR-19 “Rexy” car with Matteo Cairoli driving currently third, the team fighting back from a spin in the race's 16th hour  to take the lead
  • No. 33 points leading Corvette Racing Chevrolet driven by Nicky Catsburg currently running fourth having just overtaken Thomas Flohr who rounds out the top five in the No. 54 AF Corse Ferrari
  • Jonas Ried crashes the No.88 Proton Competition heavily at Indianapolis in race's 14th  hour. Teenager was running eighth in the LMTE Am category but because is too damaged to continue.

INNOVATION

  • Hendrick Motorsports run Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 sits 28th overall after a relatively drama-free race for the trio thus far.

Click HERE for latest running order.