24H Le Mans 18 hour report: Incidents and accidents as the new day dawns
After 18 hours of racing the two Toyota TS050 HYBRIDS are still out in front but there has been a change for the lead. The No.8 Toyota is now leading thanks to Kazuki Nakajima who went past Kamui Kobayashi in the 15th hour.
Porsche continues to dominate LMGTE Pro with the No.92 Porsche GT Team entry over a lap ahead of the No.91 911 RSR as the clock went past the 18-hour point. The No.68 Ford GT of Dirk Muller was lying in third position, 31 seconds behind the second placed Porsche.
G-Drive Racing’s No.26 ORECA 07 Gibson holds the lead in the LMP2 class with Roman Rusinov still in the car at the top of the 18th hour. The Russian team is over a lap ahead of the second placed car in this class, the No.23 Panis Barthez Competition Ligier JSP217, with the No.36 Signatech Alpine A470 a further lap behind in third.
The No.77 Dempsey-Proton Racing Porsche 911 RSR of Christian Ried is also still out in front of the LMGTE Am class, over a lap ahead of the No.54 Spirit of Race Ferrari 488 GTE of Giancarlo Fisichella.
There were plenty of incidents in the third quarter of the 86th edition of the 24 Hours of Le Mans including stop and go penalties for both Toyotas for speeding under slow zone regulations.
There were several cars that went off track during the night, with some retirements. Notable among the WEC entrants was the No.82 BMW, with Alexander Sims unexpectedly going off into the wall at Porsche Curves. The heavy damage forced the retirement of the car.
The No.88 Dempsey-Proton Competition Porsche from the LMGTE Am class was another retirement after Matteo Cairoli hit the barriers after exiting Porsche Curves, with the No.10 DragonSpeed BR1 of Ben Hanley also going off at Porsche Curves a few minutes later.
CLICK HEREfor the results after 18 hours of racing at the 24 Hours of Le Mans.
