Le Mans 20hr report: epic battles in Hypercar; Manthey EMA lead LMGT3
Below are the main headlines from 24 Hours of Le Mans, round four of FIA WEC, after 20 hours of racing.
Hypercar – Leader: No.50 Ferrari
The race sees a flurry of incidents between going green after lengthy safety car period and more safety car running to repair barriers after several incidents
Porsche/Ferrari/Cadillac and Toyota all take turns at the head of the field as a variety of strategies and pit windows plays out amid wet, damp and dry running throughout Sunday morning
Laurens Vanthoor stars in the No.6 Porsche Penske 963 and is able to get overhaul Ryo Hirakawa driven No.8 Toyota GR010 Hypercar and stretch out a small gap over the bunched leading pack
But an accident for the No.4 Porsche Penske driven by Felipe Nasr and then a bigger incident for Daniel Mancinelli in the No.27 Heart of Racing Aston Martin bring another long safety car period and again shakes up the order
Earl Bamber in the No.2 Cadillac then takes up the lead but is out of sequence with most others on pit stops but could adapt later in the race. Alex Palou takes over cockpit just before mid-day in his first ever Le Mans
At the 20-hour mark it is the No.50 Ferrari AF Corse 499P Hypercar of Antonio Fuoco that leads the race by just under two seconds
Behind Fuoco, a titanic battle plays out between the now Sebastien Buemi driven No.8 Toyota and the Robert Shwartman driven No.83 AF Corse Ferrari. With Kevin Estre in the No.6 Porsche Penske 963 Hypercar just behind, three manufacturers scrap it out for Le Mans glory with just four hours to go
But trouble strikes for former leaders No.83 AF Corse Ferrari of Shwartzman, Robert Kubica and Yifei Ye is pushed back in to garage after appearing to have braking issues at scheduled pit stop
In fifth place is the Le Mans victory defending car, the No.51 Ferrari AF Corse 499P, driven by James Calado.
The top six in Hypercar is completed by the first of the Hertz Team JOTA Porsche 963s with Will Stevens aboard.
The rest of the top 10 is: 7th No.2 Cadillac ; No.8 Toyota; 9th No 5 Porsche Penske; 10th No.38 Hertz Team Jota
Trouble strikes the No.3 Cadillac V-Series.R of Scott Dixon, Renger van der Zande and Sebastien Bourdais as they are forced to retire after suffering a punctured oil tank
The No.4 Porsche Penske 963 is confirmed as a retirement after Nasr’s accident, and the Action Express Cadillac is undergoing repairs after Pipo Derani impacted the barriers at Indianapolis in the 19th hour
LMGT3 – Leader: No.91 Manthey EMA Porsche
Manthey EMA Porsche 911 RSR 911 LMGT3 of Morris Schuring, Yasser Shahin and Richard Lietz lead the category after a smooth morning run
The Spa 6 Hour winners head the Imola victors No.31 Team WRT’s Darren Leung, Augusto Farfus and Sean Gelael
The No.87 Akkodis ASP Lexus trio of Esteban Masson, Jack Hawksworth and Takeshi Kimura place third and close to the second placed BMW
Rounding out the top six in LMGT3 is 4th Iron Dames Lamborghini; 5th No.88 Proton Ford Mustang; 6th No.78 Akkodis ASP Lexus
No.59 United Autosports McLaren stops on exit of Arnage in 20th hour as Gregoire Saucy suffers technical issue and is forced to retire
Daniel Mancinelli emerges unhurt from spectacular accident at Indianapolis after he impacts the wall and rolls the No.27 Heart of Racing Aston Martin
No.92 Manthey PureRxcing Porsche 911 RSR LMGT3 drops down the order after suffering a gearbox issue earlier in the morning running
LMP2 – Leader: Inter Europol Competition
Reigning LMP2 champions Inter Europol Competition Oreca-Gibson leads the field as Clement Novalak grabs the lead just before the 20 hour completed mark
Novalak makes a move on the No.10 Vector Sports in to Indianapolis after Pilet makes a small mistake, allowing the French/Swiss ace through and on course for a sensational double for the Polish squad
The final podium position is taken by IDEC Sport crew of Paul Lafarge, Job van Uitert and Reshad de Gerus
No.22 United Autosports crew of Oliver Jarvis, Nolan Siegel and Bijoy Garg place fourth after strong run
Top six rounded out by: 5th No.37 Cool Racing and 6th AF Corse Oreca-Gibson
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