Le Mans After 6 Hours: No.7 Toyota Leads; Corvette/Porsche Battle in LMGTE Pro

Dusk falls at Le Mans as quarter distance is reached in a hot and sunny opening to the 90^th running of the 24 Hours of Le Mans. 

Toyota still run 1-2 with No.7 leading No.8 but pair swap lead on several occasions. 

Corvette Racing build advantage in LMGTE Pro category with No.63 Chevrolet Corvette enjoying 35-second lead over sister No.64 entry. 

LMP2 also sees another large advantage with the No.38 JOTA Oreca-Gibson heading stablemates in No.28 car 

LMGTE Am sees WeatherTech Porsche in control with Northwest AMR leading the charge to try and reduce large gap. 

Headlines from the 90^th 24 Hours of Le Mans After 6 Hours…. 

Hypercar   

• No.7 Toyota Gazoo Racing GR010 Hybrid Hypercar leads by eight seconds from stablemates in No.8 car after six hours of racing at 2022 24 Hours of Le Mans 
• Jose-Maria Lopez took over from Mike Conway in third hour and was able to hold lead to Brendon Hartley in No.8 car but a small off-track moment at second Mulsanne Chicane by Lopez helps Hartley re-take lead 
• Hartley hands over to Ryo Hirakawa who initially maintained the lead to countryman Kamui Kobayashi 
• But Kobayashi emerges from pits ahead and is then able to stretch a small gap out to 8-seconds as six-hour mark arrives 
• Glickenhaus Racing run third and fourth as No.708 stays within touch of Toyotas with Pipo Derani setting fastest second sector of race  
• No.709 Glickenhaus Racing 007LMH car loses some time in third hour for a sensor change and runs a lap down on top three 
• Alpine ELF Team suffers several long pit stops and drop out of contention when a clutch issue costs the team eight laps 
• Alpine misery is compounded by an off-track excursion at Maison Blanche by Andre Negrao but Brazilian returns unscathed 

LMGTE Pro   

• Ferocious battle brewing in LMGTE Pro between Corvette Racing and Porsche GT Team as lead ebbs and flows through the first quarter of the race 
• No.64 Chevrolet Corvette leads with Jordan Taylor and then Nicky Catsburg at the wheel through hours two to six. They enjoy a 38-second lead over sister Corvette 
• Antonio Garcia gets back in No.63 just before quarter distance 
• No.63 engages in thrilling battle with No.92 Porsche 911 RSR in fifth and sixth hours 
• Closely matched cars driven by Alexander Sims and Laurens Vanthoor swap places twice but the Corvette emerges in front but by only a second 
• Sims hands over to Nick Tandy just before the six-hour mark is reached 
• Porsche third and fourth as the No.92 911 RSR-19 pressures the second placed Corvette 
• No.92 car places third, while No.91 loses momentum after getting drive-through penalty for track limit violations 
• AF Corse still race fifth and sixth with No.52 heading No.51 by six seconds, Miguel Molina and James Calado at the wheel at quarter distance 
• Ferrari on lead lap but 75 seconds adrift of leader 
• Riley Motorsports seventh as Shane van Gisbergen enjoys his first stints at La Sarthe =

LMP2    

• No.38 JOTA establishes large lead in LMP2 as No.38 entry driven by Antonio Felix da Costa, then Will Stevens takes control of class 
• Stevens triple stint sees him open gap and also capitalise on a slow zone period to get a 90-second advantage 
• Roberto Gonzalez enjoys first action behind the wheel and is able to consolidate lead as second placed Team Penske entry loses positions to replace bodywork 
• Penske fight back to second place as Felipe Nasr takes over for his second stint behind the wheel just before the six-hour mark but then fall back to fourth at scheduled stops 
• That gives Prema Orlen Team opportunity to be promoted in to second position with Louis Deletraz in the cockpit at quarter distance 
• But after last round of stops it becomes a JOTA 1-2 as No.28 car driven by Dane, Oliver Rasmussen, heads the Italian entry 
• Cool Racing place fifth ahead of Panis Racing entry 
• United Autosports USA continue fightback after early woes as No.23 car places 13^th in class, while No.23 is 16^th as Filipe Albuquerque is one of quickest cars on track 
• Trouble for Vector Sport Oreca-Gibson in fifth hour as Ryan Cullen goes off at Indianapolis but is able to return to the fold 
• Duqueine entry of Richard Bradley, Memo Rojas and Reshad de Gerus spends over an hour in the pits with a technical problem but at quarter distance is still running meaning all 62 cars are still on track 

LMGTE Am    

• WeatherTech Racing Porsche 911 RSR takes control of 23-car LMGTE Am entry as Julien Andlauer opens up healthy lead before handing over to Cooper MacNeil 
• US entered car is 70-seconds ahead of the No.98 Northwest AMR entry driven by Nicki Thiim 
• No.77 Dempsey Proton Porsche fights back to third after difficult start due to tyre issues 
• Harry Tincknell takes over his second stint at the wheel and starts to close on second placed Aston Martin 
• Aston second and fourth as TF Sport with Marco Sorenson at wheel look to challenge for podium contention 
• Hardpoint Motorsport slip to fifth place, while highest Ferrari is sixth positioned No.61 AF Corse car with Vincent Abril aboard 

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