Toyota still leads after 12 hours at Le Mans
Toyota’s GR010 Hybrid # 8 returns to control of the 24 Hours of Le Mans halfway through, as Corvette Racing suffered a setback, turning the GTE-Pro class into a Porsche.
After completing 12 hours at the Sarthe Circuit, Ryo Hirakawa’s No. 8 Toyota leads Kamui Kobayashi by 20 seconds over No. 7 sister Toyota.
Kobayashi was in the lead at six o’clock, but the # 8 returned to the forefront after a slow stop of the Toyota # 7 in the seventh hour before the circumstance of a slow zone was in favor of the # 8.
Glickenhaus Racing entry number 709 is third in the hands of Ryan Briscoe, inheriting the podium finish when sister # 708 turned against the Tertre Rouge barriers.
The then driver, Olivier Pla, limped back to the pits for repairs before the # 708 returned to the track seven laps below, but was still ahead of the # 36 Alpine Hypercar.
Porsche is now leading the GTE-Pro class after the two Chevrolet Corvette C8.Rs were delayed while flying in training at the head of the class as the race settled into the night.
Nick Tandy’s 64th-ranked Corvette, second-placed, was brought into the garage to clean up debris from the wheel arches and complete a brake change.
Minutes later, Antonio Garcia’s class-leading Corvette No. 63 found a left rear suspension failure that caused a long stay in the garage.
Michael Christensen took over the leadership of the GTE-Pro in the 92nd Porsche 911 RSR before handing it over to Laurens Vanthoor comfortably ahead.
Vanthoor just played again to give way to Kevin Estre.
The 64th Corvette remains on the GTE-Pro’s leading lap in second place, but is more than three minutes behind leader Vanthoor.
Ferrari took third place courtesy of James Calado in the # 51 AF Corse 488 GTE ahead of the # 91 Porsche in fourth driven by Frederic Makowiecki.
AF Corse’s No. 52 Ferrari is fifth, followed by Shane van Gisbergen’s Ferrari Riley Motorsports, with the No. 20 20-lap Corvette down after its suspension dramas.
JOTA remains in the lead in LMP2 with his Oreca # 38 by Roberto González, Antonio Felix Da Costa and Will Stevens.
This car is more than half a lap ahead of the number 9 of the Prema Orlen team, which has Louis Deletraz at the wheel in second place.
WRT is third with Team Penske and Cool Racing completing the top five in LMP2, while No. 45 Algarve Pro Racing of the Australian James Allen ranks 19th in his class.
There was a change of leadership just halfway to GTE-Am with the Aston Martin # 33 TF Sport jumping ahead.
A long-time leader, Porsche WeatherTech Racing # 79 lost much of its time on the track to Cooper MacNeil and fell to second place.
Henrique Chaves now has a 30-second lead for TF Sport over MacNeil, as Porsche no. 99 Hardpoint Motorsport ranks third.
Nick Cassidy’s Ferrari No. 54 finished seventh, while Matt Campbell’s 93rd Porsche Proton Competition was successful with the barriers in the hands of Michael Fassbender.
Campbell continues to run in 20th place in GTE-Am.