After having taken the lead subsequent to an express refuelling without changing tyres, the #2 Porsche made an unexpected stop after only five laps, a slow leak in the rear requiring a tyre change earlier than planned. The cars of the lead trio are all within one minute! The 14th hour in the race was also very difficult for Rebellion Racing: the #13 stopped in the Mulsanne Straight, and the #12 just returned to its pit for a clutch change.
In the LM P2 class, in the fight pitting the Alpine against the Oreca Nissans of Thiriet by TDS Racing and G-Drive Racing, the pressure is great and the smallest detail makes a difference. For example, the #26 Oreca Nissan of G-Drive Racing, once second, incurred a penalty for excessive speed in pitlane. Roman Rusinov, William Stevens and René Rast are third.
In LM GTE Pro, the #91 Porsche 911 RSR was forced to retire following an engine problem. Far from that, the #82 Ferrari 488 GTE of Risi Competizione is on track in the lead of the class. But, the #69 and #68 Ford GTs are on the lookout for the smallest misstep on the Italian's part. Ryan Briscoe (#68) made a three-minute stop to change brake discs. He turned the car over to his teammate Scott Dixon, now ahead of the #69 currently driven by Joey Hand.
There has been no change in the LM GTE Am class. The three leading cars are as follows: #88 Porsche, #62 Ferrari and #61 Ferrari.
Note the #84 Morgan-Nissan of the SRT41 By Oak Racing team namely driven by Frédéric Sausset, the first quad-amputee to participate in the 24 Hours of Le Mans, has experienced clutch problems. It is now in 51st position with a sole objective of finishing the race.
LM P1
1 - Toyota Gazoo Racing (#6 Toyota TS050 Hybrid) Mike Conway - Stéphane Sarrazin - Kamui Kobayashi
2 - Toyota Gazoo Racing (#5 Toyota TS050 Hybrid) Sébastien Buemi - Anthony Davidson - Kazuki Nakajima
3 - Porsche Team (#2 Porsche 919 Hybrid) Romain Dumas - Marc Lieb - Neel Jani
LM P2
1 - Signatech Alpine (#36 Alpine A460-Nissan) Gustavo Menezes - Nicolas Lapierre - Stéphane Richelmi
2 - Thiriet by TDS Racing (#46 Oreca 05-Nissan) Pierre Thiriet - Mathias Beche - Ryo Hirakawa
3 - G-Drive Racing (#26 Oreca 05-Nissan) Roman Rusinov - Will Stevens - René Rast
LM GTE Pro
1 - Risi Competizione (#82 Ferrari 488 GTE) Giancarlo Fisichella - Toni Vilander - Matteo Malucelli
2 - Ford Chip Ganassi Team USA (#68 Ford GT) Joey Hand - Dirk Müller - Sébastien Bourdais
3 - Ford Chip Ganassi Team USA (#69 Ford GT) Ryan Briscoe - Richard Westbrook - Scott Dixon
LM GTE Am
1 - Scuderia Corsa (#62 Ferrari 458 Italia GT2) Bill Sweedler - Townsend Bell - Jeff Segal
2 - Abu Dhabi-Proton Racing #88 (Porsche 911 RSR) Khaled Al Qubaisi - Patrick Long - David Heinemeier Hansson
3 - Clearwater Racing (#61 Ferrari 458 Italia GT2) Weng Sun Mok - Rob Bell - Keita Sawa
Translation by Nikki Ehrhardt / ACO
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Photo: The Toyota TS050 Hybrid now holds the top two spots as the competitors get ready to greet the daylight.