We've had a lot of drama in this race, but Toyota are now looking for the hat trick, their third straight Le Mans win with the same car, the #8 machine. TF Sport lead GTE Am. One hour more, then I'll be off to bed as everyone else should be. I'll be off for a cup of tea and breakfast, and then, off to bed. Pit stop time for the #36 Sigmnatech Alpine as we have another big wreck for the #99 Dempsey Proton Porsche. Lucas Legeret piles into the tire wall. He'll put a boatload of debris on the road. That's a very secondhand Porsche. Drama, too for the #1 Rebellion of Norman Nato in second place. This is turning into a race of attrition. For the World Championship, if the #7 claws their way to second, they can gain points for the finale in Bahrain in November. But, the #7 of Lopez ran wide in the entry lane chicane to the pits. Porsche #89 of Andreas Laskaratos has made it to the pit lane.
Slow zones continue in operation at Tertre Rouge. #8 has run 375 laps, 3,176 miles. Control + Alt + Delete. Jose Maria Lopez has recovered the #7 Toyota to third. They could get on the podium, maybe. Jean Eric Vergne is third in LMP2, and they are a lap down from Anthony Davidson. Alex Lynn has taken over from Harry Tincknell in the #97 car. Big damage for the #99 Porsche. Nicki Thiim is third in GTE Pro. Charlie Eastwood is leading Matteo Cairoli in the #56 Team Project 1 Mentos Porsche. Two Porsche's in the top three in LM GTE Am. Porsche never could get this race to work in LM GTE Pro because of the extra weight and the 30 millimeter air restrictor.
Jose Maria Lopez, we see his mistake, bouncing over the pit wentry. The brake wear is starting to show up, a long pedal. Double points on offer here at Le Mans. We have Bahrain left in November. Could we get a World Champion today? Filipe Albuquerque and Phil Hanson could win the championship today. Rebellion #1 remains second behind the leading Toyota. #7 has to think of what might have been. We could have been contenders, they think to themselves. Bridesmaids, again. There will be one more fuel stop before the finish. Safety first, make sure the track is clear. G-Drive pulls off, and that is Jean Eric Vergne, and it is. He is going to be in a pickle here with a puncture or broken suspension. Yes. Suspension broken in Indianapolis corner. That is their podium place evaporating. Olivier Panis' team, with Matthieu Vaxiviere and company could take the podium spot.
Right front suspension, broken on the G-Drive car. If the #95 Aston Martin finishes third, they can't take the World Championship until the finale in Bahrain. Vergne went to the apex, and couldn't make the corner. The suspension broke. Their podium chance is slipping away like sands through the hourglass. 40 minutes to go on the clock. TDS are running the G-Drive squad. This is why we've harped on and on about saying "stay off the curbs, I beg of you." It's a very hard thing to actually do. The Panis Racing LMP2 car will take over third in LMP2, qualified from the European Le Mans Series. Vergne has been passed by the Panis Racing car, not sure who is driving. But, more drama!
James Allen in the SO-24 Graff car has crashed and is totally wrecked. With 36 minutes on the board and big damage to the tire barrier at the Porsche Curves entry, we may need time to clean up the damaged barriers, which could mean we don't restart. Poor chap, James Allen. He was the star of that SO24 Graff entry. He was bang on the money for a good chunk of the race, holding the class lead for a good while. We have not seen a replay. It is in the first left corner of the Porsche Curves meaning he got in way wide on entry. If you arrive too shallow into the turn, you wash wide.
In Hyper Pole, Nyck De Vries did the same thing and slid into the gravel, without hitting the barriers. GTE cars cued at the end of the pit lane, and they have to wait because of the safety car crocodile needing to be formed up. Julien Canal and his team are P3 in LMP2. Canal says the race was really tough but they made zero mistakes, even with a slight lack of speed. Julien Canal was getting cleaned up, and they want to get as podium for Olivier Panis, their team boss, who can't be here at Le Mans this weekend. Julien Canal was successful in GT cars here. DragonSpeed have run out of petrol! Cars are dropping like flies in the final hour here at Le Mans, which will become the final half hour.
Half hour to go. 7AM Central Time. 2PM French time. Race ends at 2:30PM French time. DragonSpeed stalls again. This same thing happened to the G-Drive car. The clock is ticking. Will we get any green flag racing before the checkers? I hope we do. It would be a shame to end a 24 Hours of Le Mans under yellow. DragonSpeed limping home on the starter motor. We have three trains within the safety car crocodile. Charlie Eastwood will be under pressure from Matteo Cairoli for GTE-Am victory if we go back to green. In LMP2 Phil Hanson and Anthony Davidson have been separated. In GTE Pro, Alex Lynn and James Calado, have been separated as well. The GTE Am scrap is ten seconds apart. That's game on for dead sure.
The #26 G-Drive car has lost the rostrum spot. They will get back in the race but they'll finish down the order. The #88 Porsche and the #27 DragonSpeed car are back in. We thought Thomas Preining would retire first, avoiding Oswaldo Negri Jr.'s spinning Luzich Racing Ferrari, while Dominique Bastian, to become the oldest driver ever to start the Le Mans race at 74 years, the Dunkirk born American. We are at 379 laps, and well short of Audi's 2010 lap record at 395 laps. 46 cars still running of the 59 that started. Green flag and we will race to the end. LM GTE Am is going to be the big one. LMP2 and LM GTE Pro have been split by the safety cars.
Matty Campbell has to be defensive and keep Nick Nielsen behind while also getting farther up the order. Rebellion #1 is a lap up on the #7 Toyota which will recover to a podium. The GT battle is heating up, fast. Multiple car slipstreams help the rear car. Nielsen and Campbell overshoot the chicane on the Mulsanne Straight as they are trying to get rid of the Mentos Porsche, the #56 of Matteo Cairoli, who is dropping like a stone. It's just not on for him. His tires are knackered, toasted. Pick the bones out of that shemozzle, mate. Meanwhile, Come Ledogar in GTE Am has the speed, and he could keep the spot.
Ferrari #51 in the pit lane. Matteo Cairoli and Matt Campbell are national Porsche Cup champions and raced in Porsche Super Cup. Cairoli tried to send it and he got stymied! Has he damaged the car? That was pure desperation on Cairoli's part. That's Saturday night short track stock car racing, not endurance racing. Toyota #7 pits. That was dodge 'em cars stuff from Cairoli. Rebellion #3 is making a splash and dash. I wonder why. Phil Hanson, too, has trouble. Phil Hanson being told to drop the hammer. Hanson vs. Davidson in LMP2. 51 seconds, the margin. Davidson in second, if the safety car had stayed out longer, we'd only have five minutes.
Maxime Martin feels the strain of leading GTE Pro. Bring the car back in one piece. Aston will likely finish first in both GT classes. Harry Tincknell and Jonny Adam could get their second GTE Pro wins at Le Mans. Nicki Thiim has taken on fuel and is behind James Calado and Alex Lynn. 53 second from Phil Hanson to Anthony Davidson. He moves past Tatiana Calderon in the Richard Mille Oreca. Phil Hanson locks up into the pit lane. Alex Lynn hits the fastest GTE Pro time at 3:50 and change. Hanson beats Davidson after getting off pit lane. All eyes on LMP2.
Nowhere to hide here, folks. Six minutes on the board and the LMP2 battle is it. Alex Lynn, too, has reduced fastest lap. Harry Flatters it is at Aston Martin. Phil Hanson can hit the afterburners. Davidson needs a splash and a dash. We are on the penultimate lap. Davidson came in! Just three minutes on the clock. Toyota will be home and hosed with no worries. Mike Conway is still in the World Championship going to the finale. Last lap now. Can Toyota hang on for their third Le Mans win? Kazuki Nakajima is going to go for it. They want the hat trick.
Toyota are trying to make hay while the sun shines. They have half a lap to go. Aston Martin headed for the double. Jonny Adam will get his second Le Mans win. One in Pro and one in Am. Kazuki Nakajima, Sebastien Buemi, and Brendon Hartley, are going to win Le Mans. It's going to be the third win on the trot for Toyota #8 at Le Mans. They do it! Hat trick for Toyota #8! Wow! LMP2 goes to #22. Phil Hanson, Filipe Albuquerque, and Paul Di Resta win.
Brendon Hartley is a two-time winner at Le Mans with two different marques. Kazuki Nakajima and Sebastien Buemi score thir third win. In GTE Pro, Aston Martin win, and so too, in GTE Am. Winners are Alex Lynn, Maxime Martin, and Harry Tincknell. Tom Ferrier's team, TF Sport, win GTE Am. Salih Yoluc, Charlie Eastwood, and Jonny Adam win! Victory lap for Toyota.
Overall/LMP1: #8 Hartley/Buemi/Nakajima Toyota TS050 Hybrid
LMP2: #22 Albuquerque/Hanson/Di Resta Oreca 07
LM GTE Pro: #97 Lynn/Martin/Tincknell Aston Martin Vantage GTE
LM GTE Am: #90 Yoluc/Eastwood/Adam Aston Martin Vantage GTE
What a great race. It was a knock down fight to the end in GTE Am and Pro, and great showings in LMP1 and LMP2. Just finishing Le Mans is a great effort. Congratulations to the marshals, the organizers and everyone. Good to see Toyota overcome their adversity with a smoking race car. The winners celebrate on the podium with their trophies and Rolex watches. Nine months away, the 89th renewal of Le Mans. We really look forward to bringing that race to you. We've been with you, since around Thursday, and now, this race is over for another year. Congrats to Toyota on their hat trick. Au revoir, ladies and gentlemen, from Circuit de la Sarthe, Le Mans, France. We'll see you soon, for more sports car racing action, right here on Endurance... The Sports Car Racing Blog.
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