Kazuki Nakajima at Toyota explains how the team had to replace a punctured tire and replace the nose in their fight with Ferrari. Ferrari clearly has the pace over the Toyota, and they know that they have a fight on their hands as we begin the 17th hour, with one bullet left in the gun at Toyota but both pit crews now that the #7 entry has been retired. Big lockup by Kevin Estre in the #6 Porsche 963! He is totally in quali mode on maximum attack! He is wringing it out of himself during this stint! He is clearly comfortable with the balance on this car and can hang on to the Porsche 963. Oh no! Estre off the road and into the gravel trap! He is off the track! We were just talking about it and you cannot avoid taking risks.
Kevin, mate, I think you overstepped that line. He got loose and then flew through the gravel trap and crunches the tires. 0h my! The LMP2 cars have high speed downforce as well. It is lighter and more nimble than a big Hyper Car is. He very nearly clobbered Robert Kubica in the #41 WRT Oreca in LMP2! Holy smokes! Thank you, Tom Kristensen, and we'll see him soon. We'll hear from Ben Constanduros soon. We do have Ben Constanduros now in the booth. The floor is loose on that Porsche and it will affect the downforce on that 963. The #3 Cadillac of Sebastien Bourdais has pitted now. It is true and they are clearing the rubber bits and pieces that will clog up the radiators. They are going to top up the oiling system on the car as well.
Good morning from Le Mans for the 100th anniversary running of this great motor race. Kevin Estre told to take it easy on the floor by the Porsche engineers. Nicky Catsburg and Corvette Racing made his move on Ahmad Al Harthy and is now third in class behind Project 1 and Kessel Racing. There's not a lot of front-end damage on that Porsche. There may not be a nose change and the tires could be punctured by the stones in the gravel trap. Porsche Penske Motorsports will have to throw caution to the wind. Estre needs to buy a lottery ticket. He was Mr. Lucky.
The dollies are set to swing the car around and they have to change the floor but it will take them right out of contention for the victory and they are adding oil to the car. Mikkel Jensen in the #93 Peugeot 9X8. Ferrari in the lane for scheduled service and so is the #8 Toyota. New soft Michelin tires on the Toyota along with refueling the car. 12 laps is the target. We have seen 13 lap fuel runs for a 42 minute stint give or take. Full energy replenishment takes 41 seconds or so. There is floor damage to the Porsche and Porsche Penske Motorsports also had a fuel pressure issue on the #75 car and it is out, while the #5 has also had a litany of trouble. Porsche #6 and Cadillac #3 are both two laps down.
Hendrick Motorsports run 28th with the NASCAR Cup Series heavily amended Gen 7 car #24, the Camaro ZL1 with Jimmie Johnson at the controls. The GTE Am teams asked to have the NASCAR Camaro moved. They are single stinting tires and using a floor jack, not air jacks. Goodyear made a Le Mans specific tire for that car as we watch it overtaken by the lead Cadillac of Alex Lynn, car #2. They baked in a sensor for temperature and pressure into the tire and now, the #2 Cadillac is in the pit lane as well. Jim France, Mike Helton, and all the NASCAR brass are here at Le Mans for the race. They have a wider rear tire but save 22 pounds on rear tires.
Oil being topped up on the #2 Ganassi Cadillac. Bamber and Lynn ran together in IMSA in 2022 and won the 12 Hours of Sebring in 2022. Work continues on the damaged floor of the Porsche 963 at Penske. We see it with the GTE and GT3 cars. Think about the cars being modular and efficient to work on. Audi Sport Team Joest came up with the modular car concept in the early 2000's and they changed a transmission and rear end in four minutes. Innovation stems from when this race first began because the sponsor of the very first edition was a central wheel nut company. Ridge Whitwell I think. We have seen quick change brake systems, sequential gearboxes, diesel power, and more. Diesel engines became common in the 1950s and then in the 2000s with Audi.
Rahel Frey scrapping with Takeshi Kimura who shortcuts the Ford chicane. How many mulligans do you have in your pocket before the end of the race? The Kessel Ferrari runs wide and the Porsche will be right on top of him. Rahel Frey, she is right on Kimura's six. Side by side and now, it is indeed Porsche vs. Ferrari and Matteo Cairoli in the bright green Porsche that looks like a dinosaur, and the #33 Corvette C8.R of Nicky Catsburg. Iron Lynx won the Gold Cup at Spa in 2022. In LMP2, there is a lead change as Robert Kubica wants by Jakub Smiechowski in the battle of the Polish drivers with seven and a half hours remaining.
Inter Europol, the biggest Polish bakery, leading Le Mans. Jakub Smiechowski, the son of the bakery owner and Kubica runs wide! That was huge risk and he will give the place back. That was not the best move in the world. Robert Kubica almost got cleaned out by Kevin Estre in the Porsche Curves. Estre is still in the garage having the floor looked at on th Porsche 963. Rene Binder next up in the Duqueine Team #30 car. Robert Kubica won his only F1 race in Canada and years ago he had a huge crash in the hairpin at Gilles Villeneuve at Montreal. Kubica scored his first WEC win at Spa last time out. In second place in GTE Am, Matteo Cairoli takes "Rexy" the T Rex Porsche past Takeshi Kimura in the CarGuy Ferrari 488 GTE.
Rui Andrade looking on. Smiechowski is going for it and Kubica is right with him. James Calado leads Ryo Hirakawa by 20 seconds. The Toyota went onto fresh, soft Michelin tires. We have Alex Brundle joining us in the commentary box. That NASCAR Cup Generation 7 car for Garage 56 is great. The Cadillac's and the Camaro ZL1 stand out. Jenson Button has done endurance racing before, Extreme E, Rallycross, and he will be doing a run at Pikes Peak at the hillclimb. Albert Costa, the Spaniard, in the Polish team at Inter Europol, in his first Le Mans, he is doing extremely well. Robert Kubica has made the pass. Costa lost his role as a Lamborghini factory driver but wants to find a way to Hyper Car for 2024.
Inter Europol set up their car but the mechanics have to follow the setup sheet assigned by the engineers. Martin Rump, the Estonian driver steps into the #911 Proton Competition Porsche 911 RSR-19. Garage 56, the NASCAR Cup car has just made a pit stop. Porsche #6 is being repaired as well. Ooh! A spin for Heart of Racing and Ian James in the #98 Heart of Racing Aston Martin for a driver who has not raced here at Le Mans since 2006. Indianapolis corner was named after the speedway because it is a banked corner and has the same camber, angle, or gradient as the speedway. Matteo Cairoli is putting Rexy's teeth out trying to catch the Iron Dames Porsche.
Don't get caught behind a car you have greater pace than. Don't be limited by the pace of the car you are following. Cairoli has the Porsche experience compared to Rahel Frey. James Calado is having tire trouble with pickup perhaps on the tires. He is feeling a vibration or something. Cairoli making his move on Rahel Frey with a side draft into Indianapolis. She didn't fight it. There's lots of time left. Cairoli with lots of mileage. The #2 Cadillac is a few laps out but they are broadly on sequence currently. Justin Taylor telling James Calado to not cut this current stint short on usable energy.
They cannot change tires because it would force them to make an extra pit stop. Conserve energy to meet the target. Everyone is in a similar spot by hook or by crook it appears. A lot of the big names in LMP2 have struggled this weekend. Inter Europol leading LMP2 over teams we never would have thought of and some of the bigger names at the bottom of the pile, the bottom of the board. In recent years, you knock the pace out and run away from the field. The LMP2 cars are very reliable and extremely quick. You could throw new brakes and tires on them and then go out for another 24 hours.
But if you mess up the floor or the suspension you are in trouble as the Glickenhaus has spun. The #708 of Olivier Pla. This is at the exit of Indianapolis. He bottoms out, spins, and whacks the signage. That was a classic track day crash. Dip the wheel getting into the corner too hot and before you know it, the tail is rotating. Olivier Pla and company have had heat soak on the starter motors for the Glickenhaus cars. One of the Porsche's exits the pit lane. Rui Andrade is the next driver into the LMP2 entry for WRT. Antonio Giovinazzi will take over the #51 Ferrari. Mikkel Jensen into the #93 Peugeot and Richard Westbrook into the #2 Cadillac.
The medium is a stage softer than the hard tire for this weekend as the Ferrari has made it's stop. The Glickenhaus too is in the lane for service. The Toyota should do a short stop. This will be a tight squeeze of about 6-8 seconds. The #708 Glickenhaus to the garage. The Ferrari will put more energy into the tires in crispy cool conditions. Olivier Pla spun into the turn and backed the Glickenhaus into the fence. Sebastien Buemi now in the #8 Toyota. The cars are in a world of plenty with ample dry slick tires because we ran wet tires earlier in the race.
Back time the race in terms of pit stops.
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