WRT has gone to the front of LMP2 as the #23 United Autosport car and the two Inter Europol Orcea's are in the pit lane too. Cadillac #2 to the pit lane for regular service and a driver change over to Richard Westbrook from second spot it appears. Cadillac #2 on the Michelin soft tires. Earl Bamber now sixth in the #2 Cadillac. He is running in the dark in semi wet conditions on slick tires. Ferrari #51 of Alessandro Pier Guidi in the pit lane. 380,000 fans here at the 24 Hours of Le Mans in 2023. It has been humid from the start of the race. There has been plenty of rain and more could come and it just might. The deluges are changing this race. The Toyota's, both of them, are the last Hyper Cars to pit.
Deceptively, the weather is cropping up from nowhere, kind of like what we see at Spa Francorchamps. So, #7 has fuel and new boots on the car as the #8 is in. The #3 Ganassi Racing Cadillac is still fighting after their slown zone incieent and a fire for the Cadillac during qualifying, during Hyper Pole. Use tear offs on the windscreen but sparingly. Sebastien Bourdais wrestling the #3 Cadillac on green Michelin tires. Mulsanne corner is full of dirt. The last Hyper Car to go onto slick tires is the #38 Jota P[orsche. Will Stevens at the controls as we are looking at Spa Francorhcamps kn Belgium.
Watch Indianapolis corner in the darkness. Arc it in but get the car to the bottom of the banking, rolling into the Arnage corner. We head down into the Porsche Curves. Big bump on the apex into Porsche curves. Don't hit any of the curbs and then force the car to go to the left. Easy flat through Corvette corner. Slow it right down and the car squirms through the Ford chicane. There was a double waved yellow flag for Tom Blomqvist in the #23 United Autosport Oreca, ordered by Race Control to go to the medical center.
Each car has a G sensor and so he will have to be seen by a doctor. They were eighth in class. Interesting situation. Earl Bamber has won two 24 Hours of Le Mans races. It is starting to feel as though you can trust the surface in the dry here. Alesandro Pier Guidi in the #51 Ferrari is streaking away from Laurens Vanthoor in the #6 Porsche 963. No impact seen for Tom Blomqvist. Is there fuel or fumes going into the cockpit of the car? That is strange. Driver to be sent to the medical center. United Autosports in the garage.
There is damage to the car. Fred Lubin had a rookie error and could not make a pass. The sister #22 United Autosport car is 19th in LMP2. The #23 car is still in the pit lane. Tom Blomqvist, I wonder if he is OK. I don't think United Autosport has another driver ready to go, suited and booted. Oliver Jarvis did a quadruple stint. Where is Josh Pierson? Or, do they have to wake up Oliver Jarvis from his slumber? The fireworks are going off in the background. Esteban Guerreri has spun the #4 Vanwall off the road and into the gravel. He just lost the rear end dropping the car like a hotcake. He could have been distracted by the fireworks.
We have a slow zone for the Vanwall. Tristan Vautier of course was brought in for this race and Jacques Villeneuve will not drive the car for the rest of the year as Racing Team Turkey with Tom Gamble are in the pit lane and now, they are in the lane getting the car fixed. He had an issue from a spin. That is the #923 Racing Team Turkey car, celebrating a century of Turkey being a republic. Ferrari #54 for AF Corse has just pitted. Davide Rigon was driving and goes out for another stint. Josh Pierson will go back into the #23 United Autosport Oreca which was dealing with brake issues with Oliver Jarvis at the controls.
Swiss driver Fabio Scherer has the #34 Inter Europol Oreca leading in LMP2. Ryo Hirakawa in the #8 Toyota calling for dry tires? That is odd. Times are falling away from the 3:40 range we were seeing earlier in the game. The lap times are actually getting quicker again and of course there was a slow zone for the Vanwall a wee while ago. We are seeing a drone show of creating legendary cars with the lights in the sky. Ferrari #51 leads the #94 Peugeot by 48 seconds. Kamui Kobayashi third in the #7 Toyota. The lughts are creating cars and car parts in the sky. Ferrari are a minute and a half back and Earl Bamber in the #2 Cadillac is in fifth. Ryo Hirakawa is next and the last car on the lead lap.
The race is beginning to settle down, finally. Salih Yoluc still driving the #923 Racing Team Turkey Oreca 07. Jimmie Johnson, 39th place overall halfway through GTE Am in the #24 NASCAR Chevrolet Camaro ZL1. We just saw a double waved yellow at the first chicane on the Mulsanne straight. The #75 Porsche 963 for Porsche Penske Motorsports still stopped on track. I think it is game over. Tomonobu Fujii in the #777 D'Station Aston Martin is stopped, the car he shares with Casper Stevenson and with Satoshi Hoshino as well.
Action Express have another spin and the #311 Cadillac has continued to have handling trouble. In the meantime, the Peugeot #94, the second 9X8, is running very well, in second with Nico Muller at the wheel of it. Nico Muller cut his teeth with the Vector Sport LMP2 entry before movng to Pegueot. D'station now in the garage with front end damage. At Porsche, fuel pressure problems. The car is still stopped on the Mulsanne straight. It is retirement number seven. A gearbox leak for the #708 Glickenhaus was a problem but they are right at the tail end of the Hypercar class with Romain Dumas and Nathaniel Berthon in the sister #709 entry.
Only two cars in pit lane. D'station and Action Express. Alpine in the lane, the #35 car, fourth in LMP2 and the leading LMP2 Pro-Am. Debris reported at marshal post 20 and 21 on driver's left. Gravel on the Mulsanne exit I think. Alessandro Pier Guidi and the #51 AF Corse Ferrari leads the motor race. Alpine, WRT, Prema, all pitting. Nicklas Nielsen has also pitted the #50 sister Ferrari 499P in recent time. Hyper Car pit stops imminent soon. #94 Peugeot in. #50 Ferrari in and out. Peugeot are in as well I believe. The LMP2 cars are expected to run a full green stint in 11 lap cycles. Nico Muller on the Mulsanne straight. Cadillac #2 in the pit lane.
In Hypercar there are three tire compounds. In LMP1 there were confidential tires. LMP2 cars have a single tire compound available. Ferrari #50 pitted and then we are going to see #51 in the lane soon. Most of the Hyper Cars have pitted. Alessandro Pier Guidi pits from the lead. The #709 Glickenhaus is also in. Muller and company at Peugeot have found more pace and the #7 Toyota has just made a pit stop as well. The Peugeot with the smaller displacement and higher revving engine, they are more drivable.
The Hyper Cars are all different. Peugeot has front wheel hybrid with a 2.6 liter V6. Ferrari, a 3 liter V6. Toyota is a V6. Cadillac is a 5.5 liter atmospheric V8. Porsche with a 4.6 liter turbo V8 and the Glickenhaus has a 3.5 liter V8. Oh! Our leader, Alesaandro Pier Guidi off the road in the gravel trap! Down at the first chicane losing it on cold tires in the first chicane! He pointed it over the curb and spun off! Alessandro Pier Guidi will be santched by the marshals and now we see Peugeot leading with the #94, Nico Mueller.
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