In the LMP2 class, Ryan Cullen and Ritomo Miyata are scrapping for third and fourth while at the front it is Nico Varrone chasing Oliver Jarvis. Light rain reported on track all over the track. Rain lights on in low mode. It is just a fine drizzle that makes it slick. At the end of this hour, we will be into the second half of the race. The LMP2 class has provided great racing. Bigger rain is coming according to Toyota relaying the info to Sebastien Buemi in the leading car. Light rain in eight minutes with heavier bands of rain moving in, possibly. It has just been spritzing. Brendon Hartley co-driving the #8 Toyota, he says there were no real issues. Having the Thursday without Hyper Pole, they were focused completely on their race car.
They are keeping their stuff clean and the Ferrari and the Porsche they know those two are showing speed. Cadillac showed speed too, but they are off the pace with all three cars. Ryo Hirakawa and Sebastien Buemi have been driving well. Martin Haven is now in the booth checking in and the cloud cover has stopped the heat escaping from the air. It has been cold for a lot of nights here at Le Mans. Cold rain on top of the wet surface, that is even tougher. We know the rain is coming soon. Rain and a cold track, as we have passed hour 11. Water on the camera lens and a yellow flag in the Porsche Curves as Rob Bell explains. It is just beginning to rain. Who has gone off? Let's see. There's lots of tire tracks on a wet road.
An LMP2 car is off. Hard to tell who and it is again the beleaguered #24 Nielsen Racing Oreca 07 of David Heinemeier Hanson again. Fabio Scherer of Switzerland, and Kyffin Simpson of Barbados are his co-drivers. Wet weather tires now going on the #19 Lamborghini and another car off the road again? A wheel off a car as well and who is it? It is the #45 CrowdStrike Racing by APR with Colin Braun at the wheel of it. Three wheels on me wagon into Mulsanne corner. ...And, on an outlap. A wheel has been machined off the car by the bodywork.
This is a slow zone and this might just be the end of their race. Braun, George Kurtz, and Nicky Catsburg, could be in real trouble as the #2 Ganassi Racing Cadillac is in with Earl Bamber changing over to Alex Palou and lots of sparks off the rattle gun at the right front. Wet tires going on. Alex Palou now in the #2 Cadillac. Toyota #8 is in and Sebastien Buemi is out. It is raining in the pit lane as the #6 Porsche 963 from Penske is in. A good number of the Hypercars have stopped and all of the LMP2's have. Everyone going for wet tires. Andre Lotteerer out and Kevin Estre into #6.
So, we have seen these cars in in Hypercar.
#50, #2, #51, #5, #311, #19, #93, #11. Both AF Corse Ferrari's, one of the Penske Porsche's, Action Express and Ganassi Cadillac's., one of the Peugeot's at Peugeot TotalEnergies, and the #19 Iron Lynx Lambo. Jose Maria Lopez takes over Toyota #7 from Kamui Kobayashi as the rain comes and we have a Full Course Yellow to recover the wheel and the Colin Braun LMP2 #45. Full Course Yellow. Intervention on both sides of the road, please stay in the middle of the road at Marshal Post 18 pushing the car backwards into the barrier cutout.
David Heinemeier Hansson now out of the gravel pit. Colin Braun back into the car and he is in conversation with the engineers on the radio. This is our third Full Course Yellow 11 hours in and the #82 TF Sport Corvette is in. More repairs for Mustang GT3 #77. Jack Hawksworth pinged for speeding in the pit lane. Jose Maria Lopez in the #7 Toyota is in the car as Clin Braun is pushing the car behind the barriers. Game over for the #45 of Kurtz, Catsburg, and Braun. Brendon Hartley and Kevin Estre are now the combatants for the lead and the blue touch paper has been lit up.
Stewart and Sam Cox run Algarve Pro and Cox is talking to Colin Braun about how to fix the car, on the radio. Find another part of the car to stick in the suspension area and make a makeshift bracket. Porsche 963 #12 from Jota in the lane for service. Yellow flag at Arnage. Callum Ilott at the wheel of the Hertz Team Jota Porsche. 163 laps done and back to green flag racing. Toyota #8 in the pit lane for cleaning the front air intake and other portions. Sparking rattle guns again in the #2 Ganassi Racing Cadillac. Robert Shwartzman out of the #83 AF Corse Ferrari 499P and Yifei Ye back in on wet Michelin tires.
Excuse me. Robert Shwartzman is in after Yifei Ye. Scott Dixon gives way to Renger van der Zande, the Dutchman, at the wheel of the #3 Chip Ganassi Racing Cadillac. They are putting wet tires on the car rather than Michelin slicks. 20 more minutes of rain as the #44 Ford Mustang GT3 is in, John Hartshorne, Ben Tuck, and Christopher Mies. Antonio Fuoco syas that the traffic is critical in the damp conditions especially being forced offline. The battle is really between Toyota and Porsche with Ferrari also getting a look in. The rain could very well come back. Surviving the night until tomorrow morning is a big deal.
Brendon Hartley on a wet track now being caught by Kevin Estre through the traffic. Jose Maria Lopez is only 3/10ths slower than the Porsche. Calado running 3:57's while the Ferrari's are in the low 4-minute range. Traffic dependent of course. More traffic and more rain and now, Hartley is stymied behind the GT3 Porsche. Kevin Estre will catch the same traffic in half or 3/4 of a lap. If Estre catches the Pure Racing GT3 Porsche on the Mulsanne straight, he'll be OK. Joel Sturm in the #92 and now, the rain will stop in ten minutes. We may end up with shorter stints. It is the coldest point and the track will continue being wet.
Half an hour to the halfway point. It is very wet though on the Mulsanne straight. We'll have more rain. The circuit could still get wetter than an otter's pocket. No sign of a dry line yet but these big, fat hot tires, will dissipate the water. Drive through penalty for the #87 Lexus RC F GT3 of Jack Hawksworth, speeding in the pit lane, the car he shares with Esteban Masson and Takeshi Kimura. Hawksworth runs only 46 seconds ahead of Alex Riberas in the #27 Heart of Racing Aston Martin and Augusto Farfus in the #31 WRT BMW M4 GT3. The wet part is from the Mulsanne straight all the way to Arnage. Weather coming from the west. The track is definitely getting wetter.
Meanwhile, Morris Schuring in the #91 Manthey EMA Porsche is now back to second spot. Olaf Manthey now retired but the team still carrying his name. Wets on the front and mediums or something on the rear. Kevin Estre is bringing the gap down in Hpercar. We are around 3:30 A.M. on Sunday morning in France. Dawn will break early but maybe a tad later because of the heavy overcast. Kevin Estre at full chat, in the rain, going flat out to catch Brendon Hartley in the Toyota. Zach Robichon and the #77 Ford Mustang GT3 might be coming back from the dead.
But this one has been the problem child the entire way. Proton Competition has been rebuilding that #77 car for three hours at least. #77 back onto the pit apron with 95 laps completed compared to 168 for the leading #92 Porsche. The car will be marginal on distance covered. Yellow Flag. I don't know what for. This is a double points race of course. Proton and Multimatic both learning with this car, with their boss, Larry Holt, who build these cars. They need to get as much out of it as they can, Ben Barker released and now discovering how wet it is.
More rain coming in sector one at turn seven. David Heinemeier Hansson has been given a stop and go penalty that put the Mustang in the gravel trap. The lead gap is 9.3 seconds between Brendon Hartley and Kevin Estre. Sarah Bovy looking on. Marino Sato will be soon taking over the United Autosport McLaren in the #95 car. He was never an open wheel megastar and now is in the GT3. Jack Aitken spins the #311 Whelen Cadillac for Action Express and is going slowly through all the rain. The Mulsanne straight looks really wet.
Senior VP of Stellantis, Jean Marc Finot says the new Peugeot is something that they are looking for more. Safety Car out. Safety car out. All three safety cars have been scrambled. This brings the safety cars out to get everyone down to reasonable speed. It must be the heavy rain and the darlness combined. We have not had a yellow. Calm down and get used to the conditions. Nolan Siegel aboard the #22 United Autosport Oreca 07 LMP2 sharing with Bijoy Garg and Oliver Jarvis. Sebastien Buemi now into the pits in Toyota #8. Kevin Estre retakes the lead. This is a strategic pit stop in the Toyota camp. Toyota #7 stopping for fuel with Jose Maria Lopez and fresh wet tires.
The rain is getting heavier or so it seems. Ferrari #50 in the lane for fuel. Porsche #6 will also stop next time by. Toyota and Ferrari are in but everyone else is in a safety car queue. Kevin Estre leading the motor race in Porsche #6. Hartley, Lopez, Molina next in line. The rain is easing and due to end at 4:00 A.M. Not psychological rain though, for sure. #82, Dani Juncadella stalling off the pit lane as Kevin Estre hits the lane covering off Toyota, at Porsche. The "in lap" will be much slower compared to Toyota. Estre in the lead.
They will all bunch up ready for the restart. Another set of wet Michelin tires aren't needed. Timur Bougslavskiy is under investigation for overtaking the safety car. Spirit of Racing has the #155 Ferrari 296 GT3 is in the pit lane. We miss such motor racing luminaries as Hugh Chamberlain, and the great lumanry and broadcaster, Neville Hay. Neville could tell you stories like you couldn't believe and was a wellspring of knowledge. Neville Hay loved Le Mans but was never too proud of his son Richard racing for Morgan and TVR. Neville Hay was one of the founders of Radio Le Mans when they began covering this race in 1987. Neville Hay had a distinct voice and was a real raconteur. Rest In Peace, Neville Hay. You have inspired me, and you will be missed. We are seconds away from halfway. We've broken the back of this race! Unbelieveable! We need tea and cake!
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