Porsche #5 could still be in the hunt but right now we have two Ferrari's and then two Porsche's and now, Sebastien Buemi is moving as Robert Shwartzman is struggling on his tires. These are soft tires and triple stinting is a hard thing to do. Patrick Pilet in the pit lane, having trouble with the steering wheel during the refueling process as the #83 of Shwartzman being harried by Buemi in sector three. Through Indianapolis up to Arnage. Light rain being reported. Hopefully this is only a light shower and not another deluge. Antonio Fuoco leading Robert Shwartzman. Laura Wontrop Klauser says this race has been very disappointed about the #3 and the #311 having problems. It was hard to see anything in the rain.
Cadillac are definitely in survival mode. Flawless execution and smart strategy. Whelen Cadillac and Action Express just limped back to the pit lane, and they could come back out. #3 is in trouble. Rain coming and not being very heavy I don't think. AF Corse #183 with Nico Varrone leading LMP2 now. Francois Perrodo drove for hours behind the safety car. Drive through penalty for the #5 Porsche and for the #38 Hertz Team Jota Porsche, and for the first of the Lamborghini's with Andrea Caldarelli in the #63! Holy smokes! Richard Lietz getting out of the #91 Manthey EMA Porsche 911 GT3R with five wins and 18 starts. A majorly close shave in GGT3 between the #31 BMW M4 GT3 outside of the Lexus RC F GT3. Morris Schuring should be at the wheel of the #91 Manthey EMA Porsche.
Hello again to Alex Jacques with Alex Brundle and Ben Constanduros. More work on the door latch of the #183 AF Corse LMP2 as now the Proton Mustang is being harried and right now Esteban Masson in the #87 Akkodis ASP Lexus RC F GT3 up against Augusto Farfus in the #31 Team WRT BMW M4 GT3 who has done so well in touring cars and sprots cars for BMW. The #38 Jota Sport Porsche 963 has served a penalty as Paul di Resta is now in the #94 Peugeot. A close shave through the kink for the #7 Toyota. Polish fans are here at Le Mans supporting Inter Europol Competition and Robert Kubica.
The Ferrari is now ahead of the Toyota. Shwartzman and Buemi under investigation for driving behavior. We need a replay of what happened. Multiple cars have gone off the road and have been seriously damaged. The new leader happens to be the #2 Cadillac for Ganassi Racing ahead who short fueled the car. Kamui Kobayashi on a double stint of a set of soft Michelin tires. He goes right inside of Kevin Estre past Porsche #6. Estre not taking things lying down. We are close to the golden hour. The McLaren blocks Kobayashi, the Inception Racing McLaren. Inception holed a radiator after the BMW shunt in the middle of the night.
#777 and #65 penalized for not respecting blue flags. D'station Aston Martin and the Panis Racing LMP2 car that had door trouble earlier. Sebastien Buemi is upset about the traffic. No potential penalty for the #8 Toyota or the #83 Ferrari. Kobayashi has caught Kevin Estre. Estre slams the door in Kobayashi's face. Estre says to the team the handling is not working out well. Phil Hanson given a track limits warning aboard the #38 Jota Porsche 963. Cadillac #2 at Ganassi Racing is off sequence. Again, Richard Lietz is leading the GT3 class. He is a four-time GT class winner.
He has seen the strengths of the BMW, and the Lexus until the Lexus began having issues. Manthey will be going flat out. Lietz won in class in GT2 and GTE and could win in GT3. He misses the sound of the GTE Porsche 911 RSR-19. That was quite the car! Earl Bamber again is off sequence with Antonio Fuoco. Sebastien Buemi is now chasing Robert Shwartzman. Buemi is managing his tires and now in the Porsche Curves, the race is on between the Hypercars and the LMP2 cars. The LMP2's are faster and lighter through one of the sectors.
An hour ago, Pipo Derani spun and hit the wall, hard, at Indianapolis corner. So that is why the team fell way down the order and I don't know at all of the car is fixable. Meanwhile, as we have half of the 20th hour done, we could see more rain fairly soon. There will be more rain towards the end of the race. In the pit lane, a driver change for the #2 Chip Ganassi Racing Cadillac. This puts the #50 Ferrari 499P into the lead of the motor race by four seconds. Two Ferrari's at the top of the shop, the #50 and the #83 and we have more intense rain showers on the way, perhaps. The #2 Cadillac can just barely possibly make it on fuel.
Cadillac, Ferrari, Porsche, and Toyota are in the fight for the Le Mans win. Alex Palou is about to jump into the #2 car after Earl Bamber has run a storming stint. Le Mans is an easy place to save fuel. Oh my. A tire puncture for the #7 Toyota! Wow! He is coming to the pit lane immediately. This is going to be a real loss for the Toyota. He will be out of sequence. Left front tire? I am not sure. The left front looked fine. I think he got a tire pressure sensor reading. Toyota took a quick tire change and a splash of gas as well. Kobayashi on stone cold, new tires and has plummeted to tenth place having been harrying other cars.
Cadillac #2 with an audacious fuel plan and we could see rain in a wee while. Alex Palou will be given a fuel number and a lap time target, and he can lift and coast and brake later to save fuel and energy levels. Use the tools, and the team will be monitoring the torque sensors. Pit stop time in LMP2 for Vector Sport, Inter Europol, and IDEC Sport with Patrick Pilet and he stalled it! It is close now between Vector and Inter Europol. Vector beats them out! The #59 United Autosport McLaren 720S GT3 of Gregoire Saucy has stopped the car. So, their #22 LMP2 car is ahead but owes a pit stop. Nolan Siegel running ahead of Ritomo Miyata.
Ritomo Miyata is connected with Toyota, and he is proving himself in LMP2. Vector Sport now at the top of LMP2. Full Course Yellow in 10, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1. Full Course Yellow. We are under Full Course Yellow. The McLaren just needs to be pulled back behind the barriers. The Full Course Yellow continues as the McLaren was in sixth place in the GT3 class. We will remove the Full Course Yellow. 10, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1. Full Course Yellow removed. Green flag. Sebastien Buemi maneuvering behind Robert Shwartzman who has the preferred line. Buemi has the pace to go for the lead and now he makes his move on Robert Shwartzman.
Ferrari have had the pace over Toyota but the #8 and Buemi are beginning to turn it on. Buemi is a four-time Le Mans winner and a four-time FIA World Endurance Champion. The Toyota has looked settled and easy to drive as Buemi passes the #77 Proton Competition Ford Mustang GT3. Rain could appear in another ten minutes. Buemi is looking for his fifth Le Mans victory which would put him in company with Frank Biela, Emmanuelle Pirro, and Derek Bell. United Autosport #22 pitting after taking emergency fuel during the Full Course Yellow. In GT3, the leader is the #91 Manthey EMA Porsche with the #31 WRT BMW and the Ben Tuck in the #44 Proton Competition Mustang, the #87 Akkodis ASP Lexus, and the #85 Iron Dames Lamborghini.
Vector Sport vs. Inter Europol fighting for position, for the lead in LMP2. Emergency fuel is OK and so is changing a damaged tire, but only one. Clement Novalak is monstering Patrick Pilet! 2/3rds of that Inter Europol lineup is new, sharing with Kuba Smiechowski. Buemi in the pit lane from fourth place. Ferrari #51 out of sequence and we also have the #12 Porsche 963 in the pits. Everyone extending towards the end of the race. The opposing strategy from the #2 Cadillac is right on the limit on fuel. Clement Novalak finished third in Formula 3 and won Formula 2 races last year and he has gone to the top of the shop in the LMP2 class.
Novalak won a Formula 2 race at Zandvoort last year in appalling weather. In Hypercar, Sebastien Buemi is closing, closing, closing on the Ferrari's and on Alex Palou in the #2 Ganassi Racing Cadillac, the two-time IndyCar champion. This is not necessarily a fight but two Toyota's now run liner stern. Buemi and Kobayashi chasing Palou and Hanson it looks like. Kobayashi flying out of Mulsanne into Indianapolis and Arnage. Ferrari to the lane for the #50 and the #83 and the #6 at Porsche Penske Motorsports. A driver change at the #50 car to Miguel Molina. #83 in as well. There is a load of brake soke out f the front of the Ferrari #83.
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