Molina went to mediums and Campbell on softs and now the #77 Proton Competition Ford Mustang GT3 has a wobble wheel on the left front. Porsche #4 has been pinged for Full Course Yellow and so have the #30 Duqueine Team LMP2 and the #77 Proton Competition Ford Mustang GT3, and they are in the garage for repairs. Molina being harried by Matt Campbell with Robert Shwartzman now at the controls. Jose Maria "Pechito" Lopez, 3:29.8, in the #7 Toyota GR010 Hybrid replacing the injured Mike Conway after his bicycle accident last week. Porsche #6 made a snafu on their tire call and the Ferrari's are further up the field but out of sequence with the Porsche boys as we are still early doors. We have just started the fifth hour of the race and we aren't even at quarter distance yet. Brendon Hartley now being hounded by the #38 Team Jota Porsche 963 now being driven by Dane Oliver Rasmussen sharing with Phil Hanson and Jenson Button.
Ferrari AF Corse with the privateer #83 Ferrari 499P continues to lead. Jose Maria Lopez is now chasing Callum Ilott. Lopez is a three-time FIA World Touring Car Champion for the Citroen team. Kamui Kobayashi says that trying to recover was their goal through Free Practice and qualifying and they are progressively improving with a long way to go, focused on what will happen in the morning. Ilott and Lopez have the Isotta Fraschini, the #11 Hypercar ahead of them. That car is laps down, Antonio Serravalle, Jean Karl Vernay, and Carl Bennett. Lopez of course subbing at Toyota for Mike Conway and we wish Mike a speedy recovery.
The Toyota's seem to have a speed edge over their Hypercar rivals. Jose Maria Lopez has his target for eighth, Callum Ilott in the Porsche 963 for Jota, ahead. Into the nighttime hours, we are going to see these platforms change, and hpw the power output and the traction, between the LMDh with the rear wheel drive and the LMH with front wheel drive. Brendon Hartley in the #8 Toyota harrying the #4 Porsche Penske Motorsports Porsche 963 of Nick Tandy. Tandy is light on fuel. Nick Tandy has a performance edge currently over the Toyota. Yikes! Climbing all over the curbs, the Toyota, to miss the United Autosports McLaren 720S GT3!
Nick Tandy told to box this lap for a driver change. Valentino Rossi, on the pit cycles, is now leading the GT3 class in the #46 WRT BMW M4 GT3. One car has retired, and it is a GT3 entry. I don't know which GT3 car has headed for the house. Brendon Hartley notices that the #4 Porsche is throwing sparks. The rear corner might be down. I wonder if Tandy has a flat tire. He oversteered a lot on his in lap. The rear tail is loose, or the rear wing. The Penske mechanics will have to change the tail after fueling the car and putting the car up on the air jacks. The #38 Hertz Team Jota Porsche 963 of Oliver Rasmussen is also in the pit lane.
There is more rain on the camera lens. Medium tires for the #4 Porsche 963. Earl Bamber now has the #2 Chip Ganassi Racing Cadillac V Series.R in ninth place sharing with Alex Lynn and Alex Palou. Bamber chasing the #63 Iron Lynx Lamborghini SC63 of Mirko Bortolotti. Mitigating mistakes is how to win Le Mans. Last year, every single Hypercar had problems. McLaren and United Autosport boss Zak Brown is having a discussion with the Toyota team. Brown co-owns United Autosports with Richard Dean. Ferrari continue to lead this motor race and run first, second, and fifth. Cadillac #2, Peugeot #93, and Alpine #35 took half stops.
Earl Bamber will come in and the two-time IndyCar champion Alex Palou will get in. The champion drivers from other series' are playing third fiddle to the other two great sports car drivers on these respective teams. Alex Palou and Scott Dixon from IndyCar, at Le Mans in the middle of two IndyCar races. The Peugeot 9X8's are way down in 19th and 20th in the overall. Jose Maria Lopez of course got the late callup at Toyota and this is a great scrap between he and Jose Maria Lopez. Ferrari #50 into the pit lane. Miguel Molina is doing a double stint. Wine pomace which is the solids left behind in wine making is part of the biofuel that power these cars these days.
Mathieu Jaminet is chasing Renger van der Zande for 15th spot in Hypercar. 19 and a half hours to go. Are we there yet? Not even close. The #83 Ferrari has been stationary in the pit lane for two minutes less compared to the #6 Porsche 963. The only LMP2 car that did not stop for wets is Ryan Cullen, as team manager James Goodfield has made a good call. He is 29 seconds clear of Cool Racing in LMP2 as Robert Shwartzman finishes his stint and hands over to Yifei Ye, I think. Yes. Yifei Ye is taking over Ferrari #83. Ferrari after winning last year, they have not taken a win in WEC in 2024 yet.
Brendon Hartley is now the leader in the #8 Toyota. Renger van der Zande is the meat in the sandwich between Mathieu Jaminet and Raffaele Marciello as the #63 Lamborghini SC63 on cold tires, Daniil Kvyat has spun. He has a soft compound set on the front and a medium compound Michelin set on the rear. We have watched Nick Tandy who had to do a drive through penalty in the #4 Porsche 963. I should add, Felipe Drugovich has now taken the wheel in the #311 Whelen Action Express Cadillac. Drugovich is eighth.
Cadillac have been falling away a bit from the Ferrari's and the Porsche's unfortunately. Kvyat on turn in on the cold tires, he just rotated. Kvyat did spin and now, the #19 also spun at Tertre Rouge, Matteo Cairoli. The Lamborghini SC63 is an evil handling race car at this moment. Again, having two tire compounds on the car is problematic. Toyota lead and are 8.4 seconds to the good over the Ferrari. #83 has dropped to fourth spot. A sideswipe for Alex Palou in the #2 Cadillac sideswipes an LMP2 car, the #45 Algarve Pro Racing Oreca of George Kurtz, Colin Braun, and Nicky Catsburg.
Renger van der Zande loses the rear end through the Forest S and clatters the barriers! Wow! Toyota #7 has now pitted with Jose Maria Lopez at the controls, still. Felipe Drugovich now up to seventh in the #311 Whelen Cadillac and we see a battle for 12th between Matthieu Vaxiviere in the #36 Alpine and the #4 Porsche of Matthieu Jaminet as the sun is close to setting. The shadows growing long and the orange glow of the sun low in the sky. Romain Grosjean, former Formula 1 and IndyCar driver, racing for the first time at Le Mans in 14 years, since 2010.
He has had fun, and he did catch a penalty for track limits but was able to push for a triple stint. Ferrari #51 in the pit lane, Antonio Giovinazzi coming into the car replacing Alessandro Pier Guidi in this, the defending champion's car. Porsche 963 #6 is in as well. Our former leader, Kevin Estre doing a double stint. 19 hours left on the board. We have not seen a safety car scramble yet. Back to the lead, by 11 seconds, Yifei Ye in the #83 Ferrari 499P. Two Cadillac's chasing each other for tenth. Felipe Drugovich chasing Alex Palou. Action Express #311 vs. Ganassi Racing #2.
Estre passes by Drugovich. The sun is getting lower in the sky. Drugovich was a dominant Formula 2 champion years ago. One of the Alpine's, the #35 has gone off the road and Ferdinand Habshurg geting out of the car which is smoking heavily and he leaps off because the car is live. Stay with the car Ferdi, stay with the car. The #35 Alpine has blown a motor! Ka-blammo! He is staying by the car but that Alpine is going nowhere, based just outside the track here at Le Mans. Alpine does still have a second bullet with the #36 car. This is a slow zone as the tractor pulls the car away. In the replay, we hear the car slowing. It sounds like something broke. He wisely switched the car off.
There is no oil pressure and the 3.4-liter turbo V6 has gone boom. He jumped out of the car as the energy recovery system was still live. I did not see any equipment on the car so there is no electrical issue to recover the car to Area 51. It exists in Formula E and the World Rallycross Championship and in Formula 1. Fabio Scherer brings the #24 Nielsen Racing Oreca in LMP2 to the lead, one of last year's LMP2 winners, sharing with David Heinemeier Hansson and Kyffin Simpson. Conrad Laursen is in the pits in the #155 Spirit of Race Ferrari 296 GT3 sharing with Conrad Laursen and Jordan Taylor. We do have slow zones.
Matteo Cairoli is back in business in the #19 Lamborghini SC63, but Iron Lynx and Lamborghini are 13th and 17th in Hypercar and they are not driving well. Their handling isn't working out. Jean Eric Vergne in the #93 Peugeot 9X8 goes by and the two cars are down in 17th and 19th spot. Peugeot have not been on the pace. Alex Palou is now chasing Kevin Estre. Ryan Cullen is now in the lane in the #10 Vector Sport Oreca 07 for scheduled service. Yellow flag in the Porsche Curves and a car is off the road and it is the #85 Iron Dames Lamborghini Huracan GT3 EVO2, Sarah Bovy at the wheel, third in GT3 currently.
I wonder how far she spun backwards. She is now able to get back up and running again. Doriane Pin is injured and we wish her the best on her recovery. Sarah Bovy has made it to the pit lane, They are examining the car and in replay, she had contact with a prototype in the outside line in the right hand lane of the Porsche Curves, one of the Penske Porsche 963's was in the way. I thnk it was Matthieu Jaminet in car #4.
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