Race updates from the 24 Hours of Le Mans

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Sportscar365. <br />
Hour 2: <br />
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Brendon Hartley leads the 24 Hours of Le Mans after the second hour, in the No. 1 Porsche 919 Hybrid, ahead of Mike Conway’s No. 6 Toyota TS050 Hybrid. <br />
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Conway had led...

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Hour 9:

Just moments after both Audis made trips to the garage, the No. 1 Porsche 919 Hybrid has hit major trouble in the 24 Hours of Le Mans.

Brendon Hartley pitted his No. 1 Porsche just past the nine-hour mark from third place, after the defending FIA World Endurance Championship-winning car was struggling for pace with co-driver Timo Bernhard at the wheel.

Porsche has yet to confirm the issue for the car but it remains in the garage on its high jacks with extensive work ongoing.

It is the third factory LMP1 car to run into issues, just past the one-third mark of the race.

Both Audi R18s have battled undisclosed issues with the front of its diesel-powered contenders and currently run 4th and 7th, with the No. 13 Rebellion R-One in sixth.

The No. 6 Toyota TS050 Hybrid of Stephane Sarrazin continues to lead the race, ahead of the No. 2 Porsche of Neel Jani.

An accident for the No. 98 Aston Martin Vantage GTE of Paul Dalla Lana, who slammed into the wall at the Porsche Curves, has put the race under only the second safety car of the race.

Hour 8:

Audi has hit trouble in the eighth hour of the 24 Hours of Le Mans as the No. 6 Toyota TS050 Hybrid continued to lead with Stephane Sarrazin at the wheel.

Shortly before the hour, the best placed of the R18’s driven by Oliver Jarvis was wheeled into the garage from fifth place, where the Audi mechanics completed a bodywork change at the front-end to resolve an as-yet unspecified problem.

It came after the team had completed an identical job on the recovering No. 7 car, which is 9 laps down on the leaders after a turbo problem in the second hour of the race.

Out front, the No. 6 Toyota crew led by 18 seconds from Neel Jani in the No. 2 Porsche 919 Hybrid after benefiting from a fortunately-timed Slow Zone when Kamui Kobayashi pitted to hand over to Sarrazin.

Jani took second from teammate Timo Bernhard in the No. 1 car after the reigning WEC champion was unsighted by the low sun entering a Slow Zone at the Porsche Curves and had to pit to replace his flat-spotted tires.

The second Toyota runs in fourth place, with Kazuki Nakajima currently at the wheel, but is almost two minutes behind their teammates.

In LMP2, the No. 46 Thiriet by TDS Racing Oreca 05 Nissan continued to lead from the No. 36 Signatech-Alpine A460b, although Nicolas Lapierre was closing on Pierre Thiriet.

After the front-running Manor Oreca 05 Nissan dropped back first with a spin and then with rising oil and water temperatures, defending winners KCMG also hit trouble, as third-placed Tsugio Matsuda came to a halt on the Mulsanne Straight.

KCMG’s misfortune promoted the No. 26 G-Drive Racing Oreca 05 Nissan of Rene Rast to third and the team’s Gibson 015S Nissan to fourth.

GTE-Pro continued to be all about Ford and Ferrari, with Dirk Mueller taking over the leading No. 68 Ford GT from Sebastien Bourdais.

Bourdais had worked his way past the Risi Competizione Ferrari 488 GTE of Matteo Malucelli, which continues to be a thorn in the Blue Oval’s side preventing them from a clean sweep of the top three positions.

Olivier Pla holds third place in the No. 66 car, with Richard Westbrook fourth in the No. 69 car after taking over from Scott Dixon. The No. 95 Aston Martin Vantage GTE of Nicki Thiim is the best of the rest in fifth.

The best battle on track was for the lead in GTE-Am, with just two seconds separating Pedro Lamy’s No. 98 Aston Martin, Pat Long in the No. 88 Proton Racing Porsche 911 RSR and Jeff Segal’s No. 62 Scuderia Corsa Ferrari 458 Italia.

Hour 6:

Kamui Kobayashi has taken over the lead of the 24 Hours of Le Mans with a quarter of the race completed, in the No. 6 Toyota Gazoo Racing TS050 Hybrid.

Mark Webber had been in the lead for just over four hours in his Porsche 919 Hybrid, but lost the lead to Kobayashi in the seventh round of pit stops. Kobayashi is yet to pit, which could end a triple stint from the Japanese driver.

Anthony Davidson and Neel Jani complete the top four, while the two Audi R18s have had less luck. The No. 7 car is climbing back up the field after troubles early in the race, but the No. 8 is in fifth position after a delayed stop to replace a door.

Ryo Hirakawa heads the LMP2 field in the No. 46 Thiriet by TDS Racing Oreca 05 Nissan, ahead of the No. 36 Signatech Alpine A460 Nissan of Stephane Richelmi.

The No. 31 Tequila Patron ESM Ligier JS P2 Nissan suffered from a puncture and had two offs, losing a few laps to the class leaders in the process.

Tracy Krohn spun the No. 40 Krohn Racing Ligier Nissan at the first chicane, while the No. 28 Pegasus Racing Morgan Nissan spun into the barrier and took some damage to its nose.

Also of note was a drive-through penalty for the pole-sitting No. 26 Ligier Nissan of G-Drive Racing, for refuelling with the engine on.

Ford Chip Ganassi Racing and Risi Competizione share the top four spots in GTE-Pro, all very close on track.

Matteo Mallucelli in the Risi Competizione Ferrari 488 GTE leads GTE-Pro, in front of Sebastien Bourdais’ No. 68 Ford GT.

Khaled Al Qubaisi is the GTE-Am leader in the No. 88 Abu Dhabi-Proton Racing Porsche 911 RSR, with Christian Reid in second for KCMG.

Hour 4:

The No. 1 Porsche 919 Hybrid continued to lead the 24 Hours of Le Mans after hour 4, with Mark Webber leading by 24 seconds from Kamui Kobayashi in the No. 6 Toyota TS050 Hybrid.

The two cars have alternated the lead during the pit cycles, with Toyota typically going one lap further during a stint in the hope of saving themselves a pitstop later in the race.

Kobayashi took over after a strong opening quadruple stint from Mike Conway, who set the fastest lap of the race so far on Lap 48.

Oliver Jarvis runs third in the No. 8 Audi R18, ahead of Marc Lieb in the second Porsche 919 Hybrid.

The German was able to capitalize when the No. 5 Toyota of Anthony Davidson made two pitstops in as many laps due to a vibration.

Le Mans rookie Roberto Merhi’s excellent opening stint meant Matt Rao inherited a 28-second lead in LMP2.

The Manor Oreca 05 Nissan is still being pursued by the identical Thiriet by TDS Racing machine, now driven by Ryo Hirakawa, with defending winners KCMG due a pitstop from third.

Will Stevens ran fourth in the No. 26 G-Drive Oreca 05 Nissan after René Rast lost time with a puncture.

In GTE-Pro, the No. 69 Ford held the lead after Toni Vilander pitted his No. 82 Risi Competizione Ferrari 488 GTE shortly before the hour mark.

Vilander’s team-mate Giancarlo Fisichella had taken the lead from Richard Westbrook’s No. 68 Ford during the pitstops. As Westbrook’s teammate Ryan Briscoe fell away, a charging Joey Hand took over second the No. 69 car, but still had some ground to make up on Vilander.

The No. 91 Porsche had been enjoying a promising run in fourth when Nick Tandy brought the car in for a radiator change, which cost them two laps.

However, Porsche’s dominance of the GTE-Am class continues, with Joel Camathias in the No. 78 KCMG 911 RSR leading David Heinemeier-Hansson in the No. 88 Dempsey Proton Raching machine.

All 60 cars are still classed as running, although Marc Miller’s No. 89 WeatherTech Racing Porsche sustained heavy damage when he spun into the wall at the Dunlop Curves.

Miller is competing in the entire 24 Hours with Leh Keen after an unwell Cooper MacNeil was ruled out by the FIA Doctor.

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Hour 12:

Toyota retain the lead at half-distance in the 24 Hours of Le Mans, but a strong stint by Romain Dumas in the No. 2 Porsche 919 Hybrid means they can’t afford to rest on their laurels.

Kamui Kobayashi took over the No. 6 TS050 Hybrid from teammate Mike Conway shortly before the hour mark and the additional time in the pits required for the driver change meant Dumas, the 2010 Le Mans winner, was just 44 seconds behind.

The second Toyota of Anthony Davidson continues to run well in third, one minute behind the Porsche and comfortably ahead of the best-placed of the Audis, the No. 8 R18 of Oliver Jarvis.

As the problems for the hybrid cars continued to rack up, with Marcel Fassler’s No. 7 R18 coming to a halt at the Dunlop Curve, the No. 13 Rebellion R-One AER of Dominik Kraihamer was able to consolidate fifth position.

In LMP2, Gustavo Menezes continued to lead in the No. 36 Signatech-Alpine A460b, but had Will Stevens in the No. 26 G-Drive Racing Oreca 05 Nissan and Ryo Hirakawa’s No. 46 Thiriet by TDS Racing Oreca 05 Nissan in close attendance.

Matteo Malucelli was able to maintain Risi Competizione’s advantage in the GTE-Pro class over the chasing Ford GTs of Ryan Briscoe in the No. 69 car and Joey Hand in the No. 68 car.

Both Fords were held at the end of the pitlane when they came in under the Safety Car, presenting the Ferrari which had pitted under green with the lead.

Marco Sorensen in the No. 95 Aston Martin Vantage GTE and Tommy Milner in the No. 64 Corvette C7.R gave valiant chase in fourth and fifth.

The order remained unchanged in GTE-Am, as the No. 88 Abu Dhabi Proton Racing Porsche of Khaled al Qubaisi led Townsend Bell’s No. 52 Scuderia Corsa Ferrari 458 Italia.

The No. 41 SRT41 by Oak Racing Morgan Nissan featuring quadruple amputee Frederic Sausset is still running, down in 36th position.

Hour 10:

The No. 6 Toyota TS050 Hybrid continued to lead after the 10th hour of the 24 Hours of Le Mans, which ended behind the safety car when Kevin Estre’s No. 91 Porsche 911 RSR suffered an engine failure and dropped oil at the Porsche Curves.

After taking over from Stephane Sarrazin, Mike Conway briefly relinquished the lead to Neel Jani in the No. 2 Porsche 919 Hybrid, only for the Swiss to pit just a few laps later and hand over to Romain Dumas.

The second Toyota of Sebastien Buemi holds third, with a lap in hand over Loic Duval in the No. 8 Audi, which had to make an additional pitstop to replace a slow puncture.

The race-contending No. 1 Porsche spent over an hour in the pits while the team attended to an overheating issue, but was only able to complete one slow tour before returning to the garage.

After very long stop for Mathias Beche in the TDS by Thiriet Racing Oreca 05 Nissan, Nicolas Lapierre is back in the LMP2 lead in the Signatech-Alpine A460b.

The Frenchman has a minute in hand over the No. 26 G-Drive Oreca 05 Nissan of Rene Rast, with Beche now third and Jake Dennis fourth in G-Drive’s Gibson 015S Nissan.

After completing a full system reset, the No. 47 KCMG Oreca 05 Nissan briefly returned to the race, only for Richard Bradley to abandon the car at the Porsche Curves due to an unspecified problem.

The timing of the safety car proved beneficial for Ferrari, as Toni Vilander retook the lead in GTE-Pro.

The No. 82 Risi Competizione 488 GTE completed its 10th stop under green and when erstwhile leader Dirk Mueller pitted in the No. 68 Ford GT, he was held at the end of the pitlane.

Richard Westbrook now runs second in the No. 69 Ford, with Mueller third and Nicki Thiim fourth in the best-placed of the Aston Martins Vantage GTEs.

The No. 66 Ford GT had been in podium contention in the hands of Olivier Pla when it lost a lap with electrical problems and was then wheeled into the garage shortly before the hour mark.

After an eventful stint for Paul dalla Lana in the No. 98 Aston Martin, David Heinemeier-Hansson is back in the GTE-Am lead in the No. 88 Abu Dhabi Proton Racing Porsche.

The Dane has a two minute lead over the No. 62 Scuderia Corsa Ferrari 458 Italia of Bill Sweedler.