Le Mans Hour 18: Drama in LMP2 and GTE Am shakes up the front runners

The sun has finally risen after a long 12 hours of darkness for this 88th edition of the 24 Hours of Le Mans and the race has entered its final quarter.

Below are the highlights after 18 hours of racing.  There have now been 10 retirements and 1 disqualification from the 59 cars which started at 14h30 yesterday.

LMP1 Highlights
•    The No.8 Toyota TS050 Hybrid of Sébastien Buemi, Kazuki Nakajima and Brendon Hartley holds a 3-lap lead over the No.1 Rebellion Racing R13 Gibson.
•    Just after the 14th hour, the No.7 Toyota – having led for most of the first half of the race – was backed into the garage for a turbo replacement.  After almost 30 minutes in           the pits, it is back in the race in 4th place, 6 laps down to the leader.
•    Both Rebellion Racing entries are running strongly in 2nd and 3rd – the full season WEC entry of Bruno Senna, Norman Nato and Gustavo Menezes holding a one lap                 advantage.
•    Lap times have come down due to ideal ambient conditions and the continued dry conditions.

#1 Rebellion still holds 2nd place at the 2/3rds mark

LMGTE Pro Highlights

•    The Aston Martin / Ferrari battle continues to play out, with the No.97 Vantage AMR battling hard with the No.51 AF Corse Ferrari 488 GTE EVO throughout.
•    Alexander Lynn leads James Calado in the 2019 LM24 class winning entry by 32s after a recent brake pad and disc change on the Ferrari.
•    Aston Martin’s No.95 Dane train is in 3rd, and the No.71 Ferrari in 4th
•    The Porsche GT Team’s No.91 has suffered the same power steering issues as the No.92 911 RSR-19 and dropped back to 9 laps behind the class leader.

LMP2 Highlights
•    United Autosports continues to dominate the biggest class in the race, with the lead having changed several times between the team’s two entries. Paul di Resta in the                 WEC’s No.22 is now 65s ahead of the No.38 JOTA ORECA 07 Gibson of Roberto Gonzalez.
•    Third in class is the No.26 G-Drive Racing Aurus 01-Gibson with Mikkel Jensen at the wheel.
•    Filipe Albuquerque in the No.22 completed a solid triple stint in the early hours of the morning, despite battling with blurred vision due to a windscreen covered in oil from the       No.32 sister car.
•    Job van Uitert was forced to bring his No.32 into the pits at 06h19 because of the oil leak and the car lost 46 minutes on pitlane changing a fractured oil pipe.
•    Racing Team Nederland has had further delays following early engine overheating issues after a tangle with an LMGTE Pro car.  They are back out on track but the balance         of the car has been affected. The 24-strong LMP2 entry is now down to 18.

LMGTE Am Highlights
•    TF Sport has had a faultless run to this point and has a firm hold on the lead in class. Salih Yoluc has a lead of over 2 minutes from the No.77 Dempsey Proton Racing entry       of Christian Ried.
•    Third in class is the No.83 AF Corse Ferrari 488 GTE EVO of Emmanuel Collard.
•    Long-time contender for class victory, the No.98 Aston Martin Vantage AMR, has suffered a heart-breaking set back following suspension failure.  Ross Gunn managed to           limp the car back into the pits just before the start of the 16th hour for repairs, re-joining but now 6 laps down to the leader.

Hour 18 Standings

POS NO. CLASS VEHICLE DRIVER1 DRIVER2 DRIVER3 LAPS BEHIND GAP
1 8 LMP1 Toyota TS050 – Hybrid Sébastien BUEMI Kazuki NAKAJIMA Brendon HARTLEY 289 0.000s 0.000s
2 1 LMP1 Rebellion R13 – Gibson Bruno SENNA Norman NATO Gustavo MENEZES 286 3 Laps 3 Laps
3 3 LMP1 Rebellion R13 – Gibson Romain DUMAS Nathanaël BERTHON Louis DELETRAZ 285 4 Laps 1 Laps
4 7 LMP1 Toyota TS050 – Hybrid Mike CONWAY Kamui KOBAYASHI Jose Maria LOPEZ 283 6 Laps 2 Laps
5 22 LMP2 Oreca 07 – Gibson Philip HANSON Filipe ALBUQUERQUE Paul DI RESTA 277 12 Laps 6 Laps
6 38 LMP2 Oreca 07 – Gibson Anthony DAVIDSON Antonio Felix DA COSTA Roberto GONZALEZ 276 13 Laps 1 Laps
7 26 LMP2 Aurus 01 – Gibson Roman RUSINOV Jean-Eric VERGNE Mikkel JENSEN 275 14 Laps 1 Laps
8 31 LMP2 Oreca 07 – Gibson Nicolas JAMIN Julien CANAL Matthieu VAXIVIERE 275 14 Laps 1’15.752
9 39 LMP2 Oreca 07 – Gibson James ALLEN Vincent CAPILLAIRE Charles MILESI 274 15 Laps 1 Laps
10 42 LMP2 Oreca 07 – Gibson Nicolas LAPIERRE Antonin BORGA Alexandre COIGNY 274 15 Laps 5.474
11 36 LMP2 Alpine A470 – Gibson André NEGRÃO Pierre RAGUES Thomas LAURENT 273 16 Laps 1 Laps
12 28 LMP2 Oreca 07 – Gibson Paul LAFARGUE Paul Loup CHATIN Richard BRADLEY 273 16 Laps 3’15.760
13 50 LMP2 Oreca 07 – Gibson Tatiana CALDERON Sophia FLÖRSCH Beitske VISSER 272 17 Laps 1 Laps
14 25 LMP2 Oreca 07 – Gibson John FALB Simon TRUMMER Matthew MCMURRY 272 17 Laps 24.987
15 47 LMP2 Dallara P217 – Gibson Roberto LACORTE Andrea BELICCHI Giorgio SERNAGIOTTO 271 18 Laps 1 Laps
16 17 LMP2 Oreca 07 – Gibson Patrick PILET Kyle TILLEY Jonathan KENNARD 270 19 Laps 1 Laps
17 27 LMP2 Oreca 07 – Gibson Henrik HEDMAN Ben HANLEY Renger VAN DER ZANDE 269 20 Laps 1 Laps
18 32 LMP2 Oreca 07 – Gibson Will OWEN Alex BRUNDLE Job VAN UITERT 265 24 Laps 4 Laps
19 35 LMP2 Ligier JSP217 – Gibson Nobuya YAMANAKA Nicholas FOSTER Roberto MERHI 262 27 Laps 3 Laps
20 29 LMP2 Oreca 07 – Gibson Frits VAN EERD Giedo VAN DER GARDE Nyck DE VRIES 261 28 Laps 1 Laps
21 97 LMGTE Pro Aston Martin Vantage AMR Maxime MARTIN Alexander LYNN Harry TINCKNELL 259 30 Laps 2 Laps
22 51 LMGTE Pro Ferrari 488 GTE Evo Alessandro PIER GUIDI James CALADO Daniel SERRA 258 31 Laps 1 Laps
23 95 LMGTE Pro Aston Martin Vantage AMR Nicki THIIM Marco SØRENSEN Richard WESTBROOK 257 32 Laps 1 Laps
24 24 LMP2 Oreca 07 – Gibson Garett GRIST Alex KAPADIA Anthony WELLS 256 33 Laps 1 Laps
25 71 LMGTE Pro Ferrari 488 GTE Evo Davide RIGON Miguel MOLINA Sam BIRD 254 35 Laps 2 Laps
26 90 LMGTE Am Aston Martin Vantage AMR Salih YOLUC Charles EASTWOOD Jonathan ADAM 253 36 Laps 1 Laps
27 82 LMGTE Pro Ferrari 488 GTE Evo Olivier PLA Sébastien BOURDAIS Jules GOUNON 253 36 Laps 10.846
28 77 LMGTE Am Porsche 911 RSR Christian RIED Riccardo PERA Matt CAMPBELL 253 36 Laps 2’18.646
29 83 LMGTE Am Ferrari 488 GTE Evo François PERRODO Emmanuel COLLARD Nicklas NIELSEN 252 37 Laps 1 Laps
30 56 LMGTE Am Porsche 911 RSR Egidio PERFETTI Larry TEN VOORDE Matteo CAIROLI 252 37 Laps 13.138
31 86 LMGTE Am Porsche 911 RSR Michael WAINWRIGHT Benjamin BARKER Andrew WATSON 251 38 Laps 1 Laps
32 99 LMGTE Am Porsche 911 RSR Vutthikorn INTHRAPHUVASAK Lucas LÉGERET Julien ANDLAUER 250 39 Laps 1 Laps
33 66 LMGTE Am Ferrari 488 GTE Evo Richard HEISTAND Maxwell ROOT Jan MAGNUSSEN 250 39 Laps 1’31.686
34 61 LMGTE Am Ferrari 488 GTE Evo Francesco PIOVANETTI Oswaldo NEGRI JR Côme LEDOGAR 250 39 Laps 43.836
35 91 LMGTE Pro Porsche 911 RSR – 19 Gianmaria BRUNI Richard LIETZ Frédéric MAKOWIECKI 249 40 Laps 1 Laps
36 85 LMGTE Am Ferrari 488 GTE Evo Manuela GOSTNER Rahel FREY Michelle GATTING 249 40 Laps 49.906
37 60 LMGTE Am Ferrari 488 GTE Evo Claudio SCHIAVONI Sergio PIANEZZOLA Paolo RUBERTI 249 40 Laps 10.442
38 54 LMGTE Am Ferrari 488 GTE Evo Thomas FLOHR Francesco CASTELLACCI Giancarlo FISICHELLA 248 41 Laps 1 Laps
39 98 LMGTE Am Aston Martin Vantage AMR Paul DALLA LANA Ross GUNN Augusto FARFUS 247 42 Laps 1 Laps
40 72 LMGTE Am Ferrari 488 GTE Evo Morris CHEN Tom BLOMQVIST Marcos GOMES 247 42 Laps 1’56.535
41 78 LMGTE Am Porsche 911 RSR Horst Jr FELBERMAYR Michele BERETTA Max VAN SPLUNTEREN 246 43 Laps 1 Laps
42 92 LMGTE Pro Porsche 911 RSR – 19 Michael CHRISTENSEN Kevin ESTRE Laurens VANTHOOR 244 45 Laps 2 Laps
43 62 LMGTE Am Ferrari 488 GTE Evo Bonamy GRIMES Johnny MOWLEM Charles HOLLINGS 242 47 Laps 2 Laps
44 57 LMGTE Am Porsche 911 RSR Ben KEATING Felipe FRAGA Jeroen BLEEKEMOLEN 241 48 Laps 1 Laps
45 89 LMGTE Am Porsche 911 RSR Steve BROOKS Julien PIGUET Andreas LASKARATOS 241 48 Laps 1’27.836
46 34 LMP2 Ligier JSP217 – Gibson Jakub SMIECHOWSKI René BINDER Matevos ISAAKYAN 235 54 Laps 6 Laps
47 75 LMGTE Am Ferrari 488 GTE Evo Rino MASTRONARDI Matteo CRESSONI Andrea PICCINI 211 78 Laps 24 Laps
48 88 LMGTE Am Porsche 911 RSR Thomas PREINING Dominique BASTIEN Adrien DE LEENER 158 131 Laps 53 Laps
49 37 LMP2 Oreca 07 – Gibson Ho-Pin TUNG Gabriel AUBRY Will STEVENS 141 148 Laps 17 Laps
50 21 LMP2 Oreca 07 – Gibson Juan Pablo MONTOYA Timothé BURET Memo ROJAS 192 97 Laps -51 Laps
51 63 LMGTE Pro Ferrari 488 GTE Evo Cooper MACNEIL Toni VILANDER Jeffrey SEGAL 185 104 Laps 7 Laps
52 70 LMGTE Am Ferrari 488 GTE Evo Takeshi KIMURA Vincent ABRIL Kei COZZOLINO 172 117 Laps 13 Laps
53 16 LMP2 Aurus 01 – Gibson Ryan CULLEN Oliver JARVIS Nicholas TANDY 105 184 Laps 67 Laps
54 30 LMP2 Oreca 07 – Gibson Jonathan HIRSCHI Konstantin TERESCHENKO Tristan GOMMENDY 100 189 Laps 5 Laps
55 4 LMP1 ENSO CLM P1/01 – Gibson Tom DILLMANN Bruno SPENGLER Oliver WEBB 97 192 Laps 3 Laps
56 33 LMP2 Oreca 07 – Gibson Kenta YAMASHITA Mark PATTERSON Anders FJORDBACH 88 201 Laps 9 Laps
57 52 LMGTE Am Ferrari 488 GTE Evo Christoph ULRICH Steffen GÖRIG Alexander WEST 80 209 Laps 8 Laps
58 55 LMGTE Am Ferrari 488 GTE Evo Duncan CAMERON Aaron SCOTT Matthew GRIFFIN 78 211 Laps 2 Laps
59 11 LMP2 Ligier JSP217 – Gibson Adrien TAMBAY Erik MARIS Christophe D’ANSEMBOURG 26 263 Laps 52 Laps
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