Le Mans Hour 20: #83 leads Ferrari 1-2-3 with 4 hours to go
With four hours to go in the 2025 24 Hours of Le Mans at the famous Circuit de la Sarthe, the #51 Ferrari hit trouble and the #83 Ferrari (pictured) is back in the lead.
Alessandro Pier Guidi in the #51 Ferrari had just taken emergency service under a Full Course Yellow for debris, but needed to come back down for its full-service stop after the FCY was withdrawn. Entering the pit lane, Pier Guidi clipped the grass and spun out.
That elevated Ye Yifei in the privately entered #83 AF Corse Ferrari into the overall lead with just four hours to go. The factory #50 of Nicklas Nielsen is now second, ahead of the #51 now driven by James Calado.
Laurens Vanthoor in the #6 Porsche Penske Motorsport 963 is now within reach of the overall podium as it stands, ten seconds off the #51 Ferrari in fourth.
The #8 Toyota Gazoo Racing GR010 – Hybrid took a trip across the kitty litter on the run up to the Dunlop Bridge as a wheel nut sheered n the front left and flew off into the gravel meaning the black machine had to limp back to the pits with a puncture – dropping them out the top five and promoting the #12 Cadillac Hertz Team JOTA entry.
Elsewhere, tiredness crept into Jules Gounon’s stint, just minutes after our 08:00 update. Inside the #36 Alpine A424, the Frenchman misjudged his braking point at the bottom of the Mulsanne – dropping his blue Alpine Endurance Team machine into the gravel trap. Thankfully the recovery team could retrieve the stricken car and put it back on terra firma under a Full Course Yellow (FCY).
The #15 BMW was slightly luckier, going off on the same corner, but thankfully the BMW M Hybrid V8 was able to plow its way through the loose, and flirt its way past the barrier and exit back onto the race track without losing too much time.
Since our last update we have sadly lost the other Cadillac from the USA with the #311 Whelan effort – which was the American bastion of hope last night for a podium. The red car has been sidelined as it came to a grinding halt – parked up on the outside of turn one. The British-run Hertz Team JOTA Cadillacs are still in the race with the pole sitting #12 in fifth and the #38 just fighting on the fringe of the top ten.
Le Mans LMP2
It’s brewing nicely in the LMP2 ORECA battle. The #43 Inter Europol Competition team were charging off to the finish, but the #48 #VDS Panis Racing team in the seven hours remaining mark adjusted their strategy and pitting ahead of the Polish team had slashed the gap to approximately 16 seconds. The French team can almost see their rivals up the road! The #9 Iron Lynx is still on track for a podium, but have a closing #28 IDEC Sport machine hunting them down. Spike the dragon – aka the purple #199 AO by TF car is leading the Pro/AM category and playing their cards right, and with any misfortune to the cars in front, could also challenge for a rostrum.
Le Mans LMGT3
The #92 Manthey 1ST Phorm Porsche is still not looking back and is extending its lead with every lap and every stint and look untouchable. The #21 Vista AF Corse Ferrari 296 LMGT3 still holds second, but need to just be wary of the star at the 20 hour mark – Mattia Drudi who has grabbed the #27 Heat of Racing Team Aston Martin by the scruff of its neck to haul it into third ahead of the #81 TF Sport Corvette and #87 Akkodis ASP Lexus which has taken their drive-through penalty after contact with the Iron Dames Porsche.
Disaster struck the #78 Akkodis ASP Lexus with just under five hours to go as Finn Gehrsitz ran wide at the Porsche Curves, colliding with the barrier and ripping panels off the Lexus. A very brief FCY was called upon for the marshals to sweep up the gravel and debris.