Ferrari hold one-two lead after six hours as night falls at Le Mans

Ferrari sit first and second in the Le Mans 24 Hours after six hours with the number 51 car ahead of the number 50.

Alessandro Pier Guidi led the race at the six hour mark, 12 seconds ahead of team mate Nicklas Nielsen after the first quarter of the race was completed. The number 94 Peugeot was in third place, but was set to be passed by the two Toyotas in the pit cycle as the clocked ticked over to 10pm.

Hours 1-2

The track was slightly damp in the early part of the Mulsanne straight as the field rolled out onto the 13km Circuit de la Sarthe for the formation lap. As the two Ferraris led the more than 60 cars onto the track, the number 708 Glickenhaus hypercar remained in the pits after a gearbox leak had prevented it from taking the grid. When the field pulled away, the number 43 DKE Engineering LMP2 failed to leave the grid, but did eventually get rolling after the cars behind it had been released passed it.

When the clock rolled over to 4pm local time, the Le Mans 24 Hours got underway. There was a rush into the first chicane with Felipe Nasr locking up under braking in the number 75 Porsche Penske, bouncing over the kerb and making minor contact with the number eight Toyota.

The Ferraris of number 50 and 51 led the Toyotas of number eight and number seven onto the Mulsanne for the first time, with the track particularly damp at the first chicane. The slick circuit caught out Jack Aitken in the number 331 Cadillac, spinning into the left hand barrier and causing heavy damage to the front of his car. Behind, the number 32 Inter Europol LMP2 car driven by Karm Kvamme spun off the circuit into the chicane gravel trap.

The Toyotas both passed the number 51 Ferrari to move into second and third, before Buemi passed the leading number 50 Ferrari to take the lead of the race on the run down to Indianapolis. However, before the end of the first lap, the Safety Car was deployed due to barrier damage sustained by Aitken’s collision at the exit of the first chicane.

After almost forty minutes behind the Safety Car, the race resumed with Buemi in the number eight Toyota leading away the number 50 Ferrari driver by Nicklas Nielsen and Mike Conway third in the number seven Toyota. Conway emulated his team mate by overtaking the second-placed Ferrari on the run down to Indianapolis to move Toyota into a one-two position. But Nielsen fought back, passing the Toyota to the inside of the Mulsanne corner two laps later. The 50 Ferrari then pitted from second place, with James Calado passing Conway to move the number 51 Ferrari into second.

The first pit stop cycle saw the Toyotas stop for service first with the two Ferraris pitting last of the hypercars, the number 50 emerging with the lead having remained on its starting tyres, while the Toyotas switched from softs to mediums. Behind, there was an intense battle for fifth place between the number two Cadillac driven by Earl Bamber and the number six Porsche, driven by Laurens Vanthoor, with the pair making side-by-side contact on the way into the second chicane.

There was a heavy single-car crash for the number 14 Nielsen Racing LMP2 when Rodrigo Sales spun into the barriers on the way into the first corner and ripping the right-front wheel off his car. A Slow Zone was installed into turn one, with Ferrari taking advantage to pit the leading number 50 Ferrari, promoting Buemi and the number eight Toyota back into the lead. A second crash for the number 13 Tower Motorsports LMP2 car out of Tetre Rouge saw the Slow Zone extended onto the Mulsanne straight after Ricky Taylor lost control and crashed into the barriers.

Buemi made a second pit stop from the lead, which moved the number 51 Ferrari into first but it then pitted itself, moving Bamber in the number two Cadillac out front. In the Slow Zone, the number three Cadillac was hit from behind by the number 21 AF Corse Ferrari GTE car, causing major damage to the front of the Ferrari and minor rear damage to the Cadillac. Sebastien Bourdais recovered the number three Cadillac to the pit lane where the minor damage was repaired and the car returned to the circuit without losing a lap, with Scott Dixon now at the wheel.

As the clocked ticked over to 6pm, the number two Cadillac led the race by just over four seconds from the number five and 75 Porsche Penskes, with the number eight Toyota in fourth. In LMP2, WRT were leading with Robert Kubica at the wheel, with Project 1 the leaders in the GTE Am class. The Garage 56 entry of Hendrick Motorsports was sitting in 41st place with Jimmie Johnson at the wheel.

Positions after two hours

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Hours 3-4

Just ten minutes into the third hour of the race, Bamber brought the leading Cadillac into the pits, falling behind both Toyotas and both Ferraris. It also moved the number five and 75 Porsche Penskes into the first two places. As the number two Cadillac received a service, the Slow Zones around the opening sector of the lap were relieved, costing Cadillac significant time compared to their rivals who had stopped under yellows.

Both Porsches pitted soon after, moving Buemi back into the lead of the race in the number eight Toyota, ahead of the number 38 Jota hypercar in second. An intense four car battle over second place ignited, with the Jota car driven by Antonio Felix da Costa under pressure from the number 50 Ferrari of Antonio Fuoco who had muscled his way by Vanthoor in the number six Porsche Penske, while Conway was close behind the three of them in the number seven Toyota.

Da Costa pulled the Jota car into the pits, followed by the two Ferraris, which put the number eight Toyota back into the lead of the race. There was a crash in the traffic when the number 22 United Autosports LMP2 car crashed into the number 77 Dempsey Proton GT Porsche while attempting to lap the slower car at Tetre Rouge, prompting a Slow Zone at the section.

Rain began to make its way over the circuit from the south, arriving in the Porsche Curves, making the series of sweepers especially treacherous. Both the number eight Toyota and the number two Cadillac pitted, moving the number 50 Ferrari into the lead. However, by now, the track was completely wet in the final sector, while many cars still on the circuit on dry tyres due to the surface being completely dry over most of the course.

The wet Porsche Curves caught out many, with the number 708 Glickenhaus, Scott Dixon in the number three Cadillac and many GT cars spinning off into the entry of the Porsche Curves. With the rain spreading over the circuit, the Safety Car was deployed. After the hypercars formed up behind the three Safety Cars following various trips into the pit lane, the number 94 Peugeot driven by Gustavo Menezes put Peugeot at the front for the first time, ahead of the number 38 Jota of Yifei Ye and the two Ferraris of number 50 ahead of the sister number 51.

After a considerable time behind the Safety Car, a pack of cars opted to pit for slick tyres on the slowly drying track, including the Jota and the two Ferraris, which moved the number six Porsche and the two Toyotas of numbers seven and eight into second, third and fourth respectively behind the leading Peugeot. Jean-Eric Vergne had taken to the track in the sister number 93 Peugeot on dry tyres, but he spun at the Mulsanne Corner despite being at crawling speeds, drifting into the gravel trap.

The Safety Car continued to circulate until it had been on track for a full hour. When 6pm began, Menezes continued to lead the race in the number 94 Peugeot ahead of Kevin Estre in the number six Porsche and the two Toyotas of number seven, driven by Jose Maria Lopez and Brendon Hartley.

In LMP2, the two Alpines led the race, with the number 35 ahead of the sister number 36, with the GTE AM class lead by the number 85 Iron Dames driven by Sarah Bovy. Jenson Button was in 44th place in the Hendrick Motorsports NASCAR Camaro.

Positions after four hours

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Hours 5-6

Despite the Safety Car being deployed at 6.53pm, the race did not resume until 8.18pm, well over an hour later. When the green flag did fly, the second-placed number six Porsche Penske and the two Toyotas behind it immediate pitted, as the number 94 Peugeot led the field away. There was an intense battle involving Dane Cameron in the number five Porsche Penske and the two Ferraris, with Cameron managing to dispatch the two 499Ps.

Ye in the number 38 Jota made a move for the race lead, passing the number 94 Peugeot, which soon pitted. That put the Jota car in the lead, with the number five Porsche Penske in second and the number 50 Ferrari in third. Cameron had a moment in the second-placed Porsche Penske at the Porsche Curves, dislodging one of the advertising boardings and losing second place in the process. This necessitated a brief Slow Zone as the board remained on the race track. Matters got worse for Cameron soon after when he was hit with a drive-through penalty after being deemed to have overtaken an LMP2 car behind the Safety Car.

Then there was drama as race leader Yifei Ye suddenly ran wide through the Porsche Curves and slipped off the track, through the gravel and into the tyre wall. The contact ripped off the rear bodywork from the number 38 Jota hypercar, forcing him to immediately pit and prompting the deployment of a Full Course Yellow to allow debris to be cleared around the circuit.

That allowed both Ferraris of the number 50 of Miguel Molina and the number 51 of Antonio Giovinazzi to move up into the top two positions. They would soon pit themselves, cycling the number 75 Porsche Penske driven by Nick Tandy into the lead, before the two Toyotas behind it also pitted, moving the Ferraris back to second and third. That became first and second when Tandy pitted at 9:16pm, with Molina assuming the lead in the number 50 Ferrari ahead of team mate Giovinazzi in the sister car, the pair around 15 seconds ahead of Loic Duval in the number 94 Peugeot.

By 9.30pm, the sun was beginning to set and track temperatures started to drop. With the two Ferraris out front, first-placed Molina allowed Giovinazzi behind him through into the lead in the number 51 car. Giovinazzi was the first of the Ferraris to pit, soon joined by Molina a lap later. The number 51 car emerged in fourth with Alessandro Pier Guidi installed in the car, as Nicklas Nielsen emerged behind it in fifth in the number 50.

That moved the two Toyotas into the lead of the race, just before the clock ticked over to 10pm, however, Brendon Hartley in the number eight and Jose Maria Lopez in the number seven Toyota both peeled off into the pits one behind the other, with Tandy taking back the lead in the number 75 Porsche. He would pit himself just after the hour mark, moving the two Ferraris back into the lead of the race with the number 51 in the lead, 12 seconds ahead of the number 50 behind.

In LMP2, the number 34 Inter Europol car was leading the secondary category at the six hour mark, with the number 66 JMW Motorsport Ferrari leading in GTE AM.

Positions after six hours

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