Hypercar

The Japanese team’s rookie, Ryō Hirakawa, in the pace-setting #8 Toyota GR010 Hybrid, was caught by his compatriot Kamui Kobayashi in the sister car. They finally swapped positions at the 18th pit stop. The #7 Toyota GR010-Hybrid suffered a scare as the 17th hour approached as José María López lost power and pulled over after Indianapolis. He restarted and pitted at the end of the lap.

LMP2

At 4.00 a.m., the #27 Oreca 07-Gibson lost its front left wheel in Mulsanne Corner. Steven Palette managed to hobble back to the pits for repair. A quarter of an hour later, it was the turn of the 2021 LMP2 class-winning #31 car of WRT to make an unscheduled pit stop for a hood change. René Rast in the freshly repaired machine subsequently overtook Emmanuel Collard (#5 Oreca 07-Gibson of Team Penske) to take fifth place. Meanwhile, a long pit stop for the Duqueine Team #30 dashed any lingering hopes of a podium spot.
A shade before 5.00 a.m., Jean-Baptiste Lahaye lost control in the Porsche Curves. The Ultimate man managed to cover the short distance to the pits for some TLC on the damaged front end of the #35 Oreca. The crash produced a slow zone that lasted a considerable time while marshals cleared the track of debris from the car and the shattered hoarding.

 

Shortly after six o’clock on this Sunday morning, Nicolas Jamin (#65 Oreca 07-Gibson of Panis Racing), looking to break into the Top 5 in LMP2, drove straight on at Mulsanne and into the gravel trap. The hoist was called in to put the stricken machine back onto firm ground.
 

LMGTE Pro

Overnight, the #51 Ferrari 488 GTE Evo and the #64 Chevrolet Corvette C8.R managed to get back into the reckoning. They occupied the top two positions in the class as the sun rose but were still within range of the #92 Porsche 911 RSR-19. Tommy Milner in the American machine got the better of Alessandro Pier Guidi (Ferrari), who then came under the immediate threat of Michael Christensen (Porsche). The German car’s driver lost contact, however, when a braking error pushed him into the Mulsanne gravel. The Dane skilfully kept his footing and skipped through the trap and regained the second place. He even regained the lead in the 16th hour of the race when the #64 Corvette was taking a scheduled pit stop. Unfortunately, Christensen ran off at Mulsanne Corner once again at 7:40. Although he again managed to get the Porsche back on track, a shredded front right tyre ripped off part of the front end. The #64 Corvette and the #51 Ferrari took advantage of the German car’s misfortunes.

 

LMGTE Am
A fascinating five-way battle has emerged in this class between WeatherTech Racing #79 Porsche 911 RSR-19, the long-time leader, the #33 Aston Martin Vantage AMR of TF Sport, the #99 Porsche of Hardpoint Motorsport, the Dempsey Motorsport #77 Porsche and the #98 Aston Martin of Northwest AMR. As 8:00 approached, American Ben Keating in the #33 Aston Martin led the field but a fascinating Sunday is in store in this class. Note that earlier the #59 Ferrari 488 GTE Evo retired from the race.

Top Five after 16 hours

1. #8 Toyota GR010-Hybrid - Toyota Gazoo Racing - Buemi/Hartley/Hirakawa - 260 laps
2. #7 Toyota GR010-Hybrid - Toyota Gazoo Racing - Conway/Kobayashi/López - 259 laps
3. #709 Glickenhaus 007 LMH - Glickenhaus Racing - Briscoe/Westbrook/Mailleux - 256 laps
4. #38 Oreca 07-Gibson - JOTA - González/da Costa/Stevens - 253 laps
5. #9 Oreca 07-Gibson - Prema Orlen Team - Kubica/Delétraz/Colombo - 252 laps

Other class leaders

LMGTE Pro
#64 Chevrolet Corvette C8.R - Corvette Racing - Milner/Tandy/Sims - 239 laps

LMP2
#38 Oreca 07-Gibson - JOTA - González/da Costa/Stevens - 253 laps

LMGTE Am
#33 Aston Martin Vantage AMR - TF Sport - Keating/Chaves/Sørensen - 234 laps
 

Retirements

#46 Porsche 911 RSR-19 - Team Project 1 - Cairoli/Pedersen/Leutwiler - Engine failure - 77 laps
#71 Ferrari 488 GTE Evo - Spirit of Race - Ragues/Dezoteux/Aubry - Engine failure - 127 laps
#59 Ferrari 488 GTE Evo - Inception Racing - West/Ledogar/Klein - Mechanical failure - 190 laps