24 Hours of Le Mans – An incident-packed FP3!
Back

24 Hours of Le Mans – An incident-packed FP3!

The 62-strong field competing in the 89th 24 Hours of Le Mans (21-22 August) has completed its third free practice session. The three-hour session was not all plain sailing for several teams, including Toyota Gazoo Racing.

After dominating yesterday’s free practice, the Toyota GR010 Hybrids again showed their pace at the Circuit des 24 Heures du Mans. The Japanese machines immediately took to the track and meant business. Brendon Hartley set the first benchmark with a time of 3:28.260 in the #8 car. This was eclipsed by Mike Conway going round in 3:28.064.
However, despite these fast laps, Toyota Gazoo Racing did not have it all their own way. Sébastien Buemi went straight on at Arnage while José María López made a mistake at Mulsanne Corner. The Argentine drove around the roundabout and carried on as normal! Twenty-five minutes before the end of the session, it was Kazuki Nakajima’s turn to go off, this time at Indianapolis, damaging the #8 car’s rear in the process. As the clock counted down, Alpine Elf Matmut’s Nicolas Lapierre in the #36 Alpine A470-Gibson took advantage of the Toyota mayhem to snatch the best time of the session in 3:26.594. 

One mishap after another for Idec Sport

The red flag was brandished after 50 minutes when Idec Sport’s Dwight Merriman at the wheel of the #17 Oreca 07-Gibson lost control in the Dunlop Chicane.  The car swung to the right of the track on braking, resulting in the front and rear hitting the inside wall. The good news is the American driver is unharmed, although a big repair job is in store for the French team’s mechanics. They had already been called into action yesterday when the sister car, driven by Paul-Loup Chatin, came a cropper at Tertre Rouge during qualifying.

Other cars had a rather eventful session too. Richard Mille’s #1 Oreca 07-Gibson stopped on the track – apparently with a mechanical issue – between Arnage and the Porsche Curves.  The #20 Oreca 07-Gibson fielded by High Class Racing also came to a halt at the Dunlop Chicane after the right-hand rear wheel bolts had worked loose. Marco Sørensen decided to play safe, rather than risk losing the wheel. Juan Pablo Montoya in DragonSpeed’s #21 Oreca 07-Gibson crashed at the same spot as Merriman. The former Formula One driver was unscathed but the session was put on hold once again.

Dans ce contexte, c’est l’Oreca 07-Gibson #38 de JOTA qui a réalisé le meilleur temps en 3’30’’507 devant la #22 de United Autosports (3’30’’660).

Porsche presses ahead in LMGTE Pro and LMGTE Am

Porsche did all the running in the first part of the session in LMGTE Pro, while AF Corse only put in six laps in the first hour with no significant time recorded. Once again, Kévin Estre clocked a solid time (3:48.857) on his first flying lap. Shortly after the hour mark, Antonio García (Corvette Racing #63) crashed out at speed in the Porsche Curves. Fortunately, there were no serious consequences. The German firm stood head and shoulders above its rivals, clinching the three top positions.

Spins were rife in the LMGTE Am field. Dempsey-Proton Racing topped the standings in the early stages thanks to Matt Campbell in the #77 Porsche 911 RSR-19. The times were roughly similar to those recorded in the second free practice yesterday. The #88 Porsche 911 RSR-19 figured prominently yesterday but today encountered a mechanical problem that forced it into the pits. Dempsey-Proton Racing’s Julien Andlauer improved the reference time five minutes before the chequered flag. Judging by the very close lap times, it will be anyone’s game in this class. Just two seconds separate the top 12!

PHOTO 1/2

The Top 5 overall in Free Practice 3

  1. #36 Alpine A480-Gibson | Alpine Elf Matmut | André Negrão – Nicolas Lapierre – Matthieu Vaxiviere | 3:26.594
  2. #7 Toyota GR010 Hybrid | Toyota Gazoo Racing | Mike Conway – Kamui Kobayashi – José María López | 3:28.064
  3. #8 Toyota GR010 Hybrid | Toyota Gazoo Racing | Sébastien Buemi – Kazuki Nakajima – Brendon Hartley | 3:28.260
  4. #708 Glickenhaus 007 LMH | Glickenhaus Racing USA | Luis Felipe Derani – Franck Mailleux – Olivier Pla | 3:28.728
  5. #38 Oreca 07-Gibson | JOTA | Roberto González – Antonio Felix Da Costa – Anthony Davidson | 3:30.507

LMP2

#38 Oreca 07-Gibson | JOTA | Roberto González – Antonio Felix Da Costa – Anthony Davidson | 3:30.507

LMGTE Pro 

#92 Porsche 911 RSR-19 | Porsche GT Team | Kévin Estre – Neel Jani – Michael Christensen | 3:48.126

LMGTE Am 

#88 Porsche 911 RSR-19 | Dempsey-Proton Racing | Julien Andlauer – Dominique Bastien – Lance Arnold | 3:50.167 

Yesterday’s fastest qualifiers will return to the track from 21:00 to 21:30 for Hyperpole which will determine pole position for the 89th 24 Hours of Le Mans.

Major Partner

PREMIUM partners

OFFICIAL partners

All partners