LM24 Hour 18: No. 95 Aston Martin felled; Porsche still leads

With six hours to go in the 85th running of the Le Mans 24 Hours, drama has struck the Aston Martin Racing camp, with its No. 95 hitting serious trouble while sitting in the top three in the class.

It started with Richie Stanaway going straight on at Mulsanne Corner midway through the 18th hour, hitting the barriers head-on. Astoundingly, the Kiwi was able to drive out of the gravel trap without losing much time, but the damage to the left-front corner forced it into the pits.

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The stop for repairs lasted seven minutes, costing the team two laps. To make matters worse, Nicki Thiim climbed aboard and eventually had to bring it back in after a loss of power. It was still in the garage as the hour ticked over.

The drama has left the Aston Martin GTE Pro challenge to the No. 97, which took the lead from the No. 63 Corvette heading up to the Dunlop Bridge, Jonny Adam breezing past Jordan Taylor as the No. 91 Porsche pitted from the lead as the 19th hour began.

Up front in LMP1, it's as it was in hour 17, with Nick Tandy continuing to ease away from the LMP2s, the lead margin now 12 laps.

In LMP2, the No. 38 Jackie Chan DC ORECA continues to pull away from the pack, after another issue for the Rebellion team, the No. 13 forced to go into the garage for a very short repair job. It was enough though, to give the leading car a lap advantage over the chasing pack.

The No. 35 Signatech Alpine A470 is now third, as the No. 31 Rebellion slips further down the order, to fourth, Nicolas Prost unable to close the 25-second gap to Andre Negrao ahead.

In GTE Am, it's still JMW leading the No. 55 Spirit of Race and No. 62 Scuderia Corsa Ferraris. Best of the rest being the Beechdean AMR Vantage in fourth.