LM24 Hour 7: Ferrari lead turns yellow

With 17 hours left at Le Mans, the No. 83 AF Corse Ferrari 499P has taken the lead over the two full factory Ferrari Hypercars. Philip Hanson has returned to the cockpit after Ye Yifei erased the deficit to the two factory cars and took the lead during pit stops about 50 minutes ago.

The No. 50 now runs second with Nicklas Nielsen at the wheel, followed by the No. 51 of James Calado.

Kevin Estre has just gotten in the No. 6 Porsche Penske Motorsport 963 and is about to rejoin the race in fourth place, ahead of the No. 12 Cadillac Hertz Team JOTA V-Series.R of Norman Nato in fifth.

Rene Rast in the No. 20 Team WRT BMW M Hybrid V8 overtook Sebastien Buemi for sixth place; Buemi is now seventh in the No. 8 Toyota Gazoo Racing GR010 HYBRID, while the No. 36 Alpine Hypercar Team A424 has breached the top 10 for the first time, behind the No. 15 WRT BMW and No. 4 Penske Porsche.

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In LMP2, the No. 43 Inter Europol Competition ORECA 07-Gibson is leading and trying to regain what it lost in the pits a few hours ago. Jakub Smiechowski is currently ahead of the No. 48 VDS Panis Racing car, the No. 9 Iron Lynx-Proton car, and the leading Pro/Am cars, the No. 11 Proton Competition and No. 199 AO by TF ORECAs, fourth and fifth across the board.

It's still as-it-was in LMGT3 as well: The No. 46 Team WRT BMW M4 LMGT3 EVO of Kelvin van der Linde is still building the gap to the No. 92 Manthey 1st Phorm Porsche in second. The rest of the top five features the No. 21 Vista AF Corse Ferrari, No. 81 TF Sport Corvette, and No. 78 Akkodis ASP Team Lexus.

The No. 60 Iron Lynx Mercedes-AMG LMGT3 and No. 95 United Autosports McLaren LMGT3 EVO have officially joined the list of retirements from the race; the No. 60 Mercedes-AMG was pushed back to the garage for good after a catastrophic engine failure, while the No. 95 McLaren's rear axle failure along the Mulsanne Straight proved terminal.

While battling for 14th place on the road, Paul-Loup Chatin in the No. 35 Alpine A424 spun the No. 94 Peugeot 9X8 of Loic Duval down at Mulsanne Corner.

While not as catastrophic, a presumptive pre-race favorite, the No. 33 TF Sport Chevrolet Corvette Z06 GT3.R, lost two laps in the garage when a stubborn wheel nut wouldn't come off during a tire change.

Nine cars were under investigation for a yellow flag infringement during the yellow flag for the stranded McLaren, including the No. 38 JOTA Cadillac which already served a drive-through penalty - and, crucially, the No. 50 Ferrari.

Meanwhile, Ford Performance and Proton Competition issued a statement on driver Giammarco Levorato after the No. 88 Ford Mustang LMGT3 crashed earlier:

"An investigation by Ford Performance and Proton determined that the incident was caused by a loose wheel nut, leading to a wheel detachment. Driver Giammarco Levorato returned to the paddock under his own power and was confirmed to be unharmed."

HOUR 7 STANDINGS