No. 6 Porsche leads points and the field as Petit crosses halfway

Halfway through the 28th annual Motul Petit Le Mans at Michelin Raceway Road Atlanta and the No. 6 Porsche Penske Motorsport 963 leads the race with five hours to go.

Matt Campbell started in the GTP Championship-leading No. 6 Porsche and brought the car in for a pit stop at the 2h50 mark – just as a full-course caution came out for an incident at Turn 5. Campbell handed the car over to co-driver Mathieu Jaminet, who took the lead and has since held onto it.

Behind him, Earl Bamber in the No. 31 Cadillac Whelen V-Series.R fought his way up to second, past the No. 24 Team RLL BMW M Hybrid V8 of Philipp Eng (now third) and the No. 60 Acura Meyer Shank Racing ARX-06 of Colin Braun (now fourth).

A slow right rear puncture on the No. 31 Cadillac undid some of the great work by starting driver Jack Aitken, who took the lead from the No. 60 Acura of Tom Blomqvist with a clever pass up the inside of Turn 1. Bamber, meanwhile, has been reeling in race leader Jaminet as the race hit the halfway mark.

Gear selection problems for the No. 93 Acura have it off the lead lap in 12th, but all GTP cars are currently still in the race.

In LMP2, all the Bronze drivers have now completed their compulsory two and a half hours behind the wheel, and right now the No. 22 United Autosports USA ORECA 07-Gibson leads, currently in the hands of Silver driver Rasmus Lindh.

Lindh leads his counterpart Hunter McElrea in the No. 11 TDS Racing ORECA – but it’s AO Racing whose LMP2 title hopes took a significant blow with 6h30m left.

While running third, Jonny Edgar in the No. 99 AO Racing ORECA was hit by the No. 88 AF Corse car of Nicklas Nielsen. AO Racing’s “Spike” suffered a right-rear puncture and lost a lap after an unscheduled stop and repairs. Nielsen received a drive-through penalty for avoidable contact.

The No. 99 is now running in ninth with Dane Cameron behind the wheel, no longer in position to take the title as they run, but still with plenty of race left. 

In third is the No. 52 PR1 Mathiasen Motorsports car, currently being driven by Logan Sargeant, while the No. 88 AF Corse ORECA recovered to fourth place.

The No. 43 Inter Europol Competition ORECA spun from the lead during Jeremy Clarke’s stint after contact with the No. 11 TDS ORECA and is now trying to recover from a recent penalty for insufficient tire pressures (“failure to adhere to tire operational requirements”).

Other incidents to note in recent hours:

With 7h10m left, AJ Muss in the No. 021 Triarsi Competizione Ferrari spun at Turn 5. Several cars avoided him successfully, but Sebastian Alvarez in the No. 8 Tower Motorsport ORECA LMP2 broadsided the Ferrari, taking both cars out of the race – leading to the fifth and most recent caution. The race has been green ever since.

The No. 2 United Autosports USA car is also trying to recover after Juan Manuel Correa ran wide on his first lap out of the pits and hit the tire barrier at Turn 7.

Over in GTD PRO, Connor De Phillippi drove the No. 48 Paul Miller Racing BMW M4 GT3 EVO to the lead with 6h45m left; Max Hesse is now behind the wheel and maintaining a healthy 3s advantage.

The No. 14 Vasser Sullivan Racing Lexus RC F GT3 (Aaron Telitz) is now second, with the No. 3 Corvette Racing by Pratt Miller Motorsports Z06 GT3.R (Alexander Sims) running third, one place ahead of the No. 81 DragonSpeed Ferrari 296 GT3 (Giacomo Altoè) in fourth.

A slow pit stop for the No. 81 DragonSpeed Ferrari dropped it behind the No. 3 Corvette – not where the Ferrari needs to be to secure the GTD PRO title.

Alessandro Pier Guidi put in a terrific stint behind the wheel of the No. 21 AF Corse Ferrari and has the car in a commanding GTD class lead, now with Simon Mann behind the wheel.

The No. 21 AF Corse Ferrari is now poised to take the last remaining GTD title up for grabs, the Michelin Endurance Cup, after leading at the 4h checkpoint.

Onofrio Triarsi in the sole surviving No. 023 Triarsi Competizione Ferrari is still running second, followed by the No. 12 Vasser Sullivan Lexus (Jack Hawksworth) and the No. 27 Heart of Racing Team Aston Martin Vantage GT3 Evo (Tom Gamble).

The No. 80 Lone Star Racing Mercedes-AMG is officially retired from the race after losing its left rear wheel.

Conquest Racing provided an update on driver Manny Franco after the first-lap incident which sent him to a nearby hospital: "Manny Franco is doing well and remains in good spirits following this morning’s incident. He is currently at a local hospital for precautionary exams. We wish to thank everyone for their kind messages and support.”

HOUR 5 STANDINGS