LM24, Hour 10: No.12 Cadillac slips into the lead

The halfway mark is approaching at Le Mans, and the battle for the lead is on. Throughout the 10th hour, it was tight between Brendon Hartley and Will Stevens for the top spot, with the Kiwi in the No. 8 Toyota making an error under braking that saw the No. 12 Cadillac close right in.

Stevens chased, followed and mirrored the car ahead, but couldn’t find a way to attempt a move, and the two pitted on different laps, splitting the battle. This opened the door for a Cadillac 1-2 (with the No. 12 out front) after the Toyota spent longer in the pits to change to a mixed set of tires, with three mediums and a front-right soft. That was the first time that Toyota had opted to use a soft-compound Michelin tire in this race, hours after Cadillac switched over.

As the hour ended, the No. 7 Toyota found itself fourth, but it owes a pit stop. When it does, it will hand the No. 20 BMW the fourth spot and drop a handful of places. The No. 101 WTR Cadillac continues to impress on its second visit to Le Mans and is sixth. The best of the Alpines - the No. 35 - is seventh.

LMP2 has seen some shuffling through the most recent round of stops as teams explore different avenues with Goodyear tire strategy. Inter Europol’s No. 343 leads the way ahead of the Duqueine Team ORECA. Nico Muller is just three seconds ahead of Richard Verschoor.

Jonas Ried sits third for Proton in the German team’s No. 9 07 Gibson. Vector is fourth with the defending winners in the No. 43 Inter Europol entry rounding out the top five. Crowdstrike Racing by APR has cycled to the front of LMP2 Pro/Am, a lap off the class lead in 11th in the combined ranking.

Heart of Racing’s No. 27 Vantage is on top in LMGT3. It’s a 23-second margin between Canadian Zach Robichon and the No. 34 Team Turkey Corvette that has emerged as a contender since Charlie Eastwood climbed in.

Vista AF Corse’s No. 21 Ferrari is third, while the second THOR Aston Martin is fourth and being driven quickly by 2017 Le Mans last-gasp hero Jonny Adam.

As for Vista AF Corse's sister Ferrari, which collided with the No. 88 Ford Mustang and ended up in the gravel at the Esses, it has now been confirmed as a retirement. That means we have three cars officially withdrawn, all in LMGT3. The others are the 13 Autosport Corvette and the No. 61 Iron Lynx Mercedes-AMG.

HOUR 10 STANDINGS