LM24, Hour 15: No.33 Corvette leads the LMGT3 pack

Nine hours remain in the 94th 24 Hours of Le Mans, where the leaders in Hypercar, LMP2 and LMGT3 have all taken convincing leads.

None is more convincing than that of the leading LMGT3 car, the No. 33 TF Sport Chevrolet Corvette Z06 LMGT3.R. Ben Keating did all six of his required hours of drive time within the first eight hours with no mistakes.

With his obligations done, it cleared the way for Nicky Catsburg and Jonny Edgar to start driving the yellow Corvette to the front of the GT field and well out in front of the other teams, many of whom still had Bronze driver time remaining to complete.

Edgar made a pit stop for fuel earlier and came out without losing the lead. He’s since been replaced by Catsburg, who leads his class by over 1m15s.

Overall and in Hypercar, it’s still the No. 12 Cadillac Hertz Team JOTA V-Series.R that leads the race. Will Stevens in the No. 12 Cadillac has a 17-second margin to René Rast in the No. 20 BMW M Team WRT Hybrid V8. Both boarded their respective cars within the last hour.

Sébastien Buemi and Mike Conway still run third and fourth in the two Toyota Racing TR010 Hybrids, followed by a pair of Ferrari 499Ps, the No. 51 red factory Ferrari (Antonio Giovinazzi) followed by the No. 83 yellow satellite car (Philip Hanson). The No. 83 still runs sixth despite taking a drive-through penalty for speeding in a Slow Zone.

The No. 30 Duqueine Team ORECA 07-Gibson continues to leads LMP2, with Richard Verschoor ahead of the two Inter Europol Competition ORECAs, then the No. 26 Vector Sport and the No. 29 Forestier Racing by Panis cars.

CrowdStrike Racing by APR and TDS Racing still run 1-2 in LMP2 Pro/Am, but the No. 99 AO by TF car has crashed out of third place in the group; Dane Cameron locked up into Mulsanne Corner and slid helplessly into the tire barrier, damaging the nose of “Rockie the Pegasus.” The incident led to a very recent Slow Zone intervention.

Cameron’s incident handed the No. 183 AF Corse ORECA third in the Pro/Am group.

Elsewhere in LMGT3 behind the leading No. 33 Corvette, the No. 27 Heart of Racing Team Aston Martin (Ian James) still runs second, even after it and the No. 74 Kessel Racing Ferrari were penalized for speeding in a Slow Zone.

The No. 23 Heart of Racing Aston Martin (Gray Newell) runs third ahead of the No. 78 Akkodis ASP Team Lexus (Jack Hawksworth) and the No. 21 Vista AF Corse Ferrari (François Heriau).

With its two WEC cars out, Iron Lynx’s collective hopes rested on the No. 62 Team Qatar-backed Mercedes-AMG, but those hopes have evaporated after a problem at the rear of the car caused Giuliano Alesi to spin mid-corner at the end of the Ford Chicane. Alesi then had to limp around the entire Circuit de la Sarthe before bringing the No. 62 Mercedes-AMG back to the garage for significant repairs.

The No. 87 ASP Lexus also suffered a setback when Clemens Schmid picked up a puncture from a sideswipe with the No. 57 Kessel Ferrari.

HOUR 15 STANDINGS