LM24 Hour 6: A lead change – and a retirement – in LMGT3; Cadillac flexes its muscles out in front

A quarter distance has been reached in the 24 Hours of Le Mans at the Circuit de la Sarthe, and the race, which has been remarkably clean, is beginning to take shape.

The No. 8 Toyota, which has spent a good chunk of the race so far leading after the team opted to pit three laps early in the opening hour to give Sebastien Buemi clean air, is now gradually losing its hold on the race. This is because the car can only go 12 laps per stint, while the No. 38 Cadillac and No. 20 WRT BMW have been going 13. Its time in the lead is shrinking each hour.

Heading into Hour 7, the No. 38 Cadillac has therefore become the true leader, with a 30s gap over the No. 20 WRT BMW. It wasn’t an entirely fault-free hour though for JOTA’s better-placed V-Series.R, as Sebastien Bourdais had a hairy moment at the Porsche Curves, veering off track but staying clear of any barriers.

The No. 8 Toyota is third, 35s adrift with Ryo Hirakawa in. The two Ferraris are fifth and sixth behind the No. 12 Cadillac that is still recovering from having to serve an additional emergency service stop.

Unfortunately for WRT, there’s only one bullet left in its gun, after the No. 15 M Hybrid V8 became the first Hypercar to hit major trouble. 

Dries Vanthoor clipped the No. 3 DKR ORECA while running through the Porsche Curves, taking off the right-rear corner of bodywork, and puncturing the tire. The big problem? Vanthoor ended up suffering the tire failure down Mulsanne a lap later, forcing him to creep back to the pits for repairs. It is currently in the garage being worked on.

In LMP2, Duqueine leads Forestier by Panis, though the gap, having dipped to just over 10s, is now back up to 23s after Porsche factory ace Julien Andualer took over from Doriane Pin in the lead car and Louis Rousset was installed in the Panis example.

The No. 37 CLX ORECA driven by the three teenagers maintains third, but the two Inter Europol ORECAs are lurking behind.

AO by TF leads Pro AM now over TDS Racing. AF Corse has dropped to fourth, having held third prior to a Francois Perrodo spin.

LMGT3 has seen a change at the sharp end. The No. 78 Akkodis ASP Lexus (main image) is out front by a minute now, with Ian James in the Heart of Racing Aston Martin now second. The No. 87 Lexus has fallen to third following its eighth stop just before the hour.

The sixth hour also brought with it the first retirement of the race, as well as the first major Hypercar drama.

After just 61 laps, 13 Autosport decided to retire its troubled LMGT3-class Corvette from the race. The Canadian team, flying the IMSA flag, will go down as the first car to be withdrawn.

“After careful consideration, we have made the difficult decision to retire the No. 13 Corvette from the 24 Hours of Le Mans,” the team said in a statement.

“Following earlier contact and the extensive repairs that followed, we returned to the race but found ourselves 10 laps down. Rather than interfere with competitors fighting for class honours and championship points, we felt it was the right decision to step aside.

“While this is not the outcome we came to Le Mans for, we are incredibly proud of the effort shown by our drivers and crew throughout the week.

“Thank you to everyone who supported us on this journey. We’ll be back.”
HOUR 6 STANDINGS