LM24, Hour 16: Leaders hold firm

Eight hours remain in the 94th 24 Hours of Le Mans, where there’s been no change at the front of each class.

Hypercar and overall leaders, the No. 12 Cadillac Hertz Team JOTA V-Series.R, have a 47-second advantage over the No. 8 Toyota Racing TR010 Hybrid which now runs second.

In the most recent pit cycle, the No. 8 Toyota swapped drivers from Sébastien Buemi to Brendon Hartley, but did not take new tires – unlike the No. 20 BMW M Team WRT, which swapped drivers (René Rast to Sheldon van der Linde) and took new tires on the last stop.

Buemi did well to close the gap – even resetting the fastest lap of the race at 3m25.968s – and with the extra time on the BMW’s stop, Toyota is back into second place, but Will Stevens in the leading Cadillac is in a rhythm.

Sadly, the No. 38 JOTA Cadillac has officially retired from the race after recurring problems with the power steering system.

The No. 7 Toyota (Nyck de Vries) and No. 51 Ferrari AF Corse 499P (Antonio Giovinazzi) complete the overall top five.

In LMP2, the No. 30 Duqueine Team ORECA 07-Gibson remains out in front as ex-Formula 2 driver Richard Verschoor has done a solid job behind the wheel of the black and green ORECA this morning.

Inter Europol Competition’s No. 343 and No. 43 cars still occupy second and third place, the No. 9 Proton Competition ORECA recently made a pit stop from fourth, as did the No. 29 Forestier Racing by Panis car.

Over in LMP2 Pro-Am, CrowdStrike Racing by APR’s No. 4 ORECA leads, and minutes ago, Kévin Estre went off at Indianapolis corner, skidding into the tire barrier while running second among Pro-Am cars. It’s allowed Alex Quinn in the No. 4 to extend his lead, now over the No. 183 AF Corse ORECA in second.

The No. 33 TF Sport Chevrolet Corvette Z06 LMGT3.R’s momentum continues to pick up in LMGT3; Nicky Catsburg has extended his lead to almost two minutes over the No. 78 Akkodis ASP Team Lexus, which has Jack Hawksworth at the wheel but is still losing ground.

In third is the No. 27 Heart of Racing Team Aston Martin, followed by the No. 91 Manthey DK Engineering Porsche in fourth.
HOUR 16 STANDINGS