LM24, Hour 21: Toyotas come alive to power to the front

Is this now Toyota’s race to lose at Le Mans? With three hours to go, it’s a 1-2 for the Japanese brand, after both Brendon Hartley in the No. 8 and Nyck de Vries in the No. 7 powered past the No. 12 JOTA Cadillac of Norman Nato.

There was no mistake leading to the position changes; the TR010s have just come alive as the No. 12 V-Series.R struggled towards the end of the third stint on its current set of Michelin mediums.

Hartley, also on a triple stint on his set of tires, took the lead round the outside into the second Mulsanne Chicane, before de Vries took second off Nato with a dive up the inside at Mulsanne Corner. The intensity has ratcheted up, and with the No. 7 on fresher rubber, de Vries headed into the 22nd hour of the race on the rear of the No. 8 and pushing to find a way through.

Nato, meanwhile, has dropped five seconds back and sits 14 seconds clear of the No. 20 BMW, which had to change its tires at its most recent stop after the team suspected a slow puncture.

LMP2 tells a similar tale to Hypercar, with one team out front running in formation.

Heartbreak for the Duqueine Team ORECA, which had been a contender for much of the race, suffered a terminal brake failure in the hour while running second. Richard Verschoor was forced to pull off, ending the French team’s race and Doriane Pin’s hopes of becoming the first female driver to win her class at this race for 48 years.

This retirement has resulted in a 1-2 for the Polish powerhouse Inter Europol Competition, which looks firmly on course to win its third race at Le Mans in four years.

LMGT3 features Heart of Racing’s No. 23 Aston Martin out front, but TF Sport was shown as first as the hour ticked over as Dudu Barrichello pitted the Vantage just as the hours changed over.

The previous 60 minutes were full of action in the class, with Jonny Edgar in the Corvette on a charge, getting past Zach Robichon’s No. 23 THOR Aston for second, making room for Jack Hawksworth in the No. 78 to also get through, putting Lexus back into the top three.

HOUR 21 STANDINGS