It’s all to play for halfway through the 2023 24 Hours of Le Mans, with the top five made up of four different manufacturers after several contenders ran into trouble over the opening 12 Hours.
The #51 Ferrari 499P of Alessandro Pier Guidi, James Calado and Antonio Giovinazzi remains in sync strategy-wise with the #8 Toyota Gazoo Racing GR010-Hybrid of Brendon Hartley, Sebastien Buemi and Ryo Hirakawa, the two cars continuing to exchange the lead with either one unable to build a solid gap over the other.
The #2 Chip Ganassi Cadillac Racing entry is also in the mix with the top three, the V-Series.R, shared by Earl Bamber, Alex Lynn and Richard Westbrook, keeping things tidy and remaining well within contention.
Porsche Penske’s #6 963 Hypercar is running fourth, nearly four minutes off the pace of the lead three, with the #3 Cadillac of Scott Dixon, Renger Van Der Zande and Sebastien Bourdais running fifth and 30 seconds behind. A spin for Bourdais resulted in some minor losses for their entry.
Peugeot Totalenergie’s #94 9X8 led for large periods of the opening 11 hours, only to connect with the wall in a chicane in the early stages of the twelfth hour. They have just left pit lane and are now eight laps behind.
The #50 pole-sitting Ferrari had also been towards the front but sustained ERS radiator damage when running through gravel. They lost nearly 30 minutes as a result and dropped down the order to 10th.
The #7 Toyota Hypercar is an early DNF from the race, collected by several other cars when entering a slow zone in the night; Kamui Kobayashi forced to pull off with major damage and retiring from the race.
The #75 Porsche Penske 963 is the other Hypercar to withdraw from the race.
Around the same time, the #51 Ferrari also ran into trouble, stranding in the gravel but quickly remaking the ground under the following Safety Car to remain in contention.
The Action Express Racing Cadillac was an early victim of a wet track, triggering a Lap 1 Safety Car with heavy impact into the wall unassisted. Jack Aitken was able to return their car to the lane, with the losses limited to eight laps.
An enthralling final 12 Hours remains at Le Mans, with several cars and teams remaining in contention for a shot at glory.
Racing is currently live on Sky Sport 5.
