24 Hours of Le Mans – H3: The rain resurfaces, the #38 Jota makes a mistake

As the race became a little calmer, the rain decided to make an appearance again at Le Mans. Enough to shake up the ranking of the different categories.

Published on 21/08/2021 à 19:12

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24 Hours of Le Mans – H3: The rain resurfaces, the Jota #38 at fault

There is definitely no question of being bored during this 89th edition of the 24 Hours of Le Mans. If for a moment, calm had returned to the Sarthe circuit, the rain suddenly decided to make an appearance again.

In Hypercar, no big changes. THE Toyota are currently still at the top of the category. The #7 having made an additional stop compared to the #8 following a double puncture on the rear tires. The gap between the two Japanese cars is now 10 seconds, to the advantage of the #7. Note a contact between the #8 Toyota and an LMP2 at the Dunlop corner, without consequence. L'Alpine #36 tries to hang on but is still 1 minute behind the leading car. However, things are getting complicated for the Glickenhaus, already having a lap behind after 3 hours of racing. The American cars can't even catch up with the LMP2s. Overall, they are in 6th and 13th position.

In LMP2, the rain turned the category ranking upside down. The #38 Jota which had been in the lead since the start of the Le Mans event made a mistake before the Dunlop corner. The British team's Oreca 07 was able to restart but is in 19th place in the LMP2 class. It is now the #26 Aurus of the G-Drive Racing team which finds itself in the lead with Franco Colapinto at the wheel. The cadet of the 89th edition of the Le Mans event is also the first Argentinian to lead the LMP2 category since its creation. The #26 is now ahead of the #29 from Racing Team Nederland and the #28 from the Jota team. The third hour was also marked by the fright of the Oreca 07 #20 of High Class Racing.

Double exit at Dunlop corner?# LeMans24 #WEC pic.twitter.com/17CFlDW6rz

- 24 Heures du Mans (@ 24heuresdumans) August 21

In the GTE Pro, the battle rages between the AF Corse teams. For the moment, it is the #52 with Daniel Serra at the wheel which is ahead of the #51 driven by Alessandro Pier Guidi. The top 3 is completed by the Porsche #79 from the Weathertech Racing team.
While in the GTE Am, the gaps continue to be extremely small. There is currently a 3 minute gap between the leader, theAston Martin #33 in TF Sport and 13th place in the Ferrari #85 of the all-female Iron Lynx team.