24 Hours of Le Mans - H+2: From the mayhem in LM P2, Cadillac loses again big

The second hour of the Centenary race was marked by two violent off-track exits in LM P2 while Cadillac saw a second car return to the garage.

Published on 10/06/2023 à 18:01

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24 Hours of Le Mans – H+2: Mayhem in LM P2, Cadillac loses again big

Barring a miracle, Tower Motorsports should finish far behind. © Joao Filipe / DPPI

Like the first, this second hour of racing 24 Hours of Le Mans 2023 was cut short, particularly in LM P2. It all started with Rodrigo Sales on Nielsen N°14. Under pressure from the No. 2 Cadillac which was about to take a turn on him, the American made a mistake when braking at the Dunlop chicane, pulverizing his Oreca 07. While he tried to restart, he failed. was not authorized to re-enter the track due to a water and fuel leak.

SLOW ZONE 🟡 The #14 Nielsen Racing crashes into the barrier in the Dunlop chicane.#WEC # LeMans24 #LeMansCentenary pic.twitter.com/YWeXcFRwp4

— FIA World Endurance Championship (@FIAWEC) June 10, 2023

In the wake of this incident, it was the Tower Motorsports N°13 in the colors of Michel Vaillant which found itself in the wall on the first straight of Les Hunaudières. In traffic, Ricky Taylor suddenly lost control of his Oreca and ended up hitting the barriers. The driver is OK, the car…
In Hypercar, things did not improve for Cadillac. When the No. 311 had just returned to the track, the No. 3 found itself in the wrong place at the wrong time. Caught in the battle between the AF Corse N°21 and the GMB Motorsport N°55, Sébastien Bourdais was hit and spun. If he managed to leave, the Frenchman was forced to return to his stand. Luckily, the interruption was short since he quickly left, probably after changing body parts.
In the general classification, the No. 2 Cadillac, which only made one stop, is in command ahead of the Porsche No. 5 and No. 75. The latter two also stopped at just one occasion and it would therefore not be surprising if the hierarchy moved again allowing the Toyota No. 8 to get back into the lead.
In LM P2, Alpine seems to have done very well since the No. 36 is in 2nd place. While it has 3 stops, one more than the leader, the tricolor Oreca 07 could be the big winner at the start of the race even though not many people were expecting it quickly at the front.