24H. Le Mans – Toyota emerges from the night in the lead

If you have decided to sleep instead of following the 90th edition of the 24 Hours of Le Mans You didn't miss much last night. While the day has dawned, it's still the Toyota who are at the head of the race with the n°7 of Mike conway, Kamui Koboyashi and José Maria Lopez in front of the n°8 of Sébastien Buemi, Brendon Hartley and Ryo Hirakawa. The Glickenhaus No. 709 of Franck Mailleux, Ryan Briscoe and Richard Westbrook occupies third place, three laps behind the Japanese prototypes. L'Alpine from André negrao, Nicolas lapierre and Matthieu Vaxiviere moved up to 19th place in the general classification.

And then there was light… ☺️# LeMans24 #ToyotaGAZOORacing #GoHyper @FIAWEC @ 24hoursoflemans pic.twitter.com/9VoTelMXHV

— TOYOTA GAZOO Racing WEC (@TGR_WEC) June 12, 2022

The leader is also unchanged in LM P2 with Jota's demonstration. The No. 38 dominates the event with Roberto Gonzalez, Antonio Felix da Costa and Will Stevens. The trio is one lap ahead of Robert Kubica, Louis Delétraz and Lorenzo Colombo for Prema n°9. Jota also occupies third place with the No. 28 of Jonathan Aberdein, Oliver Rasmussen and Edward Jones. The No. 31 Oreca of Team WRT and No. 10 of Vector Sport produced a beautiful synchronized performance at first light, without damage.

Nice synchronization between our two LMP2 #10 and #31. Fortunately no damage. ⚡️

️ https://t.co/4J3q5Z45q3# LeMans24 // @FIAWEC pic.twitter.com/56xn6NjKwQ

— 24 Hours of Le Mans (@24hoursoflemans) June 12, 2022

Porsche and Aston Martin lead the GTs

In GTE Pro, the Porsche N°92 continues on its merry way. Leading the category since the end of the 7th hour of racing and the start of the misfortunes of the No. 63 Corvette, the mount of Michael Christensen, Kevin Estre and Laurens Vanthoor nevertheless had to cede command to the Ferrari No. 51. It actually returned to the garage for a general service and a change of brake pads which put it back in the hierarchy.

Coming out 3rd after a few minutes in the garage, the No. 92 Porsche was quick to take things back in hand thanks to Michael Christensen. In the hunter's position, the Dane regained possession of the leader's chair in GTE Pro at around 6:30 a.m., restoring the hierarchy seen after the setbacks of the No. 63 Corvette at the start of the night.

# LeMans24 – The No. 92 #Porsche #911RSR came in for a full service including brake change. @ChristensenMK join in P3 @ 24hoursoflemans pic.twitter.com/9RrmZqe7zs

— Porsche Motorsport (@PorscheRaces) June 12, 2022

As the halfway mark approaches, the No. 92 Porsche leads the hostilities with more than a minute ahead of the No. 64 Corvette and almost 1'30 over the No. 51 Ferrari. Long leading the GTE Pro, the No. 63 Corvette is out of the race. Despite all the efforts of the mechanics to repair it, the American is 7th and last in the category, 22 laps behind the 5 other official GTE Pro racing on the same lap.

Finally, in GTE Am, the domination of the No. 79 Porsche of WeatherTech Racing since the start of the race was interrupted due to theAston Martin No. 33 of TF Sport. In contact for a few hours, the English mount of the Keating-Chaves-Sørensen trio managed to burn the regular politeness at No. 79.

No worries, however, for the German clan. After its 15th passage through the pit lane, the No. 79 is still in the fight for 1st place in the category. Entrusted to Thomas Merrill, the WeatherTech Racing Porsche is 2nd, around twenty seconds behind the No. 33 of TF Sport. Behind, nothing is decided since the Top 5 is still on the same lap with the No. 99 Porsche of Hardpoint Motorsport in 3rd position followed by the No. 98 Aston Martin of Northwest AMR and the No. 77 Porsche of Dempsey -Proton Racing in 5th position.

Note that the Aston Martin No. 777 of D'Station Racing is no longer in the race for victory even if it has never been a real threat to the leading group. Shortly after midnight, Charles Fagg had to return to the pits urgently due to the serious damage to the chassis. Although the team once announced a retirement, the Englishwoman came out but was 105 laps behind.

Follow the rankings live HERE

ALSO READ > 24H. Le Mans – Toyota wheel to wheel at midnight, Porsche dominates the GTE Pro

With Gonzalo Forbes