24 Hours of Le Mans – What you missed last night

Hypercar

In the premier category, the Toyota #7 still dominates the race ahead of sister car #8. But a straight one Kamui Kobayashi in Indianapolis caused the crew to lose some 25 seconds, allowing the three-time defending prototype to fully re-enter the fight for victory. To the point, even, of regaining the lead during the night in the pit stop game.

The first glimpses of light after a long night 😍# LeMans24 #GoHyper #ToyotaGAZOORacing @ 24hoursoflemans @FIAWEC pic.twitter.com/mPh3w30ozI

— TOYOTA GAZOO Racing WEC (@TGR_WEC) August 22

On two different tire strategies, the two Japanese then played into the team's hands. Car No. 8 driven by Brendon Hartley in fact let that of Jose Maria Lopez pass, so as not to disrupt the tire strategies. At 7 a.m. this morning, a gap of one minute remains between the two sisters. For third place, everything remains open between theAlpine and Glickenhaus No. 708. The French brand is virtually third with a slight lead over its American competitor in the pit stop game. 

LM P2

For its first participation, the WRT team is pursuing its daydream. The night did not in fact thwart the plans of the team led by Vincent Vosse. On the contrary, it even reinforced it since the JOTA n°28 of Stoffel Vandoorne, 3rd, posted a time of 3'30.

The Belgian team continues to place its two prototypes in the first two places in the ranking. Note that two position exchanges took place between the two crews. Yifei Ye (n°41) actually got the better of Charles Milesi (n°31), before Ferdinand Habsbourg gave his crew the advantage against Louis Delétraz. At 7 a.m., 1min30 separated the two LM P2s.

The most threatening car in the standings at 1 a.m., the No. 22 from United Autosports, title holder including Felipe Albuquerque and Phil Hanson, was the big loser of the night. A (new) spin from Fabio Scherer followed by an alternator problem forced the #23 to spend time in the garage, likely abandoning its chances of victory. It is now JOTA which is lying in wait in third position in the category. But the Panis Racing of Will Stevens (n°65) is only three seconds behind. 

GTE Pro

The match is still hotly contested between Ferrari and Corvette. The #488 51 of Alessandro Pier Guidi-James Calado-Côme Ledogar continues to lead the way thanks to longer stints than its direct competitor, the #8 C63.R of Antonio Garcia, Jordan Taylor and Nicky Catsburg.

A match in which the Porsche 911 RSR No. 79 from WeatherTech Racing since the middle of the night. Cooper MacNeil made a mistake at the Ford chicane and the mechanics were unable to repair the car, causing the American and his teammates Earl Bamber and Laurens Vanthoor to retire.

https://twitter.com/24heuresdumans/status/1429244796284047361

While firmly in third place, the #52 Ferrari of Daniel Serra, Sam Bird and Miguel Molina crashed shortly after 6 a.m., the fault of a half-hour pit stop. Porsche is in fact second place, with the No. 92 ahead of the No. 91 in 3rd and 4th place, but almost a lap behind.

GTE Am

Status quo in GTE Am since the night. Ferrari must be wary ofAston Martin Vantage of the TF Sport n°33 of Ben Keating-Dylan Pereira-Felipe Fraga, which is only one minute behind the leaders François Perrodo-Nicklas Nielsen-Alessio Rovera (n°83). The ancient hope of car Callum Ilott cruises into third place in the #80 Ferrari.

Complete general classification after H15

Classification category by category after H15

Jérémy Satis and Medhi Casaurang-Vergez