24 Hours of Le Mans – H+1: Toyota already in the lead, a Cadillac in the garage

In a very lively start to the Centenary, Toyota took the upper hand over the Ferraris while Cadillac almost lost a car, that of Action Express forced to return to the garage.

Published on 10/06/2023 à 17:05

⁰ View comments)

Toyota finished the first hour of the race in the lead. ©DPPI

Parts 3^e and 5^e on the starting grid, the Toyota No. 8 and No. 7 finished this first hour of racing at the top of the rankings. At the controls of the GR010 N°8, Sébastien Buemi took the lead at the first braking of the Hunaudières ahead of the Ferrari No. 50 led by Nicklas Nielsen.
Following this overtake, the race came to life with the accident of Action Express Racing's No. 311 Cadillac. At the wheel of the V-Series R, Jack Aitken lost control of his car when re-accelerating from the Daytona chicane on wet ground and hitting the wall violently. As the damage was significant, the Briton had no choice but to return to his garage to repair half a front axle.
It was then that the Safety Car intervened for a period of 40 minutes during which the race management was able to experiment with its three safety car system for the first time. There followed a period of confusion during which the LMP2s let the GTE Ams pass before reversing roles a few moments before the race was restarted after around 40 minutes of interruption.
After an hour of racing, the No. 8 Toyota leads the way ahead of the No. 51 Ferrari since the No. 50 (currently 18^e overall) made his first stop in these 24 Hours of Le Mans 2023. Toyota No. 7 points to 3^e position but is threatened by a trio of Porsche 963 led by Felipe Nasr on the N°75.

In LM P2, IDEC Sport is keeping pace. Starting from pole position, the N°07 tricolor Oreca 48 is still at the top of the category ranking ahead of the N°41 WRT. In GTE Am, AF Corse took the lead with the No. 488 Ferrari 54 GTE EVO. She is pursued by the No. 911 Porsche 19 RSR-56 from Project1.