LM24, Hour 3: Numerous incidents as Ferrari No. 83 takes the lead

After three hours of racing on the Sarthe, the track has dried out, but there are still plenty of incidents to report.

At the front, the AF Corse Ferrari No. 83 is in the lead. Robert Swartzmann is enjoying his time at the front, which he earned in part thanks to Robert Kubica’s pace at the start and the decision to stay on slicks.

The No. 5 Porsche driven by Michael Christensen was in second place throughout the hour, but had to pit at the start of the fourth hour and fell back to third place behind the No. 8 Toyota.

With many cars using different strategies due to the rain, many cars come into the pits at different times, making it difficult to determine the order behind the No. 83.

The No. 51 Ferrari, which has recovered well after switching to rain tires, is now fourth. The sister car, No. 50, is fifth after serving its penalty for an unsafe start.

In LMP2, 2023 winner Inter Europol has worked its way to the top, with Clement Noavalak remaining at the wheel and ahead of the Vector Sport ORECA, which switched from Patrick Pilet to Ryan Cullen at its last stop.

Super GT and Formula Champion Ritomo Miyata is third in the No. 37 COOL ORECA, with the No. 22 United Autosports 07 Gibson in fourth. The leading Pro/Am LMP2 car is the No. 183, currently driven by 2023 GTE-Am class winner Nico Varrone.

Few would have seen AKKODIS ASP at the top of the LMGT3 on their pre-race bingo card after a difficult start to their first season with the RC F LMGT3. But the French team handled the start of this race on home soil beautifully.

Esteban Masson leads by 31 seconds over Ahmad Al Harthy in the No. 46 BMW M4 GT3, which replaced Maxime Martin. The No. 91 Manthey EMA Porsche is in third place, while the No. 77 Proton Mustang has dropped to fourth. Ryan Hardwick followed Ben Barker’s fast start.

The Ferrari of JMW has also fallen back. Bronze driver Salih Yoluc of the team is fifth, the last stop was longer due to the driver change of Larry ten Voorde, who had been in the lead an hour earlier.

Of the teams that have used tyres in the rain, the No. 92 Pure Racing Manthey Porsche is in ninth place, while the No. 27 Heart of Racing Aston has dropped to eleventh.

The hour began with the first major incident. The first retirement of the race concerns the Vista AF Corse Ferrari No. 54 after Thomas Flohr lost the rear of his car in the corner before the Dunlop chicane and hit the barriers hard to the driver’s right. The mistake happened shortly after the Swiss driver had served a penalty for the collision with the COOL ORECA in Hour 2.

“Sometimes things go well at Le Mans, sometimes not. Fortunately, Thomas is fine,” said Flohr’s teammate Davide Rigon.

And there may be another retirement on the horizon, as the No. 23 United Autosports ORECA (a pre-race favorite to win P2 Pro/Am) that slid at Dunlop is currently undergoing repairs in the pits.

“A piece of gravel got stuck between the belt and the generator. There’s no turning back now,” said a dejected Keating.

Halfway through the hour, things went from bad to worse for BMW’s Hypercar effort marking the 25th anniversary of the V12 LMR’s overall victory. Robin Frijns in the No. 20 ‘Art Car’ – running 16th – lost control on the approach to the Ford Chicane, went off the track and crashed into the barriers on the left-hand side of the track.

The impact caused damage to the front, right side and rear of the car. Frijns was able to continue with a flat rear tyre, but to make matters worse, he had to drive a full lap with the damage as the incident occurred shortly after the pit stop.

When he returned to his box, he was pushed back into the garage for repairs to the car’s right rear suspension.

This is an incident for both M Hybrid V8s so far. The No. 20 is now seven laps behind and is practically out of the race. All eyes are on the delayed No. 15, which is on the lead lap but in 20th place and more than three minutes behind.

HOUR 3 RANKING