LM24, Hour 7: Safety Car welcomes nightfall after serious BMW incident

With rain, tyre strategy gambles, accidents, mechanical issues and the first safety car period of the race, the seventh hour of the 2024 24 Hours of Le Mans had it all.

The safety car was deployed for the first time after a serious accident occurred on the track leading to the Mulsanne corner.

Dries Vanthoor in the No.15 Team WRT BMW M Hybrid V8 skipped the second chicane on his out lap as he struggled with cold tyres. When he rejoined the track, he was promptly jostled as he was overtaken by the leading No.83 AF Corse Ferrari of Robert Kubica as the two cars passed the Pure Rxcing Porsche.

The collision caused Vanthoor to come off the track and crash into the barriers, tearing off the front of the car. The Belgian briefly got going again, but because the front wheels were not pointing in the right direction, he had to stop again quickly and abandon the car.

There are now three Hypercars out in total, and the Safety Car came out to clear up the debris and repair the barriers. As for BMW’s challenge, the ‘Art Car’ is technically still in the race, but is currently in the garage, 16 laps off the lead. The car has already had its rear driveshaft and rear brakes replaced, and work is currently being carried out on the rear and underbody.

Under the safety car, the AF Corse No. 83 leads the race, the Porsche No. 5 of Fred Makowiecki is second and the Toyota No. 8 is third.

In the LMP2 class, the #37 ORECA of COOL Racing is in the lead despite a spin during the pit stop that cost valuable time. The #22 ORECA of United is in second place, while the Vector Sport dropped from first to third after a pit stop during the safety car.

Meanwhile, in the LMGT3 standings, the No. 46 BMW is back in the lead, followed by Pure Rxcing in second place and the Heart of Racing Aston Martin in third place, after the team gradually caught up following the team’s early tire gamble.

In addition to the incident involving the BMW No. 15, there was another significant incident: on a track that was wet due to a brief rain shower, Claudio Schiavoni in the Iron Lynx Lamborghini No. 60 ended up in the barrier behind the second chicane because he had eased off the accelerator too early at the corner exit.

Sebastian Bourdais also went off the track once in Indianapolis, but was able to avoid contact with the barrier with his Cadillac No. 3.

The #46 BMW of Maxime Martin and the #23 United ORECA of Ben Hanley collided when the rain was at its heaviest, but both cars continued.

There was mechanical drama in the pit lane for Inception Racing’s pole position McLaren LMGT3, which was pushed back to the garage with steam rising from the radiator.

Earlier, in the rain, almost the entire Hypercar field pitted on Michelin rain tires, with the exception of the No. 50 and No. 51 factory Ferraris. The team was confident the rain would pass. Unfortunately for the Italians, that wasn’t the case before the No. 51 dropped back on the lead lap and struggled with the pace.

However, the Safety Car reversal puts the #51 back in the fight. The top 12 are now on the lead lap as we await the restart.

HOUR 7: RANKINGS FOLLOW