Antonio Fuoco/Miguel Molina/Nicklas Nielsen, #50 Ferrari 499P, Le Mans 24 Hours, 2023

Ferrari hold one-two lead after six hours as night falls at Le Mans

World Endurance Championship

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Ferrari sit first and second in the Le Mans 24 Hours after six hours with the number 51 car ahead of the number 50.

Alessandro Pier Guidi led the race at the six hour mark, 12 seconds ahead of team mate Nicklas Nielsen after the first quarter of the race was completed. The number 94 Peugeot was in third place, but was set to be passed by the two Toyotas in the pit cycle as the clocked ticked over to 10pm.

Hours 1-2

The track was slightly damp in the early part of the Mulsanne straight as the field rolled out onto the 13km Circuit de la Sarthe for the formation lap. As the two Ferraris led the more than 60 cars onto the track, the number 708 Glickenhaus hypercar remained in the pits after a gearbox leak had prevented it from taking the grid. When the field pulled away, the number 43 DKE Engineering LMP2 failed to leave the grid, but did eventually get rolling after the cars behind it had been released passed it.

When the clock rolled over to 4pm local time, the Le Mans 24 Hours got underway. There was a rush into the first chicane with Felipe Nasr locking up under braking in the number 75 Porsche Penske, bouncing over the kerb and making minor contact with the number eight Toyota.

The Ferraris of number 50 and 51 led the Toyotas of number eight and number seven onto the Mulsanne for the first time, with the track particularly damp at the first chicane. The slick circuit caught out Jack Aitken in the number 331 Cadillac, spinning into the left hand barrier and causing heavy damage to the front of his car. Behind, the number 32 Inter Europol LMP2 car driven by Karm Kvamme spun off the circuit into the chicane gravel trap.

The Toyotas both passed the number 51 Ferrari to move into second and third, before Buemi passed the leading number 50 Ferrari to take the lead of the race on the run down to Indianapolis. However, before the end of the first lap, the Safety Car was deployed due to barrier damage sustained by Aitken’s collision at the exit of the first chicane.

After almost forty minutes behind the Safety Car, the race resumed with Buemi in the number eight Toyota leading away the number 50 Ferrari driver by Nicklas Nielsen and Mike Conway third in the number seven Toyota. Conway emulated his team mate by overtaking the second-placed Ferrari on the run down to Indianapolis to move Toyota into a one-two position. But Nielsen fought back, passing the Toyota to the inside of the Mulsanne corner two laps later. The 50 Ferrari then pitted from second place, with James Calado passing Conway to move the number 51 Ferrari into second.

The first pit stop cycle saw the Toyotas stop for service first with the two Ferraris pitting last of the hypercars, the number 50 emerging with the lead having remained on its starting tyres, while the Toyotas switched from softs to mediums. Behind, there was an intense battle for fifth place between the number two Cadillac driven by Earl Bamber and the number six Porsche, driven by Laurens Vanthoor, with the pair making side-by-side contact on the way into the second chicane.

There was a heavy single-car crash for the number 14 Nielsen Racing LMP2 when Rodrigo Sales spun into the barriers on the way into the first corner and ripping the right-front wheel off his car. A Slow Zone was installed into turn one, with Ferrari taking advantage to pit the leading number 50 Ferrari, promoting Buemi and the number eight Toyota back into the lead. A second crash for the number 13 Tower Motorsports LMP2 car out of Tetre Rouge saw the Slow Zone extended onto the Mulsanne straight after Ricky Taylor lost control and crashed into the barriers.

Buemi made a second pit stop from the lead, which moved the number 51 Ferrari into first but it then pitted itself, moving Bamber in the number two Cadillac out front. In the Slow Zone, the number three Cadillac was hit from behind by the number 21 AF Corse Ferrari GTE car, causing major damage to the front of the Ferrari and minor rear damage to the Cadillac. Sebastien Bourdais recovered the number three Cadillac to the pit lane where the minor damage was repaired and the car returned to the circuit without losing a lap, with Scott Dixon now at the wheel.

As the clocked ticked over to 6pm, the number two Cadillac led the race by just over four seconds from the number five and 75 Porsche Penskes, with the number eight Toyota in fourth. In LMP2, WRT were leading with Robert Kubica at the wheel, with Project 1 the leaders in the GTE Am class. The Garage 56 entry of Hendrick Motorsports was sitting in 41st place with Jimmie Johnson at the wheel.

Positions after two hours

PosNo.ClassTeamCarDriversLaps
12Hypercar (H)Cadillac RacingCadillac V-Series.REarl Bamber/Alex Lynn/Richard Westbrook
25Hypercar (H)Porsche Penske MotorsportPorsche 963Dane Cameron/Michael Christensen/Frederic Makowiecki1 lap
375Hypercar (H)Porsche Penske MotorsportPorsche 963Felipe Nasr/Mathieu Jaminet/Nicholas Tandy1 lap
48Hypercar (H)Toyota Gazoo RacingToyota GR010Sebastien Buemi/Brendon Hartley/Ryo Hirakawa1 lap
538Hypercar (H)Hertz Team JOTAPorsche 963Antonio Felix Da Costa/Will Stevens/Yifei Ye1 lap
66Hypercar (H)Porsche Penske MotorsportPorsche 963Kevin Estre/Andre Lotterer/Laurens Vanthoor1 lap
77Hypercar (H)Toyota Gazoo RacingToyota GR010Mike Conway/Kamui Kobayashi/Jose Maria Lopez1 lap
850Hypercar (H)Ferrari AF CorseFerrari 499PAntonio Fuoco/Miguel Molina/Nicklas Nielsen1 lap
951Hypercar (H)Ferrari AF CorseFerrari 499PAlessandro Pier Guidi/James Calado/Antonio Giovinazzi1 lap
1094Hypercar (H)Peugeot TotalenergiesPeugeot 9X8Loic Duval/Gustavo Menezes/Nico Mueller1 lap
1193Hypercar (H)Peugeot TotalenergiesPeugeot 9X8Paul di Resta/Mikkel Jensen/Jean-Eric Vergne1 lap
12709HypercarGlickenhaus RacingGlickenhaus 007Franck Mailleux/Nathanael Berthon/Esteban Gutierrez1 lap
134HypercarFloyd Vanwall Racing TeamVanwall Vandervell 680Tom Dillmann/Esteban Guerrieri/Tristan Vautier1 lap
143Hypercar (H)Cadillac RacingCadillac V-Series.RSebastien Bourdais/Renger Van Der Zande/Scott Dixon1 lap
1541LMP2Team WRTOreca 07 – GibsonRui Andrade/Louis Deletraz/Robert Kubica1 lap
1636LMP2Alpine Elf TeamOreca 07 – GibsonMatthieu Vaxiviere/Charles Milesi/Julienal Canal1 lap
1728LMP2JOTAOreca 07 – GibsonDavid Heinemeier Hansson/Oliver Rasmussen/Pietro Fittipaldi1 lap
1823LMP2United AutosportsOreca 07 – GibsonJoshua Pierson/Tom Blomqvist/Oliver Jarvis1 lap
1910LMP2Vector SportOreca 07 – GibsonRyan Cullen/Gabriel Aubry/Matthias Kaiser1 lap
2030LMP2Duqueine TeamOreca 07 – GibsonNeel Jani/Rene Binder/Nicolas Pino1 lap
2134LMP2Inter Europol CompetitionOreca 07 – GibsonJakub Smiechowski/Albert Costa/Fabio Scherer1 lap
2248LMP2Idec SportOreca 07 – GibsonPaul Lafargue/Paul Loup Chatin/Laurents Horr1 lap
2335LMP2Alpine Elf TeamOreca 07 – GibsonAndre Negrão/Olli Caldwell/Memo Rojas1 lap
2422LMP2United AutosportsOreca 07 – GibsonPhilip Hanson/Filipe Albuquerque/Frederick Lubin1 lap
2565LMP2Panis RacingOreca 07 – GibsonManuel Maldonado/Tijmen van der Helm/Job van Uitert1 lap
2647LMP2Cool RacingOreca 07 – GibsonReshad de Gerus/Vladislav Lomko/Simon Pagenaud1 lap
2731LMP2Team WRTOreca 07 – GibsonSean Gelael/Ferdinand Habsburg/Robin Frijns1 lap
289LMP2Prema RacingOreca 07 – GibsonBent Viscaal/Juan Manuel Correa/Filip Ugran1 lap
2943LMP2 Pro/AmDKR EngineeringOreca 07 – GibsonTom Van Rompuy/Ugo de Wilde/Maxime Martin1 lap
3039LMP2 Pro/AmGraff RacingOreca 07 – GibsonRoberto Lacorte/Giedo van der Garde/Patrick Pilet1 lap
3180LMP2 Pro/AmAF CorseOreca 07 – GibsonFrancois Perrodo/Ben Barnicoat/Norman Nato1 lap
32708HypercarGlickenhaus RacingGlickenhaus 007Romain Dumas/Olivier Pla/Ryan Briscoe1 lap
3363LMP2Prema RacingOreca 07 – GibsonDoriane Pin/Daniil Kvyat/Mirko Bortolotti1 lap
34923LMP2 Pro/AmRacing Team TurkeyOreca 07 – GibsonSalih Yoluc/Tom Gamble/Dries Vanthoor1 lap
3545LMP2 Pro/AmAlgarve Pro RacingOreca 07 – GibsonGeorge Kurtz/James Allen/Colin Braun1 lap
3637LMP2 Pro/AmCool RacingOreca 07 – GibsonNicolas Lapierre/Alexandre Coigny/Malthe Jakobsen1 lap
3756LMGTE AmProject 1 – AOPorsche 911 RSR-19PJ Hyett/Gunnar Jeannette/Matteo Cairoli1 lap
3886LMGTE AmGR RacingPorsche 911 RSR-19Michael Wainwright/Benjamin Barker/Riccardo Pera1 lap
3985LMGTE AmIron DamesPorsche 911 RSR-19Sarah Bovy/Michelle Gatting/Rahel Frey1 lap
40911LMGTE AmProton CompetitionPorsche 911 RSR-19Michael Fassbender/Martin Rump/Richard Lietz1 lap
4124CDNTHendrick MotorsportsChevrolet Camaro ZL1Jimmie Johnson/Mike Rockenfeller/Jenson Button1 lap
4254LMGTE AmAF CorseFerrari 488 GTE EvoThomas Flohr/Francesco Castellacci/Davide Rigon1 lap
4374LMGTE AmKessel RacingFerrari 488 GTE EvoKei Cozzolino/Yorikatsu Tsujiko/Naoki Yokomizo1 lap
44100LMGTE AmWalkenhorst MotorsportFerrari 488 GTE EvoChandler Hull/Andrew Haryanto/Jeffrey Segal1 lap
4525LMGTE AmORT by TFAston Martin Vantage AMRAhmad Al Harthy/Michael Dinan/Charlie Eastwood1 lap
4672LMGTE AmTF SportAston Martin Vantage AMRArnold Robin/Maxime Robin/Valentin Hasse-Clot1 lap
4788LMGTE AmProton CompetitionPorsche 911 RSR-19Harry Tincknell/Donald Yount/Jonas Ried1 lap
4860LMGTE AmIron LynxPorsche 911 RSR-19Claudio Schiavoni/Matteo Cressoni/Alessio Picariello1 lap
4983LMGTE AmRichard Mille AF CorseFerrari 488 GTE EvoLuis Perez Companc/Alessio Rovera/Lilou Wadoux1 lap
5057LMGTE AmKessel RacingFerrari 488 GTE EvoTakeshi Kimura/Scott Huffaker/Daniel Serra1 lap
51777LMGTE AmD’Station RacingAston Martin Vantage AMRSatoshi Hoshino/Casper Stevenson/Tomonobu Fujii1 lap
5266LMGTE AmJMW MotorsportFerrari 488 GTE EvoThomas Neubauer/Louis Prette/Giacomo Petrobelli1 lap
5377LMGTE AmDempsey-Proton RacingPorsche 911 RSR-19Christian Ried/Mikkel Pedersen/Julien Andlauer1 lap
5416LMGTE AmProton CompetitionPorsche 911 RSR-19Ryan Hardwick/Zacharie Robichon/Jan Heylen1 lap
5532LMP2Inter Europol CompetitionOreca 07 – GibsonMark Kvamme/Jan Magnussen/Anders Fjordbach1 lap
5698LMGTE AmNorthwest AMRAston Martin Vantage AMRIan James/Daniel Mancinelli/Alex Riberas1 lap
5733LMGTE AmCorvette RacingChevrolet Corvette C8.RNicky Catsburg/Ben Keating/Nicolas Varrone1 lap
5855LMGTE AmGMB MotorsportAston Martin Vantage AMRGustav Dahlmann Birch/Marco Sorensen/Jens Reno Moller1 lap
5921LMGTE AmAF CorseFerrari 488 GTE EvoSimon Mann/Julien Piguet/Ulysse de Pauw1 lap
6013LMP2 Pro/AmTower MotorsportsOreca 07 – GibsonSteven Thomas/Ricky Taylor/Rene Rast2 laps
6114LMP2 Pro/AmNielsen RacingOreca 07 – GibsonRodrigo Sales/Mathias Beche/Ben Hanley1 lap
62311Hypercar (H)Action Express RacingCadillac V-Series.RLuis Felipe Derani/Alexander Sims/Jack Aitken8 laps

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Hours 3-4

Just ten minutes into the third hour of the race, Bamber brought the leading Cadillac into the pits, falling behind both Toyotas and both Ferraris. It also moved the number five and 75 Porsche Penskes into the first two places. As the number two Cadillac received a service, the Slow Zones around the opening sector of the lap were relieved, costing Cadillac significant time compared to their rivals who had stopped under yellows.

Both Porsches pitted soon after, moving Buemi back into the lead of the race in the number eight Toyota, ahead of the number 38 Jota hypercar in second. An intense four car battle over second place ignited, with the Jota car driven by Antonio Felix da Costa under pressure from the number 50 Ferrari of Antonio Fuoco who had muscled his way by Vanthoor in the number six Porsche Penske, while Conway was close behind the three of them in the number seven Toyota.

Da Costa pulled the Jota car into the pits, followed by the two Ferraris, which put the number eight Toyota back into the lead of the race. There was a crash in the traffic when the number 22 United Autosports LMP2 car crashed into the number 77 Dempsey Proton GT Porsche while attempting to lap the slower car at Tetre Rouge, prompting a Slow Zone at the section.

Rain began to make its way over the circuit from the south, arriving in the Porsche Curves, making the series of sweepers especially treacherous. Both the number eight Toyota and the number two Cadillac pitted, moving the number 50 Ferrari into the lead. However, by now, the track was completely wet in the final sector, while many cars still on the circuit on dry tyres due to the surface being completely dry over most of the course.

The wet Porsche Curves caught out many, with the number 708 Glickenhaus, Scott Dixon in the number three Cadillac and many GT cars spinning off into the entry of the Porsche Curves. With the rain spreading over the circuit, the Safety Car was deployed. After the hypercars formed up behind the three Safety Cars following various trips into the pit lane, the number 94 Peugeot driven by Gustavo Menezes put Peugeot at the front for the first time, ahead of the number 38 Jota of Yifei Ye and the two Ferraris of number 50 ahead of the sister number 51.

After a considerable time behind the Safety Car, a pack of cars opted to pit for slick tyres on the slowly drying track, including the Jota and the two Ferraris, which moved the number six Porsche and the two Toyotas of numbers seven and eight into second, third and fourth respectively behind the leading Peugeot. Jean-Eric Vergne had taken to the track in the sister number 93 Peugeot on dry tyres, but he spun at the Mulsanne Corner despite being at crawling speeds, drifting into the gravel trap.

The Safety Car continued to circulate until it had been on track for a full hour. When 6pm began, Menezes continued to lead the race in the number 94 Peugeot ahead of Kevin Estre in the number six Porsche and the two Toyotas of number seven, driven by Jose Maria Lopez and Brendon Hartley.

In LMP2, the two Alpines led the race, with the number 35 ahead of the sister number 36, with the GTE AM class lead by the number 85 Iron Dames driven by Sarah Bovy. Jenson Button was in 44th place in the Hendrick Motorsports NASCAR Camaro.

Positions after four hours

PosNo.ClassTeamCarDriversLaps
194Hypercar (H)Peugeot TotalenergiesPeugeot 9X8Loic Duval/Gustavo Menezes/Nico Mueller
26Hypercar (H)Porsche Penske MotorsportPorsche 963Kevin Estre/Andre Lotterer/Laurens Vanthoor1 lap
37Hypercar (H)Toyota Gazoo RacingToyota GR010Mike Conway/Kamui Kobayashi/Jose Maria Lopez1 lap
48Hypercar (H)Toyota Gazoo RacingToyota GR010Sebastien Buemi/Brendon Hartley/Ryo Hirakawa1 lap
575Hypercar (H)Porsche Penske MotorsportPorsche 963Felipe Nasr/Mathieu Jaminet/Nicholas Tandy1 lap
638Hypercar (H)Hertz Team JOTAPorsche 963Antonio Felix Da Costa/Will Stevens/Yifei Ye1 lap
72Hypercar (H)Cadillac RacingCadillac V-Series.REarl Bamber/Alex Lynn/Richard Westbrook1 lap
850Hypercar (H)Ferrari AF CorseFerrari 499PAntonio Fuoco/Miguel Molina/Nicklas Nielsen1 lap
951Hypercar (H)Ferrari AF CorseFerrari 499PAlessandro Pier Guidi/James Calado/Antonio Giovinazzi1 lap
105Hypercar (H)Porsche Penske MotorsportPorsche 963Dane Cameron/Michael Christensen/Frederic Makowiecki1 lap
11709HypercarGlickenhaus RacingGlickenhaus 007Franck Mailleux/Nathanael Berthon/Esteban Gutierrez1 lap
123Hypercar (H)Cadillac RacingCadillac V-Series.RSebastien Bourdais/Renger Van Der Zande/Scott Dixon1 lap
13708HypercarGlickenhaus RacingGlickenhaus 007Romain Dumas/Olivier Pla/Ryan Briscoe1 lap
1435LMP2Alpine Elf TeamOreca 07 – GibsonAndre Negrão/Olli Caldwell/Memo Rojas1 lap
1536LMP2Alpine Elf TeamOreca 07 – GibsonMatthieu Vaxiviere/Charles Milesi/Julienal Canal1 lap
1623LMP2United AutosportsOreca 07 – GibsonJoshua Pierson/Tom Blomqvist/Oliver Jarvis1 lap
1730LMP2Duqueine TeamOreca 07 – GibsonNeel Jani/Rene Binder/Nicolas Pino1 lap
1841LMP2Team WRTOreca 07 – GibsonRui Andrade/Louis Deletraz/Robert Kubica1 lap
1928LMP2JOTAOreca 07 – GibsonDavid Heinemeier Hansson/Oliver Rasmussen/Pietro Fittipaldi1 lap
2010LMP2Vector SportOreca 07 – GibsonRyan Cullen/Gabriel Aubry/Matthias Kaiser1 lap
2165LMP2Panis RacingOreca 07 – GibsonManuel Maldonado/Tijmen van der Helm/Job van Uitert1 lap
229LMP2Prema RacingOreca 07 – GibsonBent Viscaal/Juan Manuel Correa/Filip Ugran1 lap
2348LMP2Idec SportOreca 07 – GibsonPaul Lafargue/Paul Loup Chatin/Laurents Horr1 lap
2447LMP2Cool RacingOreca 07 – GibsonReshad de Gerus/Vladislav Lomko/Simon Pagenaud1 lap
2537LMP2 Pro/AmCool RacingOreca 07 – GibsonNicolas Lapierre/Alexandre Coigny/Malthe Jakobsen1 lap
26923LMP2 Pro/AmRacing Team TurkeyOreca 07 – GibsonSalih Yoluc/Tom Gamble/Dries Vanthoor1 lap
2745LMP2 Pro/AmAlgarve Pro RacingOreca 07 – GibsonGeorge Kurtz/James Allen/Colin Braun1 lap
2834LMP2Inter Europol CompetitionOreca 07 – GibsonJakub Smiechowski/Albert Costa/Fabio Scherer1 lap
2980LMP2 Pro/AmAF CorseOreca 07 – GibsonFrancois Perrodo/Ben Barnicoat/Norman Nato1 lap
3093Hypercar (H)Peugeot TotalenergiesPeugeot 9X8Paul di Resta/Mikkel Jensen/Jean-Eric Vergne1 lap
3163LMP2Prema RacingOreca 07 – GibsonDoriane Pin/Daniil Kvyat/Mirko Bortolotti1 lap
3239LMP2 Pro/AmGraff RacingOreca 07 – GibsonRoberto Lacorte/Giedo van der Garde/Patrick Pilet1 lap
3331LMP2Team WRTOreca 07 – GibsonSean Gelael/Ferdinand Habsburg/Robin Frijns1 lap
3485LMGTE AmIron DamesPorsche 911 RSR-19Sarah Bovy/Michelle Gatting/Rahel Frey1 lap
3556LMGTE AmProject 1 – AOPorsche 911 RSR-19PJ Hyett/Gunnar Jeannette/Matteo Cairoli1 lap
36911LMGTE AmProton CompetitionPorsche 911 RSR-19Michael Fassbender/Martin Rump/Richard Lietz1 lap
3772LMGTE AmTF SportAston Martin Vantage AMRArnold Robin/Maxime Robin/Valentin Hasse-Clot1 lap
3825LMGTE AmORT by TFAston Martin Vantage AMRAhmad Al Harthy/Michael Dinan/Charlie Eastwood1 lap
3966LMGTE AmJMW MotorsportFerrari 488 GTE EvoThomas Neubauer/Louis Prette/Giacomo Petrobelli1 lap
4054LMGTE AmAF CorseFerrari 488 GTE EvoThomas Flohr/Francesco Castellacci/Davide Rigon1 lap
4174LMGTE AmKessel RacingFerrari 488 GTE EvoKei Cozzolino/Yorikatsu Tsujiko/Naoki Yokomizo1 lap
4288LMGTE AmProton CompetitionPorsche 911 RSR-19Harry Tincknell/Donald Yount/Jonas Ried1 lap
4357LMGTE AmKessel RacingFerrari 488 GTE EvoTakeshi Kimura/Scott Huffaker/Daniel Serra1 lap
4424CDNTHendrick MotorsportsChevrolet Camaro ZL1Jimmie Johnson/Mike Rockenfeller/Jenson Button1 lap
45777LMGTE AmD’Station RacingAston Martin Vantage AMRSatoshi Hoshino/Casper Stevenson/Tomonobu Fujii1 lap
4698LMGTE AmNorthwest AMRAston Martin Vantage AMRIan James/Daniel Mancinelli/Alex Riberas1 lap
47100LMGTE AmWalkenhorst MotorsportFerrari 488 GTE EvoChandler Hull/Andrew Haryanto/Jeffrey Segal1 lap
4886LMGTE AmGR RacingPorsche 911 RSR-19Michael Wainwright/Benjamin Barker/Riccardo Pera1 lap
4933LMGTE AmCorvette RacingChevrolet Corvette C8.RNicky Catsburg/Ben Keating/Nicolas Varrone1 lap
504HypercarFloyd Vanwall Racing TeamVanwall Vandervell 680Tom Dillmann/Esteban Guerrieri/Tristan Vautier1 lap
5122LMP2United AutosportsOreca 07 – GibsonPhilip Hanson/Filipe Albuquerque/Frederick Lubin1 lap
5232LMP2Inter Europol CompetitionOreca 07 – GibsonMark Kvamme/Jan Magnussen/Anders Fjordbach1 lap
5377LMGTE AmDempsey-Proton RacingPorsche 911 RSR-19Christian Ried/Mikkel Pedersen/Julien Andlauer1 lap
5483LMGTE AmRichard Mille AF CorseFerrari 488 GTE EvoLuis Perez Companc/Alessio Rovera/Lilou Wadoux5 laps
5543LMP2 Pro/AmDKR EngineeringOreca 07 – GibsonTom Van Rompuy/Ugo de Wilde/Maxime Martin1 lap
56311Hypercar (H)Action Express RacingCadillac V-Series.RLuis Felipe Derani/Alexander Sims/Jack Aitken3 laps
5760LMGTE AmIron LynxPorsche 911 RSR-19Claudio Schiavoni/Matteo Cressoni/Alessio Picariello1 lap
5816LMGTE AmProton CompetitionPorsche 911 RSR-19Ryan Hardwick/Zacharie Robichon/Jan Heylen1 lap
5955LMGTE AmGMB MotorsportAston Martin Vantage AMRGustav Dahlmann Birch/Marco Sorensen/Jens Reno Moller7 laps
6021LMGTE AmAF CorseFerrari 488 GTE EvoSimon Mann/Julien Piguet/Ulysse de Pauw1 lap
6113LMP2 Pro/AmTower MotorsportsOreca 07 – GibsonSteven Thomas/Ricky Taylor/Rene Rast2 laps
6214LMP2 Pro/AmNielsen RacingOreca 07 – GibsonRodrigo Sales/Mathias Beche/Ben Hanley1 lap

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Hours 5-6

Despite the Safety Car being deployed at 6.53pm, the race did not resume until 8.18pm, well over an hour later. When the green flag did fly, the second-placed number six Porsche Penske and the two Toyotas behind it immediate pitted, as the number 94 Peugeot led the field away. There was an intense battle involving Dane Cameron in the number five Porsche Penske and the two Ferraris, with Cameron managing to dispatch the two 499Ps.

Ye in the number 38 Jota made a move for the race lead, passing the number 94 Peugeot, which soon pitted. That put the Jota car in the lead, with the number five Porsche Penske in second and the number 50 Ferrari in third. Cameron had a moment in the second-placed Porsche Penske at the Porsche Curves, dislodging one of the advertising boardings and losing second place in the process. This necessitated a brief Slow Zone as the board remained on the race track. Matters got worse for Cameron soon after when he was hit with a drive-through penalty after being deemed to have overtaken an LMP2 car behind the Safety Car.

Then there was drama as race leader Yifei Ye suddenly ran wide through the Porsche Curves and slipped off the track, through the gravel and into the tyre wall. The contact ripped off the rear bodywork from the number 38 Jota hypercar, forcing him to immediately pit and prompting the deployment of a Full Course Yellow to allow debris to be cleared around the circuit.

That allowed both Ferraris of the number 50 of Miguel Molina and the number 51 of Antonio Giovinazzi to move up into the top two positions. They would soon pit themselves, cycling the number 75 Porsche Penske driven by Nick Tandy into the lead, before the two Toyotas behind it also pitted, moving the Ferraris back to second and third. That became first and second when Tandy pitted at 9:16pm, with Molina assuming the lead in the number 50 Ferrari ahead of team mate Giovinazzi in the sister car, the pair around 15 seconds ahead of Loic Duval in the number 94 Peugeot.

By 9.30pm, the sun was beginning to set and track temperatures started to drop. With the two Ferraris out front, first-placed Molina allowed Giovinazzi behind him through into the lead in the number 51 car. Giovinazzi was the first of the Ferraris to pit, soon joined by Molina a lap later. The number 51 car emerged in fourth with Alessandro Pier Guidi installed in the car, as Nicklas Nielsen emerged behind it in fifth in the number 50.

That moved the two Toyotas into the lead of the race, just before the clock ticked over to 10pm, however, Brendon Hartley in the number eight and Jose Maria Lopez in the number seven Toyota both peeled off into the pits one behind the other, with Tandy taking back the lead in the number 75 Porsche. He would pit himself just after the hour mark, moving the two Ferraris back into the lead of the race with the number 51 in the lead, 12 seconds ahead of the number 50 behind.

In LMP2, the number 34 Inter Europol car was leading the secondary category at the six hour mark, with the number 66 JMW Motorsport Ferrari leading in GTE AM.

Positions after six hours

PosNo.ClassTeamCarDriversLaps
175Hypercar (H)Porsche Penske MotorsportPorsche 963Felipe Nasr/Mathieu Jaminet/Nicholas Tandy33.318
251Hypercar (H)Ferrari AF CorseFerrari 499PAlessandro Pier Guidi/James Calado/Antonio Giovinazzi33.668
350Hypercar (H)Ferrari AF CorseFerrari 499PAntonio Fuoco/Miguel Molina/Nicklas Nielsen34.627
494Hypercar (H)Peugeot TotalenergiesPeugeot 9X8Loic Duval/Gustavo Menezes/Nico Mueller33.466
52Hypercar (H)Cadillac RacingCadillac V-Series.REarl Bamber/Alex Lynn/Richard Westbrook33.56
68Hypercar (H)Toyota Gazoo RacingToyota GR010Sebastien Buemi/Brendon Hartley/Ryo Hirakawa1:54.309
77Hypercar (H)Toyota Gazoo RacingToyota GR010Mike Conway/Kamui Kobayashi/Jose Maria Lopez1:52.284
83Hypercar (H)Cadillac RacingCadillac V-Series.RSebastien Bourdais/Renger Van Der Zande/Scott Dixon33.398
95Hypercar (H)Porsche Penske MotorsportPorsche 963Dane Cameron/Michael Christensen/Frederic Makowiecki1:35.089
106Hypercar (H)Porsche Penske MotorsportPorsche 963Kevin Estre/Andre Lotterer/Laurens Vanthoor34.273
11709HypercarGlickenhaus RacingGlickenhaus 007Franck Mailleux/Nathanael Berthon/Esteban Gutierrez2:00.088
1293Hypercar (H)Peugeot TotalenergiesPeugeot 9X8Paul di Resta/Mikkel Jensen/Jean-Eric Vergne34.732
13708HypercarGlickenhaus RacingGlickenhaus 007Romain Dumas/Olivier Pla/Ryan Briscoe34.368
1434LMP2Inter Europol CompetitionOreca 07 – GibsonJakub Smiechowski/Albert Costa/Fabio Scherer35.313
1523LMP2United AutosportsOreca 07 – GibsonJoshua Pierson/Tom Blomqvist/Oliver Jarvis35.331
1628LMP2JOTAOreca 07 – GibsonDavid Heinemeier Hansson/Oliver Rasmussen/Pietro Fittipaldi34.866
1765LMP2Panis RacingOreca 07 – GibsonManuel Maldonado/Tijmen van der Helm/Job van Uitert34.987
1841LMP2Team WRTOreca 07 – GibsonRui Andrade/Louis Deletraz/Robert Kubica1:43.874
199LMP2Prema RacingOreca 07 – GibsonBent Viscaal/Juan Manuel Correa/Filip Ugran1:56.606
2030LMP2Duqueine TeamOreca 07 – GibsonNeel Jani/Rene Binder/Nicolas Pino35.405
2148LMP2Idec SportOreca 07 – GibsonPaul Lafargue/Paul Loup Chatin/Laurents Horr35.869
2280LMP2 Pro/AmAF CorseOreca 07 – GibsonFrancois Perrodo/Ben Barnicoat/Norman Nato35.606
2335LMP2Alpine Elf TeamOreca 07 – GibsonAndre Negrão/Olli Caldwell/Memo Rojas35.011
2447LMP2Cool RacingOreca 07 – GibsonReshad de Gerus/Vladislav Lomko/Simon Pagenaud35.242
2545LMP2 Pro/AmAlgarve Pro RacingOreca 07 – GibsonGeorge Kurtz/James Allen/Colin Braun35.639
2636LMP2Alpine Elf TeamOreca 07 – GibsonMatthieu Vaxiviere/Charles Milesi/Julienal Canal34.7
2738Hypercar (H)Hertz Team JOTAPorsche 963Antonio Felix Da Costa/Will Stevens/Yifei Ye1:38.924
2837LMP2 Pro/AmCool RacingOreca 07 – GibsonNicolas Lapierre/Alexandre Coigny/Malthe Jakobsen1:43.035
29923LMP2 Pro/AmRacing Team TurkeyOreca 07 – GibsonSalih Yoluc/Tom Gamble/Dries Vanthoor35.738
3063LMP2Prema RacingOreca 07 – GibsonDoriane Pin/Daniil Kvyat/Mirko Bortolotti34.324
3131LMP2Team WRTOreca 07 – GibsonSean Gelael/Ferdinand Habsburg/Robin Frijns34.495
3210LMP2Vector SportOreca 07 – GibsonRyan Cullen/Gabriel Aubry/Matthias Kaiser35.035
3339LMP2 Pro/AmGraff RacingOreca 07 – GibsonRoberto Lacorte/Giedo van der Garde/Patrick Pilet34.86
3466LMGTE AmJMW MotorsportFerrari 488 GTE EvoThomas Neubauer/Louis Prette/Giacomo Petrobelli37.663
3585LMGTE AmIron DamesPorsche 911 RSR-19Sarah Bovy/Michelle Gatting/Rahel Frey39.093
3654LMGTE AmAF CorseFerrari 488 GTE EvoThomas Flohr/Francesco Castellacci/Davide Rigon38.997
3756LMGTE AmProject 1 – AOPorsche 911 RSR-19PJ Hyett/Gunnar Jeannette/Matteo Cairoli37.625
38911LMGTE AmProton CompetitionPorsche 911 RSR-19Michael Fassbender/Martin Rump/Richard Lietz39.051
3925LMGTE AmORT by TFAston Martin Vantage AMRAhmad Al Harthy/Michael Dinan/Charlie Eastwood2:04.857
404HypercarFloyd Vanwall Racing TeamVanwall Vandervell 680Tom Dillmann/Esteban Guerrieri/Tristan Vautier35.364
4124CDNTHendrick MotorsportsChevrolet Camaro ZL1Jimmie Johnson/Mike Rockenfeller/Jenson Button2:08.563
4257LMGTE AmKessel RacingFerrari 488 GTE EvoTakeshi Kimura/Scott Huffaker/Daniel Serra38.086
4398LMGTE AmNorthwest AMRAston Martin Vantage AMRIan James/Daniel Mancinelli/Alex Riberas36.988
4488LMGTE AmProton CompetitionPorsche 911 RSR-19Harry Tincknell/Donald Yount/Jonas Ried38.322
45777LMGTE AmD’Station RacingAston Martin Vantage AMRSatoshi Hoshino/Casper Stevenson/Tomonobu Fujii37.097
4686LMGTE AmGR RacingPorsche 911 RSR-19Michael Wainwright/Benjamin Barker/Riccardo Pera38.064
4733LMGTE AmCorvette RacingChevrolet Corvette C8.RNicky Catsburg/Ben Keating/Nicolas Varrone36.993
4874LMGTE AmKessel RacingFerrari 488 GTE EvoKei Cozzolino/Yorikatsu Tsujiko/Naoki Yokomizo40.372
49100LMGTE AmWalkenhorst MotorsportFerrari 488 GTE EvoChandler Hull/Andrew Haryanto/Jeffrey Segal1:55.782
5022LMP2United AutosportsOreca 07 – GibsonPhilip Hanson/Filipe Albuquerque/Frederick Lubin2:02.288
5177LMGTE AmDempsey-Proton RacingPorsche 911 RSR-19Christian Ried/Mikkel Pedersen/Julien Andlauer38.1
5272LMGTE AmTF SportAston Martin Vantage AMRArnold Robin/Maxime Robin/Valentin Hasse-Clot38.107
5332LMP2Inter Europol CompetitionOreca 07 – GibsonMark Kvamme/Jan Magnussen/Anders Fjordbach35.952
54311Hypercar (H)Action Express RacingCadillac V-Series.RLuis Felipe Derani/Alexander Sims/Jack Aitken33.321
5543LMP2 Pro/AmDKR EngineeringOreca 07 – GibsonTom Van Rompuy/Ugo de Wilde/Maxime Martin36.191
5683LMGTE AmRichard Mille AF CorseFerrari 488 GTE EvoLuis Perez Companc/Alessio Rovera/Lilou Wadoux2:04.859
5760LMGTE AmIron LynxPorsche 911 RSR-19Claudio Schiavoni/Matteo Cressoni/Alessio Picariello39.31
5816LMGTE AmProton CompetitionPorsche 911 RSR-19Ryan Hardwick/Zacharie Robichon/Jan Heylen1:13.263
5955LMGTE AmGMB MotorsportAston Martin Vantage AMRGustav Dahlmann Birch/Marco Sorensen/Jens Reno Moller1:07.097
6021LMGTE AmAF CorseFerrari 488 GTE EvoSimon Mann/Julien Piguet/Ulysse de Pauw1:53.084
6113LMP2 Pro/AmTower MotorsportsOreca 07 – GibsonSteven Thomas/Ricky Taylor/Rene Rast1:04.404
6214LMP2 Pro/AmNielsen RacingOreca 07 – GibsonRodrigo Sales/Mathias Beche/Ben Hanley36.051

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Will Wood
Will has been a RaceFans contributor since 2012 during which time he has covered F1 test sessions, launch events and interviewed drivers. He mainly...

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35 comments on “Ferrari hold one-two lead after six hours as night falls at Le Mans”

  1. We are losing so much racing time due to these new safety car rules.

    That initial one the track was clear after 15-20 minutes yet it took them an additional 20+ minutes to do the merging and wave around.

    Way it was before had its flaws but at least it allowed us to go back to green as soon as the track was clear rather than losing so much green racing unnecessarily.

    But got to cater to the US market i guess.

    1. I don’t like the wasted time either. Also, is it fairer to close up the field if there is not a full lap advantage than having a small gap growing into a bigger gap with the 3 SCs stopping at the same time? I don’t think so. Hope they’ll get rid of it for next year.

  2. The new safety cars add 15-20 minutes unto already notoriously slow SC periods at Le Mans.

    Shifting the cars shouldn’t take this long (that is if you even want to do so, which is also debatable).

    And yet another collision in a yellow zone.

    Poor race directing from Eduardo Freitas.

  3. Safety car will win this race…

    1. It’s really becoming ridiculous.

  4. I went out the same time the safety car came out. An hour later I came back, still seeing the same safety car on track haha.

    Never seen before. Ridiculous indeed.

  5. Why has the SC been out there for so long? I just switched on, and don’t understand… why are they now waving the cars by? i fail to understand why they couldn’t do it 15 minutes ago

    1. It’s awful race directing. Race control announced the situation was cleared at 19:44 local time. The started the pass around only at 19:57, and now at 20:15 they’re still not done.

  6. Is it time yet to make merciless fun of this series, its hilarious race direction (Mr Freitas at his absolute best), and the apparently inept-in-the-rain tyre suppliers Michelin and Goodyear?

    Cause this has been a complete joke so far.

    1. All slicks are terrible on a wet track. It’s because race directors like Freitas can be relied upon to neutralize the race whenever someone goes off due to a shower that no team changes to the proper tyres (except, I think, Cadillac).

      1. Oh, I absolutely agree with apportioning most of the blame on Mr Freitas and his race direction.

        It’s just hard for me to imagine that the man is simply naturally predisposed not to have a race in wet conditions, rather than staying yellow because running this field on these tyres in the rain is not something he’s prepared to have on his conscience.

  7. RandomMallard
    10th June 2023, 19:28

    Yes, the new safety car procedures take absolutely forever to carry out. However, if they can reduce the number of incidents on a restart (now Hypercars and LMP2s won’t be fighting through GTEs on restarts), it could still actually reduce the total amount of time under SC, FCY or slow zones. After all, SCs breed SCs, especially in multiclass.

    Slow zones are such a good system. It really does help keep the flow of the race going when you would otherwise need an intervention.

    @proesterchen I don’t think the problem is with the wet tyres. It’s the fact that most of the cars were still on slicks when they hit the very wet sections of the track. The rain came down very intensely and very quickly, and on a 5 or 6 minute lap (with slow zones), it can be very difficult to know when the right time to pit is.

    Would also like to say that at the moment I write this, Jota are leading both Hypercar and LMP2. Very big moment for a pretty small operation!

    1. If the cars are still on slicks after the first time they made it past the pits, it’s a them problem if they end up in the gravel or armco.

      1. RandomMallard
        10th June 2023, 19:53

        @proesterchen Yeah I agree. It’s just that in your comment above, I interpreted it as you saying it was Michelin and Goodyear’s problem for making “inept-in-the-rain” tyres, rather than the teams for running slicks on a drenched track. I’m sorry if I interpreted this wrong.

        1. Nah, that’s alright, I did intentionally, if not completely seriously, insinuate that Michelin’s and/or Goodyear’s supply of rain tyres must be inept if very few are bothering to put them on the car even with the track flooded in multiple corners.

          It’s the old trope of if we don’t get green flag racing in the wet it must be the fault of the tyre supplier(s).

          1. Teams were hesitant to go for the wets initially because the really heavy rain was localised to 1 part of the track while the other 85% of the track was either totally dry or not wrt enough to justify wets.

            And then the rain very quickly got significantly heavier and hit other parts of the track at which point the SC was called as the parts of the track that got hit by extremely heavy rain were completely flooded.

            The biggest issue is that they banned intermediate tires and those wonderful hybrid slick/wet that Michelin developed so we are left with a situation where they have no tires for situations where parts of the track are still dry or simply not that wet.

            In years past teams would have gone to inters or hybrids but now all they have is slicks or extreme wets. The wets were good for the run to the Porsche curves butthey wouldn’t have been suitable for most the rest of the track where slicks were still suitable.

            They need to bring backs the inters and hybrids so they have suitable tires available for these kinds of conditions.

          2. You don’t need intermediates, you just need race direction that lets teams get away with rolling around on slicks during a downpour by unnecessarily extending SC conditions.

          3. *not let

  8. If we ignore the SC, the racing is fantastic!

    1. It’s been good fun since that second safety car.

      Toyota about a minute behind the lead Ferrari; seems the BoP change was pretty fair.

      1. How was the bop fair if the team that has won the first few races are now unable to compete?

        Seems that the bop has been manipulated to handicap Toyota for the benefit of the show. So guess wec is another joke series putting the show above the sport.

        1. Toyota is not unable to compete, they’re very close to the lead Ferrari, and well ahead of another Ferrari.

          1. In terms of pace the toyotas are nowhere. They are ahead of a Ferrari now due to pit sequence.

            It’s clear the bop has had an unfair effect on there race pace.

            The whole concept of Bop is a bit of a joke anyway. Handicapping some cars just so othets can complete has no place in the sport. It’s just a for show thing to artificially make it look like you have a close grid of cars when in reality your just handicapping those who do the best job and giving those who haven’t an advantage they don’t deserve.

            Bop is basically the whole reason I’ve never been able to get into sportscar. Just don’t enjoy the manipulation.

    2. I’m surprised you have time to comment on Racefans in between your driving shifts, Neel Jani! ;)

  9. @keithcollantine Wish we’d the live chat section for this race.

    1. @neelv27 Thanks for the feedback, it’s been great to see the interest in our WEC coverage this year. Definitely something we’ll consider for 2024.

  10. F1 fans may be critical of Eduardo Freitas but it’s interesting how the sportscar teams, drivers, media & fans all have a lot of respect and appreciation for him and the job he does in the series he acts as race director for.

    Can only guess the F1 fans been critical of him don’t really follow sportscars that closely or listen to what everyone involved in those categories who actually know what they are talking about think of him and the job he does.

    But no of course the armchair expert F1 netflix fans know more so guess we should all bow down to your views.

    1. Various of the drivers interviewed after their stint were pretty displeased by the length of the second safety car in particular.

      It took over half an hour between the marshal posts giving the all clear for the sorting procedure to be completed; that’s on Freitas.

      1. It’s not though as he’s just following the procedures that the FIA & ACO in collaboration with IMSA came up.

        Unlike the F1 officials he doesn’t ignore the procedures or regulations and instead applies them as instructed.

        The safety car procedures and how the queues are merged, waved around and sorted are all things detailed in the regulations rather than something the race director is coming up with on the fly.

        But maybe F1 fans just aren’t used to safety car procedures been following correctly.

        1. The Supplementary Regulations that are in effect for the 24h of Le Mans state that each phase of the procedure will start ‘when the Race Director decides it is safe’. That it takes half an hour is on him, not on the rules.

    2. Nah, he’s just really bad at his job. Regardless the series that for whatever reason chooses to employ him.

    3. Yellow Baron
      11th June 2023, 1:19

      F1 fans are some the worst, most negative, pessimistic, complaining, can’t enjoy something good, energy draining dementors out there

  11. I love the pack battling we’ve had so far in the Hypercar.
    As a Pole I couldnt be more happy with Interpol at the front in LMP2 and Kubica’s WRT at 3rd.

  12. Yet another big yellow flag collision with the #66 GTE.

    It’s not like this happened in just about the exact same place in free practise.

    Kobayashi now struggling to get back to the pits with the #7 Toyota. Doesn’t seem like the engine is working well enough, and the front motor can’t bring him back (as per the team radio).

    1. slow zone -> crash -> full course yellow -> localized yellow and now -> SC

      That’s super-competent race direction right there.

Comments are closed.