20-hour round-up: Ferrari occupy top three despite lead dropping scare for the #51

We made it to lunchtime – it’s 12:00 local time and we are into the final countdown. With four hours remaining, it looks fairly clear that a Ferrari will win the race – failing any catastrophic events. Was your heart racing when the #51 was in the gravel? Is that the race over? Or is it just heating up? 

Hypercar

Robert Kubica in his #83 AF Corse 499P has been the man on a mission this morning as he has clung onto the back of the factory #51 Ferrari AF Corse 499P. Kubica had a heart-in-the-mouth moment as the Polish driver quickly came upon an LMP2 car having a moment mid-corner – Kubica dropped back to over seven seconds behind the leader, but soon slashed the deficit to a second. The #51 is looking incredibly strong, and two hours ago, found another gear, eking out a near 30-second lead. However, coming in for a scheduled stop Alessandro Pier Guidi came into the access road, en route to the pits, way too hot, spinning the scarlet red machine and almost beaching it in the gravel in the process. Shunting backwards and forwards, Pier Guidi made it back into the pits – but dropped into third as time slipped through his hands. 

Kubica has shown the #83 has flashes of pace – hammering in a fastest lap at one point, but the #50 and #51 are now hunting in a pack and bearing down on the yellow example of the 499P. Can the smaller AF Corse team hang on whilst looking over their shoulder?

The #6 Porsche Penske Motorsport is on the coattails of the two factory Ferraris. The Porsche is continuing to go longer into the stint – but has been leapfrogged in the last few hours – now making it a clean sweep at the top for the prancing horses. Porsche look to have no answer to the Italian machines and will want to keep in touch and pray something happens again upfront for any chance of a top-three result. 

The #8 Toyota Gazoo Racing GR010 – Hybrid took a trip across the kitty litter on the run up to the Dunlop Bridge as a wheel nut sheered n the front left and flew off into the gravel meaning the black machine had to limp back to the pits with a puncture – dropping them out the top five and promoting the #12 Cadillac Hertz Team JOTA entry.

Elsewhere, tiredness crept into Jules Gounon’s stint, just minutes after our 08:00 update. Inside the #36 Alpine A424, the Frenchman misjudged his braking point at the bottom of the Mulsanne – dropping his blue Alpine Endurance Team machine into the gravel trap. Thankfully the recovery team could retrieve the stricken car and put it back on terra firma under a Full Course Yellow (FCY).

The #15 BMW was slightly luckier, going off on the same corner, but thankfully the BMW M Hybrid V8 was able to plough its way through the loose, and flirt its way past the barrier and exit back onto the race track without losing too much time. 

Since our last update we have sadly lost the other Cadillac from the USA with the #311 Whelan effort – which was the American bastion of hope last night for a podium. The red car has been sidelined as it came to a grinding halt – parked up on the outside of turn one. The British-run Hertz Team JOTA Cadillacs are still in the race with the pole sitting #12 in fifth and the #38 just fighting on the fringe of the top ten.

British interest has peaked this year with the return of Aston Martin to the top-flight. The #007 and #009 Valkyries have run faultlessly so far – a great accolade for any new car. The #009 is ahead of the #007 – circulating in 16th.

Regarding cars on the leading lap – there are still eight Hypercars within two minutes 45 seconds of each other after 20 hours of racing!

LMP2

It’s brewing nicely in the LMP2 ORECA battle. The #43 Inter Europol Competition team were charging off to the finish, but the #48 #VDS Panis Racing team in the seven hours remaining mark adjusted their strategy and pitting ahead of the Polish team had slashed the gap to approximately 16 seconds. The French team can almost see their rivals up the road! The #9 Iron Lynx is still on track for a podium, but have a closing #28 IDEC Sport machine hunting them down. Spike the dragon – aka the purple #199 AO by TF car is leading the Pro/AM category and playing their cards right, and with any misfortune to the cars in front, could also challenge for a rostrum.

LMGT3

The #92 Manthey 1ST Phorm Porsche is still not looking back and is extending its lead with every lap and every stint and look untouchable. The #21 Vista AF Corse Ferrari 296 LMGT3 still holds second, but need to just be wary of the star at the 20 hour mark – Mattia Drudi who has grabbed the #27 Heat of Racing Team Aston Martin by the scruff of its neck to haul it into third ahead of the #81 TF Sport Corvette and #87 Akkodis ASP Lexus which has taken their drive through penalty after contact with the Iron Dames Porsche.

Disaster struck the #78 Akkodis ASP Lexus with just under five hours to go as Finn Gehrsitz ran wide at the Porsche Curves, colliding with the barrier and ripping panels off the Lexus. A very brief FCY was called upon for the marshals to sweep up the gravel and debris. 

After 20 hours Top 5 overall:

1. #83 Ferrari 499P – AF Corse – Robert Kubica / Yifei Ye / Philip Hanson – 321 Laps

2. #50 Ferrari 499P – Ferrari-AF Corse – Antonio Fuoco / Nicklas Nielsen / Miguel Molina +32.915

3. #51 Ferrari 499P – Ferrari-AF Corse – Alessandro Pier Guidi / James Calado / Antonio Giovinazzi +45.664

4. #6 Porsche 963 – Porsche Penske Motorsport – Kévin Estre / Laurens Vanthoor / Matt Campbell +56.407

5. #12 Cadillac V-Series.R – Cadillac Hertz Team JOTA – Will Stevens / Norman Nato / Alex Lynn

Leaders in the other categories:

LMP2: #43 Oreca 07-Gibson #43 Inter Europol Competition – Jakub Smiechowski / Tom Dillmann / Nick Yelloly

LMGT3: #92 Porsche 911 GT3 R LMGT3 of Manthey 1ST Phorm – Ryan Hardwick / Riccardo Pera / Richard Lietz

Retirements:

#311 Cadillac V-Series.R – Cadillac Whelan – Jack Aitken / Felipe Drugovich / Frederik Vesti – Mechanical 

#18 Oreca 07-Gibson – IDEC Sport – Jamie Chadwick / Mathys Jaubert / André Lotterer – Lost a wheel

#54 Ferrari 296 LMGT3 – Vista AF Corse – Thomas Flohr / Francesco Castellacci / Davide Rigon – Mechanical

#101 Cadillac V-Series.R – Cadillac WTR – Ricky Taylor / Jordan Taylor / Filipe Albuquerque –  Engine

#24 ORECA 07-Gibson of Nielsen Racing – Naveen Rao / Cem Bolukbasi / Colin Braun (LMP2 Pro/Am) – Incident

#46 BMW M4 LMGT3 of Team WRT – Ahmad Al Harthy / Valentino Rossi / Kelvin van der Linde – Mechanical Problem

#60 Mercedes-AMG LMGT3 of Iron Lynx – Andrew Gilbert / Fran Rueda / Lorcan Hanafin – 22:24 – Engine Breakdown

#95 McLaren 720S LMGT3 Evo of United Autosports – Darren Leung / Sean Gelael / Marino Sato – 22:23 – Powertrain Failure

#88 Ford Mustang LMGT3 of Proton Competition – Stefano Gattuso / Giammarco Levorato / Dennis Olsen – 19:53 – Incident and Loss of a Wheel Nut

Fastest Lap

#38 Sébastien Bourdais, Cadillac V Series – Cadillac Hertz Team JOTA. 03:26.063 (Lap 310)