24h Le Mans
Toyota, BMW and Cadillac are sitting at the top table with their cards close to their chests. Toyota and BMW have one car in the fight; Cadillac has two. Will that play dividends for the American marque? Welcome to the night at Le Mans.
At midnight, eight hours into the race, the top-four were separated by just 45 seconds before the first Safety Car of the race was deployed. Shuffling the pack… it’s game on.
What a busy second four hours it has been. If you're only joining us at hour eight... where have you been? You can catch up on the opening phase of the race. We are now under total darkness as the sun goes down at Le Mans.
At hour four, we left the battle with Toyota electing to pursue an early pit-stop strategy – a masterstroke from the Japanese manufacturer.
Using years of experience, the #8 Toyota, driven by Sébastien Buemi, Brendon Hartley and Ryo Hirakawa, had climbed from 15th on the grid into the lead. The move created concern among its rivals, as the red-and-white machine remained a constant presence at the front through each round of pit-stop cycles.
BMW had to respond and, by the end of the first eight hours of the race, was matching Toyota's pit-stop windows. In the seventh hour, the #20 BMW M Hybrid V8 and the Toyota GR010 Hybrid ran nose to tail, separated by just half a second in the fight for the lead at 23:00 local time.
Toyota had the edge out of the slower corners, while the BMW stretched its legs through the faster sections. It became a cat-and-mouse chase before both cars dived into the pits. Although Toyota came in second, it emerged ahead of the BMW after electing to take on less fuel, as both teams kept a wary eye on the threat from Michigan - approaching on two fronts.
The #38 Cadillac, shared by Earl Bamber, Jack Aitken and Sébastien Bourdais, is the car everyone has their eyes on. It showed impressive one-lap speed in qualifying and has been equally effective over longer stints.
Twelve months ago, the Hertz Team JOTA Cadillacs struggled to bring their tyres into the optimum operating window. This year, the team switched to the softer compound earlier, and it paid dividends. On lap 123, Earl Bamber set the fastest lap of the race so far as he looked to build a gap over the Toyota behind him.
The #38 focused on the Toyota, while the #12 Cadillac V-Series.R, with Will Stevens at the wheel, was shadowing and keeping pressure on the #20 BMW.
When the Safety Car was deployed at the end of the eighth hour, it was scramble, scramble, scramble as every team used the opportunity to pit.
French fans will be pleased to see the #36 Alpine fighting for a top-five finish, although even in Jules Gounon's hands it has been unable to close the gap to the four cars ahead.
Elsewhere, drama struck the pole-sitters as darkness fell. Damage was bestowed upon the #20 BMW, after contact with an LMP2 car. WHat followed was a spectacular exit of the tyre rubber off the rim forcing the car into a painful crawl down the Mulsanne Straight and around the agonisingly long 13.626km Circuit de la Sarthe.
Haemorrhaging time, the BMW dropped to the back of the Hypercar field and it wasn’t too long before the Bavarian machine returned to the pits once again, this time it was lifted onto its dollies and pushed into the garage as the team worked to rectify the damage and any resulting issues.
Ferrari is beginning to chip away at the deficit but will need something special to happen and will be reliant on trouble hitting those ahead. The #50 remains sixth, while the #51 continues its recovery despite serving an earlier drive-through penalty following contact with an LMP2 car.
Last year's winners, the #83 AF Corse Ferrari 499P, had struggled throughout the week, but a spirited drive has lifted them into ninth, ahead of the two new Genesis Hypercars.
Persistence is the word that best describes the #7 Toyota. It has not enjoyed the same fortune as the #8, but patience is beginning to pay off as it circulates inside the top 10.
British fans will be delighted by Cadillac Hertz Team JOTA's fortunes but disappointed by the Aston Martin Valkyries, which sit 12th and 15th. The American run team will have some head scratching to try and get one of the cars into the top ten tomorrow.
Duqueine Team held the advantage as the sun set, fending off the immediate threat from Forestier Racing by Panis as well as the dual Inter Europol Competition assault, with the Polish outfit attempting to extend its stints.
The #343 entry remains the nearest challenger, while the #26 Vector Sport machine has moved into podium contention ahead of the #37 CLX Motorsport car. The Panis-supported team rounds out the top five.
The race's first Safety Car was deployed a little over seven and a half hours into the event when the #54 Ferrari ran side-by-side with one of the Ford Mustangs.
Running on the dirtier outside line, the Ferrari 296 LMGT3 Evo made contact with the American machine before spinning into the gravel in the Esses approaching Tertre Rouge, where it became stranded and awaited recovery.
Meanwhile, Heart of Racing – the team that started from pole before being shuffled down the order – fought back impressively during the second four-hour period to return the Aston Martin Vantage AMR LMGT3 to the class lead.
Kessel Racing is carrying Ferrari's hopes in second place with the #74 entry, ahead of the #21 Vista AF Corse Ferrari in third. Emerging from seemingly nowhere, the #77 Proton Competition Ford Mustang LMGT3 has charged through the GT field and looks a genuine podium contender heading into the second half of the race.
Top 5 after 8 Hours (During Safety Car):
Category Leaders:
Fastest Lap: Earl Bamber (Cadillac V-Series.R #38 Cadillac Hertz Team JOTA) - 3:26.370 on lap 123
Retirements
