After eight hours of running, the hotly-anticipated 100th anniversary 24 Hours of Le Mans has taken a few strange turns. Sporadic rains covering only parts of the track, mechanical issues, and mistakes entering the Slow Zones resulting from other problems have left a significant portion of the field worse for wear already. And, through it all, a surprising leader has emerged at the front of the field.
From the opening corners, this looked like it might be a shock runaway win for Toyota as both of their cars were able to make quick work of the Ferraris that locked out the front row. That first run lasted all of half a lap, stopping as the No. 311 Cadillac V-Series.R of Action Express Racing spun into the wall on the exit of a damp first Mulsanne chicane. That car went more than a dozen laps down while it underwent repairs. When the race resumed, it quickly became clear that no one Hypercar manufacturer had a clear advantage on pace.
At least one car from all five of Ferrari, Toyota, Porsche, Cadillac, and Peugeot has already led this race. With each car showing enough pace to fight for the win, the story of the race has quickly become surviving long enough to factor into the end. Unfortunately, many of the leading Hypercar contenders have already suffered some losses.
Two major contenders have retired after failing to get back to the pit lane. The No. 75 Penske Porsche suffered a sudden mechanical malady, attempting to limp around the track before stopping and eventually calling it a race. The No. 7 Toyota suffered a catastrophic electrical issue after being involved in a four-car crash, forcing driver Kamui Kobayashi to abandon the car on a straight and leap to safety to avoid any risk of electrocution.
A few laps behind the leaders, the No. 38 customer Porsche 963 run by Jota Sport has also suffered a major disappointment. Driver Yifei Ye took the lead on a restart and built a ten second lead before going off on the Porsche curves, eventually hitting an outside wall hard. That car is now four laps behind the leaders.
At the tail end of the lead lap, the No. 3 Cadillac has already been hit from behind once and spun once more. The No. 6 Porsche is a lap down after a tire blew early in a lap, while the No. 5 Porsche is on the lead lap but down in seventh after serving a penalty for a safety car procedure infringement. The No. 51 Ferrari is down to fourth after spinning from the lead, and the No. 8 Toyota had struggled to keep up with its sister No. 7 car on pace while the 7 was still running.
That leaves a somewhat shocking overall podium through hour eight. The No. 50 Ferrari and No. 2 Cadillac are enjoying relatively quiet early running in second and third respectively, leaving the overall lead to a No. 94 Peugeot 9X8 that has run merely respectable, not competitive, lap times in all of the weekend's testing, practice, and qualifying sessions. That car came alive in the semi-wet conditions, and as darkness has fallen it has not faded in the slightest. The No. 93 Peugeot is a lap down, sure, but the team suddenly has a real reason to believe that its leading car, a car that runs without a full-length rear wing, could win this race overall in its first attempt.
In LMP2, Inter Europol's No. 34 Oreca leads the No. 41 Team WRT and No. 80 AF Corse cars. In fourth, the No. 28 Jota entry that crashed shortly after its Hypercar stablemate has recovered to stay in the fight to win. The dinosaur-liveried No. 56 Project 1 - AO Porsche leads in GTE-Am, ahead of the No. 85 Iron Dames Porsche with an all-woman lineup and the No. 54 AF Corse Ferrari. The Hendrick Motorsports NASCAR-style Camaro runs ahead of all but five GTE-Am cars, although it is not in an official race with that category.
Eleven cars are either retired or undergoing race-altering repairs. Many more are laps down after small crashes, spins, and assorted problems. With sixteen hours left, surviving the long night becomes the name of the game.
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June 11, 2023 at 05:48AM
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Peugeot Leads Crash-Filled Le Mans at Hour Eight - Road & Track
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