24 Hours of Le Mans – Sunday, 12:00 PM: Porsche Eyes the Stars, Audi Wants to Give It All
At noon, Porsche was still in a position to secure a double win at Le Mans thanks to its cars No. 19 and 17. The first Audi is No. 3 and is two laps behind. The brand with the rings, having faced numerous challenges during the race, has decided to attack relentlessly.
Three hours before the finish, the Porsches still seemed to be heading towards a historic victory. Thanks to the excellent work done by Nico Hülkenberg during the night, car no. 19 driven by Earl Bamber was leading, followed by car no. 17 of Timo Bernhard (and Mark Webber) one lap behind.
After experiencing several technical or disciplinary issues (including a drive-through penalty for not respecting a slow zone), the Audi No. 3 driven by André Lotterer was two laps behind the leader. The Audi No. 4 driven by Marco Bonanomi was three laps behind the first Porsche, but also faced reliability issues (with the front hood). In fifth place was the last Audi, No. 5 driven by Lucas Di Grassi. In the pits, Dr. Ullrich understandably did not look very pleased…
To catch up or to deliver a last stand, the brand with the rings has decided to increase the pace at the end of the race, even if it means making a few more pit stops, like car no. 8. The Audis are on average one and a half seconds faster than the Porsches right now, but that might not be enough to shake up the hierarchy. French driver Benoît Tréluyer, however, believes that anything can happen in the madness of Le Mans… Last year, the victory was indeed decided in the last hour of the race. Car no. 3 of André Lotterer, the best placed to challenge the victory with the Porsches, understood this well and recorded, at noon, the best lap time in the race at 3’17”475.
Audi might therefore rely on the sky and hope for reliability issues at Porsche… or the rain, which could arrive at some parts of the circuit around 2 p.m. The end of the race promises to be eventful in any case.
In LMP2, the Frenchman Nicolas Lapierre still maintains the first position in his Oreca No. 47. He has a one-lap lead over Sam Bird’s Ligier No. 26.
In GTE Pro, the battle is tight between the Ferrari 458 No. 51 and the Corvette No. 64: less than thirty seconds separate the two teams. In GTE Amateurs, despite his chickenpox, Pedro Lamy can calmly hope for the final victory, while Patrick Dempsey is still holding on to the podium.
