24 Hours of Le Mans – Sunday Morning: After the Night, Advantage for Porsche: Nico Hülkenberg on His Way to Victory?

Feared by all, the night at Le Mans did not stop the showdown at the top. Under the light of headlights and spotlights, the two teams from the Volkswagen group continued to offer a magnificent spectacle to all spectators and viewers.

Leader at Midnight, Porsche No. 19 still holds the lead this morning at 9 AM. It was first the British driver Nick Tandy who impressed until 3 AM, gradually widening the gap over the two Audis which were then in second and third positions.

Success also accompanied him by taking advantage of a slowdown zone caused by a struggling Nissan. Tandy managed to pass through the zone before the slowdown was implemented, unlike his pursuers, thus gaining precious seconds. Then Earl Bamber and Nico Hülkenberg reinforced the lead of car no. 19. For his first participation in the 24 Hours of Le Mans, the Force India driver also stands out with laps often below 3’20”!

Good strategy on their part during the long neutralization caused by an Aston Martin accident at around 7:30 in the morning. Hülkenberg took the opportunity to hand the wheel back to Nick Tandy.

Despite a slightly slower race pace, Audi continued to apply pressure throughout the night with the Audi No. 7 of the Fässler/Lotterer/Tréluyer trio and the No. 9 of the Albuquerque/Bonanomi/Rast trio. However, the armor of the team, a 13-time winner at Le Mans, cracked in the early morning, both literally and figuratively. Around 7 a.m., a part of the engine hood flew off the No. 7 car driven by Marcel Fässler at the time. The title-holder car, which lost 2 laps in this mishap, thus left only the No. 9 within contact of the leading Porsche.

But another major setback occurred during the neutralization following the Aston Martin accident. On the restart, René Rast had to give up the second position to Mark Webber’s No. 17 Porsche. The Australian driver may still have regrets about the 1-minute stop and go penalty he received last night. As for the third Porsche, some troubles towards the end of the stint hindered its progress: Neel Jani ended up stuck in the gravel trap after hitting the wall at Mulsanne just over an hour past midnight.

Porsche is gradually giving itself some leeway at the start of the morning. Rhythm and reliability are generally on point for the Stuttgart team.

As expected, Toyota is lagging behind. No major issues for the two crews. Despite that, the team is in seventh and eighth position. No retirements have affected the crews of the top three teams so far.

The edition, however, is much more difficult for Nissan. For its return to the premier category, the team based in Indianapolis is suffering not only from a lack of speed but also from a lack of reliability. The three Japanese cars encountered mechanical issues during the night: they are all positioned beyond the 40th place.

Also note an off-track excursion around 6:30 a.m. for Formula E driver Nico Prost in his Rebellion at the Indianapolis turn. The Swiss team is unusually struggling in this edition of the 24 Hours.

In the LMP2 category, despite an extended stop last night, the Oreca Nissan of the KCMG team is firmly leading, particularly thanks to the prowess of Nicolas Lapierre. 9th in the Overall Standings behind the strong competitors of the LMP1, the car marked with number 47 is leading by one lap ahead of the G-Drive Racing team driven by Sam Bird, who won an ePrix this season.

Uneventful night also for the GT drivers. In LM GTE Pro, the big loser is the Aston Martin number 99 driven by GP2 driver Richie Stanaway, among others. Hit by brake problems and then by contact with an Oreca, the team fell deep in the standings. All is well, however, for Corvette Racing car number 64, which is still fighting for the victory in its category. It had to nevertheless give up first place to an AF Corse Ferrari, number 51 of Gianmaria Bruni and Giancarlo Fisichella.

Finally, in LM GTE Am, it’s still the Aston Martin No. 98 that is in the lead, largely thanks to Pedro Lamy. Great performance by Patrick Dempsey in his Porsche 911, currently on the provisional podium of the category.

But all the cards can still be reshuffled with just over 5 hours to go until the finish. The drivers and mechanics must withstand fatigue and the uncertainties of the race in order to see the end of this 2015 edition.