24 Hours of Le Mans – H+4: The madness continues, Peugeot in the lead
It's impossible to give you a summary! Until the end of the fourth hour of the race, at the 24 Hours of Le Mans, the standings, no matter the category, kept changing constantly. This centenary race is truly crazy.
Once the second hour of the race began, Earl Bamber’s Cadillac No. 2, leading the overall standings, returned to the pits. The Toyota No. 8 then virtually took the lead, as the Porsche 963 No. 5 and 75 had only made one pit stop.
The big surprise came from the Jota team’s private Porsche: car No.38, with three pit stops, ended up in an impressive 4th place, behind the Toyota No.8.
On the LMP2 side, Charles Milesi, in the Alpine N°36, continued his steady progress, chasing Robert Kubica’s WRT N°41. The Frenchman was then just eight seconds behind, with one more pit stop, and virtually leading.
In GTE-Am, the Porsche No. 56 from Project-One AO was leading the race, but with only one pit stop at 6:16 PM. The GR Racing (Porsche No. 86) and the Iron Dames (Porsche No. 85) were close behind.
Wise is the one who can give the name of the winner
The fight is happening on all levels, but the huge battle between the big factories in Hypercar was inevitably in the spotlight. Sébastien Buemi, in the Toyota No.8, eventually reclaimed his position… ahead of the Porsche Jota, which dared to dominate the Stuttgart’s official teams! That wouldn’t please Roger Penske…
Only, the Ferraris were lying in wait: the Number 50 dropped the Toyota Number 7 in the Hunaudières, while the Number 8, in the lead, was unable to escape.
At 6:22 PM, a big crash involved the Iron Lynx Porsche No. 60 and the Proton Porsche No. 16 at the entrance of Tertre Rouge. A slow zone was set up at the entrance of Hunaudières, but the fight continued vigorously: a pack of four Hypercars, including the Jota Porsche, Ferrari No. 50, official Porsche No. 6, and Toyota No. 7. The Italian car had an outstanding pace.
In LMP2, Charles Milesi handed over the wheel of the Alpine N°36 to Julien Canal, the local driver. Pietro Fittipaldi’s Jota LMP2 took the lead in a regular manner, while Maxime Martin’s DKR N°43 was slowing down before Indianapolis. What a crazy race!
On Peugeot’s side, no major problems were encountered and the cars from Sochaux remained at an interesting distance (in terms of number of stops).
More accidents
This race start is definitely completely crazy (and believe us, we choose our words carefully)! The United #22 attempted a crazy move, that is to pass through the sidelines on the Hunaudières. The LMP2 spun out and hit the Dempsey Proton #77.
In LMP2, the Alpine No.36 has taken back the lead with Julien Canal at the wheel. The French team cleverly decided to make a pit stop during the Safety Car period.
To be honest, we’re really struggling to give you a clear summary, as the rankings keep shifting! And this is happening in all categories.
To add even more madness, the rain forced the Safety Car to come out and bring everyone together. Incredible race! And on top of that, Peugeot, under the Safety Car, has taken the lead of the 24 Hours of Le Mans with car number 94, to the amazed eyes of Carlos Tavares!
Crazy comeback coming?
Before the restart, Jean-Eric Vergne, on the Peugeot No. 93, had fitted slick tires as the track was drying. The French driver lost control on the throttle response at Mulsanne. He ended up stuck in the gravel. What bad luck.
The Safety Car period dragged on, with pit stops for various drivers. It should be noted that, from now on, all cars will be grouped together under a single Safety Car, in category order.
After four hours of racing, Peugeot was in the lead. Who would have believed that was possible?
