24-hour of Le Mans – H+12: Toyota takes the lead again, Peugeot makes a mistake
The number 94 9X8 made its first mistake of the race at the 11th hour. Gustavo Menezes hit the wall, heavily damaging the front of the car.
It was all about the stopwatch. Shortly after the 10th hour of the race, the battle was being fought from a distance. Sébastien Bourdais, in the Cadillac #3, unleashed the horses. The Frenchman was gaining three to four seconds per lap on the sister car, number 2.
The Peugeot 94, in the lead, continued to set the pace, causing the stopwatch to go wild as well. Whenever the Lioness accelerated, the Toyota #8 and the Ferrari #51 behind would respond on the next lap. However, this distant battle was once again interrupted. The 24 hours were neutralized once more by a Full Course Yellow.
With the help of chronometers
The Ferrari number 50 returned to the track after about twenty minutes in the stands, due to a leak. At the same time, the race direction released the cars.
At 2:23, Toyota #8 regained the lead of the race after overtaking before the Indianapolis turn. Peugeot lost a lot of time during the race restart. Sébastien Bourdais, who was pushing to catch up with the top three, pushed too hard and spun out at the connection point.
Porsche experienced a new alert on the Jota number 38. The team brought the car back into the garage. In the pit stop game, Peugeot briefly took the lead before handing it back to Toyota. The Lion then lost another position, and Ferrari 51 took second place.
Movement in LMP2, Peugeot hits the wall
In LMP2, there was a battle between Inter Europol #34 and Duqueine Teal. The second Inter Europol, car number 32, hit the safety barriers at the entrance of the first chicane on the Hunaudières straight. After a spin in the air to get back on track, the car was able to continue the race.
At 3:09, Peugeot made its first mistake. Gustavo Menezes went off track at the Daytona chicane. The front of the 9X8 was heavily damaged. While bringing it back to the pits, the driver continued to damage the Hypercar. The car finally returned at 3:40, 9 laps behind the leaders.
At the halfway point, the Duqueine Team was leading the LMP2 category, ahead of Panis Racing. In the GT class, five cars were on the same lap. The Project 1 Porsche was in the lead.
