24 Hours of Le Mans – H+22: We enter the final straight!

Who on earth could have predicted the winner of the 24 Hours of Le Mans for the centenary? Ferrari and Toyota, at noon, continued to engage in a ruthless battle between the N°51 and N°8.

The Cadillac from Action Express Racing went off into the gravel at the Daytona chicane. Another slow zone was deployed and the two leading Hypercars resumed their battle. It’s been ages since a Le Mans classic was this undecided!

In LMP2, Inter Europol and WRT were only separated by 40 seconds, after noon. The Alpine No.36, driven by Matthieu Vaxivière, had two more pit stops than those ahead of him. The Top 5 was clearly within reach, with just under four hours remaining until the checkered flag.

The LMGTE-Am category, on the other hand, offered an exciting lineup for the grand finale: Iron Dames, ORT by TF (Aston Martin No. 25), and Corvette were separated by only 30 seconds. A dream ending in sight.

The entire audience from Le Mans held its breath in this magnificent race poster for the final hours: James Calado was leading in the Ferrari 499P, while Brendon Hartley tried to keep up with the pace set by the Italian Hypercar.

The Ferrari from Kessel Racing, on the other hand, made a mistake in Indianapolis and caused a new slow zone. Everything seemed to be set for not a single hour to pass without any twists.

Peugeot in the garage

The screens showed the images of Peugeot No. 93 returning to its pit… and into its garage. Jean-Éric Vergne had a two-lap lead over Porsche No. 5 and quickly got back on track. The Top 5 was still within sight.

Meanwhile, Corvette has regained the lead in the GTE-Am category. The American car number 33 made a pit stop at 12:38, just before Toyota number 8. The Corvette – Iron Dames duel was on, as the all-female crew was only nine seconds behind when the Chevrolet car exited the pit.

Shortly after, Jean-Éric Vergne’s Peugeot lost its front hood! The Frenchman had to go back to the pits, without losing his 5th place.

The calm before the storm?

At the front of each category, it was still impossible to truly determine the name of a winner. Ferrari, in the Hypercar class, maintained an 18-second lead over Toyota; Inter Europol, in LMP2, had a twenty-second advantage over WRT 41; finally, Corvette, in the GT category, held off the Iron Dames, with an approximate 50-second lead. Everything was still up for grabs, with three and a half hours left until the finish!

Especially since the Toyota was slowly catching up to the Ferrari, at a rate of half a second per lap. Are you ready for the grand finale?