24 Hours of Le Mans – Race H+8: Ferrari beaten by Porsche
So far, the race has been very quiet. Apart from a few penalties here and there, the drivers are, on the whole, very calm. Leading for a while, the Ferrari n°50 was relegated to fourth place by the Porsche n°6.
Ferrari visibly played its cards close to the vest. The three Scuderia cars took control of the race shortly after the fourth hour of racing. The #50 led the red and yellow pack. Much further back, the Toyota #7 was in big trouble. After Kamui Kobayashi went straight at Mulsanne, the car received a 50-second stop-and-go penalty for speeding in the pit lane.
There was a minor collision between the Porsche #5 and the APR #45. Although the LMP2 went through the gravel at the Dunlop chicane, there was no damage. McLaren lost one of its GT3s, the #95. The United Autosports car stopped on the Mulsanne Straight due to a mechanical problem. Meanwhile, the Mercedes #60 from Iron Lynx was stuck in the pits due to a significant oil leak. At 10:01 PM, it left its pit with 24 laps behind the last GT3. It eventually retired less than ten minutes later.
Worth noting is the very strong start of the race by the Iron Dames. Célia Martin and Sarah Bovy, who took turns during the first hours of the race, managed to climb up in the rankings. At one point, they were on the provisional podium.
At 10:30 p.m., Paul-Loup Chatin in the #35 missed his braking point at Mulsanne and collided with Loïc Duval’s #94 Peugeot. The Lion spun and had to take the roundabout to get back on the track in the right direction. The Alpine driver was penalized with a drive-through.
At midnight, the hierarchy at the front of the race had changed. The Ferrari #51 was leading the race ahead of #83. The Porsche #6 had regained its place on the podium ahead of #50.
