With just two hours to go at Le Mans, Antonio Giovinazzi leads at Le Mans for Ferrari – but Toyota’s Brendon Hartley is just 14 seconds behind.
The #51 Ferrari 499P, which currently has Giovinazzi behind the wheel, has led the race solidly since early this morning, when the Italian’s teammate, Alessandro Pier Guidi, reined in Hartley’s #8 Toyota GR010 hybrid teammate Ryo Hirakawa and jumped him in the pits.
However, the #8 Toyota, with Hartley, Hirakawa and Sebastien Buemi at the wheel throughout the race, haven’t been far behind. Giovinazzi is currently being caught by Hartley, with the gap coming down by a tenth or two at least every lap, and has gone from 14 seconds to under 10 in around 40 minutes.
They both have at least another two stops to make, with strategy sure to play a part at each team to get their car to the finish first.
As if to prove a point, Hartley set the car’s fastest lap, a 3:27.855, a few minutes ago, then improved it by a few thousands a couple of laps later, with a 3:27.847.
Richard Westbrook sits third, a lap down on Giovinazzi, with the Brit behind the wheel of the #2 Cadillac V-Series.R. It has been in third since the darkness hours of the night, but doesn’t seem to have the pace of the two cars ahead to challenge for the win.
Westbrook’s teammate Renger van der Zande is fourth in the sister #3 Cadillac, a further lap down on its teamcar.
Nicklas Nielsen in the #50 Ferrari is fifth, six laps down after ERS issues caused by a stone hitting the radiator and causing a cooling leak.
The leading Porsche is sixth, with Fred Makowiecki roughly 40 seconds down on Nielsen.
Albert Costa leads LMP2 in the #34 Inter Europol Oreca 07-Gibson. The car had a drivethrough penalty for a safety car infringement about an hour ago, but managed to keep the lead, with a 1:19 gap to Robert Kubica in second in the #41 WRT Oreca 07-Gibson. Polesitter Paul Loup Chatin is third in the #48 IDEC Sport Oreca 07-Gibson, a further lap off Scherer and Kubica.
In GTE-Am, Nicky Catsburg leads in the #33 Corvette C8.R, with a gap of 54 seconds to the #85 Iron Dames Porsche 911 RSR-19. The #25 ORT by TF Aston Martin Vantage AMR is third with Charlie Eastwood at the wheel.
Two hours to go and Le Mans is set up for a nailbiting finale
With just two hours to go at Le Mans, Antonio Giovinazzi leads at Le Mans for Ferrari – but Toyota’s Brendon Hartley is just 14 seconds behind.
The #51 Ferrari 499P, which currently has Giovinazzi behind the wheel, has led the race solidly since early this morning, when the Italian’s teammate, Alessandro Pier Guidi, reined in Hartley’s #8 Toyota GR010 hybrid teammate Ryo Hirakawa and jumped him in the pits.
However, the #8 Toyota, with Hartley, Hirakawam abnd Sebastien Buemi at the wheel throughout the race, haven’t been far behind. Giovinazzi is currently being caught by Hartley, with the gap coming down by a tenth or two at least every lap.
They both have at least another two stops to make, with strategy sure to play a part at each team to get their car to the finish first.
As if to prove a point, Hartley set the car’s fastest lap, a 3:27.855, a few minutes ago, then improved it by a few thousands a couple of laps later, with a 3:27.847.
Richard Westbrook sits third, a lap down on Giovinazzi, with the Brit behind the wheel of the #2 Cadillac V-Series.R. It has been in third since the darkness hours of the night, but doesn’t seem to have the pace of the two cars ahead to challenge for the win.
Westbrook’s teammate Renger van der Zande is fourth in the sister #3 Cadillac, a further lap down on its teamcar.
Nicklas Nielsen in the #50 Ferrari is fifth, six laps down after ERS issues caused by a stone hitting the radiator and causing a cooling leak.
The leading Porsche is sixth, with Fred Makowiecki roughly 40 seconds down on Nielsen.
Albert Costa leads LMP2 in the #34 Inter Europol Oreca 07-Gibson. The car had a drivethrough penalty for a safety car infringement about an hour ago, but managed to keep the lead, with a 1:19 gap to Robert Kubica in second in the #41 WRT Oreca 07-Gibson. Polesitter Paul Loup Chatin is third in the #48 IDEC Sport Oreca 07-Gibson, a further lap off Scherer and Kubica.
In GTE-Am, Nicky Catsburg leads in the #33 Corvette C8.R, with a gap of 54 seconds to the #85 Iron Dames Porsche 911 RSR-19. The #25 ORT by TF Aston Martin Vantage AMR is third with Charlie Eastwood at the wheel.
