Against all odds, the part-time third team from Team Porsche continues to show the way at the 83rd running of the 24 Hours of Le Mans with just six hours left to run. Continuing to hold off the best from Audi and its own two teammates, the No. 19 Porsche 919 Hybrid of Nico Hulkenberg, Nick Tandy, and Earl Bamber has consistently fired off laps around the 3:20 range, maintaining a two-minute cushion over the sister No. 17 entry of Mark Webber, Brendon Hartley, and Timo Bernhard as of 9 a.m. local time in France.
The biggest threat to their overall lead however, came via the No. 7 Audi Sport Team Joest entry, which got within 50 seconds of the lead during regular running outside of the normal pit stop sequence. Things would turn sour for the E-Tron Quattro squad, when oddly part of the rear cowling came apart, forcing a trip to the garage to make repairs, dropping them to fourth place. Audi’s best hopes for overall victory solely rest with the No. 9 machine of Rene Rast, Filipe Albuquerque, and Marco Bonanomi, who were third at time of press.
While in control, Porsche still has some concerns to keep in mind. Around the eight hours to go mark, Nico Hulkenberg did report to the Team Porsche crew that the low oil warning light was flashing on the dashboard. Although a noticeable problem has yet to surface, no precautionary measure was taken since that concern was raised by the Formula One regular.
In LMP-2, ORECA continues to control the head of the chart, but the tour de force is down to one entry at this point. While KCMG has led for a majority of the distance, the Thiriet by TDS Racing machine was forced to retire from the race after a shunt out on the circuit damaged the entry beyond repair. Taking advantage 0f the mishap, G-Drive Racing has moved into second in class with their No. 26 Ligier coupe, but still remains over a lap behind the class leaders.
Also within range are a pair of open top spyder cars, with 2014 Le Mans LMP-2 winners Jota Sport up to third and Murphy Prototypes continuing to hang tough in fourth. The other G-Drive Ligier has also held strong throughout the distance covered and now runs in fifth.
The never ending duel has remained constant in the GTE-Pro category with the AF Corse Ferrari 458 and Corvette Racing C7.R still within viewing distance at the three-quarters mark. However, things have not gone exactly smooth during the past few hours. While in battle with the No. 99 Aston Martin Racing Vantage V8, the Corvette was forced into an extended stop to repair some damage and change the brakes, while the AMR entry which had run in tandem with the Corvette throughout the first half of the race, would lose several laps for repairs after making contact with another car on the circuit, possibly related to the incident that knocked out the TDS LMP-2 entry mentioned above.
With AMR out of contention and Corvette delayed, AF Corse’s No. 51 Ferrari moved in to take the lead and held it until the safety car was deployed for the fourth time of the race. Behind the two current leaders, Porsche Team Manthey is also within shouting distance of a possible win, holding steady in the third position.
Finally in GTE-Amateur, Aston Martin’s No. 98 entry has continued to show the way with Pedro Lamy doing a majority to the work to keep the car at the head of the order. The SMP Racing Ferrari 458 has held second in GTE-Am for the same extended period, but has never made a major challenge against the Aston to this point.
Behind them the rest of the top five has also stayed largely unchanged during the last six hours with Dempsey-Proton’s Porsche 911 RSR in third, Scuderia Corsa in fourth, and the Riley Motorsports Dodge Viper in fifth.
The race however, also saw a nasty accident involving Roald Goethe in the No. 96 GTE-Amateur Aston Martin. Goethe was conscious when helped out of the car and was transferred to the infield track hospital. An update on his physical condition was not yet provided at time of press.
Stay tuned to OnPitRoad.com for a final recap after the race.
