24 Hours of Le Mans: 17 hours roundup

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17 June 2018 - 0 views

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Through the clouds, a new day rises on the 24 Hours of Le Mans. At dawn, ten of the eleven ORECA chassis were still going for this 86^th edition of the race. G-Drive Racing’s No. 40 car had to withdraw earlier in the morning, at around 4am, having gone off track. The No. 26 car continues to lead the race in LMP2 class, having settled in a solid first place despite serious competition.
In LMP1, the No. 3 and No. 1 Rebellion remain respectively in third and fourth places.

Rankings freezed over night

As it got dark on the circuit, tension was at its peak. All contenders at Le Mans are aware that things can change dramatically at night time. For – some or all – ORECA chassis, darkness allowed to strengthen the places they had reached during the first quarter of the race.

In LMP2, G-Drive Racing’s No. 26 ORECA 07 remains in the lead. Stint after stint, the trio Rusinov/Vergne/Pizzitola delivered clockwork. And despite being one lap ahead of their first rival, the Russian team spared no effort to maintain the gap. The Top 5 in class counted two other ORECA chassis: Signatech Alpine Matmut’s Alpine A470 in third place, followed by IDEC Sport Racing’s No. 48 ORECA 07. TDS Racing’s No. 28 kept on attacking to integrate the Top 5, having improved best lap time in 3.27.801. It is currently being chased by Graff Racing’s No. 39.
At the bottom of the Top 10 (and 9^th in fastest class), Jackie Chan DC Racing’s No. 37 and its Malaysian crew caught up incredibly well over night, despite a few scares which cost some time in the pits.
As for DragonSpeed’s car, it is fighting just off the Top 10. After a difficult race marked by two punctures (among other things), the No. 38 car is now targeting its energy towards the three o’clock chequered flag.

LMP1 positions remain unchanged. Both Toyotas continue to lead the race. Swiss team Rebellion Racing is still going, with both cars third (No. 3) and fourth (No. 1).

The day has dawned and all contenders who have made it through the night now have one last goal in mind: to cross the finish line at 3pm!