Le Mans 24 Hours Le Mans, ORECA chassis: 8 hours roundup
- 3.27.901: best lap in LMP2 posted by TDS Racing’s No. 28 ORECA 07
- 4 ORECAs in Top 5
- At midnight, the 11 ORECAs are still going
The 86th edition of the 24 Hours of Le Mans started today at 3pm. Eight hours in, the eleven ORECA chassis entered are still going. Here is a roundup of track action as night has now fallen on Le Mans…
Battling and leading
The race started and LMP2 timesheets immediately got shaken up. Having posted the fastest time of the qualifying, Paul-Joup Chatin and IDEC Sport Racing’ No. 48 ORECA 07 quickly conceded the leader’s place to DragonSpeed, but the No. 31 ORECA 07 then suffered a puncture. On board G-Drive Racing’s No. 26 ORECA 07, Jean-Eric Vergne delivered an impressive triple stint and took control of the race in class. The French driver was followed by Nicolas Lapierre at the wheel of the No. 36 Alpine who had also made his way back through traffic.
After an unfortunate start, Jackie Chan DC Racing’s No. 37 car, entrusted to Malaysian trio, had to hurry back into the pits. The sister car then lost several precious seconds due to two punctures – both cars got relegated towards the bottom of the timesheet.
TDS Racing’s No. 28 car (Duval/Vaxiviere/Perrodo) posted the best provisional time and is currently in fifth place in LM P2 class.
TDS Racing Team Manager Xavier Combet: “Both of our cars got off to a good start. The first 15 minutes were brilliant for the No. 26. Stint after stint, drivers smoothly took turns behind the wheel, while maintaining themselves in the lead. The No. 28 now oscillates between the 3rd and 5th places. We’re planning to secure a Top 3 place over night. For sure there’s potential to do so!”
As for LM P1, the No. 1 car driven by André Lotterer lost precious time in the very first turn following on a contact. After a pit stop, the Belgian driver caught up incredibly quickly and reached the Top 5 overall, just behind No. 3 sister car battling for the 3rd place. As it got dark, a contender went off track and Thomas Laurent on board No. 3 integrated the Top 3 overall, with sister car still just behind.
Teams are now diving into the night, aiming to still be going, on the demanding track of Le Mans, as the sun rises tomorrow.