The 15th hour was full of action in all three categories as we approach the two-thirds distance at the Le Mans 24 Hours.
In Hypercar, the top three remain the key contenders, with the No. 8 Toyota that has been leading getting slowly reeled in by the No. 51 AF Corse Ferrari of Alessandro Pier Guidi.
The Italian has brought the gap down to 10s to Ryo Hirakawa ahead, shaving 28s off the No. 8’s lead in the past 60 minutes. A battle for the overall lead appears to be around the corner.
Earl Bamber is currently in the No. 2 Cadillac that sits third, two and a half minutes adrift.
In LMP2, there was plenty to report. The main headline was the LMP2 Pro/Am leading (10th in LMP2 overall) AF Corse ORECA crashing out. Ben Barnicoat made a costly error through the Porsche Curves, the 26-year-old tapping a curb and causing the car to snap sideways, sending him flying off the circuit and into the barriers. It was an on-the-spot retirement with heavy damage to its left side. Barnicoat climbed out and was spotted by cameras sitting behind a concrete wall with his head in his hands. Devastating.
There were on-track battles for the podium places shortly after in the LMP2 class. The first was Paul Loup Chatin reeling in Chilean driver Nicolas Pino in the No. 30 Duqueine ORECA and taking third into the second Mulsanne chicane.
A few laps later the battle for the lead began. With an injured ankle, Fabio Scherer somehow managed to catch and pass Robert Kubica’s No. 41 WRT ORECA for the lead.