The two Toyota GR010 Hybrids, the heavy favourites, have held solidly in the top two positions at the Le Mans 24 Hours of Endurance Motorsport tonight for over seven hours. But a recent technical problem has substantially and dramatically changed the situation.
The Toyota N.7 of José María López, defending champion, experienced a technical problem on Sunday around 07:45, losing significant time for the first time with respect to his rival and brother N.8.
In the Arnage curve, the Argentine stopped after having already rolled several tens of meters in slow motion. He then left and drove briskly to his pits.
An unusual scene then occurred: the Japanese manufacturer’s mechanics remained motionless for long seconds in front of the car, which was visibly electronically relaunching from a distance.
They then put fuel into the hypercar, which started up again but immediately fell a lap behind the No.8 Toyota of New Zealander Brendon Hartley, who is still leading the standings at the moment, leaving the number 7 in second position. .
The Glickenhaus 007 LMH also ‘hypercar’ of the French Olivier Pla and Romain Dumas and the Brazilian Luis Felipe Derani remains third, more than three minutes away.
The Alpine A480-Gibson ‘hypercar’ of Brazilian André Negrao and Frenchmen Nicolas Lapierre and Matthieu Vaxiviere, who started third on the grid, had mechanical problems very soon and is twenty-eighth overall with eight laps lost. The team also had serious problems.
The Chevrolet Corvette number 63 of Antonio García, the American Jordan Taylor and the Dutch Nicky Catsburg, who was leading the test, is now seventh among the LMGTE Pro, a class that commands the Porsche 911 RSR-19 of the Danish Michael Christensen, the Frenchman Kevin Estre and Belgian Laurens Vanthoor.
The Ferrari 488 GTE number 52 of Miguel Molina and the Italians Antonio Fuoco and Davide Rigon has placed fifth in the same category.
