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Celebrate the 100th anniversary of the 24 Hours of Le Mans with the full 2023 race in stunning HD and without cuts. This milestone edition marked the return of legendary manufacturers like Ferrari, Porsche, and Cadillac to the Hypercar class, delivering an unforgettable showdown of technology, endurance, and passion. Witness every dramatic moment, from night battles to rain-soaked strategy calls, in one of the most historic races ever held at Circuit de la Sarthe.

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Sports
Transcript
00:00One of the GTs, GTM, it is absolutely treacherous there.
00:07Doesn't look it, but it is clearly very greasy.
00:09I wonder if there's something else down at that corner, other than just being wet,
00:13because we're seeing multiple, multiple cars.
00:19That's how it looked on board.
00:21Oh, that's a horrible moment.
00:24He saved it from going into the barrier, and then you just think,
00:27right, I've got to put it in reverse and just ease it back,
00:30but at that one moment where you feel the car sink down, your heart sinks with it.
00:36Hello, boys.
00:37Hello, Jim. Welcome back, Jim.
00:40When I came back in after my little meal break, I'm looking at the scoring,
00:44I'm thinking to myself, when was the last time anybody was going to have to go on the air and say,
00:48Toyota in eighth and ninth?
00:50Now cycling back in the two Toyotas, by the way, because of the pit stops for the...
00:58Yes, they are, but they know they've got their hands full.
01:01Oh, yeah.
01:01In the centenary Le Mans.
01:03Boy, oh, boy, have we got a race on here.
01:06Boy, oh, boy, have we got a race on.
01:07And, Eric, what you said about Ferrari, Ferrari are not racing in a very Ferrari way.
01:15They're not going and wringing the neck of this race.
01:18They know this is a race of survival as well as pace.
01:21And, actually, that's been possibly the most impressive part of it.
01:25You've heard it here first, guys, and I'll probably get beaten up online for this.
01:29Ferrari's strategy so far has been brilliant.
01:31Yes, yes, but the other thing I've noticed is that other than the first pit stop, they've pitted in tandem.
01:40Yeah.
01:41The first pit stop, they were separate.
01:42Surprising, isn't it?
01:43But since then, they have pitted in tandem, and that's not something we're used to seeing here.
01:48Move for position.
01:49This is for second position overall.
01:51Yeah.
01:51The 94 Peugeot give position away to the first of the two Toyotas.
01:57Brendan Hartley goes through to second.
01:58Nick Tandy, by the way, leads Le Mans.
02:01Everyone's having a turn today.
02:03The car's 75 out there in front.
02:05I think the majority of this hypercar field have led this race.
02:09Oh, without a doubt.
02:11Without a doubt.
02:1375 is led, 94 is led, 8, 7, 50, 51, 2, 3, 5, 6, 38, 11 of the 14 cars have led the race.
02:29You can tell how good a race it's been, because not for the first time, one of our co-commentators has completely missed the point at which they should have gone to eat.
02:40And a racing driver missing out on a meal, because they're enjoying the race too much.
02:44I think Davidson leaves us.
02:45Welcome back, Peter D'Obreg.
02:47I've eaten already.
02:49Oh, there you go.
02:50He ate with me.
02:52He's the smart man.
02:52That strategy.
02:54Follow the fat guy.
02:55He knows where the food is.
02:57I ate twice, in fact.
02:58He comes to number 94 from third position.
03:02Peugeot have led Le Mans.
03:05And Borja, Toyota, Peugeot, the 1, 2, 3.
03:10Let's go down and speak to Jota.
03:13And it's Louise with Dieter Gass, the team principal of Hertz Team Jota.
03:18I'm with Dieter Gass, team principal of Hertz Team Jota, Car 38.
03:24There's a lot of work going on to this car, obviously, which is why we're trying to stay out of the way.
03:28Dieter, I've seen a lot of body work going on and off.
03:33Do you know the extent of the damage?
03:35Yeah, I think very much so.
03:36We obviously have seen the front end, rear end, rear wing engine cover going as well.
03:41And from what we have seen, the elephant foot, that's what it's called, the part behind the front wheel, and the forward part of the floor.
03:48That's the extent of damage that we can see so far.
03:50Suspension seems to be okay, we hope.
03:52So we're trying to repair the body work, and then we'll go again if everything confirms like that.
03:58What's Yiffy saying happened?
04:00Yeah, he said he lost it under the braking in the wash corners.
04:03And then obviously hit the tyre barrier, and that made quite some significant damage on the car.
04:09Was he ready to come in?
04:11Because we saw that Will was ready in his helmet.
04:14Yeah, yeah, he was up for a planned pit stop in his lap, yes.
04:17Correct.
04:18All right, thank you.
04:19Yeah, sadly, that lap was not to be completed at speed.
04:24And Yiffy's hero run to the front, and away at the front, was, I'm afraid, spoiled on that end lap by a bit of a miscalculation into the Porsche curves.
04:35And the racing in LMP2 is no less exciting at this point than it is in the hypercar class.
04:41We've got the team WRT, number 41, leading with Louis Delatrans behind the wheel, chased by the United Autosports, the remaining undamaged United Autosports, number 23, with Oliver Jarvis behind the wheel of that car.
04:55And they are nose to tail as they head into Indianapolis.
04:59We're back to full track green running now, with the end of that incident caused by Ifeje Shunt, and the clear-up is complete.
05:09It's, sorry, it was the second one, which was Tom Gamble, wasn't it, at the first Mustang chicane.
05:15But well into double figures for cars on the lead lap for LMP2.
05:23Meantime lead lap in hypercar is the top ten.
05:29Nick Tandy in the number 75 Porsche from the two Toyota's now, second and third, eight and seven, Brendan Hartley and Pechito Lopez.
05:37Then it is the two Ferraris, 50 and 51, run fourth and fifth, Miguel Molina and Antonio Giovinazzi.
05:45Loic Duval on his outlap now in the 94 Peugeot 9X8.
05:48That has led this race with Alex Lin, who's shown real pace in the number two Cadillac, the quickest of the caddies.
05:57We've seen some troubles today.
05:59Second of the Porsches is the second Porsche Penske car, Dane Cameron runs eighth.
06:03And then Glickenhaus run in ninth position with their 709, the untroubled, the two SCG 007s, second of the factory Cadillacs.
06:14Ringe van der Zander, the number three car.
06:16That car runs tenth.
06:17It's a 23 United Autosports car, Jim, comes to a stop on pit lane.
06:21Comes out of second position.
06:24Jarvis brings the car to a stop.
06:26It's like this is going to be a standard schedule pit stop.
06:3175 and eight on the racetrack.
06:36This is a...
06:38It hasn't changed.
06:39I've been away for two and a half hours, and there's been a lot happening, but it is still the same eight or nine cars at the front.
06:48It's almost like we used to call it when we were kids in athletics class, Indian running.
06:54You know, you get in the line, and the last guy in line, and you have to go to the front, and get the last guy in line, and go to the front.
06:59That's what we've got here.
07:00I mean, it's just, you know, okay, your turn to lead for a while.
07:03Okay, now my turn to lead for a while.
07:05The interesting thing now is that, for me anyway, that Toyota is gradually finding its way to the front again.
07:11Yep.
07:13So they're running nose to tail top three cars after, what, five hours of racing.
07:20And now the 75 car is on mediums, and the Toyota is on softs.
07:24The Toyota seems to be, at least the eight car was very, very comfortable on the softs earlier with the Miami behind the wheel.
07:32Now they're nose to tail.
07:33A minute ago, they were a lot closer to the 75 car, weren't they?
07:38So they must have been held up somewhere.
07:42I think traffic got it.
07:44I think the LMP2 car got it.
07:46Two and a half seconds is the Gapnik Tandy pushing on.
07:52And those three cars are all due a pit stop, as you can see from the energy graphic.
07:5675 car down to 16% virtual energy.
07:59The pace has been good.
08:01The battling has been epic.
08:02The drama sometimes unwelcome, but, boy, it's kept us awake.
08:08Overall, Peter Dunbrek, what's your assessment of this expanded hypercar class?
08:15Hype on one side, cynicism on the other side coming into this.
08:19We're a very different top class at Le Mans.
08:21Yeah, I think it's fantastic.
08:23I think the general consensus from everyone is we've finally, after quite a few years, got several manufacturers all fighting for a win.
08:33We've had each one of them gradually leading the race.
08:36And at the moment, it's Porsche, Toyota closing in on them.
08:40So, yeah, fantastic.
08:41I love it.
08:41Some of the social media comments have been interesting because they are like, gosh, why are these drivers just, you know, it's a 24-hour race.
08:49What's going on?
08:49That's how important this is, that these guys know that they have got to drive.
08:56All out.
08:57Let's find out.
08:58Okay, Brandon.
08:58Car 75 ahead is for position.
09:01Car 75 ahead is for position.
09:03So, I think, kind of Captain Obvious there.
09:12Yeah, Captain.
09:13Well, that's, that is the captain.
09:15That's Captain Penske, but I thought the radio train was going to be good.
09:20It's going to be interesting to see, but it's been a transition, hasn't it, into this race.
09:24All sorts of expectations.
09:26Much of what I read coming into this race from others in my chosen profession was, well, poor Toyota.
09:33I'm going to drive away with it.
09:35It hasn't been like that to this point.
09:37I agree with you, Peter.
09:39I think what's happening now, not all of their own making, is this race is coming back to them because others have hit trouble.
09:47This is the team with the most experience here, and certainly the team with the most experience here, with the car they're driving this year.
09:54It's the third year at Le Mans for Toyota Gazoo Racing with the GR10, and, of course, they've won on both previous occasions.
10:02Weather has been a factor.
10:04They've got plenty of data for that.
10:05I'll tell you what, I bet he's desperate to get into the pits and have that windscreen clean.
10:12Yeah, especially as the sun's starting, especially right now, because the visibility, if the clouds stay separate like that, the visibility is going to get pretty tough.
10:22This is our race leader in LMP2 as he came in to the pits and sees that lead back to Toyota, Oliver Rasmussen, head of Albert Costa in the number 34 into Europol competition, Orica.
10:35That's the 1-2 now, with the next three cars in the order on pit lane, including, you know, to Jakobsen, the 37 car, leading Pro-Am, and fifth overall LMP2 as they hit pit lane.
10:49This is our new race leader in LMP2.
10:53Trouble for Dane Cameron in the number 5 car.
11:03Now, what has happened there?
11:04Has it been an incident as he hits some kind of mechanical or systems trouble as the NASCAR goes blasting by?
11:11There we can hear it, it seems to be, you can't see damage on the car, I think that has all the hallmarks of mechanical, electrical drive.
11:24And there goes the 38, the Jota Porsche back out onto the racetrack, that was pretty quick.
11:30It was, let's have a look at just exactly how quick that was.
11:33Toyota double pit stop here, working in tandem, much like the Ferraris are.
11:38That was 20 minutes on pit lane to effectively rebuild most of the top half of the car, and quite on the bottom of it as well.
11:48So, eight and seven, in that order, in their race order, again, see the position or two, Ferrari cycle back round into second and third.
11:58Miguel Molina now ten and a half seconds back from Nick Tandy, Antonio Giovinazzi up to third, but the drama at the moment,
12:05the latest drama is for Dane Cameron.
12:10Just looking to see whether or not that car, it is moving, and it's back up to some speed, I think that was a power recycle.
12:17Control, delete.
12:18Yeah.
12:18Hello, by the way, standing out at the Mulsang Golf Club to previous Le Monde leader, briefly, Martin Shaw.
12:28Ah, yes, well, Martin, and a nice chat with, uh, this, by the way, is what, uh, Hertz Team Jota repaired in 20 minutes.
12:35So when you're at your Porsche dealer later, if you've had a bit of a biff, that's the kind of service you should be expecting.
12:41That's right, $150 an hour.
12:49Yeah, he summarily tore that one up, didn't he just?
12:53Yeah, if he, uh, well, you know what, he'll have learned a little there, in a very expensive way.
13:00This is the car on its way in, 20 minutes it would take.
13:05Hertz Team Jota back out on track now in 32nd place, 14th in the hypercar class.
13:09We have had some dramas for some of the other runners.
13:13We can run through some of those dramas through the classes when we get a moment.
13:17If we get a moment with less drama than every five minutes seems to delve out to us.
13:22This is a quick look at the number 25, Aston Martin, ORT by Tia.
13:28Michael Dine on the wheels, blasted by there, uh, by the, or blue, number two, Cadillac.
13:35And what's this about, that's Michael Dine, and he's another one who's been in trouble
13:38at the first chicane, and an impact with the barriers there.
13:42That's why we're looking at the 25.
13:4475 car, this is our race leader.
13:48Nick Tandy.
13:49Nick Tandy, I like, I like the Nicholas on the story.
14:00So Nick Tandy continues to lead.
14:04What'd you see there?
14:06I, I just wondered whether that was a P2, I think it was.
14:09I wonder why it was going so slowly.
14:11Ah, so 75, making its way through the Porsche curves.
14:14He's going to be, no, he didn't come in, and he should be coming in this time.
14:22He's down to, 100% virtual, uh, he's not up to speed.
14:26Yeah, there he goes.
14:27That's why.
14:29Yeah, but you'd still be up to speed all the way.
14:31It didn't seem right.
14:32He wasn't on full throttle, was he?
14:34Yeah, yeah.
14:35Wonder if he's.
14:35Is this a scheduled stop?
14:36Well, it is, it should be, because his, uh, virtual energy was down to 1%.
14:41So, I'm wondering if he might have run it on those drives.
14:46Frank Biela, 1.4.
14:48He, well, yeah, indeed.
14:49He came past Rexey, the 56 car, through to the lead again.
14:53Come Ferrari, 50-51.
14:56Running.
14:58Running nose to tail.
15:01Oh, no, it's not the second one.
15:03I think the other, the 51 cars, not far behind, isn't it?
15:07Three seconds gap.
15:11Say again, I was.
15:15Say again.
15:16The leading car and the second place car are only three seconds apart.
15:19Oh, yes.
15:19Yeah.
15:24Looks like a driver change.
15:25Going to be tire change, uh, for the number 75.
15:32It means Nick Tanney will be out.
15:34Five car also making pit stop.
15:43Dane Cameron was behind the wheel of that car when it came out.
15:47I wonder if he'll, uh, if he's still in.
15:49We'll find out in a moment.
15:51A moment of quiet, relatively.
15:53Yes.
15:53Fred McAviki, Fred McAviki behind the wheel of that car, right now.
16:03Mate, you're leading the race at the moment.
16:05You're leading the race.
16:06Sister car, three seconds behind.
16:07The previous lap was too much consumption.
16:1070.7.
16:11We need 69.5 and 69.5.
16:15Please.
16:15A bit more saving than previous lap.
16:17Uh, very interesting.
16:20Very interesting.
16:21Previous, previous lap, too much energy usage.
16:26Mike, he was on 70.9 and they wanted 69.5.
16:30Well, he'd be worried about that because it's going to be other, uh, it's going to be where
16:35they're scheduling for that for the stint length that they're looking for.
16:40But aside from what the rules say, but what you can do, remember, there are limits set
16:45within this rule set, that's right, it's part of the balancing that keeps the racing as
16:49close as you see.
16:50Gentlemen, you know, what is this?
16:52Not even six hours of this race, we've been able to say, Peugeot, lead Le Mans, Ferrari,
16:57lead Le Mans, Porsche, lead Le Mans, Cadillac, lead Le Mans.
17:01Absolutely extraordinary so far.
17:04Hertz Team Jota, lead Le Mans.
17:07Yeah.
17:08What an astonishing opening, not even an opening quarter yet, of the 24 hours of Le Mans,
17:13and in a centenary year, uh, we've had some treats here.
17:18And that's just the hypercar class, just the hypercar class.
17:21Uh, LMP2 has been its usual battle, battleground.
17:26Jota lead that class again as the pit stop cycle comes back around.
17:30And in the GTE AM class, well, we'll get to that.
17:37Let's have a listen to what's going on with the develop or the 94 Pro Show 9x8.
17:41Loic, you are running P3 right behind the two Ferraris.
17:45The Ferraris are running 31.5, 32.0.
17:50Go for it.
17:50They're confident.
17:52Go for it.
17:53Go for it.
17:54The seven car, by the way, there, uh, on the, uh, its first flying lap after that pit stop,
17:58Jose Maria Lopez had a little bit of a near miss.
18:02Uh, I think I just spotted, and there's double yellows, by the way, at the end of the lap,
18:06what's happened down at the 4th chicane.
18:09Something to get occurred there.
18:10I think I just spotted as well, there was a, there was a stop and go penalty for the 7.08.
18:16That cycled through too quickly for me to read what that was for.
18:20So I'll have a quick look at that in a moment or two.
18:22Double yellows at, uh, Marshall's post 31.
18:26That's for the 43 DKR car.
18:28There's also another incident, double yellows at Marshall's post 11.
18:32And that is the first chicane on Mulsanne.
18:35Yet another issue.
18:38These guys have had a rough day.
18:40This, this is obviously the, the incidents at the, the first chicane, the Daytona chicane.
18:45What's happened though at the 4th chicane?
18:48The problem, the problem in this particular chicane, you've got the drier line, obviously,
18:51and if you get it wrong, you're straight onto the wet and then you just can't stop.
18:55In fact, I, I can't believe that Toyota managed to stay out of the wall.
18:58I thought for sure it was going in the wall.
19:00Chose the kind of traction he's probably got.
19:02He's got a little bit more than these guys do.
19:04That's about the 10th car.
19:05It is the number 72 car.
19:07Lost its rear wing, that car.
19:09That car's been flying high in the, um, GTM class.
19:13Arnold Robin, it is.
19:14Local driver with his brother, Maxine.
19:17That car has been in the wall.
19:18He's brushed.
19:19Oh, John almost took the Ferrari with him.
19:24That is a near miss for the Ferrari.
19:26Count your lucky stars, young man.
19:28How big an impact here is taking the rear wing.
19:31Is that just brushed off?
19:32It did.
19:33That should get away with that after replacement rear wing.
19:37The Matra and Pescarello coloured Aston Martin.
19:41Antonio Giovinazzi seeing his race life pass before his eyes there.
19:45By the way, we should, we should, at some point, be able to say here,
19:50look at another problem this time, Vector Sports off the track again at the first, uh, chicane.
19:59We're just looking at the fight for, uh, second place in GTM.
20:03That's the Iron Danes, Sarah Bovee, trying to hold off Francisco Castellacci in the number 54 AF Corsa,
20:13the silver livery AF Corsa Ferrari.
20:15Yeah, this is the battle of a second, as Peter quite rightly says.
20:19Two and a half seconds back from the leading car, the moment in the hands of Martin Rump.
20:24But that's the car of Michael Fassbender.
20:26Yeah, that's right.
20:279-11.
20:28Boy, would that be a storyline.
20:30We've had one Hollywood actor in the recent pass on the, uh, podium here.
20:36Could have been Patrick Dempsey, Michael Fassbender,
20:40in what could be his final Le Mans in this current iteration of his racing career.
20:45It's the end of a five-year program with him, with Porsche.
20:51Porsche tends to not let people like that, uh, just go away.
20:56They tend to keep them around.
20:58We talked a little earlier about the way which the modern world deals with debates.
21:05And when the debates surround celebrity, it can be particularly cruel.
21:09I can tell you, from working in the same paddock as Michael Fassbender,
21:15his attitude, aptitude, passion has been an absolute pleasure.
21:21A bit of a twitch there from the Ferrari coming through.
21:23Yeah, they had to be careful as they came into the yellow flag zone.
21:28Not quitting this, is it, Peter?
21:30It's not.
21:31Well, we heard a short while ago, um,
21:35Molina, um, being given instructions to calm down on his energy use.
21:40So, I guess, is that a case of lifting coast a little bit?
21:44Yes.
21:44Yeah.
21:45Into the corners, you know, just come off the gas, break at the same place, but just coast.
21:52On the other hand, we heard Peugeot tell Louis de Valle, go get it.
21:57Still double yellows, by the way, Marshall's post 32.
21:59And just trying to see, is that car still there?
22:02It is.
22:03It has not moved from there.
22:05So, it didn't look a big impact, did it?
22:08No, it did not.
22:10But the car's not reached.
22:11It did look kind of squatted down, yeah.
22:13I wonder whether the rear, because I think you've got a rear right puncture, which I'm going to ask the park, yeah?
22:18Yes, yeah, that car is still where it's, um, hit the wall.
22:24The other thing we've not mentioned much of, but they're constantly on our screens, are drivers laps deleted for, um, using too much of the track limits.
22:35Sooner or later, penalties are going to come.
22:38Penalties will come.
22:39We're going to start to see, yeah.
22:40That's, uh, you get five free wins per car, right?
22:44Uh, it's, is to do with the driver.
22:46Oh, it's to five per driver.
22:48Yeah, okay.
22:49So, that's the driver that actually gets the penalty, although the penalty might be served by the next driver.
22:56But, uh, two incidents at the moment being managed by race control, so that means the DKR car must still be at, uh, the first chicane.
23:07Yeah, he was pretty well beached.
23:09It's not lack of drama, the 24 hours of Le Mans this year.
23:15It doesn't show any signs that that's going to change.
23:17And one of the people that, uh, Peter was noticing going across the score monitor was, uh, Miguel Molina in that leading Ferrari.
23:27He had his last lap.
23:29Yep.
23:30Disallowed.
23:33Well, the lap time doesn't count.
23:34I shouldn't put it that way.
23:36It sounds like, uh, he's not scored on the lap.
23:38He was scored on the lap, but it just counts against his total of five free wins.
23:42Look out, he's got trouble here.
23:44There was the, there's a slow zone.
23:45He was, he was already, we, we noticed this earlier, the, the 963's hazard lights coming into a, they clearly locked those up.
23:55Yeah.
23:55And they're preparing to slow, but he wasn't quite under full control there.
23:59That could have been significantly more embarrassing or worse.
24:03Well, we heard, um, Sebastian Bordet talking about the system in the car earlier on and how, um, they get a warning saying that the next zone will be a yellow zone.
24:12And they've probably already done a lap, but, uh, he said, sometimes it's delayed.
24:17I'm trying to look to see, are there actually yellow flags this far back or the first one around the corners?
24:22And, and they actually, that first car there, did they slow down too much for, uh, maybe he's still in the green zone, you know?
24:32Well, that's a good point.
24:33They may be slowing down.
24:35The yellows weren't inside.
24:37So no, it was, it was genuine.
24:39Where they go again.
24:41So they clear the zone.
24:42Oh, it's still not clear this.
24:43Keenon, uh, Keenon keeping his line in the Prima car.
24:47That's Mirko Bortolotti, who is due to be one of Lamborghini's factory hypercar drivers with that programme.
24:55Debuts next year, full season in the World Endurance Championship and Endurance Season, the Ipsomertic Sports Car Championship ahead for that programme.
25:04And with the next burst of expansion in this extraordinary period in international sports car racing, under the Dunlop Bridge, the eight car looks to deal with the 63.
25:15I'm not sure there'll be a chance here.
25:16Probably not until he gets onto the Mulsanne Street.
25:21Yeah, because they're about to come up to another slow zone.
25:27Unless the car has been removed.
25:30I don't know, it's still there at the moment.
25:33Oh, hang on.
25:35Slow this?
25:36Oh, no, it has gone.
25:36Yes, it's flat out now, down the Mulsanne Street, straightaway, you're on board with Nick Dandy.
25:48Using the slipstream, he'll go by the LMP2, number 63.
25:54Significantly bigger challenge for the top-class drivers in this era, the hypercar era.
26:01The hypercars well-balanced between each other, but the margins between them and the LMP2s in a variety of parts of this race,
26:10significantly smaller than they were back in the LMP1 days, and that is making things significantly more exciting.
26:18Here's the 708 serving the penalty that Graham spoke of earlier.
26:22Yeah, 708 car, by the way, number started a lap down at the start of this race,
26:27did not join the grid, to do with a gearbox oil leak, sits in 13th place now.
26:34And we'll see how that one pans out.
26:35I think it is still, it is two laps down now.
26:37That's just putting back onto two laps down.
26:40This is the 43 car that was off the road at the Daytona Chicane.
26:44Why is it called the Daytona Chicane?
26:46It was part of, again, the convergence process.
26:51Yes.
26:51Daytona Chicane now is the first chicane on Monodier, the Milton Strait,
26:56whereas, conversely, at the Rolex 24 hours of Daytona, Daytona International Speedway,
27:02what used to be called the bus stop, is now for the Monchicane.
27:06Funny how?
27:06Yeah.
27:07And indeed, the curbs are painted.
27:09That's right.
27:10In the colours of their partner circuits, of both circuits.
27:14Let's, here's, here's a recovery drive for Vander Ranga Zanga.
27:21Let's see what's going on with this car.
27:24So drink bottles are working, so at the stop, I'm going to need some, guys.
27:27Make sure it's not a drink bottle from my name on it,
27:31but the one that actually sucks something through.
27:34Yeah, 10-4.
27:39Let's check in in the pits.
27:40Is it right here?
27:41We did indeed hear from Steph.
27:44I'm outside the number 10 Vector Sport.
27:47As you know, it had a little issue out there.
27:49It turns out it was a braking issue.
27:50So the front bodywork is off the car,
27:52and the mechanics are working hard on the front left of the car.
27:55There has been a driver change,
27:56so I don't anticipate they should be in the garage for too long,
28:00but they are working hard away at the minute.
28:01So now we switch to the number two car.
28:13Currently in fourth position.
28:15Alex Lin doing an excellent job in this car.
28:18Yeah, he's been consistently quick,
28:24and lest we forget, another one of the just a little tableau
28:27that have made this Le Mans so special in the centennial of the year.
28:31Not wearing his own helmet colours,
28:33wearing those, and indeed the name on one side,
28:36of Derek Bell.
28:37Great.
28:40So we're listening to what's going on
28:42aboard the number two with Alex Lin.
28:44The track is in quite a weird condition,
28:46man.
28:46Right there.
28:48It's still down condition,
28:49Kane and stuff,
28:50because it's a bit greasy.
28:52Copy that.
28:53Copy that.
28:53You're doing a good job.
28:56He's indeed doing a good job.
28:57This has been the area that's been causing
28:59so many problems in the last hour or so, Jim.
29:01Well, he's talking about the racetrack being very greasy,
29:06so this rain really has changed
29:10the texture of the racetrack.
29:13It was full dry,
29:14and then as the rain kind of moved around the racetrack,
29:18it didn't just rain in one spot,
29:20it kind of moved around the racetrack.
29:22It has not come back to a full dry condition yet.
29:25It doesn't seem like it from what they're telling you.
29:27Kind of strange, though, because it's so warm still.
29:31So, again, another car that's on a bit of a recovery drive
29:48is the 33 car.
29:51After the stunning performance by Ben Keating
29:54in qualifying at the beginning of the race
29:56did not really go their way.
29:58And as he comes into the slow zone
30:03at the Porsche Curves,
30:05this is, of course, still for that Aston Martin.
30:11Is that car still there,
30:14or has that made it back to a bit?
30:15Maybe just checking it.
30:16It's still there.
30:16It's still there.
30:17It's not great.
30:18Vector Sport back out.
30:19Drag is just hearing from Steph,
30:20and that was a six-minute stop for the British team.
30:23British team, by the way,
30:24that's either by the end of this season
30:28or certainly for next,
30:29if they get the nod,
30:30will debut yet another new hypercar,
30:33the Isotta Fraschini.
30:35If you don't know what the Isotta Fraschini is,
30:37it's quite an old Italian mark,
30:41reborn,
30:42and that car has been designed and built
30:45with the help of Michelotto,
30:47who for many years
30:48looked after the Ferrari GT programme.
30:51I'm going to leave you
30:51for a couple of hours
30:52in just a few moments,
30:54and we're going to hand over the mic
30:56to Guy Smith.
30:57That means from this chair
30:59over the last four hours,
31:00we'll have had commentators
31:02with the sum total of one.
31:03I'm on with.
31:04That's right.
31:05Guy Smith.
31:06Your eyes don't deceive you, Peter.
31:09We are looking at some three, aren't we?
31:11Yeah, the Peugeot in between the two Ferraris.
31:13That's right.
31:14Molina is now chased by Louis Duval.
31:17He's gotten by Antonio Giovinazzi.
31:20So Louis Duval is trying to push
31:23that Peugeot back to the front.
31:26I think it's the centenary of Le Mans.
31:28I think I might just start calling it Peugeot as well
31:31because then it's simple.
31:32It's tomato, tomato.
31:33I don't know how to say the word.
31:35What's that, Peugeot?
31:36I call them Peugeot,
31:38but it's probably,
31:39you might be right.
31:40I can't say it's Peugeot.
31:42I've tried.
31:42Maybe they are Peugeot.
31:44That's right.
31:45It's like centenary or centenary.
31:48Bahamas or the Caribbean.
31:53Made of tomato.
31:54Caribbean.
31:57Guy Smith, welcome.
31:59Your thoughts so far?
32:01Well, what a race.
32:03I'm struggling to keep up with it.
32:05It's so much going on throughout all the classes.
32:08I'm really surprised by just the amount of accidents, really, and shunts.
32:13I mean, obviously, the weather conditions are pretty horrendous.
32:16I don't think I'd like to be driving in those kind of conditions.
32:19It looks really tricky.
32:20But, yeah, what a race we've got here at the front.
32:24Two Ferraris still going strong.
32:26And it's great to see the Peugeot of Leut de Waal in third place.
32:30Actually, you know, holding station.
32:33It's actually making some small gains.
32:35Drops back a little bit in traffic.
32:36But they're very much in the hunt.
32:39They really seem to like the mixed conditions, those cars, the Peugeots.
32:42They seem to handle well.
32:43Okay, we had the Jean-Erik Verne mistake down in Mulsanne.
32:49But, in general, I think that the Peugeot does like the mixed conditions.
32:54And if rain comes back later in the race, then you might see them pop back up to the top again.
33:01Yeah, I just popped out to the paddock.
33:02I just saw Paul de Ress do a little rain dance outside of his garage.
33:05So, yeah, who knows?
33:08I mean, I think they'll be definitely buckling some showers for sure.
33:13Magic number to hit here on the straightaways is 322.
33:17That's 200 miles per hour.
33:22It's great to see the Cadillacs back in the mix again.
33:27I think the one thing about the new safety car rules, I mean, while it works, it doesn't work for some.
33:32It obviously does work for others.
33:33And it does allow that if you have had an issue, albeit a small issue, where you've maybe lost a lap, as we saw with the Cadillac,
33:42the safety car does help them get their lap back and brings them back into contention.
33:46Whereas, previously, they would have kind of been spent the whole race just trying to gain that one lap back.
33:50So, it's kind of doing what it was designed to do, to keep cars in play.
33:55But, obviously, if you're in a situation where you've got a big lead, it maybe doesn't quite work out.
33:58Yeah, exactly.
34:00Exactly.
34:01So, Giovannazzi has now gotten himself past the...
34:05We swap positions.
34:09We swap positions.
34:11We swap positions.
34:11We swap positions.
34:13We swap positions.
34:15There's no traffic in front.
34:16We swap positions now, now, now.
34:18So, we're coming out for the 50 and 51 to swap positions.
34:22So, I think that's already happened, doesn't it?
34:26So, yes, Giovannazzi is leading.
34:29That's exactly right.
34:30Yes.
34:31Yeah, that's already happened.
34:32That's already happened.
34:35So, why...
34:35Now we know...
34:36Now we know why it happened, that they were told to do it.
34:40They're getting ready for a pit stop, and that will put them in proper order when they come into the pit, so that 51 is in the pit stall that's closest to pit out.
34:50So, they'll come in in tandem, nose to tail, and leave that way as well, as opposed to one stopping and the other having to work his way around.
35:00Is that a fight for position?
35:01I'm sure it is.
35:02I'm sure it is.
35:03It sure is.
35:04Is it the 75?
35:05Yes, it is.
35:06So, that is the battle for position.
35:07So, fifth position, number eight.
35:08Brendan Hartley aboard the Toyota.
35:09Yeah, that would become the...
35:10Nick Tandy looking at the back of it.
35:11Yeah, that would become the battle for fourth, the third position here shortly when the 50 and 51...
35:15make their way to the pit lane.
35:16Right now, it is the battle for fifth.
35:17So tight.
35:18You know, the Hypercars, the prototypes are so much quicker through these corners than the GT cars.
35:21Nick Tandy looking at the buckle.
35:23That will become the battle for fourth, the third position here shortly when the 50 and 51 make their way to the pit lane.
35:33Right now, it is the battle for fifth.
35:37So tight.
35:38You know, the hypercars, the prototypes are so much quicker through these corners than the GT cars.
35:43And if they get stuck behind them, they really lose so much time.
35:46So they have to take these big risks going around the outside not to lose too much time.
35:51But really, it's kind of heart-in-the-mouth stuff, really, when you see them go around the outside.
35:57How distracting are those strobes that you get during the...
36:04Well, annoying, but maybe that's why they're wrong.
36:09Just to annoy the car behind.
36:13Well, that's a sign that they're harvesting, which is that that's important to know.
36:18Again, we're seeing the Toyotas.
36:21Especially the eight...
36:23Pardon me.
36:24Especially the eight-car.
36:27Being able to be very quick and put a lot of life in those soft tires.
36:35Porsche on mediums.
36:40It's kind of a Porsche in a Toyota sandwich there.
36:45Both Toyotas are on the softs, but 18 laps on the...
36:58Jandy has 18 laps on his mediums, and the number seven car, Lopez, has 19 laps on his softs.
37:08Yeah, the Toyota seems to like the softs, don't they?
37:10Yeah.
37:10They seem keen on the brand softs.
37:12Yeah.
37:13And that's what allowed Boemi to lead, his ability to handle the soft tires.
37:21Down the Molson straightaway.
37:2318 hours, 21 minutes to go.
37:25And this has been...
37:27I've got to tell you what, boys.
37:28If this was a six-hour race, this thing...
37:29Are...
37:30Yeah.
37:31This is just absolutely stunning.
37:34Yeah, the crowds are definitely getting the body's worth today.
37:35Matthew Chaminade getting ready for his stint.
37:36Yeah.
37:37The price has had a Q2 set.
37:3818 minutes to go.
37:39And this has been...
37:40I've got to tell you what, boys.
37:41If this was a six-hour race, this thing...
37:43Are...
37:44Yeah.
37:45I've got to tell you what, boys.
37:46This was a six-hour race.
37:47This thing...
37:48Are...
37:49Yep.
37:50This is just absolutely stunning.
37:51Yeah, the crowds are definitely getting the money's worth today.
37:53Matthew Chaminade getting ready for his stint.
37:56Yeah.
37:58The private preparation that you guys go through, everybody has their own, did you put your overalls on a certain way, put a certain boot on before the other, put a certain glove on, any of those?
38:14No, I didn't have that, I didn't have that.
38:18How about you?
38:19Not really, I mean, you get to like, maybe there's a certain pair of gloves that you prefer or a pair of boots that you prefer, so I think, I know a lot of drivers are quite OCD, you know, everything has to be neat and tidy and kind of prepared, so we all have our own little ways of doing it, but, yeah, everybody's different.
38:38Yeah, you don't have an OCD bolt in your body.
38:42I don't know.
38:43I admit it, you don't, you wish you did.
38:46No, but I do like things clean and tidy, but that's probably nothing to do with OCD, but, yeah, the one thing I did used to do when I was waiting, I'd want to, I'm about to get in the car and I need to, I need to, I need my energy up, I need to, and I would, I would single flower Scotland in my head.
39:13Did you really?
39:14Before getting in the car.
39:16That's outstanding.
39:17I'm going, I'm going to go on flight now.
39:19There you go.
39:20Outstanding.
39:21A bit corny maybe, but it worked.
39:24No, it's not.
39:25There's no, nothing's corny.
39:27Now, here we see the LMP2 cars out on hards.
39:31Let's check in with Brendan Hurley.
39:33Okay Brendan, we can see that you could do one more step on the front or rear anti-roll bar.
39:37That's what our suggestion would be for balance.
39:40And also question, are you open to doing one more stint?
39:43Could you do one more stint question?
39:46Yeah, no problem.
39:47I'm not sure how the tires are going to go though.
39:50There you go.
39:51That's interesting.
39:52Now we're starting to get, you know, almost six hours in, we're really starting to get into the strategy stuff now.
40:01Can you, can you go another stint?
40:03Yes, I can.
40:04I don't know if the tires can.
40:06Interesting that he's getting help and advice from the telemetry that the engineers are seeing on how to balance the car.
40:14Yeah, they're obviously looking at the data and they can see, you know, what the car's doing and how it's behaving.
40:19Maybe Brendan had given us some feedback earlier on in the stint on the car.
40:22So, he's obviously doing a good job.
40:24He's in the zone.
40:25They're obviously happy.
40:27I think as we start to go, as light starts to come down and it starts to go into the night, it probably makes sense to have the driver stay in the car.
40:35So, we have that transition period.
40:37And if he's in the zone and he's feeling good, then, then, then why not, you know, do one more stint and, uh, and keep on going, really.
40:49So, here is that lead battle or second place battle, I think, in, uh, LMP2.
40:56No, it's further back than that.
41:00Oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh.
41:0535 car, eighth place.
41:08And the Joe to cost the lady Nillardly, too, yep.
41:13see the flies buzzing around that is something even
41:27then we wonder why when we get the onboard shots they're all it looks like they're pitted
41:33this is time now for the photographers on the circuit getting some great shots of the cars
41:37with great light as you start to go to the night time you see the headlights really kind of shine
41:41in and see the car spitting flames and you see the brake disc glowing and light it up
41:46it's really uh really kind of magical time
41:51if the uh well no we're not too early yet we'd be about if the sun was uh if it wasn't so cloudy
41:59we'd be in the gloaming being that cold and light
42:04because the drive is actually quite a nice time because it's it's kind of the track's actually
42:08quite quick because you know it starts to cool down you still got the daylight so you can see
42:14so it's actually quite a nice time to to to go into into the car and i think peter and i were talking
42:19about it earlier on you know going into the night time this is a really really kind of nice time to
42:24be in the car probably the only time that's better is is what we call happy hour which is sort of early
42:28morning as you come out of the night into the into the morning into the daylight first and second
42:34place cars in the pits together in lmp2
42:40oliver rasmussen and albert costa rasmussen is one of 14 danish drivers in the race yes
42:50yeah tell me tom christensen and jan magnus and they haven't had any influence
42:54well when i when i was driving around this morning um in the parade i was behind tom christensen and
42:59there's a mass of danish fans at anage so i'm sure there's plenty of danish flags flying at anage for
43:06for these danes it used to be last one out bring the flag because the entire country would come to
43:10this again that's how i know there's 14 because i met one last night in in town a danish fan
43:18oh you mean 14 drivers i thought you meant 14 fans no there's a few more than that i think so
43:31this is the battle for eight
43:3335 then 40 set no that's uh not the cool reason so they've got a car out of sequence and yeah we know
43:50that's certainly yeah that's why i'm i'm trying to find it in scoring that's the alping cars
44:03uh 35 31 and 63 so that's um uh so 31 63 are fighting for position but they're right they're
44:15further down that's the battle for uh for 16th and 17th in the lmp2 category
44:23they're trying to uh they're trying to catch it past the 35 car which is in eighth position
44:28and that's ali caldwell in the 35. so united sports now in the lead of uh lmp2 with ali jarvis
44:39jota in second and then followed by wrt so
44:46here's the uh 94
44:51again the first chicane
44:53really problematic doing the clever thing though if you if you think you can't make the corner and
45:00you're a bit locked up just straight line it just straight
45:07yeah the drivers that come in too hot and go for the the commitment and that's the drivers that might
45:14spin in there and we've seen quite a few hit the wall or beach themselves in the gravel in fact one of the
45:20toyotas came very close to doing that as well patrick pilay formerly uh porsche factory gt driver in the 39 car
45:34battling for 17th position with
45:39morco portolotti in the prema racing number 63. premas had a pretty good season in lmp2 this year
45:50yeah i think the 63 carl disappointed this so far down in the stage because i think uh yeah they
45:56really fancy themselves you know for a for a for a podium if not a win so um
46:05that's one of uh they're all they're almost on the uh level of a of course with numbers i think that's one of
46:11uh three entries in lmp2 that they have two for sure nine and sixty three big outfit that's for
46:21sure obviously they're in former three former two as well
46:24that graphic may have been erroneous because it's the uh 31 and the 63. the 63 has uh gotten by
46:40the 31 and now scoring clicks over to show that change
46:43in this little battle there's alex lynn with his derek bell tribute helmet on i spoke to derek
47:00yesterday and he was he was very very thrilled that uh alex had done that oh i bet i bet that
47:05meant a lot to him that's the kind of it really did there's a certain amount he understands
47:12i think derek understands not only the history but his place in that history and i think it means a
47:19lot to him to know to see a younger driver acknowledging acknowledge that yes thank you
47:29so the united auto sports number 23 now with a four second lead
47:33let's check back in with the toyotas brendan hartley okay brendan we now see some dots of rain on the
47:44radar possibly coming to the ups we'll keep you informed i had a little break up there on where
47:52the rain is but they're going to keep him informed so that was not what he wanted to hear no absolutely
47:59did not want to hear that special as it's getting dark and he knows that he's in for another stint so
48:04he's got to deal with uh potential um well if it rains heavily and they have to go to wet tires then he
48:11will get out at that stage
48:26i'm with sarah bobby the driver of number 85 iron dames congratulations it's going well for you so
48:32far isn't it well so far so good finger crossed to be honest last year we had a puncture i think
48:38after 10 minutes and lost two laps so clearly it's starting better um the condition were apocalyptic
48:45out there when i did the first time the straight line under the safety car i was like i have no
48:49idea where i'm going if there is a car in front of me or not i have no idea so it was really uh even
48:53on the safety car quite difficult um but i'm quite happy with the goal the team has made so far and
48:58the car is really nice to drive but you know it's a very long race we have done just a little part of
49:03it and uh we'll keep the head down stay focused uh i trust my teammate i trust my team and uh so far
49:10they're doing an amazing job so yeah i'll try to rely on that and we're heading into the night time are
49:15you about to get some rest before you're back in the car in the in the darkness yeah well i actually
49:20like the dark a lot i think in le moore it's amazing to drive in the dark it's uh it feels so
49:27quiet in the car i'm actually looking forward to my night stint um but now it's uh it's michelle who
49:34will get into the dark but uh she has done an amazing job so far this season so i trust her with all my
49:41heart all right well best of luck to you guys thank you thank you so much michelle that she's talking
49:46about is michelle gatting who's in the car now that car circulates in fourth place behind the jmw
49:52motorsports number 66 ferrari they of course are number 54 ferrari and the number 25 uh tf sport but tf
50:03car the uh the aston martin it's good to hear her so buoyant isn't it oh she said she said that team
50:10i think i got time out of that oh those the that team of racers is just they're fantastic for the
50:18sport because they're so enthusiastic they're very media savvy and they're very fast sarah had a
50:26wonderful race with um ben keating i think it was important where the two of them were just nose to
50:34tail for lap after lap swapping spots back and forth the two of them got out of the car it was like they
50:39rushed down to the pits just to shake hands because they both enjoyed race teachers it was a fantastic
50:49so let's see if we can see some spots of rain on any of these on board windshields it's hard to see
50:54anything out of this one's windshield so obviously the on the uh on the car catch up the tear offs like
51:01you get on the helmet so uh what they'll do is they'll probably run it until it gets to a point where
51:05the driver will say look the next pit stop you don't want to use them all obviously in the first
51:10few hours because you've got nothing left for the rest of the race so uh as soon as it becomes
51:15you know much much worse they'll they'll take that tear off and uh and have much better vision
51:19particularly when you're going to night time we were talking to the optics people uh about that and
51:24they put the windscreens come with 12 tear offs applied so you got to make each one last at least two
51:32hours so double double stint the timo got a double stitch how different the the light is on this
51:41racetrack at this point because the cloud cover is so much thicker over the mulsum straight away it's
51:47it's darker when they get to the other side of the racetrack up around the porsche curves there's
51:54brakes in the clouds so the sun that's going down is still giving it enough light that it looks
52:01completely different to see how light the sky is as you see it occasionally as the camera pans
52:07the toyotas are back on top seven and eight brendan hartley jose maria lopez nick tandy chases in third
52:17and then the first of the ferraris giovanazzi now it looks like the 50 car has made another pit stop
52:25because he is now on an out lap that was certainly unscheduled we didn't see it on that nicholas
52:31nielsen at the wheel now at the wheel now lowe kval continues to circulate now in sixth position
52:42in their pit stop although it says
52:48both on seven pit stops so if it was an extra pit stop for the 50 it would say eight
52:53so andre lotter has had a track limits violation rain expected now at marshall post two through five
53:07so that's pretty much the start of the lot uh through to um almost to tetras yeah almost to tetras
53:15because uh marshall post six is to is tetras
53:25you see the the porsche behind the toy there looks pretty strong through the porsche corners
53:30there you actually gained a little bit of time
53:34i think the porsche lose a little bit on straight line toyota is certainly very strong
53:39that could be uh of course downforce from the car and that's why the porsche is so good in the
53:44porsche cars and it's able to close back up again and he might lose a little bit straight line
53:48because they're turning carrying a bit more wing there's that bright sky i was talking about you
53:54can see how uh going through the ford chicane that little bit of sunlight just wreaks havoc
53:59for the drivers of these dirty pissed up windshields
54:03it's always a challenge here at le mans with the setup you know do you go for a car that is uh low
54:08downforce and super fast on the straights or do you go for a car that's got a little bit more
54:13downforce it's a bit more secure in the corners but you you obviously get more drag with that so
54:18it's always trying to find that trade-off and what the balance is and um and of course in the wet
54:24conditions and if we are likely to see more wet conditions you want more downforce as well
54:29so that should come back towards the porsche
54:35sometimes it also helps keep the tires if you want to do three stints if the car isn't sliding
54:40around as much it can also help the light of the tire i mean we've seen before in in the uh the
54:45american races the porsche can be quite hard on its rear tires um but i mean there's certainly nothing
54:50wrong currently with the uh with the century five car they're really having a great run here and uh
54:55certainly quite the uh the tires under a lot of pressure here tandy hits 337 that's 209 miles per
55:02hour before the uh breaking point for the game sparking car on the left there yeah um either lost the
55:11tire or lost the wheel and uh got a long way back to the pitch from there what can we tell what car that
55:18was yeah we might be able to let's check in with the uh 709 uh we expect rain to be at the tunnel
55:31so there's uh what we were talking about earlier the report to the lmp2 leader that brand expected
55:43from dunlop to tetrus that is the uh 709 which is on an outlet so i wonder if uh maybe they didn't get
55:51the uh the wheel nuts on correctly or something definitely front last isn't it
55:59yeah but he can't take care of the pits yeah yeah he just come out of the pits it was his
56:06it's on his outlet
56:10oh that's a long way here that's frustrating
56:11now this is the longest lap ever yeah the crew discussing he stopped
56:26yeah he's just very slow it's taken him so long to get to the next uh timing line that it
56:33it is saying that he stopped but he was still moving he's not moving very quickly but he is still
56:38right he's not moving tests when he trips the next time he might have probably
56:50he's almost yeah yeah you're right i think his damage is so yeah so great now that he's descended
56:55well i'll just bring this one very slowly very otherwise it'll cause way more damage
57:01there is your lmp2 leader the aforementioned oliver rasmussen
57:06at one point we had joda the little the little cumbery that could small firm out of england leading
57:13both the hypercar class overall and the lmp2 class it's going to have to be a big comeback drive for that
57:20double to happen in the hypercar class as the 38 car is is down probably about four laps at this point down
57:30a 30 26 position overall so tandy takes the lead again as both toyota's picked
57:40an uncharacteristic mistake there is the uh overshot its pit box unless that's what happens when you
57:47don't come in in in order in proper order in tandem you have to exactly past and back yourself back so we've
57:54seen the ferraris um organize themselves on track before they come into the pits and it looks like
58:01the toyota's didn't do that and they came in in the wrong order because we did have um brennan hartley
58:08who's sitting in the car there he was leading those two eight car it's a big test for these guys now
58:16because they're under some serious pressure which is great yeah this but this is actually really testing
58:21them and um how do they react to this pressure you know do they do they do they crack or do they
58:26they step up but uh you know certainly a super super strong team and it's great to see them in a battle
58:41and it will test their mettle and and they're they've been they've been waiting for that they
58:46they're not they don't have a problem with that there is the 709 carrying on all right there you
58:51go the wheel was the wheel obviously was not uh the nut was not secured is that if the nut wasn't
59:01secure surely the wheel would just come off that it was that not more suspension well if it if it got
59:07jammed up under the under the bodywork as long as he doesn't go too fast it may stick but yes it could also be
59:14the suspension
59:19or is it coming off it may have damaged the suspension they're having a pretty good run
59:30they were consistent they were kicking off the laps
59:35discussion down in the toyota pit
59:37big lock up there
59:49that's the 30 car
59:50that's ready
59:55that's the ken
59:57yeah
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