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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
00:00:00A Duquesne team, Neil Yanni.
00:00:10We're getting rain reports on track.
00:00:14We're getting some rain reports on track.
00:00:22So rain reports on track.
00:00:24Also, they've asked the drivers to put their rain lights on low mode.
00:00:30I've seen a slippery surface.
00:00:33It's removed now.
00:00:42Right now, it looks like all things are dry at the Porsche curves.
00:00:50In comes, I suspect, the number 75.
00:00:56Which will put, yep, 75 in the pits.
00:01:03That will put Pierre Guidi back to the front of the field.
00:01:07Anybody looking for a Father's Day present?
00:01:11How about a Porsche's?
00:01:14The GMW team doing a really good job.
00:01:18They've got quite a healthy lead now in GTE over the Iron Danes car.
00:01:2433 seconds.
00:01:26So they're doing a strong, strong job.
00:01:31And that's a comeback drive for them.
00:01:33Because they had the big crash in the first free practice.
00:01:37So that's rewarding the guys for a lot of hard work.
00:01:41Yeah, they've had a fast car all week, actually.
00:01:44They obviously were not able to qualify, and they've not had the smoothest of weeks.
00:01:49But they have been quick when they've been on track.
00:01:50So they've obviously managed to work their way forward in the race and in a strong position right now.
00:01:56Looks like it's going to be a steering wheel change for the number 75.
00:02:01Once the fueling is done, then they can do work on the car.
00:02:04Left side, right side tires are going on.
00:02:07New steering wheel going on.
00:02:09Old one comes out.
00:02:11So who's out of the wheel now?
00:02:13Jamais.
00:02:14Yeah, that's our Long Beach winner in IMSA.
00:02:20This team won.
00:02:23The winners of Sebring are here.
00:02:26The IMSA Sebring winners are here in the 311 car.
00:02:30The Long Beach winners are here in this 75 car.
00:02:33So I'm wondering why these teams are competitive.
00:02:37They have had success in America, like other teams have had success in the World Endurance Championship.
00:02:48Oh, is that wet?
00:02:50Oh, that's the wet.
00:02:51No, yeah.
00:02:52It's starting to get literally wet.
00:02:53We had the yellow flag up at Marshall Post 3, which was under the bridge.
00:03:02And then now we're seeing...
00:03:05That's straight out of the pits on coal tires.
00:03:07Yes.
00:03:08Straight to the wet.
00:03:09Under the wet.
00:03:10That's not...
00:03:11Well, there won't be coal tires.
00:03:13Stephanie says it's now chucking it down in the pits, so...
00:03:16They'll be cold now.
00:03:17Yeah.
00:03:18Yeah.
00:03:19And wet.
00:03:20Yeah.
00:03:21And then here, once you get through Ted Rouge, out out of the Maltz on straightaway, looks
00:03:25dry as a bone.
00:03:30I'm looking at the gap between the two Ferraris.
00:03:32Remember, not long ago, they were running nose to tail.
00:03:35But, uh, Pierre Guidi is a 13 second gap over Nicholas Nielsen now.
00:03:44I think this is...
00:03:45Yeah, you can see the rain coming down and that's the 9-11, I think, going around.
00:03:50Yeah.
00:03:51All right.
00:03:52Back on the throw.
00:03:53Yeah, good.
00:03:54Got out of there.
00:03:55There you go.
00:03:56Got out of there.
00:03:57And then this further on...
00:03:58Tricky.
00:03:59Once they got under the bridge...
00:04:01The 34...
00:04:02Yep.
00:04:03Going by the 9-11, so he was able to get back going.
00:04:16So, now it will be interesting to see, like Duval and the Peugeot, to see if they really
00:04:21do have a good, strong, wet pace.
00:04:26So they're thinking about the wet tires now.
00:04:28See, I told you...
00:04:29Wow, that's interesting.
00:04:30I totally pulled the rest of us doing a rain dance, didn't I?
00:04:32Yes, you did.
00:04:33Yes, you did.
00:04:36Do they have full pom-poms and everything?
00:04:41No.
00:04:42There goes the Delage, and you can see that it is raining now, hard on pit lane, as we
00:04:52were told.
00:04:53It's very dark.
00:04:54So, I suppose now the statisticians will be looking at time lost on a set of slicks on
00:05:03this one section of track versus putting the car on wet and running it for the rest of
00:05:08the dry lap.
00:05:09Yes, that's exactly right.
00:05:10Well, they've actually got some data now, haven't they?
00:05:11They've kind of done it already once a day, where they're kind of trying to work out
00:05:16what to do.
00:05:17Do we go for the wet, which is probably the safe choice?
00:05:21So we've had a car off there.
00:05:23That's 28.
00:05:24That's a Jota.
00:05:25Is that a Jota?
00:05:26Yes, it is.
00:05:27Is it?
00:05:28Yeah, that was their class-leading.
00:05:30Yeah.
00:05:31That was our class-leading LMP2 car.
00:05:34Oliver Rasmussen behind the wheel of that car, and he has done some damage to the right
00:05:39front.
00:05:40Yeah, looks like he's gone in front first, doesn't he?
00:05:43Yeah.
00:05:44No.
00:05:45No.
00:05:46No.
00:05:47No.
00:05:48No.
00:05:49No.
00:05:50No.
00:05:51No.
00:05:52No.
00:05:53No.
00:05:54No.
00:05:55No.
00:05:56No.
00:05:57No.
00:05:58No.
00:05:59No.
00:06:00No.
00:06:05Something.
00:06:06Was this to switch to soft's, or is that to...
00:06:08Man.
00:06:09That was a short-
00:06:10Yeah.
00:06:11I think most of the cars are going to go to wet's.
00:06:12Especially as it's getting dark, it's a bit harder.
00:06:15Yeah, the rest of the track will be cooler, so you will extend the light a little bit.
00:06:21Of course, the other unknown is if there's some kind of accident or something that brings
00:06:28a safety car out again, then you could have had a different strategy again, just like
00:06:33the last one.
00:06:34Yeah, and now WET's going on the number two Cadillac.
00:06:44And the same with the Toyota.
00:06:45So everybody's pit strategies have now been thrown in disarray as they've had to come
00:06:50in to put wet weather tires on.
00:06:54So teams that have only been out for a little while, of course, they only have to fill the
00:06:58tanks for a brief moment.
00:07:02Too early to roll the dice and just stay out?
00:07:06I, the 51 car, I think they have it, but I think they are on.
00:07:11He's a minute 11 ahead.
00:07:13He's still, yeah, because he's the car pitted, 51 didn't pit.
00:07:17So let's see what he does now.
00:07:21So we're from the pits.
00:07:22The 51 is going to come in for drying wets.
00:07:27And then it's the 75 car putting his wets on.
00:07:33Remember when Michelin came out with the maxi wet and now they have the drying wet.
00:07:37The drying wets aren't on the prototypes.
00:07:43I think they're only on the GTs, aren't they?
00:07:45Here's the Jota.
00:07:46Well, it just made a move on the United car.
00:07:50Yeah.
00:07:50And it didn't pay off.
00:07:53Nope.
00:07:56Nope.
00:07:56Well, when we met with the Michelin guys, they said that the wet weather tires will last
00:08:07until the track is dry.
00:08:09Exactly, yeah.
00:08:09So that's where, I think, where the drying went, Dave.
00:08:13Be advised, debris on track, MP14.
00:08:16Bear right, bear right.
00:08:18The debris is in the middle of the track.
00:08:20Pull to the left-hand side.
00:08:22Bear right at MP14.
00:08:24Marshall post 14.
00:08:27Where do you think the rain starts, then?
00:08:28It's kind of in the middle of the Porsche corners.
00:08:30On standby to declare slow zone 4 at 22, 10, 15.
00:08:36We're doing slow zone 4 at 22, 10, 15.
00:08:41So the MP14 is the chute between the two chicanes.
00:08:47So there's some debris in the racetrack.
00:08:49I suspect that's from the Jota.
00:08:52And a frustrated Ferrari.
00:08:54Pierre Greedy, with the GT car not coming into the pits quick enough for his liking.
00:09:01And this is just losing seconds, Peter, isn't it?
00:09:03Yeah, that's frustrating.
00:09:16We've also got to be so careful entering the pits, because all that Michelin, as beautiful
00:09:20as it looks, it's really quite slippery.
00:09:21Very slippery.
00:09:22So, and there's a difference between the concrete of the pit pad and the asphalt of the fast
00:09:29and slow lane.
00:09:32Acceleration lane in the fast lane.
00:09:35So that's one of the Porsches.
00:09:38Is that the Jota car?
00:09:40Oh, and that's the Ferrari.
00:09:42Oh, here comes another one.
00:09:43Yep, that's one of the Ferraris.
00:09:44Oh, here we go again.
00:09:48That's the leading GMW car.
00:09:53GT GTM car, the 66.
00:09:56And it's stuck.
00:09:58And he's beached it.
00:09:59So is that the exit to the carting?
00:10:02Is that classic corner?
00:10:03Yes, yes.
00:10:03That's the exit to carting.
00:10:05And it's very slippery.
00:10:07Is that the other Ferrari?
00:10:08Yeah, the other Ferrari's already pitted, and he went through the gravel.
00:10:13Yeah, he went through the gravel, carried on down the road, and is now coming to the pits.
00:10:18Yep.
00:10:21Now, the 7 is coming through here on the wets, I think.
00:10:24No, he's now...
00:10:25Uh-oh.
00:10:25Oh, good heavens.
00:10:27Uh-oh.
00:10:33That...
00:10:34I don't know what happened there.
00:10:35Toyota had to absolutely bail out of that.
00:10:38He got in there and had nowhere to go, and we...
00:10:42Yeah.
00:10:43Who was it that we stopped?
00:10:44There was a car that just stopped in the pit lane, wasn't it?
00:10:46So what's going on all around now?
00:10:51So as long as that Jota isn't...
00:10:54Not that Jota, the other Jota, the P2 car, isn't too badly damaged, they've actually...
00:11:00It's not as bad as it could have been for them.
00:11:02Oh, exactly.
00:11:03Because, you know, this weather conditions, the slow zones.
00:11:06Okay, so the 7 made it into the pits, seemingly unscathed.
00:11:11There is the 28 car.
00:11:13That'll be a nose change.
00:11:15They're going to check the...
00:11:17Obviously, check it over for other damage.
00:11:20But if it is no suspension damage and just a nose, that's a pretty good break.
00:11:29Slow zones now.
00:11:31Slow zone 2.
00:11:34I'm sorry.
00:11:35Slow zone 4.
00:11:36Now there's a 22 car.
00:11:39That's the 99 car.
00:11:42They're all parking themselves.
00:11:44Yeah.
00:11:46That's at Indianapolis.
00:11:49That's at Indianapolis.
00:11:51Oh, contact.
00:11:52That's the...
00:11:53Yep.
00:11:5490...
00:11:55That's the...
00:11:56Turkey.
00:11:56That's the 99.
00:11:5723, Spirited Turkey.
00:12:00Making contact with the 9.
00:12:04So there's Jarvis.
00:12:07She's locked a wheel.
00:12:08Yep.
00:12:08There's 22.
00:12:09Great job.
00:12:10Just managed to get the car stopped.
00:12:12No damage.
00:12:12Heart and mouth moment.
00:12:14Yeah, exactly.
00:12:1766...
00:12:18If they're telling us, stop.
00:12:19Stop already.
00:12:22All you're going to do is dig yourself deeper.
00:12:26And those guys have run.
00:12:27It's such a great run.
00:12:28Yes.
00:12:29I think you curse them because they're doing so well.
00:12:32No such thing.
00:12:32Oh.
00:12:36That's the...
00:12:37Oh, that's the worst.
00:12:39When you're about to have a crash, it just goes in slow motion.
00:12:47Yeah.
00:12:48Racing Team Turkey.
00:12:49You can just see it, feel it happening.
00:12:51The thing is, though...
00:12:52You've got no control.
00:12:54Zoro did have control.
00:12:56He could have just come off the brakes and driven.
00:12:58He would have hit the tyre wall, probably.
00:13:01But he could have...
00:13:02Yeah, he froze.
00:13:03Yeah, he froze and just hard on the brake.
00:13:05If he had just come off the brake, he'd have got some steering back.
00:13:09But it's easy to sit here and say that.
00:13:13Very easy to sit and not have any stress and, you know, have a bit of a chat.
00:13:18Another car.
00:13:19Another 100 in the gravel again.
00:13:21This is at least his second trip to the gravel.
00:13:24The first rain shower we had sent him off at Porsche Curves.
00:13:28This really is survival night, you know, just trying to keep the car on the wall.
00:13:36Well, let's see what the Cadillac and the Corvette thinks of what's going on.
00:13:42You're doing a great job.
00:13:44We're trying to stay out to get a safety car.
00:13:46That's what we're trying to do here.
00:13:48Heavy rain at the King over in Indianapolis.
00:13:51Heavy rain.
00:13:52Heavy rain.
00:13:53Heavy rain.
00:13:53Heavy rain.
00:13:54Heavy rain.
00:13:55Heavy rain.
00:13:56That's dangerous.
00:13:57Trying to get a safety car.
00:13:59Staying out on slicks.
00:14:00Meaning he's still on slicks, yeah.
00:14:02And where are we now?
00:14:04So we're on the Motson Street now, are we?
00:14:08Yeah, that's the second chicane.
00:14:11And it's very wet there.
00:14:13Oh, yeah.
00:14:13there's the 66 car being brought over so he can get back underway
00:14:23that's the thing you would think that they would just say okay you can drop it there and you can
00:14:29drive away but i think they've got different ideas where they take it right out of the way
00:14:34don't they and and then let it get started pull back out on the racetrack where he's not going
00:14:39to be in danger so turkey car still going anyway just in front after it's a little bit of contact
00:14:46there's the uh nine car has made it back in i'd imagine it's got damage on the rear look at the
00:14:52rear left because it took an impact so that we'll be pointing out the way you'll have to go back in
00:14:59for repairs i'm sure 63 car there's a 66 back underway
00:15:04i wish we had a carbon shop guys because i think we're doing quite well now
00:15:11if you're running out of parts soon at this rate oh yeah look at that that's
00:15:14that's a shame that's looking a bit second hand at this point
00:15:20good luck of the draw very unlucky there obviously several cars going off in exactly the same place
00:15:27and two of them made contact i mean lmp2 quite a lot of the front runners you would expect to be
00:15:32contenders for the win are actually now dropped out yes yep this is going to open this up
00:15:37right now enter europol is leading
00:15:40fabio sharer behind the wheel of the number 34 car united autosports tom bloomquist and the 23 cars
00:15:49hanging in in second third is the w uh other wrt team number 41 with robert kubinson behind the wheel
00:15:56now there's a guy who can who can pedal in the wet and all his rally experience is formula one wet experiences
00:16:03that car is in good hands in the way i can think
00:16:06i can think
00:16:08here's the 51 car alessandro card weedy
00:16:11but you could barely see anything hit the brakes on the straightaway
00:16:16just had a message from current current chandok he says absolutely under no circumstances are we to
00:16:25have another safety car all right mate
00:16:28i'll get right on that memo
00:16:35so the 66 car has made it back to the pits
00:16:48and i am sure that uh eduardo freitas is loath to put out another safety car but these guys need to
00:16:56you know the accelerator goes in both directions and they just need to be a little mindful of that
00:17:05let's check in in the pits
00:17:08hi guys i am at the number nine two three the racing team turkey where we've just had a driver change
00:17:14let's have a look for tom devil who is now in the car but that car has actually received both a front and back wing change
00:17:24so that's repair of that damage
00:17:31from the wreck 50 car is uh down and out lap so how have uh things shaken out so far in the pit stops and the rain
00:17:39we've got uh pierre greedy leading in the ferrari number 51
00:17:43luwak deval in the peugeot and number 94 is second
00:17:47cadillac with richard westbrook and then blue number two car is third fourth is
00:17:53the first of the toyota's
00:17:55louie kobayashi under 15 seconds to remove slows on four
00:18:0010
00:18:01nine
00:18:02eight
00:18:03seven
00:18:04six
00:18:05five
00:18:06four
00:18:07three
00:18:08two
00:18:09one
00:18:10slows on four is now clear slows on four it's now clear
00:18:14so the racetrack is yours boys have at it there are no slow zones currently on the racetrack but the racetrack
00:18:21in some spots is very wet
00:18:23so i would imagine the car what was the car that stayed out on slick so much of these bands
00:18:27for the f33 car
00:18:34and you can see just when he goes to power the car moving around it's just
00:18:39it's like between two cars there didn't he
00:18:42yeah sometimes when you're in this position you feel like you're driving so slowly
00:18:46you know you feel like i'm not really pushy and i need to and actually you're actually going quick you know for the conditions and you it's so difficult to know how hard to push
00:18:54the racetrack is
00:18:59this is an area where the racetrack is not very wet so it's a little bit easier for these drivers still a little bit of spray still a little bit of moisture
00:19:11so the two winners out of that whole situation where the 51 ferrari
00:19:18are greedy he's got a 27 second gap over like deval let's keep an eye on that
00:19:24because as we thought the persio is pretty handy in the wet so
00:19:29um let's see if you can bring it down a bit
00:19:32and also the other one that did pretty well and that was richard westbrook with the two car
00:19:37yeah he's only uh
00:19:39another 14 seconds behind
00:19:46and actually one of the big losers was the 50th ferrari
00:19:49yes i think is it because they had to make two stops they just pitted and then they had to come back in again
00:19:55right
00:20:08that's the three cadillac
00:20:10let's go down another lap currently in eighth position
00:20:14so the leading ferrari number 51 is lapped up through eighth position so not westbrook then
00:20:22no westbrook's in the two car
00:20:25that's the uh that's the three cars
00:20:27no that is the blue
00:20:29that's well that's one of the uh lmp two cars
00:20:32ah i see
00:20:33because that called by us has just gone by westbrook
00:20:37right
00:20:39yeah that's an lp two car
00:20:40yeah you're right
00:20:41the ferraris
00:20:43709
00:20:44because the three cars off in the distance there
00:20:46yeah the 709 speaks of a penalty a one minute stop and go for a technical infringement
00:20:51probably too many people working out in the pits
00:20:54that was the car that was limping back very slowly wasn't it
00:20:58so ferrari goes straight on another chicane
00:21:01yep
00:21:02well that's it the dunlop chicane he went straight on
00:21:06yeah
00:21:07yeah first yeah
00:21:08that's what i mean
00:21:09turn two
00:21:10thank you
00:21:12he's so gentle on the throttle
00:21:22oh yeah
00:21:23just hit a little bit of water a puddle and you're hard on the gas and the car will snap
00:21:29you can see there yeah peter he's just walking around
00:21:31this is if drop your wheel off the on an exit car we'll get on some of the pain there it's uh
00:21:36with a little bit steering lock on
00:21:38yeah car goes round
00:21:40okay there's richard westbrook in the two car
00:21:43currently in fourth
00:21:46there's the seven which just passed in moments ago
00:21:51pulled out a little bit of a gap
00:21:53kobayashi's always been comfortable with the west
00:21:58it's uh richard's probably his first time in uh
00:22:02purchase up around here
00:22:03i think he's done the race many times but in gt
00:22:06i mean look at that lack of visibility
00:22:09it's horrendous
00:22:10and actually what you find you see with the wiper itself it's not actually that effective
00:22:15i mean they're kind of there but
00:22:17i was speaking to some of the guys from cadillac yesterday and i don't believe they've done
00:22:22any or very little testing in the range so this is kind of their test as it were
00:22:27so these are the sort of things you find that actually the wiper doesn't work so well
00:22:31and water starts to come in from all these different places in the car and it starts to steam up
00:22:36so
00:22:42straight on from
00:22:45so that's the ferrari's second car
00:22:47yep it's almost like the ferrari followed in
00:22:49so yes the three car
00:22:53renger van de zander
00:22:56straight lane chicane in the ferrari
00:22:59well he didn't really straight line it he uh he used the inside
00:23:02the curb inside the bollard
00:23:05lines
00:23:08okay
00:23:10thelighit
00:23:1256
00:23:14is
00:23:19i
00:23:21got
00:23:22the
00:23:24the
00:23:25the
00:23:26have
00:23:2932 seconds.
00:23:34Yep, that's over Tom Blomquist in the United Auto Sports and then
00:23:38Blomquist is being chased by Kubica in the team WRG number 41.
00:23:43He's just four seconds behind.
00:23:46And also the Iron Dane's doing a great job in the lead now.
00:23:49They're moving to the lead of GTE.
00:23:52So we've got, yeah, Porsche one, two.
00:23:57This is a little bit better representation, guys, of what you can see.
00:24:01That camera, oh, he just locked, oh, and around he goes.
00:24:06He kind of locked the rear wheels as he was downshifting.
00:24:09And, yeah, just kind of lost control and spun.
00:24:13So luckily he didn't hit anything.
00:24:15So hopefully he'll get going again and be on his way.
00:24:19Coming up behind the Camaro.
00:24:22First time that car's raced in this kind of wet weather.
00:24:26I wasn't sure whether he was actually locked up,
00:24:28trying not to go into the back of the Camaro.
00:24:30And he kind of...
00:24:41Yep.
00:24:42Yeah.
00:24:43But it was completely locked, as you say.
00:24:45But you can see the visibility is a little bit better.
00:24:48That other camera was down in the area where all that water was running.
00:24:55So the visibility wasn't quite that bad.
00:24:57But it's still not stellar.
00:24:59So the leading car, the 51 car, is pulled at 45 second gap now to, like, Duval in the last lap.
00:25:11Or so he's gained 15 seconds on him.
00:25:13Wow.
00:25:16Yeah, and the 50 car now is...
00:25:18One minute 40 behind the sister car.
00:25:25Back on board with Richard Westbrook.
00:25:27Much drier here.
00:25:29Still looks like it's a little dicey.
00:25:33That's going through the Porsche curves.
00:25:35Remember, this is where the rain started first.
00:25:38And we were scattering cars all over the exit of karting.
00:25:43Just trying to find the grip with the car.
00:25:47Commit it, but then just, you know...
00:25:49No joke.
00:25:57No joke.
00:25:58No joke.
00:26:01Is the car okay, Richard?
00:26:02Question?
00:26:03Yeah, I just can't keep seeing with this Wi-Fi.
00:26:07It's so dangerous.
00:26:09Copy that, copy that.
00:26:10We are trying.
00:26:13Yeah, Richard is too.
00:26:19We talked about the 33 car earlier.
00:26:28Let's find out just how that strategy didn't work out.
00:26:34I'm here in the pit lane at number 33, Corvette racing with Nico Varon.
00:26:38You've just jumped out of the car.
00:26:39Tell us about the conditions out there, because it looks dicey.
00:26:42Yeah, well, for us, it was pretty crazy.
00:26:46So, we were full of water, you know, it was like a swimming pool out there.
00:26:52And we were on slicks also, like in the last part.
00:26:54So, it was pretty crazy.
00:26:55It was just going into Mustang straight, like 80 kph, four gear.
00:26:59I was aqua-planning, going really slow.
00:27:02And the hypercars, everyone passing me, like, really fast.
00:27:05So, yeah, it was scary, to say.
00:27:07But, all you know, we can keep the car clean.
00:27:10We can make it back to the box and continue the race.
00:27:13But, yeah, it was pretty tough up there.
00:27:14Yeah, so, earlier on, it was very difficult for you.
00:27:17But you guys have so much pace today, enjoying this race, don't you?
00:27:21Yeah, yeah, I just got out.
00:27:23I don't know how it was the pace.
00:27:24Maybe it was good.
00:27:26But, yeah, for sure, I was giving my all.
00:27:28I feel like, yeah, we tried to stay out on slicks, but then a proper rain came out.
00:27:34So, yeah, I think that we lost a little bit of time.
00:27:36But, you know, this is racing and this can happen.
00:27:40It's just about managing the risk and see where we end up.
00:27:44Okay, well, we'll see you in a few hours when you do your next stint.
00:27:47Thank you so much.
00:27:48You were saying, Peter, that Pierre Guidi, or, yeah, Pierre Guidi had pulled out about a 45-second lead on Louis Duval.
00:27:57Well, that's because, a quick look at the last lap, he was 18 seconds quicker.
00:28:01He's turning 409s in these conditions.
00:28:04Everybody behind him is 427, 425, 452 for the 50 car.
00:28:12He's obviously very comfortable.
00:28:14Closest to him is the Toyota No. 8 with the higher car up behind the wheel.
00:28:24Yeah, different conditions for everyone.
00:28:26Obviously, same condition, but different feelings in the car.
00:28:30Sure.
00:28:31Confidence levels, and also depends on how much traffic you're around.
00:28:35If you're in, because we heard from Richard Westbrook, I think it's, you know, it's difficult for everyone to see.
00:28:42And if you can't fully commit down the streets and commit to passing maneuvers, then you just lose seconds.
00:28:50Yeah, you don't lose tenths of seconds at that point. You start to lose seconds.
00:28:53Here's a look at the overall classification. They've completed 80 laps, working lap 81, 17 and a half hours to go.
00:29:08And, of course, a Ferrari 499, number 51 leads.
00:29:13So it's Ferrari, Peugeot, Toyota and Cadillac in the top four, four different manufacturers.
00:29:19And further down, see the two Glickenhouses rounding out the hypercar class in LMP2.
00:29:30It's inter-Europole, having completed 77 laps, is leading.
00:29:38The Toyota car back out has dropped down to 24th overall.
00:29:43They were leading the class until they had problems in this most recent rain shower.
00:29:49Leader in GTM is the Iron Danes, number 85.
00:29:54They're chased by the Project 1 Porsche, the number 56.
00:29:59That's the Rexy car.
00:30:05JMW Porsche, number 66.
00:30:07We saw a crash early in that last rain session.
00:30:12And we have five cars out of the race.
00:30:14The number 83 Ferrari, the 16 and 60 Porsches, the 55 Aston Martin, the 21 Ferrari.
00:30:23The 13 Tower Motorsports.
00:30:27And the number 14 Nielsen Racing out of LMP2.
00:30:34Yeah, the 51 car has been making all the right moves, all the right calls so far to be in the position they're in.
00:30:40And, you know, they seem to have just played a blinder here.
00:30:43So...
00:30:45Down to 4.04s.
00:30:48Over a minute gap now to Loic Duval behind.
00:30:51Yeah.
00:30:52So the racetrack is obviously improving because we're seeing many of the lap times come down now a little bit.
00:30:58But, like you said, they've caught this just right.
00:31:02I think the hardest thing is if you jump in the car now, in the middle of this situation, it's finding where you can push.
00:31:12Whereas if you've been in the car from the start, you kind of start to understand where the grip is and where the tracks worst or better.
00:31:19And at least you can acclimatize.
00:31:22But, I mean, just look at the awful visibility they thought.
00:31:26And Kobayashi is a little bit, you know, a lot of movement in the car.
00:31:35Okay, update on conditions.
00:31:37We don't see rain at the circuit anymore.
00:31:39Obviously still quite a lot of water on track.
00:31:42But we don't see rain at the moment.
00:31:44Okay.
00:31:45Once I go behind the car, I see nothing.
00:31:49Yeah, but when I go behind the car, I see nothing.
00:31:52There you go.
00:31:55How hard is that?
00:31:57I mean, is that, do you just, is it just hoping for the best?
00:32:02Yeah, it is luck.
00:32:03It is a lot of luck involved.
00:32:05I mean, you think about it, your brain says, right, put your foot flat.
00:32:09And you know you could drive down there flat out and the car wouldn't do anything.
00:32:13You know, there's enough down force and grip.
00:32:15But then you see lights in front of you and your foot just starts to ease up the gas pedal.
00:32:20And you're like, no, no, flat, flat.
00:32:21And you're like, no, no, I want to lift off.
00:32:23So you've got the devil and the angel on your shoulders just trying to protect you.
00:32:27But yeah, I've been in that situation many times.
00:32:29And another track bad for that is Nürburgring.
00:32:33I mean, Nürburgring, 24 hours of fog and everything.
00:32:35And you know, it's just, it's very hairy.
00:32:38But you know, the situation is just, you've got to commit.
00:32:41And you know, the moment we've got the guy right up the front,
00:32:46who's obviously very committed.
00:32:49404 last time round.
00:32:50And as we talked about, next car, 420, then a 416, 422.
00:32:55So he's just gradually pulling away more and more and more.
00:32:58And if he can just keep that all together, and when this all clears up and it gets dry again,
00:33:04he's going to end up with a potentially, you know, couple of minutes gap over the next second place car.
00:33:10Yeah, the only guy kind of matching him ready is the Jaminet in the, in the 75 Porsche.
00:33:16He's lapping 402.
00:33:18So again, again, another GT driver, another kind of GT guy.
00:33:22And also Vanthor as well in the number six car.
00:33:27Yeah, looking at the GPS map, you know, the 75 car, he's been in space.
00:33:34He's had no traffic.
00:33:35Right.
00:33:36Yeah.
00:33:37So he's about to catch the back of a load of other cars.
00:33:40And the 51 car who's just coming on, you know, again, he's got no traffic.
00:33:44He's got a couple of cars in front, but not many.
00:33:46And I think if you can have some clear laps where you've got no spray, I think it's a spray more than the actual circuit that is the issue.
00:33:55Because when you, like you said, when you can't go flat down the straight versus being flat on the straight, you're giving away lap time.
00:34:02If you're surrounded by cars and you don't know where they're going to go and you don't know where they're going to break for the next corner, you have to go easy.
00:34:10You can lose five, 10 seconds a lap, couldn't you?
00:34:12Quite, quite.
00:34:13And I think that's exactly what happened to Richard Westbrook.
00:34:15He was, you know, we, we actually saw his onboard and how much he could see.
00:34:19And it just caught him out.
00:34:22He, as you say, caught up to that NASCAR in front and maybe just brake marginally too late or whatever and just, you know, lost the rear end.
00:34:31Communication from the Ferrari team via social media that they reset the 50 car on the last pit stop and lost 30 seconds.
00:34:42I wonder, I wonder what they reset.
00:34:45A little, a little cryptic.
00:34:50It's these small little things.
00:34:52Obviously, if you have a small problem and you lose that amount of time, sometimes you never gain that back.
00:34:56And it can, it's such fine margin, isn't it?
00:34:58Especially with this competition, you're absolutely right.
00:35:00You don't have, there is, we talked earlier, there's no margin for error.
00:35:04Whether it be in these kind of conditions where you can see from the helicopter shot, the spray coming off the, almost like a rooster tail coming off the back of the leading car to a mistake in the pits or a Richard Westbrook spin.
00:35:19Anything like that could ultimately be the difference at the end of 24 hours when the, when the racing is this close.
00:35:26It's looking at the, the arm battle, iron dames versus project one 432.
00:35:36Yep.
00:35:37So we, we got, um, Matteo Cairoli who I know is exceedingly quick, uh, catching up to Michelle Gatting.
00:35:45No.
00:35:46She just did a 426.
00:35:49His last lap was a 420.
00:35:51I bet this will be quicker because she was six seconds quicker.
00:35:54Only 11 seconds back as well.
00:35:56So within the thing with a couple of laps is going to be right.
00:35:59Yeah.
00:36:00He's going to be within striking distance.
00:36:02But car stranded on track there.
00:36:09It's fun coming out of, um, multi-corner.
00:36:22This is a long, dark run.
00:36:24Yeah.
00:36:25This is, this is the part of the trial where it's probably the darkest until you get to, uh, into Indianapolis.
00:36:31Yeah, once you get out of Arnaje, you can start to, yep, there's, you see the lights at Indianapolis, the right-hand turn.
00:36:45Look at that one of the Peugeots.
00:36:50That's the LMP.
00:36:54It's an LMP2 battle with a Peugeot in the middle of it.
00:36:57But, yeah, we've got Mikael Jensen in the 93 Peugeot doing quick laps, four and three, but still desperate to try and get some of the, you know, that lap back, or two laps even now, I think.
00:37:08So, I think this is the battle for fourth and fifth that Peugeot is in the middle of, yep, the 35 and the 80 AF Horson.
00:37:17They've been running nose to tail.
00:37:32Just half a second separating them at this point, and they've been that way almost the entire lap.
00:37:38There hasn't really been any, you know, they've pretty much held station.
00:37:44Now he's closing in a little bit under braking.
00:37:47Yeah, Ben Barnico doing a really good job leading the Pro-Am class for Air Corsa.
00:37:53Putting some pressure now on Ollie Caldwell.
00:37:55This Alpine Elf team, number 35, has been right around the top five in class the entire race.
00:38:09They've perked to the top a couple times in pit stop sequences, but they've been there or thereabouts the entire race as others around them have had problems.
00:38:19Yeah, they've struggled a little bit so far.
00:38:20It's like the 80 car making a move.
00:38:25He closed in, did the 35 make a little mistake going through the Dunlap chicane?
00:38:33Yeah, there was someone who went right through the chicane there, straight lane did.
00:38:55Yeah, Ollie Caldwell, Formula 2 driver, actually, he's the race winner this year.
00:39:01I think he turns 21 tonight, midnight?
00:39:04Yes, he does.
00:39:04Is that right?
00:39:05Yes.
00:39:05Yes.
00:39:06In about an hour and 20 minutes, he'll be 21 years old.
00:39:11Speak of the devil.
00:39:12There he is.
00:39:14Oh.
00:39:15In about again?
00:39:18Yep.
00:39:19Well, he was fine.
00:39:20I think the 80 car ended up almost not making it, having the straight line part of it.
00:39:25Now we get into the, almost into the part of the night when every now and then you'll see the napping crew member.
00:39:42Through the second chicane.
00:39:46In that time, uh, that time Ollie used the inside line on the chicane.
00:39:52As opposed to.
00:39:53Both pushing the limits, aren't they?
00:39:57Everything is being watched.
00:39:59Oh, yeah.
00:40:04Yeah, we're almost getting back into the three-minute lap times now for the hypercar.
00:40:07We're at four-minute dead, so the track is gradually improving.
00:40:11Again, yeah, Luke Duval picked up two seconds on that last lap.
00:40:164.02 for Piraguiti and a four-flat for Duval.
00:40:23I think it really was how they fell.
00:40:26When the rain came down, it's where they were on the track.
00:40:30And I think the 51 car was just in more.
00:40:33Just all the right spots.
00:40:33Yeah.
00:40:34Yep.
00:40:37Yeah, they're all very similar times again, as you say.
00:40:41We'll go for it.
00:40:43The top two.
00:40:46The top eight all within two seconds of each other in that last lap time.
00:41:01So the battle continues for fourth and fifth with the Alpine team and AF Corsa number 80.
00:41:11As one of the hypercars goes through that battle.
00:41:15Is that one of the other Peugeot?
00:41:16Was that the other Peugeot that just went through that battle?
00:41:21We'll know when we see the rear of it.
00:41:23Yep.
00:41:24There.
00:41:24Yes, indeed it was.
00:41:25That's the 93 car.
00:41:29A bit of a recovery drive now.
00:41:30Two laps.
00:41:31Three laps behind the leader.
00:41:34I'm sorry.
00:41:35Two laps behind the leader.
00:41:36We're still working hard through the Porsche curves.
00:41:46Through Porsche curves to karting and then White House, Maison Blanc, then the Ford chicane.
00:41:51The amount of concentration now on these drivers, you know, these stints are long, you know.
00:42:01It's so easy to make a small mistake and put the car off the track or crash out.
00:42:06So it's incredibly intense in there.
00:42:13Matteo Cairoli now just three seconds behind Michelle Katting.
00:42:17So the fight for G.T.
00:42:20Yeah.
00:42:21The lead will be coming very soon.
00:42:24Yep.
00:42:24You called that one.
00:42:25When you're into this part of the night and even into the wee hours, the single digit hours of the morning.
00:42:34One, two, three o'clock.
00:42:37Is it easier when you're racing somebody to kind of keep your focus?
00:42:45Yeah, I would say so.
00:42:47So, yeah, it's nice to have another car around you and give you a target.
00:42:53So if you're the one behind, you can kind of, but obviously in a wet condition, it's more difficult.
00:42:58But if you're just running on your own with lapping cars or whatever, then that's a lot harder to really keep the focus and keep pushing.
00:43:09You see the spray now is definitely reducing.
00:43:11Yes.
00:43:12Although the wipers on, it's not.
00:43:17Deering down, going through the first chicane.
00:43:22A little right flick, then left.
00:43:24He got it right that time.
00:43:25Caldwell, there goes the 38.
00:43:40Joda Porsche on its recovery drive.
00:43:43Move him up to 17th overall.
00:43:53The second chicane to go.
00:43:55This one is the left flick, then the right.
00:43:57This is the wetter area, clearly.
00:43:59He's getting the spray from the car.
00:44:01That must be the Joda.
00:44:02Yeah, that's the Joda Porsche that just went through.
00:44:05So Pierre Guidi continues to lead is the times.
00:44:28Was that Ollie Goldwell heading into the...
00:44:34Oh, yeah.
00:44:35He got it right.
00:44:36Yeah, he got it around.
00:44:37There goes the car behind.
00:44:40He's angry at himself for that one.
00:44:41He's brake too late.
00:44:42Just outbraked himself and slid way to the gravel.
00:44:45Didn't quite get into the gravel, but almost out to the gravel.
00:44:51I think he probably stuck a couple of wheels in it.
00:44:53Yeah, he probably dragged a couple of wheels through it.
00:44:55Exactly.
00:44:56Was there not a car on the inside?
00:44:59I'm not sure whether he was trying to avoid a car.
00:45:01Maybe not.
00:45:03Here's another look.
00:45:05We'll find out.
00:45:06Oh, you're right.
00:45:07Oh, yeah.
00:45:07That's the spending car.
00:45:09Is that the Camaro perhaps?
00:45:10I think it might be the Ferrari.
00:45:13No, it's a Ferrari.
00:45:14It's definitely a Ferrari.
00:45:15There we go.
00:45:16Yeah.
00:45:16Oh, yeah.
00:45:17It's the 66 Ferrari.
00:45:19Went in deep.
00:45:20Then almost to...
00:45:21I think he just got his attention.
00:45:24Yes.
00:45:24Yep.
00:45:27Yeah, because he went out there like he was going to come right out, but stopped.
00:45:30Oh, no.
00:45:33Problem for the number 75.
00:45:36Porsche.
00:45:39Gemini, Matthew Gemini.
00:45:40Behind the wheel of that car, he was turning some great times.
00:45:45It's looking like it's going to need a full system reboot.
00:45:49His glasses.
00:45:50His glasses were fogging up in there, weren't it?
00:45:52I thought you could see the fog on the window as well.
00:45:55The lights are still green, though.
00:45:56That's good news because if the car, those lights that you see glowing there in front of the car turn red,
00:46:03that means the car has got an electrical problem that is dangerous and he'll have to go to what they call Area 51 and he'll be out of the race.
00:46:12So, but he's, just sounds like he's got no power there.
00:46:17So, as predicted, Matteo Cairoli takes the lead of GT.
00:46:28The reason I know he's so fast is because he was in my last year of racing, 2020, he was my teammate, Falcon and I was pushing for everything to match his times.
00:46:44And he seemed to be just driving around.
00:46:46I watched his onboard and I thought, how the heck are you doing that, making it look so easy?
00:46:53And I'm, I feel like I'm driving with a knife in my throat.
00:47:12So, now we're on board with Renger van de Zande in the number three Cadillac.
00:47:17So, now the number five Porsche, uh, Fred Macavecchi, takes up the charge of the, uh, the, the Porsche, Porsche Camp.
00:47:31Yep, he's now the highest running Porsche in seventh position.
00:47:39In fact, that was our little safe bet, wasn't it, Guy?
00:47:42It was.
00:47:43I, I, I bet on that five car.
00:47:47What, what would the car do you do?
00:47:50Uh, I, so, I played safe, I think, we're at the number eight Toyota.
00:47:55Well, there's our sixth and seventh, no, so, let's see how that's working out.
00:48:03When it gets a tonic tea cake.
00:48:06Ah, so it was a big bag.
00:48:11Ah, tea cakes are not to be missed.
00:48:14How are those snowballs?
00:48:15Yeah, yeah, thank you.
00:48:17a lot better visibility now for Richard Westbrook
00:48:25the number eight Toyota it's two minutes and 21 seconds
00:48:34off the lead it's it's a fair fair way
00:48:41yes yes which is which is a bit surprising
00:48:45I would have thought they would have looked in like to you know like to be a
00:48:50little bit closer to the to the front yeah and the stage
00:48:58coming up on 11 o'clock here in the start coming up on 17 hours remaining in the
00:49:05centenary Le Mans the 91st actual running of the race but the hundredth
00:49:11anniversary of the first law in 1923
00:49:16decided that this would be a great way to prove the reliability and effectiveness
00:49:22and 100 years later we're doing the exact same thing with a brand new category
00:49:37with 14 cars 15 cars in the class 16 cars in the class from five different
00:49:49manufacturers it is the dawning of what I think will be the next great era of
00:49:58sports car racing that will probably hopefully rival the the group C and GTP
00:50:04eras that we got to enjoy group C in Europe and GTP in the United States
00:50:10so the number 75 car is still marked down as stock
00:50:16yeah he's not uh not got great coming through
00:50:20he was tech I think it's that Ted's route wasn't he he was parked and he's that
00:50:26where it was I think so
00:50:27yeah yeah that was the mark of six yeah right he is still sat on the inside of
00:50:34pet rouge so I'm sure he's doing all the resets to be speaking to the team and
00:50:38asking for advice what do we need to do what we need to reset and trying to get that
00:50:4375 car back up and running into the race
00:50:54no bomba
00:51:05so the ferrari 50 car has moved ahead of uh the cadillac number two now as well
00:51:13ah so he's uh nicholas nielsen turned to 357 the last lap i think
00:51:20yeah
00:51:24so 358 for our leader 357 for lewitt duval four minutes flat for come up movie
00:51:32kobayashi so and then 357 for nicholas nielsen we could see well is this gemine
00:51:40is this gemine going again or is this yes he's moved further he's moved further on and
00:51:47now pulled off the racetrack
00:51:49there's roger penske looking on
00:51:56oh
00:52:00oh
00:52:02he's trying to carry on
00:52:04did you ever have to bring the car back to the pits on the starter
00:52:11did you ever have to do that
00:52:13i've never had to do that no
00:52:15yeah no but that look i don't think you'd make it all the way back
00:52:19well not not from that area but but in um
00:52:23that was something on the shorter racetracks in the united states every now and then a guy would
00:52:27you know
00:52:29yeah
00:52:30if you're talking about a two and three quarter mile road atlanta or something
00:52:33yeah you could
00:52:34coast it down the hill
00:52:35and then
00:52:36well it's just so frustrating for these guys because they're actually having a great race
00:52:40and uh very much sort of in the fight and uh yeah so frustrating
00:53:01but pina greedy in the 51 car he's having a great stint he's done that he did such a great job in those tricky conditions to sort of
00:53:08pull out more of a lead hasn't he and he's still uh doing a you know continuing to be uh
00:53:12uh probably the fastest car on track
00:53:14just trying to build that get build that gap as much as possible
00:53:17is that a purple first sector on jamine's uh scoring line on a on the lap that he stopped on
00:53:23i think that when he when you stop or slow down it it seemed to show up your fastest sector so i don't believe that's that's his lap
00:53:30i got you
00:53:32but there he is on driver's right
00:53:34still
00:53:36uttering a long time to come back at that speed
00:53:39yep
00:53:41i think
00:53:43quickest guy on track just now is a peugeot of um
00:53:46um
00:53:47of mickle yet
00:53:49that car seems to like the drying conditions remember when the
00:53:56remember when the audi against the peugeot was uh
00:54:01when it was the changing conditions it was so much faster so
00:54:04yeah
00:54:05it would
00:54:06it would rain and the peugeot would catch back up and then it would start to dry and the audi
00:54:11then when it was dry the
00:54:13peugeot would start to catch back up again
00:54:17the number nine to five four cars doing a great job as well hanging in there in second place
00:54:24with good pace
00:54:25yeah they're doing a great job
00:54:26and with seventeen hours to go a minute behind is not an issue
00:54:30i mean there's so much racing
00:54:32yeah you know that is
00:54:34that is
00:54:41been talking about the track conditions let's see what uh the eight car thinks
00:54:45forty second chicane
00:54:49and
00:54:51five six seven
00:54:55copy in your opinion still not ready for slick question in your opinion still too early for slick
00:55:01second chicane i think still very wet on the north side
00:55:04and
00:55:07and
00:55:08and
00:55:09and
00:55:10and
00:55:11and
00:55:12and
00:55:13and
00:55:14and
00:55:15and
00:55:16and
00:55:17and
00:55:18and
00:55:19and
00:55:20and
00:55:21and
00:55:22and
00:55:23and
00:55:24and
00:55:25and
00:55:26and
00:55:27and
00:55:28and
00:55:29i think still very wet on the north side
00:55:31and the ferrari though
00:55:32yeah they've got slicks ready
00:55:34that's a fifty one that's a leading car
00:55:36yeah that could that could push uh no that's the fifty
00:55:39oh it's fifty it's the fifty in the pits
00:55:41this could certainly uh
00:55:44change toyota's thinking
00:55:46especially because they'll be able to see what his lap times are
00:55:49yeah
00:55:50here a cow son might be told no no you're going on yeah you're going on slick
00:55:55going on slick i i think um maybe this was a scheduled stop anyway so they were forced into
00:56:00yeah
00:56:01doing something so either you go and do another stint on the wet tire and potentially lose a lot of time
00:56:07or you're right you go into the slick now
00:56:09but it's this is the riskiest time now as well
00:56:12yeah because that crossover moment and it's dark and you can you've got to be on the line because it's wet either side
00:56:20so yeah you can see you can see they're still leaving the tires are still leaving marks on the
00:56:26but it's going to get all of the teams thinking now
00:56:29oh yeah it's going to get them all thinking do we do we do do we match them do we do we copy them or do we play it safe
00:56:35guaranteed they'll be looking at those lap times next
00:56:38i i don't imagine this first first couple will be quite up to it but then all of a sudden the times will come down
00:56:45oh yeah
00:56:50so now we're taking a look at the battle for sixth and seventh in lmp2
00:56:56james allen oliver rasmussen
00:56:59of course this is a comeback drive for the number 28 car they had an incident earlier
00:57:04kind of did some front end damage
00:57:07given the fact that they're still in the hunt in sixth place with 17 hours to go
00:57:11so that was uh they kind of got a what i won't say they got away with it but but they got off light
00:57:17that's when all that rain came down and yellow flag zones and you have slow zones
00:57:21going into going into tetroos you got into every other car pitted at the same time
00:57:26so i think the yes they spent extra time in the pits just inspecting the front of the car
00:57:31but clearly the suspension geometry of the car was okay it was just damage to the bodywork
00:57:36you've got the um united 23 car of tom bonquist
00:57:40lapping very quickly at the minute with a seven well it's seven seconds behind the inter-europe ball car
00:57:45and um so let's see in the next lap or two there could be a change
00:57:50it was seven seconds quicker on that last lap yeah
00:57:53could be could be a change for the lead of lmp2 in the next lap or two if it uh continues this way
00:58:05and we've got martin herein back to join us hello martin what you've been doing i've been watching
00:58:11well you just can't take your eyes off this can you this is insane
00:58:17it's everything that the 100 year anniversary race should be
00:58:23and you know what you know it's everything we sort of hope for when they started framing these hypercar rules
00:58:29it was probably quite a lot of skepticism that you could actually produce a platform that lots of different manufacturers
00:58:35with very different ideas of what they needed from it could all embrace and could and could come out the other end of
00:58:41with cars that are equal but oh boy what one car looks like another even in sort of slight detail
00:58:49and yet they're all just tenths of a second apart on a eight and a half mile lap i mean it's insanely close
00:58:56and a guy you know we've been through periods with one mark dominating and another mark dominating in different forms of the sport
00:59:04then i i don't know at the moment i it's it's hard to pick a car that looks like it's got any noticeable advantage
00:59:13in almost any conditions that we've seen it's been four seasons so far apart from snow so i i think that there's
00:59:20there's a very good chance that this might be okay a race for the ages as the centenary race but i think next year
00:59:29there's likely to be even less chance we'll see gt cars because there'll be even more hypercars having at it
00:59:36yeah i was a little bit concerned that once the race got going that it might be a Toyota kind of one two again
00:59:41it might be back into the sort of the old days as we know it but it's anything but that it's actually
00:59:46absolutely delivered on every level and we've had every manufacturer pretty much taking a turn at the top
00:59:52and that just shows that they've got it right they've got the balance of performance right they've got the whole concept right
00:59:57concept right and you know the race
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