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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#EnduranceRacing
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#HypercarEra
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SportsTranscript
00:00...gets waved by the safety car and comes around to join the back of the queue.
00:04The door goes down on the number 17, number 7, Toyota Gazoo Racing TS 010, I beg your pardon,
00:13and that car confirmed as being out of the race.
00:17There's Neil Charney with the crew from the Duquesne LMP2 car, Martin Haven, Graham Goodwin,
00:23and we are joined now by Peter Dunbrecht, and Graham just about to shuffle the field around.
00:31We could be within a lap or so of going back to Green Flag Racing.
00:34We could. You saw that picture there of Neil Charney.
00:37He is the latest driver confirmed to be joining the hypercar club, if you like.
00:43He'll be joining Proton Competition in the very next WC race in Monza next month,
00:48alongside Jimmy Bruni and Harry Tingle.
00:51Back in the chair, Peter Dunbrecht. It's been dramas galore, Peter.
00:56It has. What a race.
00:58You know, I think the general consensus is it's one of the best for a long time.
01:03Absolutely right.
01:05So, I've got a question. We've got...
01:08Is it what another thing's happened?
01:09Yeah.
01:10We go down to sixth place, and remember Sebastian Bordet very early in the race got hit up the back.
01:16They lost a lap with the damage.
01:18Are they now going to get that lap back?
01:20So, no, he'll... I think he's going to restart this right behind the lead.
01:24What you missed was a little bit of banter with the race engineer,
01:29and we'll come back to that in a moment.
01:30Let's have a listen to what's going on with the number six Porsche.
01:32We're still looking like seven to eight green flag laps.
01:41Lawrence listens. The OK, somewhat foreboding.
01:45Where Sebastian joshing, I believe, with his race engineer,
01:49was asking whether or not he wanted him to pass the leader or just hit him.
01:52But most certainly lighthearted from Sebastian.
01:55But what we think we took from that Martin is he's going to emerge from this process
02:00in a position to be able to get back on the lead lap.
02:02Exactly right. And actually, what that reminded me of was when we were talking to Antonio Felix da Costa
02:07on the grid at Le Mans a couple of years ago, where he'd qualified fourth,
02:10he said, all I've got to do is pass three cars and I win Le Mans.
02:14So, OK, that's the way to look at it.
02:16Absolutely. 100%.
02:16That is absolutely the way to look at it.
02:18And you're right.
02:18The Caddy could be on the brink of getting its lap back when we go back to green.
02:24Well, some thoughts from Peter Dunbrek and Graham Goodwin.
02:27And the next voice you hear in this chair will be Jim Roller.
02:32So, with the pass around starting now, so the process underway, this is our third safety car.
02:40The total time under the safety car at this point, 2048 minutes.
02:45And that's, for the most part, been for track clearance, barrier repair.
02:51We are closing in, though, on...
02:54What is that? We're now into...
02:56Oh, help me out here, Jim.
02:57It says it's a tenth hour.
02:59Yep.
03:01And it is...
03:03Nico Muller leads the field at the number 94, Peugeot.
03:07Who would have thought?
03:08Absolutely, who would have thought?
03:09From the number eight, the remaining Toyota of Toyota already gone.
03:14We can have a chat in just a short while about where the casualties have come from.
03:19Third at the moment, the number two Cadillac Racing V-Series Type R in the...
03:25V-Series R, rather, in the hands of Alex Lynn.
03:27Antonio Fuoco, Alessandro Pierre Guidi still in formation.
03:3350 and the 51 Ferrari, 499Ps in fourth and fifth place overall.
03:38They are the cars currently on the lead lap with Seb Bordet, Laurence Varteur, and Michael Christensen in that train and be looking to make hay when this gets back to green flag running.
03:51They sure will.
03:52And if you're just joining us, where have you been?
03:54You won't believe what you've missed.
03:56It's astounding.
03:57Yeah, this has been an absolute epic 24 hours.
04:02We're only 10 hours, not quite 10 hours in.
04:04We're nine hours in.
04:06And that's one way to keep warm.
04:09Let's carry on talking about what's going on in the classes before we bring Peter in for a bit of discussion about the trials and tribulations of the first hours of this race.
04:17So this is Team WRT's 41 car, car in the hands of their silver-ranked driver, Rian Drad.
04:23The Angolan driver, Angolan-Portuguese driver, leads the way and at the moment is on a lap by himself.
04:30But there is a pass around about to be underway.
04:32Kuba Shuboffski, excuse me, Shuboffski, for Inter-Europa competition, is second in the 34 car.
04:39Can we just go with Jacob?
04:41Kuba.
04:42Oh, Kuba.
04:42There you go.
04:43Kuba, Kuba, also, by the way, team principal of this squad.
04:48Malmo Maldonado is at the moment the wheel of the Palace Racing 65 Oroca.
04:53All cars in this 24-car starting grid at a B2 with Oroca chassis.
04:59Edex Sports, Paul Hubechata, the Pulsitz is back at the wheel and in fourth.
05:04And Danny Kvyat for Prima Racing, the 63 car.
05:08What a recovery they've had over the last few hours.
05:10It's stone last in the untroubled cars.
05:15In GTE Am, it is the Iron Dames in the lead.
05:18Michel Gattig leads the race for the 85 of Iron Dames.
05:21Porsche, Francesco Castellacci in the 54A, of course, at Ferrari.
05:26And Rexy, Project 1A0 in the 56 Porsche.
05:32And Zabattu Caroni, he sits third.
05:34So listen to the game, to what's going on with...
05:37Calvary, ask all cars on track to close the gaps, please.
05:41Car 77, I have the feeling you may be delaying the pack behind you.
05:46That is Chris Reid at the moment.
05:50Shouldn't have been to Christian.
05:51I love that, man.
05:54Y'all get the giddy up.
05:55Let's go.
05:55There you go.
05:57Let's have a quick chat while we're waiting for this pass around and the rest of the procedure to come through.
06:02There has been, actually, quite a lot of attrition so far.
06:05There has.
06:06At the time of the race.
06:07At the moment, we list, what is that, 12 retirements now officially posted.
06:12Yep.
06:13Headed by the latest retirement, which is the number 7 Toyota, after that multi-car incident coming into a slow zone.
06:19That same incident also accounted for the number 66 JMW Motorsport Ferrari.
06:25Both Camus, Kobayashi, and Louis Pratt absolutely fine after what was actually quite a frightening multiple car incident.
06:33And Racing Team Turkey has also called it a night, as has the other hyper car to have dropped out.
06:41And that is the Porsche Penske Motorsport entry.
06:45Gemini was behind the wheel of that car.
06:47The number 75 car, when it had a fuel pressure situation and the car just ground to a halt on the racetrack, they were unable to get it going again.
06:57The number 72 TF Sport.
07:02Looked a nothing incident, did it?
07:03Yeah.
07:04There's damage.
07:05It wiped the rear wing off the car.
07:07Did go backwards into the wall, but didn't seem that hard, but he could not get that car restarted.
07:12And I sort of wonder whether or not there might be an element of cause rather than effect there.
07:17But I don't know if you saw that detail.
07:19I did.
07:20He, on entry to Porsche cars, hit the wall on the right side.
07:24But as you say, it didn't look big.
07:25I think it was enough to certainly give him a puncture.
07:28Yeah.
07:29Maybe some suspension damage.
07:31I just wonder whether or not the shock through a wheel, whether or not it was a sideways thing through the wheel,
07:35maybe drive-shutting gearbox.
07:36We've seen that a couple of times with GT cars and L&P2 cars, but it did not look a race-ending incident for him.
07:44But that's proved to be the case.
07:46And sadly, Henri Pescarello's colours will not be finishing the Le Mans 24 hours in its centenary year.
07:52Richard Mille, AF Corsa, you'll have to tell me exactly what went on with the 83 car.
07:56The race-winning car last time out in Spa on the FIWC, that car out in the hands of Lila Wadu.
08:02Not an incident I saw, I'm afraid.
08:04Yeah.
08:04Then behind them, Proton Competition, Ryan Hardwick in the number 16 car.
08:12The 60 Iron Lynx, Claudio Schiavone, we saw that incident.
08:17The 55 car, that was all part of when the rains came and they were scattering cars at the Porsche curves.
08:25Gustav Birch behind the wheel when that car retired.
08:28That car, by the way, not really extensive damage, we're hearing from Aston Martin.
08:32The car just wouldn't go back into gear.
08:34So, other than that, if they got the car back, that probably would have been good to go.
08:39You mentioned the 60 car.
08:40That incident with the 60 car for Claudio Schiavone also accounted for the number 16 car of Ryan Hardwick.
08:47So, two Porsches in the same incident that went out there, Gustav Birch, Unis de Pau in that 21A of Corsa car.
08:55That also was the incident that delayed the number two Adelaide, am I right?
09:00So, that was the, that was the, what dropped that car?
09:02No, no, the number three.
09:03Number three.
09:04That was the one number three.
09:05Okay.
09:05So, that accounted for two more GTM cars and then Ricky Taylor, that 13 car had just a wretched time.
09:14And multiple incidents for the number 13 car after what's been a difficult run into this Le Bon 24 hours with John Ferrano having to pull out after injury at Laguna Seca a couple of weeks ago.
09:25Then the car being involved in a heavy incidents earlier in the week which required the car to be rebuilt around a replacement chassis.
09:33And then multiple incidents, one for the gentleman driver and then two for Ricky Taylor before finally something seemed to let go on that car and heavily into the barriers and out of the race.
09:47And finally, in the first retirement, the number 14 Nielsen racing car of Rodrigo Salas, that car looked like Rodrigo slightly spooked by a rapidly closing Toyota coming up towards the Dunlop chicane, getting on to the marbles to the inside of the circuit and turning, we've seen it happen so many times, sharp right into the wall from where it did not continue.
10:13That's the 12 cars no longer with us, still 50 cars still running.
10:18It wasn't that long ago that 50 was all this race would actually take.
10:22That's right.
10:23So, there's a caption there somewhere with that picture, wasn't there?
10:27I thought the shot in the Hendrix garage with everybody with their lawn recliners.
10:33It was distinctly American, I might add.
10:35It has still got the hints of the extraordinary Le Bon 24 hours this year.
10:40The celebratory firework display and light show was of what could have been described as epic proportions.
10:48If you did hear that through the mics in here, trust me, it wasn't nearly as loud as it sounded while sitting in one of the lawn chairs behind here.
10:55We've got 14 hours and 48 minutes remaining as another P2 car looks like it's going for a power cycle.
11:02That seemed to have worked.
11:04Just trying to work out who that is.
11:07Somebody that's got some...
11:09That might be the 80 car.
11:11Yeah.
11:12That is the 80 car.
11:13Looks like it's fresh body work.
11:14That is the aircourcer car of Ben Barney Coates.
11:20That's Ben's helmet.
11:25And he's struggling to get that thing fired.
11:30That's the old control, all delete, all with one hand while you're trying to do the steering wheel and the pedal shift.
11:36And it's not a great time for this to be happening with the safety car trying to sort things through.
11:42The 80 car.
11:43We said before this race started, the first time that the race here could have been won in all three classes by the same team.
11:55Yes.
11:56With AF Corsa.
11:57But at the moment, Ben Barney Coates.
12:00There's Ben.
12:02Now gets the car away.
12:03And is it going to fire properly this time?
12:07How far back is he on this?
12:08He's on the run down to Indianapolis.
12:12Car not up to full speed.
12:14That will require coming into the pits, I'm sure.
12:17That's going to be a delay for the car because we've started the merge and pass by.
12:22And from there on in, the pits are closed.
12:27That car is not in good health, is it?
12:32What are you seeing there, Peter?
12:33Anything to give us any clues as to what Ben's dealing with?
12:37Not really, you know.
12:39A recalcitrant race car.
12:41Yeah.
12:41Yeah, a car that just doesn't want to run.
12:44It's moving, but just not very quickly.
12:47Still got quite a way before the safety car chain catches up with them.
12:55The safety car, single safety car, now running down towards the first multinational chicane
13:01as Ben is just approaching Indianapolis.
13:04Indianapolis, but it is nowhere close to the kind of pace you'd expect.
13:09And again, going through a power cycle.
13:13Engine's running.
13:16So gearbox.
13:16Yeah, it might be gearbox or drive.
13:18Yep, drivetrain.
13:20Trying to select a gear.
13:30So problems ahead, or problems very apparent there for the number 80 car.
13:35These dramas just keep coming, don't they?
13:37Whether or not it's racing incident, whether or not it's some fabulous racing we've had.
13:42When we've had green flag running, it has been quite a long time under the safety cars.
13:46I mean, this new safety car system, I think it's great in the sense that it gives people
13:57back the lack that they might have lost for maybe no fault of their own, but it does seem
14:03to be, takes a lot of time and you lose the rhythm of the race.
14:09It does take time, but I will say that I think at least two of the long cautions that we've
14:17had were because the barrier repair took a lot longer than I would have expected it to.
14:23And the other thing, too, is I think some of the barriers around here are getting a little
14:27aged.
14:28And you're having to see things that are having to be repaired that maybe in the past
14:35wouldn't have had to be repaired.
14:37But the other thing, too, is because of the speed of these cars now, you can't have a barrier
14:42that's taking a hit and then just go, oh yeah, that's going to be fine.
14:45If somebody else hits in that same spot, that could be a barrier failure.
14:50And you don't want that.
14:51So you've got to fix the barrier.
14:53I think, you know, when we're looking at success or failure, I don't disagree.
14:57These have taken a long time.
14:58When we look at success or failure of this new process, it's not necessarily the process.
15:05It's the repair or the incident that's led up to the point.
15:08That's right.
15:08What I've been impressed by is when we've got to the point where the process kicks in,
15:12that's happening quite quickly.
15:14Yeah, it's only about a lap, maybe a lap and a half.
15:16The teams, it's pretty clear, brief themselves very well about what's required.
15:20And I think they've done that because it's so different and it's so new here.
15:24And because of the length of the lap, it does give space and time to achieve what they're
15:29trying to do, which is that class separation.
15:32And this car is going to get back to the pits just before the safety car, I think, actually
15:37catches them.
15:38It might just catch them, but it's going to lose a lap.
15:42Clearly going in the garage, isn't it?
15:44So that's the least of his problems.
15:45He almost doesn't sound, he's, he's probably just in one, he's, he's found a gear and that's
15:51it.
15:53So safety car in this lap, but it's not the right, uh, get it wrong, is there, is it?
15:59No.
16:00So with 14 hours, uh, probably be about 14 hours and 42 minutes to go by time we go.
16:07Safety car is coming in at the end of this lap.
16:17Car 80 pulled to the right-hand side on the runoff.
16:20Car 80 pulled to the right-hand side on the runoff there.
16:24Let all the cars pass, please.
16:25Which is exactly what he has done.
16:31And now here comes the Peugeot through the Ford chicane, flick left, flick right, keep
16:38it, try to keep it under him.
16:39And we are back racing at the centenary of the 24 hours of Le Mans with Peugeot out front,
16:47chased by the number eight Toyota.
16:52Nico Muller leads to Marikawa.
16:54That was almost a touch.
16:56Right side by each there, four cars, five cars trying to get through the Dunlop chicane.
17:06And I think that's the, the 80s.
17:08So the, yeah, Toyota's, the Porsche is back to third nine.
17:12Oh yeah, he's lost two positions in that exchange in the Dunlop chicane.
17:18Is that a Cadillac?
17:18Yeah, it's the number eight leads now with the number two Cadillac with Alex Lynn.
17:24Behind the wheel.
17:25And there's the Peugeot.
17:27I don't think that's Lynn.
17:28I think that might be Sebastian Bourdais.
17:31Ah, trying to get his lap back.
17:33I think it might be.
17:34I think Alex Lynn is a little further back.
17:36Yes.
17:36The graphic is telling us this is Lynn here going by the Peugeot.
17:42Sparks flying there.
17:44Dark down the Moulton straits.
17:46I think we may have both Peugeots in this.
17:49And that's confusing.
17:50Well, we're going to be clearing, we're going to be clearing the first timing set.
17:57Nico Muller was still leading.
17:58He certainly isn't going to be by the time they get to the second.
18:01Ben Barnico climbs out of the 80 car.
18:04It has got back to the garage.
18:07Team manager of car 80 to the race director immediately, it says.
18:10I told you.
18:20A little bit of that magic.
18:21I've got about eight laps here before we have to pin.
18:24Just going to focus forward, do some good clean laps here, buddy.
18:26Said Bourdais goes by and gets back on to the lead lap.
18:31How's that for a restart?
18:33Sent me that sea bass magic.
18:35Oh, it's 25 and 35 are under investigation for an incident at 23.59.
18:41Now, that's an hour and 20 minutes ago.
18:43Yeah.
18:44There's the two Peugeots running right together.
18:48So it's now Toyota number eight with Arikawa behind the wheel,
18:56then Nico Muller, then Antonio Fuco, then Alessandro Pierguidi.
19:02Has he gotten out of the car tonight?
19:05It's a very focused effort, isn't it, this Ferrari effort?
19:09It's been a joy to watch them attack this race.
19:14There's nothing conservative about the pace of these Ferraris.
19:17Nope.
19:17And then they're chased by Alex Lin in the Cadillac.
19:22And then at the tail end of the lead lap now is the number three Cadillac in sixth place.
19:27And that really is the comeback drive of the race so far.
19:32On board the Cadillac and a camera break up there behind one of the Glickenhaus cars.
19:41This is the number two of Alex Lin.
19:43This is the replay.
19:48What's happened here?
19:48Can we get first?
19:49Okay.
19:49That is Ferrari up the inside, the 50.
19:55I was going to say, they didn't look like they were up to speed because we were watching this.
19:58So, Ryo Hirokawa, it is that leads the race.
20:081.8 seconds.
20:09There are some cards, aren't there, on social media.
20:14Amongst the things being shown tonight on Twitter is a somewhat photoshopped incident report sheet.
20:19That's for the 38 car.
20:25Famously, Hertz Team Jota.
20:28A team, by the way, joined Hypercar just so we could tell the difference between the two cars.
20:33See, Martin, we blew our opportunity because when he hit the wall, one of us should have said,
20:40gosh, I hope he got the collision damage.
20:43Both the Glickenhaus cars, by the way, still running and running strongly, 10th and 11th.
20:49The 7.09 car in 10th position.
20:52Three laps down on the lead.
20:54And it's fallen back into line with the car that started the lap down.
21:00That puts on.
21:01Now, just ahead of Team Baiten-Romain-Demain.
21:05There goes the 8T.
21:06So, whatever that was, it was stuck in gear, wasn't it?
21:10That's what it looks like.
21:11That was a quick fix for it to be anything more serious than that.
21:15I think they've looked in the all-purpose racing toolkit, which, as we all know, consists of a hammer, a race tape.
21:28And a pair of, uh, pyrus.
21:30I suspect it was the hammer that was used there.
21:36What's impressed me about the Ferrari team is that it's like they've been racing here for years.
21:41100%.
21:42They're so...
21:43They have all been in G2.
21:45Yeah, but, like, you know, in the top class, it's just...
21:49Even things like reversing the order just before they come into the pits, so they line up the correct order.
21:55And, you know, just little things like that.
21:57They just look so professional.
21:59Oh, 28 car into the gravel.
22:01That's the Chota car from 5th position in LMP2.
22:04One-time leader in the class.
22:06It is Pietro Fittipaldi at the wheel for that.
22:09That's at, uh, Marshall's post-11.
22:12That's again the first again.
22:16What happened here?
22:17Two cars together.
22:18What was the other car involved there?
22:20It was a big pinch, wasn't it?
22:22So he was down the inside, it looked like, and, uh, yeah, the car on the outside, better contact.
22:28I suspect that was the 47, maybe.
22:31No, it wouldn't have been.
22:33It was either Manuel Maldonado or Rennie Binder was the other car in contention there.
22:39And, yeah, punching the steering wheel in frustration.
22:43And Pietro Fittipaldi, who led, and led convincingly in the early hours of this race,
22:49I think can feel it coming away.
22:51Might need the bleep machine here.
22:55All right, are you stuck?
22:56Are you stuck?
22:58Yeah, yeah, I'm stuck.
22:59Yeah, stuck was the word there.
23:03I wonder whether it was, uh, slightly off, wet offline on the inside there,
23:07because it was a bit of damp on that back street still.
23:11It did look a little bit...
23:12Two and to one wouldn't go there.
23:14So quite who was taking who.
23:17Slow zone activated for that incident and the recovery of the 28 car.
23:24Back to top-class action.
23:27This is the battle for the Porsche, third and fourth.
23:31Information to pit lane, information to pit lane,
23:34drive-thru penalty, car 25 for overtaking and the Riello in the next slow zone.
23:41Car 25 has a drive-thru penalty for overtaking and the Riello in the next slow zone.
23:47So that is Ahmed El-Harty, the ORT by TF Sport, Aston Martin running fifth in GTM, well up the order.
23:55Was that the car that was involved, because when we saw the onboard from Kobayashi just before he was hit,
24:04we saw a car passing another car.
24:08There's another car involved here that I've not quite worked out in the roll-off.
24:13Definitely involved were the 39 Graf car, the 66 GMW, the 35 Alpine, Kobayashi and the 100 Falconhurst Ferrari.
24:23We're all involved in the same space.
24:25So this is Ferrari.
24:26I know they are on your tires, but he can't see it.
24:30I know, I see that. I'm working on it. I'm working on it.
24:36Here we go again, the Ferrari boys.
24:38Oh, come on, I'm faster. I know he's on the tires, but I'm faster.
24:43I'm working on it. I'm working on it.
24:44It's that voice.
24:47In fact, he had to take avoiding action on the braking zone there, because he almost tagged the back of his teammate.
24:54Oh, did you see? I just saw that.
24:57NLT?
24:58Uh-huh.
24:58North American Racing?
24:59Yes.
25:00Yes, absolutely.
25:01Yes, the NART logo.
25:02Of course, that's for fans of Ferrari will certainly know what NART is, North American Racing Teams.
25:09Luigi Kennedy forming that team.
25:12He was the first person to win Le Mans in a Ferrari.
25:17It was in 1949.
25:18It was the year after.
25:20It was the year that we began racing here in Le Mans after World War II.
25:25And that victory cemented Luigi's relationship with Enzo Ferrari
25:31and led to him becoming the exclusive importer of Ferraris into the United States for many, many years.
25:39And North American Racing Teams with his son, Luigi Jr., has a rich, rich sports car racing history that is just absolutely outstanding.
25:51Probably Luigi Jr. still is listening.
25:54And if you are, Luigi, hope all is well.
25:59Yeah.
25:59And listen to the tales that Jim Glickenhaus will tell you of his early encounters with Luigi and Genetti
26:06and the defining mark that they've done, his ambition to be in this great race.
26:11He's out of doubt.
26:12Incident evolving car 28 and car 65 investigation.
26:16So, the other car was indeed the panace racing car.
26:20Race control taking a look at that.
26:24There's a replay of the nine car.
26:27Oh, boy.
26:28Yeah, Prima Racing.
26:30That's just, that's kind of rough on the equipment.
26:33It's like the tennis with a racket abuse.
26:35Yes.
26:37That car well down 18th in L&P2 and 46th overall at the moment.
26:43It's a long way to come back for the second of the Prima Racing cars.
26:48They said about the 63 car coming back up the field.
26:52Pocering up and down, little Danny Kivigat going well at the moment, though.
26:57That's the car shared with Dorian Pat.
26:59Look at Bortolotti.
27:00The slow zone still in place for the recovery of the 28th.
27:10Beginning to tumble down the order, I'm afraid, and losing laps.
27:15The Jota car, and that's going to be a long way back.
27:17Yeah.
27:20Ryo Harikawa leads for the moment 24 hours for 2023
27:24in the surviving number eight car.
27:27You're joining us after a break, or for the first time.
27:31The sister car, the number seven car, involved in a multi-car incident
27:34going into a slow zone, hit from the rear by the 35 Alpine.
27:40That led to that car losing drive and what we would term going red.
27:45Yeah.
27:45An unsafe hybrid system.
27:47I think he got hit on both sides because once the car was on the flatbed,
27:50there was as much left side damage as it was right as the 66 car came through
27:56between he and the 39.
27:58Yeah, Kamui gave it a good try to get the car back, but it was beyond him.
28:04So the seven car out of the race.
28:07Nearest competitor to that car in the overall order at the moment is,
28:11care to take a guess with that look at the atomic screen?
28:14Prepare to be surprised.
28:15It's a 94 Peugeot, and that's been there for a while.
28:18It has led this race more than once.
28:21And led for many laps, and not just laps under yellow.
28:24No, and Nico Miller doing a fine job.
28:26Three seconds back at the moment, released fairly recently from a safety car process.
28:33Then it's the two Ferraris.
28:35And at the moment, as things stand at the moment, the Peugeot are quicker than both of them.
28:40And I think the Peugeot is very much comfortable in mixed conditions.
28:46Yes.
28:46I think that's, the longer this stays dry, I think certainly he's going to come under pressure
28:53very quickly from Fuoco and Veracuidi.
28:56Remarkably, at the moment, what we've got are three pairs of two Camaras from the same teams,
29:03from third all the way down to eighth.
29:06Two Ferraris, two Cadillacs, the two and the three,
29:11and two Porsche Penske Motorsport 963s, the six and the five.
29:18That's positions one to eight.
29:21Racing has been stellar.
29:25There have been incidents, there have been safety cars, there have been interruptions,
29:29full course yellows and slow zones.
29:32But when we've had green flag racing, everything points to this being the start of something
29:37very special indeed in sports car racing.
29:41Because it's been hammering, Tom.
29:42There's been no, when the racetrack's been green, it's been flat out all the way.
29:48There's nobody saving anything for later.
29:50Five car going back into the garage.
29:52There you go.
29:53That's 75.
29:54So we've lost one Porsche Penske Motorsport car.
29:57The 75 car with fuel pressure problems eliminated some time ago.
30:02Problems now for the sister number five car.
30:04Cars have not been without their problems.
30:06That's not unexpected.
30:07These are some very new and very complicated race cars.
30:11But boy, have these guys been going at it.
30:13So we'll listen in to Porsche, find out what is going on for the number five Porsche 963.
30:22We'll take hybrid off, initial off, and we are looking at a water leak.
30:26Water leak.
30:29Water leak for the number five car.
30:32So that does not look to be the work of a moment.
30:35Play nice, boys.
30:38This is the 51 of Pierre Guidi trying to go by his teammate, Antonio Fuoco.
30:44Remember the headlines they're looking for, and the ones they're specifically not.
30:49The pass is made.
30:51Woco behind Pierre Guidi now, coming through.
30:54Mulsang Corner, and away they go.
30:55It will be interesting now to see if Pierre Guidi pulls away, as we heard before.
31:07It sounds as though Voco is actually on newer tyres.
31:11We'll confirm it's a little while ago that this message arrived on my phone.
31:15That I didn't see the incident before Tom Blomquist some time ago.
31:19But I do know it's something fairly hefty, and he's taken a trip to the medical centre.
31:24He's been checked over and released back to the United Autosports team
31:28after an incident for the 23 at 10 minutes past 11.
31:32So that is, what, 2 hours and 20 minutes ago.
31:34So thank you to the team for letting us know that.
31:36Tom is fine.
31:40The car's still running, isn't it?
31:41It is still running.
31:43Josh Pearce at the wheel of the car, and 14th in what started.
31:48That's a 24-car entry.
31:51We've lost three of them.
31:54We've had others that are, or have been, delayed.
31:56And the 39 car that was involved in that multi-car incident
31:59with the 66JMW car and the Toyota.
32:04That car's still in the garage under repair.
32:06A proud make.
32:16And back this year, as I'm on for the first time in 50 years,
32:20they started this race from pole position.
32:24Took the whole front row in an extraordinary hyperpole.
32:28Of real drama.
32:31And they started this race as they meant to go on.
32:33Battled hard.
32:35Both cars have led.
32:38Do you think the order was given there?
32:40I think it probably was.
32:41I think it probably was.
32:42Yeah.
32:42I think, you know, if they're struggling to kind of keep the momentum
32:44quite rather than it should.
32:46And, you know, these are factory racers.
32:49You know all about that.
32:50And it's not about your career.
32:52It's about their reputation.
32:53Let's look at the diffuser flapping away.
32:58Oh, that's the 911 car, isn't it?
33:00That's a little bit secondhand.
33:01That's Martin Rump.
33:03Drew goes to Glickenhaus.
33:06It's going to need a fix at some point.
33:08Sooner rather than later, I suspect.
33:10Repair on the five continues.
33:12That's allowed the 93 Peugeot to go back up into eighth position.
33:16Mikkel Jensen aboard that car.
33:18Two laps off the lead.
33:20Now the eighth.
33:20So the seven, top seven cars now, are on the lead lap still.
33:25Ryo Huracawa, Nico Muller, Alessandra Pierguidi, Antonio Fuoco, Alex Lin.
33:30Sebastian Bordet and Laurence Venture are the current contenders in the lead lap for the win for the centenary running of the 24 Hours of Le Mans.
33:48Gaggle of LMP2s with a hypercar or so in amongst them.
33:52Announced on Friday that the LMP2 class has been such a staunch supporter of this great race.
34:03We'll leave the FIWEC for the very best of reasons at the end of this season.
34:10For now at least.
34:12We'll continue in the European Le Mans series where we have a near 20 car field of stellar racing in the Asian Le Mans series.
34:20And also of course in the IMSA weather tech sports car championship.
34:22It's great to have John Doonan here.
34:24What a while in the booth trying to get our questions in as the dramas came at us.
34:29Like a frenzied gibbon flinging whatever at us.
34:33But also worth reiterating as has been all the way through this it doesn't mean the end of LMP2 here at the 24 Hours of Le Mans.
34:42And at least 15 of these fantastic cars will continue next year through a variety of modes of selection.
34:52So next year at the 92nd iteration of the 24 Hours of Le Mans it will be hypercar and more of them.
35:01It will be LMP2 and it will be another new class LMGT3 replacing the GTE AM cars that we have here for the very last time at Le Mans.
35:12So the seats have been complete for these fabulous GT cars.
35:17Rui Andrade continues to lead the LMP2 category the number 41 team WRT.
35:24Then it is the number 34 inter-Europole competition car.
35:29What a great one they're having.
35:30Yeah outstanding.
35:31And then the Duquesne team in the 30 car.
35:36Panis Racing in the 65 is fourth and Cool Racing.
35:40Number 47 is fifth.
35:43The leader of the Pro-Am category of LMP2 is the other Cool Racing car with Matthias Jacobsen behind the wheel of that car.
35:52The 37 car sixth in a class.
35:55Matthias Jacobsen in that 37 car leads the Pro-Am side of things.
35:58It's two Cool Racing cars in fifth and sixth.
36:04The Duquesne car by the way in the hands of Eddie Binder has just taken the third place.
36:10It's a one minute stop and go penalty for car 35 for accelerating in a next slow and causing a collision at MP5.
36:18That is I'm sure from the incidents that was sparked with the Toyota and the Ferrari, the number 66 Ferrari.
36:28Let's see whether or not that is the only penalty that comes from that.
36:30I don't think it will be.
36:32The sixth car in for routine service.
36:35That's the sixth car.
36:36Yes it is.
36:37Yeah.
36:37Hands upon the front door.
36:38And it is a switch to Kieran Est.
36:45Beginning to see some tired faces here.
36:48We can now by the way say happy 21st birthday Olly Colwell.
36:54Should we sing to him?
36:55I think the whole crowd should.
36:57Well I think the crowd should.
37:0121st birthday.
37:02A very special time.
37:04What better way to celebrate it than with a one minute stop and go penalty.
37:08I cannot imagine Peter Dunbrecht what this is like 200 miles an hour plus in the pitch black.
37:24It's the more you do it the more you kind of just accept it and you know you've got your your points on on the track or your marker boards that you pick out and then you hit your break point and you know what's coming.
37:37No one's changed the track since the last time you came around so you know it's really yeah if you take a look from on board like we're seeing now but actually it's it's a lot easier in real life.
37:50Some of us.
37:51Some of us are in.
37:52Some of us are in.
37:53Oh trouble.
37:54Oh trouble for the 63.
37:55That's big trouble.
37:58Big trouble for who's aboard that car Jim.
38:00Yeah.
38:01Okay.
38:02So copy box box box box.
38:05Get confirmed.
38:06Driver change for SEP.
38:08You can undo your drinks bottle.
38:10Copy.
38:11Yeah.
38:12Last time was very good.
38:13Ferrari 32's.
38:14was he'd been the barrier to the left hand side and then continued into the other barrier on the
38:20right hand side and that is danny kivy i suspect that's the end of the race for that car yeah he
38:27went from driver to passenger that was it interesting how he let the car roll back
38:34onto the track though maybe no brakes anymore but um that's what i assume because you would think
38:41yeah i kind of gave the benefit of the doubt there that it's lost the rear wing before we saw him
38:47so he'd already been into the barrier pretty hard i think he hit on the right left and then yes
38:53came back the course again so a fight back to podium contention for the 63 i think has ended right
39:01there yes indeed but uh of course shallow is going to be coming in about 20 seconds time
39:09to aid recovery of that car recovery shouldn't be too difficult it will be clear up what we
39:13haven't yet seen and i almost hesitate to say it is whether or not there's barrier damage and here comes
39:19uh higher power instance uh pit stop for rio hirakawa as he was called to the pits for course shallow is called now and that is ideal timing for
39:33for tayota pulls to a stop and loses gains if you like as much as is possible in those circumstances as
39:40the rest of the field is circulating more slowly clock of course is still ticking so less time lost
39:49to the rest of the field that was seemed a little bit unruly that car leaving the pit lane there yeah
39:55they had tires ready but they chose not to change them but they said to him driver change you can undo
40:00his drink bottle that's right they did and they did they did full service well remembered
40:07peugeot back in the lead nicker muller once again leads them on
40:14so somehow the full course yellow actually changed their minds yes
40:18that well i suspect that was they they knew they had more to gain uh by a quick pit stop in these
40:24circumstances although having said that you'd lose less wouldn't you with the driver change
40:29if you're going to do it anyway yeah danny kiviat stalks away from that car and that i'm afraid is all
40:35she wrote for the number 63 primer racing efforts going to be two at least two impact points to be examined
40:44and dealt with and dealt with and that is one very secondhand orrica big impact to the rear and the
40:52rear right in particular and we have seen through that uh left hander normally cars don't go in the
41:03walls often but you know we've seen a few in there we have we have is that a function of carrying more
41:10the car seat perhaps watch again only in the back barrier backwards there and then across the
41:16racetrack now that that hit didn't do any damage to the barrier no it did first hit me the first it
41:22was a hefty crunch so that that's what i'm thinking yeah if he had any breaks there at all he'd have
41:30stopped yeah because you don't really want to be rolling back onto the track he's experienced enough
41:35too to know to get the car stopped so let's see what the strategy is going to be now under this caution
41:52hey that the piece of a clean that we are it's computer and not yet yes we will give we will remove
42:00a tear off for james well i think gentlemen that is any hope of a meaningful result for
42:09primer racing done the nine car heavily delayed is 18th at the moment will obviously rise to nine to
42:1517th uh at some point when the laps take away but uh that 63 is done that is the end of le mans for
42:232023 for young dorian pat and for murka mortalotti and for danny kivyat and with the other car so far
42:30down the field i'm afraid the italian team will be looking after the lamborghini hypercar effort next year
42:39that's all she wrote
42:39yeah he's done damage to the side pod he's uh ripped probably he's gone around us at least rear
42:52suspensions yeah or toast he's he's hit with the rear of the car and dragged the side of the car along
42:57the barrier as well and uh be an upsetting moment for dorian i'm sure she's quite the talent
43:05so again to what's going on now with alessandro pierre greedy on the 51 with the air of course a car in
43:15second and so far they are good but they had a lot of full crucello slow blown and things i did i'm not
43:22sure if we pushed 11 lap in a row like this is okay just a bit of movement okay copy that that's why
43:29we think they're probably good for this kind of scenario we keep getting a lot of slow zones
43:35so lots of chatter with ferrari they're in good spirits aren't they tire yeah yes i think so yeah
43:43i think there's decisions being made about just how far they can push it at the moment with these
43:48michelin tires lots going on still there in terms of developments in all sorts of ways longevity of
43:55the tires of course we've seen the rather more if you like fan focused element here with the new
44:03color coding on the tires and still to come more and yet more uh in terms of the sustainability of
44:10these tires the the is i think i'm right is it the wet is 40 renewable materials the dry tire i think
44:17yes 30 30 and up in the uh the village there's uh racing tires at 63 renewable materials
44:28that's uh a key part of the vision moving forward the road map that's being established
44:36so james collardo he's going to get into car 51 when it pits he's going to get his own there isn't he
44:42what song do you think he's singing um show me the way to go home
44:50fast if you weren't with us earlier peter explained that when he was ready to get himself psyched up and
44:58into the car he would sing a famous scottish tune i believe it can fly no no i can walk 500 miles oh was it
45:08really no flower scotland did you really yes music has an amazing effect doesn't it in terms of just
45:19keeping focus shutting out everything else you know and um care to give us a couple bars no probably not
45:31no one would appreciate that i'll wait till later when he's a little more tired
45:39it's a tough moment this isn't it before any team the other car is still after the pub is closed yes
45:45well here's the thing the before we get to that let's go and listen to what's going on with rio hirokawa
45:54the plan now is to come in when the full course yellow opens directly from which corner no no no
46:00no audio it's just never mind full course yellow full course yellow
46:07wow that's it now now you've confused you i've no clue what rio thought he was saying i mean it's
46:13easy to confuse me yeah but you shouldn't confuse your driver still work going on on the water leak we
46:21heard didn't wait from the number five porsche up that down to 12th position now and this will have
46:25helped them it's less delay in terms of laps completed but they are still now three laps down
46:32on the lead battle and we're now down to what is it it is six cars remain on the lead lap
46:40uh rio hokawa by the way in and out that's an outlet for rio so now down behind both ferraris and
46:49the lead of the catilax or seven cars uh kevin est is he still on the lead lap
46:58i'll have a look at that give me a moment no i don't think he is it's the three cars the last
47:07car on the on the lead lap remember he got his lap back he did 94 car and antonika mullet leads this race
47:20you know if he he keeps doing this field course yellow all the way through the race and mixed
47:27conditions and crazy things happening you know you cannot rule that right now after the season they've
47:33had to this point and the end of the season of last year there will be plenty of people at peugeot
47:39and at solantis that will be turning cartwheels with the form they've seen from
47:43these cars the other car by the way running in eighth position and it's just one lap off the lead
47:48so to say this has been a turnaround in form is a massive understatement
47:57no one's laughing now no i mean they probably came into the race feeling no pressure at all and
48:04let's finish the race let's do we can exactly the saddest sight oh i hate that the saddest sight in
48:11lamont the garage door goes down yeah um oh trusty tea maker booth runner and i'm afraid to say my son
48:28all around son absolutely drinking buddy
48:31he says with barely described birth this close birth sells with the number six car will cycle around
48:41to be on the lead lap after this pit stop cycle ah okay sure that makes sense
48:45i'm looking for a driver change soon that's uh purgeot
48:59isolated i've never seen i mean paul d'arista that's paul yeah i've never seen those colors before
49:08another one of those uh le mans specials perhaps or new sponsor true
49:15well that's it another part that we don't often talk about here is which is
49:20this is clearly a race on a rapid upward trajectory so let's go uh what's going on with persia in the 94.
49:29the south man said it it's just quite risky so if uh if we have a long full crucello now and stuff
49:37bringing the tires back in with how edgy and unpredictable it is uh it's not great but i will
49:44do my best the other thing to consider nico is that there might be some rain coming in about 20 25 30
49:51minutes so this is also why we would rather not change tires discussion clearly about whether or not
50:00the envelope these tires can be extended to keep the pit stop time down as much as possible amongst
50:05other things two things to consider nico muller thinking that's a little on the edge and then
50:12being informed by the race engineer the rain is on the way oh we're going to see the uh ferrari
50:17being taken back into the garage area now it's very soft sound i think yep so ferrari number 15 the
50:29hands-on turn if woke up the pole-setting car is in the garage more and more and more drama this is a
50:37simple matter trouble for the 311 a spin under full course yellow this car has been on a near race long
50:45recovery drive and it's still what is it 17 laps off straight away oh so that's coming out of the
50:524th chicane as he's looped it there it's people durani they've had a long and lonely race this was
50:58after jack eight kin but uh major whoopsie through the first chicane in horrible conditions didn't seem to
51:06have done very much wrong they ended with the car in the barrier and with pretty substantial front end damage
51:15so that was the brema car so we're right contact on the right side which put him over to the left
51:26and you were spot on pretty much destroyed the car
51:31just ping pong through the porsche curves and
51:34so is this obviously uh suspension maybe no there's a or brakes
51:57let's have a listen to what's going on with the number 50.
52:00and we need to look for leak leak breaking system water system i thought that was a water pressure
52:15that would be a second car with a water leak if that's what it was it could be a braking system leak
52:21but uh i thought what we saw on the hands of one of the technicians there was
52:26yes that's why yeah well i think they've chosen the time to do it oh absolutely sure
52:34being full course yellow so making taking advantage of that uh of none of the cars at racing speed
52:42they're losing time just not losing as much time and they're not the moment losing a lap
52:47nine c four car that leads the race is just left the it's between the first and second chicane to the
52:54monzanne so they've got a little bit of time here to retain the lead lap green flag though means that
53:01task just got a lot more urgent yep nika muller leads the field away so we heard about muller and
53:08a bit concerned about his tires they've got very cold as he's been driving around slowly
53:14the track's still a bit damp offline there you see so he's he's a little bit uh cautious
53:20yes
53:23Peugeot lead lemont the hands of nikko bella the 94 persia 9x8 alessandro pierre guidi
53:31is the next threat the 51 ferrari 499p second place on the grid for that ferrari the team car
53:39though that was running in team formation is in the garage with we think a water leak this is the
53:45the leap at all there is for Pierre Guidi right on the tailpipe
53:52I mean that region wide on those brakes they go through Mulsanne hard on the
53:57accelerator as they head down towards Indianapolis and that is just job done
54:04that was much easier than I expected it to be
54:09so Ferrari now lead Alessandro Pierre Guidi and I think he's gonna be looking to
54:15turn the screw he needs to because Alex Lynn not that far behind in the number
54:20two Cadillac 3.7 seconds off the lead before that pass was made and the drivers
54:28in this race this point I would put Alex Lynn's form right up there
54:34yeah it's right on him isn't he so Lynn looking to do what he can do to get
54:39the big V8 engine Caddy into second place in pursuit of Alessandro Pierre Guidi
54:47keeping an eye on what's going on with the 50s still in the garage
54:55and it's not going much longer before they lose a lap here
54:59already pulled a second and a half in less than half a lap just uh they're going to lose the lap yep
55:16yeah Guidi from Muller from Lynn looks like maybe the end of a repair coming up here but uh still not
55:23buttoning things back onto but in comes the 51 the lead cast and Muller goes back into the lead
55:32and he comes through but instead of losing just one they would have lost three laps probably
55:40two laps for sure so we're seeing Hirakawa come back into the pits we did hear a little bit of
55:46a radio chat with them i don't really understand why they pitted and then pitted again now and they
55:53were talking about driver change so they probably do that driver change full service now there's a
55:58strange strategy i don't get that one i don't understand either i don't know what they were there
56:03that what they could gain from that it didn't look typically tow to the type of stop it looked a bit
56:08messy coming in it looked a bit messy going out so nickable leads driver change we saw james collardo
56:17collardo preparing to get aboard the car he'll do so now in the number 51 car the sister car
56:23still in the garage joining here rio hirakawa on pit lane a little further back
56:27said bordet in and out in the meantime with the number three cadillac goes by the number 50 car into
56:38sixth position as he does so
56:44the second bergeot that just passed by the number 93 car the eight car i think has jumped that ferrari in
56:50the bits ah he probably may have i think you're right graham yep there it is confirmation
57:00game off yeah exactly so where are we also game on for uh sebastian bordet now he has lost uh
57:09lost that lap again with his pit stop but when the leader pits yes he will get that lap back and
57:15it'll be interesting to see how much he's gaining two car battle for the lead between nika muller and
57:21the fast closing alex lynn cadillac looking to grab the lead here before the next pit stop cycle
57:28covers through and then a battle royal as well between sebuemi now more than a brake car taking over
57:35from rio hirakawa and james collardo in close to contention with the toto both those cars and outlaps now
57:42and to get toto kazoo racing leapfrogging the ferrari still the second ferrari 50 car with some kind of
57:50fluid leak we think a water leak is in the garage
58:01perjo cadillac toyota ferrari four different makes in the top four as we come to the end of the 10th hour
58:11of this quite fabulous race there's quite fabulous events there's so much more to race this week here
58:18with 100 years of history here at le mans being celebrated
58:23you have to get down to fifth place before we see the second car for any of the mates involved in this
58:3016 car deep starting grid in hypercar and that make is cadillac
58:341.5 seconds the gap for the lead james collardo 2.3 seconds back from the next set of brake lights
58:47we can see ahead that is the remaining toto with traffic coming for separate me
58:54it's going to be very interesting to see how way me can handle the traffic as we have
59:00less than 14 hours to go now it's two o'clock here at the facade that's
59:06uh 8 p.m on the east coast took your wild there
59:18yes indeed it would be interesting to see for me anyway whether uh collardo is going to be able to
59:26close up on that toyota ahead i wonder what the pace is like
59:29he's just out this is his out lap and joining us in the booth for uh the overnight hours guy smith
59:43actually both yeah welcome back guy hello actually both whammy and collardo both are fresh in the car
59:50that's right so it's interesting now for me to see who's going to be the quickest to get on on the case
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