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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#LeMans2023
#24hLeMans
#EnduranceRacing
#MotorsportHistory
#HypercarEra
#FerrariVsToyota
#LegendaryRace
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SportsTranscript
00:00:00In many ways, way faster than the LMP2 cars or even the hyper cars in a straight line.
00:00:06Takeshi Kimura here as Ben Barney Coates, well, now effectively retired ATA of course a car,
00:00:13falls behind the GTM leader on pit lane now for the delayed number 50 Ferrari.
00:00:21Takeshi Kimura will come back and get another look at him shortly,
00:00:24because that's another great story, another true enthusiast, the car guy behind car guy.
00:00:30The team based just outside Fuji Speedway, in fact, literally across the road from our other Japanese GT team, D-Station Racing.
00:00:39They have their team, yeah, they have their team bases on the opposite sides of the same access road to Fuji Speedway.
00:00:49A couple of thoughts from Ant Davidson, we'll be joined by Peter Dunbrek,
00:00:54and then I'm going to head to the land of Nord for a couple of hours.
00:00:57Grant Goodwin will be in the driving seat.
00:01:02So Toyota lead from Ferrari and Cadillac, it is 7 o'clock, Central European Summertime,
00:01:0715 hours in, nine hours to go and counting, and I don't suppose we are out of storylines yet.
00:01:15So, yeah, 7 o'clock, 7.02 to be precise.
00:01:30Trust me, it's still well alight, this race.
00:01:34Gap now for the lead.
00:01:36Ryo Hirakawa, 11.1 seconds for the good from Alessandro Pierre Guidi.
00:01:42The next, down the road, by the way, almost two minutes back, but still the lead lap,
00:01:47is Earl Bamber, the number two Cadillac.
00:01:50So, still three makes on the same lap in this amazing race.
00:01:56It is a tiny bit less frenetic than it was Peter Dunbrek when we both had a thick, a little bit of sleep.
00:02:03But still very engaging.
00:02:07Yeah.
00:02:07We've got a lead battle.
00:02:09Talk about that.
00:02:11Absolutely.
00:02:12I suppose the biggest difference for me is the number 94 Peugeot has fallen back.
00:02:21I gather it had a bit of a crash.
00:02:23Yeah, so you've answered the same questions I had, Peter, when I first got back behind the mic,
00:02:30and it was Gustavo Menezes, I believe, in the first chicane that got it all crossed up
00:02:37and ended up in the barrier, unfortunately.
00:02:39It's still, unbelievably, it's still damp in that first chicane.
00:02:43So, before Hirokawa got back in behind the wheel of the number eight car,
00:02:47it was Brendan Hartley relaying the information, saying,
00:02:50yeah, you tell Rio when he jumps in the car to really make sure he stays on the racing line
00:02:54into that first chicane, because it's still definitely damp on the outside.
00:02:59It's still beating down the pit lane.
00:03:01Steph, what have you got for us?
00:03:04I'm just outside the number 10 collector garage.
00:03:07We've just had a front wing change, although it doesn't appear to have any damage.
00:03:10So, does it appear to have damage, what might that be at this time of the morning?
00:03:16Front bodywork change for the factor?
00:03:18Setup change?
00:03:20Could be.
00:03:21No change in weather at the moment.
00:03:24Essentially, drivers are complaining of, I don't know, understeer, oversteer.
00:03:29At this front, maybe they've just managed to put some more downforce on the car.
00:03:35Yeah, it's a quick way to change, you're right, Peter,
00:03:38a quick way to change the aero balance of the car if it's that bad,
00:03:42because it does obviously come with a time penalty.
00:03:44So, it better be a lot better in terms of balance and gain you that time back
00:03:49and more some afterwards.
00:03:52But, yeah, a bit of a stranger.
00:03:53There's no damage.
00:03:54Maybe there's damage to the underside of it, I don't know.
00:03:56Or maybe there's a dodgy light connector or something.
00:04:01Who knows?
00:04:02But, yeah, it's certainly one way that you can change.
00:04:05Often in an LMP2 car as well, you get a bit of fluttering, a bit of porpoising.
00:04:09And sometimes changing the nose can eradicate that as well.
00:04:14Battle for second here in GTM.
00:04:16And it's the GR racing car there on a fine run here.
00:04:19Takes the opportunity, Riccardo Pera ducks up the inside of the Ferrari.
00:04:23Davini Regan that is with Riccardo Pera.
00:04:26As both cars just kick up the gravel at Mulsang Corner.
00:04:30There's Davini Regan.
00:04:31Well, the tyres are on the corner of that car because that should not have been that easy for Riccardo Pera.
00:04:38Regan has not given this up.
00:04:41Inconceivable, they didn't know that was a position.
00:04:43Goes to the outside and they go almost door to door.
00:04:47And the run down to Indianapolis.
00:04:48There's an LMP2 car in the mix here looking for a way by.
00:04:52But Pera it is that comes out to the good and through.
00:04:55It's a second place for the car with the dual livery here in tribute to this great race in its centenary year.
00:05:04Regan very not, very unhappy about that.
00:05:07It looks like he's not happy to let the P2 car by either at the moment while he's in a tough battle.
00:05:13Now, I'm keen to understand just exactly what happened there.
00:05:17Well, I can see what happened.
00:05:18Riccardo Pera did him.
00:05:19He's thrown into second place.
00:05:21But it's almost as if he didn't know that was a position.
00:05:25I mean, Regan, exceptional driver, one of the Ferrari factory boys.
00:05:33But a fine run.
00:05:36You know, I said just a few moments ago, it's sort of quiet and downlit for frenetic activity.
00:05:40Then you look back at what's happened in the last 20 minutes.
00:05:43We've got a developing battle for the overall lead.
00:05:46It's now down to under, what, about eight and a half seconds.
00:05:49Under eight and a half seconds now.
00:05:50We've had a lead change and lead battle in L&P2.
00:05:55And a change in GT Amphra for P2 there as well.
00:05:59Hirakawa's in trouble here.
00:06:01He's starting to hemorrhage lap time compared to Alessandro Pia Guidi,
00:06:05who's driving an absolute blinder of a stint right now.
00:06:10Or a couple of stints.
00:06:11And it seems like Hirakawa's got no answer to that pace.
00:06:17We're going to see, there is the Ferrari.
00:06:18First time we've seen them in shot together for a long time, thanks to that full-course yellow moment where it handed the...
00:06:27And quite a big advantage to Toyota.
00:06:30And when Brendan Hartley was at the wheel, gained roundabout 30 seconds.
00:06:35It was a slow stop on top of that for the number 51 Ferrari.
00:06:40Something wrong with the left front.
00:06:42Seemed to be a slow stop there.
00:06:43But, yeah, Pia Guidi, absolutely with a bit between the teeth right now.
00:06:47Is it my imagination or does he just seem to be in the car all the time?
00:06:51Pia Guidi.
00:06:52He's just doing this race on his own.
00:06:54That's probably his contract.
00:06:54We did have James Collado with a really spirited attack in that car.
00:06:59But it is that thing about when you're looking at battles for an hour after hour after hour,
00:07:04and you can sometimes forget they've had that change.
00:07:06Giovinazzi does not seem to have a huge amount of seat time in the time that I've been focusing on that car.
00:07:12I think, yeah, same for me.
00:07:13I just, maybe we've been asleep while Giovinazzi's been in the car.
00:07:17But it's under nine hours now until we find out who is going to be the latest team name, car name,
00:07:27and three driver names to be carved into the 100-year history.
00:07:33There is James Collado.
00:07:35His name is not Ray Van, by the way.
00:07:36That is James Collado.
00:07:39It's another second and a half in the favour of this man we're riding on board with, Pia Guidi.
00:07:45He's got a bit of traffic here, though.
00:07:46The LMP2 car in front through the S's of Tetra Rouge.
00:07:51He's going to have to be careful of that, though, all four wheels off the track.
00:07:55And that was one of the Premier cars that he finds his way past now.
00:08:01And there they are, both in shot.
00:08:03Toyota, car number eight, heads towards the first chicane.
00:08:07Pierre Guidi with the Iron Dames car in front of him.
00:08:10Will get a lit.
00:08:14No, is he going to get held up in the chicane?
00:08:16No, he's going to be just perfect on the exit.
00:08:19So he gets back on power.
00:08:20And he'll be able to actually pick up the tiniest little bit of stitching before pulling out.
00:08:24Not anything, really.
00:08:26That was...
00:08:26He got through that chicane.
00:08:27That's what you pray for when you're in the cockpit, isn't it, Pete?
00:08:30You just pray for getting through the chicane without getting affected by the slower car in front.
00:08:35Yeah, you overtake so many cars around here when you're in the top class that you're always trying to gauge it.
00:08:40And, you know, you know, even from five seconds back, you know that, oh, I'm going to hit this car.
00:08:46Well, not hit this car.
00:08:47I'm going to get caught behind this car at the wrong time.
00:08:50A new rear deck for the 709 Glickenhaus.
00:08:55They've had quite a good run here.
00:08:57Seventh and eighth, these two cars.
00:09:00They're not done yet.
00:09:01So it was the 708 much earlier in the race, which was helped by...
00:09:08What are we looking at here?
00:09:08Oh, yeah, the number six Porsche.
00:09:11Oh, stay out of the barriers.
00:09:13No, there's the touch.
00:09:16So that is Lauren van Tor.
00:09:18Yeah, from fourth.
00:09:20And that car has got a five-second pit stop penalty to come in its next run down pit lane.
00:09:327.6 seconds, that gap now.
00:09:35This car we're looking at.
00:09:37Car number eight.
00:09:38And he's picked up time, even though he's been in traffic.
00:09:43Yeah, he must have had a kind of a better deal of it somewhere else around the track.
00:09:51Just got more speed, I think.
00:09:557.3 seconds is the gap.
00:09:58Gap behind that, by the way, to the Cadillac, not really coming down.
00:10:07It's stable at a minute and about 45 to 50 seconds.
00:10:12Meantime, in the LMP2.
00:10:15Javier Scherrer has pulled away a little from Robert Capita, but it's two and a half seconds.
00:10:21And in the GT-E-AM.
00:10:29That must have been a pit stop just now from Hendrick Motorsports, I think.
00:10:35It's been a bit of a...
00:10:37Actually, it's not, is it?
00:10:38The Jimmy Johnson's been passed by that battling GT-AM.
00:10:43It's been a bit of an unlucky lap.
00:10:45It ebbs and flows, isn't it, through the traffic.
00:10:48A little bit more of an unlucky lap there.
00:10:50So, 7.1 seconds, he had got it down into the sixes, had Pierre Guidi on that lap.
00:10:55But now, you're going to see Hirokawa just fly around the outside there of the car, 56 Porsche.
00:11:03And again, you get into a higher speed part of the track where you have no traffic.
00:11:08And that's what you're always looking for.
00:11:10But it just seems inevitable.
00:11:14At one stage, we're going to see that Ferrari 51 right on the back of car 8.
00:11:19Yeah, the gap going down towards 7 seconds now.
00:11:23Hirokawa's got to step this up.
00:11:26Somehow, I think the cars are on similar strategies.
00:11:29They both had a driver change.
00:11:31Both changed all four tyres.
00:11:34We saw Ciovinazzi get out of the 51 and Hartley get out of the car 8.
00:11:39So, as far as I'm aware, they're on...
00:11:42You know, this is a level playing field in terms of strategy and tyres.
00:11:48It's the tyre light.
00:11:51So, lead battles underway in all three classes here.
00:11:56It is now under seven seconds.
00:11:59Hirokawa from Pierre Guidi.
00:12:01Into Europol's.
00:12:02Fabio Scherer battling away within two seconds or so of Rokapitza.
00:12:06And the Kessel Racing car on the hands of the bronze driver, Takeshi Kimura, being closed down by Riccardo Perra.
00:12:13That gap 90 seconds.
00:12:15But there's an awfully long way to go.
00:12:19Hirokawa still the least experienced of the total Toyota lineup of all six drivers.
00:12:26And Ced Boemi, for example, has been there since the inception of that team back in 2012.
00:12:33Still driving with them today.
00:12:35And Brendan Hartley, very experienced.
00:12:38You know, Le Mans winner, world champion from his Porsche days in LMP1.
00:12:44And so he's got all of the credentials that you need.
00:12:49And those two together have really harnessed that relationship with Rio.
00:12:54And have tried to fast track his progress within the team.
00:12:59But in these kind of moments, I'm sure you've got Seb pacing up and down.
00:13:03I can almost hear him in my head pacing up and down.
00:13:07Can't wait to get in the car to carry on the job he was doing earlier on.
00:13:11There has been that role for the two older drivers, two more experienced drivers,
00:13:15to just, in his very early days in this programme, Rio Hirokawa,
00:13:19there was just a feeling of potentially a little bit of vulnerability there.
00:13:24He did surprise us in a very positive way as that developed with resilience and with pace.
00:13:30But this is a very testing moment indeed.
00:13:34It's Ferrari.
00:13:35It's Alessandro Pierre Gridi, already a world champion in GTE Pro.
00:13:40And they don't come any more feisty than Alessandro Pierre Gridi when it comes to getting your elbows out, does it?
00:13:45No, they don't.
00:13:47And, er...
00:13:48I'll double-check my reckoning, but...
00:13:52End of this season...
00:13:55If there's a world championship up for grabs...
00:13:58I know that Alessandro Pierre Gridi and James Gallardo would dearly love...
00:14:02Oh, and the van wall is off the track. Is that on fire?
00:14:04It looks to be, doesn't it?
00:14:07Some kind of drivetrain.
00:14:09If you've got to say, that's...
00:14:10That's motor, the ICE.
00:14:13Well, it's...
00:14:14Smoking away.
00:14:16Not, I'm afraid, the first time this...
00:14:17This team has had thermal incidents.
00:14:19Luckily, it's right near the...
00:14:21The orange barrier there with the...
00:14:23You can just roll it back.
00:14:24Pull back, yeah.
00:14:25But, er...
00:14:26There's Tristan Vautier, late replacement for Jacques Mille Neuve in...
00:14:30Somewhat publicly...
00:14:32Discussed fashion.
00:14:36Disagreement between the Canadian 97 Formula One World Champion...
00:14:41Champion and the team.
00:14:43But, er...
00:14:44That is clearly race over for...
00:14:46The 24 car...
00:14:48Sorry, the 4 car.
00:14:48On the right-hand side of the engine is 4.5-litre version, by the way.
00:14:57The same basic engine, Gibson V8 engine, that powers in 4.2-litre version.
00:15:04One of the LMP2 cars, as Hurekawa deals with...
00:15:09The traffic in the shape of...
00:15:12The number 24, Camaro.
00:15:15Gap now under six seconds, Peter.
00:15:18Yeah, exactly.
00:15:19Five...
00:15:19Five and a half seconds.
00:15:22Yeah, I don't think there's anything Hurekawa...
00:15:24Hurekawa can do to...
00:15:26Stop the progress of Pierre Guiri.
00:15:29He just seems to be on fire at the minute.
00:15:31Unfortunately, actually on fire.
00:15:33Briefly was the Van Wallen.
00:15:35That's the team...
00:15:36Congratulating each other on getting this...
00:15:39This effort this far.
00:15:43It seemed...
00:15:44By their reaction...
00:15:46They sort of...
00:15:46You'd expect them to be disappointed,
00:15:48but they seem to be...
00:15:49Relieved?
00:15:51They seem to be happy with how far they got in the race.
00:15:55It's a very new car at this level.
00:16:00Eddick Sport car.
00:16:02Pitting from third.
00:16:04This is the...
00:16:07This is the battle with Nick Opinion.
00:16:11Yeah, Paul Luce Chata was our pole position holder.
00:16:14What's going on here?
00:16:15He's been asked to get back into the car so he can...
00:16:17Just to steer it back into the...
00:16:18Yeah.
00:16:19Yeah, so that was actually a well-placed...
00:16:26He placed it in the right way so he can get it pushed back quickly.
00:16:33And all the drivers out there will be thankful of that.
00:16:36As they can get going sooner as a result...
00:16:39After this slow zone is lifted.
00:16:41Literary as I'm looking at the screens...
00:16:43Confirmation that the 777 T-Station racing car is out of the race.
00:16:47It's just a little bit of housekeeping underway from race control at the moment.
00:16:55So the bottom end of the timing screen.
00:16:58And look at that.
00:16:59Look how close they are.
00:17:01It looks closer when it's...
00:17:02When they're in that slow zone.
00:17:04But Hirokawa knows he's coming.
00:17:07It's an awful feeling, isn't it, Peter?
00:17:09And you know that this...
00:17:10You see that car coming up behind.
00:17:12You think it's just inevitable.
00:17:14Soon they're going to be right on me.
00:17:16Harassing me.
00:17:16Ducking and diving.
00:17:18Trying to overtake me anywhere they can.
00:17:21I think that's number four car.
00:17:22It's just about to become our 20th confirmed retirement.
00:17:27That's a long list.
00:17:30Peter?
00:17:31Yeah, I was thinking exactly that.
00:17:35Hirokawa is going to be looking at the mirrors.
00:17:37He'll have had radio confirmation from the team.
00:17:41The car is coming from behind.
00:17:44And yeah, there's not much he can do.
00:17:46He's able to obviously release the speed loader button earlier.
00:17:52Yeah, that's what I was saying.
00:17:52In the slow zone, it looks much closer than it actually is.
00:17:57When they get going again, you get that cat and mouse effect, don't you?
00:18:00And that chain reaction.
00:18:03So he's on his way to the final chicane.
00:18:06But the problem is, when you can see the car in front, it just motivates you even more.
00:18:12So this is going to be hammer and tongs now.
00:18:16Yeah, last few laps, it's been high 330s, low 331s for Hirokawa.
00:18:21It's been under 330 for Alessandro Pierguidi.
00:18:24The net result of that as they cross the line is the gap is now down to 3.8 seconds.
00:18:29Collado watches on.
00:18:34And he's just about to get in the car by the look of it.
00:18:37He's thinking, just hand me the car in the lead.
00:18:39That's all I ask.
00:18:40Meantime, this is the final taker for the lead group in LMP2 for the latest round of pitstops.
00:18:48Fadi O'Shea took the lead in that pitstop and will increase that lead unless they have dramas, remember,
00:18:54because there was 10 seconds to be served by the WRT car in that stop that they've just completed.
00:19:00Yeah, that's going to really hurt them.
00:19:02So I saw the tyre graphics earlier on with the WRT, by the way.
00:19:05Their tyres were much older than the Inter-Eurocol car.
00:19:09So that explains how Shearer could just catch and breeze past Robert Kubica that we see there coming into the chicane.
00:19:15Yeah, he's going into the chicane as the Inter-Eurocol car is rolling down pit lane.
00:19:19So it is a significant increase in the lead here.
00:19:23Still measurable in the low-ish number of seconds,
00:19:28but it certainly isn't the two seconds it was when they came into this pitstop cycle.
00:19:32Passed by Fede Ferrari as he completes the lap.
00:19:36On the Moultham though, it is the 51 of our Sandra Pierre Gridi.
00:19:423.3 seconds, it's like Thanos, he's inevitable.
00:19:47It's got a little bit of traffic coming up here with the Ferrari GT car just in front in that second chicane.
00:19:56Right there, you're going slower now than you really should be.
00:19:59And breeze past the outside.
00:20:02You're never quite sure.
00:20:03You put a lot of trust in the car that you're overtaking around the outside.
00:20:07And then you could see, you could almost feel that, how tentative he was in that moment.
00:20:12But that is the right thing to do.
00:20:13You never know where the Amp driver might place the car.
00:20:17And then again into the Moultham, hairpin.
00:20:20You have to let your feelings override the situation.
00:20:26Yeah.
00:20:26Because you get a sense where the car is going to go.
00:20:29And you don't always make the right call.
00:20:30But a lot of the time, lap after lap, you kind of read the body language of the car, where it's going to go.
00:20:36And in that situation, he was pretty sure, okay, I can sweep around the outside.
00:20:40The car is seeing me.
00:20:42It won't make a world to me.
00:20:44Yeah, like you say, reading that body language of the car, it's going over bumps and things.
00:20:47And you see the body roll of the car.
00:20:50And you think, yeah.
00:20:52And being a GT driver himself, he will know exactly how that felt.
00:20:57So he's kind of on and off the throttle, waiting to see what happens to that body roll.
00:21:01Does it translate into the car actually sliding?
00:21:05Or was it just going over bumps?
00:21:07So it's always better in that kind of moment to play with a bit of caution.
00:21:11But luckily, you've got an extra bit of track to run off on the outside there.
00:21:16Lap or two on this fuel stint by the look of things.
00:21:19Maybe.
00:21:20But back to a full green track now.
00:21:23Yeah, full green track.
00:21:26This is great.
00:21:27What a showdown we have coming with Pierre Guidi and Rio Hirokawa.
00:21:32Rio is giving it everything he can, I'm sure.
00:21:35But that attack is relentless.
00:21:40That's what it looks like on the pit wall.
00:21:41Toyota and Colorado.
00:21:44He's in love at this moment.
00:21:47Very focused, isn't he?
00:21:49They're on the same strategy.
00:21:51They're both going to click the same time.
00:21:52Just have a quick look at the virtual energy tank, 13% for the Toyota, 14% for the Ferrari.
00:22:00They're bang on.
00:22:01Yeah, they came in at the same time.
00:22:02Like I said before, all four tyres were changed.
00:22:05Driver change, it's full service for both cars.
00:22:07So they do seem to be, as far as I'm aware, on exactly the same strategy at this point.
00:22:142.2 seconds now.
00:22:16A chunk taken in that last sector and traffic coming.
00:22:19I don't know about tyre compound, though.
00:22:24That's the one thing we couldn't quite see in the pit stops.
00:22:26We think they're both on the soft.
00:22:28You would think so, yeah.
00:22:30We've seen, well, I haven't seen any of the cars running the hard car.
00:22:34So it's all been medium during the day and then soft in the night and in the wet conditions also soft.
00:22:41Now, this is interesting.
00:22:43Car number eight got a spare splitter out.
00:22:46We've seen them doing a lot of this during free practice.
00:22:50Splitter on, splitter on, changing it all the time.
00:22:53As number 10, Vector Sport goes wide in the foot, straight on in the first chicane.
00:22:59Well, pretty clearly, we're going to see these battling hypercars on pit lane very shortly.
00:23:06Steph is down at Ferrari, and we'll be ready for that as the Vector Sport car moves over on the Algar Pro car.
00:23:12That is four position, ninth position in LNB2.
00:23:18The Algar Pro car, by the way, and that's a common ground.
00:23:20That is our program leader now.
00:23:231.5 seconds between Hirokawa and this man.
00:23:27And you can hear from Rio Hirokawa's radio now.
00:23:34Okay, box this lap, pit confirm, box this lap, pit confirm, box for fuel and front end.
00:23:41You stay in the car.
00:23:43So the overtake's going to be done because of that nose change in the pits.
00:23:51What was happened there?
00:23:53They picked up some kind of debris inside the radio.
00:23:55Let's hear from Pierre Gridi.
00:23:56Okay, mate, box this lap, box this lap, driver change.
00:24:01Okay, Paul.
00:24:03Is that why he's not going to respond?
00:24:05It's an air imbalance in that car.
00:24:07Driver, check, do you ready?
00:24:08Try to change the Ferrari.
00:24:10Yeah.
00:24:11But already.
00:24:11The driver's been ready for a while.
00:24:13Yeah, it's strange.
00:24:14I don't understand because Pierre Gridi just got in after Joe Vinazzi.
00:24:20I didn't see that.
00:24:22Yeah, Joe Vinazzi was, from my understanding, he's only been, he's only done a double.
00:24:28Yeah.
00:24:28I would have thought we'd be in there for a triple, but maybe these soft tyres are only doubling.
00:24:32This, this lead change could happen before the pit stop here.
00:24:36Again, from me, Toto, what's going on for Ria Hurekawa?
00:24:42Yeah, one stopping, one stopping.
00:24:46Yeah, copy.
00:24:47Ferrari's close behind now, 1.3, just for info.
00:24:50Oh, I'm sure he was well aware of that.
00:24:54Look how much faster Pierre Gridi can carry, look how much extra speed he carries through
00:24:59the high-speed corners of the Porsche curves.
00:25:03Ria Hurekawa definitely struggling with this Toyota, and has he got some damage to the splitter
00:25:09there that I can see?
00:25:11Well, we'll see whether or not we can get a closer look at that.
00:25:13I think he has, you know.
00:25:14Yeah, he has.
00:25:14But that would explain it.
00:25:16I mean, it doesn't look like much, but the car has had better pace than this, isn't it?
00:25:22So far, there's absolutely no step.
00:25:25So, it's going to be car number 51 after this, after this driver change.
00:25:31Hang on a minute, so Rio is going to stay in.
00:25:34So, they are on slightly different strategies here, because Rio stays in and Pierre Gridi is
00:25:39going to get out.
00:25:40So, it will still be the Toyota that exits the pits ahead, despite this nose change.
00:25:46Yeah, so fuel going in the car.
00:25:48Because they're going to keep the tyres on.
00:25:49You only do the tyre change when you do the driver change.
00:25:52Yeah.
00:25:54This is the change for James Collado to get aboard the car.
00:25:56Steph is down there with the Ferrari.
00:25:58How are things looking down there, Steph?
00:26:00It's a busy pit stop, I can tell you that.
00:26:02James Collado is about to jump in the car, just cleaning everything off.
00:26:08But, yeah, it's looking like a clean stop so far.
00:26:11They're just trying to get the seatbelt sorted, and then they'll be right out.
00:26:16Which tyres are coming off that car?
00:26:17What's going on, Steph?
00:26:21No tyre change as of yet.
00:26:24I think they're waiting to see, or they're waiting to finish refuelling, and then we'll
00:26:28be able to see which tyres are going on.
00:26:29It's looking like the softs.
00:26:33It's a driver change.
00:26:34We should be looking there for a tyre change for it.
00:26:39And the 8 car, just a slight stumble.
00:26:41They do make the nose change in good order.
00:26:44And it is a tyre change.
00:26:47Car is released.
00:26:50And the change comes for the lead.
00:26:52Is this the decisive change in the Le Mans 24 hours?
00:27:00We're just over 8.5 hours left in the 2023 running, the 91st running in the 100th year
00:27:09of the 24 hours of Le Mans.
00:27:11Ferrari back to the lead, and Davidson.
00:27:15Well, that nose change took a lot longer on the Toyota than I expected.
00:27:19So, yeah, Hirokawa stays on board.
00:27:22But, yeah, I just assumed that it would be a faster change than that.
00:27:28So the overtake has happened in the pits.
00:27:30Five seconds difference on pit stop time.
00:27:32It was a minute and 32 seconds on pit road from the Ferrari Air Corsa 51.
00:27:37James Collado it is that heads off now in the lead of the race.
00:27:41From Rio Hirokawa stays aboard, but with a nose change for that car.
00:27:47Being interested to see what the pace is now from Hirokawa.
00:27:49So it was even worse, in terms of that loss to Pierre Guides' lap times,
00:27:55it was even worse.
00:27:56It means that Rio Hirokawa had newer tyres as well.
00:28:00So it wasn't as we thought.
00:28:05It was, yeah, Rio had jumped in with a fresh set of tyres that had gone on,
00:28:11which always happens during a driver change,
00:28:13because that extra time to get the driver in and out is around 25 seconds,
00:28:17coincides with the amount of time it takes to change the tyres,
00:28:21which can't be done when the fuel's going in.
00:28:23It has to be separate.
00:28:24So that's what you try and tie in all the time.
00:28:27Driver change comes naturally with tyre change as well.
00:28:30Now watching Rio Hirokawa make his way through the second chicane on the Mulsanne,
00:28:35now in the Michelin chicane, down towards Mulsanne corner.
00:28:39The gap 5.4 seconds as they clear the timing sector.
00:28:43Well, I mean, despite this nose going on,
00:28:47the undamaged new nose that goes on the Toyota,
00:28:51he's on older tyres now compared to Collado.
00:28:54So now we would expect, naturally, Collado to disappear up into the distance,
00:28:58and we can hear from Hirokawa's radio, I believe.
00:29:03He's been watching the 38th team Jota Porsche.
00:29:07That car led the race, remember, till drama for Ifei.
00:29:10Let's have a listen to what's going on aboard the Toyota with Rio Hirokawa.
00:29:20OK, you know, Ferrari has changed driver ahead.
00:29:23Ferrari has changed driver ahead.
00:29:25Collado in the car.
00:29:26You have a new front end, and we changed the rear right tyre.
00:29:29The rear right had a puncture, so we changed it.
00:29:33Rear right puncture.
00:29:35That would explain why he was suffering so badly in the high speed,
00:29:39and the Porsche curve as well.
00:29:40You never watched before, so right rear, slow puncture.
00:29:45Normally, he would have known about that anyway.
00:29:47He'd have got the TPMS warning.
00:29:51Yeah, he would have seen it on board.
00:29:55But it must have just been a very slow puncture that was under control.
00:29:59But that's OK, so that's why they came out that extra bit of time to change that one tyre.
00:30:06So far, he's maintaining that gap at five seconds.
00:30:14The advantage he has at this point is that Collado's fresh in,
00:30:18and after a couple of laps, you kind of get your eye in again, don't you?
00:30:22But Rio's in the rhythm, at least.
00:30:25And so maybe Collado won't be able to pull away so easily straight away,
00:30:30but I'm sure once he gets into his stride, you'll see the gap grow and grow.
00:30:35Of course, all those cars, he's already had that traffic,
00:30:38and probably in the Porsche curves.
00:30:40Well, let's go down to pit lane.
00:30:47Steph has got one of the men who's been very much involved in this battle.
00:30:51Down to you, Steph.
00:31:05Yeah, we're not hearing that one.
00:31:08So, yeah, Cadillac number two into the pits.
00:31:15Earl Bamberg jumps out.
00:31:18And Alex Lin, who did a great stint, a couple of stints in the night time, jumps back in.
00:31:26As we've said from the start of this race,
00:31:28Alex sporting the helmet colours of, well, Mr. Derek Bell,
00:31:33in tribute to his fabulous achievements at the race.
00:31:37It's a great race, and Cadillac having something of a mixed day, night,
00:31:43and now into the day, but still in the mix here.
00:31:46And this race can throw things at you very quickly.
00:31:51Oh.
00:31:52Spin for Rex Eaton, the hands are good at Jeanette, I think, still there.
00:31:58Just double-checking that it's...
00:31:59Matteo Pairoli, actually.
00:32:01Matteo Pairoli, just recently aboard the car.
00:32:04He's a former race leader as well.
00:32:07He was, he's dropped for quite some time.
00:32:08He's dropped back to fourth place.
00:32:11That's not good at this stage of proceedings.
00:32:15We'll be looking to get back onto terms.
00:32:18So, one driver changes looking up and down the order in GTM.
00:32:28Takeshi Kimura, it is, that still leads the race in GTM, the 57 car.
00:32:34Seven seconds now at the lead gap as...
00:32:37Ryo Hirakawa clears the last bit of that batch of traffic, Peter,
00:32:43and now sets off in pursuit.
00:32:45Be very interested to see what he can do in clear air here.
00:32:49But, as Ant-Davidson said,
00:32:53we've got fresh tyres versus not so fresh tyres.
00:32:57Say good morning to Guy Smith, joins us,
00:33:02as Ant-Davidson leads for a little bit of shut-eye.
00:33:05Guy, coming into the early morning here at Le Mans.
00:33:13I know how I feel, it ain't great.
00:33:15What is it like getting into a car that's in a battle for a significant position?
00:33:20Well, you've definitely got the added adrenaline,
00:33:24which carries you a long, long way.
00:33:26These guys are very much in the zone.
00:33:29They'll have had some sleep, but not a lot.
00:33:31Very much in the battle here, fighting for an overall win.
00:33:35At Le Mans at the front, between the Ferrari and the Toyota.
00:33:38What a fantastic battle this has been raging through the night.
00:33:41And the Cadillac there in third place with Alex Slade is not out of this by any means.
00:33:48They're still hanging in there.
00:33:50Maybe they haven't quite got the speed of the leading two,
00:33:52but they're there in case anything happens between the two frontrunners.
00:33:56That's the thing.
00:33:58As the three drivers cycle through, there'll be one that's just got out of the car,
00:34:03so Pierre, really now, might get a bit of something to eat,
00:34:06and then maybe settle back, because he knows he's not getting in for quite a while.
00:34:09But you'll have the next driver waiting in the sideline.
00:34:15So there's always sort of the reserve waiting to get in the car
00:34:20just in case the current driver in the car right now enters some kind of problem.
00:34:26That's right.
00:34:26All it takes is for, you know, if the driver comes in early or has a problem,
00:34:30you've got to be ready to get into that car and be ready to get on it.
00:34:34So, yeah, it's, we're kind of getting towards the business end now.
00:34:38It's daylight, we're into the Sunday morning,
00:34:40and looking forward now, the end is in sight.
00:34:44A couple of changes, one to position,
00:34:47the other one to just the rhythm of what's going along.
00:34:50It's done in battle this morning.
00:34:52As we thought, the inside of the Cadillac there.
00:34:55This is number six car.
00:34:56This is for position.
00:34:57This is fourth place.
00:34:59Caddy, you can see, just in the right-hand side,
00:35:01the side window, position taken there for the moment
00:35:04with the Porsche, a bit of a, sorry, the Ferrari, rather,
00:35:07a bit of a pick here.
00:35:09This is a somewhat spirited run from Kevin Est,
00:35:12reclaiming the fourth place he had.
00:35:14He would have lost that principally because of the pit stop penalty he had last time around.
00:35:20He's back up in the fourth and splits the caddies again.
00:35:23That's the first thing he was about to say to Seb Bourdais.
00:35:27Ooh, ooh, it's on the limits, isn't it?
00:35:28Isn't he just absolutely ragged-edged stuff?
00:35:34Stick with this.
00:35:35And he's got the blue, uh...
00:35:38Blue flags.
00:35:39Blue flags.
00:35:41What that's for?
00:35:42That's for the car that he's just overtaken, I think.
00:35:45Ah, okay.
00:35:45He's sitting close behind him.
00:35:50Not so close.
00:35:56This is...
00:35:57I think it's just exactly how this one is working.
00:36:03We've come across the line.
00:36:08It is...
00:36:09That was...
00:36:10Was that Est...
00:36:12Or was that Fred Makovicki?
00:36:16That's the six, come on.
00:36:18That's right.
00:36:18I mean, he's really...
00:36:19I mean, he's driving it like a GT car.
00:36:21He's throwing it around,
00:36:22using the curbs.
00:36:24He's really, really hustling that car around.
00:36:25And what he was doing is unlapping himself from the two.
00:36:35I've picked my Cadillacs up.
00:36:36It was Kevin Est unlapping himself from the next lane.
00:36:40Getting that lap back.
00:36:41Taking some risk along the way.
00:36:46Wasn't he just as a...
00:36:47For that overtaking move down into Indianapolis.
00:36:50We'll just watch these pictures.
00:36:52The other battle I was referring to, by the way,
00:36:54is the continuing heroics of Fabio Scherer.
00:36:57We believe driving with some kind of brake or fracture in his foot
00:37:03after that was run over by the Corvette earlier in the race.
00:37:06And his battle with had overtaken.
00:37:08And it's now pulling away from Robert DeBitcher
00:37:12in the 41 TWRT car in the lead of LMP2.
00:37:17Yeah, those guys have had a great race.
00:37:19They've been right at the sharp end.
00:37:21And...
00:37:21Outstanding.
00:37:23Pretty mistake-free.
00:37:24And that's really what's...
00:37:25The difference in LMP2 is really staying out of trouble
00:37:28and being consistent.
00:37:30And that's what those guys have done
00:37:31and find themselves in the lead of the race.
00:37:33So, now I've got my Cadillac sorted
00:37:36in my slightly befuddled Sunday morning head.
00:37:40Unlapped himself from the third place, number two Cadillac.
00:37:44And now, Kevin Est, trying to close in on the gold,
00:37:48the yellow, number three car.
00:37:50And that is the race for position.
00:37:54Fourth place, under two seconds.
00:37:57Let's have a listen in to what's going on
00:37:59aboard the number six for Kevin Est.
00:38:01Quite a lot of overs, yes.
00:38:03I don't know if it's this new body work,
00:38:05but definitely a bit of a nice piece.
00:38:09Copy.
00:38:11Was it Overseer?
00:38:13I didn't quite get that.
00:38:13I didn't quite get it.
00:38:16And I definitely didn't get it.
00:38:19He didn't understand what Kevin Est was saying.
00:38:22And there's another postcard, too.
00:38:23Three confused blokes in the box.
00:38:26Eight hours, 20 minutes to go.
00:38:29Ferrari lead.
00:38:29In the gravel, just dropped the back.
00:38:31Right corner into the gravel there.
00:38:36He's really pushing hard.
00:38:37He's really hustling that Porsche around.
00:38:40I think he's trying to obviously get back past this three car,
00:38:44trying to get another lap back.
00:38:45I think they're in the same lap.
00:38:49That's for position.
00:38:50Oh, it is absolutely for position.
00:38:51It is position, okay.
00:38:52Absolutely for position.
00:38:54So, yeah, he's given it absolutely everything to try and close that gap down,
00:38:58get back ahead of the Cadillac.
00:38:59But it is Porsche's last bullet in the gun here.
00:39:02They've had some real glories at the front of this race, but it's not gone their way into and through the night, has it?
00:39:09The six car running fifth, chasing fourth.
00:39:13Seb Bourdain knows he's there, and the body language of the Porsche, I would say frenetic.
00:39:21I think Kevin Estra is well-known for grabbing a car by the scruff of the neck,
00:39:27and, you know, he's very, very fast, but he's occasionally prone to the odd error, isn't he?
00:39:36Yeah, exciting to watch, I think we'll call it.
00:39:39Yeah, we'll put it that way.
00:39:40Dramatic.
00:39:42Nothing for it.
00:39:43I think they can sense the, I mean, a possible podium position, you know, anything else up front,
00:39:48and they'll find themselves, you know, possibly on the podium,
00:39:51and that's really what they're pushing for right now.
00:39:54So Kevin Estra, 34 years old now, and as with a large proportion of these new hypercar drivers
00:40:01coming from a lot of these factory efforts, GT teams,
00:40:05and this is a massive opportunity for him in his career.
00:40:09It's huge.
00:40:09I mean, he's won numerous big races, and I'm sure he'd like to add this one to his CV.
00:40:20Has he won in GT around here?
00:40:22I don't know if he's won, actually, I'm not sure if he's won in GT.
00:40:25I mean, he's won pretty much just about every big GT race.
00:40:27You would think he would have.
00:40:29Yeah, he's an absolutely fantastic driver.
00:40:32Speaking of fantastic drivers, he's got Sembo Day there, local man from Le Mans.
00:40:37About to come under some serious pressure.
00:40:41Yeah, and he's actually, Bodice, still got the fastest lap of the race at a 3.28.2,
00:40:46which was set earlier on in the race.
00:40:47Yes, that's what it feels like to be here at Le Mans.
00:40:59But when they wake up, they're going to be waking up to a very exciting race.
00:41:05We've said it for a long while.
00:41:07We've been waiting for this moment in sports car racing.
00:41:10This race has delivered.
00:41:12It's continuing to deliver.
00:41:14We've got multiple gaps.
00:41:15This gap for the battle for fourth position.
00:41:20Now under a second, and with traffic, Patrick Porte, closest to the camera here.
00:41:25His son fending off the close attentions of...
00:41:28Kevin Estra, right, is on the back now.
00:41:34Kevin Estra, right, is on the back now.
00:41:43Ria Hakawa, meanwhile, just dropping back a little,
00:41:46but that rate of change in that serving battle, not what it was,
00:41:50but this is where the action is right now.
00:41:52Could this be a potential podium position in 8,017 minutes' time?
00:42:00I think Hirokawa has settled down a bit.
00:42:02His pace has improved.
00:42:04That last lap, though, he did lose a couple of seconds,
00:42:07but previously, I think he managed to sustain the pace with James Gallardo.
00:42:18I don't think there's going to be any complaints whatsoever, you know,
00:42:21if this is what we've got coming in this era of this great race
00:42:27and the FMI World Endurance Championship.
00:42:31Two battling hypercars coming up on one of the Glickenhaus cars.
00:42:35The moment, by the way, sitting 7th and 8th.
00:42:39As you can see from the body language of the Porsche,
00:42:42it's...
00:42:44Kevin's really throwing it around.
00:42:45The car's moving around a lot.
00:42:47I think we're going to see a move here.
00:42:49Be brave moving to there, though.
00:42:53Yeah, that last section of the Porsche cars through karting,
00:42:56Kevin's really tight to the apex, really wide,
00:43:00carrying way more speed than Seb.
00:43:01I think he sees the opportunity that the Glickenhaus may present at some point in this lap.
00:43:09The pace difference between the two cars and three cars,
00:43:12not that huge.
00:43:13The Glickenhaus in the 3.32s, these two cars in the 3.31s.
00:43:17It just needs the chasing car to guess right or be placed more correctly or to find that tiny little gap.
00:43:27Seb Bordet, a very wise head on his shoulders.
00:43:31He's been around this race for an awfully long time.
00:43:33It's something like a family affair with his dad as well.
00:43:38Very much a veteran here in their local race.
00:43:42For some of us, that's your local karting track.
00:43:45For them, it's right here.
00:43:46Not the position to do it there.
00:43:53GT car ahead.
00:43:55He's using the slipstream of that GT car to help him
00:43:58and trying to draft up now behind the Glickenhaus,
00:44:01which is pretty quick in a straight line.
00:44:02So what will he do?
00:44:04Will he let them buy or is he going to contest it?
00:44:07Whoa.
00:44:08Almost in the back of the Cadillac there.
00:44:11Caddy quick, high of the corners.
00:44:12It's got good straight line speed, considering it's punching the hole in the air.
00:44:17It's got a lot of torque, hasn't it?
00:44:19Cadillac number three, Porsche number six.
00:44:23And the pick could be the 708 Glickenhaus that's running in seventh place.
00:44:27This is the battle for fourth place.
00:44:31The body language of those two cars in this battle could not be more different, could it?
00:44:35I think Seb's keeping it smoother.
00:44:43And as was mentioned before,
00:44:46Kevin Restra seems to be driving harder, but almost like it's a GT car.
00:44:50For the moment, Bordet is fending off the challenge.
00:44:59Now where and if is this pass to get another car between them,
00:45:04but perhaps a more significant bit of traffic ahead,
00:45:09it is the other surviving factory Porsche.
00:45:11It's the next car down the road.
00:45:13It's the number five car of Fred Makovicki.
00:45:14And that's going to be tough to pass.
00:45:18The Cadillac is drafting up to the Glickenhaus,
00:45:20trying to use the tow from that car to kind of pull itself clear of the Porsche.
00:45:27And it's whether he can clear him now.
00:45:29He'll be eager to try and get that Glickenhaus between himself and the...
00:45:33Trouble front left.
00:45:36That wasn't coming off well.
00:45:3750 car rolls away.
00:45:47Nick Nielsen brought the car in, and...
00:45:50Antonio Fuoco, it is, that takes to the track.
00:45:56That car down in 10th place now.
00:45:58Previous race leader.
00:46:00That sticky front left cost something like 10 seconds,
00:46:04and that's about that pit stop.
00:46:07So you can see Estra now,
00:46:09this seems to be the favourite place for him.
00:46:12Oh, it does take a lot of kerb there, doesn't he?
00:46:14And we've seen that's a risky place to do it as well.
00:46:17So fast and possible chance here.
00:46:19Again, would be risky.
00:46:23So going into this section,
00:46:25Seb Bordet had a good, what, five, six car lengths,
00:46:29and it's just been completely closed up now.
00:46:31Caddy, great talk off the, off the turn.
00:46:37Still haven't got close to passing that Glickenhaus.
00:46:40And another hypercar ahead.
00:46:44Roger Penske.
00:46:45Of course, the Cadillac starts to pick up some of the dirty air from the Glickenhaus.
00:46:51We'll start to find it more difficult to follow him.
00:46:55So he really needs to try and clear that Glickenhaus as soon as possible.
00:47:01Not lose that momentum, that sort of forward.
00:47:03That's Roman Dumas in the car ahead.
00:47:08One of, if not the most experienced man in this race.
00:47:11He'll know, he'll be being told by the team what's going on behind him.
00:47:16Will he pick his moments and allow this battle to go by safely?
00:47:20Or is he just going to get on with plan A,
00:47:22which will surely be run to the finish
00:47:25and see what happens around them at this stage for the Glickenhaus team?
00:47:28That's got to be frustrating for Kevin Estra there.
00:47:30He's just unable to, even in the slipstream, to close into that caddy.
00:47:36I think quite a bit quicker through the corners, but...
00:47:38And now the caddy picks up the tow as well.
00:47:42This is better for said Bordet,
00:47:44but could better turn into worse
00:47:47if he can't clear the Glickenhaus before the second chicane?
00:47:51There's the GT traffic as well,
00:47:52so that's going to make it even more difficult.
00:47:54He's not close enough, is he?
00:47:55I see the Porsche's dropping right back on the straight there.
00:47:58Yeah, that's the speed difference.
00:47:59So the Glickenhaus is probably the quickest down the streets.
00:48:02Oh, oh, and he's...
00:48:03Oh, yeah, take one.
00:48:04This is going to cost Kevin Estra some time.
00:48:06A bit of time.
00:48:08Nothing the Ferrari can do about that.
00:48:10He's getting on with his race.
00:48:12By the way, the number 100 car from Valkenburg Motorsport,
00:48:15hands of Andrew Huyanto.
00:48:16And all of a sudden, Seb Bordet can breathe a little easier.
00:48:26I'll tell you what, he'd love to get that Glickenhaus in between the two cars,
00:48:30wouldn't he?
00:48:31Still, by the way, not that much further down the road
00:48:34because that's up of the number five, Penske Porsche.
00:48:39That car running in ninth.
00:48:41But still Ferrari in the hands of James Collado now leading.
00:48:458.9 seconds to go from Ryo Harikawa.
00:48:49You're absolutely right, Peter.
00:48:50The gap in lap pace at the moment is even that little.
00:48:55So the gap's still changing, though it's far tense.
00:48:58Estra's dropped back.
00:49:00What a chunk.
00:49:00He's cleared the Glickenhaus now.
00:49:02The Cadillac ahead.
00:49:04So that's another further challenge for Kevin Est.
00:49:09Next question is, in that spirited pursuit,
00:49:13what has he done to his tyre life on that car?
00:49:15I saw Kevin Est makes some changes in me on the wheel there,
00:49:21he was making some adjustments to the,
00:49:24looks like engine, to the engine mode or something, so...
00:49:28Ah, the car is, the car is passed, I've got to go now, so...
00:49:32Yep.
00:49:33So, say, next challenge for Seb Bordet,
00:49:36it's just looked impassive, it's just been smooth,
00:49:39it's just been easy.
00:49:40Whilst Kevin Est has been pogering around behind over the kerbs,
00:49:48it was the moment that gave the gap
00:49:50that allowed Seb Bordet to have eyes forward rather than eyes back.
00:49:55He's going to complete the lap
00:49:57with significantly more of an advantage from the attacking Porsche.
00:50:03So it's allowed him back there.
00:50:04I think he's going to need Romain Dumas to actually
00:50:08purposely let him by,
00:50:11because I don't think he's got the straight lane speed
00:50:12to attack that clicking house.
00:50:16Ferrari, Toyota, Cadillac, Cadillac,
00:50:18and then this Porsche, number six car.
00:50:21Still more than eight hours to go of this race.
00:50:25By the rules, how many blue flags is the clicking house going?
00:50:33I think in this instance, there's no rule on that,
00:50:36it's simply...
00:50:37No rule.
00:50:41I think if there's active blocking, it's one thing,
00:50:45but the blue flag here is around awareness
00:50:48and not an instruction to let the car by.
00:50:51Yeah, the clicking house is very quick in a straight line.
00:50:55It's difficult for him to see.
00:50:58Yeah, it's just pulled away.
00:51:00So the gap now, what effectively,
00:51:03gets back to where the gap was
00:51:05three, four laps ago
00:51:07and still, given that straight,
00:51:10not able to clear Romain Dumas.
00:51:15We talked about this earlier yesterday,
00:51:18how you could have different cars
00:51:19and different downforce
00:51:21and, you know, the Porsche
00:51:23in a straight line doesn't seem to be there,
00:51:25but in the corners, he's all over it
00:51:27and the Porsche curves especially,
00:51:29so it could be that that car's just running more downforce
00:51:32and it carries more, you know,
00:51:35the wings flatter,
00:51:37more top speed.
00:51:38This race has got a lot more to give.
00:51:42Stick with it.
00:51:44Because it does seem in every phase
00:51:46whether or not it's a
00:51:47blasting lap from Kevin Estrat,
00:51:50whether or not it's a 15-minute cat-and-mouse game
00:51:52further down the order,
00:51:54further up the order,
00:51:55whether or not it's a class battle
00:51:57for the lead
00:51:58or for a significant position.
00:52:00There has always been more than one thing to watch.
00:52:04Listen to what Seb Bourdais is telling
00:52:06the Camassi Racing, Cadillac Racing crew
00:52:09in this spirited backlight performance.
00:52:12Your lap times are good, Seb.
00:52:13You were half a second faster
00:52:15than the leaders right there.
00:52:16Well, we do know about this.
00:52:19It's constant, I said, last, of all week.
00:52:24He's just sticking with the plan, isn't he?
00:52:27And who knows what this could produce?
00:52:30Estras through, he's drafted past the Glickenhaus
00:52:32going into Indianapolis.
00:52:34So the gap now, it's two and a half seconds.
00:52:37That's custom a further half second in that battle.
00:52:41But we're coming up to Porsche's best part of the track,
00:52:44so I imagine Estras will close back up
00:52:46and we'll clear out.
00:52:53Just looking at what the pace is like
00:52:55of Fred Bakivick ahead.
00:52:56He's quicker than both of them, in fact, at the moment.
00:52:58So it's not a matter of Seb Bordet dragging up
00:53:01to the next traffic
00:53:03in the matter of Fred Bako.
00:53:06Bako is pulling away from him here,
00:53:08albeit lapsed down.
00:53:10A lot of your problems.
00:53:12James Collado now,
00:53:1310, almost 11 seconds clear for Rhea Hirakawa.
00:53:16That gap is opening up again.
00:53:17Alex Lin,
00:53:19two minutes behind that battle
00:53:20in third place
00:53:21in the other Cadillac,
00:53:23the blue Cadillac.
00:53:25The other Cadillac in the leading group,
00:53:27that is.
00:53:27Seb Bordet here.
00:53:29Better part of a lap
00:53:30back
00:53:31from Alex Lin
00:53:33in fourth
00:53:34in this battle for position
00:53:35with the Penske
00:53:36Porsche,
00:53:38number six.
00:53:40That's the top five.
00:53:41And then
00:53:41the 93 Peugeot,
00:53:45biggest leader of this
00:53:46were at race
00:53:46for some dramas.
00:53:48And now a lap back
00:53:49from
00:53:50Kervin Est.
00:53:53Not seen much from Peugeot this morning.
00:53:55And then into the two Glickenhouses,
00:53:577.09,
00:53:57the second of them,
00:53:58on pit lane at the moment.
00:53:59See the 7.08 in the background there.
00:54:01Completing the top ten,
00:54:03an all-hyper car top ten,
00:54:05number five,
00:54:06Penske Porsche.
00:54:07And the second Ferrari
00:54:08in the hands of Antonio Fuoco.
00:54:12What a delight it is
00:54:14to report
00:54:15that coming on
00:54:17for eight o'clock in the morning
00:54:18at the 24 hours of Le Mans,
00:54:20a top ten,
00:54:21all in top class,
00:54:23and with multiple battles within.
00:54:25And that's what it's been like
00:54:26since the get-go.
00:54:28Private changes coming,
00:54:29including for the Iron Dames.
00:54:33And the 85 car, by the way,
00:54:35in the hands of Michelle Gatting.
00:54:37And that
00:54:372.6 seconds back
00:54:41from the leading
00:54:43Kessel Racing car
00:54:44in the hands of the bronze driver
00:54:45Takeshi Kimura.
00:54:48This is the lead battle,
00:54:49and it will be interrupted
00:54:50for the driver change
00:54:51for the 85.
00:54:55After a torrid time
00:54:57at Spa
00:54:58for
00:54:59the all-female crew
00:55:01for Iron Lynx.
00:55:03It's come back into play
00:55:05here at Nihon.
00:55:06I think if they could have chosen
00:55:07which one
00:55:08would see them
00:55:08in competitive form,
00:55:09it would be this one.
00:55:11That would be quite
00:55:11the headline, wouldn't it?
00:55:14They're having a great race.
00:55:15They've been at the sharp end
00:55:16all the way through,
00:55:18and depending on the pit stops,
00:55:19they've pretty much been
00:55:20first or second.
00:55:22Yeah, I was thinking the same.
00:55:24They've had their challengers
00:55:25who've come up,
00:55:26maybe overtaken them,
00:55:27then dropped back again,
00:55:29and they've just been there
00:55:30plugging away.
00:55:32So impressive
00:55:33to see how the team's working.
00:55:35the project,
00:55:36it's good in so very many ways.
00:55:40The visuals,
00:55:41in terms of the way
00:55:41they present this car,
00:55:43are good.
00:55:44The message is great.
00:55:46There's not a place
00:55:48for females in motorsport.
00:55:51There's a right.
00:55:53And all three of the girls
00:55:55involved in this effort
00:55:57just go about it
00:56:00with just a great
00:56:01competitive spirit
00:56:02only this morning.
00:56:06And Davidson and Martin Haven
00:56:08were talking about
00:56:09the full access program.
00:56:10Take a look at the full access program
00:56:13on the FIWC's YouTube channel
00:56:16from Spa.
00:56:17You'll see what I mean about that.
00:56:19They've been a factor
00:56:20over the last couple of years.
00:56:22A fantastic stewardship
00:56:24in this program
00:56:24by Iron Lynx
00:56:26by Deborah Mayer
00:56:28who, the co-owner
00:56:29of the team,
00:56:30whose project this is
00:56:32and remains.
00:56:33She's now the president
00:56:34of the Women in Motorsport
00:56:36Commission of the FIA.
00:56:38And that's a kind of
00:56:40policy direction
00:56:41from motorsport gentlemen
00:56:42that is really making
00:56:44a difference
00:56:44in a very positive way
00:56:46without tokenism.
00:56:49And what we're seeing,
00:56:51I certainly notice it
00:56:52every weekend
00:56:53about a racetrack,
00:56:54is we're seeing
00:56:55far more female faces
00:56:57not just behind the wheel
00:56:58but in the garages as well.
00:56:59and not just in some of the
00:57:02perhaps more traditional roles
00:57:04that we've seen
00:57:05from women in motorsport
00:57:06for most of my life.
00:57:08But they're out there
00:57:09and making a massive difference
00:57:11in terms of the way
00:57:12these cars are prepared,
00:57:15turned around,
00:57:16in very senior roles
00:57:17in team management,
00:57:18in the technical sides of things,
00:57:20in the engineering sides of things.
00:57:21and I think that's a great step forward.
00:57:24And in the FIA,
00:57:25there's many females in the FIA now.
00:57:28I was working down in Monaco
00:57:30doing driver standard advisor
00:57:33and the full F3 steward room
00:57:37was all ladies and me
00:57:39had a lovely time.
00:57:42We have to ask them
00:57:43whether or not they had
00:57:44the same experience,
00:57:45but side by side.
00:57:47This is the 25 car.
00:57:48Oh, there's the bonnet
00:57:49up at one corner.
00:57:50That's not the first time
00:57:51we've seen it from Aston Martin
00:57:52today,
00:57:53and that was a change.
00:57:5533 ahead of 25,
00:57:56Nicky Katzberg
00:57:57ahead of Armid Al-Harty.
00:58:00And TF Sport,
00:58:01I'm sure,
00:58:01will have eyes on that 25 car,
00:58:03but there's a problem
00:58:04with the bonnet.
00:58:05Left rear corner
00:58:06of that bonnet
00:58:07on the 25.
00:58:08Armid Al-Harty,
00:58:09by the way,
00:58:10taking the opportunity
00:58:10to try to get a bit of a tow
00:58:12back from the Ferrari.
00:58:14It's not going to work,
00:58:15I'm afraid,
00:58:15but Nicky Katzberg
00:58:16goes through
00:58:16and that car
00:58:19up into fourth place.
00:58:21So Corvac
00:58:22not giving this one up.
00:58:23It's clearly
00:58:24been an issue
00:58:25that's come through
00:58:27this race
00:58:28with that bonnet
00:58:28because the 25 car
00:58:29evidenced that
00:58:31one of the essential
00:58:31items in the
00:58:33sports car racing
00:58:34toolbox,
00:58:36racer tape,
00:58:37have been used
00:58:38to try to secure that.
00:58:41Kevin Escher
00:58:41just set the fastest
00:58:42lap of
00:58:43that car
00:58:46in the race.
00:58:47Six car
00:58:47on a 28.9
00:58:49followed by
00:58:50Mikhail Jensen
00:58:51in the Peugeot
00:58:53at 29.9
00:58:55their fastest lap.
00:58:55So it's a fast time
00:58:56big lock up there
00:58:57for the
00:58:58number six car.
00:59:00Yeah,
00:59:00he is absolutely
00:59:03pushing it.
00:59:03isn't he just
00:59:04halved the gap.
00:59:11Under eight hours
00:59:12to go now.
00:59:13That was
00:59:14a huge lockup.
00:59:16Got too deep in there,
00:59:17didn't he?
00:59:18And
00:59:18almost
00:59:21just
00:59:22just a couple
00:59:23of wheels
00:59:23in the gravel.
00:59:26The margins
00:59:27here are
00:59:28so,
00:59:29so tight.
00:59:31Graham Goodwin
00:59:32with
00:59:33Guy Smith
00:59:37and Peter Tumbrek
00:59:38on board
00:59:41and Kimmel
00:59:42No shortage
00:59:49of action
00:59:49whatsoever
00:59:50at the 24 hours
00:59:51of Le Mans.
00:59:54We came
00:59:55into
00:59:55the
00:59:562023 race
00:59:57expect
00:59:58all that was
00:59:59that was
01:00:00that was
01:00:00that
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