Race report

Le Mans 24h, H16: #12 Cadillac out front as Toyota and BMW battle over second

Cadillac, Toyota and BMW have emerged as the favourites for victory, but only Toyota has two cars on the lead lap

The #12 Cadillac pulled out a healthy lead at the two-thirds mark in the Le Mans 24 Hours, while Toyota and BMW engaged in a close scrap for second position.

The two Jota-run factory Cadillacs moved to the front of the field in the 14th hour, as they leapfrogged the erstwhile-leading #8 Toyota GR010 Hybrid in the pits.

However, the #38 Cadillac that had been running second suffered a power steering issue just past 4am local time, forcing it to make two unscheduled trips to the pits for repairs. Jota retired the car just before the end of the 16th hour.

The #38’s overnight troubles left the sister car currently driven by Will Stevens with a buffer of over 45 seconds, with the #8 Toyota TR010 Hybrid recovering to second after a fraught night for the Japanese marque’s leading car.

Brendon Hartley was at the head of the field after the safety car restart but ran off at Mulsanne corner in the 10th hour. After dropping out of the lead in the following pitstop cycle, the #8 Toyota lost further time with a Full Course Yellow infringement.

The latest pitstop cycle put Hartley ahead of the #20 BMW M Hybrid V8, although Sheldon van der Linde was closing in on the Kiwi at 8am local time in France.

The #7 Toyota ran fourth with Nyck de Vries at the wheel, with the factory #51 Ferrari leading the two Alpine A424s.

Wayne Taylor Racing was penalised twice for FCY interventions, leaving the #101 Cadillac almost three minutes down on the leaders in eighth.

The #83 AF Corse Ferrari ran ninth, while the #007 Aston Martin completed the top 10.

Le Mans debutant Genesis hit problems for the first time during the night, with the #19 GMR-001 stopping twice on track and triggering a FCY on the first occasion.

In LMP2, the #30 Duqueine Oreca 07 cemented its lead in the early hours of the day, with Richard Verschoor circulating almost 90 seconds clear of the two Inter Europol cars. Proton held on to fourth place, with Harry King now at the wheel of the #9 machine.

Several LMP2 cars suffered on-track moments during the night and into the morning, with Enzo Trulli beaching the Algarve Pro Oreca at Mulsanne and Dane Cameron spinning the AO by TF car at Indianapolis. Porsche GTP star Kevin Estre also hit the barriers at the Indianapolis after running over the kerbs in the #14 TDS Oreca just minutes before the end of the 16th hour.

#33 TF Sport Corvette Z06 LMGT3.R: Ben Keating, Jonny Edgar, Nicky Catsburg

Photo by: Germain Durand

Over in LMGT3, the #33 TF Sport Corvette Z06 GT3.R moved into the front during the night, with factory GM driver Nicky Catsburg stretching out a lead of over 90 seconds.

The #78 ASP Lexus RC F GT3 is Corvette’s closest challenger in second, with the pole-sitting #27 Heart of Racing Aston Martin Vantage GT3 dropping to third place during the night.

Defending champion Manthey Porsche holds fourth place, with Ayhancan Guven holding fourth in the #91 911 GT3 R.

The second ASP Lexus was also among the lead group until being hit with a drive-through penalty for causing a collision with the Kessel Racing Ferrari 296 GT3.

Le Mans leaderboard after Hour 16

P	#	Team	Interval	Gap	Pits/Lap
1	12	CADILLAC HERTZ TEAM JOTA	LAP 260	LEADER	22 / L253
2	8	TOYOTA RACING	+46.571	+46.571	22 / L251
3	20	BMW M TEAM WRT	+3.854	+50.425	21 / L252
4	7	TOYOTA RACING	+2:14.090	+1 LAP	22 / L255
5	51	FERRARI AF CORSE	+16.210	+1 LAP	22 / L255
6	35	ALPINE ENDURANCE TEAM	+0.726	+1 LAP	21 / L251
7	36	ALPINE ENDURANCE TEAM	+27.334	+1 LAP	21 / L250
8	101	CADILLAC WTR	+2.744	+1 LAP	23 / L233
9	83	AF CORSE	+18.761	+1 LAP	22 / L255
10	7	ASTON MARTIN THOR TEAM	+2:06.616	+2 LAPS	21 / L256
11	17	GENESIS MAGMA RACING	+1:25.922	+2 LAPS	21 / L249
12	9	ASTON MARTIN THOR TEAM	+1 LAP	+3 LAPS	23 / L249
13	94	PEUGEOT TOTALENERGIES	+1:35.716	+4 LAPS	21 / L254
14	93	PEUGEOT TOTALENERGIES	+43.579	+4 LAPS	21 / L248
15	19	GENESIS MAGMA RACING	+1:03.390	+4 LAPS	21 / L251
16	15	BMW M TEAM WRT	+1 LAP	+5 LAPS	20 / L244
17	50	FERRARI AF CORSE	+3 LAPS	+9 LAPS	20 / L243
18	30	DUQUEINE TEAM	LAP 246	LEADER	20 / L238
19	343	INTER EUROPOL COMPETITION	+1:08.069	+1:08.069	20 / L239
20	43	INTER EUROPOL COMPETITION	+15.646	+1:23.715	20 / L240
21	26	VECTOR SPORT	+2:16.770	+1 LAP	21 / L240
22	29	FORESTIER RACING BY PANIS	+15.788	+1 LAP	22 / L243
23	9	PROTON COMPETITION	+2.960	+1 LAP	22 / L243
24	37	CLX MOTORSPORT	+11.142	+1 LAP	20 / L234
25	28	IDEC SPORT	+1:37.228	+1 LAP	23 / L236
26	4	CROWDSTRIKE RACING BY APR	+1 LAP	+2 LAPS	21 / L239
27	24	NIELSEN RACING	+1:32.301	+3 LAPS	22 / L242
28	22	UNITED AUTOSPORTS	+7:51.935	+3 LAPS	21 / L241
29	183	AF CORSE	+32.133	+3 LAPS	22 / L240
30	14	TDS RACING	+1 LAP	+4 LAPS	23 / L240
31	99	AO BY TF	+1:41.089	+5 LAPS	21 / L234
32	44	PROTON COMPETITION	+40.635	+5 LAPS	21 / L234
33	48	RD LIMITED	+17.552	+5 LAPS	21 / L231
34	25	ALGARVE PRO RACING	+16.159	+5 LAPS	21 / L233
35	222	UNITED AUTOSPORTS	+1 LAP	+7 LAPS	20 / L227
36	3	DKR ENGINEERING	+7 LAPS	+14 LAPS	23 / L223
37	33	TF SPORT	LAP 228	LEADER	22 / L220
38	78	AKKODIS ASP TEAM	+2:08.162	+2:08.162	22 / L220
39	27	HEART OF RACING TEAM	+1:16.474	+1 LAP	23 / L224
40	74	KESSEL RACING	+23.769	+1 LAP	23 / L221
41	23	HEART OF RACING TEAM	+8.896	+1 LAP	24 / L226
42	21	VISTA AF CORSE	+8.545	+1 LAP	22 / L225
43	2	TF SPORT	+4.494	+1 LAP	21 / L219
44	91	MANTHEY DK ENGINEERING	+28.068	+1 LAP	21 / L226
45	32	TEAM WRT	+0.459	+1 LAP	21 / L219
46	87	AKKODIS ASP TEAM	+17.741	+1 LAP	24 / L225
47	34	RACING TEAM TURKEY BY TF	+29.609	+1 LAP	23 / L226
48	69	TEAM WRT	+50.056	+1 LAP	21 / L217
49	150	RICHARD MILLE AF CORSE	+36.139	+1 LAP	22 / L224
50	57	KESSEL RACING	+34.916	+2 LAPS	22 / L225
51	59	RACING SPIRIT OF LEMAN	+2:05.368	+2 LAPS	22 / L222
52	88	PROTON COMPETITION	+24.403	+2 LAPS	24 / L226
53	58	GARAGE 59	+1:32.499	+3 LAPS	22 / L224
54	77	PROTON COMPETITION	+22.983	+3 LAPS	22 / L220
55	10	GARAGE 59	+1:11.006	+3 LAPS	21 / L215
56	92	THE BEND MANTHEY	+1:54.773	+3 LAPS	20 / L216
57	62	TEAM QATAR BY IRON LYNX	+6 LAPS	+10 LAPS	22 / L216
OUT	38	CADILLAC HERTZ TEAM JOTA	—	—	21 / L218
OUT	79	IRON LYNX	—	—	15 / L153
OUT	54	VISTA AF CORSE	—	—	10 / L103
OUT	61	IRON LYNX	—	—	7 / L65
OUT	13	13 AUTOSPORT	—	—	7 / L61