Ferrari penalty hands Toyota lead at Le Mans

In brief

Penalty costs Kubica lead at Le Mans

The number eight Toyota moved into the lead shortly before the nine-hour mark at the Le Mans 24 Hours. The car shared by Sebastien Buemi, Brendon Hartley and Ryo Hirakawa rose to the head of the field after the long-time leaders in the number 83 customer AF Corse Ferrari pitted to serve a penalty.

The Safety Car was deployed after almost six-and-a-half hours of racing when Dries Vanthoor in the number 15 BMW Hybrid V8 hypercar crashed out on the Mulsanne straight after taking a glancing blow from Robert Kubica’s race-leading Ferrari. Barrier repairs kept the race neutralised for well over an hour and a half. Kubica was handed a 30-second stop-go penalty for the contact after the race resumed.

The number six Penske Porsche is running second, ahead of the other Porsche and number two Cadillac. The three Ferraris, which headed the field in the early stages, are next, led by the works number 50 car. That took the lead on the first lap in the hands of Nicklas Nielsen, working his way forward quickly from fourth on the grid. However he lost time when he returned to the car when rain began to fall approaching the six-hour mark and Ferrari opted for slick tyres instead of wets.

The number 38 JOTA Porsche and the second of the Cadillacs complete the top 10 with 13 hours remaining.

Both Alpines out within six hours

Engine trouble put both Alpine hypercars out within the first six hours at Le Mans. Ferdinand Habsburg pulled over at Arnage with smoke billowing from the rear of his number 35 A424, while the sister number 36 machine retired in the pits.

“This is the team’s first year in the Hypercar category at the 24 Hours of Le Mans, which we knew from the start would be a steep learning curve,” said the team in a statement.

“We will further investigate the issue and we will come back stronger and more determined next year in Le Mans. The car showed good pace to make Hyperpole in qualifying, we had a good race start and this gives us encouragement for the future.”

Links

Motor racing links of interest:

Alesi: ‘A 7 anni rubai la macchina a mia madre e la sfasciai. Guidavo la Ferrari F1 e avevo i brividi’ (Corriere della Sera – Italian)

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