Ferrari vs. Porsche duel continues as daylight breaks

Hypercar

• Ferrari continues to lead the 24 Hours of Le Mans after daylight breaks through at the Circuit de la Sarthe
• Just two seconds separated the ‘works’ #51 Ferrari AF Corse Hypercar of James Calado and the pursuing, privately-run AF Corse #83 499P piloted by fellow Brit Philip Hanson as the clock hit 08:00
• Following a spell in the lead for Yifei Ye (#83), the Chinese ace’s team-mate Hanson settled into a fierce duel with Calado, who passed his countryman to snatch the top spot at the second Mulsanne Chicane on lap 236, but the yellow Ferrari remains firmly in the wheeltracks of the #51 car at the head of the field
• The #6 Porsche Penske Motorsport entry sits third on its offset strategy in the hands of Laurens Vanthoor. The Belgian and fellow defending Drivers’ World Champion Kévin Estre both put in stellar stints to keep the German prototype in contention, but there was drama for the sister #5 and #4 963s, both of which picked up a drive-through penalty for a slow zone procedure infringement
• The defending Drivers’ World Championship-title-winning car – in company with the sister #4 963 Hypercar – picked up a drive-through penalty shortly after 04:00 for a slow zone procedure infringement, dropping it outside of the top ten
• Antonio Fuoco occupies fourth spot in the #50 Ferrari – last year’s race-winner – after team-mate Nicklas Nielsen engaged in a thrilling cat-and-mouse duel with Toyota’s Sébastien Buemi. The Dane set two new fastest laps in his pursuit of the Swiss star, but was unable to make his fresher tyres count and had to wait until the pair both pitted on lap 244 to get ahead. A delay in fitting his left-rear tyre cost Buemi just under ten seconds
• Brendon Hartley now sits fifth in the #8 TOYOTA GAZOO Racing GR010 Hybrid – in which Ryō Hirakawa had earlier duelled tooth-and-nail against Ferrari driver Ye for the lead –  ahead of Will Stevens in the #12 Cadillac that began the race on pole position. The V-Series.R appears more comfortable in the cooler conditions compared to the heat of Saturday afternoon and evening
• Norman Nato snatched fastest lap away from Nielsen midway through the 15th hour, before Earl Bamber in the sister #38 car went quicker again just before 08:00, as the New Zealander became the first driver to dip beneath the 3m27s mark 
• The #5 Porsche , #15 and #20 BMWs and #38 Cadillac complete the top ten with eight hours of the race left to run

LMGT3

• After slipping to third the #92 Manthey 1st Phorm Porsche 911 GT3 R LMGT3 returned to the front of the field when Richard Lietz overhauled Vista AF Corse’s François Heriau at the first Mulsanne Chicane shortly after the resumption of racing following a Full Course Yellow period approaching the end of the 15th hour; the Frenchman’s cause was not aided by a brief off-piste moment while being lapped by an LMP2 car
• Ferrari factory driver Alessio Rovera had earlier successfully kept the Austrian at bay after overhauling Ryan Hardwick at Mulsanne Corner, but with Riccardo Pera at the wheel, the Porsche is now pulling away from Heriau’s Ferrari in the battle for LMGT3 supremacy
• TF Sport holds third spot with the #81 Corvette Z06 LMGT3.R following strong runs by Rui Andrade and Charlie Eastwood, with team-mate Tom Van Rompuy now inside the cockpit of the American car which has also spent some time in the class lead
• Zacharie Robichon holds fourth place in the pole-starting Heart of Racing Team Aston Martin, ahead of the evenly-matched Akkodis ASP Team Lexus RC F LMGT3s, with José María López and ‘super-sub’ both lapping quickly in the #87 and #78 cars respectively
• There was trouble, however, for the #54 Vista AF Corse Ferrari, which has been forced into retirement, and for the Iron Dames, with Rahel Frey finding herself helped into the gravel at the second Dunlop Chicane by Clemens Schmid, for which the #87 Lexus driver was handed a drive-through penalty 
• That incident prompted the aforementioned Full Course Yellow period to retrieve the stricken Porsche, which subsequently stopped on the Mulsanne Straight when it became stuck in sixth gear, before Frey managed to get the car back to the pits for repairs

LMP2

• Inter Europol Competition has turned the tables on longtime race leader VDS Panis Racing, as Nick Yelloly in the #43 entry reduced his deficit to Esteban Masson in the #48 car to under ten seconds before the pair both pitted shortly after 07:00, with the #43 returning to the track in front. Tom Dillmann now leads countryman Franck Perera with eight hours of action remaining
• Paul Lafargue sits third for IDEC Sport, although there was disappointment for the team when three-time Le Mans winner André Lotterer had to retire the sister #18 machine – which had run as high as fourth in the hands of Mathys Jaubert – after it lost its right-rear wheel halfway through the 14th hour 
• Maceo Capietto holds fourth spot in the #9 Iron Lynx Proton, ahead of the #199 AO by TF car piloted by Dane Cameron and Pietro Fittipaldi in the #22 United Autosports challenger – the young Brazilian relieving Inter Europol Competition’s Luca Ghiotto of sixth into Mulsanne Corner at 07:30
• In evidence of the closely-fought nature of the LMP2 category, midway through hour 13, the top six cars were blanketed by just 14 seconds

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