Lone Star Le Mans pivoted at the end of the fourth hour when a Safety Car was called for track repairs, bunching the field closely together
Just prior to that, the #51 Ferrari AF Corse 499P Hypercar had lost the lead when a slow pit-stop dropped it down to the lower reaches of the top ten
That allowed the #38 Cadillac Hertz Team JOTA V-Series.R, driven by Earl Bamber, through into the lead but the New Zealander was disadvantaged by running on older Michelin tyres than the snarling pack behind him
Bamber defended valiantly as he came under pressure from first António Félix da Costa in the #35 Alpine and subsequently Nyck de Vries in the #7 Toyota, with the latter making a decisive move on da Costa into Turn One at the start of the fourth hour; that pass came after the Le Mans-winner had also despatched the Tom Gamble-driven #007 Aston Martin Valkyrie
Bamber maintained the lead through most of the fourth hour despite the incessant pressure applied by de Vries and da Costa, while the snaking pack thrilled the crowd as the top ten was covered by a mere nine seconds
The Dutchman finally made a move stick at Turn One after 3hrs45mins of racing and was able to open up a small gap as Bamber held back da Costa’s Alpine
That prompted Les Bleus to make the call to allow Jules Gounon to overtake da Costa and attack Bamber, with the second-generation racer pushing the Cadillac as the clock ticked over four hours
Bamber’s obstinance, though, brought the former world champion under scrutiny as he was placed under investigation for multiple track limit infringements
De Vries, meanwhile, was the chief beneficiary as he was able to open up a 10-second lead before the penultimate pit-stops approached at the beginning of the fifth hour
Ferrari runs fifth as Antonio Fuoco completed his stints at the wheel of the #50 car, while James Calado was left exposed on older rubber in his stint, dropping the Brit to eighth
LMGT3
The LMGT3 fight developed into a scrap between the #91 Manthey DKR Engineering Porsche driven by Ayhancan Güven and the #27 Heart of Racing Team Aston Martin of Zacharie Robichon
Güven put a bold move on the Vantage just after the green flag flew following the Safety Car period
But on the following lap, the Porsche was notified that it had picked up a five-second penalty for a pit-stop infraction, which the Turkish ace would serve at the penultimate stop
Robichon had to relinquish second place as a flying Maxime Martin made a pass just before the end of the fourth hour
The Belgian veteran then went after leader Güven and made a swift attack on the Porsche to grab the lead, as Iron Lynx Mercedes-AMG eyes a maiden FIA WEC victory
The second of the Heart of Racing Team Aston Martins – the #23 pole-sitting car of Eduardo Barrichello, Jonny Adam and Gray Newell – remains in the mix in fourth position, dicing with the #77 Proton Competition Ford Mustang and the #21 VISTA AF Corse Ferrari
A spectacular puncture for Marvin Kirchhöfer following an excursion while battling against Logan Sargeant in the #88 Mustang saw the Garage 59 McLaren plummet down the order in the fourth hour
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