Le Mans After 6 Hours: No.7 Toyota Leads; Corvette/Porsche Battle in LMGTE Pro

Toyota, JOTA, Corvette and WeatherTech run at the front as quarter distance is reached at Le Mans....

Dusk falls at Le Mans as quarter distance is reached in a hot and sunny opening to the 90th running of the 24 Hours of Le Mans. 

Toyota still run 1-2 with No.7 leading No.8 but pair swap lead on several occasions. 

Corvette Racing build advantage in LMGTE Pro category with No.63 Chevrolet Corvette enjoying 35-second lead over sister No.64 entry. 

LMP2 also sees another large advantage with the No.38 JOTA Oreca-Gibson heading stablemates in No.28 car 

LMGTE Am sees WeatherTech Porsche in control with Northwest AMR leading the charge to try and reduce large gap. 

Headlines from the 90th 24 Hours of Le Mans After 6 Hours…. 

Hypercar   

  • No.7 Toyota Gazoo Racing GR010 Hybrid Hypercar leads by eight seconds from stablemates in No.8 car after six hours of racing at 2022 24 Hours of Le Mans 
  • Jose-Maria Lopez took over from Mike Conway in third hour and was able to hold lead to Brendon Hartley in No.8 car but a small off-track moment at second Mulsanne Chicane by Lopez helps Hartley re-take lead 
  • Hartley hands over to Ryo Hirakawa who initially maintained the lead to countryman Kamui Kobayashi 
  • But Kobayashi emerges from pits ahead and is then able to stretch a small gap out to 8-seconds as six-hour mark arrives 
  • Glickenhaus Racing run third and fourth as No.708 stays within touch of Toyotas with Pipo Derani setting fastest second sector of race  
  • No.709 Glickenhaus Racing 007LMH car loses some time in third hour for a sensor change and runs a lap down on top three 
  • Alpine ELF Team suffers several long pit stops and drop out of contention when a clutch issue costs the team eight laps 
  • Alpine misery is compounded by an off-track excursion at Maison Blanche by Andre Negrao but Brazilian returns unscathed 

LMGTE Pro   

  • Ferocious battle brewing in LMGTE Pro between Corvette Racing and Porsche GT Team as lead ebbs and flows through the first quarter of the race 
  • No.64 Chevrolet Corvette leads with Jordan Taylor and then Nicky Catsburg at the wheel through hours two to six. They enjoy a 38-second lead over sister Corvette 
  • Antonio Garcia gets back in No.63 just before quarter distance 
  • No.63 engages in thrilling battle with No.92 Porsche 911 RSR in fifth and sixth hours 
  • Closely matched cars driven by Alexander Sims and Laurens Vanthoor swap places twice but the Corvette emerges in front but by only a second 
  • Sims hands over to Nick Tandy just before the six-hour mark is reached 
  • Porsche third and fourth as the No.92 911 RSR-19 pressures the second placed Corvette 
  • No.92 car places third, while No.91 loses momentum after getting drive-through penalty for track limit violations 
  • AF Corse still race fifth and sixth with No.52 heading No.51 by six seconds, Miguel Molina and James Calado at the wheel at quarter distance 
  • Ferrari on lead lap but 75 seconds adrift of leader 
  • Riley Motorsports seventh as Shane van Gisbergen enjoys his first stints at La Sarthe =

LMP2    

  • No.38 JOTA establishes large lead in LMP2 as No.38 entry driven by Antonio Felix da Costa, then Will Stevens takes control of class 
  • Stevens triple stint sees him open gap and also capitalise on a slow zone period to get a 90-second advantage 
  • Roberto Gonzalez enjoys first action behind the wheel and is able to consolidate lead as second placed Team Penske entry loses positions to replace bodywork 
  • Penske fight back to second place as Felipe Nasr takes over for his second stint behind the wheel just before the six-hour mark but then fall back to fourth at scheduled stops 
  • That gives Prema Orlen Team opportunity to be promoted in to second position with Louis Deletraz in the cockpit at quarter distance 
  • But after last round of stops it becomes a JOTA 1-2 as No.28 car driven by Dane, Oliver Rasmussen, heads the Italian entry 
  • Cool Racing place fifth ahead of Panis Racing entry 
  • United Autosports USA continue fightback after early woes as No.23 car places 13th in class, while No.23 is 16th as Filipe Albuquerque is one of quickest cars on track 
  • Trouble for Vector Sport Oreca-Gibson in fifth hour as Ryan Cullen goes off at Indianapolis but is able to return to the fold 
  • Duqueine entry of Richard Bradley, Memo Rojas and Reshad de Gerus spends over an hour in the pits with a technical problem but at quarter distance is still running meaning all 62 cars are still on track 

LMGTE Am    

  • WeatherTech Racing Porsche 911 RSR takes control of 23-car LMGTE Am entry as Julien Andlauer opens up healthy lead before handing over to Cooper MacNeil 
  • US entered car is 70-seconds ahead of the No.98 Northwest AMR entry driven by Nicki Thiim 
  • No.77 Dempsey Proton Porsche fights back to third after difficult start due to tyre issues 
  • Harry Tincknell takes over his second stint at the wheel and starts to close on second placed Aston Martin 
  • Aston second and fourth as TF Sport with Marco Sorenson at wheel look to challenge for podium contention 
  • Hardpoint Motorsport slip to fifth place, while highest Ferrari is sixth positioned No.61 AF Corse car with Vincent Abril aboard 

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