LM24 18 Hour Report: Toyota No. 7 still leads Hypercars; Ferrari controls LMGTE Pro

No.51 AF Corse Ferrari continues to leads LMGTE Pro, while Team WRT remains first and second in highly-competitive LMP2 category. No leader change in LMGTE Am with AF Corse Ferrari No. 83 car still at the helm.

Below are the main headlines from hours 12 – 18.
 
Hypercar  
•    Toyota Gazoo Racing continues to lead the 24 Hours of Le Mans as No. 7 and No. 8 GR010 Hybrid Hypercars remain first and second respectively 
•    No.7 Toyota GR010 Hybrid now with Kamui Kobayashi at the wheel carves out over four minute lead following various issues for sister No. 8 car
•    No. 8 car – currently driven by Sebastien Buemi – reported vibrations in the car followed by refuelling issues meaning drivers aren’t able to carry out full stints before needing to pit
•    Team reported issue is getting worse with Toyota currently working hard to fix the issue ahead of race’s closing six hours  
•    Alpine Elf Matmut remain third overall with Andre Negrao now at the wheel, the French squad regularly swapping positions following pit stops with the No. 708 Glickenhaus entry 
•    Sister No. 709 Glickenhaus 007 Hypercar steadily making progress up the overall leaderboard and is now up to eighth overall, but still remains over two laps down on sister car 

OVERALL CLASSIFICATION
Hour 16

1️⃣ @TGR_WEC #7 #HYPERCAR
2️⃣ @TGR_WEC #8 #HYPERCAR
3️⃣ @SignatechAlpine #36 #HYPERCAR
#LeMans24 pic.twitter.com/EPFCOCLK7d

— 24 Hours of Le Mans (@24hoursoflemans) August 22, 2021

LMGTE Pro
•    AF Corse Ferrari still on top in LMGTE Pro, with No. 51 car now around 20 seconds ahead of No. 63 Corvette Racing entry still with Jordan Taylor at the wheel
•    Porsche GT Team No. 92 and No. 91 911 RSR – 19s third and fourth in class respectively 
•    Trouble for No. 52 AF Corse Ferrari after a front-right puncture and bodywork damage with Sam Bird driving at the time. Car immediately goes to the pits for length repairs where it still remains

LMP2  
•    Belgian squad Team WRT continue to dominate LMP2 category, with No. 31 Oreca 07 Gibson currently 40 seconds ahead of sister car
•    Category leading No. 31 car sees Robin Frijns hands car over to Charles Milesi in 17th hour, with Frenchman putting in solid lap times to extend lead over sister car
•    The battle for third position has been raging between hours 12 and 18 with JOTA and WRT regularly swapping positions for the final podium position 
•    No. 28 JOTA driven by Sean Geleal currently third ahead of No. 65 Panis Racing entry and James Allen
•    Trouble-free few hours for Inter Europol Competition who currently occupy P5, one spot ahead of the No. 23 United Autosports car which is sixth in class 
•    Heartache for No. 22 United Autosports USA after car is brought in with alternator issue and lengthy pit stop then leads to team replacing battery. Car drops down the order with No. 22 now back of the class 
•    No.25 G-Drive Racing officially retired following impact at Dunlop Chicane in the early hours. It marks the third retirement in the category so far including Richard Mille Racing Team and the No. 32 United Autosports USA entry

Less than 6h to go #LeMans24 #WEC pic.twitter.com/Mme3Jy4sUu

— 24 Hours of Le Mans (@24hoursoflemans) August 22, 2021

LMGTE Am  
•    No.83 AF Corse still on top in LMGTE Am now with young gun Nicklas Nielsen at the wheel 
•    TF Sport Aston Martin takes advantage of a drive-through-penalty given to category leading No. 83 car but British team are still over two minutes behind the leading Ferrari   
•    No.80 Iron Lynx Ferrari 488 GTE Evo hold third in class, with Rino Mastronardi now back in the car 
•    No. 88 Dempsey Proton Racing Porsche 911 RSR - 19 pits with puncture and damage, dropping the team to 12th in class