4-hour round-up – AF Corse Ferrari keeps factory rivals at bay

Tyre strategy came into play in the second hour. The Porsche Penske team put soft tyres on the #6 car on the second pit stop. But with the first drops of rain arriving at 17:37, with a downpour at the Porsche Curves a minute later, several of the cars pitted for wet-weather tyres. Others delayed the decision as many parts of the 13.626 km circuit were still dry.

A fascinating battle developed between Robert Kubica in the #83 Ferrari 499P for satellite outfit AF Corse, in the lead on soft slicks, and the #50 factory stablemate on mediums. The Pole showed his experience in holding off attack after attack by Nicklas Nielsen, but the Dane eventually got the better of Kubica to regain the lead just before 6 o’clock.

The raft of pit stops, however, left the #83 AF Corse Ferrari, now with Robert Shwartzman at the wheel, out in front ahead of the #5 works Porsche and the #8 Toyota.

Ben Hanley, United Autosports USA driver

The cars that had switched to wet-weather tyres re-pitted to be shod with slicks once again. Ben Hanley understood United Autosports USA’s decision to play it safe, while Inception Racing’s Ollie Millroy, whose #70 McLaren fell down the LMGT3 standings, admitted they had made the wrong call. Esteban Masson took advantage and assumed control of the class lead with the Akkodis ASP Team #87 Lexus.

Two separate incidents beset Thomas Flohr, firstly going off at Mulsanne in the #54 Ferrari 296 LMGT3, and a few minutes later crashing out in the Dunlop chicane. The incidents eventually resulted in the car’s retirement in the fourth hour.

Robin Frijns was forced to limp around a full lap on three wheels. The Dutchman was unable to pit after crashing the #20 BMW M Hybrid V8 “art car” at the final chicane. The car spent 22 minutes in the care of the BMW M Team WRT mechanics before returning to the action.

Last year’s LMP2 winning team, Polish outfit Inter Europol Competition, briefly took the lead for the first time in the #34 Oreca before Vector Sport’s Ryan Cullen regained control of the class standings. Clément Novalak wasn’t going to let the British driver have it all his own way. He slipped the green and yellow Oreca past the #10 car again as the clock ticked towards the three-hour mark.

In his attempt to close the gap on the four Hypercars in front of him, fifth placed Antonio Fuoco took advantage of the drier conditions to record a new fastest time of 3:29.208 on lap 46. Sébastien Buemi in the #8 Toyota GR010-Hybrid made his way into second place before becoming the fifth different outright leader on lap 50. The Swiss driver then pitted, however, to hand the lead back to Shwartzman.

Meanwhile the #7 Toyota GR010-Hybrid, that started at the back of the Hypercar grid as a result of Kamui Kobayashi’s accident that red-flagged Wednesday’s qualifying session, quietly progressed up the standings during the first four hours of race action to reach a fourth-hour high of fifth place.

In the LMGT3 class, after the #70 McLaren’s domination ended with the tyre changes in the second hour, the lead swapped hands between the #87 Lexus, the #66 Ferrari, the #46 BMW and the #92 Porsche with the #86 Ferrari also in the mix. This group was closely followed by Iron Dame Sarah Bovy in the #85 Lamborghini Huracán.

A Full Course Yellow was declared after three hours and 25 minutes but was short-lived. The track returned to green once the Inter Europol Competition #34 Oreca had pitted minus its front left wheel. In the same LMP2 class, the United Autosports USA #23 has spent considerable time in the pits due to a broken alternator pulley. Nolan Siegel in the #22 Oreca fielded by United Autosports, meanwhile, was involved in a contact in the Ford chicane with René Binder’s #33 Oreca, sending the DKR into a spin and bringing out a double yellow flag. Both cars managed to resume their race but Siegel was hit with a drive-through penalty.

Top Five after 4 hours

1. #83 Ferrari 499P | AF Corse | Kubica/Shwartzmann/Ye | 64 laps
2. #50 Ferrari 499P | Ferrari AF Corse | Fuoco/Molina/Nielsen | +39.145
3. #5 Porsche 963 | Porsche Penske Motorsport | Campbell/Christensen/Makowiecki | +40.546
4. #4 Porsche 963 | Porsche Penske Motorsport | Jaminet/Nasr/Tandy | +53.342
5. #38 Porsche 963 | Hertz Team Jota | Rasmussen/Hanson/Button | +1:23.645

Other class leaders

LMP2 – #10 Oreca 07-Gibson | Vector Sport | Cullen/Pilet/Richelmi | 60 laps

LMGT3 – #46 BMW M4 LMGT3 | Team WRT | Al Harthy/Rossi/Martin | 56 laps

Retirements after 4 hours

#54 Ferrari 296 LMGT3 | Vista AF Corse | Flohr/ Castellacci/Rigon | Accident damage