Toyota continues to show their strong form at the 2017 Le Mans 24 Hours, holding the lead for the better part of the first five hours. The #7 Toyota TS050 Hybrid still holds the lead now with Sarrazin behind the wheel, the 1-2 stint from Toyota has been split by Lotterer who is now in the #1 Porsche 919 Hybrid. Nakajima is third in the #8 Toyota leading Kunimoto in the #9 car which was forced to make an unscheduled stop for a door repair.
The race was under yellow after the #82 Ferrari 488 GTE of Kaffer crashed at the first chicane on the Mulsanne. The cause of the crash was due to contact made between the Ferrari and the #28 TDS Racing LMP2 car. The Ferrari retired as slow zones were deployed to repair the damaged barriers.
The #2 Porsche 919 has had its fair share of troubles after making several trips to the garage to fix related front-axle drive issues.
Most changes came after the three hour mark, Aston Martin had managed to take over both GT classes. Sorensen and Serra were leading the Pro class in the #95 and #97 Aston Martin cars respectively. Pla was third in the #66 Ford GT. In Am, Aston was also in the lead albeit facing stiff competition from Vanthoor who had just taken over the #84 Ferrari 488 GTE. Eventually the leading Aston Martin in AM class suffered a puncture and had to relinquish the lead to Vanthoor. The lead would then change again when Vanthoor made his pitstop allowing the #98 Aston to take over.
Photos by Rajan Jangda
In LMP2, Vaillante Rebellion has managed to dominate the race for the five hour period with the #31 Oreca 07 car. Their #13 sister car has has been running comfortably in second place. TRS Manor Racing is third while the two Jackie Chan DC Racing cars are fourth and fifth.
Class Leaders with 18 Hours to Go:
LMP1: #7 Toyota TS050 Hybrid – Sarrazin
LMP2: #31 Vaillante Rebellion – Senna
Pro: #97 Aston Martin Vantage – Turner
Am: #98 Aston Martin Vantage – Dalla Lana
