The 24 Hours of Le Mans 2017 is almost halfway and some of the biggest changes have occurred in the LMP1 class. Here, only one car is running in the top 15, the #1 Porsche 919 Hybrid which leads the race by 9 laps. That puts the two Vaillante Rebellion LMP2 cars in 2nd and 3rd overall. And given the nature of this race so far, i would not be surprised to see an LMP2 car win this year’s Le Mans.
Toyota has suffered the biggest blow after two of its leading cars retired. The #7 and #9 car retired after 10 hours with the #9 car pitting several times, at one time it was on fire after making contact with the #25 Manor. The #7 car lost power and Kobayashi was believed to be running on hybrid power alone at some point before retiring. That left the #8 Toyota TS050 which unfortunately lost 1 hour and 58 minutes in the garage before rejoining 30 laps behind the leader. Porsche is not on the safe side either as the #2 car also lost significant amount of time in the garage, Earl Bamber is currently behind the wheel in #16th place overall.
Photos by Rajan Jangda
LMP2 class has been a one team job, Vaillante Rebellion has dominated this class since race start. The #13 car leads the #31 sister car, both in 2nd and 3rd overall. Third in LMP2 is the #38 Jackie Chan DC Racing car.
The LMGTE Pro class was disrupted by two lengthy safety car interventions which saw the top 8 cars running in the same lap. There was little activity in the GT classes but Aston Martin still holds the lead in Pro with Richie Stanaway in the #95 car. AF Corse is second with Miguel Molina in the #71 Ferrari 488 GTE while the #97 Aston Martin is third.
JMW Motorsport continues to lead the AM class with Vanthoor in the #84 Ferrari 488 GTE leading the #90 Aston Martin from TF Sport and the #77 Dempsey Porsche 911 RSR.
Despite retiring, the #7 Toyota TS050 set the fastest time of the race so far with a 3:18.684 lap.
