LMP2 Polesitter G-Drive Out in Hour 2

Roman Rusinov continued his difficult start to the 24 Hours of Le Mans in Hour 2, as he crashed the LMP2 class pole-sitting No. 26 G-Drive Racing Oreca 07-Gibson at the Porsche Curves.

Fighting back from a slow start and an out-of-sequence pitstop following a spin at the Ford chicane, Rusinov misjudged a pass on Khalid Al Qubaisi’s Proton Competition Porsche and took both cars into the SAFER barriers.

Rusinov made it back to the pits with broken rear-suspension, but the damage proved too heavy to repair, while the Porsche has also been retired from the race.

The accident resulted in damage to the SAFER barrier and caused a lengthy Slow Zone in sector 8.

Toyota Gazoo Racing continues to lead the race outright in LMP1, with Mike Conway 3.9 seconds ahead of teammate Sebastien Buemi in the No. 8 Toyota TS050 Hybrid with all the leaders having completed two pitstops each.

Conway regained the lead shortly after the turn of the hour on the Mulsanne Straight.  

Neel Jani is third in the No. 1 Porsche 919 Hybrid, 24 seconds off the lead, ahead of Timo Bernhard fourth in the No. 2 Porsche and Nicolas Lapierre in the No. 9 Toyota.

ByKolles Racing are a confirmed retirement following engine issues for the team’s ENSO CLM P1/01 Nismo.

Nicolas Prost has taken over from Bruno Senna at the wheel of the No. 31 Vaillante Rebellion Oreca and leads in LMP2 by 17.8 seconds from teammate Mathias Beche in the No. 13 car.

Thomas Laurent is third in the No. 38 Jackie Chan DC Racing Oreca, ahead of Jean-Eric Vergne’s No. 24 CEFC Manor TRS Racing Oreca and the second Jackie Chan DC Racing entry of Alex Brundle.

In GTE-Pro, the No. 95 Aston Martin Vantage GTE of Marco Sorensen continues to lead, with Olivier Pla second at the hour mark after an early second stop to replace a puncture.

Michael Christensen has moved up to third in the No. 92 Porsche 911 RSR, with Daniel Serra in the No. 97 Aston Martin slipping back to fourth.

Bill Sweedler has a 6.3-second lead over Paul Dalla Lana in the GTE-Am classification, with Salih Yoluc running third in the TF Sport Aston Martin.