Hertz JOTA Porsche Crashes While Leading in Fifth Hour

Yifei Ye crashed while leading the 24 Hours of Le Mans not long after Hertz Team JOTA reached the head of the field following a charge from the back of the overall grid.

The Chinese driver was around 15 seconds clear of Ferrari AF Corse driver Miguel Molina when he lost control of the No. 38 Porsche 963 at the final part of the Porsche Curves.

Contact with the tire barriers caused the rear bodywork to detach from the car, while Ye was able to bring the injured Porsche back to the pits for repairs that cost 20 minutes and four laps.

Ye had earlier moved Hertz Team JOTA into the lead of the 100th-anniversary Le Mans edition shortly after the resumption of racing from an hour-long safety car period.

The British privateer team started from the back of the field after failing to set a lap time during qualifying due to an electrical issue.

Gustavo Menezes led at the restart in the No. 94 Peugeot 9X8, but Ye powered past on the run out of Mulsanne corner and was closely followed by Dane Cameron in the No. 5 factory Penske Porsche.

Menezes then pitted for slick tires, which cost the Peugeot several positions as most of its competitors had already switched away from wets during the safety car phase.

Ye quickly built his margin at the front, while Cameron came under pressure from Molina and Antonio Giovinazzi in the Ferrari 499Ps.

Both AF Corse drivers found ways past the No. 5 Porsche, with Giovinazzi getting ahead after Cameron had a wild moment at the Daytona Chicane. The American was later handed a drive-through penalty for overtaking under the second safety car.

There was further trouble for Porsche Penske Motorsport when Kevin Estre’s No. 6 car suffered a right-rear puncture while running ninth.

The Hertz Team JOTA crash promoted Molina and Giovinazzi into a Ferrari one-two but they pitted in unison shortly after moving ahead.

With just under five hours completed, Team WRT driver Louis Deletraz narrowly led United Autosports’ Oliver Jarvis in LMP2, although the net advantage belonged to the No. 28 JOTA Oreca under a pit stop cycle.

Francesco Castellacci was in front in GTE-Am for the No. 54 AF Corse squad, with Proton Competition’s Martin Rump in second and Sarah Bovy from Iron Dames in third.