Ferrari in Command Heading into Final Six Hours

Photo: Fabrizio Boldoni/DPPI

Ferrari held command of the 24 Hours of Le Mans heading into the final six hours of the race, with the No. 51 entry of Antonio Giovanzzi out front, in a 1-2-3 run for the Italian manufacturer.

Giovanzzi held a 6.7-second lead over the satellite No. 83 Ferrari 499P of Robert Kubica, in what saw a game of political chess match between the two entries.

Kubica got within fighting distance of Giovanzzi on multiple times, although various radio messages indicated to Kubica, an AF Corse-contracted driver, to hold second.

The No. 50 Ferrari of Antonio Fuoco ran third with six hours to go, putting all three 499Ps out front.

Both the Nos. 51 and 83 Ferraris, along with 11 other cars, were handed drive-through penalties in the 17th hour for yellow flag infractions in the previous hour.

Matt Campbell was best of the rest in the No. 6 Penske Porsche 963 in fourth, although nearly 1 minute behind.

The No. 8 Toyota GR010 Hybrid of Brendon Hartley ran fifth.

Trouble hit the No. 311 Action Express Racing Cadillac V-Series.R, which initially went to the garage for a precautionary brake change before Frederik Vesti stopped on track with a loss of drive.

It resulted in a Slow Zone in the 17th hour and the race’s second Hypercar retirement, alongside the No. 101 Wayne Taylor Racing Cadillac.

A Full Course Yellow ensued when the No. 36 Alpine A424 of Jules Gounon went into the gravel at Mulsannne Corner with just over seven hours to go.

There was an additional FCY in the 18th hour for debris.

LMP2 was led by the No. 43 Inter Europol Competition Oreca 07 Gibson of Tom Dillmann.

The once-contending No. 28 IDEC Sport entry dropped down the running order after Paul Lafargue brushed the wall at the exit of Indianapolis, requiring new bodywork during his stop.

It dropped the French entry to fifth in class, behind the second-placed No. 48 VDS Panis Racing entry and the No. 199 AO by TF Oreca continued to pace LMP2 Pro-Am.

Manthey continued to lead LMGT3, despite being one of the dozen-plus cars to have the aforementioned drive-through penalties.

Richard Lietz was out front in the No. 92 Porsche 911 GT3 R, ahead of Simon Mann’s No. 21 AF Corse Ferrari 296 GT3 and the No. 81 TF Sport Chevrolet Corvette Z06 GT3.R of Charlie Eastwood.

John Dagys

John Dagys is the founder and Editor-in-Chief of Sportscar365. Dagys spent eight years as a motorsports correspondent for FOXSports.com and SPEED Channel and has contributed to numerous other motorsports publications worldwide. Contact John