LMP2-Leading Oreca to the Garage in Hour 13

The No. 31 Vaillante Rebellion Oreca 07-Gibson was forced to give up the LMP2 class lead and second overall with a suspected gearbox problem, as the 24 Hours of Le Mans reached the 13th hour.  

Nicolas Prost was wheeled back into the garage for a five minute stop to repair the issue before resuming one lap behind Ho-Pin Tung in the class-leading No. 38 Jackie Chan DC Racing Oreca, now second overall.

The Dutchman has a four second lead over the No. 13 Rebellion of David Heinemeier-Hansson, who won the GTE-Am class at Le Mans in 2014, with Julien Canal now at the lead of the No. 31 car in third.

Nick Tandy continues to lead the race outright in the No. 1 Porsche 919 Hybrid, as all three of the highly-fancied Toyota Gazoo Racing TS050 Hybrids hit trouble before the halfway mark.

His nearest LMP1 competitor, Brendon Hartley in the No. 2 Porsche, is still 18 laps adrift in 16th overall after an earlier hybrid issue. 

10 cars remain on the lead lap in GTE-Pro, with Nicki Thiim out front in the No. 95 Aston Martin Vantage GTE.

His AMR team-mate Darren Turner is seven seconds behind in the No. 97 car, with Fred Makowiecki’s No. 91 Porsche 911 RSR up to third on the new mid-engined car’s first outing at Le Mans after Alessandro Pier Guidi pitted his No. 51 AF Corse Ferrari 488 GTE from the lead shortly before the hour mark.

The sister No.92 Porsche of Michael Christensen lost time with a spin into the barriers at the Ford Chicane shortly after the hour mark while running sixth.

Meanwhile the JMW Motorsport Ferrari 488 continues to lead a European Le Mans Series 1-2 in the GTE-Am classification on it’s first competitive outing.

Will Stevens has a lap in hand over Euan Hankey’s TF Sport Aston Martin, with Christian Ried back up to third in the No. 77 Dempsey-Proton Porsche 911 RSR after passing Aaron Scott’s No. 55 Spirit of Race Ferrari.