Nakajima Leads in Contrasting Hour 22 for Toyota

Photo: Vision Sport Agency

Kazuki Nakajima is out front of the 24 Hours of Le Mans with two hours on the clock, in what was a contrasting hour for Toyota Gazoo Racing.

Nakajima took over the No. 5 Toyota TS050 Hybrid from Anthony Davidson and currently leads Neel Jani’s Porsche 919 Hybrid by around 30 seconds.

However, it wasn’t quite smooth sailing for the No. 6 Toyota, which was pushed back into the garage to fix bodywork. Nevertheless, Stephane Sarrazin’s car didn’t lose any positions, and remained in third position with the pair of Audi R18s a few laps down.

Signatech Alpine is still on top out of the LMP2 runners, with Stephane Richelmi continuing in the No. 36 Alpine A460 Nissan. G-Drive Racing is second ahead of SMP Racing, with Roman Rusinov and Victor Shaytar respectively.

Platinum-rated Danny Watts sits behind the pair of Silver drivers in the Strakka Racing Gibson 015S Nissan.

The GTE-Pro battle is still between the No. 68 Ford GT and No. 82 Ferrari 488 GTE. Dirk Mueller has just taken over the Ford from Joey Hand, with Giancarlo Fisichella behind but only by 36 seconds despite a spin from the Risi Competizione car.

Behind the leading duo are two more Ford Chip Ganassi Racing entries; namely the Nos. 69 and 66 of Scott Dixon and Olivier Pla. Dixon has just set a GTE track record lap of 3:51.582.

Jeff Segal is driving the GTE-Am-leading No. 62 Scuderia Corsa Ferrari F458 Italia, with the similar car of AF Corse’s Rui Aguas behind him.

David Heinemeier Hansson is on the final provisional podium position in the Abu Dhabi-Proton Racing Porsche 911 RSR.

Having slowed at the Dunlop Chicane, the No. 98 Aston Martin Vantage GTE ended up retiring in Hour 22 with a gearbox issue, while there was a drive-through penalty for the Formula Racing Ferrari after refuelling with the engine still on.

Jake Kilshaw

Jake Kilshaw is a UK-based journalist. He is a graduate of Politics and International Relations.