Porsche Continues to Lead 24H Le Mans in Hour 4

The No. 1 Porsche 919 Hybrid continued to lead the 24 Hours of Le Mans after hour 4, with Mark Webber 24 seconds ahead of Kamui Kobayashi in the No. 6 Toyota TS050 Hybrid.

The two cars have alternated the lead during the pit cycles, with Toyota typically going one lap further during a stint in the hope of saving themselves a pitstop later in the race.

Kobayashi took over after a strong opening quadruple stint from Mike Conway, who set the fastest lap of the race so far on Lap 48.

Oliver Jarvis is third in the No. 8 Audi R18, ahead of Marc Lieb in the second Porsche 919 Hybrid.

The German was able to capitalize when the No. 5 Toyota of Anthony Davidson made two pitstops in as many laps due to a vibration.

Le Mans rookie Roberto Merhi’s excellent opening stint meant Matt Rao inherited a 28 second lead in LMP2.

The Manor Oreca 05 Nissan is still being pursued by the identical Thiriet by TDS Racing machine, now driven by Ryo Hirakawa, with defending winners KCMG due a pitstop from third.

Will Stevens ran fourth in the No. 26 G-Drive Oreca 05 Nissan after René Rast lost time with a puncture.

In GTE-Pro, the No. 69 Ford held the lead after Toni Vilander pitted his No. 82 Risi Competizione Ferrari 488 GTE shortly before the hour mark.

Vilander’s team-mate Giancarlo Fisichella had taken the lead from Richard Westbrook’s No. 68 Ford during the pitstops. Then, as Westbrook’s team-mate Ryan Briscoe fell away, a charging Joey Hand took over second the No. 69 car, but still had some 15 seconds to make up on Vilander when the Finn pitted.

The No. 91 Porsche 911 RSR had been enjoying a promising run in fourth when Nick Tandy was forced to the garage for a radiator change, which cost them two laps.

However, Porsche’s dominance of the GTE-Am class continues, with Joel Camathias in the No. 78 KCMG 911 RSR leading David Heinemeier-Hansson in the No. 88 Dempsey Proton Racing machine.

All sixty cars are still classed as running, although Marc Miller’s No. 89 WeatherTech Racing Porsche sustained heavy damage when he spun into the wall at the Dunlop Curves.

Miller is competing in the entire 24 Hours with Leh Keen after an unwell Cooper MacNeil was ruled out by the FIA Doctor.